World of Warcraft: Live Q & A Recap

World of Warcraft: Live Q & A Recap
The developers are sitting down to answer community questions about all things Warcraft and the next expansion!

Key Points

• Stat squish and item squish
• Unique raid buffs are back and are class specific
• Titanforging will continue, however, slots affected by the Heart of Azeroth can't warforge/titanforge.
• More character customization options coming in expansion.
• Jaina is not a villain, just flawed
• Void Elves will switch into a void form in combat and have a more normal form when desired.
• Timewalking will be expanded
• Flying will unlock similar to Legion
• The Legion legendary system is gone in Battle for Azeroth
• Starting bag will increase in size if you have an authenticator attached to your account
• Worgen/Goblin updates are on the way, but not for 8.0
• Players get 6 new character slots per realm.

Q & A

Q: Are Warfronts similar to invasions? What are the rewards?
A: They will be built up to and up for a certain amount of time. The team is looking at other rewards such as invasions and timewalking in terms of rewards. Nothing is finalized yet.

Q: Will basic reputations become account wide?
A: Account wide unlocks try to focus on content unlocks over simple reputations. It is a separate set of goals that doesn't need to be account wide.

Q: Is there a stat squish?
A: Yes, there is another squish. The point isn't to nerf but bring everything in line. This time they are also squishing item level.

Q: Is Anduin a Paladin?
A: Anduin is still a priest. He is a hero character and so can do things normal priests can not.

Q: Will there be cross faction chat?
A: No cross faction chat at all except through battle.net. Community chat is character to character.

Q: Are there any changes in the works to help with guild recruitment?
A: Nothing planned right now, but trying to focus on social structures that are not quite as hard to get into.

Q: Will mob health and damage be scaled as well with the new scaling of the old world? What about heirlooms?
A: Team is looking to make the health and damage of mobs relevant to level. Heirlooms are scaled for level.

Q: Any comments on artifact power/knowledge and how it influenced azerite?
A: Decisions at the start of the expansion were a lot cooler than at this stage in the expansion. Team wants choices to be meaningful throughout the expansion and get rid of the crazy amount of power that needs to be obtained.

Q: What was your thought process when bringing back raid buffs?
A: There was something cool about the buffs going out before a boss. Team always looks at classes as unique and special and want to emphasize that. They don't want these buffs to be extreme but worthwhile.

Q: How do you view PVP templates?
A: Team likes the PVP talents, however, it is hard to put that into the outdoor world. They recognize how unbalanced world PVP is. Team wants you to be able to customize your character more in PVP. They are looking at the scaling technology to use within PVP, basically using the same tech that lets low levels party with higher levels. They are reworking the reward structure in PVP.

Q: What about titanforging?
A: There will be tweaks but not a fundamental change to the system. They want there to still be excitement in rewards. Titanforging will not happen on armor slots affected by the Heart of Azeroth, however.

Q: Can characters get some sort of counter to push backs and knock backs?
A: Niche for Death Knights , want to expand upon it for that specific class.

Q: What do you plan to do about the character creation being archaic?
A: Allied races are the start to this. Art team took a look at Allied races and are now going to incorporate that into the older races. More character customization is coming. Upright orcs are on the agenda. Barber will now double as a chiropractor!

Q: Is Jaina a hero in Battle for Azeroth?
A: She is complicated. Jaina is wrapped with regret. She was responsible for the death of her father and how the Horde is today. She is a damaged character and that damage will be explored. We will try to understand the way she is and try to pull her out of it. She is not evil, she is conflicted.

Q: Why do so many bosses have holes in their ceilings?
A: Functionally, there is no camera collision. Aesthetically, it allows team to show outside world without windows.

Q: What are your plans for starting zones affected by the new expansion?
A: No changes except for leveling improvements. In order to appreciate the impact of the events of Battle for Azeroth you need to understand it. Sharding technology will change the zones affected by these events for characters who are 110 and above. Other zones are also affected.

Q: Will Void Elves be stuck in Void Elf form?
A: It isn't like metamorphosis but they definitely have a void form and a more normal form. It is similar to worgen. They will go into the void in combat.

Q: How will you address trinkets and titanforging?
A: The rate of titanforging and warforging will be adjusted. Item level should win at all times. Relinquished system helps.

Q: What about adding Mythic + to old dungeons?
A: Good idea. Team is looking into timewalking keystones that are only available during the timewalking events.

Q: How soon will flying be available?
A: Same as Legion

Q: What is the future of mobile apps moving forward?
A: Team likes being able to stay in touch with character on the go and wants to continue it. Also want to merge armory app with these features.

Q: Any chance of a consolidation for timewalking?
A: Probably not all expansions active at once, but what other activities can happen during timewalking such as the outdoor world? WoD timewalking likely coming during Battle for Azeroth.

Q: How do you keep people attached to their faction instead of switching sides?
A: Play the game you want to play it. The new technologies allow for this.

Q: What are your plans for legendaries in the next expansion?
A: Azerite armor does what legendaries did in Legion. The legendary system from legion is not continuing into Battle for Azeroth.

Q: Will the quest log size be increased?
A: Certain quests don't need to be in the log. Team wants to tackle this first. 25 quests is already too hard to manage.

Q: Will the default backpack be increased?
A: Very close to allowing the first backpack to slightly increase. In future patch if you have authenticator is attached to account your bag size will increase.

Q: Will there be different raids based on factions/stories in raids?
A: Definitely different stories. In terms of bosses, not so much. Looking further ahead faction conflict might play out in raids. Member of opposite faction could be raid boss.

Q: Will exploits and bugs from Classic be fixed for the Classic servers?
A: Turning to the community for answers. Team wants to recreate the experience as you remember it. They do not want bugs that cause crashes or severe issues, however. Should UBRS be 10 or 5 man?

Q: Is heritage armor unlocked on all races?
A: Heritage armor is only wearable by the race it is made for.

Q: Will friends limit increase for battle.net?
A: Team needs to make this happen and will eventually.

Q: How will farming for ilvl specific greens be affected by scaling?
A: The items will still drop and will scale.

Q: How long will Warfronts last?
A: Longer than dungeons, but team is still working this out. Beta feedback will help.

Q: What classes are available to the Allied races?
A: Allied races are unique and not linked to the other classes. Identity is taken into account when figuring out what classes the race can be.

Q: Why are Nightborne Horde and Void Elves Alliance?
A: All Allied Races have introductory quests that answer these questions.

Q: What does the Legion ending mean for the demon hunter class?
A: Demon hunters are ultimately night elves and blood elves. They will continue on protecting the world that Illidan loves. One day demons might return!

Q: Are the continents completely split between the factions?
A: Silvermoon is still Horde and Azuremyst is still Alliance. They are the lingering zones for their factions on these continents.

Q: When will worgens/goblins get updated?
A: Not in 8.0 but they are actively being worked on. Animations for Goblins are fine but they need visual updates. Male worgen are decent, but females need to be reworked.

Q: Rewards for Opting into World PVP?
A: Don't want to pressure players into opting in. The exact values aren't finalized yet.

Q: Will the character slots per realm increase?
A: Yes, 6 new slots per realm.

Q: Cross realm trading?
A: Figure out a way to do it without economy issues.

Q: When is beta?
A: Opt in at the website.