Developer Q&A with Ion Hazzikostas - Battle for Azeroth
Ion Hazzikostas is back to talk about Battle for Azeroth!


Zandalari Trolls
  • The story of BfA details Zandalari Paladins and this arc could lead to Zandalari Paladins. We have to wait and see.
  • Zandalari Trolls won't be unlocked at the release of Battle for Azeroth, it is part of the first story arc.
  • Zandalari trolls were made slightly taller in the Alpha recently.

Allied Races
  • Allied Races will always come out in pairs for now, but in the long run they may not come out for both factions at the same time.
  • Mag'har Orcs - Mag'har means uncorrupted, not necessarily the survivors from Outland.
  • Class balance on factions is more linked to lore than equality.
  • Kul Tiran Humans were mentioned as an Allied Race.
  • As new Allied Races are added, more character slots will be added.
  • Allied Races will continue to get more customization options if they are lacking compared to other races.

Non Allied Races
  • More customization options for non-Allied races are not planned on the near horizon.
  • There is no immediate plan to give existing races Heritage Armor like Allied Races, but it is a good idea that could happen in the future.
  • Ion mentioned Racial Questlines for unlocking existing race Heritage Armor, but it's just a thought.

Dev Communication
  • Data and screenshots help get a point across when communicating with devs.
  • Rational feedback is more effective when communicating with devs over emotional feedback.
  • Personal feedback is more effective than trying to speak for everyone.
  • The platform to use for feedback depends on what the feedback is. (Forums for lists, twitter for pics)

Class Balance
  • They don't want to undo class pruning as much as wanting to add unique class abilities.
  • The team wants to double down on strengths rather than emphasize weaknesses.
  • Class envy is okay as long as it works both ways.
  • Adding more abilities every expansion isn't sustainable.
  • Giving classes new abilities usually involves giving them something that they need, and after awhile it leads to everyone feeling the same.
  • The team wants to do more with gameplay modification through external sources. This is what legendary items were trying to accomplish in Legion.
  • In Battle for Azeroth, Azerite Armor modifications are going to fill the new abilities gap.
  • Raids and Mythic + Dungeons should both test the strengths and weaknesses of classes.

Itemization
  • The team needs to do better at making primary stats stronger than secondary stats in BfA.
  • Item level should generally tell you if an item is an upgrade.
  • Items that are 20 or 25 item levels higher in Legion were sometimes not an upgrade, which is a bad thing.
  • You shouldn't have to run sims to find out of items are an upgrade.

Talents and Abilities
  • Some classes don't necessarily need the abilities from their artifact weapons.
  • If a talent choice is taken by everyone and mandatory, then it could shift to baseline or change it.
  • Legendary abilities that are getting added baseline to classes or as talents will stack with the legendary effect.
  • Switching talents between AoE and single target wasn't compelling and just felt like burning a tome.

Artifact Weapons
  • When 8.0 launches, the traits on artifact weapons will be disabled. The weapon and relics will stay, but not talents.
  • Battle for Azeroth will have traditional weapon drops including war glaives.

PvP
  • If CC is too limited, PvP turns into DPS races. It it's too much, it's frustrating.
  • The team believes teamwork comes into play when someone is locked down.
  • Useful feedback involves certain crowd control chains that can last too long.
  • Prestige rewards will still be available and earned from participation in PvP. The team doesn't want to keep adding a ton of rewards, as new players will feel like they can never earn them all. Cosmetic rewards from PvP is something the team wants to continue to build upon.
  • Something similar to the World Defense Channel could come back in some way as the faction war concept continues in BfA.

Personal Loot
  • Personal Loot is the desired loot rule moving forward.
  • Some people have kept using Master Loot to funnel set pieces to specific people, but set pieces are gone in Battle for Azeroth, so Personal Loot only is a good thing. It will help to balance things at the top end of the raid scene and split runs.

Mission Tables in BfA
  • A mission table system will be in BfA similar to Legion but less involved.
  • The mission table will not be used as a time gate.
  • War Resources will be a currency in BfA for the mission table.

Mythic +
  • The team is looking at bringing Tyrannical and Fortified down to the base level, with new Affixes at Mythic 10.
  • The Mythic+ UI will be improved.
  • The UI was based on the previous expansion challenge modes and doesn't make much sense for Mythic+.
  • New affixes are being experimented on. The team is not happy with the datamined ones.

Professions
  • The team is changing the way the universal profession skill system works. It was always a bit awkward, as the team wanted people to be able to catch up for the latest expansion. Going back to craft useless gear wasn't great.
  • There are expansion themed categories for each profession, so you can go back and level those up if you want to craft that old gear.
  • The team wants crafted gear to be relevant, but there is nothing to announce on it at the moment.

Alts
  • BfA will be similar to Legion in terms of alt-friendliness.
  • If you are looking to get varied content from alts, the team has taken a number of steps to deliver that.
  • If you are looking for more alts to farm things, that is less of what the team is trying to prioritize.
  • There were issues with alts early in Legion, but things are closer to okay now.
  • The Heart of Azeroth catch up process for Azerite will work passively in the background, similar to Artifact Knowledge.

Guilds
  • Guilds will have all the same features as the new WoW Communities.
  • Communities are smaller commitments than guilds. They are meant to organize pugs or for players that aren't in the same guild.

Leveling Experience
  • Having two separate continents for Horde and Alliance is not much different than previous expansions.
  • There are still neutral areas with quests for both factions.
  • A unique trait of BfA is once level cap is reached, these faction specific zones become zones that are utilized by both factions.
This article was originally published in forum thread: Developer Q&A with Ion Hazzikostas - Battle for Azeroth started by chaud View original post
Comments 196 Comments
  1. Bathory's Avatar
    Hoping for some better questions this time around!
  1. Stacie's Avatar
    Not holding hopes high for this one hope its not filled with stuff we already know from streams/data-mining.
  1. Sigxy's Avatar
    "More customization options for non-Allied races are not planned on the near horizon."

    Welp, even though I dislike the Void Elves, kinda hoped some of their beards would carry over to Blood Elves. :<
  1. Venziir's Avatar
    So, he both confirmed Kul Tiras and that the Mag'har orcs are the WoD orcs. What did he say about zandalari paladins exactly?
  1. Sammonoske's Avatar
    Allied Race Q&A. Move along.
  1. beanman12345's Avatar
    jeez it takes 5 minutes to ask twitter or battle.net feedback?
  1. Saberstrike's Avatar
    Ion sure loves rambling for minutes at a time over things that warrant a simple "We'd like to do it but we don't know when. Next question."
  1. TheWhiteFang's Avatar
    BFA Q&A and yet people are spamming about Classic in Twitch chat, what are people even expecting?
  1. Whatever Dude's Avatar
    This Q&A is godawful.
  1. Ophenia's Avatar
    Azerite Armor modifications are going to fill the new abilities gap.
    How ? Tier 1, 2 and 3 are 100% bullshit-y passive procs or enhancements you don't even care about except when you're looking at your recount

    The team wants item level to matter a lot more in BfA than secondary stats.
    Clear enough, they continue with their philosophy of "this item is higher, i equip it without even looking at it". Damn, I hate this, for people like me who likes itemization and choosing your stuff, that's the killing blow.
  1. Lucetia's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Saberstrike View Post
    Ion sure loves rambling for minutes at a time over things that warrant a simple "We'd like to do it but we don't know when. Next question."
    He does it on purpose. More time spent on a question = less questions over all.
  1. Whatever Dude's Avatar
    Not to mention Lore coming in every single time to restate what Ion says. Professional time wasting right there.
  1. Sett's Avatar
    The story of BfA details Zandalari Paladins and this arc could lead to Zandalari Paladins. We have to wait and see.

    Hopefully a no since they gave time to address why they couldn't in that quest.
  1. Dadwen's Avatar
    Adding more abilities every expansion isn't sustainable.
    Now each expansion you get to look forward to what you lose fun fun...
  1. mmocf459769c4d's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Venziir View Post
    So, he both confirmed Kul Tiras and that the Mag'har orcs are the WoD orcs. What did he say about zandalari paladins exactly?
    That they might be Paladins when BfA comes we'll have to wait and see
  1. Venziir's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Surfy View Post
    That they might be Paladins when BfA comes we'll have to wait and see
    Yeah thanks, I refreshed a minute or two after posting this, and it popped up. Thanks though
  1. Tyrathius's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Surfy View Post
    That they might be Paladins when BfA comes we'll have to wait and see
    Wouldn't be surprised if that's referencing them losing their powers and the answer is still no.
  1. Whatever Dude's Avatar
    HURR DURR WHAT WEAPONS WILL U REPLACE ARTIFACTS WIT?!

    lmao
  1. mmocf459769c4d's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Tyrathius View Post
    Wouldn't be surprised if that's referencing them losing their powers and the answer is still no.
    That would be a huge slap in the face
  1. Nnyco's Avatar
    ye why add new customization by races we already got, lets add new races with 2-3 options instead

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