Shadowlands Developer Interview - Ion Hazzikostas

Shadowlands Developer Interview - Ion Hazzikostas
Zoltan sat down with Ion Hazzikostas to talk about Shadowlands!



Lore
  • This is the real Jailer. What we saw at Blizzcon was a silhouette of the Jailer that wasn't final.
  • We'll learn some about the history of the Arbiter and Jailer, the rulers, and what forces shaped the Shadowlands.
  • There are parallels between the Titans that rule Azeroth and the Pantheon of death that rules the Shadowlands.

Pre-Expansion Patch
  • The current plan is to tell the story of what happened to all of the Undead after the Helm of the Lich King. Main experience will be in Northrend and Icecrown.
  • Fight the way to the center of what happened to save our world. Bolvar and Death Knights will mobilize alongside the Horde and Alliance.
  • There will be a few one time story moments, time to resolve some of the threads, such as Nathanos.
  • There will be some re-playable outdoor content to help people coming back to gear up and get ready for Shadowlands.

More Lore
  • The team is generally planning two expansions in advance. Not a super detailed plan, but a higher level plan.
  • Bwonsamdi was really loved by players, so the team is happy to incorporate him into Shadowlands.
  • The Tyrande scenario is a piece of an endgame quest line, not the introduction.
  • Tyrande will be important in Shadowlands, has a connection to Ardenweald, her story is far from over.

Shadowlands Launch
  • The window given for launch at BlizzCon was just 2020, nothing has changed there.
  • Everyone can see development moving along.
  • The team will announce an exact release date when they are confident the expansion quality will be where it needs to be.

Covenants
  • Covenant Abilities will be a gameplay choice. It's part of playing a RPG.
  • As you go through each zone, you'll get to sample each Covenant's ability and aesthetic.
  • The team is going to use all of the aspects of Covenants to create packages with no one best choice.
  • The team has heard the feedback on the cost of changing Azerite armor. It was supposed to be expensive to discourage people from doing it often.
  • Soulbinds can be used everywhere.
  • Upon joining, you'll have access to two Soulbinds that you'll know from questing. You'll unlock a third by doing your Covenant campaign questline.
  • You can swap Soulbinds when you go back to your Covenant's sanctum.

Torghast
  • The team is still tuning things. You might get one legendary item every 2-3 weeks. Probably similar to the rate you could acquire Legendary items in Legion, but not as random.
  • The team can't let you do 20 Torghast runs a day and get rewards from all of them, but they want to let players have the ability to experience Torghast whenever you want.

Leveling
  • Layering will be used as needed at launch.
  • The new Horde starting zone should be on Alpha in the next few weeks.
  • The team did the Alliance zone first so that they could fix bugs and respond to feedback before they build the Horde version.
  • The team wants leveling to be faster than it is today. Having to do 120 levels feels like an impossible barrier for new players.
  • Seven hours to level is probably too fast, but powerlevelers who are trying to do it as fast as possible are an outlier. Leveling speed hasn't been tuned on Alpha.
  • The team is still figuring out how Shadowlands flying will work for new players that are leveling through Battle for Azeroth.
  • The team is still listening to feedback on how to handle flying moving forward.

Dungeons and Raids
  • The team will continue with Seasonal Affixes, so Shadowlands Season 1 will have one. It hasn't been designed yet.
  • There might be some balance adjustments to existing affixes, or replace a couple if they have better ideas.
  • The team wants to make all of the dungeons playable on Mythic to understand what mechanics they can layer on top of them.
  • Legendary items will use the hardcore Maw set.

Customization
  • The additional customization that is being added in Shadowlands was overdue.
  • Many of the Allied Races already had more customization, so the team will come back to them at some point for more customizations.
  • Character customization will never be over, it's an ongoing project.
  • The focus is Covenant armor and sets that match the raid's team, but the team wants to return to class themed sets later in Shadowlands.
  • The team is open to more Allied Races, but there are no plans for any in Shadowlands.
  • There are no plans for blue eyes on Blood Elves.
  • You can apply any texture to any model, that doesn't mean it'll be a customization that you can get.
  • Character customizations will be on Alpha in the coming weeks, and then you'll be able to see what options are actually planned.

PvP
  • PvP vendors are back, Conquest and Honor as well.
  • No new battlegrounds planned for launch, potentially a new arena.
  • Battlegrounds can be added in patches.
  • High end PvP accomplishments demonstrate what you did on that class. There aren't plans to make PvP rewards account wide right now. The team will probably revisit this decision and see if it still makes sense and accomplishes what they want, especially with Mythic rewards being account wide.

Endgame
  • The team will announce more about endgame as the Alpha cap gets to 60.
  • There will still be world quests, no more Emissaries. Covenant calling gives you world objectives with more variety than do X world quests.
  • Epic Covenant campaign that spans multiple weeks, unlocks Soulbind, tells story of Covenant.
  • Maw and Torghast progression.
  • Level up Covenant sanctum as a longer term goal. Get Anima and Souls to power it back up.
  • The Maw will open in the Alpha in a few weeks.
  • Shadowlands will take you to the Maw as soon as the expansion starts. You'll go back in a few times while leveling, rescuing souls that are important.
  • The Maw will be a max level zone, with the Eye of the Jailer mechanic.

Controller Settings
  • There are no current plans to bring WoW to consoles.
  • The controller settings were added to help improve accessibility.

Misc
  • The team likes updating the old world, but they have to maintain a balance between improving old areas and creating new ones.
  • There are no plans to overhaul Stormwind and Orgrimmar right now.

Classic
  • The team is working on figuring out what will come next.
  • Burning Crusade is a logical option.
This article was originally published in forum thread: Shadowlands Developer Interview - Ion Hazzikostas started by chaud View original post
Published on 2020-04-28 04:52 PM
184 Comments
Comments 183 Comments
  1. Cosmic Janitor's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Darknessvamp View Post
    So Blizzcon trailer contained false advertising then? Hoo boy...



    Oh hell not again. Someone end this cycle of suffering already. Also when did the Titans rule Azeroth? I thought they were more like distanced gardeners?
    They are more like midwives and doctors that set up an incubator for a preemie.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Healing Rain View Post
    So the devs see nothing wrong in removing 70 levels from the game and making wait years, and pay, to get them back?
    Unlike you they realize that the number means absolutely nothing.
  1. AwkwardSquirtle's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Darknessvamp View Post
    So Blizzcon trailer contained false advertising then? Hoo boy...
    Pffft.

    Remember when they said there'd be a dance studio and mounted combat? Changing a brand new character's appearance is nothing.
  1. Darknessvamp's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Redroniksre View Post
    What was the false advertising? The Jailor model? That is not false advertising.
    So blatantly using one model to advertise a major character in a new product and as a focus to generate sales from only to later admit they're using something else instead after taking money isn't false advertising? Seems a bit misleading to me especially when people have to directly ask for confirmation after the fact.

    Quote Originally Posted by Haidaes View Post
    They are more like midwives and doctors that set up an incubator for a preemie.
    That is a more accurate description, I just don't understand where Ion got the impression of Rulers.

    Quote Originally Posted by AwkwardSquirtle View Post
    Pffft.

    Remember when they said there'd be a dance studio and mounted combat? Changing a brand new character's appearance is nothing.
    True, I doubt anything will come from it but I'm just amazed that they're admitting to it before the game is even out unlike every other time they drop or change something and it isn't find out until after release.
  1. Great Destiny Man's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Haidaes View Post
    Unlike you they realize that the number means absolutely nothing.
    Blizzard are using witchcraft to steal all my memories and nostalgia associated with those levels! This will leave me a barren husk of a man that finds no joy in anything anymore, the world is doomed I tells ya.
  1. La's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Darknessvamp View Post
    So blatantly using one model to advertise a major character in a new product and as a focus to generate sales from only to later admit they're using something else instead after taking money isn't false advertising? Seems a bit misleading to me especially when people have to directly ask for confirmation after the fact.
    I mean if someone buys a product because of a mysterious figure that you can't even see the look of then you're already kind of dense. That might be a different story if it had some already well known lore figure in it.
  1. Feanorgandalf's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Healing Rain View Post
    So the devs see nothing wrong in removing 70 levels from the game and making wait years, and pay, to get them back?
    So 2-3 digits under your character image mean everything. There is literally no difference here aside from a number aesthetic.
  1. letgoit's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Darknessvamp View Post
    So blatantly using one model to advertise a major character in a new product and as a focus to generate sales from only to later admit they're using something else instead after taking money isn't false advertising? Seems a bit misleading to me especially when people have to directly ask for confirmation after the fact.
    What is it like to be this miserably autistic? It was a work in progress. The Jailer's brief silhouette wasn't a "focus to generate sales." You are literally insane.
  1. Cosmic Janitor's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Darknessvamp View Post
    That is a more accurate description, I just don't understand where Ion got the impression of Rulers.
    I mean are you honestly surprised?
  1. IIamaKing's Avatar
    Are kids really calling a model swap "false advertising"?
  1. Cosmic Janitor's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Great Destiny Man View Post
    Blizzard are using witchcraft to steal all my memories and nostalgia associated with those levels! This will leave me a barren husk of a man that finds no joy in anything anymore, the world is doomed I tells ya.
    We should sue them for emotional abuse!
  1. oldgeezer's Avatar
    Did I miss what happens to the Heart of Azeroth? VT when replaced by a green? And the big ass sword in Silithus?
  1. kamuimac's Avatar
    leveling to 120 takes to long

    and who tuned it this way back in 7.3.5 ? f... blizzard i hate Ion sometimes so much

    first they break leveling pace and now they steal 60 levels from players because of their own f..ck up .
  1. Davryn's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by kamuimac View Post
    leveling to 120 takes to long

    and who tuned it this way back in 7.3.5 ? f... blizzard i hate Ion sometimes so much

    first they break leveling pace and now they steal 60 levels from players because of their own f..ck up .
    How do you steal an arbitrary number?
  1. glowpipe's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by kamuimac View Post
    leveling to 120 takes to long

    and who tuned it this way back in 7.3.5 ? f... blizzard i hate Ion sometimes so much

    first they break leveling pace and now they steal 60 levels from players because of their own f..ck up .
    "steal"... you really need to learn what a level squish entails. Litteraly nothing has changed. When the pre-patch hits and you are taken to lvl 50. You are still max level. You don't have to level again to be able to do the things you currently could do the day before the pre-patch. You are max level and if you see 120 or 50, it has no impact what so ever
  1. kaintk's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Healing Rain View Post
    So the devs see nothing wrong in removing 70 levels from the game and making wait years, and pay, to get them back?
    they dont remove it, they squish it...
  1. Redroniksre's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Darknessvamp View Post
    So blatantly using one model to advertise a major character in a new product and as a focus to generate sales from only to later admit they're using something else instead after taking money isn't false advertising? Seems a bit misleading to me especially when people have to directly ask for confirmation after the fact.
    It's not remotely false advertising. Things change during development, and nobody is going to be purchasing the game because a shadowy figure in a trailer looked cool.
  1. Kiivar86's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Darknessvamp View Post
    So blatantly using one model to advertise a major character in a new product and as a focus to generate sales from only to later admit they're using something else instead after taking money isn't false advertising? Seems a bit misleading to me especially when people have to directly ask for confirmation after the fact.
    Things are very clearly in a work-in-progress state, subject to change, etc etc.

    Seriously though if you're basing your purchase on a single model, that's hilarious.
  1. Wretchedmist's Avatar
    With regards to flying, please just let players have access to flight after a couple of months into the expansion. Once players are max level and are getting into the "end-game" content, that's when flying becomes important. In BfA, flying didn't unlock for a long, long time, which made things a giant pain in the ass when it came to doing daily quests, grinding AP, grinding gold, and doing whatever in general. I totally understand "the experience" of leveling up and discovery in the new content. That being said, flight needs to unlock at some point during the first raid tier, perhaps when mythic unlocks for the first time. That would be great.
  1. Alcsaar's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Healing Rain View Post
    So the devs see nothing wrong in removing 70 levels from the game and making wait years, and pay, to get them back?
    Is this really what idiots are concerned about? Its a number. A meaningless number used to represent a meaningless power level. It doesn't matter if the max is 60 or 300 or 40 or 1000.

    Smaller numbers are more inviting to new players and over all are easier to comprehend. If my friends are trying to get me to play a game and they're level 150 all I see is damn that's a lot of levels ahead of me. That's disheartening and demotivating regardless of how long it actually takes to get those levels.
  1. tylenol's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by kamuimac View Post
    leveling to 120 takes to long

    and who tuned it this way back in 7.3.5 ? f... blizzard i hate Ion sometimes so much

    first they break leveling pace and now they steal 60 levels from players because of their own f..ck up .
    Stealing levels is bs, not even sure what you are getting at, it's the same as being whatever the cap would've been if they didn't squish the level in SL, 130? they did sort of BS about the stat squish as in the first footage we saw of the game new characters had like 100 something thousand HP but whatever, I'm sure by the end of SL everyone will have hundreds of thousands of HP and stats will be like they are now.

    The leveling process has sucked for me since they added scaling/changed heirlooms, I get that people for whatever stupid reason didn't like going into a zone and 1 shotting every mob, why they cared about that I don't know since the goal of people who have leveled countless times was to get it done as quick as possible and the couple characters I leveled since BfA came out has been a boring slog, I guess I was the only person who enjoyed throwing on full heirlooms and 1 shotting mobs till I got to the latest expansion
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