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  1. #1
    Fluffy Kitten Stoy's Avatar
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    WoW Classic Summit Fan Site Interviews

    WoW Classic Launches August 27th, Beta May 15th

    Pre-order the World of Warcraft 15th Anniversary Collector’s Edition

    World of Warcraft 15th Anniversary In-Game Rewards

    Tips Out Interview with John Hight and Omar Gonzalez
    Tips Out sat down with John Hight and Omar Gonzalez on Classic.


    • The beta will only have a small number of players, but there will also be the stress test weekend in which larger pools of players can log in.
    • A new technology called Layering will be used to smooth the launch. It allows them to have multiple versions of each of the two continents running as needed. They are not cross realm and are only used so that an entire realm population isn't competing in one area at a time and to lessen login ques. The only way you can shift into a different layer is through party invites from others on your server who are in a different layer.
    • The technology tries to sticky you to a layer so that you see familiar names often. It also only exists to control population at launch and will not continue once numbers are stable.
    • The Classic servers will have new names to avoid confusion.
    • They don't have an exact server number yet, but are flexible.
    • In-game items from the Collector's Edition will be for retail only. They want to preserve Classic as it was.
    • If you have the original Collector's Edition of Vanilla WoW on your account, you can re-access the pet rewards, but they are not re-releasing them to those who don't.
    • There will not be tokens in classic WoW, but they will support realm transfer in Classic through the current in game service structure.
    • They are going to take community feedback and how the community is progressing to figure out when to proceed with the content phases.
    • Cross-realm PvP battlegrounds are included when they launch in Phase 3.
    • You cannot add a person of the opposing faction to your B.Net friend's list by right clicking them in-game in Classic.
    • If Classic is successful and the community wants it, other classic expansions could be on the table.


    Forbes Interview with J. Allen Brack
    Forbes sat down with J. Allen Brack to discuss Blizzard as a company and what is coming.


    • Blizzard Changes and Leadership
      • J. Allen Brack wants fans to know that the company has more in development than at any point in its history and their commitment to quality remains.
      • Mike Morhaime stayed on in an advisory role to Brack and told him all the things he was doing wrong.
      • They want the company to outlive all of them, and so it is only natural that at some point other people have to take over.
      • Mike Morhaime continues to be very supportive of J. Allen Brack and the company.
      • J. Allen Brack says the fact that two veteran Blizzard developers are now leading Blizzard should ease concerns that development has been overwhelmed by financial concerns in recent years.
      • Their core mission of creating amazing games for players with a commitment to quality has not changed with leadership.
    • Future Projects and Mobile
      • There are core games in development for PC and console in addition to mobile initiatives.
      • Skepticism of releasing games outside of PC has also occurred for titles such as Diablo III. It stems from people having pride in what their gaming platform is because they feel like the best games are on that particular platform.
      • The desire to have a Blizzard-quality mobile experience has continued to increase in both Blizzard and fan's minds depending on age and how long you've had a mobile phone.
      • Hearthstone on mobile was step one and this is step two. There will be other steps because they believe in mobile as a platform for gaming in the future.
      • This does not mean that they don't believe in console gaming and PC gaming as a platform for the future. They do.
      • Blizzard has been partnered with NetEase in China for almost 10 years, starting with World of Warcraft. They picked NetEase because the company is passionate for Blizzard IPs and shares the development-type culture. Diablo Immortal will be a Blizzard game and will use Blizzard values in monetization.
      • There is a team of developers helping NetEase with the game. It's a partnership. They are not just having NetEase develop it in China and slapping the Blizzard name on it.
      • Out-of-house outsourcing is not a strategic priority for Blizzard, but they have utilized it for other games such as StarCraft: Remastered.
      • Blizzard's goal is to creature something great, whether it's with a current IP or an entirely new one.
      • Something to work on is figuring out the challenges of having many different kinds of games in development to make intelligent decisions on the next steps for each project.


    DenofGeek Impressions and Interview
    DenofGeek also got to attend the Classic Event and shared their impressions along with some information from Brian Birmingham, Lead Software Engineer, and Patrick Dawson, Production Director.

    • The Blood Plague bug from Zul'Gurub has been brought up by the team and it would be interesting and funny to bring it back when Zul'Gurub launches in Phase 4.
    • The original unarmored mounts from Classic were discussed, but ultimately it was decided not to bring them back in Classic because they didn't want to give players the incentive to rush through the leveling experience.
    • In game reporting will be in the game, but there will be a human element to it and not just automatic bans based on an algorithm.
    • The team felt it was important to make it easy to report abusive players, but understand the drawbacks of this system. If you feel you have been actioned inappropriately, you can reach out to customer service.
    • When asked if new level 60 content after Naxxramas could be developed, such as new 40 man raids, the team said anything is on the table and this is a love letter to fans. If the fans desire it, it will be considered. There are no plans as of now, but that bridge will be crossed when they get there. (*Note that in the GameReactor Interview, Ion says new content is out of the question for Classic)


    USGamer Interview
    USGamer also interviewed Brian Birmingham and Patrick Dawson. They had a small amount of new information.

    • They start from Patch 1.12 because it was the most complete version of the game. Bugs that are not gameplay affecting exploits are back in the game. There's no reason to take UI conveniences out and make things inconvenient just for the sake of inconvenience as long as they're capturing those core gameplay features: spells and abilities, old quests, and that aesthetic feel of the game.
    • The developers also stated that there are no plans for a content loop, with the Classic reverting to the first content phase after some time at the sixth phase. What happens after Naxxramas is unknown.


    GameReactor WoW Classic Interview
    GameReactor also got to ask a few questions while at the WoW Summit.

    • Ion Hazzikostas and Calia Shie both explained how changes to the overall concept and the addition of new content were out of the question since once altered that would make a Classic server something else entirely. (*Note that the DenofGeek interview says new content could be possible if the fans want it.)

  2. #2
    I miss the days before Activision merger and Michael Morhaime was still CEO, the golden years of Blizzard

  3. #3
    Old God Kathranis's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by cretos87 View Post
    I miss the days before Activision merger and Michael Morhaime was still CEO, the golden years of Blizzard
    I know, right? Remember when they were owned by Cendant?

  4. #4
    Dreadlord Bethrezen's Avatar
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    I miss the days before Cataclysm+ of WoW.
    Last edited by Bethrezen; 2019-05-15 at 01:31 PM.

  5. #5
    Scarab Lord Triggered Fridgekin's Avatar
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    If Classic is successful and the community wants it, other classic expansions could be on the table.
    This has been the question I've been waiting to hear an answer to for some time. While I don't want them to extend their hand and have their arm torn off I hope that this will allow them to gracefully extend these classic experiences in to TBC and WotLK. I'm not crazy about vanilla but if they were to bring out a TBC server then that would be incredible.

  6. #6
    Den of Geek interview:
    When asked if new level 60 content after Naxxramas could be developed, such as new 40 man raids, the team said anything is on the table and this is a love letter to fans. If the fans desire it, it will be considered. There are no plans as of now, but that bridge will be crossed when they get there.

    GameReactor interview:
    Ion Hazzikostas and Calia Shie both explained how changes to the overall concept and the addition of new content were out of the question since once altered that would make a Classic server something else entirely.


    Small indy company. I would assume they don't talk to each other in there. No wonder WoW is now a massive cluster*** if their own developer can't publicly agree towards each other. Amazing !

  7. #7
    Scarab Lord Vynestra's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Azgarde View Post
    Den of Geek interview:
    When asked if new level 60 content after Naxxramas could be developed, such as new 40 man raids, the team said anything is on the table and this is a love letter to fans. If the fans desire it, it will be considered. There are no plans as of now, but that bridge will be crossed when they get there.

    GameReactor interview:
    Ion Hazzikostas and Calia Shie both explained how changes to the overall concept and the addition of new content were out of the question since once altered that would make a Classic server something else entirely.


    Small indy company. I would assume they don't talk to each other in there. No wonder WoW is now a massive cluster*** if their own developer can't publicly agree towards each other. Amazing !
    I think new content might be possible on a separate server - classic would be classic, but classic + or some shit could happen if it were so insanely and wildly popular.

    I highly doubt it'd be that popular though to create an entire development team to create -new- content for classic. If it were a osrs vs rs3 situation like so many have assumed itll be (It won't, pls stop comparing the two, rs3 was wildly unpopular, classic wasn't even peak wow popularity) then they'd prob move devs from the wow team to the "classic +" or whatever they'd call it.

    But once again, highly doubt that bridge gets crossed.

    We'll know within 30-60 days of launch what we're looking at w/ classic.

  8. #8
    very good decision about unarmored mounts.

    no need to rush for anyone now

  9. #9
    The Patient Kawlisse's Avatar
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    ''Cross-realm PvP battlegrounds are included when they launch in Phase 3.''


    Really ???? thats not classic screw cross realm crap !!!

  10. #10
    If you have the original Collector's Edition of Vanilla WoW on your account, you can re-access the pet rewards, but they are not re-releasing them to those who don't.
    Mistake.

    If people want these rewards, why can't they be accessible?

    There are dedicated pet collectors who'd love these rewards. You were able to get old collector's edition rewards a few months ago when Blizzard had an old game sale...so why can't they bring them back for the 15th anniversary? It's dumb.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Kawlisse View Post
    ''Cross-realm PvP battlegrounds are included when they launch in Phase 3.''


    Really ???? thats not classic screw cross realm crap !!!
    Hate to say it but cross realm battlegrounds get introduced in patch 1.12 so yeah its classic.

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Kawlisse View Post
    ''Cross-realm PvP battlegrounds are included when they launch in Phase 3.''


    Really ???? thats not classic screw cross realm crap !!!
    This was in vanilla, so don't cry, just cuz you don't like it.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Kawlisse View Post
    ''Cross-realm PvP battlegrounds are included when they launch in Phase 3.''


    Really ???? thats not classic screw cross realm crap !!!
    Your ignorance is showing

  14. #14
    The Unstoppable Force Ielenia's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by FanaticDreamer View Post
    Mistake.

    If people want these rewards, why can't they be accessible?

    There are dedicated pet collectors who'd love these rewards.
    Those pets would not go to your main WoW characters, but to your Classic WoW characters. Those pets won't show in your pet collection tab on the main WoW game.

    It's highly unlikely pet collectors would be playing Classic WoW to collect pets.
    "Torturing someone is not an evil thing to do if it is done for good reasons" by Varodoc
    "You sit in OG/SW waiting on a Mythic+ queue" by Altmer <- Oh, the pearls in this forum...
    "They sort of did this Dragonriding, which ushered in the Dracthyr race." by Teriz <- the BS some people reach for their narratives...

  15. #15
    Reforged Gone Wrong The Stormbringer's Avatar
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    Wait wait wait. Original unarmored mounts are not available? Do they mean we don't get mounts at level 40? ONLY LEVEL 60? WHAAAAAAAT.

    Whelp, if that's the case, I guess I'm playing Druid.

  16. #16
    The Unstoppable Force Ielenia's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Stormbringer View Post
    Wait wait wait. Original unarmored mounts are not available? Do they mean we don't get mounts at level 40? ONLY LEVEL 60? WHAAAAAAAT.

    Whelp, if that's the case, I guess I'm playing Druid.
    No, he's talking about the original mounts that aren't available anymore. Here's a list.
    "Torturing someone is not an evil thing to do if it is done for good reasons" by Varodoc
    "You sit in OG/SW waiting on a Mythic+ queue" by Altmer <- Oh, the pearls in this forum...
    "They sort of did this Dragonriding, which ushered in the Dracthyr race." by Teriz <- the BS some people reach for their narratives...

  17. #17
    Reforged Gone Wrong The Stormbringer's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by kamuimac View Post
    very good decision about unarmored mounts.

    no need to rush for anyone now
    I seriously hope this is not what I think it means. T_T I like Classic and look forward to the more slow-paced, relaxing gameplay, but sixty levels without a mount?

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Ielenia View Post
    No, he's talking about the original mounts that aren't available anymore. Here's a list.
    Oh. Oohhh. Well damn, that kinda still sucks. Those mounts were really cool.
    Last edited by The Stormbringer; 2019-05-15 at 02:57 PM.

  18. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by FanaticDreamer View Post
    Mistake.

    If people want these rewards, why can't they be accessible?

    There are dedicated pet collectors who'd love these rewards. You were able to get old collector's edition rewards a few months ago when Blizzard had an old game sale...so why can't they bring them back for the 15th anniversary? It's dumb.
    Because they were the ORIGINAL Collector's Edition items. In fact, for the longest time, you only got to have a single one of them on each character.

    Making them available again -- by any other way than buying the original CE -- would just be a massive slap in the face to fans to picked the original CE up. I'm one of them, and I had to jump through a *lot* of hoops to secure mine when the game first launched. I also managed to score a Mini-Tyrael from a contest I'd entered when they were coming out, and I would be legit pissed if they just threw it up on the cash-shop.

    I think, if Blizzard were to make them available in some other capacity, they would have to be willing to say "Okay, we're going to make EVERYTHING in the game available in some capacity, no more "retired" items anymore".

    Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I would be upset about losing exclusivity on some things, but probably excited to be able to get other things (ie. some of the MoP Challenge Mode sets of Legion Mage Tower appearances, or past PvP mounts and Elite sets).

    The thing is, Blizzard would have to be incredibly consistent, because that would be setting a pretty wild precedent. It's Blizzard's call to make, but the important thing is they could *NEVER* double-back on that commitment. So, it's pretty unlikely to ever gain any traction.

  19. #19
    Reforged Gone Wrong The Stormbringer's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by FanaticDreamer View Post
    Mistake.

    If people want these rewards, why can't they be accessible?

    There are dedicated pet collectors who'd love these rewards. You were able to get old collector's edition rewards a few months ago when Blizzard had an old game sale...so why can't they bring them back for the 15th anniversary? It's dumb.
    I'm a little sad about this to. I was really hoping it'd come with the old CE rewards. I still bought it for that sweet statue, though.

  20. #20
    Legendary! Ealyssa's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by cretos87 View Post
    I miss the days before Activision merger and Michael Morhaime was still CEO, the golden years of Blizzard
    Yeah right ? The good old days when they were owned by Vivendi...
    Quote Originally Posted by primalmatter View Post
    nazi is not the abbreviation of national socialism....
    When googling 4 letters is asking too much fact-checking.

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