Do you think Classic will effect Expansion 9

[Khaza-R]

Simple thought experiment. Do you think the potential popularity of Classic WoW will affect the game direction of expansions to come. Of course this is a loaded subject. This could be everything to making leveling more difficult to re-arranging the loot structure. The ultimately question however, is do you think retail might try to emulate Vanilla again at some point?

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

9.0 is probably already in development on their features. So no, I don't think Classic will affect it at all.

Maybe once we get to 9.2 and 10.0.

[Traveler Voltin]

classic has its own team

[docterfreeze]

If classic overshadows retail then retail will become more like classic. Next expansion probably too soon to see any changes in that direction.

[Soon-TM]

Simple thought experiment. Do you think the potential popularity of Classic WoW will affect the game direction of expansions to come. Of course this is a loaded subject. This could be everything to making leveling more difficult to re-arranging the loot structure. The ultimately question however, is do you think retail might try to emulate Vanilla again at some point?

Highly unlikely. The proverbial cat is out of the bag on several aspects of the game (loot structure, class design, open world tuning, raid difficulties, etc.), and trying to Classic-ify modern WoW would only alienate its fans, without benefitting Classic fans in the slightest. If anything, having Classic covering their backs should allow Devs to be even more aggressive with their Diablo-ification of modern WoW.

[sam86]

yes, ppl who think that next exp is 'already in develop' are ignoring wow since 2004 it seems
they are 'in develop' as some concepts that can easily be scrapped and changed
classic popularity will effect, just how popular it will be is the question

[Cosmic Janitor]

If by some miracle, everyone quits their job and embraces all the soulless grinds of classic and stops playing v8.x, then I'm sure Blizzard will drop all pretense and implement the same grinds back into the game. The more likely scenario is that most people will play a bit and then get bored of it, hence the influence will be next to nothing. Should there be a surprise success in classic wow's rerelease even after a few months, then we might see some changes depending on the degree of that success.

[Schattenlied]

I don't think it will... I hope it will, but I don't think it will.

- - - Updated - - -

If by some miracle, everyone quits their job

You act like people with jobs didn't play and enjoy vanilla just fine back in the day... And even then, for people who were in school at the time, the average length of a school day at the time (in the US) was still 6.7 hours, plus homework.

If people managed to play and enjoy the game with jobs or while handling all their schoolwork back then there's no reason they wouldn't be able to do the same now.

[Vrinara]

I think if Classic has a good launch and has a decent life (As in they don't rush the damn content out within the next year, and it doesn't die within 6 mons) I would say yeah. Honestly Classic opens the doors for other expansions to get their own servers. A lot of people think this could save WoW.. I think those people are thinking a bit too highly over classic, but I have to say it might effect the expansion after 9.0.

[Kathranis]

Seeing little things that clearly excite Ion when he's giving interviews about Classic, I think it's probably impossible that they wouldn't take some influence from Classic, over time. There are certainly elements of the game that have been lost over the years, and now a lot of developers are fooling around and rediscovering those things.

However, I don't think it will affect major systems too much. It will probably be more along the lines of trying to recreate some of those feelings within modern systems. I could see them trying to incorporate Layering into the modern game, as it addresses a lot of issues players have with Sharding, though modern game mechanics have a higher bandwidth cost than Classic so it could be difficult to create continent-wide shards.

Some changes I could see them incorporate would be, for example, with the next expansion probably having a leveling overhaul (with a level squish -- I think this is becoming increasingly likely with how often they bring it up) I think they will look at Classic and see where they can adjust the pacing of combat and the overall speed of leveling and the acquisition of skills and talents. The feel of Classic won't be the only factor, but I think it also can't be ignored.

I could see them pushing back towards some of the more exciting elements of Classic leveling and exploration, which I think are things that could be incorporated into modern systems a bit better. For example, what if they altered the WQ reward structure so that instead of just dumping an ilvl upgrade in your bag after killing 6 things, they instead had WQs that would spawn a treasure chest in the back of a cave or the top of a tower, and fill it with elites that require light coordination from nearby players? Or what if they brought back sweepers as rare elite minibosses that spawn periodically?

Stuff like that would fit within the current structure of the game but would recreate some of those feelings.


That all being said, mostly I think they will be treated as two separate games that will appeal to different demographics that somewhat overlap. They can coexist and both be healthy if Blizzard learns the right lessons from both and applies them correctly. Modern doesn't need to be like Classic, but I think when developing 9.0 they really need to look back on the best and worst systems from the previous expansions and try to find the middle ground. They tend to swing wildly from pole to pole, but the right spot is always somewhere in the middle.

[Cosmic Janitor]

You act like people with jobs didn't play and enjoy vanilla just fine back in the day... And even then, for people who were in school at the time, the average length of a school day at the time (in the US) was still 6.7 hours, plus homework.

If people managed to play and enjoy the game with jobs or while handling all their schoolwork back then there's no reason they wouldn't be able to do the same now.

The wow playerbase has aged and majority of people back then that played wow, at least by my own experience was either still in school or uni at the time.

[Kyriani]

Simple thought experiment. Do you think the potential popularity of Classic WoW will affect the game direction of expansions to come. Of course this is a loaded subject. This could be everything to making leveling more difficult to re-arranging the loot structure. The ultimately question however, is do you think retail might try to emulate Vanilla again at some point?

I think Classic might influence some aspects of design for 9.0 since the recent interviews seems to indicate it's already something their looking at. With that said I don't think we'll see huge design influence until after Classic has been going for over a year and assuming it does very well. If Classic does do well in the long term, I can see Blizzard taking a lot of cues from it in future design.

[Schattenlied]

The wow playerbase has aged and majority of people back then that played wow, at least by my own experience was either still in school or uni at the time.

This statement literally does not detract in any way from my point. I already brought up the fact that the average school day + homework is roughly equal to the time most people spend at their job each day (8 hours).

If people managed to play and enjoy the game with jobs or while handling all their schoolwork back then (and they did) there's no reason they wouldn't be able to do the same now.

[TheramoreIsTheBomb]

They work on expansions years in advance.
WoD - 2013
Legion - 2014
BFA - 2016
___________ - 2018

[dunkl]

One thing I enjoyed about classics without even realizing I was enjoying it was the long adventure, the leisurely journey experience, and not knowing what was over the next hill or around that cave. 1-60 allowed for exploration, enjoyment of the landscapes, music and simply not knowing everything about where you were headed was always refreshing, and challenging. I wonder if they will make another 60 level (or even 20+ level) continents again, where there was no real rush or race, and your own intrigue and excitement moved your forward. Progressing was simply something that happened as you put one foot in front of the other, eager to venture onward when you got home from work, school, or on days off, and looked forward to picking up where you left off.

I guess that is more sandbox-like than nowadays, but I would welcome that exhilarating sense of being a tiny part of a huge world to explore. 10 levels at a time almost seems pointless, as you're not truly exploring, you're more like hitting beats and guided along the way. I miss the open world. I've always played a slower pace than most, I guess. I was a tauren druid and my best friend was a hunter. I was always s in bear form, thinking that it made me stronger, and he always had his cheetah named box (because the graphics were boxy, I think) and he traveled throughout the barrens with his cheetah box and his bear friend by his side. we often had to stop to make camp and make sure we fed box before he'd get tired or cranky or unloyal and run away! We collected blood gems around camp turajo, held off quillboars while following blue-leaf tubers, and got ambushed by sentinels when attempting to enter their forest surround the barrens. exploratory and naturally progressing (without actually progressing) stuff like that is what I like and miss about the game.

Current game I have no real issues with like most seem to, but I sure did enjoy the quest(s) that had us try to get to the opposite continent (Eastern Kingdoms) by swimming, and died a few times along the way, haha! And washed up on the shore, finally - and cautiously entreated the woods, where a giant tree spotted me and ran over to me, while I was trying to survive by running between his trunky feet not getting stomped on. That could only happen in a widespread and leisurely game experience like 1-60 allows, with not forceful guildlines. That would be something they could add/bring back into current game.

[Cosmic Janitor]

This statement literally does not detract in any way from my point. I already brought up the fact that the average school day + homework is roughly equal to the time most people spend at their job each day.

If people managed to play and enjoy the game with jobs or while handling all their schoolwork back then (and they did) there's no reason they wouldn't be able to do the same now.

Bollocks, adults usually have way more responsibilities than your average student. Half of the people from back then have probably already family themsleves and even more responsibilities. To pretend that the people that played classic at large could so like they did 15 years ago is just dishonest. For these delusions please visit the forum one below this.

[Syegfryed]

If it show to be a success they will prob bring some things from classic for sure

[MikeBogina]

They work on expansions years in advance.

But do they

[Nitros14]

God I hope so.

[Unlimited Power]

Based on their recent interviews it's quite possible, although frankly I'm very much hoping against it. Having played the original I've no desire to return to that style of gameplay.