The guiding philosophy in the development of Blizzard’s throw-back World of Warcraft spinoff, WoW Classic, can be summed up by the hashtag first popularised by the more die-hard members of the fan community: #NoChanges. WoW Classic was to provide an unsullied retro experience of the world’s most tenured MMO, and for the most part it succeeded.
Bar a few minor changes, such as incorporating a clock into the UI right from the start (likely to prevent players suddenly realising they’ve missed several days of work), Classic retained the original experience, warts and all. However, in a recent post, Blizzard has laid out a slightly updated design philosophy, explaining why some changes are necessary to provide the best possible experience. Let’s break down the main changes.
Naxxramas Buff
The original 2008 redesign of Naxxramas was supposed to be easier than the 2006 original, but Blizzard say it overshot the mark and made it much too easy. There was a long wait until Ulduar, and Naxxramas had been flogged into meaty chunks long before by even casual raiders. As such, Blizzard will be upping both the health and damage of monsters and bosses in the sprawling raid.
Keep Heroic Dungeons Relevant
Veterans of the original WotLK might recall that Heroic dungeons became extremely easy mid-way into the expansion, and became seen as a nuisance that you had to suffer through to get your daily Emblems. Blizzard is looking to change that, making sure that the heroic dungeons stay challenging and keep dropping valuable loot – though vague on the details right now, Blizzard is exploring plans to add challenges as the expansion continues.
Update Itemisation and Raid Lock Systems
Wrath of the Lich King saw numerous overhauls and adjustments to how Emblems and raid lock-outs worked, only settling on a consistent model from Trial of the Crusader onwards. To provide a more consistent experience Blizzard is instituting this final model from the very start of the game, so that raid lockouts and Emblems function the same way for every content drop.
If you’ve had enough of thinking about past expansions, consider a future one with our article on the Dragonflight expansion pre-purchase editions.
