WoW Forever updates!

I’ve been looking through everything Blizzard has shown about WoW: Forever over the last few days and honestly, I expected this to be another Classic experiment I’d forget about after a week. But the more I see, the more interested I am. The basic idea is pretty much what people have been asking for with Classic+ for years: keep the level cap at 60 and keep expanding Azeroth instead of moving everyone to the next expansion. And Blizzard seems to be going much further with it than I expected. The Skyborne are probably the weirdest addition The biggest new thing is obviously the Skyborne, the new playable race. They’re not locked to Alliance or Horde, which already makes them pretty unusual for WoW, and Blizzard has made an entirely new starting experience for them. They even have their own Druid forms. I’m still not completely sure how I feel about them. They look cool, but adding a completely new race to something that’s supposed to feel like old-school WoW could either work really well or feel completely out of place. Still, I’d rather see Blizzard try something new than just give us vanilla again. Skyborne screenshots: https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/news/24303862/world-of-warcraft-forever-whats-next-panel-recap The new zones are what really sold me This is probably the part I care about most. Forever isn’t just adding a few quests to existing areas. Blizzard is opening up completely new parts of Azeroth. There are apparently more than 1,000 new quests, new leveling areas and completely new level 60 content. That’s basically what I always imagined Classic+ being. Not Classic with faster leveling. Not Classic with a few different abilities. Actually taking the original world and asking: “What else could have existed here?” https://news.blizzard.com/en-us/article/24302093/chart-a-new-course-with-world-of-warcraft-forever Zephras Isle looks surprisingly good The Skyborne start in Zephras Isle, a completely new area. From what Blizzard has shown so far, it has this strange mix of classic Warcraft environments with a more elemental/Skywall kind of architecture. It definitely doesn’t look like something that was sitting unfinished on a hard drive since 2004, but at the same time it doesn’t look completely disconnected from Azeroth either. I’m really curious to actually walk around it rather than just seeing screenshots. Images and footage of Zephras Isle: https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/news/24303862/world-of-warcraft-forever-whats-next-panel-recap Mount Hyjal is finally becoming proper content This might actually be my favorite part. Mount Hyjal is becoming a proper level 60 endgame zone. Anyone who played old WoW probably remembers all those places that looked like they were supposed to lead somewhere but never really did. Hyjal always felt like one of them. And this is exactly the kind of thing I want Forever to do. Don’t invent another continent. Take the places that already exist in Azeroth and finally do something with them. https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/news/24303862/world-of-warcraft-forever-whats-next-panel-recap And then there’s Riverglades Riverglades is another completely new zone, aimed roughly at the mid-level part of the game. Blizzard says it contains more than 150 quests by itself. This is probably the stuff I’m most excited to explore. One of my favorite things about vanilla WoW was simply walking into a zone I had never seen before and having absolutely no idea what was there. If Forever can bring some of that feeling back, I’ll be happy. Riverglades screenshots: https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/news/24303862/world-of-warcraft-forever-whats-next-panel-recap There are a lot of new dungeons Blizzard has also revealed a bunch of new dungeon locations. Some of the names shown so far include Hall of Thanes, Ruins of Lordaeron, Dalaran, Alcaz Prison, Blackmaw Hold, The Drowned City and Krol’dok Stronghold. That’s probably where Forever has the most potential. There are so many places in vanilla WoW that were basically scenery, unfinished ideas or locations you could see but never properly explore. Now Blizzard can actually use them. Level 60 staying forever could be really interesting This is probably the most important part of the whole thing. The level cap stays at 60. So instead of: 60 → 70 → 80 → 90… Blizzard can just keep adding more stuff at level 60. In theory, that means old raids don’t immediately become completely pointless whenever new content comes out. Obviously we’ll have to see how they handle gear progression because this could become a complete mess after a few years. But I really like the idea. There are already new raids planned, including new level 60 content around Hyjal. Raid/dungeon information and screenshots: https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/news/24303862/world-of-warcraft-forever-whats-next-panel-recap It’s not completely stuck in 2004 either Forever keeps the Classic style, but Blizzard is making some changes. There are visual improvements, optional newer character models, controller support, talent changes and various quality-of-life additions. The world itself is getting little graphical touches too — better water, fog, lighting and environmental effects. Personally, that’s fine with me. I want old Azeroth. I don’t necessarily need every tree to have the same number of polygons it had in 2004. The thing I’m worried about The difficult part is going to be knowing when to stop. Right now the idea sounds great: Classic Azeroth. Level 60. New zones. New raids. New dungeons. New quests. Keep expanding the same world. But if Blizzard keeps adding modern systems and convenience features over the next few years, at what point does Forever just become Retail with a Classic skin? That’s probably my biggest concern. If they can keep the slower progression, class identity, dangerous world and social side of Classic while adding genuinely new content, I think this could be really good. And the beta starts now The WoW: Forever beta starts September 17, so we’re finally going to see actual players exploring all of this. That’s what I’m waiting for. Screenshots are one thing. I want to see what these zones actually feel like when you’re running around them, how the new quests compare with vanilla quests and whether the Skyborne actually feel like they belong in Azeroth. Beta details: https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/news/24301508 For now though, I’m way more interested in Forever than I expected to be. I’ve wanted Blizzard to do something like this with old Azeroth for years. Now they just have to not screw it up. What do you guys think? Would you actually play WoW long-term if the level cap stayed at 60 and Blizzard just kept expanding Azeroth? Or do you think Forever will eventually become Retail with a Classic skin?