Flying mounts will never come to WoW Forever
World of Warcraft: Forever will never get flying mounts. Kris Zierhut and Josh Greenfield said so in an interview with MrGM. They also talked about the Black Market, how hard the raids get, hidden loot, a PTR and quest help.
No flying, ever
Flying mounts are on a short list of things that will not come to Forever, together with rated arenas and shared mob tagging. Every new feature is checked against the four pillars of the game.
The world is still built as if you could fly. The team fills in the map so there are no empty voids when you look over it. Mount Hyjal can be seen from anywhere.
Gilneas is the Cataclysm version for now. The world team can copy chunks of the world and blend them in, and it plans to do a lot more with Gilneas once players go there.
What the Black Market is for
Players print money in an MMO, so gold needs places to go, or prices rise over time. The Black Market Auction House should sell items players want to spend gold on.
- A careful start. At launch it holds only a few mounts and a few pets.
- Dungeon drops. Mostly items like the hat Gandling never drops for you. Dungeon set pieces are on it too, which you need for the quest Lord Valthalak Laid to Rest.
- No Deathcharger. Some offers were toned down.
Rivendare’s Deathcharger is no longer on the Black Market. - A price ceiling. A second vendor sells rare resources such as
Black Lotus. That caps the price of a reagent that goes crazy, instead of spawning more of it.
The goblin agents are a reference to Madam Goya, who runs the Black Market in later expansions.
Raids as hard as Naxxramas
The raids open worldwide on 9 December. The target is a typical Naxxramas boss: not Four Horsemen, but harder than Molten Core.
It’s a relatively easy game you can overprepare for.
- Longer fights. Not as long as Mythic raids in retail, but long enough to use a cooldown several times.
- Few addon tricks. When addons do more, bosses have to do more to stay hard. The team does not want encounters to get that complicated. Threat is one of the other ways to challenge players.
- Barrow Deeps. The 10-player raid is more like Karazhan than Upper Blackrock Spire. After a few weeks or months, a pickup group should clear it.
- Hidden loot. Item data is not sent to the client until someone finds the item. Every new dungeon and raid keeps its drops hidden like that.
- Chase items. Every boss has a lower chance at a chase item. Some are highly optimized, some have a higher item level. There may be ten of them across a raid. The interview also reveals a new legendary staff.
Tier lists are “often sus”, says the team. Nobody knows the best class yet, because nobody knows the loot. Everyone gets to figure the game out, not a small group that tells the rest how to play.
A PTR, without the raids
Forever will probably get a PTR, for general stability. The raids will likely stay off it, and some quest chains will stay hidden.
Quest help without Questie
A large share of players installs Questie or a similar addon. Forever gives just enough quest information that you no longer need it. Questie tells you what to do a bit too much, says the team.
The quest markers of retail stay out. They feel out of place in Classic, and the world has less height, so they are not needed.
Stories to watch
- The Riverglades tie in with Warcraft II.
- The undead Paladin story is close to Josh Greenfield’s heart.
- The Skyborne are more than an island in Skywall. Their history runs deep in Desolace and Dire Maul, so pay attention to who you talk to in Shen’dralas.
Source: Wowhead