Just concluded World of Warcraft"Infinite Party" can be said to be one of the best offline game events I have ever attended. Perhaps there is some fan filter involved, but objectively speaking, whether it is the attention to detail in restoring in-game scenes or various novel interactive gameplay, "Infinite Party" did quite well; judging from subsequent feedback, it indeed gained recognition from players.
Besides the wonderful celebration, what was even more exciting was that on the day of the event, we interviewed World of Warcraft Senior Game DirectorIon Hazzikostas, and Lead Classic Designer Tim Jones. Our topics ranged from the Titan Reforged server "#Funtime" (hereinafter referred to as "#Funtime"), which is gaining momentum and about to celebrate its first anniversary, to the ambitiously beta-tested "World of Warcraft: Infinite" (hereinafter referred to as "Infinite").
In fact, including myself, most of the domestic media colleagues participating in the interview that day were loyal fans of World of Warcraft. Not long before the interview started, we had justcleared the newly added dungeon "Dalaran City" in "Infinite" at the trial area of "Infinite Party". So I can guarantee: the questions Ion and Tim faced are definitely what domestic players care about most.
Due to the length, this interview is divided into two parts, below iscontent related to #Funtime.
Q: How does #Funtime balance a brand-new experience while retaining the content of the original classic server? The currently announced update plan for #Funtime can be scheduled until 2027, and these contents are redesigned based on the classic version. But if we look further ahead—say, 5 or 10 years—can this model of #Funtime continue?
Ion:First of all, I want to say that this is a great question, and I am very happy to communicate with everyone here today. When producingnew content for #Funtime, we have been striving to stay true to these players: those playing in the "Wrath of the Lich King" world, those staying at level 80, those who wish to preserve the traditions of their characters' original versions, and those who have experienced the original raids from Classic Naxxramas, Trial of the Crusader, to Wrath of the Lich King.
In addition, when conceiving new content, we are also considering how to reimagine and reshape some classes. We really want to bring interesting experiences to each class, such as the reworked Death Knight being able to summon a huge frost dragon, andPriests with the "Shadow" talent can release all their Void energy. We are looking for various interesting and exciting ways for players to truly showcase the experience of their specialization.
In addition, there are those legendary items that truly reflect their source raid identity. For example,For the new version of "Val'anyr, Hammer of Ancient Kings" that #Funtime players are currently striving to obtain, we have added a transformation effect: when it triggers, regardless of whether you are using the healing version or the brand-new melee version, your character will transform into a Titan Keeper. We believe these designs effectively convey the unique experience of #Funtime—"Hey, I'm a player coming from a Titan war, and I got this."
In short, we have been looking for various ways to enhance players' sense of identity from classes, specializations, andthe sense of fantasy obtained in the special background of #Funtime; at the same time, we are also working hard to restore the fantasy atmosphere of the raids that players are about to enter. In the remaining raids before Phase 11, we still have plenty of opportunities to continue doing this, as well as in future updates.
Tim:In this question, regarding#Funtime long-term future part is very interesting. In my opinion, the essence of #Funtime lies in the fact that we can slightly break the rules and introduce new types of content. We have already seen that raids from the "Classic" and "The Burning Crusade" versions were brought into the "Wrath of the Lich King" setting; perhaps in the future, raids from other expansions or even other eras of the game can also be converted, reinterpreted, and reimagined to become part of the #Funtime experience.
So I think, regarding#Funtime, we still have many brand-new, potential stories to tell, and many new places to explore. And as always, this journey will be shaped by the feedback we receive from players—how they enjoy the experience, what more content they want to see, or what they want to be done differently...
But currently, our focus is on smoothly completing the content for the next year and beyond; we also look forward to sharing at the appropriate time, afterwhat specific update content will follow after Phase 11 ends.
Q: #Funtime has done a lot of China-exclusive content, such as upgradable orange weapons, new equipment, etc. We would like to know how NetEase and Blizzard decide what can be changed and what cannot. Are there any absolute red lines that cannot be touched?
Tim:To some extent, in#Funtime, players are in the world of the "Wrath of the Lich King" version. Like the normal classic server, players need to reach the max level of 80, and during this process, explore different raids in "Classic", "The Burning Crusade", and "Wrath of the Lich King" as phases update.
But inDuring the operation of #Funtime, we also hope to leverage our creativity as designers. To this end, we will collect player feedback to understand what they want to see, such as which specialization they would like to see reworked next, what cool new set rewards they want to see in Karazhan, or new legendary equipment, and so on. This will also cause some changes in #Funtime compared to the original "Wrath of the Lich King".
For example, we are very excited about the three-piece legendary equipment that will be launched next, which players can gradually obtain in the next three phases. This is also a good example to show#Funtime, how much freedom we have in terms of rewards and creative class gameplay.
Ion:Yes, and I think our partnership with NetEase is very solid.#Funtime is a manifestation of our cooperation with NetEase and Leihuo. They help us fully understand player experiences—there is a lot of player feedback that would not be directly transmitted to us without their help.
In addition, as game developers, our job is to deliver experiences that satisfy and excite players. This development cycle has been very exciting over the past year, and we look forward to continuing it in#Funtime to continue it.
Q: Players of #Funtime still care about the flavor of the old version. But we also see that #Funtime has made some changes that greatly affect the game ecosystem, such as the WoW Token added in the first half of this year, which only appeared in later versions of the retail server. So I would like to ask, what attitude will the official team take towards adding later retail changes to the classic server?
Ion:Like other parts, this all depends on player experience and feedback. Some content is deeply rooted in the old version, just likeTim mentioned class gameplay, the level 80 cap, etc.; but we also don't want to tie our hands or limit our ability to solve problems for players. For example, the WoW Token provides players with a safe and reasonable channel to exchange gold for game time, or real money for in-game gold. This is safer and helps reduce external RMT phenomena. We do not believe this system conflicts with the classic old version's gaming experience.
Of course, some other more modern gameplay systems may not be suitable for#Funtime, but we will always be guided by player experience. Whether now or in the future, no matter what problems players face, we do not want to limit our options for solving them.
Tim:I just want to add one point: taking"Infinite" as an example, we have our own gameplay design pillars, such as hoping players can get more social experiences and feel more fun in the process of exploring the world, etc. We hope that "Infinite" feels like a vast world, so we are unlikely to add retail content that helps players quickly teleport from one continent to another or instantly enter dungeons into "Infinite". This is to ensure that "Infinite" has a unique experience and remains true to our design philosophy.
Q: #Funtime recently launched "Raid Challenge Leaderboard", and adoptThe ranking rule is "teams with fewer completions are prioritized for the leaderboard; if the number of people is the same, then compare the time".What was the original intention behind this design? In addition, this design may also lead to lineup stagnation, how will you avoid it?
NetEase Planner (Editor's Note: Because"Raid Challenge Leaderboard" is an operational activity led more by the China server team, so this question will be answered by a NetEase planner):Let me answer this. We in#Funtime designed the challenge mode because we know some players want challenges harder than clearing raids, and we fully understand this need. However, due to game version rule restrictions, we cannot develop new mechanisms with difficulty tiers to meet this need. But within controllable limits, we still hope to provide these players with an opportunity to realize their value under the existing difficulty framework.
So among many choices, we believe that reducing the number of people is a good design. Although we cannot actively increase raid difficulty, when the team reduces the number of people, the difficulty increases indirectly. For increasing challenge, this is a very interesting design. Under this system, for every person reduced from the team, the difficulty almost doubles. Therefore, for each team, whether to continue pursuing faster speeds with the current number of people, or risk reducing the number of people to gain advantages in the leaderboard rules, becomes a very critical choice.
Currently, we have just released the first version of this gameplay, but as you can see, it has basically been accepted by players, which proves that this concept is correct and players are willing to participate. However, this version is actually still in testing phase. We will collect more player feedback through the next one or two phases, and then further optimize it, trying to provide an environment for these players where they can do what they like in challenging, rule-based scenarios.
Ion:I'd like to add one point: this is also a very classic approach. As early asthe "Wrath of the Lich King" era, there were achievements for defeating raid bosses with fewer people than expected. Going back further to "Classic," some content, like that version's "Onyxia's Lair," wasn't particularly challenging in itself, but players wanted to see how few people it took to kill Onyxia—starting with the cap of 40, then 20, 10, and finally 5. This is also a way for players to prove their skill.
Tim:AsAs Ion and Max said, we have always supported providing players with the conditions to create their own challenges. If players are excited about this, we will continue to provide such channels in future content updates for the "Classic" server.
Q: The effect of the original legendary dagger in the "Classic" server is very special. Long ago, some "urban legends" among domestic players already discussed this effect, possibly obtained through data mining of early versions. Now this effect has been "officially confirmed" in the game. I want to know what the process was like? Did you do this because you knew players had been expecting this effect for a long time?
Tim:I'm not sure if we knew about that"urban legend," but we worked closely with our partner NetEase on the legendary dagger. That legendary dagger was originally an item in the "Classic" version but was never actually implemented. So we were very eager to expand on this thing from the original game that was both exciting and full of unknowns.
During our collaboration with NetEase, I remember the NetEase designers proposed a plan: add an item that appliesgear with 12 different debuffs. When we received this proposal and started thinking about the design, we adjusted it to a more reasonable design point, which is now "manage 4 different debuffs, and then you can transform into a Dreadlord." This is really exciting.
So I think working with our partners to create gear that excites the Chinese community is itself very exciting work. We will definitely continue to draw inspiration from the community to craft items that resonate with Chinese players, and there are many more such opportunities in the future.
Q: The content on the live servers is already very rich, but there are actually some mismatches between various gameplay modes. For example, if I only want to play Mythic+ dungeons but not raids, I might not be able to gather the starting gear for Mythic+, making it hard to join groups. How will you avoid this situation in the "Classic" server or "Infinite"?
Tim:We haveThe "Classic" server has designed corresponding catch-up mechanisms. For example, "Vault of Archavon," where boss difficulties do not change, but the gear you obtain from all bosses in the vault automatically adjusts its item level based on the current raid tier. So during the catch-up process, you can quickly defeat those bosses to get some gear appropriate for your current level, helping to increase your item level.
Besides that, we knowThe "Classic" server has a lot of content for players to digest. So as phase updates accumulate, we are constantly looking for better ways to help players catch up. One aspect we are closely monitoring is legendary items—players need to upgrade them multiple times, so we are looking for better convenience solutions so that players who still need Phase 1 or Phase 2 legendary items don't have to go back and clear all raids to collect every upgrade material.
We will continue to collect player feedback as always to see where frustrations lie. We hope to come up with corresponding design solutions for each issue to help players integrate and catch up faster, allowing them to enjoy the current phase's content as soon as possible.
Ion:As forRegarding the "Infinite" part, first, I agree with your point: one advantage of the live servers is that there are many different ways to upgrade gear. But the corresponding challenge is that we need to balance the relationships between them. Live server players sometimes feel that they have to participate in content they don't enjoy just to get the gear needed for the content they like. This is also an area we are continuing to improve in the live servers.
But in"Infinite," I think the way players pursue power is simpler. Players mainly level up through quests, during which they run some dungeons and prepare for raids while doing so, finally reaching the peak of the entire experience—the raid. This path is relatively simple, so we can focus on questions like "where does player gear come from, and what is the growth path," without having to constantly balance them as in the live servers, where there are multiple different gear sources.
Q: "Infinite" is currently expanding its storyline along the timeline of the live servers, so I'm wondering if the team has considered adding exclusive, more specific narrative content to the future of the "Classic" server? And does this mean that many different versions might bring a multiverse to World of Warcraft?
Tim:While continuously supportingWhile supporting the "Classic" server, we are vigorously expanding our team's capabilities. We are hiring more people specifically to support the development and growth of the "Classic" server and continue to create more exclusive events.
One thing that excites us greatly is working with our Chinese partners to create for playersanniversary events for the "Classic" server. As the saying goes—"the sky is the limit." In the "Classic" server, we still have many opportunities to explore new types of content. As Ion mentioned in his previous answer, we will likely announce more details about potential subsequent expansions after Phase 11 later next year.
Ion:AsRegarding the examples Tim mentioned, we are very open to adjusting and reimagining existing content from "Wrath of the Lich King" and reintroducing it to the "Classic" server. Our current focus is not on creating entirely new narrative experiences that are drastically different from what players have seen before, but this could change. If players are eager to see such content, we would certainly be interested in listening to that feedback.
This question also mentions"Infinite." "Infinite" will indeed tell new stories, but we have also clearly stated that it will not directly conflict or contradict content players have already experienced. We won't make subversive designs such as "the Lich King having a different fate, or ending up in another place."
In short, regarding"Infinite"—we want to experiment, explore, and expand this universe, but we also don't want to confuse players. We don't want different versions of the story to tell completely contradictory things. What we've always wanted to do is find opportunities to tell new stories and delve into content we haven't had the chance to expand on in the past.
Q: In previous interviews, the team mentioned that development experience from the "Classic" server has been applied to "Infinite." Regarding this, are there any specific designs or decisions you can share?
Tim:All the experience Blizzard has accumulated in making any game—such as creating raid content, designing rewards, and crafting exciting new set bonuses—will greatly assist in this process. It makes us stronger designers, enabling us to create better content and designs in any version of World of Warcraft, which of course includes "Infinite."
And regarding specific content, I thinkAn interesting part of the "Classic" server design is that there is a lot of raid content from one phase to another. During production, we constantly studied how much player power progression should be controlled so that players feel the rewards are powerful enough and get excited about obtaining upgraded gear for new raids, without experiencing extreme jumps in power. I think these experiences are very important references when we design reward content and player power growth curves for "Infinite."
Ion:Broadly speaking, this is also part of the Classic team's experience over the past seven years. Initially, we focused on replicating past experiences as accurately as possible, and now we are increasingly thinking about how to add new content, new systems, and new rewards to those old experiences in a way that makes them feel like they belonged there all along.The "Classic" server is built on this foundation, and "Infinite" will also pursue this within the broad framework of the "Classic" version.
In the future, these insights aboutThe design process, mindset, and lessons learned from "creating new content that fits the classic old style" will continue to guide the team in producing "Infinite" and any new content rooted in older versions.
Q: Blizzard has always valued player feedback. Could you give a memorable example to illustrate how a specific update in the "Classic" server started with player feedback and eventually became concrete game design?
Tim:The "Classic" server can be described as an experiment. When we initially designed it specifically for the Chinese community, we had no idea what the reaction would be. But I think the enthusiasm of Chinese players was surprising, which gave us energy to continue excitedly crafting cool new legendary items and performing class reworks. Moreover, being able to continue hearing everyone's thoughts on the new class reworks shows that our efforts have paid off, which makes us very proud.
Ion:Yes, I think the entireThe history of class changes in the "Classic" server is a good example: after new class skills brought fresh experiences and changes significant enough to alter the entire meta were introduced, player discussions always turned to "what new content can we see next." I think these player voices are the best guidance for us, helping us plan the next round of updates.
It can be said that all of this is driven bydriven by the enthusiastic feedback from "Classic" server players. As game developers and designers, the reason we chose this job is to bring joy to people. Being able to achieve this through interactions with "Classic" server players is one of the most exciting things for us right now.
Tim:Todayin today's interview, hearing your questions about the futurewhat new stories the "Classic" server can tell and what new content it can bring makes me very happy. For an interview, this was expected, but we now find that people really desire to keep their characters "alive" in this world, hoping we invest significant energy and time to expand the "Classic" server's world, creating new activities beyond dungeon content and providing new PvP opportunities, which undoubtedly excites us. We want to do our best to serve the Chinese "Infinite" player community, which is why we are hiring more people and investing more effort.