Blizzard has announced some additional changes coming for Wrath of the Lich King in World of Warcraft Classic, and the community largely seems pleased with what will be different from the original release.
As WoW Classic continues to evolve with further expansion packs, Blizzard says in a blog post that the studio intends to move from a "#NoChanges" philosophy to a "#SomeChanges" approach, to ensure that the core of the original experience remains, even as the game continues to get new content.
But that's not the only change. The devs intend to "nurture and protect social experiences" across the board. That's why the Dungeon Finder has been removed, as previously announced, and the studio is open to further changes to preserve that early social experience. Other changes are intended to ensure that progression and classes remain approachable, and that the player-driven stories about the world itself remain the core of the game.
In concrete terms of concrete changes, Naxxramas is getting harder. "Our 2008 design intention was for it to be a little easier than the 2006 original, but we missed the mark and it ended up much easier than we intended."
The devs also want to make "sure Heroic dungeons stay attractive throughout the entire expansion." They'll be adding challenges throughout the expansion cycle with "more valuable rewards" so you'll have reasons to keep plugging away at that content.
As a final point, the studio aims to make the raid grind more consistent, so you're getting Emblems the same way through every tier. Ten and 25-player raids will drop Emblems of Valor at launch, while you'll get Emblems of Heroism from dungeons.
While these sorts of changes might seem risky for a release that's billed as a return to WoW in its original form, the response from the community has been very positive so far. "I like everything they said on this article," Professional_Many_83 says on Reddit. "Buffing Naxx is such a good move. Phase 1 was going to be insufferable otherwise."
"I'm absolutely loving their response here," OverpricedMoleskine says. "Especially the focus on 'the world is the main character' and fostering social interaction. Really, really promising stuff."
"Are we just experiencing WoW again from the perspective of developers [saying] 'If we could go back, we'd change this and this and not do that'?" thatshortguy2 asks. "Almost like they took a test, got to go back and look at what they got wrong, and [are] now taking the test again."
Blizzard has confirmed that it expects World of Warcraft: Dragonflight to be out this year.
