THE STORIES BEHIND THE GAME
Good reads for your next queue.
Guides, big moments, and the people behind them.
World of Warcraft: Forever rebuilds every talent tree, drops realms, adds nine dungeons and a thousand quests, and keeps level 60. We went through every change against Classic, and we kept the collection we wrote before the reveal.
XQC played the color memory game on stream and it spiralled into one of those rabbit-hole sessions only he can produce. The site now ships with an XQC bot you can play against.
Read the storyThe level 30 cap put Penance in Discipline Priests' hands, and a 'Penance must go' thread hit 190 replies in a day. What Penance actually does at 30, why paladins' 20-minute Lay on Hands and the crocolisk's Dismember are in the same argument, and what the defenders say.
The October 1 WoW Forever beta build halved the bonus XP on dungeon quests, after mob XP inside dungeons had already been cut. The exact patch note, the real numbers from Wailing Caverns and Shadowfang Keep, the backlash, and the players defending the change.
The October 1 WoW Forever beta build raised the cap to 30, gave Warriors 100% more rage on crits, rebuilt the Fury tree, made respecs 1 silver, nerfed Gnome Eureka again and locked Tauren Cultivation behind player level. Plus the 16 Legacy point grant, what the devs said on the class podcast, and the rough launch night.
Kaivax's October 1 post says Blizzard has been actioning gold botters, buyers and anyone who knowingly received illicit gold in the WoW Forever beta, and that a warning will pop up when you trade with strangers. What the post says, the warning text, the Payo and Supatease reports, and why the forums still are not happy.
Asmongold's Olympus grew past 30,000 members across 30+ guilds in the WoW Forever beta. Then an addon to mute all of them passed 34,000 downloads. What the addon does, what Asmongold said, both sides of the forum fight, and Blizzard's silence.
Blizzard's first WoW Forever class deep dives cover Hunter, Druid, Priest and Warrior. Dual spec at level 40, crits giving Warriors 75% more rage, Tiger's Fury swapped for Shifting Power, Penance and Wild Growth, and how players took it.
Streamer Ziqo was traded hundreds of gold by level 1 characters on the WoW Forever beta, and Blizzard removed it from his mage, leaving him with 9 silver. No ban. The trades, Blizzard's new stance on gold buyers, the fake "account closed" clip, and why the forum thread is past 1,400 posts.
WoW Forever lead designer Tim Jones told Windows Central he would "love some day" to bring Player Housing into the Classic world. It isn't announced and isn't in the launch plan, but the forum thread about it is the biggest beta argument this week. The quote, both sides, and what is actually confirmed.
The Make-A-Wish quest Ezra Chatterton helped design in 2007 was missing from the WoW Forever beta because it arrived in TBC. Kaivax says Blizzard is "working on it." What the quest is, why it was left out, and what players want next.
Blizzard removed the fog off switch in the September 24 WoW Forever beta build, then added heavier weather. Why the volumefog command no longer works, the eye strain complaints, the settings testers say reduce the fog, and what Blizzard has said.
WoW Forever gives Warriors rage by weapon speed instead of damage. Blizzard now says crits will give 75% more rage again and armor will stop cutting rage from hits. How it works, the Ahlaundoh video that blew it up, Xaryu and Pikaboo's takes, the 600-post forum thread, the players who like it, and what to expect from Blizzard's class design podcast.
In the WoW Forever beta every skinner in a group can skin the same corpse, and testers say 30 to 40 player skinning raids are already farming leather. How it works, where it came from on retail, what both sides argue, and what Blizzard has (not) said.