Itās December 2025. The Ashbringer has been purified by thousands of Paladins. The Scarlet Enclave raid has been on farm for three months. New Avalon is bustling with roleplayers, but the "Looking For Group" channel is moving slower than it used to.
Season of Discovery (SoD) promised us a wild experiment, and it delivered. We got mage healers, warlock tanks, and raids we never thought we'd see. But as we sit in the post-Phase 8 lull, the community is asking the uncomfortable question: Is this it?
The Triumph of Phase 8
First, credit where it is due: Phase 8 was incredible. Blizzard didn't just give us a raid; they gave us a zone. New Avalon and the Scarlet Enclave fulfilled a 20-year-old fantasy of taking down the Scarlet Crusade at their peak.
The Corrupted Ashbringer Legendary Questline will go down in history as one of the best Classic quests ever designed. It wasn't just a grind; it was a lore dump that connected the dots between Classic and Wrath of the Lich King in ways we didn't expect.
And the raid itself? Balnazzar (True Form) was a brutal, mechanics-heavy fight that pushed the limits of the Classic engine. It felt like a modern raid squeezed into a 2004 framework, and somehow, it worked.
The "End of Content" Problem
But here we are. Phase 8 was the last "announced" major content drop on the roadmap. Blizzard has stated that SoD servers will remain online "indefinitely," transitioning into a museum mode similar to Classic Era.
The problem is that SoD was built on change. It was built on the excitement of "What's next?" Without a Phase 9 on the horizon, the population is naturally dipping. The gold inflation is real (turns out GDKPs never truly die), and the logs on Warcraft Logs are shrinking week by week.
The "Classic+" Pivot
However, there are rumorsāand strong onesāthat SoD was just the beta test for a true Classic+. The assets created for SoD (New Avalon, the new runes, the itemization) are too high-quality to just be thrown away.
The prevailing theory is that Blizzard is preparing a "Season of Eternity" or a dedicated "Classic+" client for 2026, incorporating the successes of SoD (rebalanced specs, new raids) while pruning the failures (the STV lag, the Incursion griefing).
Should You Keep Playing?
If you are still enjoying the vibe of your guild and want to finish your Tier 3.5 collection from Scarlet Enclave: Yes. The community that remains is the die-hard core, and they are generally helpful and skilled.
If you are looking for fresh content: Probably not. It might be time to take a break until the next Season announcement.
A Fond Farewell (For Now)
If this is indeed the functional end of Season of Discovery, it was a hell of a ride. We tanked with Warlocks. We healed with Mages. We finally saw what was behind the portcullis in Tyr's Hand.
SoD proved that the "Classic" format isn't a rigid museum piece; it's a foundation. And even if the discovery is over for now, the appetite for this style of WoW has never been higher.