Wrath of the Lich King Classic is almost here, giving players the rare opportunity to experience this chapter of World of Warcraft a second time. The lauded expansion is fondly remembered as one of the best periods of World of Warcraft history, and was one of the most-anticipated expansions for WoW Classic to revisit.
However, creating a World of Warcraft Classic expansion is not as easy as re-releasing a 10-year-old patch without further considerations. Game ZXC spoke with World of WarcraftClassic associate production director Clayton Stone and senior software engineer Kevin Vigue in a roundtable interview about what decisions had to be made when creating Wrath of the Lich King Classic. They said the core of creating a World of Warcraft Classic experience is balancing fans' desire to experience Wrath of the Lich King with modern amenities to create an experience that is both new and nostalgic.
A Second Chance at World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft Classic is not like other modern remakes and remasters. To re-release chapters of a venerable MMORPG as they originally appeared is something few titles could attempt, let alone succeed to the degree of World of Warcraft Classic. Wrath of the Lich King’s original release was especially impactful, and its return to World of Warcraft Classic could become its most important chapter to date.
Though World of Warcraft’s long history played a major role in Classic's success, an even greater contributor was the difference between MMOs today versus 20 years ago. Players felt smaller, progression felt slower, and there were less quality-of-life features. This created “Social Stickiness,” as Vigue called it, by making players rely on one another rather than features like Dungeon Finder and quest waypoints. “It is easy to say it is just nostalgia, but the fabric of the game is influenced by the game design.”
Preserving that "Social Stickiness" is core to World of Warcraft Classic, and integral to the second launch of Wrath of the Lich King. Though nostalgia may tell someone that old-school World of Warcraft was perfect, there are always ways to improve it, according to Stone. Though finding a group for a dungeon or raid requires more work via the Party Finder tool and chat, it helps to forge bonds that create lasting impressions on players. Some of these changes have been controversial, but they ultimately work to preserve the World of Warcraft Classic experience.
“We recognize how special Wrath of the Lich King is to the player base. Thinking about the fans who would return for it, who may not have played it for a while, or all these brand-new fans who had never experienced it before, it was a really special moment in time for a lot of people.”
Another way World of Warcraft Classic surprised players on this second go with Wrath of the Lich King is through the surprise crossover mount. The Frostbrood Proto-Wyrm mount for retail World of Warcraft can now be earned by completing the Death Knight starting zone in Wrath of the Lich King Classic. “[The positive reaction to the Proto-Wyrm] has certainly emboldened us to think about more ideas like that than we would have,” Stone said. Though it won’t be able to do these promotions all the time, the joy it sparked could create a trend for future World of Warcraft Classic releases.
Making a New World of Warcraft Experience
World of Warcraft Classic came about because players wanted to experience the original version of the historic MMO. “One of the things we like to do is look back at the pillars for why we released WoW Classic in the first place,” Stone said. “When we look to the future, we are keeping a very close eye on what we hear from players.” Like past and future Classic expansions, Wrath of the Lich King Classic’s development was strongly influenced by the desire to do right by World of Warcraft fans.
Though they are tied to the same subscription, Classic and retail World of Warcraft are two very different games, and the Wrath of the Lich King Classic team is always seeking to show that. “When you sign up for a World of Warcraft subscription, there are two awesome MMOs you can play,” Vigue said. “We want to be offering something different there.” World of Warcraft Classic does not seek to be retail, nor does it want to simply retread the footsteps of the original Wrath of the Lich King. “We recognize there are quality-of-life improvements we can do, there are accessibility improvements, if there are exploits, we’re going to fix them. We want to be good custodians of the game.”
That differentiation has become core to the design philosophy of World of Warcraft Classic. Though it originally launched with the intention to make as few changes as possible, World of WarcraftClassic has introduced more small changes to provide a better experience without compromising its old-school integrity. According to Stone, that maxim applies to prior releases, Wrath of the Lich King Classic, and whatever comes next for World of Warcraft Classic.
“Whenever we think about what’s to come next, we definitely want to look at it through that lens. How do we maintain that lens, and how do we continue to ensure this Classic experience is providing something different from the mainline experience?”
Beyond running on better servers, Wrath of the Lich King Classic uses the class balance from the final patch of the original expansion and will have dual spec available at launch. It also allows players to make Death Knights without having an existing character at level 55, and will be replacing 10-man raid loot drops with their stronger 25-man versions at higher tiers to keep players invested in clearing old content. These changes only happened because of the first run of Wrath of the Lich King, which acted as both teacher and test run for the Classic development team. In this way, Wrath of the Lich King Classic can be a truly unique experience whether people played the original World of Warcraft expansion or not.
World of Warcraft is available on PC. Wrath of the Lich King Classic launches September 26.