In the build-up towards the release of World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, there’s been a great amount of information being released every day. Between the beta and the Afterlives lore teasers, it’s hard to imagine that the hype train could get much more fuel.
One of the biggest boosts, however, was finally having a release date confirmed after so long without! Players are going to be able to jump into the Shadowlands in a bit more than a month, coming on October 27th!
To that end, World of Warcraft game director Ion Hazzikostas has released a blog update in which he discussed the future of development and what players should expect not just moving forward until launch, but into the expansion itself.
“As our development shifts from implementation of new designs and content, towards polish and tuning of the world we have crafted, I would like to offer a roadmap for what to expect over the coming weeks on our Beta servers,” Hazzikostas states at the opening of the blog.
The first bit discussed is the way in which the title will be patched, and to that end, patch 9.0.2 has been introduced to the beta. Players should expect weekly updates to the beta, which Hazzikostas states will allow features such as streamlined leveling and customization options to the beta faster!
World of Warcraft Game Director Ion Hazzikostas has just posted a Shadowlands development update:https://t.co/s5ghb42bI1
— WarcraftDevs (@WarcraftDevs) September 9, 2020
Another point of concern that Hazzikostas discussed is the Torghast, Tower of the Damned progression. Hazzikostas states that the team will be reconstructing how the introduction to Torghast works in response to player concerns.
Namely, players were concerned that the introductory questlines to the Tower of the Damned served as overly-lengthy tutorials that, when repeated, were monotonous and annoying. Hazzikostas also discussed higher difficulties within the Twisting Corridors as a challenge mode, rewarding cosmetic items and transmogs!
Much of the fanbase is relieved to hear that they’re altering the Torghast introduction after the recent focus on the legendary cloak questline in Battle for Azeroth. A lengthy and grueling grind that players often simply avoided on alts, no one was excited to see such a thing return.
PvP Itemization finds some discussion, finally returning after being a minor, almost-discardable point of Battle for Azeroth. Hazzikostas mentions – and agrees with – player concerns that the range of gear available from PvP vendors was unsatisfactory.
To this end, Blizzard is considering multiple solutions. One of these being mentioned is reworking the stat coverage of vendor gear, or possibly providing PvP specific bonuses through the items provided. While there isn’t a direction decided just yet, Hazzikostas assures readers that they will be sharing their plan for testing before simply rolling it out onto the servers.