WoW lead designer shovels Blizzard feedback on Burning Crusade

Whitney Butts of WarCry was able to interview World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade lead designer, Tom Chilton, to ask about Blizzard‘s review of the game’s progress since launch. Oh yes, and all of the other unsolved issues that still plague players.

Blizzard designed the Outlands with flying mounts in mind. The advantages of flying was obvious: you could avoid having to go through winding paths that take time to traverse. But it also introduced a chance to put different types of encounters in-flight, which could only be triggered once a player had a mount and was using it.

Raiding requirements were reduced, so that players didn’t have to bear the atrocities that came with recruiting members for raids. The maximum count now stands at 25, but you can always show off with tougher members and fewer numbers.

The reduction of members meant that each member would have to do a little bit more to succeed in the raid, and it also means lesser tracking drags on healers and Enhancement shammies.

The farming of raid dungeons isn’t an issue right now with Blizzard; they are pretty sure the challenges they placed for each one makes every raid an effort – not a breeze. But each should be satisfying enough that players who just learned the raid course could be proud of what they have accomplished.

The extended downtime for the full transition from World of Warcraft to Burning Crusade was necessary for Blizzard to set up the launch of BC. Of course, there were issues that did sneak up, but Blizzard believes that the whole move was better than they had hope. Because of the big launch stunt they pulled to bring the expansion out, people half-expected them to trip head-over-heels. They say they haven’t and even managed a smooth launch.

Unlike before, classes will no longer be reviewed. Well, more specifically, they will not be reviewed collectively. Balance changes or improvements will be made once they see the changes are needed. Otherwise, they won’t touch a thing. They are eyeing player feedback and monitoring class gameplay to see what areas can be improved.

Blizzard’s thoughts on the best of The Burning Crusade? Flying mounts, Arena PvP and a whole new ladder season this time around, are what makes them proud of BC. The ladder helps competitive players measure themselves against others, but at the same time allows lower ranked players know who to gun for to rise up. The Arena wasn’t made to become a choice between PvE and PvP, just another way to enjoy PvP.

Players don’t have to purchase BC to have fun with BC players, even with the Draenei and Blood Elves milling around. Azeroth denizens can still purchase certain things usually available in Outland. Everyone shares the benefits of the talent point increase. And BC players can still go back to Azeroth.

Via WarCry – WoW

Whitney Butts of WarCry was able to interview World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade lead designer, Tom Chilton, to ask about Blizzard‘s review of the game’s progress since launch. Oh yes, and all of the other unsolved issues that still plague players.

Blizzard designed the Outlands with flying mounts in mind. The advantages of flying was obvious: you could avoid having to go through winding paths that take time to traverse. But it also introduced a chance to put different types of encounters in-flight, which could only be triggered once a player had a mount and was using it.

Raiding requirements were reduced, so that players didn’t have to bear the atrocities that came with recruiting members for raids. The maximum count now stands at 25, but you can always show off with tougher members and fewer numbers.

The reduction of members meant that each member would have to do a little bit more to succeed in the raid, and it also means lesser tracking drags on healers and Enhancement shammies.

The farming of raid dungeons isn’t an issue right now with Blizzard; they are pretty sure the challenges they placed for each one makes every raid an effort – not a breeze. But each should be satisfying enough that players who just learned the raid course could be proud of what they have accomplished.

The extended downtime for the full transition from World of Warcraft to Burning Crusade was necessary for Blizzard to set up the launch of BC. Of course, there were issues that did sneak up, but Blizzard believes that the whole move was better than they had hope. Because of the big launch stunt they pulled to bring the expansion out, people half-expected them to trip head-over-heels. They say they haven’t and even managed a smooth launch.

Unlike before, classes will no longer be reviewed. Well, more specifically, they will not be reviewed collectively. Balance changes or improvements will be made once they see the changes are needed. Otherwise, they won’t touch a thing. They are eyeing player feedback and monitoring class gameplay to see what areas can be improved.

Blizzard’s thoughts on the best of The Burning Crusade? Flying mounts, Arena PvP and a whole new ladder season this time around, are what makes them proud of BC. The ladder helps competitive players measure themselves against others, but at the same time allows lower ranked players know who to gun for to rise up. The Arena wasn’t made to become a choice between PvE and PvP, just another way to enjoy PvP.

Players don’t have to purchase BC to have fun with BC players, even with the Draenei and Blood Elves milling around. Azeroth denizens can still purchase certain things usually available in Outland. Everyone shares the benefits of the talent point increase. And BC players can still go back to Azeroth.

Via WarCry – WoW