25-Aug-2005 We hassle Blizzard to discover what the future holds for its hugely successful MMORPG World of Warcraft Last evening we caught our pet cat playing World of Warcraft. As the most evil character in the game - Night Elf Rogue - he was fairing okay at level five although was getting a little confused when we kept telling him we'd assigned auto-run to the pause key (they're ALL paws keys to a cat see - geddit?). But it's testament to the massive, wide-spread penetration (yes, in our increasing effort to get slightly more risqué, we actually said 'PENETRATION') that Blizzard's MMORPG has achieved, with player numbers rocketing into the stratosphere.
Seriously though, millions have signed up to adventure in Blizzard Entertainment's world turning it into hugely, hugely successful game. Great, and we doubt the player influx is about to grind to a complete halt any time soon but enticing players to dip a toe in the WoW waters is only half the battle; once they're there, you have to keep them there and Blizzard has been pumping out content updates and game balances in an effort to ensure the MMORPG's player base is kept happy and entertained.
Battlegrounds (WoW's dedicated PvP system), in Blizzard's own words, represented "the single biggest update to the game yet" but what other like major content is Blizzard cooking up for the months to come? What does the future hold for the MMORPG? And what about that World of Warcraft expansion we've all read about? We recently caught up with WoW lead producer Shane Dabiri in an effort to get answers to these and other burning questions.
How are things going for you guys generally in terms of World of Warcraft?
Shane Dabiri: World of Warcraft is going great. We're continuing to release the game in different regions across the world with amazing success. Our most recent launch was in China, and we've been stunned by the immense popularity of the game there. China has already become our single largest market, despite being the newest of the four, with the others being North America, Korea, and of course Europe. We're also busy creating new content for the millions of fans that have been playing World of Warcraft for many months now. Battlegrounds and the PvP Honor System are now a few months old, but we're still supporting them with lots of new content.
We're getting ready to release a third Battleground in the coming weeks - Arathi Basin - and it will showcase a new type of gameplay and a whole new set of rewards for PvP players. We're also rolling out a new 20-man raid dungeon, Zul'Gurub, which is meant for smaller raid groups. However, don't think that the smaller size means easier encounters. The raid bosses are very, very tough and we think players will have a blast trying to figure out how to overcome these challenges. Of course these are only some of the things we are working on for the near future, so you can see we're still as busy as ever.
WoW is a massive success. Is there a downside to popularity? If so, what is it (outside of server issues)?
Shane Dabiri: Well, expectations keep growing as more and more people play the game. We also have to satisfy those gamers who have played through many of the classes and seen much of the world and are itching for new content to explore. As World of Warcraft continues to succeed, I think we see that fans expect more and better content, and it is a challenge to meet that demand on a timely basis. We're not complaining of course; we love that so many people are playing our game and clamouring for even more to do. But at the same time, it's been very challenging to deliver new content for our voracious audience, who can't seem to get enough WoW.
Are monthly events something you're considering introducing in the future, say new linked quest lines that have their own unique story arc attached?
Shane Dabiri: We're definitely keen to include more repeatable content for players, and that includes events that can occur on a regular, sometimes monthly, basis. One new event coming soon in the next patch is the Fishing Contest, which takes place in Stranglethorn Vale. At certain times in the month, new fishing areas will spawn off the shores of Stranglethorn and players will be able to compete in a fishing contest to see who can haul in the biggest catches of the special fish that only appear a few times out of the month. This will be a regularly occurring event that players will be able to enjoy on an ongoing basis, and our hope is to create more such events in the future.
You have of course recently announced that a WoW expansion is underway. What can you tell us about planned content for that at this stage, and can you give us any indication as to when you hope to have it ready?
Shane Dabiri: We haven't actually announced a World of Warcraft expansion, although rumors have been swirling around the Internet. We're obviously very interested in expanding the game world beyond what we've been doing in patches. And we have lots of ideas brewing for what we'd like to do if and when we announce an expansion. However, at this time, we really don't have anything to announce and probably won't be able to say anything for some time.
Note to readers: We were a little surprised/confused by the answer to this question. In June this year in a post on the World of Warcraft forums Blizzard's Shane Dabiri stated the following: "Some have asked about an expansion and what it might hold. I wanted to let players know that it is in the works, and we'll release details as soon as we can". Hmm. Ah, maybe it was in fact an impostor posting? Or do we read 'expansion' differently to what was meant by 'expansion' in the post? Or it could be that Shane in his answer above means a World of Warcraft expansion has not had a full, official announcement yet?...
What's happening with Hero Classes? What can you tell us about these, what can we expect to see here?
Shane Dabiri: We can tell you that Hero classes are at the top of our priority list and we've already begun work on them. However, there really isn't anything concrete we can say at this time except that they are a priority for us and we'll reveal more when the time is right.
In a recent interview you stated that you're currently looking at expanding on, and introducing new, class-specific quests, saying that you're looking at solo-, group- and raid-type quests in this area. Can you give us any more specifics on what you're planning here?
Shane Dabiri: Our goal is to differentiate the classes and create fun new experiences for players depending on the classes they choose. Introducing more class-specific quests is one way in which we hope to take that a step further, by letting players experience unique adventures that no other class can experience. It's quite a lot of work, but we want to keep adding more class-specific quests as resources and time permit, because we do want to expand the fun differences between classes.
How about Alliance and Horde actually fighting for control of the normal contested zones in the world - will that ever happen?
Shane Dabiri: Our focus in PvP is on making the Battlegrounds the focal point for player-versus-player conflict. PvP is a big part of the game, and having Battlegrounds dedicated exclusively to PvP gameplay lets us create really interesting scenarios that we otherwise couldn't do. Normal zones aren't well suited to the type of back-and-forth battles for control that we see in Battlegrounds. If you want to battle the Horde of Alliance for supremacy of a zone, we recommend you hop down to Alterac Valley, Warsong Gulch, or (in a few weeks) Arathi Basin.
You obviously get a huge amount of suggestions/pleas from fans focussed on game alterations. How much of this stuff do you actually take on board, and how difficult is it to strike a balance between keeping fans happy and keeping WoW the game you yourselves want it to be?
Shane Dabiri: It's not necessarily difficult. The fans are passionate about World of Warcraft because they love the game, and we appreciate that. We listen to their feedback and read their comments on the forums. We really do. Sometimes, the fans' suggestions dovetail nicely with what we are already planning for the game. Other times, their suggestions inspire us to implement some changes. But there are also times were fans will suggest something that we just can't do, either because it isn't feasible or because it would drastically alter the game beyond what we're trying to accomplish.
At the end of the day, we have to make a game that is fun for many different kinds of gamers; so we need to keep that in perspective, and oftentimes, it means we can't make the alterations that a small segment of the player base wants.
You're still working on class balance. Can you see a light at the end of the tunnel for that yet, and what major class changes are currently being looked at for updates beyond the 1.6.0 patch that's just been released?
Shane Dabiri: Well, class balance is a tricky thing to nail down and we continue to tweak and improve the classes to make them all playable and fun. We're pretty happy for the most part with where the classes are now, but some players might disagree with us. We're always reading the forums and seeing what the players have to say about the classes. We definitely listen to their feedback and compare it to our own data. We don't think there are any glaring imbalances at the moment, but future patches will add a few adjustments here and there as we try to achieve that elusive perfect balance among all classes.
A while back there was a lot of talk on the internet about WoW on Xbox 360. Although that appeared to stem from a statement in an interview taken out of context, could you see yourselves developing a version for next-gen console?
Shane Dabiri: World of Warcraft is a PC game and we are focusing all our efforts on supporting it with as much new content as we can. We don't have any plans to deviate from that goal.
Looking slightly ahead, how do you hope to challenge the 'next big thing' in the MMORPG world and ensure that punters continue to play WoW rather than move elsewhere?
Shane Dabiri: We know that there are other companies out there working hard to come up with that "next big thing." All we can do is continue to design and innovate in our own way and make the best game we can without worrying about what the competition is doing. We know other games will be gunning for World of Warcraft, but we're not resting on our laurels. We're working hard to top ourselves and make WoW better and better so players won't have any reason to move elsewhere.
Any plans for some big announcements at BlizzCon, not just for World of Warcraft but generally about Blizzard projects?
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