Blizzard can keep remaking World of Warcraft, but they can't make you sixteen again
World of Warcraft Forever is getting great buzz in beta, but the new take on an old MMO is already showing its own complications
World of Warcraft Forever has been in beta since Sept. 17, and fans have gotten some hands-on time with the new version of the old MMO.
If you missed the BlizzCon announcement, Forever is an evolution of World of Warcraft Classic. The game uses the vanilla maps, models, and large parts of the game design (albeit with a high-definition toggle), while adding new content like new zones, new raids and dungeons, new hero talents, and new bells and whistles. The reception, so far, has been incredibly positive. But while many influencers and creators hailing Forever as a return to WoW’s golden age, I suspect the MMO will encounter new and exciting problems soon enough – it’s just the nature of the beast.
I started playing World of Warcraft when I was 14, and I’ve been engaged on and off ever since. I’ve been there for both the high points (killing Ragnaros in a 40-man guild, exploring Northrend in Wrath, fighting demons in Legion) and the low points (Cataclysm’s endless pop culture references, that god damned tree, Shadowlands). Players often complain that World of Warcraft lacks a sense of wonder and exploration; it’s a solved system, and the only thing to do is to hop on the treadmill and grind out a higher item level.
With Forever, Blizzard isn’t just selling an MMO; they’re selling nostalgia, the return to a simpler time. Remember when Azeroth felt wild and open and unexplored? What if we could go back to that?
It’s a tempting promise. A sense of wonder comes from a simple equation: exploring a world and knowing that there’s more out there, but not knowing what it is or how to get there. That was a much easier feeling to cultivate in 2004 than it is now. In the early days of World of Warcraft, we were all flying blind, using simple sites and crowdsourced solutions to figure out content. The launch of Classic made the knowledge gap clear; raids would go in to clear out old bosses that had once taken months of work and clear them out instantly.