Excitement is in the air for World of Warcraft Classic fans as they eagerly await the new “vanilla” servers launching on November 21, marking WoW’s 20th birthday.
Blizzard shared this news during their Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct, revealing that these fresh vanilla servers, not including the upcoming Hardcore ones, will eventually transition to The Burning Crusade Classic. However, they haven’t guaranteed that these servers will continue progressing all the way to Cataclysm, despite players currently being at that stage from the 2019 launch.
Here’s the video from Blizzard’s announcement:
During a chat with GameSpot, WoW Classic’s lead software engineer, Nora Valletta, and software engineer, Kevin Vigue, shared insights about what newcomers can expect on these fresh servers. They also discussed the potential move to Mists of Pandaria and lessons learned from their daring experiments like Season of Discovery.
Blizzard is employing cutting-edge server tech to support bigger realms with more players but fewer total realms for this new server batch. Unlike before, there won’t be role-playing or RPPvP servers, Valletta noted. Players will see quality-of-life updates like the Chronoboon Displacer for saving world buffs, balanced PvP realms, and a less harsh Honor PvP rank system. Plus, GDKP runs are banned in North America and Europe. Interestingly, Molten Core, the first raid, will arrive a few weeks after launch. A tool for finding groups will also be included, similar to the one from TBC, Vigue mentioned.
Fans sometimes want the best of both worlds.
Recently, Blizzard tweaked the guild interface in WoW Classic and Season of Discovery to a more modern look, but after negative feedback, they’re letting players choose between the new and original UI when the fresh servers roll out. Vigue expressed that they don’t plan to offer such choices often but felt it was fitting for guilds.
“We realized, especially once we saw the community reaction, ‘Yeah, there is something really nostalgic about the original UI and how it’s presented and what it means for that game experience,'” Vigue said.
Adding to the sense of déjà vu, Blizzard announced that Cataclysm Classic servers will advance to Mists of Pandaria in Summer 2025. Although players revisited Mists of Pandaria earlier this year through WoW’s Mists of Pandaria Remix event, Valletta and Vigue believe the two experiences differ enough to justify another round.
Mists of Pandaria Remix featured exclusive cosmetics and powerful abilities, but it played like modern WoW. Meanwhile, Mists of Pandaria Classic will replicate its original form from over ten years ago. Vigue and Valletta highlighted that each expansion was someone’s starting point in WoW, making Mists of Pandaria a “classic” for some players. It’s an expansion that, while not fully appreciated then, now holds cherished memories.
“I think the fact that MoP Remix was so well received speaks to…how much people love Pandaria as a continent and as an expansion,” Vigue said.
As for the ongoing WoW Classic Season of Discovery, Blizzard’s unique take on the original WoW from late 2023, there’s still more content coming. The Naxxramas update will drop this winter, bringing vanilla WoW’s final raid and new “instanced” content like a battle against the Scarlet Crusade and the Karazhan Crypts, first teased at BlizzCon 2023. Vigue and Valletta didn’t specify whether this would be raids, dungeons, or a mix, saying players will have to find out for themselves.
Vigue and Valletta also remained tight-lipped about what follows Season of Discovery. Valletta mentioned the team’s always brainstorming but noted they’ve learned a lot about creating new content for a game two decades old while keeping its original vibe.
“We’ve found Season of Discovery to be incredibly successful,” Valletta said. “I think part of what made it successful is that sense of…[the new content] is very much down to earth. It wasn’t massive, universe-ending world threats. It’s you, yourself, as that character in that world…You’re not some mighty fine champion hero who everybody knows and everything revolves around you, right? You exist in the world but the world is the main character, and you’re part of that.”
The WoW Classic updates were just a piece of the Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct puzzle. Blizzard also unveiled remastered versions of Warcraft 1 and 2, announced a StarCraft mini-set for Hearthstone, and more.
