World of Warcraft: Forever‘s beta just got a major update late yesterday. As with most beta updates, it fixed a lot of bugs, tweaked a lot of percentages, tried to balance some classes, and introduced a few new fun issues (as updates are wont to do). But there were also some pretty significant changes to the actual gameplay of the beta in this one that make it worth poking your nose back into if you’d already stepped out until the final launch.
The full patch notes are here, and you should read them if that’s the sort of thing you like doing, but here are the big highlights you might care about most:
The level cap has been raised
Up until now, you could only reach a maximum of level 20 in the WoW: Forever beta. This cap has now been raised to 30, which means players can now safely level and quest in a lot more zones than before. It also means that some new dungeons are now enterable, including…
A new dungeon
Excavation Site: Wetlands is a brand new dungeon to WoW: Forever that has now unlocked, intended for players level 26+. Razorfen Downs (level 25+) and Uldaman (30+) have also opened up, joining the existing roster of lower-level dungeons. If you’re counting, that means three of the promised nine new dungeons in WoW: Forever are now explorable, as both the Hall of Thanes (13+) and Ruins of Lordaeron (15+) were already open.
Excavation Site: Wetlands is located in the south central area of Wetlands, on top of the hill in an area previously inaccessible. A new road now leads to the top of the hill.
Can you help me find my dog?
The well-known Mulgore questline Kyle’s Gone Missing! has been added back into Forever! Kyle’s Gone Missing! is a quest originally added to the game as part of a Make-A-Wish visit to Blizzard HQ by Ezra Chatterton in 2007. Chatterton helped design this quest, and did the voice of the tauren who asks passersby, “Can you help me find my dog?” While Chatterton has sadly passed away in the years since, his quest still lives on in both retail and now also in Forever.
Less XP from dungeon quests
This is a controversial one. The actual patch note reads as follows:
Developers’ notes: We appreciate the feedback on leveling speed as we continue ongoing discussions about the Beta. As part of those discussions, we’ve decided to reduce the amount of XP granted from dungeon quests with this release. Certain quest rewards have also been recalibrated.
Dungeon quests now reward 50% less extra experience beyond normal quest values.
So basically, dungeon quests got their experience rewards nerfed, so leveling by burning through lots of dungeon quests will be much slower now. Players have mixed feelings on this one: some are concerned that this makes dungeons far less appealing given how much work it takes to get a group together and actually get to one and do it. Others think folks are just impatient to reach max level, and need to slow down (life is to be savored!).
Ultimately, the actual impact of this change on how people play will be demonstrated by…well, watching people play the beta. Actual dungeon rewards might look similar, or very different, in the final game.
Children have hats
“Anduin Wrynn – and many other children – unintentionally have hats. We’re in the process of removing them, but they keep giggling and running away, so this is going to take a while.”
I—what? What does that mean? Let’s see:
Oh, yup.
Uh huh, okay.
Sure, why not! That’s game development, bay-bee!
