One of the big announcements at BlizzCon was WoW Forever, the next iteration of offering a classic-style WoW experience. Blizzard is hoping to draw players back to the OG WoW in a number of ways, including with the introduction of 1,000+ new quests. GameSpot caught up with Blizzard senior game designer Josh Greenfield to discuss this, along with why the game’s OG quests–from 22 years ago–still resonate today.
If Blizzard is adding 1,000 more quests to WoW with the update, how many does that bring the game up to in total? It’s a tricky question to answer, Greenfield said, in part because some of WoW’s original quests are “tracking quests,” but if you’re counting “actual playable quests,” the game has around 3,000 to 3,500.
So with 1,000+ more added of actual playable quests, that’s a significant increase. WoW Forever also adds four new zones, and each of these has between 50 and 200 quests, so that’s where many will come from. Additionally, the existing zones have been “glowed up,” with the Wetlands and Azshara, specifically, getting a “lot of new quests to round them out as zones.”
“Every nook and cranny, you’re going to find something, even from like level five … onward, you’re going to start seeing new stuff,” Greenfield said.
Also in our interview, we asked how Blizzard came up with the inspirations for the 1,000 new quests, and if there might be a new version of The Green Hills of Stranglethorn, which is regarded as perhaps the game’s worst quest.
Greenfield said that was “kind of a terrible quest,” but it still has charm and remains memorable even to this day. A lot of the original WoW is full of similarly memorable and “super iconic” quests, Greenfield said, and Blizzard is keen to carry the torch forward with WoW Forever.
“I think a lot of those quests explored the world at a very like ground level, and they they told stories at a very like ground level, a very like relatable level. You know, ‘I am not the hero, I am a hero, and I’m going on this adventure with my dented shield and rusty sword.’ And, you know, like things like The Missing Diplomat and things like that, like being able to kind of jet-set around the world and talk to different people and learn more about the cultures of each of these different zones, and learn a mystery and try and unravel a mystery.”
Greenfield teased that Blizzard might “help finish unraveling that mystery” in WoW Forever. He went on to say some of the original WoW’s quests were dark and grim, and Blizzard is embracing that philosophy with a lot of the new quests.
“Even Zephyr Isle, it’s in the sky, it’s nice and bright, but it’s the story once you get into it, it’s not it’s not all, you know, sunshine and rainbows up there. It can be a little little hard,” he said.
WoW Forever releases on November 4. In addition to the new zones and quests, players can expected update class designs, revamped systems, visual and gameplay improvements, and an expanded list of race and class options.
Players can access WoW Forever via their existing WoW subscription. However, players can buy the $80 Warcraft Forever Collection to receive the new Skyborne race, beta access, and early name reservation for WoW Forever. The Collection also includes Warcraft III: Reforged and Warcraft III: Reforged Forsaken Kingdom