Forbes Interview with Ion Hazzikostas on Rise of Azshara, Faction Imbalance, Crucible Difficulty

Blizzard Posted 2019/04/11 at 12:13 PM by perculia

Forbes released an interview

Click here to read the full Forbes Interview!

Crucible DifficultyUu'natJaina

So there isn't a gimme introductory boss, especially with a two boss raid. I would say the first of the two bosses is somewhere around the range of a mid to late tier Battle of Dazar'alor encounter, think like a Rastakhan or Mekkatorque. And then the final is boss is hard. It's end boss level, like a Jaina. Not necessarily harder than Jaina, but comparable to Jaina in challenge.

FlyingBFA

I think the biggest concern for us is probably actually the implications for War Mode. That's something we're continuing to discuss. And there are toys that will let you dismount, or restrict flight. We may end up wanting to play with those rules a little bit, in terms of, what are restrictions on flying if you have recently been in combat in War Mode, let's say. Trying to navigate a middle ground where it's not prohibitively punishing in a way that makes you turn off War Mode because it's a nuisance.

War Mode

War Mode participation overall has remained healthy and in fact it's increased over the last couple months.

Against Overwhelming OddsFaction Balancelopsided progress on Hall of Fame Dazar'alor

It's a problem we acknowledge, and something that we consider to be a problem that we need to work on. We don't have any solution to announce right now, but it's something we actively discuss. I think in terms of the balance of racials, in terms of what each faction is capable of, I think there's a good argument actually that tools like Shadowmeld are actually optimal for Mythic Plus.
The challenge is also we're not looking to encourage mass amounts of faction migration. It's more, how can we build a healthier high-end Mythic Plus scene, or a healthier high-end raid scene on the Alliance side, among the Alliance population.
But there is ample critical mass to support healthy communities on the Alliance side. It's more a matter of encouraging the formation and encouraging more people to dip their toe into those types of activities, so that there are more people to play with.

The Alliance-Horde divide is something that's integral to Warcraft. It's integral to the franchise, to the world, integral to World of Warcraft.

Azerite

That's a direct response to feedback we've heard from the start, about the feeling of progression or lack thereof: the frustration from needing to re-earn specific powers. And in general just the idea of lacking agency over pursuing options, customizing one's character, seeking out desirable rewards and earning them and working towards them.

Comment by cainneThe highly-touted Azerite revamp was once again discussed, where active abilities are introduced on the actual Heart of Azeroth neck, along with customization paths, longer-term progression, and more choices. Ion clarified that Azerite gear will continue to drop for Helms, Shoulders, and Chests in Nazjatar--you'll just have all the rings unlocked automatically, and choose which traits to select.Comment by kragraghCurious why Forbes does an interview like
this, aren’t they some sort of business magazine?Comment by serra2Curious why Forbes does an interview like
this, aren’t they some sort of business magazine?Comment by perculiaCurious why Forbes does an interview like
this, aren’t they some sort of business magazine?Comment by akaRavenThat's a direct response to feedback we've heard from the start, about the feeling of progression or lack thereofComment by NatPaggleIsaPOSIon did reiterate that the faction divide was integral to WoW as well.Comment by cainneIon did reiterate that the faction divide was integral to WoW as well.Comment by Wepstar"I think there's a good argument actually that tools like Shadowmeld are actually optimal for Mythic Plus."Comment by ZerOrbitFactions definitely need to change in some way. Hopefully Blizzard understands that.Comment by bazzylWar Mode is balanced? Try EU RP Servers...Comment by deathlavitzcalled it a while ago "shadowmeld is too op must nerf" is pretty much what i read, i wonder when they'll realize horde has racials like stuns before alliance, a mini bloodlust usable when you want it etc.Comment by piraka810I'll believe Blizzard cares about Alliance imbalance when 90% of their devs stop being blatantly Horde biased and dumping stuff like a bucket of horses into the Alliance rewards for BFA.

Devs in 8.0/8.1
Let's give the Horde an intricate branching narrative, a bunch of cool new mounts, and bonus story quests!

What does the Alliance get?

Literally nothing!

Devs in 8.1.5
Why don't people do more people do high-end content on Alliance?Comment by TheDeralteThat's a direct response to feedback we've heard from the start, about the feeling of progression or lack thereofComment by PeredhilIon also revisited the brief period at the start of Dazar'alor where Alliance received ilvl 400 loot for completing Against Overwhelming Odds, noting that it was "probably too far a step in the opposite direction."Comment by BoroxxarFlying
Similar to past interviews, Ion confirmed that Pathfinder will allow you to fly in Nazjatar and Mechagon. One of the challenges of flying in BFA is how to handle the new War Mode system, as flying can greatly impact World PvP.
I think the biggest concern for us is probably actually the implications for War Mode. That's something we're continuing to discuss. And there are toys that will let you dismount, or restrict flight. We may end up wanting to play with those rules a little bit, in terms of, what are restrictions on flying if you have recently been in combat in War Mode, let's say. Trying to navigate a middle ground where it's not prohibitively punishing in a way that makes you turn off War Mode because it's a nuisance.Comment by zombiemallCurious why Forbes does an interview like
this, aren’t they some sort of business magazine?Comment by AzraelUltimaIon did reiterate that the faction divide was integral to WoW as well.cannot better Comment by Luck4LMAO

Alliance is officially dead now, since now we've confirmation that Blizzard don't care about faction imbalance...

Allance building a high end community? Really? He thinks we're in Vanilla or Burning Crusade? THE GAME IS DECLINING ION! WAKE UP!

People that play Alliance should either transfer to Horde or stop playing altogether, don'r expect anything from Blizzard, just move on!Comment by WillbladeIon did reiterate that the faction divide was integral to WoW as well.Comment by JaceDraccusThe faction divide is integral to the story... but not gameplay.