World of Warcraftfans have been playing Hardcore characters inClassicfor a while now, as the popular challenge mode has gained a significant following over the last several years. WhileWorld of Warcraftmade its appreciation for the Hardcore community well-known, it has finally announced official one-life realms are coming very soon.
Game Rant spoke withWorld of Warcraft Classiclead software engineer Ana Resendez and senior technical designer Tim Jones about the upcoming Hardcore realms. This is the first timeClassic WoWplayers can experience Hardcorein an official capacity, so the rules are a little different from the community-made ones they may be used to. The developers shared some of the ways they are curating the Hardcore experience to make sure it stays fun and how permadeath doesn’t necessarily mean a character’s journey is over.
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How World of Warcraft is Keeping Hardcore Fair
The purpose of a Hardcore realm inWorld of Warcraftis to provide the ultimate challenge, as players can embark on a high-stakes adventure where a single misstep can erase hours of progress. However, in an MMORPG with a faction-based PvP system and dozens of areas, situations can arise that can rob players of a fun and rewarding experience. To combat this,WoW Classicis making some small tweaksto safeguard fairness.
One of the biggest places where this is happening is PvP. Permanent death means ganking and griefing transform from a minor inconvenience to a time-wasting tragedy. “We saw some experiences from players where they will go to a Flight Master, want to right-click on it, and surprise, there’s a rogue there!”World of Warcraft Classicwants players to choose when they engage in PvP, so all Hardcore realms are PvE, and flagging oneself for PvP is going to be a deliberate choice. Jones explained this initiative further:
“One of the things we want to do a better job with on the Hardcore realms is to fix up quests, avenues, and abilities that people have used to force non-consensual PvP on other players… We’re taking extra care to identify [things that could] ruin your experience of trying to quest.”
Players can alternatively challenge each other to duels to the death and will earn a special buff showing how many players they have killed. Additionally, while Battlegrounds will be unavailable, players can still participate in Warsong Gulch andAlterac Valley inWorld of Warcraft ClassicHardcore realms via War Games. “We don’t want to completely remove PvP,” Resendez said, “Players really enjoy the PvP experience.”
But, at the end of the day, Hardcore is a PvE challenge first and foremost. “The servers are about the leveling experience,” Jones admitted, “and that’s why we’re making them primarily PvE. The journey and the challenge are about leveling.”PvP in HardcoreClassicwill be an optional and intentional choice players make.
To help prevent other sources ofgriefing inWorld of Warcraft Classic, many quest-related NPCs won’t be able to be attacked by the opposite faction, and the range from which enemies leash back to their spawn areas will be adjusted. While stories of training world bosses into capital cities are hilarious in normalWoW, they become sources of great frustration in Hardcore. “There’s no counter play in that, people in those low-level zones did not opt into that experience,” Jones said. “We are doing our best to ensure people can’t do those things, so we can preserve the PvE challenge as much as possible.”
A Hardcore Classic Journey Doesn’t End With Death
When one dies in a Hardcore realm, they can never come back to life through any means; that is the entire point of these one-life servers. “Potentially, you’re going to be in a situation where you spend a lot of time into a character, and they come into a tragic death, or a silly death where you were not looking, and suddenly you’re in the lava,” Resendez said. However, a character’s story doesn’t necessarily have to end if tragedy strikes.
A player’sWoWcharacter is not deletedautomatically when they die. Indeed, they can still log in to observe, explore, and communicate with other players as a ghost. “People get attached to their characters," Resendez explained. “We didn’t want the journey to end there if that isn’t what you wanted.” Players can keep in touch with friends they make along the way, and manage guild membership if necessary. Resendez believes this unique player state may end up changing the way some players choose to hang out in the game.
“I’m super curious to see what’s going to happen with all of those ghost communities all of a sudden. I wouldn’t be surprised if suddenly there’s ‘ghost guilds’ that you would die on purpose to join!”
If players get especially attached to their characters who meet unfortunate ends,World of Warcraftis giving them a way to play them still. Fans will be able to transfer dead Hardcore characters to non-HardcoreClassicEra realms, allowing them to resurrect in the process. That said, this is a one-way trip, as players can’t transfer into Hardcore realms.
World of Warcraft ClassicHardcore realms are hitting the Public Test Realm on June 29, and launching later this summer. Players will soon have a whole new way toplayClassic WoWin a brand-new challenge, and can make it even harder with player-driven limitations through add-ons and personal restrictions. “We’re excited to see people do the Hardcore challenge normally,” Jones said, “as well as with whatever additional levels of difficulty people want to impose on themselves.”
World of Warcraftis available now for PC.
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