In the early hours of April 20, Blizzard brought a new 10.0 version of World of Warcraft, "Age of Dragons.". In the new version, players will travel to the "Dragon Islands" to discover the stories of the dragons.
At the same time, the new version will also usher in a series of new content, such as a new race "Dragon Hill", a new class "Magician", and players will also be able to learn "Dragon Taming" and soar on this land.
As an MMO that has been in operation for nearly 20 years, each major version update may also be a new beginning for World of Warcraft, and 10.0 is no exception. So, what are the highlights of this new version? What does it mean for Blizzard?
After the launch, GameLook chatted with World of Warcraft Director Ion Hazzikostas with major media from around the world about the new version.
World of Warcraft director Ion Hazzikostas
The following is a transcript of the interview:
Q: In the past, the CG of "World of Warcraft" was basically a very cool CG that reflected conflict, but this time the new CG gave people a feeling of more tranquility and less conflict, is there any deep reason for this change?
In the new version of Ion: 10.0, our biggest main line is to explore and discover, because Azeroth is healing himself, so in the process we will also find new threats slowly surfaced, and at the same time we can also discover the connection between Azeroth and the dragon and the past history, so in the process will slowly find some hidden threats, this process is a bit like the previous "Panda Man Mystery" style, so at the beginning it is not to face the threat of "destroying the world".
This is also a relatively rhythmic change for us, because we have entered a new world in the exhaustion of the "ShadowLand", and having new changes is also a healing for ourselves.
Q: There is a new system in 10.0 called "Dragon Taming", which many players are also interested in. So in the new version, will players be able to learn various flying skills at the beginning, or will they learn step by step through upgrades and other means?
Ion: In the new version, the old flying mount and the old flying ability are not available. Because we all know that the new version is about the Dragon Islands, which is actually home to dragon creatures, we also hope to let players explore the whole world in a three-dimensional, three-dimensional, and multi-dimensional way through this new way of flying.
So in the first week, we can use the Dragon Tamer, and we'll meet the Dragon Companion and summon it on the Dragon Archipelago. As our connection with our dragon partners deepens, we will also strengthen our "Dragon Taming" abilities, such as being able to fly longer and faster, while also unlocking abilities such as swooping and tumbling.
Q: I found that this version of the UI, talent, and even professional has been redone to varying degrees, 10.0 is like a new beginning of World of Warcraft, so what does 10.0 really mean for Blizzard?
Ion: In many ways, the Legion of Dragons version was really a starting point because we were back in Azeroth and we were going on a new journey. We ended a very long storyline before, and finally came to an end after a duel with the Warden, and now we have a new storyline in the new version. Every time we add a new race or class, we don't do it easily, we think about whether it fits with the new version.
In this 10.0 version, the key element is the "dragon", so at the beginning we will think about what kind of race we want, and when we think about the race, we will consider what kind of class it fits into, and what it will feel like during the battle, so we set a new class for the Dragon Hill to summon the magician. We're also very happy that it's the 13th class in World of Warcraft, and hopefully we'll get players to it early.
Q: In version 10.0, the content of the new class and new race was announced, so will the old class have new skills after the level cap is refreshed?
Ion: Actually, I don't have a way to elaborate on how the types of demons summoned by warlocks will increase, but with the introduction of the new version, there will be new abilities, because from level 60 to level 70, there will be new talents, and we can see the return of some old skills, such as some of the previous covenant skills, legendary equipment abilities, etc. In addition, we now have a bonus for new talents.
So in the new version we'll see that there are a lot of abilities that are given to the player, and as the player grows, it will belong to the player forever. Then, because we redoed the talent system, what we were most excited about was to be able to see that the player was able to get some permanent improvement in ability.
Q: The new race Dragon Hill model is quite complex, what are the challenges of designing such content, what are the unexpected difficulties and additional adjustments?
Ion: When we first decided on the design direction of the new content, everything became a form of cooperation, including artists, animators, character modeling, designers, etc. to work together to complete the design of the entire content.
Then because in battle, the new race is a winged race, so we need to consider how it should feel in battle, and at the same time it has this ability to fly for a short time, and we also have to consider how the camera should be arranged in flight so that the player does not feel chaotic. As well as the new race has new abilities, it can perform power casting, and the longer the power is stored, the more powerful it is.
Q: The dragon driving gameplay in the new version looks like an extension of the previous mount system, in addition to making it easier for players to explore the map, collect new appearances of dragons, etc., what else can players do with it? What can players get out of it?
Ion: The most important thing about Dragon Taming is that it's a flying ability, and it's very exciting during flight. Because it has the entire flight posture, physical principles, etc. can be felt in flight. That said, whether it's flying back to town to hand over missions, or looking for some rarer enemies to fight, it's a new experience that helps players fly, hurry, explore, and more in the new version.
Q: The new profession "Magician" has two specializations, one is the output specialization, the other is the therapeutic specialization, what are the characteristics of the "Magician" compared to the profession of "Nursing Mother"?
Ion: I think the main difference is that the power used by the "Magician" is different from the type of magic, for example, the "Fire Method" uses fire magic, while the "Magician" uses the power of the Dragon Guardian and the Dragon Spell, of course, there is no black dragon power for the time being.
For example, players can use the power of the bronze dragon to manipulate time in the game, or for example, players can cancel the damage caused by time spells, or some damage can be slowed down by time spells.
At the same time, all dragons have a characteristic, that is, they can use the ability of dragon wings to fan out high winds to repel or fly enemies. There is also the fact that we can use the power of the Green Dragon Guardian to make the enemy fall asleep, or slowly "sleepwalk" in the process of falling asleep, which is equivalent to a group control skill, that is, the "Magician" can use a variety of practical skills and functional skills to enhance the team, which is the big difference.
Q: As seen in yesterday's press conference, the new class is attacked by mouth spray, so is there any other way to attack it? What is also the exclusive weapon of the "Magician"?
Ion: Which weapon types are more suitable for the "magician", we are still thinking about the specific weapon types. At least we can say that weapons such as daggers and magic staffs in traditional spell-casting professions should be available.
There is also a key to the way of attacking, the "summoner" is that you can summon the power of the guardian and the guardian dragon to fight. For example, the unique mechanism I mentioned earlier, the "Magician" can charge power when casting spells, and the longer the power will be stronger.
At the same time, when spewing fire in the air, it can also choose a line or an area on the ground to attack, such as it can use the spell of bronze dragon sand to slow down the enemy, etc., or it can choose an area to weaken or curse the enemy, a bit like the spell of "Blizzard", which can control and weaken the enemy within range.
In addition, you can use some time-related spells, or blue dragon guardian spells, etc., so the key point is that it can not only use one spell, but can combine the abilities of multiple dragon guardians, or all dragon legions.
Q: This 10.0 version tells the story of the dragons, so when it comes to the Archaeopteryx, many players will think of the character of "Gala Clone", and the concept map of "Gala Clone" also appeared in the press conference, but it did not mention it too much, so will it appear in this version? And in what form will it take?
Ion: The "relics" or "legacy" handed down from the "Gala Clone" are the core of our new version, and we all know that the Gala Clone is actually long dead, its bones are scattered on the keel wilderness, and some bones are even larger than some cities.
As Gala clones weakened, the power of the Dragon Guardians rose. In this new version, we will learn that some other dragon forces also exist, these new dragon forces are not known to us before, as we continue to explore the Dragon Islands, we can learn more about the history of dragons and some of their origins.
At the same time, we will also learn more about what kind of Archaeopteryx Galakron really is, what its goals are, what kind of things cause it to clash with other dragons, and how these causes and the legacy of Galakron will affect the current world, which will be gradually discovered as players experience the story.
Q: This 10.0 version has brought a lot of new content, will there be some new PvP content in the middle of it?
Ion: For the PvP content, we didn't mention it to you before, and it's a point that we're very excited about.
We have an adjustment in the new version of Shadowlands, that is, we can single-row or chaotic PvP mechanism, of course, after the introduction of this new mechanism we will go to collect feedback from players, and then we will add a single row of player ratings, so that players can carry out single-row PvP, you can match some opponents with similar strength, and get rewards after the battle, which is also a very interesting PvP gameplay in the later stages of the game.
There is also a point is the PvP conquest equipment item level change, before we provided PvP equipment, players can use honor points to increase its item level, but we have now changed it to, at the beginning the item level is the highest, and then the increased PvP item level is only the PvE item level, so as to avoid the disadvantage of the players who join later, so that all players are on the same starting line.
Q: In addition, if a new class is added to the new version, will it affect the current class balance, and how does Blizzard balance the class?
Ion: On the issue of class balance, after the new class joins, the game environment will definitely change, such as the group capital, team composition, etc. There will be certain changes, but when we design a new race, our starting point is that it must be very interesting, and has a sense of fantasy, so that the "magician" class is very interesting and cool to play.
At the time of beta testing, we will definitely consider the issue of occupational balance to ensure that the "magician" is both powerful and interesting, and does not mask the characteristics of other injury classes or nursing professions. It would be nice to have such a new class in the team, and it wouldn't make the shaman or warlock consider whether to re-train a "magician" or not have my place in the group.
So our idea is a bit similar to the previous DH, "Summoner" will be a very popular class, but slowly it will also be able to integrate into other classes and become a very balanced option.
Q: After seeing such a new class, players often think of the birth of DH, because when DH was born, some of the warlock's skills ran to DH and it was a demon transformation, I would like to ask the designer can reassure the player, the player's existing class will not lose the existing skills, the new class is a new and not so homogeneous class?
Ion: I can make a promise that the Fire Technique and the Dragon Breath Technique will definitely not be stolen and will definitely be retained. We are very concerned that this new profession must have its unique points, and must be different from other professions.
For us, one of the things that excites us is that the new class brings a whole new ability, a whole new type of spell, and it's completely different from the other classes.
Regarding the skill of demon transformation, because historically it is a signature skill of a demon hunter, and as long as there is a demon hunter, this signature skill must only belong to the demon hunter.
As for the "Magician", it is relatively unique in itself, and it does not have much overlap with other professions. When we really α and β tests, we will also collect feedback from players on the "Magician", and we will also pay attention to the feedback of other professions on the "Magician", such as they think that the appearance of the "Magician" makes their own class seem less cool, and we will also pay attention to such feedback content.
Q: In introducing the features of "Dragon Taming" such as swooping and soaring, the development team mentioned the statement that conforms to intuition and conforms to the laws of real physics, is this a new design concept? Will there be more experience in combat and action design in the future?
Ion: We've always thought about strengthening the intuitive or fit of the battle, and we wanted to try to enhance the immersion of the overall combat experience as much as possible while the World of Warcraft engine could handle it.
At the same time, we are very happy to see that "dragon taming" has the potential to make flying seem more different. Of course, this idea will also have some impact on other aspects of our game, and it is likely that it will be realized elsewhere in the future, but we will have to look at the subsequent developments.
As for the power casting, his ability definitely belongs only to the "magician", and as time progresses, it may also be useful in other places, but in the dragon version, the power should only belong to the magician.
Q: In the actual game, what kind of role does the Wyvern Legion play?
Ion: The Black Dragon Legion will play a very important role in the new version, our first area is the Awakening Coast, where there will be a large castle of the Black Dragon Legion, which will show a lot of storylines and will also be an important part of the storyline.
At the same time, we will also know what the process of Nesario's fall into the Wings of Death was, and Nesario was the creator of the race of Ronhill, so in the exploration of the story, we will also learn more about this story.
As for Rashio, he has actually been exploring his past and origins, so in the new version he is also a central character, and many of our stories will revolve around him.
In addition, we will also have some black dragon characters who will be attracted to his side, such as the black horns we have encountered before. In the animation, we can also see that after the beacon is lit, it is not only the Guardian Dragon that is summoned, but also the summoning of all the dragons, so these dragons are reflected in the new version of the story.
Q: After the new version is announced, most players are relatively satisfied with the new content, but some players still have some concerns, and they think that the new version has become different from before? There will be a mood of playing not WOW, what does the designer think about this?
Ion: Actually, I'd like to listen more to the players' concerns and specific ideas, but the core of the new version is to return to the essence or origin of WOW, if this is to say, the "ShadowLand" version is different from the tone of WOW.
We have a lot of new versions to explore and a lot of familiar content to explore about this new version, which is a very large map with Titan ruins and so on, and we will also see a lot of familiar races, such as walrus people.
In the process of exploring the archipelago, we will actually have a sense of déjà vu, because a lot of the content is "traditional" content of Azeroth. At the same time, our art style is constantly evolving and improving, so it may feel relatively new, and it is also very grateful to the art team for their continuous efforts.
Q: Each version will have version features, will dragon taming be such content, and it will not be used outside the Dragon Islands? You also said yesterday that this version will strengthen the connection between each version and make players feel like starting from 0, how to do it?
Ion: Regarding "Dragon Taming", we think it is indeed a feature of our version, because Dragon Taming is very much related to the Dragon Archipelago, but unlike other versions, it does not have to deal with the strength of the character, does not increase DPS, skills, etc., but says that on the Dragon Archipelago, we can summon dragon partners to make the exploration and play process more interesting. Whether the mount will be used in other places in the future, whether it can be brought to other places, in fact, we have a plan, and we will also look at the future development.
Another point is our design philosophy and philosophy, after such a change, we hope to give players permanent skills and permanent upgrades, such as new talent systems, professional systems, etc. The key point is that the new versions after that are a forward, new journey of exploration, not to make players worry about whether the new version will lose some abilities and so on.
Therefore, after such a change, the dragon version is a good time to join WOW for both new players and returning players.
Q: I said before that the talent tree returned, so what innovations are there in the return of the talent tree this time compared to the past?
Ion: I think there's a lot of unique new content in the new talent system, where we retain the abilities and features of the Class Talent Tree from 15 years ago, and we also retain the flexibility of customization, plus the ability to quickly adjust damage bonuses for AOE, single damage bonuses, group books, and quickly adjust damage bonuses for PvP that can only be seen in recent versions.
In addition to this, we have two biggest changes, which are two separate talent trees, one for a class and the other for a certain class specialization, and after the upgrade we will specify which side to add. For example, upgrading to level 37 will get the mage's talent points, at level 38 will get frost talent points, why do you do this, because we understand that the average player in order to improve the DPS will use skills such as ice arrows, we let the player's choice to make some changes, let the player in the case of can be improved to make the choice, so that the player's choice will be more diverse, which is also our biggest change.
Q: At the end of the Cataclysm, Alexhtassa told Sal that the age of the dragon was over and that the age of mortals was about to begin. How will the plot introduce the return of the Dragon Age this time?
Ion: That's a very important part of our new version, and as we explore the Dragon Islands we'll find a lot of clues, not only about the Dragon Islands but also about Azeroth, and it's for some reason, because of some of the things that happened in Azeroth, that we have to have the return of the Dragon Guardians to deal with these threats. And the Dragon Guardian can not do this on their own, we must also provide a lot of help in the process, part of the whole journey, is to complete a ritual, to activate the dragon guardian has the ability, the specific content I will not spoil too much here, I hope that the player in the game to slowly explore.
Q: In addition to the new race and new class, will the new version make some optimizations to the existing content, such as whether the player will do some load-off optimizations in terms of daily missions?
Ion: We've always wanted to evolve and strengthen every aspect of the game, including daily missions, world missions, outdoor upgrades, prestige systems, etc. At the same time, we have also optimized the UI interface.
We've also been thinking about what we're asking players to do in the game, and what the rewards should be. For example, in the Shadow Nation Zarey Quintis area, many of its designs are actually equivalent to previews, which allows players to better understand how our design team thinks about these issues, including what our design philosophy is.
For example, the original ciphertext decryption we did before, for those interested players can explore more, but for the strong party, it is more to update their equipment under the group, play the big secret, do not want to explore these contents can also be ignored.
We are in WOW to make the choice more abundant, and different players can find points of interest in the game.
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