WoW: Forever has me excited, but Blizzard needs to tread carefully — the player base will be seriously split in its current state

After one week of World of Warcraft: Forever's beta, I have to say, my initial impression is one of cautious optimism. I'm not quite sure what I was expecting, but I think Blizzard could, just maybe, be onto something here.

Like many other veteran WoW players, I've been dabbling over the years. A little bit of retail here, a little bit of Seasons of Discovery there. But nothing has quite matched that initial experience from all the way back in 2005 when I first created my Tauren Hunter and stepped into the world of Azeroth.

That's made spending a full week with the closed beta for World of Warcraft: Forever a particularly interesting experience. Like many others, I've gone into it with plenty of nostalgia for the original game, but I'm looking for that little extra to pull me back in for another round.

I'll get into specifics soon, but there are some really positive signs that Blizzard is taking a massive step in the right direction with Forever.

Of course, there are certainly things Blizzard has changed that I'm less convinced by, including one specific issue that I think could cause problems further down the line. But, even in its current state, WoW: Forever is just outright fun for 'Classic Andies' like myself.

The mythical Classic Plus of legend

Perhaps what I like most about WoW: Forever (at least, in its initial state) is that it genuinely feels like the mythical 'Classic Plus' we've speculated about for years. Yes, there are new models. Yes, there are plenty of new abilities and instances, but the core experience that made Classic so compelling appears to be present. I'd argue that Classic is less about art style and more about how the players actually interact with the world.

The starting zones, for example, are subtly refreshed and remixed to add depth and variety, but they don't streamline those initial levels of experience. There are no compromises for convenience here; everyone is footslogging across open fields to kill eight boars. You will be spamming the same spells and abilities over and over in the initial levels as you're being drip-fed abilities.

These subtle instances of friction add a lot of flavour to the experience — and, I would argue, are generally the reason that Classic is the way it is. While I'm certainly a fan of certain aspects of modern WoW, such as the incredible class design and dungeon mechanics, I've always preferred the jankiness and character of Classic. There are so many small little things that add up to make the world feel more alive.

Over the years, Blizzard has smoothed out the wrinkles with additions like the raid-finding tool and flying mounts, and I think, along the way, we've subsequently lost a lot of that character. I'm certainly guilty of nostalgia when I look back at classic WoW, but I do genuinely think that certain additions have reigned in that sense of adventure that we felt back in the day. Even as early as The Burning Crusade, we were diverging from what made WoW so compelling.

An unashamably old school approach

In its current state, WoW: Forever strips out most of the modern conveniences in favour of an unashamably old school approach. My gut feeling is that Blizzard has got a good balance here.

People will surely have strong opinions on this, but I've been having a blast spontaneously grouping up with players while questing out in the world. Forever has that vibe where you're subtly encouraged to engage with players in your immediate environment. While most of this comes from an adherence to classic quest design, Blizzard has leaned into the experience with additions like the new camping system, which is just a lovely touch that really adds a lot of flavour.

As a brief overview, the camping system lets players passively sit around a player-built campfire to get small buffs. It's cleverly entwined with the new profession changes so that players have more ways to interact aside from simply grouping up. It's a brief respite for players out in the world.

And, since everybody is out there footslogging, the world feels genuinely big and dangerous again. It all adds up to a kind of adventure that I haven't really experienced in WoW since the first Seasons of Discovery phase. The beta feels very similar in that everyone is still working it out, and everyone is eager to explore the world. Some of that is surely 'beta vibes', but I've seen enough to suggest that most players are going to have an absolute blast unlocking the fresh secrets of WoW: Forever.

A sight to behold

Graphically, the game is a real upgrade, too. The lighting effects in particular add a lot of atmosphere to the zones without detracting too much from the original vibe. The art style (mostly) looks the same, but Blizzard has leaned into making the world a little more immersive with new lighting and increased draw distances.

For my sins, I also like the new Skyborne race, which has really divided the player base (mostly between those who are flatly opposed and those who are ambivalent).

I think Blizzard was stuck with a tough decision in regard to adding an elven race to the game. Simply adding Blood Elves for the Horde would have left the Alliance without a new option. Conversely, adding both Blood Elves and High Elves into the game would have likely meant quite a few more zones to add.

Instead, we've got a completely new race of Elves for either faction with one starter zone: Zephyrus Isle. There's no doubt it's a compromise.

Having played through said zone, however, I was pleasantly surprised. I don't think the zone is quite as different as some are painting. Yes, there are a few quests that are reminiscent of modern WoW, but the overwhelming majority are as you would expect in Classic. I think if someone were to play WoW for the first time, they wouldn't find that much of a discrepancy between Zephyrus Isle and the other starter zones.

The biggest issue with the Skyborne, by far, is that some of their character models stick out compared to those from the older races. WoW: Forever lets players toggle between classic 'SD' character models and modern 'HD' models, and in the case of the former, there's definitely a marked difference in-game. It's particularly visible with the various Druid forms that the Skyborne have access to.

Dividing the fan base

So, overall, my impressions are positive, but I do have a few misgivings about WoW: Forever's initial direction. As previously suggested, I'm very much on the side of 'fewer changes' rather than a maximalist when it comes to Classic Plus. I generally believe that Blizzard should tread carefully when tweaking the winning formula.

Because of this, I'm slightly wary of some of the class changes that Blizzard has already implemented into the game. In some cases, they've genuinely fixed serious issues that have made certain classes unviable or boring, but in others, I think they've stripped out a little bit of character. Inevitably, there will always be balance issues with any changed system, but what I'm worried about is making classes too smoothed out.

Take Hunter, for example, which was my main class in the original iteration of WoW. Blizzard has added a few spells and made the class a little easier to play by removing some of the finer animations. I think the changes will prove popular, but I loved the subtle gameplay of timing certain abilities around your auto attacks. It was difficult to master but rewarding, and I'm not so sure I'd enjoy the new changes as much.

I'm also really not a big fan of the current mega-servers that appear to lock players into one faction long-term on the player-versus-player mega realm. I understand why Blizzard is implementing modern server technology, but the rigidity of the current setup is going to divide the players dramatically.

In my own case, for example, I have a group of friends who want to play Alliance on the PvP megaserver and another who want to play Horde. Under the current setup, there's no option for me to have characters in both factions without having two separate Blizzard accounts. Previously, I would just have two characters on separate servers.

I would assume that many veterans who have accrued friends over the years might be in the same situation as me. I've known some of these people for over twenty years, so I'm weighing my decisions carefully.

Considering the server technology appears to be using some form of sharding (like retail), I don't quite grasp why Blizzard doesn't allow both factions on the PvP server. Corpse camping, for example, is quite easily solved through instancing. In a high-population area, players are constantly switched between shards anyway, which doesn't particularly lend itself to a social or 'classic' experience.

I suspect the reasoning behind the rigidity is a new system that groups players into instances based on previous interactions. In practice, that means encountering guildies and those who you've grouped with before. It's a nice system, but it's not so nice that it offsets the issue of faction locking.

For myself, the rigid modern server structure is by far and away the biggest issue I have with WoW: Forever so far. I'd even go so far that this will quite literally divide the player base — both in opinion and in-game. The idea of not being able to play with half my friends in perpetuity certainly puts a massive dampener on my experience.

Will Blizzard address it? I'm not so certain based on how committed they appear to the current setup. However, if they would, then I'd even go so far as to say that this could be the best iteration of WoW so far. For me, at least.