It’s a big year forWorld of Warcraft Classic, as well as all other iterations of theWarcraftfranchise, with big anniversary celebrations taking place alongside even bigger announcements about the future ofWorld ofWarcraft. While the party has been raging in modernWoW, developers haven’t forgotten aboutClassic, and recently announced the continuation of progression servers intoMists of Pandaria Classicin 2025, and new20th Anniversary Realms ofWoW Classicwhich are available nowfor a fresh start.
These big changes of new,reset “classic"ClassicAnniversary Realmsand moving the story of progression servers along toMoP Classichave certainly had the internet buzzing with excitement and many have wondered about what might be coming next for the game. Particularly with so many different ways to enjoy this historicWoW Classicversion ofWorld of Warcraft, it is a wonderful time to jump in and explore the various timelines of Azeroth.
Screen Rantwas recently able to chat withWoW Classic’s Lead Software Engineer, Nora Valletta, and Kevin Vigue, a Senior Software Engineerfor the game. The interview covers a bit of everything going on in the world ofWoW Classic, including their hopes for the future.
What World Of Warcraft’s Anniversary Means For The Classic Team
The History Of WoW Classic
Screen Rant: Thinking about the whole 20-year anniversary ofWorld of Warcraft, when Classic started, did you or the team ever think that it would become as big and popular as it is? Or was it originally considered to be just a side project?
Kevin Vigue, Senior Software Engineer: I can speak to that. So, I was hired onto theWorld of Warcraftteam in 2018. So I was there for kind of like most of the development of what would eventually become “2019 Classic” as people sometimes call it. There certainly wasn’t a firm 100% knowledge that it would be as big as it would be. Our focus then was really on making vanilla Classic.
And we knew there was an audience for that, and that people had been asking about this for years. I, as a player, had been asking about it. So everyone was really excited to work on the product. Everyone knew there was going to be some people showing up. But we didn’t know for certain, for instance, whether we would pull in new players or not. Because obviously, there was kind of this entrenched audience who was like, ‘oh, yeah, we played Classic. We know what it is. We’re really excited to come back to it.’ Is this game going to appeal to new people?
And the answer is yes, actually. There’s a lot of people who jumped into Classic and was like, ‘oh, yeah, when I get the opportunity to start at the beginning and start over with all my friends and stuff like that, or make new friends along the way, that’s actually really cool opportunity.’ It feels like it’s starting from the beginning sort of thing. There’s something really appealing there, and World of Warcraft Classic is still a great game today. And that’s actually a lot of the reason whywe’re so excited for our fresh Anniversary Realms, because it’s once again an opportunity for people to jump in, make new friendships, play with their friends, play with their family, explore Azeroth as it was in that earliest vanilla era. And then, if they have fun and get hooked, progress on to Burning Crusade from there.
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Nora Valletta, Lead Software Engineer: I was actually not on the original Classic team that launched Classic in 2019, but I have to say I was one of those players that was keenly interested in seeing Classic become a thing. I remember hopping in day one, so excited to get in there and re-experience Classic.
And I have to say, even though I had played through that content before, I actually underestimated how much I would enjoy diving back in. It’s such a unique game thatreally places that emphasis on the journey. And huge plus one to what Kevin said: it’s an amazing time to jump back in, whether you’ve gone through WoW Classic before, or whether you’ve experienced that or if you’re a brand-new player and want to check out what all the hubbub is about.
WoW Classic’s Anniversary Realms Will Be Progress As Player Demand Guides It
Talking Hardcore And Regular Realms
Screen Rant: When I think ofWoW Classic, my brain still always imagines thepre-Cataclysmperiod. I think of the vanillaWoWof 2004 when I first started playing. The fresh 20th Anniversary Edition Realms are going to be bringing that back, but will they stay at that original place inWoW’s history? I know they’re going to move ontoBurning Crusadebut will they progress beyondBurning Crusade?
Nora Valletta: It’s too soon to tell, currently. But we thought that, you know, there’s a lot of players asking to revisitTBC. And so we’re very excited to sort of allow them to experience that once more. And, pretty much most of how our team operates is very much player-feedback driven. And sowe will continue to listen to where our players want to go in the futureand see if that’s, you know, something we should explore.
We will continue to listen to where our players want to go in the future and see if that’s, you know, something we should explore. - Nora Valletta
Kevin Vigue: Yeah. And just to plus one Nora’s answer, the original impetus of Classic World of Warcraft is where the players wanted to go. So it’s something our team pays a lot of attention to and excited to see what that future holds.
Screen Rant: Why are the Hardcore serversnot going to be going intoBurning Crusade? I understand they are just staying put [in the vanillaWoWexperience].
Nora Valletta: Yeah. So a lot of work went into making sure Hardcore was a good experience in Classic Era, and that’s not to say that we would not be willing to do the work necessary to make it happen forTBCas well. However, it’s just not one of those things, kind of as Kevin’s previous point that we just kind of touched on,it’s not one of those things we’re hearing an overwhelming amount of, ‘yes, that’s where we want to go’ from our players.And so it’s just kind of not something that’s in the cards right now. But you know, we’ll continue to kind of keep our ear to the ground and see what players would prefer.
Anniversary Realms Will Bring Back A Classic Experience, With Improvements
Some Quality Of Life Updates, But Nothing To Take Away
Screen Rant: I know that the Anniversary Realms are going to be having a few changes from the originalClassic, like the looking for group tool. What else will be different? And is it still going to have that same 2004 originalWoWfeeling?
Kevin Vigue: So I’ll speak to the looking for group tool first. This is always a tricky topic.
Our team takes changes to Classic very seriously, because in 2019, you know, what the players were asking for then was no changes. And we, you know, within reason delivered on that. At the same time, we also want to deliver something that felt modern, because if we had just shipped the original 2004-2006 era client, when you opened up Classic WoW on your nice widescreen monitor, your character would have been appropriately wide because you know, the game didn’t really support widescreen back then, it just stretched everything. So obviously, it was like, okay, like, is that what players are asking for? Probably not.
If we had just shipped the original 2004-2006 era client, when you opened upClassic WoWon your nice widescreen monitor, your character would have been appropriately wide. - Kevin Vigue
There’s little improvements. The way we asked ourselves a lot of these questions as we were going, like, you know,we want to have the modern accessibility options. That means we probably want to have the modern accessibility menu, like, are we going to take out, you know, voice chat or something like that? No, we’re probably gonna leave that in.
You know, raid frames are another thing where players oftentimes, you know, there was those vanilla raid frames that I believe our game still supports, where you can drag out the raid group, and it’s like the five little health bars right there just for like group two or whatever it is. So we brought those back. But we’re also like, a lot of players are just going to do add-ons. On top of this, the modern raid frames are actually really good. Let’s keep those in just so that players can use them if they don’t want to get an add-on.
Group Finder is also something that we’ve kind of, you know, had conversations on over the years. SoI want to make it really clear, we don’t have teleporting to dungeon, we don’t have queuing up, we don’t have like, you know, just kind of suddenly getting in a group with peopleand stuff like that. But at the same time, even the original developers recognize that grouping up with players is something they wanted to facilitate, because that’s really, you know, that is the heart of World of Warcraft, especially Classic, actually, is being able to find people who want to do dungeons with you, and then form those friendships over time.
So where was I going with this? So we looked at it, and we’re like, okay, like, you know, a lot of players nowadays, there’s certain add-ons they’ll use to like kind of parse the looking for group chat channel and stuff like that, in order to basically make their own sort of group finder, let’s have that sort of finder where you can list yourself, and then browse other people’s listings in order to see who is interested in doing what and start forming those social connections.
This answer has gone long. But I thinkwhat I’ll emphasize there is that we do put a lot of thought into it. And it is something that we’re really careful about.
To your question of are there other changes? We actually just announced some this morning. So I don’t know if you got a chance to see it yet. But we’re going to have instant mail between alts on the same battle net account, we are removing the buff and debuff limit that is kind of notorious in Classic. And we are going to… Oh, what’s the third one? Save me, Nora.
Nora Valletta: Dual spec!
Kevin Vigue: Right. Dual spec. And that way, you know, these are all things that we talked really intensely about as a team. We recognize they are changes and stuff like that. We also recognize that the overwhelming player feedback is wanting to have these things in the game. And to just to speak to dual spec, as an example, it actuallyhelps facilitate grouping up with other players so that you can run dungeons, so you can form those friendships.
And that’s something that’s really core to Classic. If it helps facilitate that, then that’s something we’re interested in. So, we want to be really careful, but you know, are looking for those opportunities and listening to community feedback where it’s applicable.
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Nora Valletta: Yeah, we place a huge emphasis on continuing to make sure Classic feels authentic. And so with these changes, as long as it feels compatible with that version of the game, we’re more likely to go in that direction if, you know, we’re hearing all that player feedback. Not all two changes are the same.
So it’s not a matter of like, oh, well, just slightly over 50 percent of players want this thing, therefore, we must do this thing. It’s more, you know,what is the sort of purpose of this version of the game? What are the things that make it special to folks?
The Future Plans For WoW Classic And Anniversary Realms
Looking Forward At World Of Warcraft Classic
Screen Rant: I know you said the anniversary realms might be progressing through expansions, they might not. But with the long term plan, if they’re going to be sticking around long term, why are they called the Anniversary Realms? Because I imagine, you know, six, seven years from now, that could be really confusing, especially if you release new fresh servers.
Nora Valletta: You know, to that point, it’s one of those things that, you know,it’s a celebration of this moment in time. There’s no saying whether we will, you know, decide to kind of iterate on that, that naming in particular, because of that, you know, because of that potential confusion that you sort of outlined. But we thought that, you know, it felt like an appropriate name for this moment in time for WoW’s anniversary, in the interest of celebrating that.
Screen Rant: Great, and going on with that, will there be more fresh start servers in the future? Do you expect this will be something that every few years a new one comes out?
Kevin Vigue: Yeah, certainly, you know, we listen to the community. We know that’s something they discuss. It’s something we discuss internally as well. There are always challenges and costs with these sorts of things. Things so TBD, I think is the answer. But certainly going to try tostay listening to the community and delivering on what they’re interested in.
Mists Of Pandaria Classic And Beyond In WoW Classic Progression Servers
WoW Classic Offers A Large Assortment Of Timelines
Screen Rant: OK, great. Switching the discussion to the normal progression servers in Classic, the ones that are going toMists of Pandaria Classic. How, let’s see, how do I phrase this? How far does Classic plan to go with the new expansions? At some point are we going to have aDragonflight Classic? Is this going to keep going?
Nora Valletta: It pretty much depends on where players want to go, where they want to see the journey take them. You know,MoPis an incredibly beloved expansion, and so we were hearing fairly loudly from our player base that they would love to continue their adventure into Mists of Pandaria Classic. And so we’re delighted to offer that as an option coming soon, to really celebrate this moment in time.
Kevin Vigue: Yeah. And I’ve actually been like, you know, as soon as we were talking about, like, you know,Wrath of the Lich King, people were talking about like, oh, I really hope they go toMists of Pandariaas well, because it is such a beloved expansion.
The more different games we can offer to people, the more they have a menu of different options to pick between to find the game that speaks to them. - Kevin Vigue
One thing I like to think about is, you know, with Classic and with World of Warcraft as a whole, the more different games we can offer to people, the more they have a menu of different options to pick between to find the game that speaks to them, you know, at a particular time or something like that, doesn’t even have to be a particular person. Maybe you’re in the mood for Classic. You’re in the mood forMoP. Maybe you’re in the mood for The War Within. Maybe you’re in the mood for Hardcore. Season of Discovery like, you know,whatever it is, hopefully we have something that you may find to call Azeroth your home.
And my fiance who’s sitting right next to me, he actually started in Mists of Pandaria. So in some sense, like Mists of Pandaria is his Classic, right? Like, you know, that’s where he fell in love with World of Warcraft, and I brought him into the game. And I was like, hey, come check out this, you know, this game I play called World of Warcraft. We can play together. And he was like, this is awesome. And, you know, we went around the Mists of Pandaria world. We did Siege of Orgrimmar together, did Timeless Isle together, like, you know, all these good memories in Mists of Pandaria. That was his first introduction to World of Warcraft.
And whether it’s your first or you just want to see what the game was like in that point of time, it’s something different than Classic, and it’s something different than War Within. You know, check it out, it’s all one WoW subscription.
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World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria’s most important lore moments, from the end of the Cataclysm to the defeat of Warchief Garrosh Hellscream.
Nora Valletta: Yeah, I thinkMistswas the expansion where I think the Black Market Auction House was introduced. We also have LFR, Challenge Mode Dungeons, Sunsong Ranch, which was an interesting little like player operated farm mini-game. So there’s a lot of things to love, you know, not the least of which is also just how classes feel at that moment in time in World of Warcraft’s history. I personally had a blast on my Discipline Priest and also playing Monk in PvP. So it’s just, yeah, there are a lot of things to love about Mists of Pandaria.
Screen Rant: Yes!Mists of Pandariawas my favorite expansion of all time. So, I am curious, can you let us in on what some changes may be forMoP Classic? Are there quality of life things? Will we still get to farm?
Kevin Vigue: We want to recreate the original Mists of Pandaria first and foremost. So the farm is definite. Original Veil of Eternal Blossoms before it was destroyed is also a definite. I think we can promise those two things as things we want to deliver to players because those are true to the original Mists of Pandaria experience.
We don’t really have any plans for detailed gameplay changes right now. That’s something that if there are ones that the community wants to call out that we can then talk about and then evaluate. Which, again, each change that we make to Classic is something that is its own sort of, something we want to weigh the pros and cons of, weigh the risks of, weigh the technical costs, the technical costs of not doing it.
There’s a lot of things we weigh on our list on all these different discussions. But nothing to announce at this time in terms of changes beyond what players have already seen in Classic, I guess.
Nora Valletta: I think in general, we see MoP as a fairly complete expansion.Typically, when we introduce changes, there are things that we’re trying to either complement, amplify, sort of add something into the mixthat feels as though it kind of belongs there. Had the original dev team been given enough time or resources to do it back then, right?
So it’s pretty interesting. We’re kind of evaluating things as a team. And we’ll alsogo from there and hear about what our players are saying, what sorts of things they would prefer changed or added to make their experience more and more magical.
WoW Has A Large Variety Of Servers And Modes To Play
Where To Start For New Players
Screen Rant: Do you ever worry about stretching things too thin with all the different varieties of servers and ways to play, like the Season of Discovery, modernWoW, all these different versions of Classic?
Nora Valletta: With a lot of our product decisions, I mean,we’re kind of operating on the data we collect. We’re analyzing kind of player trends, what kinds of things players are saying they want to engage with versus what kinds of things in actuality they are engaging with. And so, no real concerns there. I think we have a pretty good finger on the pulse of what our players are doing and a pretty good, I hope, finger on the pulse of where they’d like to head in the future.
Screen Rant: It does make it hard for somebody who wants to play on both RetailWoWandClassic.
Nora Valletta: (Laughing) Yeah, and I actually play, I think I can say that I play every version of WoW. And I do that thing where I pick one up, and I play that for a few weeks and then switch to the other one. So I’m constantly contact switching. It’s a lot of fun. I love having that. I think Kevin mentioned it earlier in our conversation, but I like menu ofWorld of Warcraftoptions because I just generally love World of Warcraft, the overarching franchise. And so it’s really fun to engage with those products.
Screen Rant: For someone who might be wanting to start playingWoWfor the first time, I know a lot of people can feel really overwhelmed by ModernWoWand so they want to go toClassicinstead… where would you suggest they start with all of these? The Anniversary Realms, progression servers, where would you say that they should start?
Nora Valletta: I think I am kind of a little biased, but it depends on what they’re looking to get out of the game, but I am biased. I would probably recommend they start in some version of Classic, whether that’s a Classic Era or Anniversary Realms. I do think that the emphasis on, the very, very heavy emphasis on the journey. Having progression kind of slowed down a little bit and, you know, youhaving to really rely on connecting with other players in order to achieve a lot of your goals.
I would probably recommend they start in some version of Classic, whether that’s a Classic Era or Anniversary Realms. - Nora Valletta
And at times, to figure out certain elements of the game, if you’re a brand-new player, really lead to those, you know, interpersonal connections that carry with you over to other versions of the game, including other games entirely.
I know a lot of people who met their significant others in the game, and that is just incredible to me. And so, reallyleaning into the social aspect of the game and, you know, what players can accomplish when they get together and set their site on a goal.
Which Version Of World Of Warcraft You Should Start With (& Why)
In the past 20 years, World of Warcraft has both grown and branched off into many different iterations, leaving new players wondering where to start.
Kevin Vigue: Yeah, and I’ll plus one on Nora’s answer and also say the Anniversary Realms, I think each version of World of Warcraft offers something different. But I think the Anniversary Realms, you know,there’s millions of players who fell in love with that version of the game back in 2004 and 2005. And like, you know, the game hasn’t changed. Like, the things that we love about it as players, they haven’t changed either. Like, you can still go in and fall in love with it.
We have people who are on our team who who didn’t play World of Warcraft until 2019 Classic came out and they were like, I’ll give this a try. What’s this thing? And now they’re like, they’re the most hyped classic people who were on our team and are like, you know, I love this game. Some of them were, I think they were barely alive when the original came out and, you know, they played it, and they’re like, this actually resonates with me. You know,this resonates with me the same way it resonated with people 15 years earlierwhen they were playing it sort of thing.
It’s just a great video game overall. So I highly recommend people check it out.
Final Thoughts And Favorite Things About The Future Of WoW Classic
What The Devs Are Most Excited For
Screen Rant: Do you two have any favorite portions of any of the new stuff that’s coming? WhetherMoPclassic or the Anniversary Realms, or anything, what is your favorite thing that you’re most excited about that’s coming?
Nora Valletta:I’m excited about those Anniversary Realms. I’m excited to dive in when they go live and just see the just, you know, armies of people logging in alongside me yelling random shenanigans, of course, but also just kind of engaging and enjoying the moment, being part of that moment.
It’s always a very special time when, you know, fresh realms go live and also to see how those realms progress over time. Because really, it’s in the player’s hands, the economy layout of that realm, you know, and just kind of like guilds form, communities form around taking down each of those content tiers as they roll out. So it’s going to be really interesting.
Kevin Vigue: Yeah. And I’m super excited for the Anniversary Realms as well. And then half that excitement is that they’re going to be progressing on to Burning Crusade. The PvE and PvP realms are going to be, and Burning Crusade is my favorite expansion.
I started playing in vanilla, but Burning Crusade is just like it’s sort of, it was just so good for me. Like I could, you know, spend an entire interview going into why, like, you know, Burning Crusade, just like it’s even better.It’s like everything you love with Classic and then just like taken to that best version of itselfsort of thing. So I love Classic. I’m going to love Burning Crusade as well. Really excited that we would get to bring back to place.
Screen Rant: Before we go, is there anything else that you wanted to talk about or that you would want ourScreen Rantreaders to know about that I may not have thought to ask?
Kevin Vigue: We didn’t talk that much about Hardcore, but I kind of do just want to plus one Hardcore is also a great version of World of Warcraft. And part of the reason it’s so great, especially for Classic, is it actually brings back a lot of those feelings, like, if you think back to when you played World of Warcraft for the first time. And everything was scary, you know, there was a bit of tension because you didn’t necessarily know what was around every corner.
And nowadays we’re cursed with knowledge, right? Like, if you’re a regular World of Warcraft player, you’re like, oh, yeah, I know where the zones are. I know what this place looks like and stuff. ButHardcore actually brings back a lot of that tension. It brings back that sense of like, OK, this game is sort of scary.Like, you know, I’m a better player now.But if I die here, it’s over for real.
So in some ways, Hardcore is already sort of like a classic Classic in terms of bringing the player back to that original mindset that we all had when we played the first game for the first time. - Kevin Vigue
It’s that, maybe I should spend some extra time drinking and eating food between each pull just to make sure I’m at full health. Like using the crowd control, being extra sure like, I really can’t afford anything to go wrong.
That’s actually that sort of mindset that I think a lot of us were in when we first played World of Warcraft.So in some ways, Hardcore is already sort of like a classic Classic in terms of bringing the player back to that original mindset that we all had when we played the first game for the first time.
It’s a really cool experience. Definitely check it out. Even if you do die, and you’re like, oh, shucks, you know, you still get to transfer off to the fresh PvE server. So it’s not like your adventure has to be over. It’s something cool to try if you’re interested.
Nora Valletta: Yeah, to that point, that’s a great opportunity. Like if you’re looking to try Hardcore, and you intend on playing on the fresh PvE realm, it’s likeyou might as well just create a hardcore character, because if you do die, yeah, you just you’re able to live onjust on the other realm.
Nora Valletta:Honestly, I just want to leave a heartfelt thank you to the WoW community. I know that’s not a cool, fun, and exciting piece of news, but it is something that I want to share. We, you know, we’ve said it several times in the interview and I’ll say it again. We really appreciate players being so vocal through various means. Like we’re constantly trying to deliver something that our players, you know, feel excited about. And this is a really exciting moment in time forWoW Classic.
