Guest of the Press event The War Within in London, Gamosaurus had the opportunity to conduct interviews with Maria Hamilton, Associate Design Director and Holly Longdale Vice President and Executive Producer of World of Warcraft. The opportunity to discuss the development of the story of The War Within and the World Soul Saga, as well as the very busy news of WoW and its various contents. We have therefore separated the different answers according to specific themes.
Answers regarding the very concept of the World Soul Saga Trilogy and the story of the War Within
Our first question focused on the very presentation of the
World Soul Saga by Chris Metzen during the BlizzCon 2023, a decision which surprised the public as it was so antithetical to the company's habits. To which, Holly Longdale responded.
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“Honestly, Chris Metzen has a Metzen idea! Given the work done by him and his teams, he was convinced that we had what it took to offer three extensions linked around a common story. He quickly managed to convince the rest of the teams that it was appropriate to unveil the three expansions at once during BlizzCon.”
We then naturally moved on to the importance of a trilogy and the need to build a real story linking the different expansions, where Dragonflight seems to come out of nowhere afterwards Shadowlands.
“This choice to propose a trilogy can be explained by the quantity of characters and the length of the story that we had available after our original work on this project. It seemed impossible to us to offer it in a single expansion, or even two. Once the idea of a trilogy was validated, all we had to do was choose where to cut the storyline to make the whole thing both coherent and interesting for the players. »
Explains Maria Hamilton.
However, this choice of a trilogy, the release of which should follow a slightly faster pace than usual, if we are to believe the announcements during BlizzCon, is not without risks. In addition to the pressure of having to manage several teams at the same time on different projects, on different extensions, the success of the first extension is necessary to avoid a disaster later.
“Honestly, it’s a difficult boat to handle. We have already started work on the other two expansions, including the content of the cards on Midnight (Editor's note: the second expansion), changes are still possible, but they cannot be major. »
H.Longdale
At this level, Maria Hamilton also explains that if The War Within has the benefit of almost 2 decades of history and characters to set up its own adventure, the challenge lies above all in highlighting the issues of the expansion. Thus, the world of Azeroth is the main actor in this new saga and players will have to understand that they have a lot to lose if victory is not achieved. This is why very early in the adventure, the script choices were quite aggressiveseeking to contrast with the previous extension.
Evoking the appearance of new characters, the question of Xal'Atah's intentions is on everyone's lips. If Maria Hamilton leaves doubt in her answers, Holly Longdale offers an answer that will leave readers quite thoughtful.
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“We could compare the World Soul Saga to a Star Wars trilogy. Each opus has its own story, but the whole is linked by events launched from the first episode. Additionally, the dynamics between the characters evolve and certain allegiances shift over time. »
Who knows, maybe Xal'Atah will change sides during the trilogy? On this, it is difficult to read any response on the faces of the two Blizzard representatives, too accustomed to the exercise.
Answers around the proliferation of special and temporary content, the 20th anniversary of World of Warcraft and the franchise's return to China
With soon 4 timelines on WoW Classic content, special versions with SoD and Hardcore, but also WoW Retail, Plunderstorm and soon MOP Remix, we asked Holly Longdale if there was no a risk of overloading players with WoW content.
“The audience for Classic is different from that of Retail and there are not many players who play on both platforms. We must therefore ensure that we offer content for these two communities. It is true that in terms of announcements, we must make sure not to overlap too much, but beyond that, we seek to take care of players as best as possible in each aspect of WoW. For the moment, we are testing things and the results are beyond our expectations. For around we try not to fragment our audience too much, because it is always a danger in the long term. »
She adds that the WoW team is bigger than before and that the coordination work is sometimes difficult. However, she considers that the results are good and that the group is ready to face new challenges.
During the year 2024, World of Warcraft will celebrate its 20th anniversary launch on American territory (the game was available in advance across the Atlantic) and players hope that the celebration will live up to the event. While previous anniversary events have been a bit generic, we asked Holly Longdale if the teams were ready to come up with something special this time around.
“We are preparing something special because it is very important to us. It will really be a big event, a great celebration. But I can't say more at the moment. »
In turn, Maria Hamilton also confirmed that the event will be very special. On the other hand, she revealed a little more elements by mentioning transmogs and customization and collectible items that players are looking for, but which are no longer accessible on Retail. In short, the mystery remains, however since the return of the T3 sets on Dragonflight, only a few special pieces are no longer accessible. Maybe a return of Atiesh?
Finally, we concluded our interview with Holly Longdale by discussing the return to China of World of Warcraft, via a new partnership with NetEase, a local player. She confirmed the teams' enthusiasm for a return to Chinese territory. However, for the moment, the group is not communicating any information on a deployment date or on the content offered.
We thus conclude the summary of our two interviews carried out with Maria Hamilton and Holly Longdale during this preview in London. For more information on the War Within, you can also find our article containing our exclusive interview with Ion Hazzikostas, Game Director of World of Warcraft, as well as our preview of the new PvE game mode, The Depths.