Blizzard FINALLY Revealed Forever’s Plans for Gearing & Progression

Summary

The video discusses the future direction of WoW Forever, focusing on progression, the in-game economy, class balance, and how developer feedback is shaping the game.

Developer Interview and Design Direction

In an Inven Global interview at PAX Australia, Holly Longdale and Clay Stone discussed beta participation, class design, camping, and the game’s long-term plans.

The developers want to create a world players can return to over the long term. Activities such as camping could make downtime feel more social and immersive. They are considering more camping features, but none were announced.

They also want every specialization to have a clear, useful role without making combat overly complicated. Preparation and a few meaningful mechanics should matter as much as execution.

The interview did not announce a new class. It did describe possible future additions, including zones, dungeons, raids, quests, deeper professions, expanded talent trees, and legacy-system features.

Gear and Long-Term Progression

New raid tiers will bring power increases, but the developers say those increases should be smaller so earlier gear remains useful for longer. Older dungeons should also remain worth revisiting.

The video explores the balance between vertical progression—gradually gaining power—and horizontal progression, which could introduce new builds, playstyles, or situational gear without making every older item obsolete. New items might be appealing because they:

• Support a build that was previously impractical.
• Offer bonuses useful in particular areas or encounters.
• Have interesting effects rather than simply higher stats.

The host favors a mix: players should still feel a sense of progression, but earlier rewards should not quickly lose their value. He also argues that challenging new content does not always need to require a higher gear ceiling.

Dungeon leveling may be adjusted further to protect the world experience. The host says it could use a modest improvement.

Gold and Economy Concerns

A Reddit discussion contrasted ordinary players struggling for money around level 30 with some streamers who appeared to have hundreds or thousands of gold. Responses described several possible sources, some reportedly from early beta and not necessarily still active:

• Enchanters selling crafted goods to vendors.
• A quest item allegedly allowing rogues to loot Scarlet Monastery chests with little resistance.
• Area-of-effect skinning farms.
• An early enemy-aggression issue that may have let low-level characters gather valuable resources.
• High demand for crafted gear.

The host distinguishes ordinary profitable farming and player-to-player sales from exploits that generate gold through NPC vendor purchases. He warns that fixing an exploit later does not undo the wealth already accumulated, and that uncontrolled inflation could make the auction house unfair for regular players.

Key concern: Blizzard should closely monitor and address unusually profitable systems before launch.

Elemental Shaman and Ghost Wolf

A guide analysis says Elemental Shaman can feel weak while leveling because of low base spell damage, reliance on spell-power gear, talent-tree pacing, and mana problems. Suggested improvements include adjusting the base damage of key spells and adding another mana-management option.

The host emphasizes that players should be able to enjoy their chosen specialization early, rather than feeling pushed into Enhancement until around level 40. He particularly wants the level 10–30 experience reviewed.

The Ghost Wolf’s original appearance was criticized as too faint against the ground. A brighter blue version from an earlier beta build was discussed as a possible alternative. Zyrene said the brighter version began as a temporary placeholder and that its brightness had been reduced. The host prefers the more visible blue look.

Developer Response and Community Feedback

The video highlights examples of developers responding to feedback: a druid torch animation was fixed, campfire smoke was added to make camps easier to spot, and warrior changes—including a dungeon experience bonus—were mentioned.

Viewers are encouraged to share feedback through Reddit, beta forums, and in-game bug reports.

Community Suggestions

• Taylor Voss supports delaying raids so players can focus on leveling and the journey rather than racing a release schedule. The host agrees, noting that reaching level 60 reportedly takes about 175 hours and that a short raid-release window could pressure players to play for hours every day.
• Fozil suggests earning enough reputation to become welcome in the opposing faction, while raising concerns that it could become compulsory or blur faction identity in PvP. The host likes the role-playing possibilities and optional faction-specific stories and interactions.
• Matt Jazz suggests allowing campfires inside dungeons.
• Vega recalls the disappointment of replacing hard-earned legendary daggers with green-quality gear in Cataclysm. The host connects this to the broader desire for acquired gear to remain meaningful long enough to enjoy it.

People and Sources Featured

• Video host: Skye (the subtitles also identify the host as Scott once).
• Developers: Holly Longdale and Clay Stone, in an interview published by Inven Global.
• Progression discussion: Ebenhart, Ginji, and the publication Forever Now.
• Other people and contributors mentioned: Zyrene; an unnamed author of an Elemental Shaman guide; Lance, mentioned as Skye’s co-host on Comeback City.
• Community commenters: Taylor Voss, Fozil, Matt Jazz, and Vega.
• Other sources and platforms referenced: Reddit, beta forums, and in-game bug reports.