WHERE THE OLD BECOMES THE NEW
WOW BURNING CRUSADE AIMS TO PLEASE ALL CLASSIC FANS
BlizzConline 2021 saw the reveal of World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Classic, the re-introduction of Warcraft’s very first expansion. Back in 2007, players stepped into a Dark Portal and emerged into absolute chaos - and now, they’ll get to relive those memories alongside other first-timers looking for adventure. Blizzard Entertainment is trying to strike a tricky balance here, aiming to please those hungry for new content and others who want nothing to change.
They have a unique solution for both parties, however. Lead software engineer Brian Birmingham and World of Warcraft executive producer John Hight shares some insights.
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade brings a whole bunch of changes to the game, including an increased level cap of 70 - which, funnily enough, makes Classic players officially higher-levelled than Warcraft: Shadowlands players after their recent level squish. However, the whole point of the Classic experience was the absence of all these new changes and additions. It was a return to a simpler time, without new races, abilities, expansions and so on. What if you just wanted to stay in this untouched, Classic realm forever?
Well, you can. When the pre-expansion patch goes live, Blizzard will offer players a choice: stick with the current content, which contains all WoW updates up until its first expansion, or advance each of their
