The Portal Room Discord hosted a Q&A with WoW Executive Producer Holly Longdale and here’s our recap.
Interview Highlights
- Worldsoul Saga is a 20th anniversary capstone. The 3-expansion arc was designed as a special celebration, no confirmation on whether sagas continue after Last Titan.
- Holding hands emote is coming for role-players.
- Housing roadmap is eventually planned, the team’s heads-down processing player feedback right now.
- We’re returning to Northrend in Last Titan. The team wants to make returning to old zones meaningful, with potential changes to storied areas to advance the world.
- Controller UI raised as a possibility for accessibility, though converting thousands of unique frames would be a huge effort.
- Improvements to social systems (guilds, communities) are on the table in the future, but they need to overcome some system limitations first.
- Holly wants direct feedback on what’s missing and what collectors would like to see in the game.
- Ambassadors program has been praised as critical to WoW’s longevity as deeper community participation is a priority for Blizzard.
- Holly’s magic wand wishes include more dances, hair, beards, transmogs, and emotes such as gnomes high-fiving tauren.
Interview Transcript
Question: Will sagas become the new story-telling modes for expansions after Last Titan?
We wanted to do something special for WoW’s 20th anniversary. We did a storyline that spans across 3 expansions. The arc is a culmination of 20 years (capstone). After that, I can’t say where we’re going. We’re listening to the community.
Question: As WoW moves further into its third decade what are you doing to keep old players but also welcome new?
When we think about the future, we’re all thinking alike. It’s a big task, we always stay true to what our players want and expect. We want to add dazzle to it. We are looking at where the world of gaming is going. The world is a lot different now than it was in 2004. WoW has been a place where you can go and chill out. We’re building on that with housing. We want to cater to casual / mid-core people and hardcore/competitive group at the same time. We want to give role-players the ability to hold hands.
Question: WoW Ambassadors program has been really popular within the community, where is it headed in the future?
I am a diehard believer in connections with the community. This isn’t a casual reference, that’s the reason WoW has lasted as long as it has. I am grateful for this program because this is where we need to be participating more with our players. It is really important and I’ve been saying that since I got the gift of this incredible job: everything we make is always in service to our community. We do our best to understand the way groups of players play, but we can’t see trending ways people play, whether it’s casual, mid-core, or hardcore, but everyone’s unique and the goal here is for the world to be welcoming to everyone and the Portal Room program has been on the frontline on that.
Question: Are socials system like guilds and communities getting a refresh anytime soon?
We need to be better and you can expect some future changes here. There are some system changes we need to overcome first.
Question: For players with hearing / visions impairment, what sort of features need improvement?
We have a team that focuses on accessibility improvements, I agree there’s room for improvement, but we don’t have anything specific in mind. How would you feel if we designed a UI specifically for controllers? There are thousands of unique frames to convert and it would take a lot of time, but it could be a possibility.
Question: What has the team learned about modern class balance with Hero Talents, Season of Discovery, and Classic?
We’re collecting a lot of data on what people are doing with classes and then we look at the sentiment side of things which is obviously very important. I would say everything we’ve learned from both games can potentially have an impact on one of the other. We are marching ahead with our eyes open. We want to be transparent when things do not work out, but I think it will shape future class design. We don’t want to risk what players love.
Question: Are there plans to continue modernizing older content and Legacy system (old reputations, achievements, older progression system that no longer feel aligned with modern WoW), are there any plans to make past expansion content relevant?
We’re going to be moving into Northrend for Last Titan and so we do want to find reasons to return to make the world meaningful to everyone. Older progression systems I think Ion might go cross-eye when I mention that, but we’re in a space where nothing is off the table, not just for Last Titan, but what might come after. We also know in areas where we’ve given players agency to have an effect on the world, these have created memories. I think being able to go back to you know storied areas where you might see some changes and in some areas where you don’t we’re evaluating all that, where we’re going in the future. We continually expand the world and it has been interesting for the team to explore some existing zones while also adding new storylines to advance the game.
Question: Are there plans to expand on collectible-focus events such as Archaeology?
It’s difficult because we’re working on a lot of stuff, but I’ll say collectors we see you and understand how important that is. I would love to see what collectors want. What is missing? How do you want the world to feel as a collector. What are those achievement dreams and goals you have? That would be really meaningful for us.
Question: Social spaces, libraries, neighborhoods are important for role-players. Is this an area where you want to invest more?
Absolutely yes. It is very important to us that this segment of our player base feels vibrant. We want to do a better job on that front. In the future you can see some focus there for everyone.
Question: Can we expect to see a housing roadmap?
The entire team is heads down to react and prioritize feedback as to what to put in the game. There will be a roadmap eventually for housing in the future.
Question: Putting all practical limitations aside, what would you like to put into WoW using a magic wand?
I want more dances, more celebratory stuff, hair, beards, mogs, Gnomes high-fiving Taurens.
