WoW Q&A Breakdown: Patch Cadence, Housing & PvP — Full Transcript

[00:02] to you. Uh thank you for joining us today. As you probably have noticed, we are joined by a very special guest today. Uh it's Ian Hazik Costas, a senior game director for World of Warcraft.

[00:15] >> Pleasure to be here. Looking forward to answering some great questions and of many. >> Thank you. Uh just for the context, Ian will be answering questions that WOW ambassadors have collected from our

[00:29] partner Discord communities. Uh thank you all so very much for submitting your questions. We received over 350 questions. Uh at least I stopped counting at 352. So there is probably more. Uh so naturally we had to

[00:43] questions otherwise we will be here for a week and I don't think anybody wants that. Um and with that said we can begin. Are you ready Ian? >> Absolutely. Let's go. Do you think it's >> uh the first question is about 8 weeks

[01:00] cadence. I know you have talked about it quite a lot in your recent interviews, but our players here want to know how committed is the team to this cadence long term and how flexible are you if player feedback suggests certain seasons

[01:15] or content would benefit from a little more breathing room? >> Yeah, this is a question we hear a lot. I'm I'm glad it was asked. Um it's this is definitely not ironclad on our end. We we are flexible. Um the the idea of

[01:29] patching roughly every 8 weeks is something that the team actually, you know, set as a goal, as an aspiration in Dragon Flight. Coming off a couple of expansions, um Shadowlands notably, but really most expansions before that where

[01:44] we had long stretches, many months without any patch, without any update to the game. We heard very clearly from players that, you know, the lack of content frankly wasn't acceptable um for what people were looking for from

[01:58] so, you know, we want we said, you know, every 2 months feels like about right to do something significant to change up the content loop, to add some new systems, to add some new gameplay. It's

[02:11] also a chance for us to fix bugs that are, you know, larger than what we can want to keep those things active for too long. But we've definitely heard from feel a bit overwhelming. I think that's one of the challenges we have, you know,

[02:27] designing for WoW in general, there's so many different approaches people take to know, the amount of available time people have. And so, you know, while one person may feel like they're running out of stuff to do, someone else is getting

[02:40] overwhelmed. Um, anyway, I think back in I want to say it was 1115 in War Within, uh, we tried for a patch or two kind of staggering out events. I think that was like Nightfall and horrific visions. We're like, well, we're hearing this

[02:54] spreading it out. Of course, people hated that. You know, there were widespread complaints about time gating and whatnot and and we've tried to move away from that. So I think you know we see the patch cadence as how frequently

[03:09] we're updating the client in a significant way but then that doesn't say anything about the amount of content the type of content and who it's targeting that's being rolled out and so I'd rather focus on you know the details

[03:21] of that player facing experience where it feels like things aren't hitting the mark. If they feel unpolished if they feel like it's it's just too much that people can't keep up. um we're always listening for that and we're always

[03:34] going to pivot based around that. But I think a challenge here is that you know this all the data that we have suggests that this cadence is working for the majority of our players. Now the problem with a game like WoW is that when you

[03:47] have so many players even a minority is still quite a lot of people. Um we do pretty regular surveys across you know across our community to understand how people feel about the game. And you know, we've specifically asked the

[04:00] question in these surveys, is the rate of content just right, too fast, or too slow? And what we've gotten back is that about 50% of people think it's just right, 25% think it's too fast, and 25% think it's too slow. And so it it's

[04:17] to make a big pivot based on that data. But we we do stay flexible. And if if shift in one direction or the other, we would definitely adjust our approach.

[04:30] >> Thank you for answering this question. And again, I feel like it's been a hot topic in all of the recent interviews that you had. So if anybody wants to hear more context, please check them out on YouTube or somewhere else. And uh

[04:44] subject. Um the next question is somewhat I guess related but not really. Uh it's about communicating with the players and player feedback. Uh so developers communication has improved significantly

[04:59] over the past few years and the community appreciates things like interviews, blogs and blue posts. Looking ahead, what is your vision for Looking ahead, what is your vision for communicating with WoW players?

[05:11] >> Um I mean I think we want to keep doing all of those things and more. I mean, communication sometimes is about just informing people about, you know, what's coming to the game. Other times, we're trying to shine a light on, you know,

[05:24] our philosophies and why we're doing what we're doing. Other times, I think it's about just letting you all meet and hear directly from some of the amazing, passionate people who are helping shape this world. You know, I think it's, you

[05:37] make World of Warcraft and who, you know, really just love it with with all of their being. And it's unfortunate at times that, you know, you all are hearing from people like me um too much and maybe from them not enough. And so I

[05:51] think one of our goals recently has been to try to get, you know, just more names and faces out there so you can meet more of our artists and our engineers and the people who make WOW what it is. Um I think this platform, this type of broad

[06:06] Q&A is is great. Um I've been, you know, wanting to do this for a while since the portal room got set up. I'm glad that we were able to put this together. Um would you would like to talk to next. I think we could do, you know, this type of Q&A

[06:20] with people from the class team, the encounter team, our art team, our narrative team, like you name it. Um there's a lot to to dig into and to >> but we're always be looking for for new ways to communicate.

[06:33] >> So, what I'm hearing is that we can do more of these Q&As, right? >> Absolutely. >> Perfect. um not as a question but like but like a bit of feedback from actually class discord. Uh we have almost all of

[06:46] them in the in this program. Um they al often mention that they may not have questions per se or feedback but they would love to understand the context behind some decisions and the directions for their classes. So Q&As with class uh

[07:01] developers would would be absolutely welcome and I guess helpful uh at least based on what I'm hearing from from the class communities. Great. >> Um, okay. Next question. We're moving

[07:14] fast. I may run out of questions actually. Um, so this question is, uh, on a quite serious topic. We received many questions from communities representing players with disabilities regarding the recent add-on changes. How

[07:29] has the team approached those changes with accessibility in mind? And how are you balancing the goal of reducing adult reliance while ensuring the game remains accessible to everyone? >> Yeah, accessibility is something that we

[07:44] we take very seriously and and remain committed to. Um we we never want to exclude anyone from Azeroth and we understand that there's a wide array of you [clears throat] know help you know

[07:58] it and interact with with the content that we create. Um, unfortunately sometimes there is collateral damage when we're trying to change or limit something that's being used, you know, in an abusive way by a by a large group

[08:13] of players. It can have the unintended side effect of also breaking or limiting some of these accessibility tools. And I think, you know, we've taken a couple of approaches there. I think we've been trying to really invest in meaningfully

[08:26] improving the baseline client experience so that you know you don't have to download as many add-ons uh or external tools to help with accessibility challenges. Now that includes things like the one button rotation that we

[08:39] added during more within um a much more robust suite of texttospech options built into the client in midnight. um giving baseline access to steady flight from the start so people can you know navigate in a way that works for them.

[08:54] navigate in a way that works for them. And we also have things coming in 121 uh like ping system improvements or um adding voiceover generation to things create so that you know when you mouse over elements you can have assistance

[09:09] with with what those are before you get into the game where add-ons can help you know pick up some of that. Uh, speaking of add-ons, also 121 is improving the add-on API in ways that actually increase security, but also restore to

[09:23] add-ons the ability to associate specific sounds with gaining or losing any buff or debuff by spell ID, which I think should be a a big aid to, you know, people who are visually impaired and rely on those cues. But there's

[09:37] there's a lot of depth here. There's a lot to cover. I think um, VAS have made questions, multiple questions submitted. So, want to make sure that that information makes its way to our team, that we understand the nuances of each

[09:49] of them, and that they're all somewhere on our radar or a road map. Um, because discussing and keep working on. >> Nice. I'll just forward you all of this feedback from specifically communities

[10:03] that are, you know, talking to uh people with disabilities and so on? >> Please, please do. Yes. >> Well, you should expect an email from me >> Well, you should expect an email from me then. Uh and thank you for that. Um next

[10:16] then. Uh and thank you for that. Um next question is about guilds. Uh guilds are a prominent and important part of World of Warcraft, but many of the underlying systems haven't evolved for a long time. What is your long-term vision for guilds

[10:29] and communities? Should players expect improvements to guild tools, cross faction functionality, community management? I feel like it's a wish list. Guild identity and other social systems. Isn't what

[10:43] >> Yeah, I mean guil guilds are the social backbone of WoW, right? That's been the case since day one. Um, you know, looking forward I'm looking forward to Blizzcon in a couple of months where I know, you know, a lot of guilds will

[10:55] and people will be flying across the country or across the world in some cases to meet up and put, you know, faces to the names and voices that they've been playing with for years. Uh, and that's something that we we know is

[11:09] essential for us to to support as best we can. Um, I think an area of upcoming focus is definitely guild finding. Um, both, you know, just helping guilds find

[11:21] players and helping players find guilds who are like-minded in their approach to the game, looking to play on similar schedules and do certain sorts of content. you know, there's millions of people out there and we we want to make

[11:34] it easier to connect with each other and to find the guild that's right for you. Um, when it comes to, you know, maintaining guilds and and managing them, I'm really excited about the Discord integration as we sit here on

[11:46] Discord. Um, that's coming in 121. uh initially that's just you know just it's it's you know chat channel integration which should be a great convenience but partnership because that I think is just the beginning

[12:00] >> and there's so much more that we could do there recognizing that you know these certainly the large majority of organized guilds are using Discord um rather than you know try to duplicate functionality that already is working

[12:16] for you guys I I'd rather understand how we could better integrate, you know, those experiences. And I I look forward to hearing, you know, from people here, but also from the community broadly, what other sorts of features would make

[12:28] it easier for you if you're someone who runs a guild and is trying to grow or build a community, whether that's, you know, in-game functions or Discord keep working towards. Why don't you like a calendar link up with Discord? That'd

[12:41] be pretty cool. >> Wonderful. And um are there any changes that coming specifically for the in-game community management tool? Like is there anything uh that coming shortly or maybe something you're thinking about moving

[12:54] forward? >> Um I mean like like like I said really it's more about guild finding improvements that we're working towards. Uh the focus for 121 has been the Discord integration, but hopefully we'll

[13:06] have more to share in the future. >> Thanks so much. Uh, moving on to the >> Thanks so much. Uh, moving on to the next question. Uh, it's about player agency. As World of Warcraft continues to evolve, are you thinking differently

[13:20] about player agency? Is this something you see becoming a bigger part of World of Warcraft design philosophy in the future expansions? >> Um, I I think player agency has really been a a touchstone of our design

[13:35] philosophy for in particular the last 5 years or important but I think we've emphasized it in a different way since you know I think turning a quarter during Shadowlands. Um one of the big aspects

[13:49] of how we think about it is is giving people the freedom to play the game the way they want to. You know, I think at a lot of the time in the past, we would require people to to spend a lot of time doing one piece of content in order to

[14:04] prepare themselves or to be, you know, adequately leveled up or geared or have the artifact power or whatever to do the thing that they really enjoyed. Um, and while that, you know, may have been successful at the time in getting people

[14:18] to engage in a portion of the game, if you're not enjoying it, it doesn't feel like we're respecting your time. And so I think for the last couple of expansions in particular, we've gone to great lengths to try to set up these

[14:30] parallel progression tracks. So if you're someone who really just wants to solo or play with one or two friends, there's this delve ecosystem that you can spend quite a lot of time in, get great gear from. Same for dungeons, same

[14:43] for raids, same for PvP, same for the outdoor world. and and we do our best, you know, we while we want to make sure that there's some value and rewards for people who want to engage in multiple of those activities, ideally each one feels

[14:56] Um, now agency, you know, as the question touches on, can also manifest in other ways like like narrative. I think that's a it's something that we think about a lot, but it's really challenging to execute in a shared MMO

[15:10] world. uh particularly, you know, as as large a one as we have today. Um there's this powerful fantasy of feeling like your choices are directly affecting the world around you. Um but it's it's it is very hard to actually deliver on that

[15:26] fantasy for, you know, millions of people simultaneously. Um, we do try, you know, narratively to where we can look, you know, have custom text or have NPCs react to you or some quests play out slightly differently in

[15:41] some cases based on choices you've made in the past. But at the end of the day, the fact remains that we're all going to have to go into the same raid and fight the same bosses and and complete the same, you know, top level quests and see

[15:53] the same cinematics. And so, at least as WoW stands today, that's a limiting WoW stands today, that's a limiting factor. Um, we'd love to find more ways of building systems and content that let individual choices matter more, but I

[16:08] don't we don't have anything to to announce there just yet. But I think it remains a big part of like what we aspire to and that core fantasy of what really immersing yourself in an online world could be or should be.

[16:27] I'm quite fortunate to speak to quite a lot of WoW players uh on daily basis and I think you totally right when you mentioned just the sheer amount of speak to people and I'm like are we playing the same game uh and also

[16:43] personally I I honestly I judge people uh based on if they kept the gift of endos or not it's very important uh we cannot be friends if you removed it cannot be friends if you removed it anyways is next question. Uh it's kind

[16:58] of along the same lines. Uh many communities have asked about the future of as a living world. [laughter] >> From revamping older zones and keeping legacy content relevant to revisiting races like set and continuing story

[17:11] lines beyond a single expansion. So >> what is your philosophy on returning to >> what is your philosophy on returning to older parts of the world? I mean, I think we are, you know, very excited to do it and want to keep doing

[17:24] it, but also do it in in balance with going to new places and and telling brand new stories. Um, one of the things that's most exciting for me about that's most exciting for me about Midnight is the chance to return to, you

[17:37] know, the Blood Elf Lands, to Silver Moon, to Everong, to all the rest of it. Um, but also seeing how players have have embraced that. You know, I think I'll confess that in the in the run-up to announcing Midnight last year and

[17:52] really getting into the details of it, we were a bit anxious about how it would be received to have an expansion that was, you know, at least half of it set in the past. You know, I I could easily

[18:06] is just a bunch of rehashed content. We wanted something new." They're, you know, >> never heard that before. But I think people were genuinely really excited to see Silver Moon reimagined in

[18:21] all of its glory and to see what was happen what is happening in Everong, you know, 20 years later. And I think as we look ahead to Last Titan, which is going to be set in Northrand, it also gets us thinking about other iconic locations

[18:33] that we could revisit in a new way to tell new stories. cuz I think that's, you know, it would really be a shame if in WoW going forward, some of the most iconic places in the game, whether it's, you know, Silver Moon or Northrand or,

[18:48] Westfall and the Baronss and you name it. again because it's like, well, we already told a story there, so they're off limits. That that would be very limiting. Um, but at the same time, of

[19:01] world, bringing in new characters and new settings. So there there's a balance to strike. I think we're certainly, you know, we're excited about where we are today. We're excited about Northrand on the horizon, but we also have new places

[19:15] to visit as well. >> Huh. Wow. >> Thank you. Uh there are quite a lot of people in the chat asking if there going to be any PVP questions. There will be, but first we'll talk about player

[19:27] housing. And I'm sorry it's not >> sure This is probably the shortest question in this Q&A. Uh, are there any plans to add more racial themed house exteriors? Uh, so more races are represented.

[19:44] on. We'll share more information when we have something a bit more substantial to share. Um, we want to make sure that we avoid the situation we got ourselves into with heritage armor where we

[19:57] started down the road and we're just trickling them out, but it took years and years and years for many races to to get theirs. Um, and we we don't think that was the best way of approaching it. But we hear loud and clear that there is

[20:11] a lot of interest in, you know, house exteriors that cover a much broader range of the cultures in Azeroth and player identities. and we are working on it. >> That's good to know. Thank you. Uh the

[20:25] next question is on housing as well. It's uh slightly longer. Um with the curse of Ollettech, we are getting the ability to add non-combat beds to our homes. Could you give us a glimpse of what the team sees as the next step for

[20:38] the housing? Um there's particular interest in features like displaying mounts, profession related infrastructure, tools to organize and run community events and some more specific uh additions like a managerie

[20:51] >> Managerie, good word. >> Um yeah, I think actually almost all of those are things that we are also interested in and working towards. Um, you know, I think in in first in a broader sense, one of the things we're

[21:06] we're looking to do is is make it easier for players to find and visit each other's homes. Um, and just add some more reasons to do so. I think we're we're working on something that internally we're calling work, you know,

[21:20] name in progress, name tentative, a housing showcase where players can list their homes in a browsable, searchable way so that, you know, you're not just know, external galleries on a website if

[21:34] you want to see cool houses, but so that you can actually, you know, explore neighborhoods and visit different homes to see the cool things that people have of course. And then in terms of, you know, some

[21:47] what, you know, we've rolled out, we're rolling out pets in 12.1. We want to do something similar for mounts, um, down the line. >> Uh, we're also talking about mannequins for displaying transmog sets or full

[22:01] sets that you've gathered. >> Um, and also considering profession hooks possibly. We want to be careful about being too heavy-handed when it it should more be about fantasy and convenience rather than anything that

[22:15] feels mandatory, but you know, being able to have a functional forge or shouldn't be off limits for us. Uh, I will say out of this list, the thing that's probably the least likely is

[22:28] something for hunter pets in particular. I'm not going to say never, but there's a lot of challenges there because housing is a warb bandwide and a countwide system and the whole idea of hunter pets is limited to a single

[22:41] class. And so thinking through how that would work in in practice, there's definitely there would be a few challenges to to sort through though completely understand that for hunter mains who have their, you know, beloved

[22:54] collection of of pets, being able to showcase those in more ways would always be appreciated. Um, that's probably not likely to come in the near future. >> Oh, you almost made me cry. Like, that was a wishless situation with mounts and

[23:10] armor. And again, like I I I obviously went through all the questions submitted to us. There were specific questions about separately mounts and like displaying gear and so on. Um, so I guess this is good news for quite a few

[23:22] people. uh completely changing the topic from housing to war bands. >> The warb band system has been one of features. Yes. >> Can you tell us how you feel about it

[23:37] and what is your long-term vision for future of war bands? >> Many players asked about bringing more legacy reputations into the system and for extending warb band support to things like legacy currencies,

[23:50] professions, crafted items, and more. Come on. >> I mean, yeah, we we're we love war bands. You know, I think it's it's an example of how the game evolves to meet players needs. I think that we saw very

[24:03] clearly that players are play the game differently today than they did long ago in terms of how many alts people have and their expectations around, you know, and what should be universal and crossover between them. And so we kind

[24:18] of rebuilt our foundations from a character specific model to one where something we're excited to keep building on in the future. I think as we think about any new system or feature these days really one of the initial core

[24:33] questions is like is this a warb band system or is this a character system and increasingly more and more of them just land at that warb band level. So, it's retroactively adding support, but more about how we build the game going

[24:46] forward in a way that has war bands at at its center. Um, on the specific topic of things like legacy reputations and currencies, blame for this one for being a little bit too ambitious and maybe committing

[25:02] to something that we weren't yet ready to deliver. I think when we first rolled out war bands, we said that, you know, we're going to start with the most backwards through the rest of them in relatively short order. Um, that seemed

[25:17] like I mean, it is a good plan. That seems straightforward to me at the time, but unfortunately I wasn't fully informed on some of the work required to do that. And I think we've found as the team has dug into this that it's a very

[25:30] painstaking, very manual process. Um that that just frankly would can take so much time that it comes at the expense of other systems we'd like to add, other things that need to be done. And so it's taken longer than we've hoped. Um we're

[25:44] actually working on improving the workflow for doing this type of conversion that should set us up to be able to work through them, you know, more expeditiously in the future, but it has taken longer than we hoped. Um, it's

[25:56] something that we are still committed to doing. Uh, I'll have updates. You know, I'll share updates as soon as we have more definite information, but you know, want to be in a world where there's these just vestigial reputations that

[26:10] the game. Everything should be accountwide, but it's going to take us some time to get there. >> I appreciate the honesty. Thank you so much.

[26:22] I wish I had a more immediate answer, but we are working on it. >> Well, we're taking it as the classic Sun TM. So, thank you. At the next question, I need to kind of give a little bit of a context. We received lots of questions

[26:36] context. We received lots of questions about different classes uh in very many about different classes uh in very many details like very specific questions. Um I think only discord didn't ask any questions because the only question they

[26:49] again. >> So the next qu the next question it doesn't touch on u any specific classes because otherwise the Q&A would be again because otherwise the Q&A would be again like a deep dive into each specific

[27:03] class. So it's kind of like an overall uh this the overall sentiment that we get that we got from the class discord uh for this Q&A. Uh so the question is looking beyond individual tuning and balance changes. What is your long-term

[27:19] philosophy for class design? How do you decide when a class needs a full redesign versus incremental updates? And how do you balance class identity, spec uniqueness, player feedback, and overall game balance as World of Warcraft

[27:33] game balance as World of Warcraft continues to evolve? and [laughter] on that. I just have to ask like do you guys even read Reddit? Because I and I thought it's pretty widely understood

[27:48] that everyone who works at Blizzard plays mages and they've never not been continue to be obviously the best class because we all play them and that's how it works. Um, but on on a more serious note, working like on the broader topic

[28:03] >> um, >> you know, I think a full redesign in the sense of like really overhauling how a spec or a class plays is is quite rare. Um, that's something that would generally fall in a

[28:18] in an expansion. And it comes in when that happens, it comes in response to what feels like widespread feedback from people who love a particular class or spec. that some core element of it isn't working. It either isn't meeting their

[28:32] working. It either isn't meeting their fantasy, it's mechanically awkward, or you know, in working to address balance concerns over time, the team has continually run into issues that, you know, just aren't fixable with numbers

[28:45] tweaks, whether it's like an underlying scaling issue or something with single target versus multi-target damage where if you adjust one, the other one ends up out of whack and something fundamental needs to be changed there. But I think

[28:58] our our general approach is, you know, save the biggest changes for expansions, save moderately sized changes for new seasons, and then in the middle of a season, mostly focus on tweaks, bug

[29:12] fixes, balance adjustments, cuz we want to be mindful of of striking a balance between addressing feedback and not disrupting gameplay or balance too much suddenly. Um, I mean, even in a new patch or even in a new season or a new

[29:26] patch or even in a new season or a new expansion, I think we need to be are, you know, this can be frustrating to players who want radical change. But just as there are many players who are really energized by changes and like

[29:40] even if a spec is largely fine, they may change much over the course of a couple of years. like a new expansion comes out, they look at, you know, whatever their spec of choice is and say, "Ah,

[29:53] this feels like it's just going to play the same way it did in War Within, and or a new spec just to have some novelty." We understand that, and we respect that, but on the other hand, there's tons of players who are

[30:07] alienated by meaningful change to their longtime main spec or class, right? that even in a new expansion, if you log in and your bars feel totally different and aren't there anymore or work differently, it can feel like we just

[30:22] severed a connection between you and this character that's been your avatar in the world for such a long time. And so that's the the narrow road we try to walk here. It's a balance between, you know, making changes that are big enough

[30:35] to be meter moving in terms of, you know, the feel of a rotation or where numbers are landing, but also not so large or so unexpected that they cause someone to log in and feel like they don't recognize the class anymore.

[30:50] >> Good answer. >> Thank you for this. >> Thank you for this. >> Uh, now I guess PvPers rejoice. Uh, the next question is about PvP, I believe. Um, so we received questions about the

[31:04] Um, so we received questions about the health of the rated PVP ecosystem, including including MMR consistency, solo shuffle, Q times, Q dodging, win trading, and the overall experience across different rated brackets. How

[31:18] does the team view the current state of competitive PVP? And what improvements are being considered to make rated play healthier and more rewarding over the long time? Um, okay. There's there's a lot to dig

[31:31] into here. Let me I was just jotting down the different pieces of it. Um, okay, let me try to work through them in order. Um, in terms of overall to MMR, I think we obviously have to acknowledge that there have been some

[31:45] inconsistencies with, you know, how matchmaking feels and evolves from season to season and between brackets. Um, I think that we're happy with how season 1 is playing out now after changes to MMR inflation, but we

[32:00] feedback and to the concerns being raised much sooner. And I think we're going to be paying much closer attention early in season 2 so that it doesn't feel like something is going unressed for for as long. um on few times for

[32:16] solo shuffle. I think this is a this is an eternal challenge for every PVP game that has any kind of different roles. Uh the people most people want to play DPS

[32:28] and that's not a secret and I think it just there's just some fundamental math just there's just some fundamental math challenges in you know making that work out to everyone's satisfaction. Um the average match length of solo shuffle is

[32:42] you know also longer than a typical 2v2 or 3v3 match which also contributes to Q times. Um we've been we've tried adding you know incentives for healers to queue and it's something that we could try being more aggressive with but it hasn't

[32:56] made significant impact yet. U we're exploring some ideas there but there's nothing nothing to share definitively. But we know it's a problem. We agree you're if you're focused on solo shuffle, like it's obviously the number

[33:09] one issue. You just want to spend more time actually PvPing and less time waiting for a Q to pop. Um, speaking of Q's, I guess on the Um, speaking of Q's, I guess on the general topic of Q dodging, um, in, you

[33:23] know, in season two, we're adding an accountwide debuff that pro that limits your ability to queue if you miss a Q. Uh, it starts at a minute and then we'll scale up from there. The goal is to, you know, also just improve the matchmaking

[33:37] experience and the solar shuffle experience overall by ensuring that, you know, people are jumping in and are are taking their cues across all of our taking their cues across all of our modes. Um, and so, you know, if you're Q

[33:49] dodging, you will be restricted from your ability to queue for an increasing period of time. a high level. We we like we want to serve our PvP community better, but we also need to

[34:02] grow the PVP community in order to justify that. Frankly, you know, I think the story of PvP and WoW has been a very passionate core of players that, you

[34:14] know, 20 years ago was larger. the number of people who jumped into battlegrounds into more casual modes of PvP as a percentage of the overall player base was much larger back then than it is today. Um, today PvP in, you

[34:28] know, particularly in rated forms can feel very intimidating and can feel hard to get into in terms of the the knowledge gap, the gear gap. There's a lot of barriers to entry. Um, and so our focus, you know, with things like

[34:41] training ground with like, you know, training grounds has been trying to get new people into PVP, trying to build that foundation, like the bottom of the pyramid so that we can make the whole thing higher and stronger. That's not

[34:54] overnight. And I recognize that for players that are, you know, focused primarily on that high end of the competitive ecosystem, it can sometimes feel like we're not doing enough. But in the long run, I think for PvP to get the

[35:10] support that we want to give it, we all need to work together to grow that community. And so I think, you know, as we discuss this further, as we get feedback from the community, I'd love, you know, to to hear ideas and to think

[35:23] you know, to to hear ideas and to think together about not just what we can do today to make PvP better for, you know, the gladiator level player, but what we can do to make it easier for people who haven't PvPd seriously in WoW, but love

[35:36] PvP in other games to get into WoW's PvP. >> Plunderstorm. Um, finally, I guess one one one note for, definitely agree that we're we're a bit overdue for PvP talent updates. So,

[35:51] that's something the team is working on. Um, not going to be in place right at the start of season 2, but we're hoping to have some information shortly after to have some information shortly after that.

[36:05] think the question was equally loaded. Thank you so much for taking time. Um, next question is on PvP as well. >> Uh, how do you view the current pacing of seasonal PVP rewards? Some player feel that earning rewards such as the

[36:21] seasonal mount, vicious medals, legend, strategist, gladiator, and medic achievements take considerably longer than progressing through the seasonal PVE content combined. So there is like this balance that exists.

[36:36] Overall, I would say we are happy with the pacing and it's deliberate. Um, restructuring and improving visibility into how the awards are require the rewards are required and displayed. I think you know something like how renown

[36:51] tracks work could be repurposed to create a clearer season journey of sorts understand exactly what milestones they're going to achieve and what they're going to get for reaching each of them. But in terms of what goes into

[37:05] earning, you know, these titles or mounts and so forth, like the nature of PvP is about rewarding continued success. It's about proving that, you

[37:17] know, you can play at a certain rating or at a certain level through continued success at that level. And so you I think for throughout the years over the think for throughout the years over the course of WoW's history um that's

[37:31] generally where we've you know how how we've positioned our rewards. I think that when we've had exceptions to that, we've actually gotten negative feedback that have felt, you know, to the players who were dedicated to PvP that it could

[37:43] be too easy for someone to play a bit and then park at a certain rating and get rewards without being active or come in at the last minute and, you know, snipe and grab rewards without again having really engaged in the season as a

[37:55] whole. So yeah, I think we we we want to be more agile in terms of things like MMR adjustments that make sure that the titles feel reasonably attainable to their intended audience, but the nature of PvP is about continued participation

[38:08] and that's what success is defined as there. Unlike, you know, in a raid, the boss once and once you kill it, you get the achievements and you can kind of tick that off. Um, PvP just has a different structure to it.

[38:27] well that's that's all for PVP questions. Actually the next one is coming from a selection of uh collectors in our community. >> Collector's Bounty seems to be incredibly popular. What is your

[38:42] long-term vision for keeping legacy content relevant for collectors? Should players expect Collector's Bounty to become a recurring event? Or maybe there will be more mix experiences or other initiatives that encourage revisiting

[38:56] older content and earning legacy collectibles. likely I would say basically certain to return eventually, but it's something we

[39:09] want to use very sparingly. Um, it should feel special and impactful when it's active, but at the same time, if it comes around too often, then it it would start we know it would start to feel like it's almost silly to even bother

[39:24] trying to farm for things when collector's bounty isn't active. And that's, you know, I think that would be counterproductive. And similarly, we it's like, okay, we can run it more often, but now it's balanced and it just

[39:39] only feels like a small adjustment. Um, when it's around, it should feel really tangibly different. And so, keeping that balance requires that it be rare, but it'll come back. Stay tuned. And I think similarly, we're definitely going to

[39:55] keep doing more remix experiences. Um, it's both, you know, it's a great opportunity to get to experience an expansion and its story and its content in a way that feels better paced and relevant. Like obviously massively

[40:08] accelerated over when it was originally the current expansion, but still different and and meteor than just trying to go back at match level and, you can solo everything. Uh, it's also a great way to, you know, get rewards you

[40:22] missed out on and a bunch of new ones. I think when we when we think though about, you know, legacy content and collectors, we also want to be careful that we don't go too far in making players feel like they can never be done

[40:36] the day, if you've run, I don't know, Dragon Soul a million times and you have all the rare mounts and you have all the transmogs, it's not a problem for us if need to go back. like that's not we're not trying to like we don't have it as a

[40:50] goal of like how do we get these people back into Dragon Soul. And so like that's a reason why for example when we layered in a bunch of housing decor and we're continuing to do so tied to all the old expansion content um we we

[41:05] generally didn't add these to drop tables of legacy raids and dungeons. We might have them on drop tables in content going forward because that's all tell someone who felt like they were done with Ulawir or Ice Crown or

[41:19] whatever, oh hey, we just added new stuff to the drop tables. Time to go back in and begin farming it again. So, you know, we know collectors want goals to chase, but we also have a sense that I think there's value in feeling a sense

[41:32] of completion and and tangible progress. So, always trying to keep that in mind. >> Fair. >> Thank you. not a question uh and not a feedback personal opinion. I absolutely loved going back to you know legacy

[41:48] content to get some housing beats. So that definitely worked uh even if not intentional but >> loved it. Um the next question is from the collectors as well and I believe you have I remember you answered this

[42:03] question many years ago in one of your interviews or something like that. So, I'm very curious to hear how the answer is now. What is your philosophy on no longer obtainable rewards? Should some remain exclusive forever to preserve

[42:17] their prestige or do you see value in finding new ways for players to earn finding new ways for players to earn legacy collectibles over time?

[42:30] fraction of of a percent of collectibles that we do plan to keep exclusive for the indefinite future. Um, it's not something we're looking to do much of going forward. It's not, you know, a tool that we pull out of our tool belt

[42:44] very frequently these days. But I think when commitments were made in the past that something was going to be available only for a very limited time, it was challenging to acquire or had prestige associated with it around that time

[42:57] limited aspect. That's something that, you know, we want to honor, we want to preserve. Now, in counterpoint to that, like there are tons of examples of things that are unobtainable almost accidentally, like because some piece of

[43:10] content changed or was removed or whatever, and now there's no way to get this appearance or that appearance or, you know, what have you. In those cases, reintroducing it, whether it's the trading post, whether it's some, you

[43:25] know, event that drops in a patch or, you know, finding some other means of acquiring those collectibles. if there's things, you know, really outside of the very short list of original mage tower appearances, original challenge mode

[43:38] appearances, and a couple of other things. If there's anything outside those that's unobtainable that feels like it wasn't something that we told the community would become unobtainable, that's an oversight on our part. We'd

[43:51] love to have examples of those things surfaced for the team, and we will work on on finding ways to reintroduce them and make them available again. H >> thanks Ian. Uh and yeah, I guess if

[44:06] anybody has examples uh of something that is unobtainable but shouldn't be, please bring it up with your >> uh discord admins and they can post that feedback to us and >> maybe uh some teamm will see some

[44:19] >> maybe uh some teamm will see some changes. Uh the next question is from uh collectures, it's about professions and so on. uh profession sorry professions have received some significant changes in recent expansions while ambassadors

[44:35] are wondering what's next what is your long-term vision for professions should player expect continued investment in areas like fishing archaeology and first aid as well as entirely new professions or profession systems that including

[44:50] those that could support features like housing to evolve primary professions for sure. I think that you know in the long run

[45:05] there should be more approachability and frankly simplicity to at least some of those professions. I think we we succeeded in Dragonflight in our original goal of really adding a lot of depth and player identity and

[45:19] differentiation to crafting. We wanted being a blacksmith or being an enchanter to be part of your character's identity and for you to be able to say if you things about your character that made

[45:32] other enchanters and better in some ways and worse in others. And that also helps support an interesting economy um where you know again not everyone can make everything. So, but but at the same time, as much as that depth can be

[45:45] valuable in places like blacksmithing or tailoring, where you're making items that are intended to be used for an entire season, I think that right now there is frankly too much complexity to parts of the game that used to be

[45:58] you just want to pick flowers and make potions, you shouldn't need a PhD. You guide to understand exactly how you should do it correctly. Um, and so I think as we move forward, we want to

[46:13] keep the depth in our gear crafting professions, but try to streamline some of the gathering and consumable crafting professions a bit more. Um, the question and I think those are several of those are overdue for a closer look. Um,

[46:30] team is definitely discussing some potential improvements there for Last Titan. [laughter] >> Again, very hopeful answer. Uh I think archaeology is being mentioned in every single Q&A or like interview questions

[46:45] that we're getting. So uh well hoping that in the future we can learn more on >> Yeah, I think archaeology in particular, you know, I think the fantasy of it is great. The some of the things you could

[46:58] get from it and feeling like some of the lore tidbits that were revealed through archaeology. I think there's a lot of value there. Um, what we saw in our data, what we heard as feedback, and what we experienced just playing the

[47:11] game ourselves is that relatively few players were particularly excited by the actual moment to moment gameplay of archaeology. Um, and so that's why we we pulled away from that form of it. But we would love to look at, you know, ways of

[47:26] delivering that fantasy of researching and uncovering bits of data and ancient relics from lost civilizations in in a way that maybe is more fun in a momentto >> Oh, they're definitely bringing it back. >> Thank you. Looking forward to it. Um,

[47:42] Ian, I actually almost ran out of the questions. The only question I have left is very odd one and I'll keep it until the end. Uh but we do now have a few minutes to spare. So I just wanted to ask you to share what you are excited

[47:58] about in the next upcoming patch uh in the course of Ol like what is it that excites you the most? What are you you know you want to hear players reaction on like what is it like so special about this patch for you?

[48:14] patch. Everyone loves a good troll raid. What is what is more iconic than than that? But I think yeah, I mean I think just, you know, really excited to see everyone jump in and experience the full extent of the story and see where it's

[48:28] going to where it's going to lead next. Um, I know some people have have assumed or or had initial reaction of this feeling like a complete sidetrack or diversion from the main thrust of our pursuit of Zotath, but fear not. it's

[48:42] all going to tie together. Uh, and I think, you know, really excited to see how this next chapter of Midnight unfolds. Um, and on the other side of it, you know, just a few weeks after the patch goes live, we're all going to get

[48:56] together in sunny Anaheim in Southern California for the first BlizzCon in a little while and can't wait to share a whole lot more information about all >> All things. >> I can't wait for this Blizzcon,

[49:10] honestly. Um what like is there a message for this particular community? We have obviously while our portal room we have uh lots of players from other established communities that have been around for

[49:24] years. Like is there one message that you want to deliver to all of the people >> Um just thank you for your passion. Right. I mean, everyone there's, as I'm looking right now, there's what 700 plus people um tuned in live, taking time,

[49:40] you know, on on your Fridays um or I guess potentially early Saturday morning if you're in Asia or or A&Z. But yeah, know, talk about Warcraft and think

[49:52] about Warcraft with us. Um we everything that we do, everything the team does is is for you. I know that, you know, we're not always doing everything that you would like us to. We're trying to split our attention between a lot of different

[50:07] portions of the audience, but, you know, we we really want nothing more than than to serve you guys and and to just make a game that's worthy of the passion that you put into it. And so, uh, you know, I got to a bunch of questions today. I

[50:22] that either got condensed or that we didn't get to today. going to bring they're at least on our radar as we, you know, think about what comes next and how we're prioritizing. And as I said at the start of this, um, you know, really

[50:37] excited for this community, for this group of of players who are, you know, our ambassadors and and, you know, really key parts of the Warcraft community. Um, and so hope to do more of these sorts of Q&A. I'll definitely be

[50:52] back down the line, but I'm going to encourage other people on the team, like I said at the start, whether it's class, encounter, narrative, classic, you name encounter, narrative, classic, you name it. Um, to to jump in and engage with

[51:04] >> And thank you so much. That was so wholesome and I can like only double this. Uh, it's a great privilege and honor to be working with this community. I hear you mentioned more Q&As. Uh, you

[51:18] just let us know. We can organize it at any time. [sighs and gasps] Uh, and by the way, we are watched by more than 700 people. This Q&A is being rereamed by a couple of content creators. So, we have a greater reach. And let's let's get to

[51:33] a greater reach. And let's let's get to the last question uh before we wrap up. This question has been submitted by uh an anonymous person and it's a very very important question and it's will the puzzle box of Yaron ever be opened?

[51:49] Well, yeah, it has been. I mean, if you play Hearthstone, >> it just fires off 10 random spells. Thought everyone knew that.

[52:01] >> But thank you. [laughter] Thank you so much for your time. Uh, as you said, hope hoping it's not the last time and hoping to see uh more people from the developers team joining us in the future. Um, and thanks to our audience,

[52:16] guys. Thank you for you know taking this time out of taking this uh time out of listen to all kinds of World of Warcraft stuff and yeah we all wishing you a very

[52:28] good evening day morning whenever you are in the world uh have a good one and >> thank you for all the great questions. It was a pleasure and I'll I'll be back. you again. >> I promise. Bye.

[52:48] There we go. There it is. All right. Well, What do you guys think? Did you guys enjoy it? Uh, for those watching on guess on stream. That's where that was hosted. So, go check out the portal

[53:05] hosted. So, go check out the portal room. And yeah.