Players hoping for the return of experimental class designs, such as shaman tanks and warlock tanks, in World of Warcraft: Forever will be disappointed, as senior game designer Josh Greenfield has confirmed these changes will not be present at launch. While Forever aims to be an 'all-changes' version of vanilla World of Warcraft with updated talent trees and new quests, it will largely retain the original class design principles. This contrasts with the more experimental approach taken in Season of Discovery.
Greenfield explained in a GameSpot interview that Season of Discovery was designed as an "ephemeral" experience, which allowed for greater risk-taking. "A lot of the changes, I think, in spirit—a lot of the lessons we learned—are carried over," he stated, "But some of the more out there things that weren't originally in original WoW, we toned them back a little bit."
While Blizzard has not finalized the talent trees for World of Warcraft: Forever, early previews from BlizzCon suggested a more conservative approach. Many of the additions appear to focus on bringing modern WoW class design elements into the vanilla framework, such as a combat rogue ability that mirrors the outlaw rogue's mechanic of reducing cooldowns with finishers. The studio is prioritizing a foundation that aligns with the "soul of the class" from original WoW.
However, Greenfield did not entirely rule out the possibility of such experimental designs in the future. "It's one of those things—it's in the name, it's forever, we can do a lot of things over years," he said. "But there's still meaningful changes and really exciting ways to play your class… But some of the Warlock tank, Shaman tank, not quite yet? But never say never, y'know."
World of Warcraft: Forever is positioned by some as a spiritual successor or replacement for a potential World of Warcraft 2. While the decision to temper radical class overhauls at launch might temper some expectations, the developers emphasize that the game's long-term nature allows for future evolution and experimentation. The focus for the initial release is on providing a reimagined vanilla experience that honors the core identity of the original classes.