The beta for World of Warcraft: Forever has concluded, and while the experience has largely been positive, a significant question looms over its long-term viability: the endgame. Designed for perpetual play without traditional expansions, Forever aims for a horizontal progression model, but concerns remain about how Blizzard will manage gear progression and player engagement over potentially decades.
Associate production director Clay Stone indicated in an interview with SkillUp that the development team intends to limit drastic power progression with each raid tier. Lead game designer Tim Jones echoed this sentiment in a discussion with IGN Nordic, stating that while new raid tiers will introduce better gear, developers will be responsible, aiming to keep gear from previous raids relevant.
This approach suggests a pseudo-horizontal endgame where players might utilize equipment from various raid tiers. However, this strategy presents several challenges. If incremental gear power increases accumulate significantly over many raid tiers, it could lead to a de facto vertical progression, where older content becomes obsolete.
The Challenge of Sustained Progression
If players cannot comfortably engage with higher-tier raids without acquiring gear from all preceding tiers, it effectively creates a lengthy attunement process. In a game with regular resets, this is manageable. But for a perpetually evolving title like Forever, bridging this gap becomes difficult. Blizzard could introduce catch-up gear, which risks trivializing older raids, or implement stat squishes, which can be unpopular with players. Additionally, as the number of raid tiers grows, the player base could become fragmented, making it harder to find groups or guilds for specific content.
Even with best-in-slot gear available from lower tiers, characters have a finite number of equipment slots, and optimal builds depend on numerous tuning factors. This complexity raises doubts about whether gear alone can sustain Forever's raiding scene in the long run. The current plan appears to mimic older WoW patterns, albeit at a slower pace. Some critics argue this approach is akin to avoiding an iceberg with a slow boat, effective only for a limited time without a fundamental change in direction.
Rethinking the Endgame
Casual play, questing, and leveling alternate characters are expected to be strong points of Forever. However, the delicate balance of a pseudo-horizontal endgame poses a greater challenge. The article posits that a developer with two decades of experience in linear progression systems might struggle to break free from ingrained design habits. The commitment to making new raid tiers drop better loot, as stated by Jones, raises the question of why tiered raids are a necessary component of the endgame in the first place.
Alternative models, such as those seen in Guild Wars 2, offer new classes or skill trees that require endgame achievements, or introduce persistent power-ups for specific zones. These approaches expand the definition of what constitutes an endgame experience, integrating raids as part of a larger ecosystem rather than the sole driver of progression. Blizzard may face a critical juncture where it must decide whether to continue gradually addressing the issues of vertical progression or to fundamentally redefine the World of Warcraft endgame. This path could lead to either significant innovation or considerable difficulties.