Why are alts part of the main progression plans for World of Warcraft: Forever?

"We're basically trying to encourage players to create new characters and create an alt."

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The developers of World of Warcraft: Forever would love it if you made multiple characters, please.

The developers tell us in exclusive interviews that there are several reasons for that, including that having lower-level characters means you're better prepared to welcome new friends to the game, as well as experience new leveling areas and dungeons and encounters coming in future patches. So they are creating a bunch of incentives.

"There will be reasons to play Alts and unlock Legacy points and new journeys," says Ion Hasikostas, VP and GM of the game.

The latest flavor of the Juggernaut MMO launches on November 4, and executive producer Holly Langdale says it's expected to be the Warcraft flavor of choice for first-timers.

"If you're new, that's one, right?" he says This is the least barrier we have to enter."

The developers of World of Warcraft: Forever say that a direct sequel like Guild Wars 2 is unlikely: "Why throw it away and start over?"

"There's a real appetite for a slower, more deliberate pace" in MMOs, says WoW: Forever developer: "a deliberate retreat into this go, go, go, go nature."

World of Warcraft: Competing players forever over enemies is "very important" to the experience, Blizzard says: "It's one of those things that we simply have to defend."

Part of the game is the Legacy System, which awards achievement-style points for important achievements players receive in the game. These points can be put into talent tree-style options that give players an improved quality of life. Alts, extra characters, make their layout much easier.

Lead designer Chris Zairehut says he's created detailed spreadsheets to guess what options forward-thinking players will choose to rack up those points, and it makes perfect sense to create alternate characters to trap some of the easiest low-level characters versus aiming for all the hardest spots possible.

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"There is less time investment," he says. "One of the things I like about it, now let's say my brother wants to start the game. I usually say, 'I got my level 60 character. I'm sorry - I can try to boost you." Now I can say, you know what? I have this guy who's level 20. You can get there really fast. Let's group up and play together."

Encouraging alts is also one way Blizzard wants to make sure you see all the new content they continue to add to Forever. Since the level cap doesn't change, a lot of those new areas and features are leveled towards players.

"We're releasing content across multiple factions," says lead game designer Tim Jones. He says this will help people spend as much time as they want in Azeroth, as it opens up different progression lines. "It helps people to be able to play the game in a different way and enjoy spending their time in different stages.

WoW: Forever's changelist As Blizzard gets more excited, says, "Our initial proposal internally was: We're going to do 4 new dungeons."

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I am a father. After [the kids] go to bed, I have time, and for someone like me, I can come in for 30 minutes or an hour. "I can open my quest list, see how many quests I have that will help me complete the Elven Forest, or I can go to the auction house, collect some materials and make some advances. Blacksmithing is a meaningful development."

Senior Software Engineer Michael Nuttals says that the developers are adding new items to professions, new leveling dungeons, and new areas in future patches.

"When we think about future updates, we want to make sure we're producing content that gives everyone who plays the game something to look forward to," he says. "If I love leveling, I have a new route or a new quest chain or a new dungeon that I can do."

"Your journey will never be the same," says Nora Mills, Senior Software Engineer. "We're basically trying to encourage players to create new characters and create an alt."

Forever's emphasis on alts has the team exploring options that might support this gameplay, including pulling things like warband banks from the modern game, says Ion Hazzikostas, VP and GM of the game.

"Especially with the Legacy system that encourages alt play, going through a few extra steps of manually sending items from your main to your alt — logging in, getting them out of mail, I don't know that's in anyone's best interest," he says. "An extensive bank is something I can add to in the not too distant future."

"As people decide to build their own alts, they're going to take different paths," said lead game designer Tim Jones. "We promise to continuously add new leveling dungeons and new leveling areas."

Heather Newman has been reporting on games for more than 25 years with an internationally syndicated column and story in dozens of magazines. In World of Warcraft, his Mythic Plus dungeon team was #1 in North American star spots for a few weeks for little reason. He had a poor score against Jonathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel at the Unreal Tournament and was briefly in the top 50 in the world in Halo.

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