Ever since World of Warcraft Classic was announced at last year’s BlizzCon, the anticipation has been through the roof. Some of the long time players in WoW view this as return to form for the series, as the landscape and gameplay have changed considerably since the Cataclysm Expansion that came out in 2010. Blizzard announced a while ago that fans that are attending the upcoming BlizzCon 2018, as well as those who are watching at home via Virtual Ticket, will be able to play the WoW Classic demo during the convention. Now we have a better idea what it will consist of, as Blizzard revealed in blog post what we can expect in the upcoming demo.
According to the post, Blizzard explains that players in the demo will only be able to roam around in two areas. Horde players can check out the classic zone, the Barrens, while Alliance players will have access to Westfall. However, the dungeons in those zones, Deadmines and Wailing Caverns, won’t be available in the demo. Player Versus Player (PVP) will be included as well, but only one on one dueling. Players will start out at level 15, regardless of what character/race they pick, and can level up to 19.
In addition, Blizzard states that since this is a limited two-day demo, the play sessions will have a time restraint to them, including those who will be playing at home, although the company didn’t say how long each one would be. The good news is that even after the end of a players run, their progress is saved and they can pick up right where they left off when they log back in.
Speaking of logging in, the demo will be integrated with the modern-day Battle.net login that Blizzard uses for all of their games, which means that players in the demo can play with their friends during each session. Despite the old school look of the game, Blizzard also announced that the demo will support widescreen, something that the Vanilla WoW sorely lacked. On top of that, the demo comes with the ability to report cheating players, Bot players, and rude behavior, and includes accessibility options for colorblind players as well.
Lastly, Blizzard mentions that despite the leaps and bounds they have made during the development for the game, they wanted to let the fans know that the game is not done yet. “We’re really excited about the BlizzCon WoW Classic Demo, and hope you are too! But we definitely don’t want to send the message that we’re done, because we’re not.” Blizzard states in the post. The company plays it safe when it comes to the development of their projects, and just like the Diablo post they made last week, attempts to remind fans that the wait will be worth it.
World of Warcraft Classic doesn’t have a release date at this time, but with BlizzCon 2018 quickly approaching, we might just get a release date/window announcement. BlizzCon 2018 runs from Friday, November 2 to Saturday, November 3 at the Anaheim Convention Center. For those who are attending, Blizzard has the full schedule/map up which you can check out here.