Maintaining Balance: WoW Classic's Seasonal Servers Introduce Faction Restrictions
Blizzard introduces faction restrictions in WoW Classic's Season of Discovery to ensure balanced PvP servers, marking a significant change for the MMO
The upcoming seasonal PvP servers in World of Warcraft Classic will strive to achieve an unprecedented balance between the Horde and Alliance factions. The Season of Discovery for the old-school version of Blizzard's MMO will introduce significant changes, including new abilities for every class, as well as new quests, raids, and mysteries to explore. In addition, new open world PvP events will be introduced, making the war between the Horde and Alliance a central focus of the upcoming season.
With this in mind, Blizzard has decided that the Season of Discovery is the perfect opportunity to implement some changes. In a forum post, Tom Ellis, the senior producer for WoW's server and live ops team, revealed that the team has been taking into account a significant amount of feedback regarding faction balance on PvP servers since the launch of WoW Classic. He outlined the plan for the PvP servers during the Season of Discovery, stating that Blizzard will be introducing additional measures to maintain faction balance as the servers expand.
"This is really happening!" exclaimed Ellis in the forum post. "However, there is a potential trade-off for this faction balance that we want to ensure you are aware of: If one faction becomes significantly more dominant on a PvP realm, there is a likelihood that faction selection may be temporarily restricted on that realm. Nonetheless, our main objective for the Season of Discovery is to provide a fun and seamless experience, and we are prepared to adjust our approach if necessary. Your calls for faction balance have been heard loud and clear. This represents a new direction for us, and one that we are eager to explore."
Since the launch of WoW Classic in 2019, there has been a significant shift in PvP servers. Previously, there were instances of PvP servers becoming unbalanced, with one faction dominating the server and prompting the other faction to transfer out. Blizzard is now aiming to prevent this from happening again, but warns that playing on a balanced-faction PvP server can have its own challenges. According to Ellis, there are new and enjoyable challenges, but also potential unexpected obstacles. "Your favorite farming spots might be more contested than before," Ellis said.
Players who are not fully dedicated to the challenges of PvP are encouraged by Ellis to consider creating a character on a non-PvP server for Season of Discovery. This season will not have any faction balance restrictions.
In addition to the forced faction balance on the game's seasonal PvP servers, Ellis mentioned that the launch of Season of Discovery will be similar to Blizzard's handling of the Hardcore servers. There will be a smaller number of servers overall, but with increased player capacity on each server. However, if the season becomes popular, more servers will be added as needed, according to Ellis.
The WoW Classic Season of Discovery will commence on November 30th. As part of this season, Blizzard has announced the re-release of a Classic version of WoW's Cataclysm expansion next year. Furthermore, the first expansion in a new trilogy for the modern version of WoW, titled The Worldsoul Saga, is also in the works.
Editor's P/S
As a Gen Z netizen, I am excited about the upcoming changes to WoW Classic's seasonal PvP servers. The introduction of faction restrictions is a necessary step to ensure balanced gameplay and prevent one faction from dominating the server. This will create a more competitive and enjoyable environment for players, as both factions will have an equal chance of winning.
I appreciate Blizzard's willingness to listen to player feedback and make changes to the game accordingly. This shows that they are committed to providing the best possible experience for their players. I am confident that these changes will be well-received by the community and will make for a more enjoyable and balanced PvP experience in WoW Classic.
