World of Warcraft: Forever plans to differentiate its progression from Classic by really slowing down and offering a wide variety of different types of rewards for players to hunt down over a long period of time.

Exactly what does Horizontal Progression Mean In World of Warcraft: Forever?

After the initial reveal of World of Warcraft: Forever, many players in the community began debating and speculating exactly how the game would tackle progression and what that might look like in a “Forever” experience.

VICE recently had a chance to sit down with some key members of the World of Warcraft: Forever development team and talk about their approach to horizontal and vertical progress in Forever and what players can expect as the game continues to grow.

VICE: There’s been a lot of conversations around the idea of horizontal progression. There’s been a lot of debate in the community about what it actually means and what it will look like over time. Could you explain a bit more about how you think of horizontal progression and how it might look as the game goes on? How does it differ from vertical progression?

Josh Greenfield (Senior Game Designer): Yeah, it’s an interesting topic. World of Warcraft has always had some elements of horizontal progression, right? When it comes to things like collections, things you can get that are cosmetics. And I think that’s an interesting thing to continue to pursue in a classic way.

We’ve sort of done that with things like transmog, for example. We have the collection system for things like pets and mounts. Obviously, we’re not looking to bloat those systems out just for the sake of giving players a treadmill of things to do. But where it makes sense, adding more things to chase is a cool thing to do.

And it’s not just for one type of player either. It’s having a bunch of different things that a wide variety of players could be interested in. Players want different things at different times. I’m primarily a raider, but sometimes I might want to go PvP. Having some cosmetics or some other rep rewards to chase along that PvP side of things is a great opportunity for that.

When it comes to our vertical progression, World of Warcraft is kind of at its core a vertical progression game and always has been. Having that incremental power gain is kind of important to the core of the game. However, we want to really slow that progression down.

Kris Zierhut (Principal Game Designer): We’re trying to make the items in the game a lot more varied. No more feeling like ‘That’s the BEST item in that slot and I always want that.’

So, we have items that have bonuses agains a specific creature type. Or bonuses in specific environments. Or have mechanic-specific things that make them good in certain situations and not in others. The intent is that there’s a lot of variety of what items can do and a very well-developed character has a ‘bag of tricks.’

They might say, ‘Hey on this encounter I’m going to pull out these two trinkets because they’ll work really well against this boss to solve this problem.’ But in another encounter they might use different trinkets or in a raid use a different helm, etc. Having a large collection of tricks to dip into it.

You’ll see players get an item from a raid and say ‘that’s not that interesting, I’ll just throw it in my bank and maybe I’ll use it someday…’ And then when the next new raid comes out, that item may become the perfect item for this new boss because if the circumstances, the setting, the type of creature it is. And so items get new life as new content is created for them.

Having that large collection of different items at that your pursing means there’s a lot of room to move horizontally and to make this big collection.

At the same time, somebody who is brand-new and doesn’t have that wide collection isn’t at a huge disadvantage. They just can’t super optimize.

As far as vertical progression, we do want to make it advance much more slowly that World of Warcraft: Classic did. So we expect the leveled items to grow more slowly and not very many items will be perfectly designed or optimized. They’ll all be sort of lopsized and good for different situations or different classes or different specs.

And, of course, the Legacy System. For some people, instead of going vertical progression on one character, they’re going to want to have a collection of every class. They’re going to have every trade skill. They’re going to explore the world, do every dungeon. And there are rewards that they can unlock that somebody focused on vertical progression doesn’t unlock.

They might get this spectral bear mount that super hard to get and other people who have awesome raid rewards don’t have it. They each have their own things they can pursue for different types of players.

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World of Warcraft: Forever is officially live now, but most players are taking their time through the early starting zones and levels. The question of how progression feels at max level won’t pop up for the average player for quite a while as they take their time leveling through Azeroth at a slower pace.

Be sure to check back soon for lots more World of Warcraft: Forever news and updates as the early days of the new experience play out.

World of Warcraft: Midnight and World of Warcraft: Forever are now available now on PC.

The post World of Warcraft: Forever Devs Break Down The Difference Between Vertical and Horizontal Progression appeared first on VICE.

World of Warcraft: Forever has players select a ruleset, rather than a server, but the game’s developers have a plan for still maintaining neighborhood identity and local in-game communities.

‘You will never have to worry about there not being enough people on your realm’

In anticipation of the World of Warcraft: Forever launch, VICE recently had a chance to sit down with some key members of the development team and chat about the game’s beta and launch.

During the conversation, we discussed the Rule Set-based play experiences and how the game ensures players don’t get lost in the massive crowd of mega-realms.

VICE: I want to talk a bit about this realmless Azeroth or mega-realm Azeroth, with Rule Set based groups instead of individual, player-selected servers/realms… Vanilla WoW and classic MMO identity always relied on tight-knit server communities with local reputations, heroes, villains, and celebrities within each server. How did you go about having Forever preserve that sense of server fame and neighborhood identity so players won’t feel lost in a much larger server environment.

Kris Zierhut (Principal Game Designer): We don’t want to get into the details of the algorithm, but we an algorithm in place that tries to keep putting you together with the same cohort of players over and over again. We know players wanted to be on realms with very high populations, and going what you call ‘realmless’ is sort of our ultimate achievement of that.

You will never have to worry about there not being enough people on your realm or you rolled on the wrong realm and having your friends on a different realm than you. If you play with the same Rule Set and the same faction, you can play together.

But then the downside is you could be lost in this massive anonymous crowd, New York City kind of vibe. So we wanted to make sure we had a way to get the best of those small realms we had back in 2004 and make you keep seeing the same people over and over again as you adventure. There are systems in place that are doing that and we think they’re working really well.

People are seeing those same [character] names pop up as they adventure and level up, so we think it’s working really well.

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The new Rule Set-based experience seemed to work well for many players during the game’s beta window, so it will be very interesting to see how well the community continues to embrace this approach in the live version of the game, particular as many players begin to reach the max level and earn weapons, gear, and other accolades that could help bring fame to them if the community experience still feels tight-knight and local enough.

Be sure to check back for lots more World of Warcraft: Forever news and updates as the early days of the new experience play out.

World of Warcraft: Midnight is available now on PC. World of Warcraft: Forever launches on November 4, 2026.

The post How World of Warcraft: Forever Makes Serverless Azeroth Feel Like a 2004 Era Tight-Knit Community appeared first on VICE.

World of Warcraft: Forever may be an MMORPG, but not every player heads into the experience looking to group up. Although the game has a deep new Legacy System to keep solo players busy for years, the game’s other core systems may also slowly help draw quiet gamers into more social interactions.

What is there for Solo Players To Do In World of Warcraft: Forever?

During a recent extended interview with some key members of the World of Warcraft: Forever team, VICE was able to discuss what the game has to offer solo players and why the team thinks those players may end up having more social interactions than they plan to when the game launches…

VICE: A lot of the spirit of Vanilla WoW in particular had to do with community and group efforts. Obviously not everyone coming to WoW: Forever is going to have that type of time or a lifestyle that accommodates that type of situation. Do you feel like WoW: Forever just isn’t a good fit for that type of lone wolf adventurer or are there enough rewarding solo activities and progression loops within Forever for that type of player?

Kris Zierhut (Principal Game Designer): One really big new system we added to the game was the Legacy System. This is a system that rewards you for playing the game deeply. Try out every class. Try out every trade skill. Explore the world. Do every dungeon. Do all the things and go broad.

And the really great thing about that, if you decide that is your primary means of progression, is that you can always make progress towards it no matter how small the amount of gameplay time you have. Nothing is ever going to go obsolete, it’s never going to go away. You can always come back to it.

So the person who just kind of wants to play by themselves and be very chill, there’s an avenue for them to progress. They can have meaningful progress everyday. But, we’ve also put a lot of systems in the game like the Camping system that draw you into just a little bit of social interaction.

People will say, ‘I was doing my questing and I sat down at this camp’ or ‘ I made my own camp and then somebody sat down too and they started talking to me and then we did a quest together and now they’re on my friends list!’

That can happen even if you come into the game without any of those connections. You’re very likely going to build those connections while you’re playing it.

Josh Greenfield (Senior Game Designer): Yep, and we’ve tried to engineer our server structure to encourage those repeated interactions.

So, a person you grouped with in Elwynn Forest, you may run into them in Stranglethorn Vale later and their name will be a different color to help you remember. It’s that much less friction and barrier to entry. It acts like an icebreaker. You’ll find yourself thinking, ‘I can invite this person. I’ve already grouped with them and we see that we’ve known each other or interacted together.’

My wife is a really great example of this. She’s kind of introverted, she doesn’t really like putting herself out there to join groups and stuff like that. She’s kind of just a solo player, but even playing the Forever beta it was interesting to see her like, ‘Oh, I remember JimBob from Thendal Grove in Zephras Isle. I’m going to group with that person in Westfall and we’re going to do this quest.’

It brought her out of her shell and she’s been playing this game, her very specific way, for 22 years. It’s all kind of part of the same package.

And you can totally play alone if you want to, the Legacy System is a great vehicle for that. But also, we want to kind of nudge you. Make some friends, join a guild!

VICE: Yeah, I think the Campfires have been such a great addition. The community seems to really be enjoying it and it feels like such a natural way for players to come together. Seeing the reception to it, has that prompted ideas or brainstorming around other ways to promote social interactions in questing, exploration, or even in dungeons?

Kris Zierhut (Principal Game Designer): I’m always looking for new ways to make people happy to run into strangers and have those positive interactions.

It’s a really delicate design space, where you have to make it completely optional, competely opt-in, and more importantly non-transactional. So, it’s tricky to find the mechanics that do work, but when they do, we really lean into them.

Camping worked well and I had some other ideas that we did not have time to try. We probably will try them in the future. Also, there’s been such a warm reception to camping that you’re likely to see additions to it in the future, as well.

Josh Greenfield (Senior Game Designer): Yeah, I think we realized in World of Warcraft that we can’t ever rest on our laurels just because a system works. It’s something that’s going to continue to evolve. Both that system [Camping] and systems like it. And that’s sort of how Camping came to be.

One of the things that spun us up on this was the Sleeping Bag. We had a Season of Discovery quest to get this Sleeping Bag where you could roll it out and your party members could all jump in and get a little experience buff. It was one of those things where it became an earmark. You do a dungeon and somebody puts their sleeping bag down and every group was doing that.

And that’s sort of what progressed and grew into the camping system for us. So we’re going to keep looking for ways to develop systems like that and have them grow into new things. Like Kris said, it’s really always a challenge to deal with that extrinsic versus intrinsic reward structure that helps determine why you would actually want to do this. And I think we nailed it with Camping, but we’re just going to keep looking for opportunity.

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Be sure to check back soon for lots more World of Warcraft news and updates as the early days of WoW: Forever arrive and play out.

World of Warcraft is available now for PC. World of Warcraft: Forever launches on November 4, 2026.

The post How World of Warcraft: Forever Subtly Nudges Introverted Gamers Out of Their Shells appeared first on VICE.

World of Warcraft announced the brand-new Talebound game mode at BlizzCon 2026 and, although it’s not ready to launch yet, this weekend players can test out the new experience and all three new classes.

World of Warcraft: Talebound Demo Details

World of Warcraft: Midnight is aiming to deliver a brand-new game mode when 12.1.7 arrives. The upcoming Talebound adventures should bring a unique new gameplay experience to the WoW retail silo.

For those who didn’t see the whole reveal at BlizzCon, here is the pitch:

“Prepare to be drawn into the macabre world of Talebound, where you become part of the dark chronicles of a mysterious Storyteller, chillingly brought to life… You’re a lone traveler, journeying down a darkened road where you’ll encounter a mysterious storyteller who pulls you into a world of his own creation. This is the very beginning of your adventure in Quillgrave.”

The Talebound demo weekend starts today and ends Monday morning (November 2, Pacific Time).

The demo weekend will allow players to try out a large portion of the feature ahead of its launch as part of the Echoes of the Worldcore (12.1.7) update coming later this year. Here is a high-level look at what players can experience if they test out the game this weekend:

• Introduction: Red Hollow
• Three Tales:
  • Darkhaven – Darkhaven, home to Konrad von Sonnesheim, the Lord Marshal, and to Alexandre Dozsenc, the Blood Bishop, is cut off from the rest of the world.
  • Greenthistle Wood – According to the tale, two humble villages—Shady Hollow and Riverton—lie in Greenthistle Wood.
  • Greywake’s Expedition – Greywake’s Hill was once a thriving and prosperous island, but something sinister has happened.
• All Three Classes
  • Slayer – The Slayer’s martial might and monster hunter knowledge give him the rare physical tools to combat the beasts of folklore. Wield a sword to cut down eldritch foes and a gun for when a blade doesn’t suffice.
  • Inquisitor – The Inquisitor’s zeal lights every corner and burns the face of evil, no matter the illusions it uses to hide.
  • Witch – The Witch uses lightning, poison, spiders, moonlight, thorns, and ravens to overwhelm enemies with a darker, spell-driven style.
• Three Difficulty Levels: Normal, Veteran, and Heroic

It should be very exciting to see how this new game mode is received by players and what the experience of playing the Slayer, Inquisitor, and Witch is like.

Be sure to check back soon for lots more World of Warcraft news and updates.

World of Warcraft: Midnight is available now on PC.

The post All Three New World of Warcraft Talebound Classes Are Available to Test Now appeared first on VICE.

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