WoW: Forever Podcast Episode 3 Puts Dungeon Leveling and Questing in Focus

Blizzard has released the third episode of the WoW: Forever Podcast, and this one is about dungeons. Blizzard's announcement on the World of Warcraft site says host Countdown To Classic and special guest Hammerdance sit down with three Senior Game Designers to talk through dungeon leveling, questing and more. The post went up on 8 October.

Who is on the episode

The three developers are Josh "Aggrend" Greenfield, Jay Hartman and Rowan Ryder. Blizzard credits all of them as Senior Game Designers. Countdown To Classic hosts the show, and Hammerdance joins as the guest for this episode.

The video is embedded in the post and sits on the official World of Warcraft YouTube channel under the title Dive into Dungeons with Devs. It runs a little over an hour. Blizzard also lists the episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify for anyone who would rather listen than watch.

What the episode covers

Blizzard's description of the video calls it a deep dive on the dungeons of WoW: Forever, along with news related to the Beta. The chapter list on the video shows the running order:

• Beta updates, near the start of the show.
• Dungeon experience: adjustments to dungeon XP, how questing and dungeons compare for XP and rewards, existing dungeon quests, and how the two are balanced.
• Individual dungeons: The Ruins of Lordaeron, Hall of Thanes, Excavation Site: Wetlands, a Dalaran dungeon and Blackmaw Hold each get their own segment.
• Group play: dungeon roles and specs.
• Raids: attunements and consumables, plus a segment titled The Long Game.

Close to half an hour of the episode goes to the five named dungeons. The last segment is about the dungeons and raids the designers most enjoy making.

What is still unknown

The written post is one short paragraph. It does not summarise what the designers said, it gives no numbers for the XP adjustments, and it states no dates. The detail is only in the episode itself, so players who want it need to watch or listen. The post also does not say when the next episode will arrive.

NEXTARCA's take

The chapter list tells us more than the post does. Putting dungeon XP and the balance between questing and dungeons near the top of the show suggests the team knows this is the question leveling players care about most: can you level in a group without feeling you picked the slower road? Giving five dungeons their own segments is also a good sign that there is real content to show.

We would still like Blizzard to write these talks up. An hour of audio is a lot to ask from someone who only wants to know how dungeon XP is changing, and a short written summary would serve players in every time zone.