The weekend of PAX Australia turned into a busy stretch of WoW Forever developer talk. Executive Producer Holly Longdale and Associate Production Director Clay Stone flew to Melbourne for the October 9 Storytime keynote and a dungeon deep dive, and between stage time they sat for a run of interviews. Two landed on Sunday, October 11: a short sit-down with content creator JackedIQ and a long Clay Stone segment on Skill Up's Friends Per Second #106 podcast. That followed Inven Global, which published an online interview with both on October 8.
Taken together they answer a lot of the questions people have been arguing about in beta threads for a month. How fast will gear go stale? Will the collections tab spoil every secret? Is Enhancement going to tank? Are we ever leaving Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms? And what is Blizzard actually doing about the endgame gold squeeze that made Classic raiding feel like a second job?
This roundup quotes the developers directly wherever a recording or a published transcript exists. For the JackedIQ video and the Friends Per Second episode, quotes come from the YouTube captions, lightly cleaned of filler words like "uh". Where an outlet paraphrased, we say so. Nothing here is a leak or a datamine. With launch set for Wednesday, November 4 at 3:00 PM PT (5:00 PM CT), the rest of the article is about what each answer means for your first few months in Forever.
Where these interviews came from
Blizzard's own PAX Aus schedule post listed the Storytime keynote for October 9 at 12:00 PM AEDT, which was Thursday, October 8 at 8:00 PM CT for anyone watching from the US. The replay is on the official Warcraft Twitch channel. The keynote itself was mostly Holly's career story plus Clay's look at the original Forever pitch and the new Krol'dok Stronghold dungeon in the Riverglades. The interviews are where the system answers live.
Vertical progression: small jumps, long-lived BiS
The most important answer for anyone planning a main came from the Friends Per Second episode. The hosts asked how Forever's "horizontal progression" promise squares with a game that still has raid tiers. Stone's first move was to reframe the term. "I think what I said at BlizzCon is we're going to expand the world horizontally," he said, pointing to professions and the Legacy system as the main horizontal tracks.
Then he got specific about gear:
- "Our intention very much is to try to limit the amount of power progression that's happening as we release each raid tier."
- "There will be a little bit of vertical power progression that happens between each of the raid tiers, but we're going to try to keep it as small as possible."
- Items from earlier raids, endgame dungeons or "dungeons in general" could "continue to be your best-in-slot item for a very long time."
- "Now, that may not be forever. Eventually you may choose to replace it."
The Inven interview covers identical ground in translation. Stone told Inven that gear progression "isn't entirely horizontal," that Blizzard wants the power jump between tiers "as narrow as possible," and that "it's still too early to say whether there will be a 'soft reset' for gear progression." Keep that last line in mind. Small jumps are the starting philosophy, not a contract.
What it means for your gearing plan
- Dungeon blues and early raid epics are not throwaway. If a piece from a level 60 dungeon or the December 9 raids is unusually strong for your spec, expect it to stay in the conversation after spring.
- Do not vendor or disenchant early tier pieces on reflex. With small tier-to-tier jumps, the gap between "old" and "new" may be one or two stat points, not a full item level band.
- Rerunning old content stays worthwhile. Stone said directly that this design "encourages people to continue to return to this previous content" with other players and alts.
- Late starters are not locked out. Stone's answer to Reddit's "is it too late to start WoW Forever?" joke was "a definitive no," adding that "what you acquire, let's say from a gearing perspective, long after launch could still be extremely powerful."
The raid calendar this is built around
On the podcast Stone confirmed the launch raids open "on December 9th in Pacific time," which he noted is December 10 in Australia, with "at least two more raid tiers after that" on the roadmap. He also said the opening tier is not expected to need crafted resistance gear: "Unlikely at the start." Molten Core is not part of the first unlock.
Collections: you only see what you have earned
JackedIQ opened with the collector question. In modern WoW, the collections UI lists every mount, pet and appearance in the game, so you know exactly what you are missing. Forever is bringing in the collections system as a deliberately modern feature, but with a twist.
"When you open the collections menu, you will not see everything that's available in the game, everything that's earnable," Stone said. "You will only see it in your collections menu once you've actually collected it." He framed it as fitting "the vibe and the ethos of classic," and added that "we're intentionally trying to keep as much of it hidden for as long as possible."
The reason for bringing collections in at all was friction. Stone said tracking collectibles in the Classic space carried "a little bit more friction" than Blizzard would build into a game designed today. The follow-up from the pair leaned on Classic's crowdsourced culture, the idea of "allowing community to be the experts instead of us handing it all to you."
What it means in practice
- Expect a wiki race at launch. If the client does not preview unobtained items, the first lists of Forever mounts, pets and transmog will come from players, not the UI.
- Rumor control matters. On the same video Stone warned that "some of our players online have gotten a little bit creative, and not all of that may be true. So, be careful what you are seeing online."
- Collectors on alts benefit from the Legacy system. Stone called Legacy "a system that we want to add to over time" that encourages players "to run an alt if they don't want to participate in the endgame." Our Legacy Points guide has the current trees and the 16-point spend cap.
Shaman tanks: not at launch
This was the question with the clearest answer. JackedIQ pointed to the defensive talents players have spotted in the Enhancement tree and asked whether Shaman could tank endgame content.
Stone said the team is "really interested to see the way that players play the classes" and that Forever's class changes were "very bespoke, well-thought-out" and heavier for some classes than others. Then he gave the actual answer: "shaman tanks are a very popular discussion" inside the team, but "that is not something we're officially pursuing right now at launch." He finished with "I don't have anything to announce on that front today. But we do recognize the desire for it."
So if you are rolling a Shaman specifically to main tank Barrow Deeps or Hyjal Summit, plan for that to be a creative off-meta project at launch, not a supported role. Icy Veins wrote up the same answer the same way.
The battle mage sword and other hidden items
The same answer pivoted into one of the beta's favorite discoveries. Stone confirmed, "there is a certain sword that could make your mage more of a battle mage if you choose to use it," and said "there may be more items like that hidden throughout the game."
The sword players found is the Coldflame Saber. As Icy Veins reported in September, Mages use the new Comprehension skill to decipher the Scroll of the Saber, which points to the Blade of Silverlaine from Baron Silverlaine in Shadowfang Keep. Combining the two creates a weapon whose bonus melee damage against Frozen targets makes Frost Nova and Fingers of Frost setups interesting in melee range. Stone did not confirm any specific numbers, and beta values can change before launch.
The bigger takeaway is the design pattern. Forever is hiding build-changing items in the world and is not going to list them in the collections tab. That raises the value of exploring, reading scrolls and running old dungeons.
Class design philosophy behind the answer
Inven pushed Stone on class identity, and the answer explains why Shaman tanking is not a launch feature. "The overall philosophy is to maintain distinct class identities and avoid homogenization," he said in translation. The goal is that "no spec feels unplayable or useless," while classes that were "already fun and working well received only minor adjustments." He also said some racial changes were pulled back during beta because the team "pushed too far," and that Season of Discovery's large class changes led to homogenization the Forever team wants to avoid.
Northrend and Pandaria: "nothing is off the table"
JackedIQ's last question was the one every Classic+ thread eventually reaches. If Forever never goes through the Dark Portal, could it still go north or across the sea?
Holly Longdale took it: "Broadly speaking, nothing is off the table." She said the direction depends on "what the team decides to do, where they want the narrative to grow," and on "learning about players." Then the line that matters most for the next year: "the original continents, too, can change in and of themselves. So, you could spend a lifetime in the two continents as they evolve."
She described the team as "not overly conservative, just being really focused on what is the best story to tell," and joked that "we just wanted to see if anyone was going to play at first." Stone added: "Azeroth is a big place. And this time period that we get to play with is a really cool time period. Basically staying in that first year of World of Warcraft."
GamesRadar covered this as a Northrend and Pandaria tease. The honest reading is narrower. Nothing has been announced, the near-term plan is Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms changing over time, and the setting stays in the first year of WoW. GamesRadar also quoted senior game designer Josh Greenfield calling beta participation "the craziest numbers I've seen in 17 years working at Blizzard," which lines up with Longdale telling Inven this is the largest beta by participation the team has recorded.
Lore that feeds the first year
The video ended on story. The developers mentioned the Brotherhood of the Horse, whose tragic story was "only referenced in the manual for Warcraft 1," and said Chris Metzen has been digging back into ideas he had at the time, including the Forsaken Kingdom campaign, "creating all these threads between all of our versions of Warcraft." If you want a head start on where Forever's story might go, Blizzard is openly pointing at the old manuals and novels.
Gold and the economy: price caps, endgame income and RMT
Anyone who raided Classic remembers the consumable bill. The hosts asked Stone whether Forever will be as demanding. The answer is the most useful economy information Blizzard has given since BlizzCon.
Stone said Season of Discovery taught the team "how we could actively manage the economy in really powerful ways," including raising spawn rates for some gathering nodes and putting specific items on vendors. His example: "things like putting Black Lotus on a vendor and essentially setting a price cap for something like Black Lotus." His point was that once a vendor sells it, player-gathered Lotus "shouldn't sell for more than" that vendor price.
He also said Blizzard has "specific ways that we plan to make gold feel much more plentiful at endgame through participating in just regular gameplay activities." When the host asked if that meant weekly quests, Stone pushed back on the label: "I hesitate to use the word weekly." The intent, he said, is rewarding players with gold for "participating in systems or things that already exist in the game." Cadence and naming are "still a little bit up in the air."
On real money trading, Stone said Blizzard has "taken a very strong stance" with Forever and that it is "something that we absolutely plan to hold the line on." That fits the BlizzCon-era reporting covered in our Forever economy guide that there are no plans for a WoW Token or character boosts.
What it means for your launch-month gold
- Do not build a plan around Black Lotus spikes. If a vendor caps the price, flipping Lotus at Classic-style markups is a weaker bet. Watch what the launch client actually sells.
- Gatherers still have a role, just not unlimited upside. Higher spawn rates plus vendor caps point toward steady volume over windfalls. Our gold making guide and gold spending priorities cover the leveling side.
- Endgame income should improve once the participation rewards appear. Until Blizzard names the system and the payout, treat it as a promise without numbers.
- Alchemy is still an open question. Asked whether Alchemy would be reworked to be less critical during raiding, Stone said: "I don't have an answer to that one just yet, but we are talking a lot about it."
Dungeon XP, add-ons, Skyborne visuals and more
The rest of the podcast moved fast, but several answers matter for launch week.
Dungeon XP. Stone repeated that Blizzard does not believe the original designers wanted players to "sit in dungeons spamming them over and over" to reach 60. He admitted the beta started "a little too high on the amount of XP rewarded from dungeon quests and maybe a little bit too low on the XP that could be earned from, let's say, killing mobs within a dungeon," and said slight adjustments were announced or coming soon. He told Inven the same thing. Our 1-60 leveling guide is built around the quest-first route that philosophy rewards.
Gearing pace while leveling. One host said he was "fully decked out in blues" by 20. Stone called it "sticker shock" from a solved meta and said Blizzard has "made adjustments there as well," alongside spell power changes he expects to work out "particularly as we get closer to endgame."
Add-ons. The starting rule is "we don't want add-ons or mods that effectively play the game for you." Stone said Forever's encounters are simpler, with some new dungeon bosses having "only like two mechanics," so the add-on question is "much less of a concern." Whether Forever ends up more or less restrictive than modern WoW is "potentially" open.
Skyborne art. Stone confirmed the decision to add SD versions of Skyborne models and revisit the druid forms. On Skyborne weapon and armor designs he had "nothing to announce" but said the discussion continues.
Oceanic players. At launch Oceania will have dedicated data centers connected to the North American mega realm. If you party with an NA leader, you connect to NA servers until the group disbands.
PvP and seasons. PvP will run in periods between raid tiers with rewards tied to that window. Stone said there are no other seasonal plans for Forever right now, though a future Season of Discovery style experiment is possible.
Consoles. Asked when WoW comes to consoles: "We just don't have anything to announce today." He did say the gamepad response "has far exceeded our expectations."
How to use all this before November 4
Here is the practical version for the three weeks left.
- Pick a main for the long haul. With small raid-tier jumps and long-lived BiS, your first 60 matters more than it would in a fast-churn version of WoW. Our Forever release and Skyborne guide is the quickest refresher on races and classes.
- Plan alts around Legacy, not catch-up gear. Blizzard is pitching alts as a horizontal progression path in their own right.
- Keep a notebook for hidden items. Scrolls, odd drops and quest hints are the new collectibles, and the collections tab will not tell you what you missed.
- Treat Shaman tanking as unsupported. If your guild needs a reliable main tank on December 9, recruit from a class with a supported tank spec rather than betting on Enhancement talents.
- Budget for consumables, but expect help later. Classic-level prep is still the norm, with vendor caps and endgame gold rewards promised to soften it.
- Lock in your account and name timing. Early Name Reservation (part of the Skyborne packs) opens October 27, and the beta runs through October 22 at the level 30 cap, per the BlizzCon roadmap. Our pre-purchase and editions guide covers what is included with a subscription and what the packs add.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will WoW Forever have vertical gear progression?
Yes, a small amount. Clay Stone told Friends Per Second there "will be a little bit of vertical power progression" between raid tiers, but Blizzard will "try to keep it as small as possible" so earlier raid and dungeon items can stay best in slot for a long time. He also told Inven it is too early to say whether there will ever be a soft reset.
Will old raid gear stay best in slot in WoW Forever?
That is the intent for some items. Stone used a Blackwing Lair drop as an example of an item that stays best in slot for a class "for a very long time," while noting "that may not be forever" and that you may eventually replace it.
Does the WoW Forever collections menu show items you have not collected?
No. Stone told JackedIQ that you will only see an item in the collections menu "once you've actually collected it," unlike modern WoW, which lists everything earnable. Blizzard wants to keep as much of the world hidden for as long as possible.
Can Shaman tank in WoW Forever?
Not as a supported launch role. Stone said shaman tanks are "a very popular discussion" on the team but "not something we're officially pursuing right now at launch," with nothing to announce.
Is WoW Forever going to Northrend or Pandaria?
Nothing is announced. Holly Longdale said "nothing is off the table," but stressed that Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms will evolve and that "you could spend a lifetime in the two continents." Clay Stone said the game is staying in the first year of World of Warcraft.
What is the battle mage sword in WoW Forever?
It is the Coldflame Saber that beta players created by combining the Scroll of the Saber with the Blade of Silverlaine from Shadowfang Keep, according to Icy Veins. Stone confirmed "there is a certain sword that could make your mage more of a battle mage" and said more items like it are hidden in the game.
Will Black Lotus be on a vendor in WoW Forever?
Stone gave "putting Black Lotus on a vendor" as an example of how Blizzard can set a price cap on key materials, based on lessons from Season of Discovery. Check the launch client for the final vendor list and price.
Will WoW Forever have weekly gold quests?
Blizzard has not committed to that label. Stone said "I hesitate to use the word weekly" but confirmed plans to make endgame gold "much more plentiful" by rewarding participation in existing activities, with cadence still undecided.
When do WoW Forever raids open?
December 9 in Pacific time. Barrow Deeps (10 players), Hyjal Summit (20 players) and Onyxia's Lair (40 players) unlock together, according to the BlizzCon roadmap reported by Output Lag. Stone said the opening raids are unlikely to require crafted resistance gear.
When does WoW Forever launch?
Blizzard lists Wednesday, November 4, 2026 at 3:00 PM PT, which is 5:00 PM CT. Access comes with a World of Warcraft subscription or Game Time, and the optional Skyborne packs are sold separately on the Battle.net Shop.
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