Joystiq interview: World of Warcraft's Tom Chilton
by Jem Alexander 
{ Aug 29th 2008 at 5:45PM }
What will you be putting in Wrath Of The Lich King to keep current World of Warcraft players coming back for more?
Lich King is more orientated towards existing players, than new ones. We've raised the level cap from 70 to 80, added a new class, new battlerounds, new arenas, etc. Most of these features are for existing players of World of Warcraft.
Is there anything in the expansion that is targeted towards new players?
For new players, we introduced the "Refer A Friend" program, to help people get their friends in the game. We deliberately did this before we released Wrath Of The Lich King, so that they had time to level up and access all the new higher-level content. Achievements are also an incentive for new players, mostly because they're not retroactive. That's not something we did deliberately, it's just that we haven't previously been tracking the necessary stats. Achievements allow new players to measure their progress through the game. One of our core philosophies with the game is that you're constantly progressing. These achievements are now an important part of that.
Do achievements give in-game rewards of any kind?
No, they don't give any rewards. They're just an evolved high-score system.
Why are you letting players make Death Knights that start at level 55?
With the Death Knights we wanted to do more than we've done with any other class. We want to create a very tailored experience, which we can do thanks to players' familiarity with the game. Also, the Death Knights themselves are beyond ordinary -- why would we start them at level 1? A lot of players spend a lot of time with one character and are tempted to reroll a new one, but there's always that barrier of entry of going back to level 1. By starting Death Knights at level 55, they can bypass that and it gives them an excuse to create a new character.
What will Warcraft III players enjoy about the expansion? How will you weave that game's lore into this new content?
Wrath Of The Lich King is a continuation of the storyline that started in Warcraft III and continued through The Frozen Throne. Warcraft III players will feel very rewarded by playing through Lich King, especially if they followed and enjoyed the story. The Death Knights in Lich King are very much inspired by the Warcraft III Death Knights. They'll also love the new Lich King trailer, that we're showing here at Leipzig.
Finally, when is Lich King going to be released? Do you have a release date for the release date, yet?
I'm afraid you've heard this before, but the company line is that it'll be out whenever it's ready.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
jynxycat @ Aug 29th 2008 6:07PM
That told us nothing new -_-
DJScythe17 @ Aug 29th 2008 6:09PM
"Achievements are also an incentive for new players, mostly because they're not retroactive."
That's odd; most publicity for WotLK has said that developers are working on making achievements retroactive somehow.
Friday_Knight @ Aug 29th 2008 6:51PM
That's not quite accurate. They're working on making the Feats of Strength retroactive.
The Feats are different from Achievements. They'll include things that can't be done again like ringing the gong to open the gates of Ahn' Qiraj.
There is no points for Feats apparently, but it just seems they wanted to give some sort of recognition for doing big in-game stuff back in the day.
daveyp @ Aug 30th 2008 11:40AM
hmm strange that he said the points aren't worth anything and are just high scores. General assumption has been that they would be spendable on cosmetic rewards such as tabards.
Cabcru @ Aug 29th 2008 8:30PM
"No, they don't give any rewards."
I was under the impression they did give 'rewards' in the shape of tabbards, titles and vanity pets...? Hmmm.
OwlBoy @ Aug 29th 2008 11:46PM
That is what blues have said on the beta achievements forum.
OwlBoy @ Aug 29th 2008 11:49PM
Here is the blue post specifically.
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=9336514882&pageNo=1&sid=2000#11
Metal_Gear @ Aug 29th 2008 8:53PM
Basically, a lot of the stuff reported on WoW Insider was redered bull plop in that article :S
As I understood it, all Achievements would be retroactive if they could make them retroactive, e.g. a 'Kill that Instance Boss' could be tracked if you have completed a Quest asking you to kill that boss. Or if you had a certain armor set still in your possesion from a pre-BC raid or whatever.
And I heard that they would allow you to get rewards that wouldn't affect gameplay: Companions, Titles and Tabards.
Way to confuse me Tom Chilton, you barstard! *shakes fist* >_
Otimus @ Aug 29th 2008 9:45PM
Uhg.
I hate you Blizzard. I thought Wrath wasn't going to be like TBC. I thought they were going to actually give a damn about people not at the endgame for once.
Nope! I'm wrong! They'll keep pushing this stupid mentality, making it so easy for everyone to get to the endgame, instead of actually attempting to pad content, and then turn the focus on the horrible instanced PVP. Instanced PVP. As a focus in an MMO. That you pay for. WHY?
Moreover, all the little Blizzardites, or whatever the hell you want to call it, will eat it. Blizzard has this massive free ticket to do WHATEVER it wants, and moroever, to do AS LITTLE as it wants. Kind of like Nintendo, and to a lesser degree.. Valve.
SOMEONE SHOULD CRITIQUE THIS COMPANY.
Linkdead @ Aug 29th 2008 9:55PM
Yea the story from Warcraft III will be continued only if your in the highest end raid guild and have already raided every other mundane instance in Lich King 100 times.
They are also adding even MORE stuff to make sure your more l33t than the unwashed common masses. As if gear wasn't enough now they'll be adding achievements so everyone will know exactly how long your epeen truly is.
SonofSeth @ Aug 30th 2008 4:40AM
Which should bother you only if you yourself care about volume of your epeen, but judgind by your comment, you do and this a great pluss for you then.
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