Skrafti

I tweet Valorant stuff sometimes.

[Gbay99 @Gbay99]

If there's one thing I would change about WoW Forever, it would be exactly what this video hits on so well.

The new assets for non-classic elements are way too 'clean' and smooth, like something out of retail.

Classic WoW's low-poly visuals are beautiful and don't need to be fixed. They're an impressionist painting. An art style of its own that's timeless.

Just give me some low-poly Skyborne please :)

[Toxif @toxiftv]

What ever Warcraft Forever artist / dev made this, please put them incharge of directing all the new art that is made, they understand how to make NEW classic assets that don't feel like they are coming from retail.

[Cornfed Nebraska Boy @Marmstrongwow]

I'm seeing a lot of discourse about who WoW Forever is being made for and while I cannot speak for anyone else on the team I can speak for myself. I am making WoW forever for the classic gamer and for the millions of people who have had their accounts lapse over the years because they were not satisfied with changes that were made to the game. Whether those changes were to the art style, the story, social aspects, game design, or changes to their favorite class.

I did not spend the last year of my life relearning and mastering how to do things like we did it 20+ years ago for retail players. I could have taken it easy and just kept doing things like I had done for the past 8 years on retail...because I was much more familiar with it and it actually takes a lot less time to do (height maps on textures do a ton of heavy lifting). Because the reality is that the majority of retail players wouldn't care and would probably actually prefer it. But I felt I had a duty to uphold an artistic vision and integrity that millions of people expect from us. But not just for our players, but for my co-workers past and present who worked on it over 20 years ago. If I could not create something that resembled their work then I failed not only them...but myself.

Please do not take this as me throwing any shade at retail players or the retail team because I am one myself...but I wanted to make Forever as authentic of a Vanilla experience as possible. This involves making decisions wildly different than retail. It means holding the line against changes that create a domino affect down the road. It means keeping friction and inconveniences in the game. It means finding friends and forming groups with strangers and being social!! Because WoWs social aspects have always been the pillar of the game and over the years it has slowly been chiseled away at with changes that allow you play alone.

Since the day I started working on the Riverglades I have lived by three sayings.

"Convenience is the death of the journey."

"If you're making a game for everyone then you're making it for no one."

"Every change we make incurs a debt to the authenticity of the game and sooner or later that debt will be paid."

These are my core beliefs and I had a specific group of people I was targeting with my work. These beliefs cannot be shaken and I will try to hold the line against anything that goes against them and will continue to pester the team about things that feel out of place.

That being said, my hope is that Forever will pull in as many people as possible, whether you are a retail gamer, a classic gamer, someone who hasn't played in years, or even a new player. I hope you can all remember what made this game so special in the first place and that starts with understanding why we are so passionate about keeping it authentic.

[𝐆𝐈𝐆𝐀󠁇󠁲󠁯󠁫󠀧󠁳󠀠󠁂󠁆󠁆𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐑 @GigabearForever]

Warcraft Forever is turning into the state people migrate to after voting to destroy their own and then try voting for the exact same policies again in the new state.

[TheoryWise @TheoryWiseOS]

I have compiled all of the issues I have with WoW Forever's art style inconsistencies into a single video essay.

Constructive criticism is how we make games better.

No shade at any developer, all of them seem very passionate & talented.

Watch the video here: https://t.co/nvCgqlVv4Q

[Skrafti @Skrafti_]

If this isn’t the red flag for where this project is heading, I don’t know what is

[Towelliee @towelthetank]

So the gatekeeping in World of Warcraft Forever is getting kind of crazy.

I posted a simple statement from the Game Director Ion on Forever. Keywords to look for are It is not Classic or Retail but its own game. "Forever is designed to be a third pillar alongside Retail and Classic"

I would say "the whole this is our game" has to stop. But of course it won't. Classic players say that this is "OUR" game it was meant for "US" not meant for you.

Yeah and Classic Era was meant for you. And the community pretty much left it in the dust to die following the coattails of the majority who went past 60 and moved forward. Several Classics after really. Most players had the choice to stay, but didn't. The Devs had the choice to add new content to Era but didn't. Why?

Because World of Warcraft Forever is meant to reach farther than just the Private Server Refugees and Classic players. They want players from all over. They want OSRS players. ESO Players. GW2 Players. FFXIV Players. And so on.

Gatekeep all you want. But they are coming. And they are coming in large waves like a fucking Tsunami. Into "YOUR" game. And they will have feedback. And you will see a lot of it all over every social, streams, YT, TikTok, everything.

Forever should stick to the foundation of the gameplay and gaming philosophy of Vanilla. While Making the game visually approachable for all audiences. With simple QoL and additions that hurt no one.

This isn't an "OUR" or "US" situation fam.

World of Warcraft Forever is for EVERYONE. And in 44 days you will see that. You won't be alone. All walks of life will be entering Forever.

And yes I woke up today and chose violence.

[Skrafti @Skrafti_]

This is what happens when try to play both sides instead of just committing to one.

This discourse wouldn't exist in a timeline where toggles (that will inevitably lead to all HD skins), modern UI + anims ect are not present because it would be unmistakably Classic.

[SivHD @sivhades]

you do realize the "classic+" insinuates "classic plus more classic"
and not "classic plus random shit ppl with terminal survivorship bias like"

[TheoryWise @TheoryWiseOS]

I'm so grateful for the OSRS community for being a bunch of hardasses with actual standards.

I wish the WoW community can take some of that energy and make the best WoW Forever possible, since that can only be achieved through criticism, high expectations, and honesty.

[Skrafti @Skrafti_]

might be time to finally invest in OSRS since wow classic devs are clueless..

[Skrafti @Skrafti_]

"why not both?"-ed themselves into countless fundamental art style inconsistencies losing classic andys and made a game retail players will find too slow paced and or not worth investing time in..

Interesting times ahead for Season of Forever.

[Azshava @Azshava_1997]

HOT TAKE

(Don’t hate me lol, these are just my thoughts. 😂💀)

If collection related items earned in WoW Forever (eg. Mounts, transmog, toys. etc) don’t transfer over to retail. Then I’m likely not playing it.

I don’t really feel like dumping time into what would be a second MMO, especially if they have 2 separate collections, and granted, I play retail a lot.

I always thought and believed that Retail WoW should be the ultimate form of your adventures and memories in WoW over the last two and half decades of playing it.

“Behold my final form muahahahaha!”

[NɅITSɅDE @naitsade]

so SD models are just low-res downscales of HD models? What's even the point then?

I mean, I'm fine if they want to start from scratch and just keep going with newer models, but don't say you aim to cater to the vanilla art style while not even trying.

[Classic Plus Enjoyer @EsfandTV]

Cassie asks a great question that a lot of people respond to with combativeness, which doesn't really help people understand why us Classic players feel the way we do.

Concerns don't come from having SOME retail elements, it’s about having the WRONG retail elements.

If you stray too far from the principles of game design that WoW had in the first few years, you’re not really continuing the game’s development as it would have been in the current year. You’re instead modernizing Vanilla WoW, which is a huge miss for the audience of people that quit WoW 10 years ago with no intention of ever looking back. This is the audience that Blizzard has lost.

Before the Nostalrius-era Private Servers, I and many others were a part of that audience.

We don't want retail WoW, we don't even want Vanilla WoW with 100% no changes (never have, watch my "WoW Classic NEEDS Changes" video from 7 years ago).

What we want is a continuation of the games development with careful consideration to the design elements that made it what it was back then. We DO want it to account for the times and we want monitored closely and treated with the care necessary to flourish in a living breathe world that is an MMORPG.

[Skrafti @Skrafti_]

@naitsade someone who finally understands. I had this exact same gripe during SoD with the incubus they added looking so non-retro. Not a good look if basic art-style consistently is so easily looked over.

[Josh Greenfield @AggrendWoW]

@SugarPFluff The fact that they are ephemeral and can be lost is kind of the point of world buffs. It encourages you to play cleanly and perform well. It's not for everyone, and its not required to clear the content, but it is an aspect that many enjoy.

[Thug Nasty @NickLavid]

In the time since Halo Infinite launched:

CoD released 5 main titles + Warzone 2
Hogwarts Legacy released & confirmed a sequel
3 main line Pokémon releases + DLC
GTA VI got announced & trailers dropped

Still zero announcements for the next generation of Halo multiplayer. Pain.

[Skrafti @Skrafti_]

comments on this post are atrocious + the very reason players like astramcs are switching btw.

[zAAz @ZainabTurkie]

I’ve been around esports for 24 years and competing for 20. I’ve watched CS grow from the very beginning to what it is today. I’ve never witnessed such a massive downgrade to a women’s scene. Valve should be ashamed. I’m speechless. @CounterStrike

[Skrafti @Skrafti_]

are there any high elo controller mains that stream valorant anymore or are you all just watch partying?

[Skrafti @Skrafti_]

Val pros will do full twerkathons main stage mid game to not turn on their stream once in the last 6 months.

[Chris Medland @ChrisMedlandF1]

We need an explanation from race control for that, because it looks badly handled from the outside #F1 #BritishGP

[Skrafti @Skrafti_]

If your first thought upon hearing about the under 16 social media ban was “don’t’ care doesn’t affect me” and not “how is this being enforced”, you’re likely slow af.