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Burning Crusade Interview January 15, 2007 John JCal Callaham |
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Summary: JCal has some last-minute questions answered by Blizzard before they launch their epic MMO expansion!
 Introduction | Page:: ( 1 / 2 ) |
FiringSquad: The Burning Crusade is an expansion pack, but it has taken longer to develop than most full games. What was the main reason for the lengthy development time?
Jeff Kaplan: When we launched World of Warcraft, we still had plans for free content updates as well as a number of other features we wanted to provide. Much of our time after release was focused on carrying out those plans and getting them into the game as we had envisioned them. We also needed to examine our development processes and figure out what we could improve upon as far as streamlining the next phase of development so that we could not only do it quickly, but carry it out while keeping our high standard of quality in mind as well.
Many would say that the amount of content that we have released through free content updates since the initial launch of the World of Warcraft would add up to another expansion already. The Burning Crusade expands upon that content yet again, and arguably includes as much content as a lot of full games, so we wanted to take the time to ensure that the quality of all that content met our high standards.
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FiringSquad: What new aspects of gameplay do the Blood Elves and Draenei playable races add to the game?
Jeff Kaplan: The blood elves and draenei add many new opportunities to explore the world and to expand upon the history of Azeroth and the events that shaped it. For example, we've also made it possible to play a Paladin as a blood elf or a Shaman as a draenei, opening up these classes to their respective factions for the first time.
Each of these races will also have their own starting zones complete with quests, as well as new capital cities, and mount types. Blood elves and draenei also offer their own unique racial bonuses. Examples include arcane torrent for the blood elves, which is an area effect silencing ability, and gift of the Naaru (a healing ability) for the draenei.
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FiringSquad: The Burning Crusade seems to have some sci-fi elements added to World of Warcraft's fantasy mix. What does this aspect mean for gameplay?
Jeff Kaplan: Some have misconstrued a science-fiction aspect with the draenei, but what people tend to miss is that there has always been an otherworldly leaning in the storyline from the very beginning. The Titans themselves traveled through the Twisting Nether and shaped worlds. The orcs come from the very same planet as the draenei and were brought in via an inter-dimensional portal. These are elements of the story that haven't changed.
I don't think this does anything to change the current gameplay so much as continues to advance the storyline and expand upon the idea that Azeroth is just one world of many that has been affected by the Burning Legion. We now have the opportunity to explore one of those worlds with the addition of Outland.
| World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Interview (con't) | Page:: ( 2 / 2 ) |
Jeff Kaplan: We've introduced many new creatures with the expansion and I don't think anyone would agree on the same one as a favorite. Each new region of Outland has some creature or other that stands out.
In Hellfire Peninsula we've introduced one particularly prominent enemy, the Fel Reavers, which are giant constructs that serve Kazzak and the Burning Legion. As they walk, they shake the ground beneath their feet and players can hear the gears squeaking with each step.
Some other favorites include the the Arrakoa in the Terrokar Forest, Flesh Beasts, the Elekks of the draenei, and the Ethereals who can be found in several locations throughout Outland. There is no shortage of new and interesting creatures to discover.
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FiringSquad: After the expansion's release in January, what can you tell us about future updates to World of Warcraft in terms of new free downloadable content?
Jeff Kaplan: We do intend to continue producing free content updates for World of Warcraft. Blizzard recognizes how important it is to keep the game fresh; there is a lot more that we would like to do and we have no shortage of ideas. A lot of those ideas will be realized in content updates, while others may find their way into new expansions in the future.
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FiringSquad: World of Warcraft now has over 8 million subscribers and it looks like it will continue to grow. How hard is it to keep up support for all those customers?
Jeff Kaplan: It's been a learning experience for all of us. We didn't quite anticipate the degree of popularity the game has reached. We've had our growing pains and learned a lot about how we needed to build our infrastructure to support our growth. We've been very busy upgrading our hardware over the period leading up to the release of the expansion in order to anticipate the growing populace and prepare for the launch.
We certainly recognize that with all the success comes added responsibility to our players, so we've also continued to grow our staff in order to maintain the best possible support and service for our community.
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FiringSquad: Finally there has been a lot of speculation about future Blizzard products. Will Blizzard concentrate on developing more MMORPG titles?
Jeff Kaplan: We do have some unannounced projects that we're working on, but we're not quite ready to divulge any details on these just yet. With The Burning Crusade just about ready to release, we're wholly focused on that game right now.