World of Warcraft has launched the latest seasonal content for the old-school Classic brand, and with it comes a beautiful disaster: NOT having 19 years of documented information to fall back on.
You see, the wonderful gimmick of this new release is that a plethora of content has been added and tweaked within the game world – all without any prior access to players to document or datamine the secrets within. New class abilities, new mechanics and even a whole new raid are all there for the taking – provided you can figure it all out.
There is a fantastic air of “DUNNO” permeating the air of this season, and I never want it to end.
Season of Discovery arrives tomorrow!
— World of Warcraft (@Warcraft) November 29, 2023
Join @PlatinumWoW654 for everything you need to know coming in #WoWClassic.
Watch Now: https://t.co/tptXWoHn8y pic.twitter.com/ssE1nsXHRd
On paper, the premise is simple:
- RUNES
- Throughout the world, players will need to discover special runes that will provide access to new abilities, some that have never been available to classes in WoW Classic.
- RUNE-ENGRAVING
- Players will be able to apply a limited number of runes via rune-engraving, which also allows players to swap out abilities when not in combat to encourage experimentation.
- Incremental Level Cap Increases
- Season of Discovery will start with a cap of level 25 and will be increased over time to offer a more progressive endgame experience at each level band.
- Classic Dungeons Reimagined
- Each phase’s level cap will provide new content for players to experience, starting with the level 25 Blackfathom Deeps 10-player raid: formerly a level-up 5-player dungeon, it has been reworked with redesigned boss encounters to offer exciting challenges that will put players’ builds to the test.
- World PvP Events
- In addition to new raids, each level band’s cap zone will host some world PvP events for players to test their new abilities against others. The level 25 PvP zone to start will be in Ashenvale.
And that first point, class runes, is a DOOZY. All classes are able to seek out and uncover magic runes that provide access to abilities that flat out did not exist during the era of original classic. These can uncover whole new playstyles – and even fundamentally rework a class into a whole new role, such as allowing a Rogue to tank – or a Mage to heal their allies.
And the beautiful part is that these runes come from all over the world, secreted away behind puzzles, riddles and shady nooks. You need only seek them out and solve their secrets. Thanks to Blizzard hiding away all these details and leaving it to players to sort out, it means that most players are delving into the rune system with no prior knowledge, meeting strange new NPCs and odd relics within the worldspace for the first time. Of course, being the modern age and having unmitigated access to online discussion platform means that these secrets are quickly documented and shared – but it is a far cry from the Warcraft Classic of old where things had been theorycrafted to death.
Just today, a rune that will allow a Warlock to transform themselves into a demon was finally uncovered – but only after a positively herculean effort on the part of the Warlock community. Hours upon hours, days upon days and a massive amount seeking within the world uncovered the steps needed to shed your mortal coil and (literally) embrace your inner demon now has a veritable swathe of warlocks making a pilgrimage to a new NPC waiting to send them on their journey. People were pouring over lore entries, theory crafting and just flat out looking under rocks to figure out what the hell they needed to do; it was like being in a hellish escape room with thousands of people yelling “WHAT IF WE LEARN HOW TO SPEAK DEMONIC” over and over again.
— World of Warcraft (@Warcraft) December 1, 2023
All of this is beautifully book-ended with the forced level cap of only 25 – meaning the world retains an element of danger as your progress is forcefully halted in the admittedly early game. The entire dynamic of playstyle and potential gets shifted down to a much simpler set of rules, resulting in people surveying what greatness they can achieve with such limited player power – a bit like a band trying to bang out a belter with toy instruments. It’s endlessly entertaining.
Applying a 19-year raiding mentality to a level 25 character wearing hilariously basic green-quality gear and having only a few simple (but fun) abilities is a hoot, thanks to the updated and supercharged level 25 raid experience to be found in Blackfathom Deeps.
Blackfathom Deeps is the first-ever new raid experience for #WoWClassic!
— World of Warcraft (@Warcraft) December 1, 2023
Hope you're enjoying Season of Discovery! pic.twitter.com/rxXonTSrCL
And this is just the beginning. The Season of Discovery is set to march forth and expand it’s scope with each new patch – pushing the level cap a little further forward, and refactoring all expectations within. It is a brilliant twist to such a passionately understood game system, so if you have not yet given it a look I can’t help but encourage you to do so – but try and keep your eyes away from Google. Enjoy the Season of DUNNO while you can.
Are you playing the Season of Discovery? What is your favourite rune discovery so far? Let us know in the comments or on social media.
Known throughout the interwebs simply as M0D3Rn, Ash is bad at video games. An old guard gamer who suffers from being generally opinionated, it comes as no surprise that he is both brutally loyal and yet, fiercely whimsical about all things electronic. On occasion will make a youtube video that actually gets views. Follow him on YouTube @Bad at Video Games
