Associate Game Director Morgan Day Interview with Maximum - Live Stream

Live Posted 2024/08/15 at 3:28 PM by Archimtiros

One of the big changes in Season 1 of The War Within is that Mythic+0 will become a daily lockout instead of weekly. They want to be careful of not overshadowing raid and later M+ rewards though, which was the reason for keeping their reward track lower.

There's an equation to these rewards, based on the challenge, how many players are required, and frequency they're able to be done - weekly, daily, or fully spammable.

They haven't announced it yet, but they are adding a sort of catch up system for alt character Crests - players will get a roughly 30% discount on crest costs across their warband, once one character has "outgrown" the use of those crests.

The team still ideally wants raid groups to prioritize at least one of each class. Mythic+ is more complicated due to its smaller group size though, encouraging stacking all of the caster buffs as opposed to a more diverse spread.

Some raid buffs are better or worse than others, and some may feel like they lock you into certain comps - very high end players may value Arcane Intellect a lot more than Battle Shout, since it not only provides damage but also a little more healing. Most melee classes deal a lot of magic damage on top of physical, so Chaos Brand is more ubiquitous than Mythic Touch.

For most players, individual skill will overshadow whatever those buffs bring, however it's something they could look at... but it's Max's fault if those things end up getting nerfed!

Raid buffs are an avenue to encourage the use of certain classes, though they're not all buffs per se. Warlock gateway and healthstones, as well as Death Knight grips are also very important reasons to prioritize those classes over their raw throughput. Blood Death Knight having better grips than Frost and Unholy may be a potential issue that could be worth looking into.

The hope is that the new Severed Strands buff will reduce the need to buff things as frequently as in Amirdrassil and past raids, though Blizzard isn't intending to change the way they look at data and decide when to nerf things.

Blizzard is not planning to have a Heroic Raid Week in Season 2. There are a lot more moving pieces on an expansion launch, as well as a lot more item level grind in a relatively short time, so it feels right for Season 1 to have that extra week, but players tend to be a lot more ready to hit the ground running when the second raid tier arrives.

They used to have to lock Mythic+ at an awkward level as well, like +6 for the first week, so instead they've decided to just hold Mythic+ entirely for the first Heroic week in Season 1, but this should not repeat in Season 2 with Normal, Heroic, and Mythic unlocking immediately.

Augmentation Evokers have had a lot of changes, and hero talents are dipping their toes into other types of support effects, so they won't say no to the possibility of more support classes down the road, but nothing to announce at this time.

WoW is made up of very different audiences, and one of the biggest challenges of making the game is finding solutions that make everyone happy. A high-end hardcore group has very different expectations and desires than a more casual one, and while a static group has very clear goals when putting together a Mythic+ group to run keys, pug groups are much more diversified, as some players might care about score, others might want gear or crests, etc. Everyone should be invested in beating the timer, and crest rewards downgrading was a compromise to no longer having gear drops downgrade, in order to keep the activity somewhat rewarding for everyone, even if a key that was not timed.

Delves are primarily designed for players who aren't interested in doing any kind of regular grouped instance content, but it also features content for hardcore players, particularly with the max-level challenge past the point of reward scaling.

Deaths have become even more punishing in Mythic+, but although it wasn't talked about or announced, the actual baseline timers for TWW Season 1 dungeons are more forgiving than seasons of the past. The Challenger's Peril affix, particularly in the +12 space, is something they want to keep an eye on. There are a lot of things they can do, from making it reduce the timer instead of increase the death penalty, or perhaps even turn it off entirely if it's not working out so well.

Trash is designed very intentionally with both filler spells and very important abilities. The more important ones are likewise purposefully made with the distinction of a longer cast time, a longer recast time, better visuals, so that players can recognize and react accordingly. They then try to place those mobs around the dungeon, with the intent of allowing players the agency of creating a route around them - the result of that agency is that sometimes they'll make choices the designers don't expect though, like a wildly unexpected route. Some players really enjoy the puzzle aspect of figuring out those routes and how to tackle those challenges, which is why Blizzard doubled down on the rotating seasonal pool of dungeons, in order to avoid the puzzle getting solved early and remaining that way for an entire expansion.

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Comment by ExtremelyCrustySo there will be 1800 different types of crests for upgrading again? Why.Comment by LeoSunPlease don't listen to Maximum devs. Easily one of the least respectable WoW creators and is an actual clown when it comes to opinions about the game.Comment by SoeroahI'd rather be able to send crests to alts once a character outgrows the need but I'll take a 30% discountComment by LeoSunSo there will be 1800 different types of crests for upgrading again? Why.Comment by JohntheBarbarianPlease don't listen to Maximum devs. Easily one of the least respectable WoW creators and is an actual clown when it comes to opinions about the game.Comment by kershyllSo there will be 1800 different types of crests for upgrading again? Why.Comment by tw1ZTERThe less inconsequencial interview of all time, Max did it again, 1 good question on a lapse of 30 mins. Yaps for 5 minutes to ask a question.Comment by johntravolta342So there will be 1800 different types of crests for upgrading again? Why.Comment by Kilgharrah96I'd rather be able to send crests to alts once a character outgrows the need but I'll take a 30% discountComment by BeelSo there will be 1800 different types of crests for upgrading again? Why.Comment by CertifiedPlease don't listen to Maximum devs. Easily one of the least respectable WoW creators and is an actual clown when it comes to opinions about the game.Comment by bannyvaderThere are a lot of things they can do, from making it reduce the timer instead of increase the death penalty, or perhaps even turn it off entirely if it's not working out so well.Comment by TrollfatBig fan of max but agree that the questions were too long winded, I think he was nervous. All he had to do was:

“What’s the team’s philosophy behind key depletes and crest penalties?”

“What has been the feedback so far for Aug? Is the team open to adding more support specs in the future?”

“Is the team happy with how Legendaries were received during DF and what, if anything, would you have done differently?”

“Can frost & unholy DKs get gorefiend’s grasp too?”Comment by AzriikPlease don't listen to Maximum devs. Easily one of the least respectable WoW creators and is an actual clown when it comes to opinions about the game.Comment by albinodonkey2It's not really a "filler ability" on a trash mob when it chunks you for 70% of your health, is it? Every single cast eventually becomes a must stop, often quite quickly with the way key scaling worksComment by LunarathSo there will be 1800 different types of crests for upgrading again? Why.Comment by TalisxRedstarlmao people in here acting like Max is a pro interviewer. jfc. touch grass and stay small.Comment by IcysadgeMake DPS DK amz equal to blood. Give DK a raid buff. Or at least give us gorefiends ffs. GRIPS ARE NOT A RAID BUFF.Comment by BrkusTWW looks like a skip for me. The constant increase of mechanic vomit in dungeons from expansion to expansion because E-Sports players pulled one too many packs is just killing the PuG scene. In order to challenge these 50 players they make unfun experience for everyone else in these keys no matter the level. At low keys it just doesn't kill and at later keys PuGs just can't discuss for an hour who's gonna kick what.
They just keep balancing rewards about how 40 people from Echo and Limit play. Which is insane. Because they have the ability and time to spam infinite M+ and gear our, I can't have anything and get 1 item per week from my vault, if by some miracle I find a PuG that is capable of no voice +10 clear.
They are literally balancing Mythic raid around 40 people from those 2 guilds and than rebalancing it after they get their World First. So because they are so hell bent on challenging these 40 guys they overtune heroic raid as well, because it has to look like a meaningful progression towards Mythic raid.
WoW devs have lost completely lost the feel for what actually made WoW fun for millions of players. It sure as hack wasn't a 6 mechanics dungeon trash pack or a dungon for which you need a 5000 words wowhead guide.Comment by sparkytizWatching this filled me with so much joy on the build up to the day, it was like watching my boy practice for his first football game and he was pouring his heart and soul into it. Since Watching Max grow into a fine young man has always been a pride of mine, so the lead up to this was the most amazing moments of my life. Then the actual day came and he just threw the ball right into other teams hands and threw his hands up like he just scored the touch down. I had to hide my face as I left the stream and right before I had the chance to hit the X he then tries to get every single class nerfed and even blood dk's. In some kind of weird scheme to grow closer to the hidden mole people, and I know he wants to be spared when the earth nation of mole people attack but this is not the way champ, you need to culture and nurture the relationship with the mole people not try and horseshoe it in. So with a heavy heart I am now going to be running out for milk and there is money on the counter for pizza so u don't burn the house down since I know max can't cook.

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