Live Developer Q&A with Ion Hazzikostas- January 24, 2019

This week, we sat down with Game Director Ion Hazzikostas to answer your questions on the latest content update— Tides of Vengeance part 2.

[MrLeemurman]

Video Index

0:55 Any specifics for the release time of Kul Tirans and Zandalari?
4:50 "You don't need to do the raid to unlock Allied Races."
5:25 Can you explain the rationale behind Alliance getting the opportunity
for ilvl 400 gear this week and likely every week for engaging in World PvP?
9:07 Seeing as the War Mode bonus has been an unwavering 30% for the Alliance,
does the team consider this to be a failure at balancing?
10:35 Is anything being done about the server stability?
13:56 With Kul Tirans, Zandalari, and possibly more Allied Races coming to
Azeroth, would you consider just letting us have all our character slots
on a single realm?
14:51 Can we get a way to transfer War Resources from our main to our alts,
like we had in Legion?
15:37 Can we get a Valour Point-like system which we can use to upgrade gear?
20:25 What's the reasoning behind the huge jump in power level between tiers?
22:09 Can PvP please get some sort of vendor?
27:34 When are Mythic+ seasons going to give rewards other than a hidden achievement?
28:30 Are there any plans on how to address the problem that some class mechanics
are pretty much mandatory for high-level keystones?
32:27 Will there ever be a way to punish players that abandon keystone runs
midway?
36:50 When are you bringing back class-specific armor sets?
40:06 Can we get more info about the direction of Heart of Azeroth and the
systems that will be in place for 8.2 and beyond?
43:22 Are there any plans to further curb Titan Residuum funneling?
47:00 What do you consider the biggest design challenges WoW is facing in
the long term, from a development point of view?
52:46 What conversations have been held about the GCD change?
55:18 As a healer main I find myself feeling forced into a DPS spec more and more
even in group content. Are you trying to get away from the holy trinity
design? Can healers get higher DPS in PVE?
58:08 Are there any major class changes in the works for 8.1.5?

[aureliabackup]

Oh Lore I'm so glad you brought up the Burning Crusade example!

Do you remember that time you were farming Black Temple for months without upgrades, then someone randomly did a Netherwing daily and got an item that was titanforged higher than the Black Temple gear you wanted?

NO? Wow, it's almost like gear progression actually made sense back then.

[MrNickcrush]

Can we get a new community manager please?

[daemonsalad]

Just give us the PvP vendor that we're asking for. I like making my own decisions...

[timokampwerth]

26:45 So after reducing the Game to 4 stats, after loosing stuff like Hit, Dodge, Parry, Block, Expertise, Armor Penetration, Resillience, Multistrike, Spirit, Spellpower... Now you want to "Rebalance" those remaining 4 stats so that it doesn't matter anymore which one you get? Just reduce it down to 1 stat, call it Player Power and make it do everything. (exaggerating to make a point to)

[BigMatty]

That was....

Actually pretty good. Better than previous ones . So yeah keep it up. Hope to hear more soon

[Emeronite]

This was one of the better Q&A, they actually gave direct answers to some of the questions and the questions selected were also good, frankly even I don't like the game the way it is right now but you have to give credit where credit is due, the fact that they acknowledged the "tht said" twitch meme and asmongold shows that they are aware of what is happening and that makes me hopeful therefore I've liked this video.

[jamesn]

Just give us pvp vendors.... Seriously wtf

[TheHorreK]

Did they srsly just say (summerized) "We dont trust Players to figure out how PvP-Vendors work".... thats a new low in my book

[Madwand]

I wonder how Ion feels being director of a game that is so far removed from the one he fell in love with, it's barely recognisable.

[Monny]

08:26
"Getting a 400 item level piece just from a quest, might undermine other activities"
I could not agree with you more Ian... although, have you not built your game around this principle now? Emissaries, Warfront-quest, WQs.

[mehawimes]

"Truly getting them to a point where there is close enough bond that they are willing to join the Alliance or the Horde" Well can't speak for the Zandalari I am an Alliance player, but I thought saving Boralus from Lady Ashvane, saving the Kul Tiran fleet, saving Jaina's life, saving Drustvar, pretty much saving whole Kul Tiras would create that "close enough bond".

[Spika]

"Epic battles are fun" Epic battles confirmed to be taken out of the game.

[kuhnandreas]

25:09 PvP-stats were much better for the game. Just my opinion.

[Nyarlarthotep]

I am glad to see them actually take the real questions. And actually give direct answers. This Q&A has been the first time in awhile that I actually feel like they are trying to communicate with players. Explaining whats happening on the code and design side so we know why certain things have taken place.

[loveunow]

So after reducing the Game to 4 stats, after loosing stuff like Hit, Dodge, Parry, Block, Expertise, Armor Penetration, Resillience, Multistrike, Spirit, Spellpower... Now you want to "Rebalance" those remaining 4 stats so that it doesn't matter anymore which one you get? Just reduce it down to 1 stat, call it Player Power and make it do everything. (exaggerating to make a point to)

[Arcashine]

Actually super excited to shoot Azerite beams out of my necklace like Thrall in Dragon Soul.

[kuhnandreas]

22:37 If you can't figure out how/where to use your currencies on your own than you shouldn't be sitting at a computer in the first place.

[Zoozian]

As a collector only I really hoped you'd do some changes to island expeditions since I don't think it's possible to get all nine mounts no matter how much effort you put into it. Selling them for 1000 dubloons like the other mount or bad luck protection like the Legion legendaries would be very nice.

[sheeparewhite]

I have a question, when will wow be good again.