Blizzard hosted a live chat with developers Josh Greenfield, Ana Resendez, Nora Valleta, and Tim Jones. The chat covered topics related to Hardcore, Classic WoW, and Wrath Classic. Hardcore realms will go live on August 24th at 3 PM PDT.
As summarized succinctly by the team over at Wowhead, the main takeaways from the article are:
Community Council HC chat WoW Classic – Summary
https://www.wowhead.com/classic/news/community-council-live-chat-hardcore-wow-classic-334625
- Death Messages are only going to be limited to guilds, there are no plans to expand beyond that but the team is open to making adjustments in the future.
- Kobold Miner is the NPC with the most kills on the Hardcore Classic PTR.
- Solo Self Found won’t be available at launch, but Blizzard is looking into making a “Self Found” without Solo. The issue with creating a Solo Self Found mode, it would have a series of caveats to group up for Dungeons or Elite mobs, or so on. Josh Greenfield expands upon this on Twitter.
- Additional Cloning services for Classic Era Characters are just not likely to happen.
- Blizzard Developers think Classic Plus is interesting. There will be another Season for WoW Classic and it is not going to be “Season of Mastery Two”
- Achievements and Transmogrification aren’t something Blizzard is planning to add to Classic Era.
- Blizzard is developing Random Dungeon Finder and Default Quest Helper for Wrath Classic.
- Blizzard will not be releasing information regarding the number of Hardcore realms, the realm names, or allow name reservation.
Additional Hardcore notes
Blizzard’s WoWCast Developer video from a few days prior dropped a few more nuggets on Hardcore realms:
- When creating a Hardcore Character, you will have to agree that the character can not be resurrected after death for any reason, and deliberately causing deaths for other players can cause action against your account, such as a ban.
- PvP can’t be auto-flagged with just a right click attack, it can only be activated by intentionally flagging with the /pvp command or right clicking your portrait to enable it.
- Duel to the Death is a new mechanic, where players can Mak’gora to the death.
- Hardcore players can’t queue for Battlegrounds, as it would go against the spirit of Battleground PvP. Players can still wargame if they choose.
- If your character dies, you can’t resurrect but you can release as a ghost. Additionally, you can also transfer your character for free to a Classic Era realm.
- All raid content will be available at launch for Hardcore Realms.
- Dungeons will have a 24 hour timer, only allowing players to clear each dungeon once per day.
- Kiting mobs across zones will not work, resetting the leash on the enemy mob.
- Class changes consistent of no Resurrection spells, no Soulstones for Warlocks, and no Rebirth for Shamans. Additionally, Paladins will not be able to “Bubble Hearth”
- The Buff and Debuff limit will be removed on Hardcore realms.
- Flask of Petrification will remain unchanged on Hardcore realms.
- Trading will be allowed, as well as the Auction House, and mailboxes.
- Solo Self Found or “SSF” might be an option implemented at a later date, Blizzard is discussing it.
