Forever's design rules: no flying, no level scaling, a dangerous Azeroth, and effort that keeps mattering

Lead Classic Designer Tim Jones laid out the rules for World of Warcraft: Forever at the What's Next panel. The world should still feel like Classic and is measured against the spirit of the original game: there are no flying mounts, there is no level scaling, and Azeroth stays a dangerous world where preparation and teamwork matter. It is not meant to be difficult for its own sake, but to reward deliberation.

The world is the main character, and levelling is treated as just as important as the endgame, with new zones, quests and rewards telling stories at every level. Forever is planned as a long term home that does not invalidate effort through new expansions; in Jones's words the catch-up system is simple: play the game.

Patches will carry content for every kind of player, PvE and PvP, dungeon runners and raiders, with new systems such as Camping. Jones pushed back on the idea of Classic as a solved game, pointing at unfinished stories in Gilneas, Mount Hyjal, Uldum, the Emerald Dream and whatever lies beyond Un'Goro. Ion Hazzikostas opened the panel by tracing the idea from the 2020 Classic launch through Season of Discovery, the experiment that tested how much change the Classic experience could take, to a mid-2024 decision that a permanent home was both possible and compelling.