WoW: Forever Cut Its Dungeon Quest XP Bonus

Heads up: the news here is real and sourced. The read on what it means for the unannounced Riot MMO is ours, and speculative where labelled. RuneGrove covers everything through one lens: what it tells us about the MMO.

Source: PCGamesN, a PC gaming news site. Verified against multiple sources; datamines and reports are labelled as such, not stated as fact.

An Undead Paladin starting out in World of Warcraft: Forever (Blizzard Entertainment)

What Happened

Two weeks into the beta, Blizzard slowed leveling, zeroed a vendor price and opened ten more levels to test both.

Leveling and the economy

Half the bonus. Blizzard, the studio behind World of Warcraft, known as WoW, cut dungeon-quest XP in its newest beta. WoW: Forever is Blizzard's reimagined version of the original game.
The exact line. The notes read: "Dungeon quests now reward 50% less extra experience beyond normal quest values."
The stated reason. Blizzard's developer note ties the cut to player feedback on leveling speed.
Wands at 1 copper. The same notes add: "All crafted common and uncommon quality wands now sell at vendors for 1 copper."
No reason given. The notes attach no explanation to the wand change.
Who posted it. Blizzard community manager Kaivax posted the update to the official forum thread for beta development notes on October 1.

The XP cut lands on a game Blizzard already slowed: its first dev podcast said levels 1 to 20 run slower than Classic Era, the version that keeps the original rules.

30Beta level capup from 20

50%Less extra XPfrom dungeon quests

1 copperCrafted wand pricecommon and uncommon

Ten more levels

Cap raised. The build's headline line: "Players can now level up to a maximum of level 30." The beta had capped characters at 20.
A new dungeon. Excavation Site: Wetlands, a new dungeon for levels 26 to 31, arrives with the build.
Two more open. Razorfen Downs unlocks from level 25 and Uldaman from level 30.
Maintenance first. The beta went down for maintenance on the morning of October 2, Pacific time, to take the build.
Dates left. The beta runs until October 21, and WoW: Forever launches November 4.

Still from the “World of Warcraft: Forever | Gameplay Trailer” video (0:25)

Class and race tuning

Gnome racial trimmed. Eureka!, the Gnome racial that cuts the cost of the next three spells, "no longer benefits periodic effects at all," and channeled spells don't count as periodics.
Protection Paladin block. Redoubt, a Protection Paladin talent, now gives 4/8/12/16/20% block chance (was 6/12/18/24/30%). Holy Shield rises to 30% (was 20%).
Warriors get most. Warriors carry the longest list of changes, led by more Rage generated from critical strikes.
Undead Paladin trick. PCGamesN writer Ken Allsop reports Undead Paladins can no longer use Cannibalize, the corpse-eating heal, while immune to physical damage.

An Orc Warrior in World of Warcraft: Forever, the class with the longest list of changes in the level 30 build (Blizzard Entertainment)

Towns, campfires and a hat bug

Barber shops. PCGamesN lists barber shops added to Darnassus and Thunder Bluff.
Gentler campfires. Campfires now do less damage, per the same report.
Known bug. A bug leaves "Anduin Wrynn - and many other children" wearing hats, and Blizzard plans to remove them.
Wowhead had it. Wowhead, the WoW database site, posted the notes to its 466,000 X followers six minutes after Blizzard did.

View post on X

Official pageWorld of Warcraft: ForeverTrailer, screenshots, and the full store page

What This Means for the Riot MMO

Blizzard's first big beta lever was leveling speed, and Riot has put nothing on the record about how fast its MMO levels.

Speed is a dial. Blizzard halved dungeon-quest bonus XP two weeks into a public beta, after feedback on leveling speed.
Caps open in stages. Going from 20 to 30 mid-beta tests one band of dungeons before the next one opens.
Prices are levers. A crafted wand vendors pay for turns crafting into gold. At 1 copper, that route is closed.
Reasons in public. The XP cut shipped with a developer note, so testers know why their leveling slowed.
Riot is watching. Orlando Salvatore, an engineer on the Riot MMO, joked that WoW Forever emptied his town.
Riot's record. Riot has said nothing about leveling speed, crafting or a player economy in its MMO.

Our read. Leveling pace is what a beta exists to find, and Blizzard is finding it ten levels at a time with a reason on each cut. Riot hasn't said whether its MMO has levels at all. If it does, its first patch after testers arrive will look like this one: a fast route slowed, a price zeroed.

The harder call is whether Riot slows the climb on purpose. WoW Forever's builder Matthew Armstrong calls convenience the death of the journey, and this patch is that belief applied to dungeon quests.