WOW's Lead World Designer Speaks On Newly-Launched Final Lich King Patch

Today is the day World of Warcraft players have been waiting for since...well, since patch 3.2 launched in August. But more importantly, it's the beginning of a moment Warcraft fans have yearned for since first witnessing the rise of the evil Prince Arthas in Warcraft III. With today's launch of patch 3.3 for World of Warcraft, titled "The Fall of the Lich King," Blizzard finally wraps up all of the major content for their second expansion, Wrath of the Lich King. And it's all leading to a major showdown with Arthas in his sanctuary of Icecrown Citadel, which is now home to three new five-man dungeons and one huge new ten- or twenty-five-man raid.

I had a chance to talk with Blizzard lead world designer Alex Afrasiabi about the patch, the build-up to this huge fight, and what's coming next for World of Warcraft. Read the full interview below.

Game Informer: Patch 3.3 is arguably the biggest patch you’ve done for Wrath of the Lich King, if not for the game as a whole. You’re adding three new five-man dungeons and the new ten- or twenty-five-man raid. Did you guys set out to make patch 3.3 this huge to lend it an epic feel since it’s the last major patch for the game before the next expansion? Or is that something that just happened as you were designing it?

Alex Afrasiabi: It was definitely intentional. With all the big fanfare around the expansion itself -- I mean, it’s called Wrath of the Lich King -- we wanted to make sure that the 3.3 patch lived up to the name of the expansion. It was definitely one of those things we set out to do. We wanted to go out huge.

GI: Was it planned that way right from the beginning of when you started plotting out patches for the expansion or was it a more recent decision as you started nearing patch 3.3?

AA: We don’t set everything out in stone as we start an expansion. Things change, playstyles change, and we have to be in tune with everything. But the final patch is certainly something that we planned on going big with.

GI: A couple weeks ago you announced that the final raid is going to be released section by section over the course of a month or two instead of all at once. That’s similar to how the bosses were released for the Trial of the Crusader raid in patch 3.2. Why did you come to this decision? And what’s your response to the critics saying that it’s just a way of stretching out the content to keep people playing until Cataclysm comes out?

AA: We feel really good about the content. We feel like the content we’re releasing with in patch 3.3 will definitely give the players goals and things to work on. One of the things we noticed about gated content is that it almost feels like a mini-patch as we release the content. Think about world events and things that you can prepare for every month. It tends to give you something to look forward to, and I think gated content definitely works in that regard.

GI: I know it’s looking a bit ahead since there won’t be another major content patch for the game until after Cataclysm is released, but now that you’ve done it twice in a row, do you expect future raid patches to follow the gated content pattern?

AA: We can’t really commit to anything. It’s entirely possible. We haven’t hammered out everything for Cataclysm raid progression. It’s definitely a possibility. We’ll take what we learn from Icecrown and obviously apply toward the game going forward, but that’s several months of learning left to be done.

GI: Whether people are interested in raiding or not, I think one thing everyone’s excited about in patch 3.3 is the big finale to the Lich King storyline, where players finally get to fight Arthas, which most of us have been wanting to do since Warcraft III. I talked about this a little bit with Jeff Kaplan a couple weeks ago, but I’d be curious for your thoughts as well. I think it’s really unique for an MMO to have a villain and a narrative that players are actually invested in. How has that affected the build-up to patch 3.3 and the execution of that final battle with Arthas?

AA: When we started Lich King, one of the big goals was to make a much more cohesive story than Burning Crusade. Burning Crusade was cool, and it was definitely a step up from vanilla World of Warcraft, but if you recall, there really wasn’t much about Illidan. Each zone was it’s own self-contained zone. There were hints here and there, but we really didn’t play the story or narrative up at all.

Going into Lich King, straight out of the gate, we decided it was going to be three acts, and we knew how it was all going to play out. We had it all basically planned out from day one. It’s playing out the plan. When 3.3 hits and once the Lich King is unlocked, players will have -- I’ll go on record as saying -- probably one of the most epic battles they’ve ever taken part in. I don’t think they’ll be expecting what they’re going to get for this fight. I think it will be something that they’ve never seen the likes of. The finale will be amazing.

GI: Like I said, fighting Arthas is something that Blizzard fans have been waiting for and building up the excitement for since Warcraft III. That’s a long time. Have you guys felt any additional pressure beyond what you would from a regular content patch because you want to fulfill players’ expectations?

AA: I wouldn’t say we felt pressure. We really had our eye on getting this thing out the door and making sure it would meet and then shatter the expectations that players have. Bold words, I know, but I’m really proud of what everyone’s done. I think this thing will be amazing.

GI: Another part of the narrative pull for patch 3.3 is that Jaina and Sylvanas (pictured above), two Warcraft characters who have been around as long as Arthas, will be joining players for the assault on Icecrown. How did you decide on these two character specifically to take part in the dungeon?

AA: It was a pretty easy decision honestly. We wanted key characters for both Horde and Alliance, and we wanted characters that have a vested interest in challenging Arthas or the Lich King, or defeating him for Sylvanas. Jaina obviously has a history with Prince Arthas. She was his -- I don’t know what you’d call her -- fiancé, girlfriend, betrothed. Sylvanas has a different history, in that he basically stole her body and turned her into a banshee, and she’s dead set on revenge. There’s some passion and emotion behind these two, and the Horde and Alliance are familiar with these characters.

GI: I don’t want you to spoil anything from the story, obviously, since I’m really excited to experience it for myself. But can you reveal whether or not Jaina and Sylvanas’ roles will be changing in the Warcraft universe following their involvement in Icecrown?

AA: I think we’ll see them evolve certainly. Sylvanas is obviously under great scrutiny by the Horde at this point because of the Wrathgate incident. Even despite claims of a coup, there’s still questions amongst the Horde about whether or not she had any responsibility, so she’ll definitely have her hands full in proving her loyalty to the Horde. And Jaina, of course, is ruler of Theramore. With Cataclysm coming into full swing, Kalimdor will be affected to a great degree as you’ve seen, and she’ll have a bigger responsibility as well.

GI: Jeff Kaplan also told us that patch 3.3 will contain Blizzard’s second-ever in-game cinematic. Do you have any hints as to where this moment takes place? Specifically, is it going to be immediately available upon 3.3’s release, or will it be during a part of the raid that’s not open right away?

AA: It’s going to…take some work from the players. It won’t be immediately available. We have gone to some work to make sure that it will be available to everybody at some point, but initially it’s going to take some work.

GI: Another big draw of the Icecrown raid for hardcore players is that they’ll be able to gather parts for Shadowmourne (pictured above), a new legendary weapon in the game. I know this is meant to be a replacement for Frostmourne, since that weapon would technically steal players’ souls, but what’s the story behind Shadowmourne? Where does it come from and what rewards (and risks) does it have for players seeking to use it?

AA: Shadowmourne is a weapon that’s being created or formed by the Ashen Verdict. Specifically, it’s something that High Lord Darion Mograine, leader of the Knights of the Ebon Blade, the Death Knights, has a keen interest in creating. It’s supposed to be the safe Frostmourne. Whereas Frostmourne will *** and curse its user for all eternity, Shadowmourne is supposed to be as powerful but without the drawback. Whether or not that happens, we’ll see.

The second portion of this is that the forces of light have their own powerful super-weapon, the Ashbringer. The Death Knights didn’t have an equivalent to that. That’s really where Shadowmourne came from, the need to hit the Lich King with the dark and the light, the Shadowmourne and the Ashbringer.

With Shadowmourne, you’re going to see a lot of people trying to get it. It will probably be one of our most challenging legendaries to acquire. It requires more skill in gameplay than previous legendaries.

GI: There are also some major quest log changes coming in the patch, such as the ability to look up previously completed quests.

AA: Actually, I’ve heard people talking about that, but that’s not actually something we’re supporting in this patch.

GI: Whoops! Well, there are still some big quest log changes coming, with new quest tracking options and a new look. Why did you feel like now was the right time to retool how the quest log works instead of waiting until Cataclysm’s release?

AA: If you look back at patch 3.2, we had a version of the quest log changes out then. It was supposed to come out then, and we tested it, but we simply weren’t happy with it. Being Blizzard, we iterate on these things. We went back to the drawing board and worked the issues out. We really thought it was important that players get this for Cataclysm because there’s so much change in the world for all the new zones and new content. At the same time, we thought it was important to get it out early so players could experience it and give us feedback as we work on it. Part of our iterative process is to get the stuff out and constantly change it and fix it and make it even better.

So we think that getting it out in patch 3.3 will be important. It’s the holiday season, and there are a lot of people that will be getting the game and also people who just want to re-roll and are using the quest mods that are out right now. We wanted to give them something that could fill that role without the need of those mods. Again, like I said, just working toward Cataclysm, we want to have something in place at launch that’s tested and solid.

GI: You actually brought up something else that I wanted to ask about. I can’t help but notice that some of the quest log changes -- like the ability to see an area where you’re supposed to go for the quest on the map -- definitely reflect some of the stuff done in the popular Quest Helper mod. How much inspiration do you take from mods that end up proving extremely popular in the community? Is that something that you watch out for and try to figure out ways that you can implement it in the game yourselves?

AA: Totally. One of the big things here at Blizzard is that we all play the game. It might sound strange to say, but it’s something that I’ve found unique about this company. We all play the game a lot. We’re very aware and in tune with the way the game plays and the UI mods out there. It’s not just our game, by the way. We play a lot of other games as well. If you look at other MMOs, this is the direction that the genre is headed with quest details being something you don’t fight for and the narrative being something you can enjoy. We don’t want players to struggle with figuring out quest details or where to go. We want to show them what a cool quest it is through actually playing it. We’ll get you to the area, and then you can see for yourself.

GI: The ability to do cross-server looking for group for dungeons seems like a pretty major change to the structure of the game, as it essentially adds in a PvE matchmaking element. When did you decide that this was something that you wanted to add to World of Warcraft?

AA: A long time ago. The technology just wasn’t with us initially. Obviously we’ve been working on this for a while. This isn’t a minor feature by any stretch.

GI: No, it seems like a huge feature to me.

AA: A major game feature. It will change the way the game plays, we’re very well aware of that, and for the better.

GI: It also seems like this could open the door to other potential cross-server capabilities. I know with Battle.net coming, you’ll have the ability to see people on your friends list who might not be playing on the same server as you. Do you think it’s possible that in the future players could form groups for dungeons with friends who aren’t on the same server?

AA: I can’t really comment on that. Nothing’s out of the question. We’re always looking to improve the game, and the Dungeon Finder is one of those features that I’m certain we’ll continue to improve upon going forward as a major feature. So I can’t really comment. It’s entirely possible, but time will tell.

GI: I wanted to clarify this point since I’m personally just not sure: Does the Dungeon Finder only work for five-man dungeons, or does it work for raids as well?

AA: It does work for raids, but it doesn’t work cross-server for raids. So you can utilize the feature on your own server. Again, as time advances, we’ll certainly learn much about functionality and improve on it.

GI: You’ve got a ton of great new PvE content in patch 3.3, but there isn’t much for PvP players. I’m wondering if there’s anything special planned for people who are more into PvP to help tide them over until the expansion?

AA: We have a whole new arena season coming out with patch 3.3, so that’s a huge part of it. With a new arena season comes all-new gear. Of course, we’ll update the Wintergrasp raid, so there’s the new Toravon raid boss as well. That’s not necessarily PvP, mind you, but it will offer some PvP gear. This patch was definitely more focused on PvE. Last patch, 3.2, was our big Isle of Conquest patch for PvP.