Friday, November 3rd 2023

Blizzard Announces World of Warcraft: The War Within Expansion

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Nov 3rd, 2023 16:29 Discuss (49 Comments)

Today at BlizzCon 2023, Blizzard Entertainment announced The Worldsoul Saga, featuring three upcoming expansions for the critically acclaimed massively multiplayer online game World of Warcraft. Players will begin their adventure deep beneath the surface in the World of Warcraft: The War Within expansion, slated for release in 2024. World of Warcraft: Midnight and World of Warcraft: The Last Titan will round out a three-part saga that calls players home to save Azeroth.

"Beginning with The War Within, The Worldsoul Saga is grown from the seeds of what captured the hearts of players around the world when they first set foot in Azeroth," said World of Warcraft executive producer Holly Longdale. "For veteran players, the last 20 years have led to this, and for those who have never set foot in Azeroth, this is a whole new adventure."

"The War Within, Midnight, and The Last Titan encompass one of the most ambitious creative endeavors ever attempted for World of Warcraft, designed as standalone narratives that feed into an overall story arc," said Warcraft general manager John Hight. "Alongside these epic adventures, the ongoing quality-of-life feature updates players have come to expect from us since Dragonflight will continue in The War Within, further setting us up for the next 20 years and beyond,"

"As we begin a new era at Blizzard Entertainment, I am inspired by the World of Warcraft teams' passion for players and their expansive vision for the future of their storytelling," said president of Blizzard Entertainment Mike Ybarra. "The legacy of World of Warcraft spans generations, and the beginning of The Worldsoul Saga is the perfect time for anyone who has memories of this legendary universe to celebrate, rediscover, and come home to Azeroth."

The War Within begins with an ancient civilization rising to power deep beneath the surface of the planet, as heroes of both the Alliance and Horde alike are bombarded with visions—some are of the Light, while others see an alternate, darker fate.

World of Warcraft: The War Within Features
While players embark on the first chapter of The Worldsoul Saga and journey to a new level cap of 80, they will encounter new zones, dungeons, and raids, and more:

Explore the new continent of Khaz Algar: Off the western shores of Kalimdor lies The Isle of Dorn, a new hub for both the Horde and Alliance. Begin to explore what dwells beneath the surface in the lava-fuelled forge of The Ringing Deeps, the lush Hallowfall, and the pinnacle of Nerubian society, Azj-Kahet.
New Playable Allied Race - the Earthen: Players will meet and unlock this Titan-forged race who have made Khaz Algar their home, with their own unique civilization and culture.
Expand your Warcraft fantasy with Hero Talents: A new level of class specialization customization, Hero Talents are modelled after well-known archetypes from the Warcraft universe, including Dark Ranger, Farseer, and more.
Delves: New bite-size adventures seamlessly integrated into the world, which flexibly scale to support 1-5 players, and offer meaningful progression.
Warbands: A quality-of-life feature for players with multiple characters, Warbands allow banks, reputations, transmogs, and more to be shared across all player characters.

Pre-purchase Options
World of Warcraft: The War Within is available for digital pre-purchase today on the Battle.net shop:

The War Within: Base Edition - $49.99 USD
- Pre-purchase of World of Warcraft: The War Within
- Access to World of Warcraft: Dragonflight
- Enhanced Level 70 character boost, allowing players to jump immediately into the upcoming content update for Dragonflight, Guardians of the Dream.
- 500 Trader's Tender
The War Within: Heroic Edition - $69.99 USD
- All Base Edition features
- Algarian Stormrider mount and access to special dynamic-flying racecourses
- Upgradable Stormrider's Attire transmog set
- An additional 250 Trader's Tender, for a total of 750
The War Within: Epic Edition - $89.99 USD
- All Base and Heroic Edition features
- Beta access to World of Warcraft: The War Within
- Early access, minimum of three days before the expansion's launch
- Squally the Storm Hatchling pet
- Sandbox Storm Gryphon toy
- An additional 250 Trader's Tender, for a total of 1,000
- 30-day subscription time

For more information about The War Within, tune into the World of Warcraft What's Next and Deep Dive panels at BlizzCon 2023, available on the BlizzCon website. An active subscription is required to play World of Warcraft. For more information on World of Warcraft: The War Within, visit the World of Warcraft website. Assets are available on the Blizzard Press Center. World of Warcraft: The War Within will launch on or before December 31, 2024.

Source: Blizzard

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49 Comments on Blizzard Announces World of Warcraft: The War Within Expansion

#26

izy

EasoWoW is anything but single threaded, hasn't been for a long time. It is, however, CPU-bound more than GPU, that hasn't changed.

As for the graphics people love to talk about - it's style, not how many pixels there are. As far as I am concerned latest xpacs have greatly upped the fidelity, new tech has been added (the game with engine roots back in 1999 has Ray Tracing, what else do you want?!) and it still has the same style - which is great. Do we really need yet another Unreal Engine MMO who mostly look the same?

Because most of them are just the same, as I said above. It's the curse of MMORPG's in general, mostly, heh, thanks to WoW itself - 19 years later there still is no "WoW killer" - all killers have died/moved to background (hello SWTOR). Very few original and unique ones - think FFXIV, who can at least boast some player numbers.

Its single threaded man , i mean its using some other threads but for minor things, thats it, all the hard work is only done by 1 core (the fps limiting factor, single core IPC/frequency), on my CPU it just jumps from core 4 to core 5 and back sometimes but using only one at a time.

#27

FoulOnWhite

On mine I am getting 140fps+ I don't think WoW is that hard to run, it never seemed to be, even if it is single threaded.

#28

izy

FoulOnWhiteOn mine I am getting 140fps+ I don't think WoW is that hard to run, it never seemed to be, even if it is single threaded.

Depends on the CPU , if you run x3d CPUs or last generation from Intel the fps is ok in most cases, it still drops under 60 fps in big raids or in places with many players, go in Ashran and see :)

#29

FoulOnWhite

izyDepends on the CPU , if you run x3d CPUs or last generation from Intel the fps is ok in most cases, it still drops under 60 fps in big raids or in places with many players, go in Ashran and see :)

I think my setup is pretty good, and i'm sure the 12700k is more than enough for this game. Was in org with i guess around a hundred people and it hardly effected the frame rate at all.

Here's my PC running WoW in org. look at CPU % for cores

#30

lexluthermiester

EasoWoW is anything but single threaded, hasn't been for a long time.

Was it ever? AFAIK, WOW has always been at least dual-threaded, if not more.

FoulOnWhiteI started a rogue on horde classic, and i see so many new charcters around. Went to orgrimmar and it is packed with a LOT of high level players. Not sure how much of an indication of player numbers it is, but it sure seems popular.

My server is packed, if other servers are the same, i cannot see WoW going anywhere.

Yeah, these are the things that surprise me. Just didn't think it would last this long..

#31

EatingDirt

EasoBecause most of them are just the same, as I said above. It's the curse of MMORPG's in general, mostly, heh, thanks to WoW itself - 19 years later there still is no "WoW killer" - all killers have died/moved to background (hello SWTOR). Very few original and unique ones - think FFXIV, who can at least boast some player numbers.

If all MMO's are "the same", why pay $10-15 monthly to play WoW casually, when you can just... not pay money and jump into the free ones at a whim to scratch the same itch WoW is giving? In my experience, most people that play WoW aren't looking for a radically different MMO, which is why they continue to play WoW.

And if you are looking for radically different MMO's? Guild Wars 2 & Black Desert Online are both radically different from WoW.

I just struggle to see the point of sticking with WoW if you play it casually and don't do the raiding(which is what the user I responded to does). Raiding is basically the only thing WoW does better than all the rest of the other MMO's.

#32

chrcoluk

Does this have subscription fee's on top of this base price?

Is crazy how so many gamers just allow these business models to thrive.

#33

lexluthermiester

chrcolukDoes this have subscription fee's on top of this base price?

As it always has, yes.

chrcolukIs crazy how so many gamers just allow these business models to thrive.

Right?

#34

FoulOnWhite

EatingDirtIf all MMO's are "the same", why pay $10-15 monthly to play WoW casually, when you can just... not pay money and jump into the free ones at a whim to scratch the same itch WoW is giving? In my experience, most people that play WoW aren't looking for a radically different MMO, which is why they continue to play WoW.

And if you are looking for radically different MMO's? Guild Wars 2 & Black Desert Online are both radically different from WoW.

I just struggle to see the point of sticking with WoW if you play it casually and don't do the raiding(which is what the user I responded to does). Raiding is basically the only thing WoW does better than all the rest of the other MMO's.

Because they are not WoW. I don't understand the problem. I like playing WoW however i like playing it, have tried others and not keen on them, i don't mind paying the sub, as don't the tens of people i see on my server, including a LOT that have very good end game gear which must have take a long time to get.

lexluthermiesterAs it always has, yes.

Right?

You can pay the sub and download and play classic with no other cost involved apart from the sub. Retail WoW is different, you have to buy the game and all the new content upto as far as you want to go, that is kind of why i don't bother with retail any more. Think i go upto lvl 80 ish, maybe higher then switched to classic when it came out.

#35

NC37

TheLostSwedeI don't get how people are still playing this.
At one point over 15 years ago I was pretty in to WoW (ok, really into it, playing in one of the biggest clans on the server in question), but it seems like Blizzard is mainly milking people at this point when they sell an expansion and it doesn't even come with any play time unless you pay $90...

Funny still is they are launching Cataclysm classic. Which is nuts because that was the expansion which killed WoW for a lot of the vets, myself included. By the time they fixed all the problems with endgame, I just couldn't be bothered to go back. Nothing they have done has brought me back outside of the Classic release but that only lasted till the low 50s when remembered why WoW sucked from 50-60. Near impossible to find groups because no one wants you unless you are 60 regardless of what the dungeons were rated for.

Effectively retired from MMOs with my last being SWTOR until Bioware/EA killed it by doing everything Cataclysm did to kill WoW. Strange how I can go around saying I've retired from a game genre but, it's so true. Nothing has excited because they all follow the same formulas of failure that Blizzard started.

#36

KrazedOmega

"Why do people enjoy the thing that I don't?"

That sums up a lot of the replies here.

I've played WoW off and on since 2005. I spent three years in a raiding guild through Vanilla and TBC. The rest of my time was playing solo. I've never had a problem with it.

Over the years I've tried a few MMOs. I was in the betas for STO/SWTOR/ESO and also played them after launch. I spent time in Earth & Beyond, EVE Online, and WildStar. None of them compare to how I feel about WoW.

I wish the monthly cost was a bit lower for WoW ($21 CAD is a bit much) but there is a way to play it using in game gold if you grind enough. The F2P games always have a catch that makes them annoying to play without a subscription.

#37

Easo

EatingDirtIf all MMO's are "the same", why pay $10-15 monthly to play WoW casually, when you can just... not pay money and jump into the free ones at a whim to scratch the same itch WoW is giving? In my experience, most people that play WoW aren't looking for a radically different MMO, which is why they continue to play WoW.

And if you are looking for radically different MMO's? Guild Wars 2 & Black Desert Online are both radically different from WoW.

I just struggle to see the point of sticking with WoW if you play it casually and don't do the raiding(which is what the user I responded to does). Raiding is basically the only thing WoW does better than all the rest of the other MMO's.

I did not say they are the same as WoW, I said they are the same (especially Asian ones, but that has always been the case). Very few unique ones that stand out (or stood, but are dead now).
Plus free ones mostly means cash shop of the not so "good" kind. Oh, right, and 19 years of content - every newcomer has to contend with that, which is a mountainous task.

lexluthermiesterWas it ever? AFAIK, WOW has always been at least dual-threaded, if not more.

It came out in 2004, yes, it was. But pretty sure dual-core support was put in... with BC?

izyIts single threaded man , i mean its using some other threads but for minor things, thats it, all the hard work is only done by 1 core (the fps limiting factor, single core IPC/frequency), on my CPU it just jumps from core 4 to core 5 and back sometimes but using only one at a time.

Pretty sure it uses all my cores. One core doing more work does not make it single-threaded.

#38

izy

EasoI did not say they are the same as WoW, I said they are the same (especially Asian ones, but that has always been the case). Very few unique ones that stand out (or stood, but are dead now).
Plus free ones mostly means cash shop of the not so "good" kind. Oh, right, and 19 years of content - every newcomer has to contend with that, which is a mountainous task.

It came out in 2004, yes, it was. But pretty sure dual-core support was put in... with BC?

Pretty sure it uses all my cores. One core doing more work does not make it single-threaded.

Put simply, multithreading is hard, and game logic is inherently single threaded. For example, let's say you use a skill - the game has to check to see what skill was used, then perform the skill, then update the result of the skill (buff a character, deal damage, apply a debuff etc). Multiple processors with multiple threads allows a game to do stuff in parallel, but none of the above example can be done in parallel, because each step in the sequence must wait for the previous step to finish. MOST game logic is like this, where there's basically just a big main loop where all of the game state is calculated step by step, and then when it's done it just starts right back in again at the top updating the game state again.
I didnt say that its single-threaded , what i meant is that the FPS is limited by a single core performance if you have enough cores (most of the people have nowdays), the performance scales to about 6 cores but in the way that having less cores the game overloads the main core not because of its multicore performance, only one core its going to be used to max while the rest will be used to 10-20% doing side jobs.
You can test it yourself , on a 8 core/16 threads CPU you will see that only one thread will boost to max and the others will sit at base speed with a load of 10-20%.

#39

lexluthermiester

EasoIt came out in 2004, yes, it was. But pretty sure dual-core support was put in... with BC?

Ok cool. I couldn't remember...

#40

Guwapo77

Prima.VeraThe engine is long due for a overhaul. Looking way to outdated is a gross understatement. Just looks at the cinematics compared to the gameplay....lol
Same with SWTOR and LOTRO. And STO too. Already excessive bloatware on the interface taking more than half of the viewscreen, cartel markets, retarded side quests, useless and boring grinding, etc , etc.
You would think that after 20 years, somebody would come with something better and not that boring anymore. sight...

What is the difference actually? The main ones?

They have been making some insane updates to the original engine since its initial launch. I'm not gonna lie, I talk with a couple guildies about this very thing from time to time...this mofo needs an update badly. We have gotten into extensive debates trying to figure out if they can do an entirely new engine and port over player history or if that is basically impossible. There is so much freaking content and millions of players that played over the years saved on their servers. Maybe they need to hire Wendell from Level1Tech to make the magic happen, it worked for Steve Burke at GamersNexus. /shrug

#41

FoulOnWhite

Here is just an indication of my server, this is horde only, and i have seen it a lot busier. I don't know how many there are on the alliance side of course. This is pretty quiet as i have seen it 4 times busier.

Looks and runs great on UW btw

#42

Aretak

FoulOnWhiteI think my setup is pretty good, and i'm sure the 12700k is more than enough for this game. Was in org with i guess around a hundred people and it hardly effected the frame rate at all.

Orgrimmar is an extremely light area, even when it's packed with players. Try visiting the plaza outside the auction house in Valdrakken during peak hours with maxed settings. It will bring your 12700K to its knees. So will places like Ashran with a full 40 v 40 clash in the center road or any recent world boss with a full raid or two working on it. WoW's system requirements swing wildly depending on where you are and what you're doing. A toaster can handle the old world just fine, whereas many zones from Legion onwards (Suramar being the first real bad one) can make any system look like a toaster.

#43

izy

FoulOnWhiteHere is just an indication of my server, this is horde only, and i have seen it a lot busier. I don't know how many there are on the alliance side of course. This is pretty quiet as i have seen it 4 times busier.

Looks and runs great on UW btw

Are you on Classic or Retail? Classic has better performance than retail, you should check the FPS in Valdrakken when its crowded, my fps drops to even 40-50 fps there at peak hours while when im in less crowed zones / 10 - 15 player battlegrounds i have 140+ fps excluding Ashran , there i have drops to 25-30 fps when everybody fights in the middle.

#44

Harthad

He's on LK Classic, check the LFG looking for ICC runs.
Here's me at Valdrakken doing 100% on only one core at a 100 fps. My server however isn't heavily populated so there's that too

#45

FoulOnWhite

HarthadHe's on LK Classic, check the LFG looking for ICC runs.
Here's me at Valdrakken doing 100% on only one core at a 100 fps. My server however isn't heavily populated so there's that too

No idea where Valdrakken is, if it's not classic idk. I don't really play retail WoW any more as i cba to keep buying expansions at £60 a pop. I do have retail but not played it for ages and i don't have it installed so not sure on my toons lvls.

izyAre you on Classic or Retail? Classic has better performance than retail, you should check the FPS in Valdrakken when its crowded, my fps drops to even 40-50 fps there at peak hours while when im in less crowed zones / 10 - 15 player battlegrounds i have 140+ fps excluding Ashran , there i have drops to 25-30 fps when everybody fights in the middle.

Maybe fill your specs in so we can see what you are running it on as a comparison to mine.

#46

izy

HarthadHe's on LK Classic, check the LFG looking for ICC runs.
Here's me at Valdrakken doing 100% on only one core at a 100 fps. My server however isn't heavily populated so there's that too

When is this low populated later at night im getting 100fps+ too but around this hour in the same place i get 50 -60fps, im on Sylvanas. Nice latency you have 12 ms, im at 35 ms :) What CPU are you using? x3D CPUs are amazing for WOW :)

FoulOnWhiteNo idea where Valdrakken is, if it's not classic idk. I don't really play retail WoW any more as i cba to keep buying expansions at £60 a pop. I do have retail but not played it for ages and i don't have it installed so not sure on my toons lvls.

Maybe fill your specs in so we can see what you are running it on as a comparison to mine.

Valdrakken is the main city on retail, you can see the picture with my specs from hwinfo few posts up.

#47

Guwapo77

HarthadHe's on LK Classic, check the LFG looking for ICC runs.
Here's me at Valdrakken doing 100% on only one core at a 100 fps. My server however isn't heavily populated so there's that too

Running the ElvUi? I have a true love hate relationship with it. I had to dump it as updates didn't come out fast enough and I had to raid. That was a painful night, let me tell ya.

#48

Harthad

No I made my own stuff
bartender/shadow unit frames/some other stuff/some resto druid specific weakauras
I keep it simple
tbh their last UI rework almost made toss all my addons away, what they did with it is really good

#49

FoulOnWhite

HarthadNo I made my own stuff
bartender/shadow unit frames/some other stuff/some resto druid specific weakauras
I keep it simple
tbh their last UI rework almost made toss all my addons away, what they did with it is really good

Had a look at retil wow today, i really like the new UI.

The servers i am on are-
Classic
Pyrewood village/normal
Mograine/PVP
Retail
Doomhammer/normal
Defias brotherhood/RP

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Blizzard Announces World of Warcraft: The War Within Expansion

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