During the Blizzard Content Creator Summit, developers Sean McCann and Michael Bybee revealed some insight on World of Warcraft's The War Within expansion, giving more clarity on Delves, new mechanics, and features, as well as a little bit of information on Early Access.
Regarding the release date of The War Within, Production Director Michael Bybee (via WoWHead) sums it up as a shrug, as they want to wait until the Alpha and Beta tests have concluded to give a more realistic date based on the feedback from the testers. The team will do the tests just as they have done in the past; Clear the characters, start the beta, and get the feedback needed to ensure a smooth transition into The War Within.
Early Access has also been a hot topic with the release of The War Within, as some players are worried that those who pay to access the game three days early will have a massive advantage over those who don’t. Bybee mentions that they don’t want the Early Access to feel like a bonus, not a head start to those who don’t purchase the most expensive edition. More so, those who do get early access will be limited to play through story content and level up, but they won't have access to all of the new opportunities to get gear sets.
Heroic Week will also be making a comeback, as Bybee states,
“One of our very, very major goals with allowing this was making sure that it didn't feel like it gave folks an advantage, especially in any power race, etc. So that three day early access will give folks the ability to play through the story content level up, get to max level. but they won't have access to a lot of the mythic zero and other opportunities where they can get sets of gear. So then we'll have a period where we'll actually have access to the Mythic Zero system without the season having gone live and folks will be able to gear up. Then the season will start and then you'll have your heroic week and then you'll actually have the rest of the content unlock.”
Now, the Delves are another new key feature that players seem to be excited about, and according to Sean McCann, there will be 11 levels of the Delves total to complete. Each becoming harder and harder, somewhat like what we saw in Torgast back in Shadowlands. In the Delves, we do get Brann Bronzebeard as a companion to help get through the different tiers and levels, and according to the devs he will be able to get to level 50. This matters because with the new Warband System, Brann will stay level 50 for alternate characters, meaning they have a leg up in the Delves once your main character has gotten Brann to max level or at least close to it.
There are a lot of details shared on The War Within throughout this interview, though we still have no clue about a concrete release date or what exactly to expect from the new crafting system. What we do know is that the Beta signups are now live, meaning testing will begin shortly and give players a shot at jumping in and messing around with the new content firsthand before release.
