As more and more news pours out from interviews about World of Warcraft's upcoming expansion, Dragonflight, Blizzard themselves had some news of their own. Holly Longdale has announced that she is taking over the role of Executive Producer on World of Warcraft.
The news was shared via Twitter yesterday, with Longdale herself tweeting out that it is an "honor to work" with the team at Blizzard on these games.
"I'm beyond excited to take on the role of Executive Producer of [World of Warcraft]. It's an honor to work with this team and these games. My heart is full! Cheers to the future we will continue to build together -- both players and the teams!"
It'll be interesting to see how this changes the course of WoW, but the response from current Blizzard staff has been pretty positive. This also doesn't mean a change with the Game Director role as Ion Hazzikostas will still be acting in that role for WoW. Mike Ybarra, the current President of Blizzard Entertainment also congratulated Longdale via Twitter.
Very happy to have Holly Longdale, @TheWindstalker, as the new Executive Producer of World of Warcraft. I know she will lead our team, our game, and our players incredibly well. Congrats! ?? https://t.co/XMChNEzOCr
— Mike Ybarra (@Qwik) April 28, 2022
So excited to see my partner in crime take the top seat on WoW!Holly, you’ve been such a supportive and empowering person. You really know how to inspire, guide, and bring out the best in people.I also deeply value your honesty and transparency.You’re gonna be amazing!??????
— Brian Birmingham?? (@BrianBirming) April 29, 2022
I still can't believe it. You've been a very impactful person on not just the team, but in general in even my own life. I'm so happy for you and grateful that you've been so kind and caring about the women around you. You're going to be an AMAZING EP <3
— ?? Morgan K. ?? (@Artemishowl_) April 28, 2022
In related news, as more information starts to trickle out about World of Warcraft Dragonflight, one theme that has been consistent with WoW devs has been lifting restrictions on how and with whom players can enjoy the MMO. While cross-faction play will be coming, another major change is lifting race restrictions on some of the classes in the MMORPG.
In an interview from MrGM (via MMO-Champion) with lead combat designer Brian Holinka, the half- hour or so conversation talks about the talent tree changes, the upcoming Evoker class, as well as the idea that race shouldn't be a limiting factor on the class you can play. As such, Holinka states that with 10.0, the Rogue, Priest and Mage will be available for all classes to play, while other classes will take more time as more forms and animations need to be added to flesh it out. Additionally, if a class has more of a lore adherence, it will need more time to set up the change in-universe.
You can check out the full interview in the embed below.
