I dipped out of SoD early on in phase 1, and only returned when I saw Scarlet Crusade stuff being datamined. As such, I’m hardly qualified to speak on what the entirety of the SoD experienced has been like.
What I CAN say is that I’ve been having a blast with it since returning, and Phase 8 has finally convinced me that the idea of “Classic+” actually does sound super exciting after all.
Part of the problem with SoD is simple in the name itself; “Season of Discovery”. That just sounds like a temporary game mode. It was one of the reasons I dipped out shortly after SoD first launched; I didn’t want to invest hundreds of hours into a character I didn’t know what was going to happen to. Even now, there is still no clear indication — nor general consensus — of what’s going to happen next, if anything.
So, here’s what I would do;
Rebrand it as “World of Warcraft: Discovery”, the official Classic+ version of WoW. Preserve all of the existing characters on the existing servers, now locked in Phase 8. Upon announced of “Discovery” (which is no longer “seasonal” but a permanent addition), launch some new fresh servers, starting back at Phase 1. They would see all the same progression through phases as we’ve seen in SoD (plus any balancing changed deemed necessary). Maybe you refine the Glyph system, or give players quests that lead them to new Runes (instead of just having a Rune Broker give them to you).
Phase 8 would eventually launch on these fresh servers, same as usual. Once Phase 9 launches, however, all of the Discovery players and characters (even those from SoD) would be brought together, now finally experiencing new content together.
If you’re like me and just hate the idea of leveling? You just chill out until Phase 9 eventually launches. If you’re down to experience low level raids again, maybe on a new character? Go for it. And for those who never gave SoD a chance in the first place, they now have a perfect jumping-on point to check things out, now with a clearer understand of what this new mode is actually going to be.
It’s a solution I think honors the investment that players have already sank into SoD, while also giving incentive for players who don’t play SoD to give this a try.
Now while I have voiced that I’m not the biggest fan of making “Undead Paladins” (I would just reskin and reflavor their abilities and call them “Death Knights” or maybe “Revenants” trained by Gregory, mechanically identical), there’s no denying that there is a desire for it there. I don’t know I can really say the same about Dwarf Shamans, but whatever, I’m fine with it. That would certainly give players a reason to start all over on the fresh servers.
Now, as for what Phase 9 should be? I think anything that stays on Azeroth and maintains the “classic feel” would be a win. I’d personally love to see Quel’thalas as a max level zone with new content, but there are a million cool ideas you could explore.
This is just what I feel like would be the most elegant solution to continue adding more content, while also making a marketing push to bring new folks into our community.