World of Warcraft: Shadowlands dev talks customization, talents, & class identity

World of Warcraft Production Director Patrick Dawson recently took the time to speak with us about the new in-depth customization, classes, and more coming to Shadowlands.

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World of Warcraft: Shadowlands is the eighth major expansion to the popular MMO. One might be inclined to wonder just how much it can change after so many years and so many countless hours poured into the game, but Shadowlands is looking promising to say the least. The expansion will feature a new story with Sylvanas and the land of the dead, new raids, and more, but if you’re wondering how you’ll be able to change your character looks and how you play, we recently got the chance to talk with WoW Production Director Patrick Dawson about just that.

In a lengthy 15 minute interview, Patrick Dawson took the time to speak with us about the extensive customization, talent, level, and other revamped systems coming to World of Warcraft: Shadowlands. World of Warcraft's player customization features are getting a major revamp to allow players to make their WoW character more personalized than ever.

“This has been one of the best received features we’ve ever done for World of Warcraft,” Dawson told us. “Whether you’re a Dwarf looking to get additional tattoos or a human actually looking to represent yourself in the game, it’s really spoken to our community quite a bit and I’m really proud of it.”

We also had the chance to talk to Dawson about the changes and effects on World of Warcraft since the COVID-19 pandemic forced a lot of the game industry into a standstill or delayed state. Dawson shared that though the World of Warcraft team wasn’t initially prepared for it, they’ve adapted well through a tough situation.

“It has been a challenge, not going to lie. We weren’t set up for this… but I also know there’s so many people out there that are in way worse situations than we are,” Dawson continued. “We’ve actually been able to gain tremendous efficiency based on the response this team has had. The individuals on the World of Warcraft team are heroes, and I’ve been impressed remarkably with how well they’ve been able to deliver an alpha since [the pandemic began], shipped a Classic patch since then, we’ve made improvements to Battle for Azeroth since then, and now the beta is just around the corner.”

For more on talents and classes in World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, check out the full interview above. Want to see more? Follow our full Shadowlands coverage and also subscribe to Shacknews and GamerHubTV on YouTube and check out new videos about all the games and more.

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.

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