"Whereas before we were approaching WOTLK Gold most of our decisions using character to determine the starting point, and occasionally making that were account-wide unlocks, in the context of cosmetics or achievements and such I'm thinking that more often we are asking the question about every reward, every bit of content: is it something that can be sustained over multiple playthroughs?" said the game's creator. "Is this something that will feel significantly different on a distinct character?"

For the reason why some of the changes , such as being able to switch across Covenants and the removal of Conduit Energy was delayed despite being heavily criticized by many of the fans, Hazzikostas said it came back to wanting players to have semi-permanent options like the World of Warcraft Classic talent trees. He acknowledges that the changes to the systems should be more swift, but there were positives for more permanent choices became shorter when players started feeling more and more restricted by Shadowlands' systems during the time following the launch of the expansion.

"It's the pattern we've learned to believe in and have become accustomed to thinking in," he said. "Working at World of Warcraft this long could lead to what appears to be stubbornness from the outside. I'm aware of that, and recognize that this can be frustrating. It's taken us a while to realize that we need to acknowledge that when we set up the conditions for friction, players will be able seek a way to get around it. In essence, friction isn't enjoyable, it's an buy WOW WOTLK Classic Gold issue that is annoying and slowing you down, why do we keep doing it? Let's let people go from something they enjoy and enjoy, without obstacles.'"