It's been the most successful WOW launch since 2019. Season of Mastery 2 broke all the player records and was met with extremely positive feedback. Blizzard even avoided some of the biggest traps that would have spiraled the game into nothingness. Players are playing more and they're feeling heard by the devs for the first time. So, what caused the launch to go so well?

What Blizzard Needs To Change?

Let's review what Blizzard actually needs to do to make this successful launch a dream come true.

For SoM 2 to have staying power poisonous to learn the WotLK Classic launches are the key to success. WotLK Classic more than any other game really requires people to plan to take time off work to strategize around getting to 60.

Instead of just stealth dropping Zomb 2, there really has to be careful planning the betas, the name reservations, the trailers. And Obviously, my dream involves getting Henry Cavill for a trailer maybe 10 million views minimum. And so hopefully, Blizzard plans a lot better this time around.

But they also need to realize that their server setup just doesn't make sense in WotLK Classic. Private servers really figured this out and they only had one or two servers and everybody had a sense of community.

Despite the cost, we really need Blizzard to invest a new code new architecture to make this a reality. By just having a few servers, Blizzard can really bring back that private server feel where everybody knows everybody and there's just such a sense of community. It's just not the same being separated by servers.

How To Improve Core Gameplay?

And while the players hopefully rush back in, they'll stick around a lot longer if the leveling is more fun for everybody.

At this point, updating things like the enemy, AI and the Pathing could really make the game feel fresh and yet familiar at the same time. I can really imagine the excitement of seeing a mob like Stitches in Westfall for the first time. This is also a really good time to rebalance the quest XP. We should be rewarding players for pushing their limits and trying new things.

Another new thing Blizzard could do is to go back to the Titan Rune Mode from Wrath (World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King). I really dream of the day when Blizzard goes back into WotLK Classic and makes Heroic Versions of my favorite dungeons, like deadmines. And it'd be really cool to be able to get extra rewards and XP while you're leveling with maybe a one day lockout.

It's Time To Support The Community

At the same time, I really hope that Blizzard learned from the success of community-run events like Road To Ragnaros because you guys think about how cool it'd be if Blizzard decided to sponsor a Leveling Tournament at launch or maybe a hardcore deathless Ragnaros race between Alliance and Horde with a big cash prize.

Of course, Blizzard could host all these deathless hardcore events on a brand new Diablo-style hardcore server where death is permanent. And if Blizzard implements those hardcore servers, maybe they finally remember the original core design of WoW.

The original designers of WoW thought the game was everything to everybody and that means everybody even the portion of the community back in 2019 that loved to increase their damage with World Buffs. Blizzard should just re-implement World Buffs and just change them a bit like making Sunflower no longer dispellable.

Ranking System Changes

This is really the right time for Blizzard to finally change the ranking system.

While ranking was obviously a rite of passage back in WotLK Classic, the system is just so punishing and outdated at this point. I think Blizzard should change the honor system, so it's more rewarding for open world PVP. They could also do this by incentivizing city raids and defense at the same time. And they should really gate the rewards above Rank Ten until AQ40, so people don't feel forced to compete.

Classic+ Features

In Season of Mastery 2, Blizzard needs to really build upon what they've done in Season One. Of course, there need to be multiple difficulty levels of raid bosses with extra loot. Zones like Azshara can finally get fleshed out with new quests, new dungeons and raids.

Blizzard should dip their toes in the Vanilla glass balancing for the first time. The SoM 2 is the best time to rebalance weaker classes to be more relevant in raids and PvP.

Related: WOTLK Classic Phase 3: A Complete Guide On Crusader Orb

But the most important thing Blizzard should do is to finally listen to the playerbase. They should be pulling your ideas publicly and actually implementing them.

Ultimately, Classic is everything to everybody and we all need a voice. And while Blizzard works to make SoM to a success, they really shouldn't abandon Wrath and you shouldn't either.

Hopefully, you'll still have time to farm enough WotLK Classic Gold before Phase 3 launches.