Why SoD’s New Classes Complicated the Leveling Journey
This is a March 2024 design discussion, before Phase 3—not a current leveling or crafting announcement. Josh “Aggrend” Greenfield discussed the tension between encouraging players to try more characters and preserving Vanilla’s slower leveling journey.
In the developer replies reproduced by Rokman in Wowhead’s March 18 report, Greenfield noted how the phased brackets emphasized the slowdown between levels 25–40 compared with 1–25. He described it as a design problem to learn from, without presenting a complete solution.
Separate the Player’s Question from the Developer’s Answer
The suggestion that Blizzard had captured something special and should keep building on SoD came from a player asking a question. It was not Greenfield announcing the next seasonal project.
His answer left future plans open. He emphasized adapting to feedback, expressed interest in further experiments and valued Era and Hardcore for preserving the original leveling experience. That is a discussion of development priorities, rather than a named successor or release schedule.
Where to Find the Actual Progression Rules
These remarks do not specify an XP multiplier, profession trainer requirement or new crafting recipe. For those practical questions, use the rules and dates attached to the relevant phase:
- Phase 3 leveling changes separates the original XP bonuses from the later May adjustment.
- SoD Artisan trainers and unlock quests covers locations, training thresholds and the secondary-profession quest steps.
Read this interview history to understand the design tradeoff; use the linked guides when deciding where to travel or which progression requirement to complete.
