The weather in World of Warcraft: Forever is getting a lot colder. Blizzard has officially shown off the new snowstorm effects coming to the game, with a short video set in Dun Morogh that shows the dwarven starting zone getting buried under heavy snow and fog.
The clip went up on the official Warcraft X account last night (October 20th), with a playful warning for players not to get lost on their treks through the zone.
The video starts out calm enough, with light flurries falling outside the gates of Ironforge and around the inn at Kharanos. It does not stay that way for long. As the clip goes on, the snow picks up and the fog thickens until buildings, trees, and torches almost completely disappear into a wall of white, before ending with a character ducking into the shelter of an icy cave.
Matt Heyman Promises Full Whiteout Blizzards
Matt Heyman, the lead environment artist on World of Warcraft and WoW: Forever, shared the video a few hours later and confirmed that the most extreme storms are exactly what they look like.
Heyman also answered a handful of player questions in the replies, which filled in a lot of the details. When a player asked whether the Alterac Mountains could get even worse than what they had already seen, he explained that the storms vary each time. "Alterac also has different snow storm intensities and it is not always guaranteed that it will become a full blizzard. Alterac, Dun Morogh and Winterspring also have different lighting and fog when it snows so visibility will vary depending on where you are and how intense the weather is," Heyman wrote.
He also confirmed which zones players should head to if they want to see the snow for themselves, naming the Alterac Mountains and Winterspring alongside Dun Morogh, and adding that players "might also see some light snow flurries in Loch Modan." For anyone wondering about the small details, Heyman also confirmed that the snow crunches under your feet, so players who are not hearing footsteps should check their sound settings.
No Special Settings Required
One player asked whether certain settings need to be switched on to see the new weather. Heyman said no, and explained that every zone now runs on its own system. "Each zone has its own weather pattern that determines how often you may encounter seeing rain, snow etc. For Forever, I made new weather systems for each zone that make weather changes more common. That being said, depending on what zone youre in at a given moment you may not see it!"
That means players will not be guaranteed a blizzard every time they run through Dun Morogh, but weather changes should be much more frequent than they were in the original game, where snow and rain often felt like rare background effects.
Part Of A Bigger Weather Overhaul
The snowstorms follow last week's weather update in the beta. As we covered in our look at the new lightning storms and pre-rain weather in the WoW Forever beta, Blizzard added fog and clouds that roll in before rain, multiple stages of rainfall, and thunderstorms with lightning that lights up the world using the game's dynamic lighting. Players had already spotted heavier snow in the Alterac Mountains at the time, but Blizzard had not formally shown it off until now.
All of it ties into the plans Blizzard laid out at BlizzCon during its Evolving a Timeless World panel, where the team discussed upgraded fog, lighting, and water across Azeroth. The goal is to give the classic world a more modern feel while keeping the zones and layouts longtime players remember.
Try It Out In Today's Stress Test
The timing works out well for anyone who wants to see the new weather firsthand. The free WoW: Forever server Stress Test is happening today (October 21st), starting at 2:00 PM PDT in North America, and it is open to anyone with a WoW account, with no beta access required. Dun Morogh is one of the starting zones, so dwarf and gnome players have a decent chance of running into some snow early on. Just keep in mind that all characters will be wiped once the test ends.
Are you excited to trek through full whiteout blizzards in WoW: Forever, or would you rather Blizzard keep the weather light so you can actually see where you are going?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.