Here's what you can do in the World of Warcraft Classic demo
Nozdormu effect.
Blizzard has detailed the World of Warcraft Classic demo you can play at BlizzCon or, if you buy a BlizzCon virtual ticket, play at home.
In a post on Battle.net, Blizzard said the focus with the demo, which is a version of the famous MMO as it existed circa 2005 / 2006, is on outside questing. It includes two zones old-school WOW players will be familiar with: Barrens for the Horde and Westfall for the Alliance.
"You'll be able to search for Mankrik's wife, curse at Ornery Plainstriders for not having beaks, and make a group to kill Defias Pillagers in Moonbrook," Blizzard said.
"You might even get to improvise a new rotation against the Harvest Golems in Farmer Saldean's farm, since in this era, mechanical creatures may be immune to some of your abilities. We brought all of that back, and we're as excited about it as you are."
There are some aspects of vanilla WOW that won't be live in the demo, however. The Deadmines and Wailing Caverns dungeons, which were a part of the two zones included, will not be available. And the only PvP will be dueling. (You can't visit zones other than Westfall and the Barrens.)
What's particularly interesting is the demo will have a time limit on it. This makes sense for the demo available at BlizzCon, as there will be thousands of attendees hoping to play. But the demo people play at home will also have a time limit, Blizzard said.
Thankfully, you'll be able to log back on after playing for a certain amount of time and your character will be there waiting for you, all progress saved. So it sounds like more of an annoyance than a hindrance.
You start the demo at level 15, Blizzard explained, to give players some freedom to explore and experiment with core systems that will be unlocked by that point.
"While we know that starting at level 1 holds a lot of nostalgia, you're also limited in what you can do when you're first starting out," Blizzard said.
"We also wanted you to be able to get a good sense of the original class played. At Level 15, warriors have Defensive Stance, priests have Psychic Scream, hunters have their pet, and so on - so at this level you really start to feel like your class has some of the key tools that make the class distinct."
Of note: all characters are capped at level 19, but you can create multiple characters.
You can download the WOW Classic demo through the Battle.net desktop app and use Battle.net chat integration in-game, which is nice. There's support for widescreen monitors, and reporting tools in the modern game will make an appearance.
The WOW classic demo goes live around 8pm UK time on 2nd November for virtual ticket owners. A virtual ticket costs £34.99. The demo ends at 5pm UK time, 8th November.