Blizzard explains why WoW: Forever won't have Summoning Stones, says 'easy quick access to teleports shrink the world' and 'easily erodes' its core design pillars

Blizzard Entertainment has revealed the reasoning behind World of Warcraft: Forever's absence of Summoning Stones. In an interview with TechRadar Gaming, the WoW: Forever team discussed the controversial introduction of the Skyborne race and shared their design philosophy for crafting an authentic Classic Plus experience. This philosophy is built upon four core design pillars: Nurture and Protect Social Experiences, Approachable and Familiar, World as the Main Character, and Journey before destination.

Summoning Stones, also known as Meeting Stones among players, were not present in vanilla WoW but were a convenient addition to retail WoW. They allowed players to teleport friends to raid or dungeon entrances. However, Blizzard decided against including them in World of Warcraft: Forever for several reasons. The company believes that easy, quick access to teleports would shrink the game's world, which conflicts with two of its four core design pillars: Nurture and Protect Social Experiences, and World as the Main Character.

Blizzard emphasized that ensuring any change adheres to these pillars is crucial. They noted that introducing convenience changes can easily erode these pillars. Summoning Stones, therefore, failed to meet the standards set by the team. The WoW: Forever team stated that they have 22 years of data on how quality-of-life or convenience changes affect the social fabric of the game.

Nevertheless, they are taking a different path for WoW: Forever, meaning all updates will be well-informed by their experience and regulated by their established pillars.