Summary
- Plunderstorm, inspired by popular battle royale games, is a substantial change to WoW's PvP experience.
- Plunderstorm has an expiration date set for the end of April, leaving players with only a few more weeks to enjoy it.
After months of speculation and rumors, Blizzard surprised everyone when it revealed that World of Warcraft's mysterious 10.2.7 patch would introduce a whole new mode to the game. Inspired by popular titles such as Fortnite, Plunderstorm brought the battle royale genre to Azeroth for the very first time. Not only was it unlike anything fans had seen before, but it was also one of the most substantial changes to PvP in years. However, it sounds like it will not be a part of World of Warcraft forever.
As of now, World of Warcraft's Plunderstorm mode has an expiration date set for the end of April. While it is unclear if this mode will ever show up again, it currently seems like players will only have a couple more weeks to enjoy it before it goes away forever. And even though Blizzard likely has plans for new content to take its place, Plunderstorm does not deserve to be killed off like this.
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WoW's Plunderstorm Should Have a Future Within Azeroth
Plunderstorm is the First of Its Kind
The main focus of World of Warcraft has always been on delivering a massive MMO that spans all of Azeroth. With each expansion, that world has grown considerably with new stories, characters, lands, and mechanics to engage with. Alongside that, Blizzard has started exploring WoW's past through the World of Warcraft Classic line. But with the release of 10.2.7, it feels like the studio may be shaking things up a bit.
Plunderstorm is unlike anything World of Warcraft has added since its inception. Separate from the main game mode, this battle royale mode completely changes the entire experience. Players are thrown into Arathi Highlands with nothing and must fight their way through it against hordes of enemies and other players using a whole new control layout. As they fight, they will level up and collect exciting abilities that they can use against their opponents. And with each match, they earn Plunder that fills a brand-new renown filled with exclusive items to collect.
The Game Mode Needs to Remain a Core Staple of WoW
This has proven to be a very popular mode with players, especially since it serves as a great way to tie them over until the launch of Dragonflight Season 4. While it will fulfill that purpose, it sounds like it will not live on past that. The developers have said that it only exists as a six-week limited event, with no news about when it will appear again.
Additionally, there is a strong chance that these renowned rewards will also vanish with the removal of the mode, locking players away from some fun pirate-themed cosmetics.
On top of that, Plunderstorm might be one of the biggest new additions to World of Warcraft PvP in years. For the longest time, the PvP community has been asking for some exciting additions to the mode. So, Blizzard has finally given them something in the form of this Battle Royale. Yet now it plans to completely remove it from the game after players have fallen in love with it.
There is seemingly no obvious reason why this mode needs to go away with the start of a new season. Even if Blizzard does not actively update it, players should still be able to mess around with the battle royale Plunderstorm mode whenever they want. It could be the perfect thing to break up raid or dungeon runs and keeping it in the game would also let players work towards the renown rewards at their own pace. Plus, if the studio did want to spend the time updating it, all it would really need is a few more cosmetics to give players a reason to keep coming back for more.
Even if Plunderstorm goes away, this addition was likely a test for future World of Warcraft game modes. Whatever form they will take, the potential alone sounds very exciting. And while it does not seem like Blizzard will change its mind about removing this battle royale mode, it will hopefully come back at some point in the future.
World of Warcraft is an incredibly successful MMORPG that has been going strong for almost two decades. It's one of the highest-grossing franchises in history and is widely considered the most popular MMORPG ever made.
