WoW Forever storage and loot: a bank of around 96 slots, a reagent bag, and item stats hidden until they drop

Bag space was a constant headache in 2004. WoW Forever does not solve it completely, but it helps in three ways, and it also changes how you will find out what loot is worth having. The details come from two BlizzCon interviews: senior game designer Josh Greenfield with MMORPG.com, and lead game designer Tim Jones with Game Informer.

A much bigger bank

Greenfield was not sure of the exact number. He said the default bank is two or four times larger than before, probably about 96 slots. Either way, it is a big jump before you buy a single bank bag slot.

What stays the same:

• bags start at their original sizes. Blizzard will not raise inventory space much until players need it;
• Greenfield said the team has a few storage system ideas for later, but nothing is announced for launch.

What else frees up space:

• a fifth bag slot for a reagent bag, which holds reagents and crafting materials;
• a mount collection window, so mounts no longer take up bag slots;
• the transmog collection saves appearances, so you do not have to keep old gear.

No best-in-slot list on day one

This is the bigger change. Greenfield says Blizzard is hiding the stats of every item in the game. You will see an item’s stats only once it has dropped on your server, for you or for someone else. Raids go further:

• nobody knows the best-in-slot list before the first raid tier;
• you do not know which bosses you will face until you walk in;
• at first there is no dungeon journal telling you what each fight does.

In his words, this is not a no changes world. The whole world has secrets in it, though they do not gate player power the way Season of Discovery runes did.

Gear: smaller steps, more niches

Item power rises in smaller steps between raid tiers. Greenfield mentioned hundreds of biome-specific effects, such as bonus damage against dragons, and gave Whitemane’s Chapeau, with its shorter resurrection cast, as another example. The result is that a well-chosen blue can beat an epic for a specific job. That fits the new level 60 set bonuses we datamined this week.

Some downtime stays on purpose

In the Game Informer interview, Tim Jones explained why some inconvenience is deliberate. Campfires hold fixtures made by other professions, such as skinning, mining and blacksmithing, and waiting for those buffs puts strangers next to each other. Long flight paths and runs to dungeons are also kept on purpose, as time to chat, answer general chat or help someone in a fight. It is the same thinking behind no shared tagging.

What it means for you

• Collect first, sort later. With about 96 bank slots you can keep crafting materials for professions you have not picked yet. Our professions guide shows what is worth saving.
• Screenshot new drops. If stats only appear once an item drops, early item lists will be built from what players have actually looted.
• Do not skip a blue just because it is blue. Check its effect against the zone or enemy you are fighting.

The gear section will add real drops as they are confirmed.