WoW: Forever Hides Over 12,500 Items From Dataminers

Blizzard is taking a far more guarded approach to the World of Warcraft: Forever beta than most players expected. According to a breakdown from Icy Veins, more than 12,500 of the game's roughly 32,000 items are being kept secret, close to 40% of the total.

Dataminers can still see that these items exist, and in many cases where they might drop. What they can't see is the stats. Some of the hidden entries are probably brand-new gear, while others may be tweaked versions of items from WoW Classic. Icy Veins also cautions that not every datamined entry will necessarily make it into the final game. Some appear to be leftovers from Classic's Season of Discovery and may not ship in Forever.

The mystery is already being chipped away. Players have found over 4,400 of the hidden items in the beta, and once an item is discovered in-game, its details are revealed in the backend. Much of the loot is tied to dungeons and raids, including tier sets. So far, players have turned up several low-level dungeon sets, along with full loot tables for Wailing Caverns, Ragefire Chasm, Shadowfang Keep and the Deadmines.

The beta is currently capped at level 20, though Blizzard plans to raise that to 30 before it ends. That should expose more dungeon gear ahead of launch.

The secrecy fits with what players are seeing in early testing. Forever's items include gear with much more spellpower at low levels, as well as pieces built around professions. Blizzard appears to be using them to reshape both the leveling experience and the endgame, so a veteran's knowledge of Classic won't cover everything.

Interest is high. Several WoW developers, including Blizzard VP Holly Longdale, have said the beta is breaking player-number records, and Blizzard has had to raise the population cap. It hasn't been smooth sailing, though. A recent streamer scandal involving gold trading has players calling on Blizzard to do more about real-money transactions and gold buying.

The beta runs until October 21, with the full launch set for November 4. Blizzard's third take on the MMO will add more than 1,000 new quests to classic Azeroth, plus new zones and endgame content. There's no new class at launch, but a recent Blizzard survey floated 11 possible classes that could arrive later.