Blizzard posted a short video of a downpour in Elwynn Forest — on the Forever beta weather will become more noticeable: rain will hide the trees around Goldshire, and the forum thread is collecting votes for requests to add fog, wind, and footstep sounds.

At the end of September, Blizzard posted a short video on the Forever forum showing Elwynn Forest: the footage features a heavy downpour that hides the trees around Goldshire and settles on the grass as a wet film. This is the first public hint that, in one of the next beta builds, zone weather will stop being barely noticeable decoration.

What was actually shown

• Stronger weather effects in starting zones. Only Elwynn Forest has been filmed so far, but the forum discussion suggests the effect could be expected in other locations over time.
• Precipitation visibility: rain grows denser, hiding the trees around Goldshire.
• The sound of rain as part of the atmosphere — that's what Blizzard showed in the video.

What players want The official forum thread passed 140 replies within a few hours. The most common requests cluster around a few ideas:

• fog;
• wind;
• dust storms;
• footstep sounds.

The main practical concern is whether the client will include an option to disable weather. Some players are asking for it right away.

Context Players compare it to the original WoW: in classic WoW, a heavy downpour was falling in Duskwood, and a blizzard in Dun Morogh. In the first Forever beta builds, these effects were more hinted at than implemented — hence the disappointment and the current surge of requests. Blizzard have hinted at stronger weather; no exact dates or full zone list have been announced yet.

In practice

• If you're already testing the beta — look at Elwynn Forest in the latest build: the downpour Blizzard showed promises to be denser than usual.
• If weather in the new build gets in the way — players are asking Blizzard to add a disable option; no answer yet.
• The change is atmospheric, not mechanical: weather won't affect drop tables, classes, or balance.