At BlizzCon 2017, we interviewed World of Warcraft game director Ion Hazzikostas about the upcoming Battle for Azeroth expansion. Of significant note is that the iconic raid set bonuses that have been with WoW for ages will be phased out to give players more flexibility - not getting "locked" into certain pieces for months.

"With sets and cosmetic appearances we're always trying new things. We're currently not planning on carrying forward traditional raid class sets," says Hazzikostas. "So we're going to have artwise, the gear will be more heavily themed from the place it comes. There's more customization we want to express through the new Azerite system. I think class sets have changed a lot over a years of World of Warcraft. Back in the day, these 8 piece sets you would put together over the course of 6 to 8 months raiding a zone, where now the smaller sets and so many more sources of gear, it's very common to get 2 or 4 pieces at the start of a tier and it actually kind of locks down those character slots, it limits your choices. It feels like more of a drawback than a strength at this point."

Options from these sets, like enhancing certain abilities, will be rolled into how the Azerite system works so that players can customize around their strengths.