Blizzard wants WoW Forever’s first loot discoveries to happen in the game. In MMORPG.com’s September 15 interview, Josh Greenfield describes a plan to keep item stats hidden until an item drops for you or someone on your server.
Find the item, then figure out the build
The goal is to stop players entering the first raid tier with every best-in-slot choice already settled. Early drops would instead give players something to compare, discuss and add to community guides as they appear.
That does not mean gearing guides disappear. It changes when players can start building them around discovered items.
What it means for your planning
Pick the class and role you want to play, but leave room for the loot to surprise you. Blizzard has also outlined changes to gear stats and quest rewards, so an old Classic gear list won’t tell the whole story.
Greenfield is describing the intended system here; how it works in practice will become clearer during testing.