Patch 7.3 and 7.3.5 are going to last 9 months?

[Nyel]

Maybe it is too soon, but so many people saying Blizzard will never announce an addon outside of blizzcon...i mean cmon

They did it once. And we know why they announced Legion at Gamescom and not at Blizzcon.

[Sarevokcz]

They do care especially when it comes to WoW. Legion has been the only expansion released in Summer and that happened only because they had to hurry up.

7.3 will hit live servers in August / September and 7.3.5 with Antorus opening will hapen 6-8 weeks later so sometimes in October / November. To think that they'll release the next expansion in Summer just 7-9 months later is pretty naive.

there is no way they will release the next raid tier only 5 months after ToS. I wouldnt expect anything earlier than mid January for the raid

[TriHard]

Will be later, expect December 2018 or early January 2019

I think you're smoking something strong if you think the expansion wont launch until then. It's definitely going to be Summer 2018.

[Caerule]

9 months would make sense. The raid won't release with 7.3, but probably 3 months later. They want about 5-6 months between tiers. The new expansion would bring a new raid tier.

Whether they can meet that schedule is another question. I mean, their release schedule within Legion has been magnificent, but a whole expansion may take a whole bunch of delays.

[Seranthor]

Possibly, Imean did you expect constant large patches all across Legion? They didn't even give us a roadmap yet they promised more content this time around, just that, not giving us a clear roadmap just worries me while other MMOs do a roadmap every year.

I'm not having high hopes about 7.3 alone, or the -fun- I'll get from waiting for the next expansion, I hope I'll get to play WoW on my real account first... and then blame Blizzard for wasting my time for an entire Expansion and half of WoD too ^_^

But yeah, we'll get 3 seasons at least of PvPing and no we're not getting a 7.4 get over It, 7.3 Is the end of the story. And I can't wait to see the next expansion as I hope It removes the scourges of current WoW: Mythic + dungeons, Artifact & Artifact Power, LFR time gating 2 weeks instead of 1 week, timeless isle style zones, legendaries dropping like they're greens and that's only from the top of my head...

your 'real' account is gone for good, you were banned, you earned that ban.... you aren't ever getting it back...
parts of Hellfire LFR were gated by 2wks as were several raids in Pandaria (and those were just the ones I checked).
You want a road map? Call Rand McNally.

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Why do you alle have such a short memory? Legion was also announced at Gamescom

Pardon? nothing wrong with my memory, Legion was the ONLY expansion NOT announced at Blizzcon... perhaps you are the one with the faulty memory.

[AbalDarkwind]

How can anyone really believe 8.0 won't come out until December 2018 or January 2019? That'd mean that Legion would be, by far, the longest expansion: 28 or 29 months, specifically. MoP, the longest expansion to date, was 26 months long and the shortest expansion was WoD, at 21 months.

There is simply no possible way, from a business and marketing standpoint, that Blizzard is going to release 8.0 any later than September 2018. Furthermore, with Hearthstone already announcing its next expansion and any new, major game announcements (Like the long rumored Diablo 4/Diablo MMO) likely being saved for Blizzcon, Gamescom needs some announcement for Blizzard to have such a large presence there.

Considering how positive the Legion announcement at Gamescom was, being around one year before the likely release of 8.0, and Kul'tiras armor sets being datamined from 7.3 already, I would be shocked if 8.0 wasn't announced at Gamescom.

there is no way they will release the next raid tier only 5 months after ToS. I wouldnt expect anything earlier than mid January for the raid

Why? NH lasted almost exactly 5 months. 5 months is how long Blizzard has said they feel is appropriate for a raid tier. Furthermore, no patch has taken longer than 77 days from the previous patch to release in Legion. Therefore, 7.3 would release August 29th (77 days from Patch 7.2.5 and a Tuesday) and 7.3.5, which would include the opening of Antorus, would be November 14th (77 days from August 29th and a Tuesday).

[Deleted]

They announced Legion at Gamescom, could very well get the same here.

they did that because of the shit that was wod....

[AbalDarkwind]

they did that because of the shit that was wod....

People keep saying this. Anyone have proof? Or is this just based on community speculation?

Also, keep in mind that from WoD's release to Legion's announcement, only 9 months had passed. If 8.0 is announced at Gamescom, it will have been 12 months from Legion's release to 8.0's announcement, three months longer than it took them to announce Legion.

[Thetruth1400]

the SHORTEST time for ANY of the expansions from announcment to release was 1yr and 5 days... In order to conform to your guess then they would have to announce within the next two weeks... Chances of that announcement coming are zero. If you see an announcement before Blizzcon in NOVEMBER I'll be shocked... like the other person said, you are likely looking at very late 2018 or early 2019 release date.

That's the thing though, you're just assuming they're going to follow their old ways of announcement then they wait months to start beta testing, then it's released. If you do away with that wait time, they don't have to announce it any time soon and when they do announce it then can immediately go "Next expansion and alpha / beta starts today!"

Legion they had a 3 month wait before alpha / beta started which was the shortest and TBC was the longest at 12 months.

[Taso]

Well considering the current patterns 7.3 will be late august to early September. The raid itself probably December. Rule of thumb nighthold was released in January, tos released in June so roughly six months in between those raids. Thats why I put December for actual raid. Odds are blizzard will release info on new expack in November unless their trying something new. After 7.3.5 they might do another content patch but with minor content like 7.1.0-7.1.5 and maybe a fun raid like ruby sanctum.

[Seranthor]

People keep saying this. Anyone have proof? Or is this just based on community speculation?

Also, keep in mind that from WoD's release to Legion's announcement, only 9 months had passed. If 8.0 is announced at Gamescom, it will have been 12 months from Legion's release to 8.0's announcement, three months longer than it took them to announce Legion.

perhaps you should look at the historical data, not just one data point.

Expansion	Announced	Event	Days	Release	Days	Days
	Date		(Annc/Release)		(Release/Next)	(Release/Release)
Burning Crusade	Oct 28 2005	Blizzcon 2005	444 days	Jan 15 2007	200 days	644 days
Lich King	Aug 3 2007	Blizzcon 2007	468 days	Nov 13 2008	281 days	749 days
Cataclysm	Aug 21 2009	Blizzcon 2009	473 days	Dec 7 2010	318 days	791 days
Pandaria	Oct 21 2011	Blizzcon 2011	340 days	Sep 25 2012	409 days	749 days
Warlords	Nov 8 2013	Blizzcon 2013	370 days	Nov 13 2014	266 days	636 days
Legion	Aug 6 2015	Gamescon	390 days	Aug 30 2016

Here is the data, draw your own conclusions.

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That's the thing though, you're just assuming they're going to follow their old ways of announcement then they wait months to start beta testing, then it's released. If you do away with that wait time, they don't have to announce it any time soon and when they do announce it then can immediately go "Next expansion and alpha / beta starts today!"

Legion they had a 3 month wait before alpha / beta started which was the shortest and TBC was the longest at 12 months.

So you just want to throw the historical data out the window and then just start guessing? I suppose if you want to do that be my guest. Dont be surprised or disappointed when your guessing doesn't come true. Personally I dont care when they release it.

[Softbottom]

I just can't see them releasing an expansion in the summer.. Yes Legion was released Aug 30th which technically is still the summer but the very end. I'm still guessing Sept/Oct 2018 release.

[Bristae]

Vanilla - November 2004 for US, February 2005 for EU.
Burning Crusade - January 2007
Wrath of the Lich King - November 2008
Cataclysm - December 2010
Mists of Pandaria - September 2012
Warlords - November 2014
Legion - August 2016, 30th though so realistically September 2016.

Legion - August 2016, 30th though so realistically September 2016. SUMMER... in the US is until the Fall Equinox. September 22nd, 2016. Very much a "Summer" release.

[ramayana1423]

Every patch since 7.0 has been exactly 11 weeks apart. So assuming that trend continues, 7.3 will be August 29th, 7.3.5 will be November 14th and 8.0 will be January 30th. Could definitely see that trend continuing with the exception of 8.0 since my guess for next expack is that they will aim for next summer and I don't think they would want the pre-expansion patch to last 6 months.

[AbalDarkwind]

perhaps you should look at the historical data, not just one data point.

Here is the data, draw your own conclusions.

The only relevant column is the Release/Next one, which ranges from 200 days to 409 days for a mean of 295 days between the release of an expansion and the announcement of the next one. By following the mean, 8.0 should have been announced on June 21st.

If announced at Gamescom on August 22nd, it will be have been 357 days from release of Legion to the announcement of 8.0, the second longest Release to Next Expansion announcement period thus far. If announced at Blizzcon, it will be, by far, the longest Release to Next Expansion announcement period at 430 days.

In conclusion, the data supports my prediction of a Gamescom announcement.

[Nyel]

It's definitely going to be Summer 2018.

No, it's not unless we call September Summer. September is the earliest date for the next expansion due to various reasons.

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The only relevant column is the Release/Next one, which ranges from 200 days to 409 days for a mean of 295 days between the release of an expansion and the announcement of the next one. By following the mean, 8.0 should have been announced on June 21st.

If announced at Gamescom on August 22nd, it will be have been 357 days from release of Legion to the announcement of 8.0, the second longest Release to Next Expansion announcement period thus far. If announced at Blizzcon, it will be, by far, the longest Release to Next Expansion announcement period at 430 days.

In conclusion, the data supports my prediction of a Gamescom announcement.

So what? The release/release is important, the announcement isn't. We couldn't care less if they announce it in August or November. The crucial part is releasing it not later than usual.

[AbalDarkwind]

No, it's not unless we call September Summer. September is the earliest date for the next expansion due to various reasons.

So what? The release/release is important, the announcement isn't. We couldn't care less if they announce it in August or November. The crucial part is releasing it not later than usual.

No, it's not.

791 days was the longest expansion length. So, if Legion lasted that long, the next expansion would come out October 30th, 2018, just missing Summer by a month. Following the mean expansion length of 714 days, it'd come out August 14th, smack in the middle of summer. If it followed the mode, with two expansions lasting at 749 days, it'd come out September 18th, at the tail end of Summer.

So, while there's one historical example that shows it could miss a Summer release, the metrics show it's more likely to release in Summer than not.

[Sarkol]

Expect a fairly late release on 7.3 and a long stretch until next expansion. I am guessing we will see the next expansion around September/October 2018. I expect 7.3 around November/December.

You think they're going to drag this patch out for another 5 months? Ok. Patch 7.3 already on the ptr, quicker release schedules this expac, and the Argus raid won't be with the patch anyway. No chance it's that far away.

[Nyel]

791 days was the longest expansion length. So, if Legion lasted that long, the next expansion would come out October 30th, 2018, just missing Summer by a month. Following the mean expansion length of 714 days, it'd come out August 14th, smack in the middle of summer. If it followed the mode, with two expansions lasting at 749 days, it'd come out September 18th, at the tail end of Summer.

So, while there's one historical example that shows it could miss a Summer release, the metrics shows it's more likely to release in Summer than not.

I really don't care about the metrics but Blizzard's usual behaviour when it comes to WoW expansions. All of them (except Legion) are released in the second half of the year in Fall (yes, even Cataclysm was released in "Fall" although it was December). That's why I think mid September is the earliest we can expect the expansion. Antorus won't open before November / December, rather December I'd say. If we go by that Antorus would only last ~ 7-8 months until the pre patch - that's super short for Blizzard. Possible, but short. But a release in June / July / August with the last tier only lasting for 4-5 months? Never ever.

[AbalDarkwind]

I really don't care about the metrics but Blizzard's usual behaviour when it comes to WoW expansions. All of them (except Legion) are released in the second half of the year in Fall (yes, even Cataclysm was released in "Fall" although it was December). That's why I think mid September is the earliest we can expect the expansion. Antorus won't open before November / December, rather December I'd say. If we go by that Antorus would only last ~ 7-8 months until the pre patch - that's super short for Blizzard. Possible, but short. But a release in June / July / August with the last tier only lasting for 4-5 months? Never ever.

The metrics show Blizzard's usual behavior; that's exactly what mean and mode show. And no, not "all of them except Legion" came out in Fall. TBC came out in January which was Winter. MoP came out at the very beginning of Fall, close to the September 18th prediction using the mode. The season, though, is irrelevant; September isn't the earliest, but rather, the most likely month of release with August or October being possible but less likely. Later than this would be an outlier. However, TBC and WoD were rather short at 644 and 631 days and give historical examples that could place 8.0's release as early as May 23rd, if Legion was as short as WoD.