Battle for Azeroth Alpha/Beta General Discussion

[Biggles Worth]

THATS ODD. Its almost WARFRONTS is plural and not singular yet they included it in ALL the advertisements and on the website.

Whats next? They going to remove the Horde Garrison entirely LMAO.

Edit:

Remember flying combat in Wintergrasp? My physical box copy does.

[Paula Deen]

No shit. There's not another one at launch. Why the fuck would there be?

Because they marketed MULTIPLE WarfrontS Thats why.

Why the fuck does that suddenly mean that the feature isn't being further developed behind the scenes?

Well for one during the interview he made it pretty clear they are focusing on polishing the single Warfront they have. He made a passing mention of possibly adding more.

Do you think they only work on one thing at a time? That they're not already working on additional content? What, do you think Karazhan was developed in the month or so before Legion launched and then pushed live a couple of months later?

No? Why would I think otherwise? No?

Use your brain 'fam'. One at launch =/= they've only got the one in development.

Cool source fam :^) I want evidence I can see with my two eyes.

This isn't even fucking defending Blizzard, this is just common fucking sense.

Defending poor marketing they make is top tier shilling. Common sense would be to realize they 'lied.'

If Warfronts are supposed to be part of an evolving story... then it's obvious that as the story continues, battlefronts change.

Thats a great anecdote, shame that Jeremy doesn't seem to share that with you at all.

Remember flying combat in Wintergrasp? My physical box copy does.

To be fair, Blizzard advertised Aerial Combat itself as the feature. It did appear in a few quests, but it wasn't like War Thunder tier or anything. The example that would be comparable from WotLK would be the Dance Studio.

[derpkitteh]

that is so you level one to 110 (where the new endgame in bfa starts) and not just create and boost them (as 110 will be the new boost in bfa).

ion said "max level"

110 will not be max level, should they release with the expansion.

also, isn't it quite the coincidence that the character select data for LF draenei, void elves, nightborne, and highmountain were all added in 7.3.2 and NOT dark iron and zandalari as well?

if i'm wrong, i'm wrong, but i feel pretty good about the chances of them showing up before the expansion. even if it's just a month before and you have to preorder to get them early, like DH.

[FenixAU]

They lied because they're focusing on polishing the one they have for launch and aren't giving details on any further that may or may not be in development.

That's the crux of your argument.

Okay.

You do you.

[Paula Deen]

They lied because they're focusing on polishing the one they have for launch and aren't giving details on any further that may or may not be in development.

That's the crux of your argument.

Okay.

You do you.

If they had more in development he would have mentioned it. He didn't. He mentioned polishing the one they have and liking the idea of trying to use it later. One of those is confirmation of polish, the other is passing mention of liking the idea.

To digress a bit, how the fuck can he even like the feature when, in this same interview, he makes it pretty damn clear they don't even have shit like reward structure down internally.

[Traveler Voltin]

arent there already 2 warfronts technically announced already?
gilneas and arathi highlands?

[Ningjinq]

I imagine rewards come near last in development because it’s easier to change, have to see how every completed system works together, etc. iirc, AP changed A LOT throughout Legion testing.

Regardless, I believe they talked about testing it internally already so while it may be far from complete, I could see how someone could decide if it was fun or not in its current state.

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To me, how they manage the reward system is going to be a huge influence on how much people enjoy BfA. They’ve never had this many endgame systems going at once. Island expeditions, WQ/emissaries, raiding, M+ and warfronts. Balancing them to make all 4, particularly M+ and expeditions, worthwhile content at the same time will be tough.

M+ is probably going to have to get quite the makeover in its reward structure I think because of Azerite gear. How will that work? It can’t Titanforge (which I love, but raises a lot of questions)

[Chickat]

How could you guys IGNORE this post when it's clearly one of the best that was posted here in ages?!

Thats what I thought too.

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Before the Storm is officially delayed to June 12 now, so that's the very earliest we can expect BfA.

No one was expecting it sooner tbh. I think a Late June prepatch with late July/early August expansion release date is very plausible.

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A couple things here.

1) They said that the storyline that "culminates" in Undercity and Teldrassil is predicated on you having Battle for Azeroth. Pre-expansion events themselves are universal. This means that those storylines are almost certainly in the expansion itself and not the pre-patch.

2) 7 months is longer than the previous raid tiers. I don't see why it would be a problem. Nor why they would delay the expansion and extend content drought for the entire playerbase so that the tiny minority of raiders can keep farming something they've been doing for months in order to all get the mount.



How little they've done where? Most of the zones are very late stage, that is farther than many expansions were at release. There has literally never been a testing cycle longer than 7 months, and what they bring to Blizzcon is always a fraction of what they have done. Just because they haven't worked out exact timers on Warfronts (a beta testing determination) or similar things does not mean they are early in development. They have music pieces out for each of the zone previews they did. That is farther along than Legion was at Blizzcon 2015 (November, with an August release)

They also have minimaps for a lot of stuff which is usually added sometime early into the beta. So they could probably start beta today and have enough to test. Might be a longer beta, but they could. I think they absolutely could release the expansion in April if they were any other company, but this is blizzard. They get launches right aside from some server issues/ 1 or 2 quests out of hundreds not working right.

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LFR fully releases in December. Expect 7.3.5 on the PTR within the same month.
7.3.5 release = Janurary
8.0 Alpha: February
8.0 Beta: May
8.0: Prepatch August-September
8.0: Release October-December

Recent expansions have dropped on the same or at least 2 months before the month, a year after they were announced.

Legion August 2015/August 2016
Shitstorm: November 2013/November 2014
MoP: Nov 2011/Sept 2012
Cata: Nov 2009/Dec 2010

The book was pushed to June of 2018. Ik it has no effect on development time but it can indicate something involving the release "season". I expect a fall release since they said before the end of 2018 so anywhere before December 21st is plausible.

Why do I have to keep saying this. Expansion length is a much better way to gauge release dates than announce date-release. They could announce an expansion 6 months before it launches or 1.5 years before it launches. Expansions always last 22-26 months. The build we saw at blizzcon really does support my side more than yours. 23 months after Legion launch (which is a very likely number seeing as BFA doesn't have a ton of new stuff being added, just existing systems updated) will probably happen. Thats late July.

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Not sure what needs to really be defended here in terms of points. They pulled a Tanaan Jungle here. First it was coming at launch. Then they backtracked and said it was being developed but still didn't dismiss it being at launch. Then they dismissed it at launch. Then it replaced Farahlon completely and became its own patch.


Well if even you are calling bullshit then I feel a bit better.

I think Tanaan was meant to be the Suramar of 6.0. 6.2 being the actual raid there, and 6.3/4 being Farahlon and a raid. Shat raid somewhere in all that. Maybe the farah raid. Who knows. All I know is WoD could have been awesome and it wasnt.

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100% absolutely no way the next expansion is coming out in May.

It has a better chance of releasing in May than December of the same year. Imo. May isn't happening though because of book. December isn't either. Would be the worst content drought in history. June-October all very possible, I just think July is the most likely personally. November could happen but I'd probably quit the game for good if it did.

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.... scroll the fuck up fam. They CONFIRMED. We aren't getting another warfront at launch. Why do you think I am doom and gloom? They aren't playing the hand close to the chest because they aren't ready to show things. They are playing it close to the chest because they have LITERALLY NOTHING ELSE.

I do bet we get 1 or 2 more in patches if people like it at launch.

[Deleted]

Did you guys read the theory about Anduin burning down Teldrassil from yesterday (I am assuming yes.) Well Christie Golden just responded to some guy on Twitter who enjoys the character growth we've seen from Anduin.

"What Blizzard chose to do with Anduin is very exciting, and I'm happy to have been a key player in it. Who knows who we'll see grow up as the years pass? Great times to be officially on board!"

I don't feel like Anduin growing up to become King and wielder of the Light is very 'exciting'. It's cool and all, but it's just the path he was always on. To me, her tweet seems to suggest something bigger in store for him. "What Blizzard chose to do [...]". IDK, it fits with the evil Anduin theory that is all.

[Chickat]

arent there already 2 warfronts technically announced already?
gilneas and arathi highlands?

No, but Gilneas would be a badass warftont. Probably would take less work to make too.

[Ningjinq]

All that matters for release is what’s the final item that needs done? So the art being ahead of previous announcements/Blizzcons (which it seemed to be to me.) doesn’t mean anything if content development is behind it *cough* warfronts *cough*.

Now overall I am in favor of a late summer release but, is important to not be absolute in terms of our guesses on their progress based on limited info.

Every xpac it seems like everyone acts like they understand how and where their development is and how it goes and every time we look in the rear view mirror and go “doh! How’d we miss that? “ With WoD it was their redesign of garrisons midway through likely. For Legion it seems like they just went with a different philosophy because they wanted to get the revamped classes to us ASAP. (I believe Ion mentioned that over confusion of alpha vs beta names).

So I’m sure we are missing something here when trying to guess their progress on the xpac.

Somewhat relatedly in terms of development, I’ve heard a few people mention that the Azerite UI was just a placeholder and not finished. Did they actually say that it’s temporary or is it being assumed?

[Chickat]

They have never been this far ahead art wise though, and legion was just as far behind feature wise at this time if not more so and it launched in August. They still have no fucking idea how world quests would work for sure or Mythic+ dungeons for Blizzcon. Legion are was rough too even in beta. Suramar was half modeled and white. Islands seem very far along too feature wise, so its really just warfronts and dungeons/raids. If the expansion had almost nothing playable at blizzcon Id agree with a fall release, but they seem very far along. Unless theres something we are missing, early Summer seems likely this time.

[TheramoreIsTheBomb]

The expansion is nowhere coming in July.

[tristannarutofan]

Did you guys read the theory about Anduin burning down Teldrassil from yesterday (I am assuming yes.) Well Christie Golden just responded to some guy on Twitter who enjoys the character growth we've seen from Anduin.

"What Blizzard chose to do with Anduin is very exciting, and I'm happy to have been a key player in it. Who knows who we'll see grow up as the years pass? Great times to be officially on board!"

I don't feel like Anduin growing up to become King and wielder of the Light is very 'exciting'. It's cool and all, but it's just the path he was always on. To me, her tweet seems to suggest something bigger in store for him. "What Blizzard chose to do [...]". IDK, it fits with the evil Anduin theory that is all.

Not at all. No one would find that interesting or exciting. Its probably just a reference ti where his recent development is leading (being a compasionate fighter, neither a warmonger nir a pacifist). It could be he will be the child if shadiw and light.

But heel face turns are never good writing unless it makes sense which usually involves books of development.

She enjoyed the humanitarian story of draenor, writing jaina, the back and forth of warcrimes. All her media has been heroic in nature

[Chickat]

The expansion is nowhere coming in July.

July is more likely than November.

[rcshaggy]

I'm just wondering too what are the Demon Hunters gonna do after Legion?
I still have my Blood Elf Male Demon Hunter, and I wonder if the Illidari will recruit more races in their cause...


Also I knew who burned down the Night Elves home;
Nomi Pandaren Cooker in Dalaran
https://img00.deviantart.net/764e/i/...ni-dbtl6oh.jpg

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July is more likely than November.

Well I don't mind the expansion taking that long...
No rush is needed either...They could take a more different route and hopefully have a early expansion date or a more later in the year one.

[Chickat]

http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...ing-to-release if anyone wants to vote on when they think it will launch.

[Fahrad Wagner]

Thats what I thought too.

It's like giving jam to swines.

As for release, I'm personally betting on August/September.

[Chickat]

It's like giving jam to swines.

As for release, I'm personally betting on August/September.

[Musta]

July 4th holiday would be my bet.