5.4 last MoP (Raid) Patch? New Expansion Beta?

[Deleted]

So just a quick question to all of you because i'd like to hear some opinions about this topic.

Do you think 5.4 will be the last Patch of MoP?
If so; If 5.4 is released around early/late August and we assume the content will last for about 7 Months [Expansions last Raid Patches stay longer than previous tiers like ICC and DS] (average Patch length for MoP ~3Months with average Raid lenght about 6 Months) When will 5.5 hit the Servers and what is it all about?

• MoP Release September 25, 2012

• Patch 5.1.0 27 November 2012 (Lore Patch)

• Patch 5.2.0 5 March 2013 (Raid Patch)

• Patch 5.3.0 21 May 2013 (Lore Patch)

• Patch 5.4.0 ?[Augustish/early Sep](Raid Patch)

And with the average MoP Patch lenght we could see 5.5 around November/December wether it is a lore or a little filler Raid (Sunwell sized Patch unlikely for 5.5 since 4 Months for SoO would be a little short)


So the big question now is: What will come with 5.5;
A pre expansional Lore patch?
A standard Lore Patch with 5.6 including another Raid á la -surprise after Illidan now there is Kil'Jaeden waiting-
A little filler Raid like Ruby Sanctum to fill some time before next expansion hits.
Blizzcon is in November, when does the Beta for the new expansion start?
Will the expansion be announced at Blizzcon, at Gamescom or PAX Prime?

Some ppl are speculating that the new expansion would hit in Spring 2014. If that is the case and 5.4 will be infact the last Raid we will see a 5.5 lore Patch around Nov/Dec BUT when does the Beta for the new expansion starts then? Beta time is about 4-6 Months...

Thanks for reading

[Therougetitan]

I imagine beta will start very shortly after Blizzcon this year, like perhaps December. Then a Spring release, anytime from March till May. So that's 4-6 months right there.

[Black Rider]

I think this patch will release at mid/late August.
Blizz please give us some teasers about next expansion ^_^

[Thage]

I'm guessing we'll get a patch with a bunch of time-kill stuff to do a la 5.1 and 5.3 after the Siege to keep people from getting bored with stagnant content during the 6.0 beta, unless whatever they've got cooking up for 5.4 and the 6.0 prepatch has something like upping old raids to the current group's level (to pick out a random, oft-requested feature) or something else to keep players busy for months after Siege itself outstays its welcome--that, or we're gonna have a hell of a quick beta.

[Deleted]

we assume the content will last for about 7 Months [Expansions last Raid Patches stay longer than previous tiers like ICC and DS] (average Patch length for MoP ~3Months with average Raid lenght about 6 Months)

I think the next expansion is going to be released sooner than with ICC and DS. They've said countless of times that they want to churn out content faster.

[Deleted]

Exactly, nothing burns down players more than overlong last phase before new expansion. Sure the new expansion seems fine for a one subscription then it's bye bye. Now if we hear about annual pass at the end of summer then it's bad news.

[Huuga]

A sunwell style raid patch is completely unlikely..
It's either a pre-expansional lore patch and might contain a lore-related short raid like ruby sanctum..Perhaps some limited-time scenarios too...
The new expansion is going to be announced at Blizzcon for sure , and I expect a May release..April if earliest

[Thage]

Exactly, nothing burns down players more than overlong last phase before new expansion. Sure the new expansion seems fine for a one subscription then it's bye bye. Now if we hear about annual pass at the end of summer then it's bad news.

Maybe. I'm personally thinking we'll see it for two reasons: Blizz already announced in the Q1 call that they expect subscriptions to continue to drop in the East, and the last Annual Pass was a pretty successful venture even though Diablo III can be (charitably) described as base-breaking. Guaranteed beta access, an ingame mount, and a free game for staying subbed was a blatant attempt to keep people from quitting, but it's also good for the fans who would've stayed subbed anyway because it's essentially free stuff for what you planned to do to begin with.

That being said, I'd expect another Annual Pass this Blizzcon with guaranteed beta access and a mount thematically-appropriate to the other big announcement (like Tyrael's Charger for D3), but perhaps not with a full game tied in unless sub drops are huge this year going forward.

[ro9ue]

It's definitely going to be interesting if 5.4 IS the last patch before the next expansion. It makes the timetable look like this:

5.4 September
Blizzcon November - new expansion announcement
6.0 .... December/January? lol

I think it'll realistically be more like this:

September: 5.4
November: Blizzcon - New expansion announcement
December: 5.5 expansion lead up
March: 6.0

[Netherspark]

I find it incredibly likely that there will be another patch after 5.4, probably a small one. If Blizzard wanted the next expansion out within 6 months of 5.4 then at the very least we'd have heard an announcment by now and Beta would be on the way. Considering they won't announce it until Blizzcon that leaves a space of several extra months, which they'll want to fill with another patch.

[Pejo]

5.5 and 6.0 will exist, especially with current time frame.

Beta will begin right after Blizzcon to coincide with 5.5 patch or just before.
Expect 5.5 around mid December/early January. Will be a lore patch to show the after-effects of SoO and possibly repairing Pandaria.
6.0 will be in April and include the pre-expansion transfer. There will be a world event for this one as they learned their lesson with MoP.
Expansion release in May/June.

[Deleted]

Well, Mists Of Pandaria was also Announced @ Gamescom 2013 in Cologne alongside with the Cinematic, so i guress the next expansion will be announced either there again or @ Blizzcon.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

5.4 is the last raid patch.

There very well may be a 5.5 to tie MoP to the next Expansion.

Expansion V will not be revealed until Blizzcon.

[Crookids]

They'll probably release a new annual pass at Blizzcon this year with beta and release shortly after.