What if Cataclysm was longer?

[Flaks]

-What if Cataclysm was longer than your average expansion?
-What if Cataclysm was broken in to many little patches like Vanilla?
-What if the actual Cataclysm didn't happen right with the launch of the expansion and instead the revamp happened in a later major patch?
-What if the main cinematic of Cataclysm showed N'zoth's slimy tentacles getting everywhere?
-What if the Cata launch showed Twilight's Hammer cultist's infiltrating major cities? What if players could join them and wreak havoc?
-What if Cataclysm went from level 81-90 with the same zones?
-What if level 90 unlocked Path of the Titans as a new talent tree system specifically for max levels?
-What if the launch content only included Bastion of Twilight, heroics, as well as Scenarios?
-What if Goblin was the only new race with different Cartels going with Horde or Alliance
-What if Goblins and Gnomes began teaching their main craft: Tinkering, as a class?
-What if heroics were kept easy, but challenge modes had been added at the start?
-What if the WotLK model of raiding had continued and we had no need for LFR?
-What if the first major patch had a revamp of SMV/Outland as Netherdrakes flooded through the Dark Portal followed by Sitheria as well as Heroics and a questing area added/updated to Blasted Lands?
-What if the second patch ended with the rise of Deathwing Cinematic with the Cataclysm?
-What if the third patch saw Deathwing and Sitheria ressurecting their children and with it the Blackwing Descent (Sitheria moved here) and the rebuilding of the destroyed Azeroth (revamp)?
-What if the fourth patch saw daily areas open up in the Chasm in Vash'jir, the floating Islands in Uldum and the Firelands in Hyjal?
-What if, a month or so later in a fifth patch, the Elemental Lords rose up and we had a single tier with 3 raids for Neptulon, Ragnaros and Al'akir?
-What if the sixth patch brought the perpetrator N'zoth to light with 5 mans in CoT?
-What if the seventh patch brought back Azshara and with it Tidal Waves submerging most of Azeroth?
-What if the eighth patch dealt with retrieving the Dragon Soul put in the charge of the Dragon Aspects instead of Thrall?
-What if the next 3 patches dealt with staging an assault on Azshara and then Deathwing?
-What if the final patch finally brought N'zoth to the forefront and with it the defeat of the Heroes of Azeroth
-What if a final "mini-patch" showed Kil'jaeden stepping through the dark portal and N'zoth stopping his onslaught to meet his new foe in battle?

-What if Blizzard delivered on the promises between WotLK and Cataclysm for PvP?
-What if burst really did get reduced?
-What if CC didn't see an exponential increase?
-What if Tol Barad was never added?
-What if Wintergrasp was updated with Cataclysm launch and wrapping up of the WotLK story?
-What if AV was moved into the game world and returned to it's original glory?

TL;DR There's 2 main points here: Cataclysm could have been so much more and so amazing. But most importantly, Blizzard could easily allot resources to follow a Vanilla level patching cycle with little but major patches in between. Blizzard could also continue an expansion for even up to 3 or 4 years in order to make sure that they could tell the stories they want to and leave nothing out.

[MOEEEE]

Then WoW would be dead.

[Gimlix]

They can do basicly all these points you said in MoP too.

[Goremonger]

Probably because Blizzard would want to keep expansions separated instead of mushing them all together into one big one. Basically you could say what if BC and wrath were squished into one and a patch just happened to where you go to Northrend straight from the Isle of Quel,danas.

[Confirm Deny]

--What if the final patch finally brought N'zoth to the forefront and with it the defeat of the Heroes of Azeroth
-What if a final "mini-patch" showed Kil'jaeden stepping through the dark portal and N'zoth stopping his onslaught to meet his new foe in battle?

Not so sure about those last two. I'm totally fine with extended stories if they use their lore figures properly. Otherwise, yeah those would've been fine also, but...

Really I think Cataclysm would've been fine if they hadn't had to do a 180 around the time they were working on Firelands (thus releasing Zandalari heroics in poor fashion).

I still have my suspicions that Firelands' delay was due to having to be retuned downward (except Ragnaros) somewhat, based off of the general raiding community's consensus that all of the fights were much easier than expected compared to Ragnaros. (I would expect them to have already started Firelands, and be using the dungeons + T11 approach to content when they all-of-a-sudden got news that it was causing problems)

Thus, they killed off any other additional content for the rest of the expansion and got shoehorned into just finishing the expansion and presenting us with Dragged-on Soooo-long and a three meager heroics. If not that... same excuse that's usually quoted about old world revamp taking too much time, huh.

[Lei]

I still have my suspicions that Firelands' delay was due to having to be retuned downward (except Ragnaros) somewhat, based off of the general raiding community's consensus that all of the fights were much easier than expected compared to Ragnaros.
Thus, they killed off any other additional content for the rest of the expansion and got shoehorned into just finishing the expansion and presenting us with Dragged-on Soooo-long.

This. Plus I think they overwhelmed themselves with Cataclysm. It always felt like a half-done product for me. And I also think that they just wanted to survive that expansion somehow (maybe right from the start ), as they had so much to do (mop).
So yeah, Cata could have been an awesome expansion, but I think it was not Blizz who didn't want to make it good, they were unable.

[Deleted]

1. You mean longer with content, right? Not longer sitting more months on Dragon soul I hope?
2. People would have been disappointed, think of it, not only that they got 5 new zones only, but they didn't even get the rewamped world, at least now Blizzard had some excuse since they gave us the rewamped world and the new zones.
3. That would have been weird to say the least, everyone would have made japanese tentacle jokes. If anything, they should have made Deathwing a better evil guy, they just made him a pawn to Old Gods, stupid and mad.
4. That might have been entertaining, but then the people who complained during the Wrath event would have flooded the forums and Blizzard would have ended the event early.
5. I don't see the difference, just because in numbers there were 5 more levels, there were still only 5 zones. Lack of content was a problem, the level number was not.
6. Path of titans might have been awesome if done right. Yet Blizzard decided against it, otherwise you'd have gotten it for MoP, and you did not.
7. So one raid? Then people would have complained (and on good merit) about lack of end-game. See SW:ToR on how lack of end-game works, though their leveling content is good, they lacked end-game at start and people left in masses.
8. That would have been horrible. I hate goblins and they don't fit the Alliance at all! They should have done worgen right.
9. I don't know, depends how it would have been implemented, just a name of a class doesn't mean much.
10. With your previous idea of having 1 raid, this would have meant even a higher loss in players.

11. The Wrath model of raiding, you mean with normal and heroic or the Ulduar model? For first choice, sure, for second, even better, I loved the Ulduar way.
12. Not sure. If done right, might have worked out. Though again, too little content at start launch of the expansion, and this would have annoyed people a lot.
13. Same as 12.
14. Same as 12.
15. Same as 12.
16. Same as 12.
17. Same as 12.
18. That would have been awesome, Azshara submerging Azeroth, might have really shown us the devastation.
19. That would have been much better, too much focus on Thrall.
20. No, Azshara needs to be separated from Deathwing. Blizzard still needs to preserve some major villans for their own expansions.

21. So N'zoth won? WoW ends? I don't get the idea here.
22. Well it wouldn't matter, according to 21, we'd be all dead... ?
23. Would have been nice if they would have delivered on the promises for PvP. But they did not.
24. The PvP problem isn't only about burst damage, but also about balance, how some battlegrounds are set up, it's quite a few more things actually.
25. To be honest, I have to agree there was a bit too much CC, some classes had 4-5 options while having high survivability and damage at once.
26. Tol Barad was problematic because of how it was made. Because of having 3 fortresses, the defending team could just let a few people in a place and keep the main force somewhere and when they started to lose move to the next. The attacking force however could not because of the way the fortresses were made leading to an advantage in the defending force as they could nuke the enemies at the entry, in a small area thus. Now, if there would have been 2 fortresses at most, then it would have worked, with 3 it was just a game of running clockwise or counterclockwise for both sides until someone ran faster.
27. That would have been awesome, Wintergrasp was awesome when it was current.
28. You mean turning AV into a Wintergrasp so to say, as in there in the world? Not sure, could have worked, but there might not be enough room for it in the game world to be honest. AV, even after cutting the sides, is bigger then Silverpine, so fitting it in Alterac where there's little free room might be a problem. It could work if done right, but don't know.

Blizzard was at a point where they were trying to get more people with less effort. This is why there were a few rewamped dungeons and raids and why you stood 6 months with every patch except Dragon Soul, with which you stood 10.
Yes, it could have been more and better. But it was not.