I don't understand how yearly expansions were ever a conversation at Blizzard

[Revi]

I'm so happy that never became a reality. Lots of content patches? yes please. Yearly expansions? I'd quit tbh..

Not only would it increase the cost of playing wow quite a bit, but it'd make everything you've worked for (progress, gear, reputation) obsolete far too quickly.

[Shaani]

They can barely release within a year of no content.

Do you guys think that they were not prepared for a new expansion (WoD) until a month or so before Blizzcon? I just don't see how they can talk about yearly expansions when they're making SoO a year long

In a Developer-Video shortly after Blizzcon they said that they already work on Warlords of Draenor since before Mists of Pandaria was even released.
It's normal for MMO Developer-Studios to start working on the next expansion before the "current" one is released.

Besides, it's not necessarily a negative thing for an Expansion to last two (or more) years. For one, it means less costs for us customers (I do think that not many would be pleased to buy an expensive expansion-box ever year), and it means you can enjoy the stuff you worked for, for a longer period of time.
In addition, would you not rather accept a two to three year wait gladly between expansion, if in the end a good quality standard is guaranteed?
Most people do not like bugs and glitches, and get all upset about it. Which makes one think a faster release-pattern would only harm quality, which means people would be disappointed, too.
Quality has it's price and takes time.
People should learn to appreciate what they have and what's there, and not always ache for more.

With that said: go out there and enjoy the vibrant world of Azeroth and Outlands.
World of Warcraft is more than just raiding.

[jellmoo]

For all the other faults that the game has, GW2 has done a good job in keeping up with player demand for content. Fairly constant updates and additional content pieces for people to enjoy has done a fair amount for that game.

Blizzard, unfortunately, has issues with keeping ahead of the curve in that regard. Part of it has to do with the dynamic of being a 10 year old game, but I think that improvements to their development methodology could actually help them out. A more iterative process could get smaller pieces out to the customer base on a more regular basis, instead of trying to put out large chunks, less frequently.

The answer absolutely is not a bigger team. Team size hits diminishing returns very quickly, and really runs the risk of quality issues and redundancy. What they need to do is change the way they do things, so that the players remain engaged for longer periods of time, and they don't end up in the situation they have now. Having absolutely zero content for months at a time is terrible practice.

[c000]

still waiting for the dance studio. which xpac was that suppose to be in?

[mistahwilshire]

As a development team it's always better to have optimistic goals.

- - - Updated - - -

For all the other faults that the game has, GW2 has done a good job in keeping up with player demand for content. Fairly constant updates and additional content pieces for people to enjoy has done a fair amount for that game.

Blizzard, unfortunately, has issues with keeping ahead of the curve in that regard. Part of it has to do with the dynamic of being a 10 year old game, but I think that improvements to their development methodology could actually help them out. A more iterative process could get smaller pieces out to the customer base on a more regular basis, instead of trying to put out large chunks, less frequently.

The answer absolutely is not a bigger team. Team size hits diminishing returns very quickly, and really runs the risk of quality issues and redundancy. What they need to do is change the way they do things, so that the players remain engaged for longer periods of time, and they don't end up in the situation they have now. Having absolutely zero content for months at a time is terrible practice.

I don't think GW2 and WoW are comparable when it comes to updates. GW2 updates are frequent but they are exponentially smaller, often completed in just a day or two.

It's not necessarily a bad thing, they're just distinctly different models that appeal to different people. Personally small updates don't satisfy me. For others it's fine.

[Kaldaim]

Internally i think it's fine that they discuss it and aim for it, but to say it publicly was stupid. Raising expectations then not meeting your timeline is far worse than us expecting 2 years and getting it in 1.5. Just make us pleasantly surprised next time instead of disappointed.

[Deleted]

And either would be fine, honestly. If we're getting new content on a yearly basis, there's no need for content patches in between, or at least, not as many. Also, if we're getting expansions on a yearly basis, we don't need to have as much stuff in it. It's the fact that the expansions stretch on for two years or more that makes us demand enough content to last those two years and justify the wait. Which in turn makes the next expansion take longer.

If Blizzard sat down and said "Okay, guys, this next expansion is going to be a bit smaller. BUT we're going to slam a new expansion at you in exactly a year, we promise, with a smallish tier patch halfway through," and then did exactly that, I don't think most players would complain.

except for the fact that it would mean a marked increase in subs.

[jellmoo]

As a development team it's always better to have optimistic goals.

- - - Updated - - -



I don't think GW2 and WoW are comparable when it comes to updates. GW2 updates are frequent but they are exponentially smaller, often completed in just a day or two.

It's not necessarily a bad thing, they're just distinctly different models that appeal to different people. Personally small updates don't satisfy me. For others it's fine.

Oh, it's not meant as a direct comparison. They are very different games, and the development strategies used reflect this. It's just an example of a different way of doing things, and one that definitely has a fair share of advantages.

The current system WoW uses reflects the current problem though. A massive amount of time between content launches. I'm not privy to how their teams work inside Blizzard, but from what I've gathered they use agile teams in a waterfall structure. There may be some issues with that strategy, or the movement inside the company as a whole because they seem to like content dumps rather than smaller releases. When that works, it works well. But when they hit situations like they have now, with an expansion on the horizon (but no definitive date) and months upon months of no new content, it can really hurt player engagement.

I'm not saying that the GW2 solution is ideal. But I definitely think it has value and should be something Blizzard at least studies. The reality is that there is a middle ground between the systems, and that might be their sweet spot.

[TheWindWalker]

While I straight-up agree with you, there's a ton of threads complaining about this same thing already.

They did succeed in pushing out patches quicker than before during MoP, personally I'd rather have them slow the patch frequency and speed up a bit on the next exp, it is a little bit of a letdown that it now seems to be dragging on for so long.

The obvious issue is that we said "make it go faster" and they said "oh yeah, we can get A B C and D closer together" and we had hoped "So E will be soon after right?" and they finally revealed "Yeah no, it'll be here as if everything else had been on a slower schedule to start with. Maybe a bit longer, actually."

[Frozenbeef]

Just unsubscribe during content luls and show blizzard how much you support their development processes <3

[Saphyron]

In my oppinion 2 years between expansions is properly the best way of going things but they should do 4 major patches at 6 month duration or 3 major patches at 8 month durations.

Rather that than what we have now.
Personally 4 raids with 6month in between is my ideal state

[Chain Chungus]

I think they like to rely on the beta to keep people interested during the dead period between expacs.

So they really need to chop chop on the beta.