3.3 Release Date, Icecrown Citadel Interview

[vexacus]

personally im 99% sure they won't release 3.3 this year. just for the simple reason that they don't want their employees stressing out around the holiday hotfixing stuff and restarting crashed instance servers.
this game has been out for over 4 years in europe and there has never been a patch in december and the support around the holidays is always as low as possible.
6th january seems like a nice date for the first wing to be released.
23rd dec and 30th dec are just to close to holidays and i just don't expect blizzard to have it ready before that.

but hey don't wan't to ruin all your hopes by fiding more facts

[Snorri]

I take it the majority of 3.3 is done. But they are holding it back to give more time for more guilds to farm and kill Heroic Anub'arak 25 man. He's the only one that drops tier 9 IL 258 tokens after all. My guild is making progress on him but we haven't killed him yet

[Warlocomotif]

I almost always agree with Boulb's predictions- this time around I don't. Probably for the first time in a year or so (Mind you,I didn't believe for a moment that his only source for the "goblins and worgen will be the next playable races" were the masks, I was pretty sure from the start that he had different sources for that).

The reason I don't really agree with him this time around is because there's a lot of things Blizzard has said they'd want to do before 3.3, and haven't done yet. For example "The disparity between totem of wrath and demonic pact is something we want to address before 3.3", "pets should scale with all stats other than armor penetration in 3.3". Now don't get me wrong, I don't have my hopes up for those 2 things specfically still happening- but a lot of this stuff still feels very unfinished.

Yesterday (before this post) someone asked me in game when I expect the patch coming, I said probably a bit over a month. So this was a suspicion I already had before Blizzard posted about it too.

[Tragos]

My prediction is that they might break up this patch into 2 pieces. First part released Dec 1. Wing 1 open that day, Wing 2 open is open on Dec 15th. A week is plenty of time for world firsts since this is regular modes only. Rest of Icecrown opens up after the holidays.

[Adlian]

personally im 99% sure they won't release 3.3 this year. just for the simple reason that they don't want their employees stressing out around the holiday hotfixing stuff and restarting crashed instance servers.
this game has been out for over 4 years in europe and there has never been a patch in december and the support around the holidays is always as low as possible.
6th january seems like a nice date for the first wing to be released.
23rd dec and 30th dec are just to close to holidays and i just don't expect blizzard to have it ready before that.

but hey don't wan't to ruin all your hopes by fiding more facts

im 99% sure they will release 3.3 this year

From what i saw on PTR everything looks ready. Loot/bosses/LFG/5man heroics. They are saying 1month + because they dont wanna say the real release date. Lets say they reveal the real release date (random date) 15th December and they found critical bug or bugged item/spell that cant be fixed before 15th > they have to extend the release date > MASS QQ will fill the forums.
That's why they dont wanna say when it will be done.

But this is only my opinion. ;D

[Powder]

Well this sucks! I was planning on coming back to taste Icecrown and the new LFG system during Mid-semester break.
I hate you Blizz! >

[toychristopher]

I hope you can skip wings. I am going to be tired of the first wing by the time the second wing comes out.

[Equites]

personally im 99% sure they won't release 3.3 this year. just for the simple reason that they don't want their employees stressing out around the holiday hotfixing stuff and restarting crashed instance servers.
this game has been out for over 4 years in europe and there has never been a patch in december and the support around the holidays is always as low as possible.
6th january seems like a nice date for the first wing to be released.
23rd dec and 30th dec are just to close to holidays and i just don't expect blizzard to have it ready before that.

but hey don't wan't to ruin all your hopes by fiding more facts

Not stressing out? You think everyone has 2 weeks of in December? Its just a normal job, so they have to work. Like my boss is saying slow down a bit guests, its christmas time for my employees too :') No way. They will release this patch just before christmas, im 100% sure of it.

[Desetes]

First I agree with the OP, I think it will be December 1st or the 8th however. You have to remember that Blizzard likes to confuse their customers and put out random vague information as to when the patch will launch. Blizzard is the only company I can think of that can give their customers such BS lines and continue to have them come crawling back, I guess that's what happens when you make a fun game. But you also have to remember Blizzard is a business and businesses are in it to make money.

Many users have quit since 3.2 came out seeing as it was a very band aid solution to try and appease users until 3.3 came out. It didn't work all that well, look around most hate ToC and want a new raid. Many have suspended their accounts until 3.3 and Blizzard knows this. The end of the 3rd quarter is December 16th and I guarantee they will want to boost their profits before it ends and what better way than to release a major patch, those renewed subscriptions will help make their profits that much better to the share holders. So count on it, I would almost guarantee December 8th at the latest.

The statement in the interview with Ghostcrawler about the Holidays was posted on November 16th, remember Thanksgiving is coming first before Christmas. Not everyone takes three weeks off in December to spend with family before Christmas. I would imagine he was referring to the Thanksgiving weekend which would make sense. One last bit of info, look at the time between releases of the latest patches. 3.1 was release on April, 14th and 3.2 was release on August, 4th. Their is a 3 month gap and 3.2 has been out in December 4th for 4 months. I don't think Blizzard is going to drag on a filler patch like ToC for five months or more. If they do they have no concern for their customers or their investors because if what you say is true about the Holidays, some users will be on break and have more time on their hands. If they have nothing to play in World of Warcraft they will find other forms of entertainment. Not everyone spends every moment leading up to the holidays shopping or spending every moment with family.

But in the end we shall see. These are all just my opinion but I think I'm going to be right.

[Alveredus]

I predict we'll see 3.3 by December 15th. But without ICC until January 12th. I figure there will be some world event stuff that skipped the PTR.

I think they probably would like the LFG system and leveling improvements live by Christmas. If we're talking crystal ball predictions, I think we might also see enhanced/updated Recruit a Friend and Scroll of Resurrection rewards along with the leveling improvements in December.

Likewise, they might release the new 5 man stuff. And give notice that you have until January 12th for your Ulduar Drakes and the unveiling of ICC.

Also predicting some unannounced, untested Winter's Veil tweaks, the plushie pet (as a Christmas promo) and a couple more Night Elf Mohawk style events before the end of 2009.

[Xentropy]

My prediction is that they might break up this patch into 2 pieces. First part released Dec 1. Wing 1 open that day, Wing 2 open is open on Dec 15th. A week is plenty of time for world firsts since this is regular modes only. Rest of Icecrown opens up after the holidays.

"Several" is more than two, by definition. The first wing will not unlock for at least 3 weeks after 3.3's push.

As for the 3.3 patch, I'm going to have to disagree with Boub, though it's rare I do so. Look back two years at the 2.3.2 patch. It was on PTR and ready to go (basically NO new PTR builds) for over six weeks, but delayed from the end of November all the way through December for a Jan 8th release because of the holidays. Blizzard has avoided patches just before holidays for a long time, to avoid stressing out their technical support crew during that time. I'm guessing patch will be January 5th or 12th. I certainly wish/hope it'd be sooner, because I'm so sick of ToC25, but I doubt it will be.

[Cookiecutter]

Wonder how they'll plan to release Cataclysm within a reasonable time after 3.3 goes live?
Are we going to sit without content for a month? And... maybe there's a better answer than "troll raid!!1" to this question

[Cerus]

Well I hope Boub is right and that blue post isn't true

MMO-Champ dropping the ball again. The post from Datth was made on the 18th. He says "around 1+ month" which could mean two weeks or seven weeks. Remember, Blizzard doesn't give out exact release dates more than a week or so ahead.

Boub's guess is Dec 15th. Nov 18th - Dec 15th most certainly could equal "around 1+ month"

First I agree with the OP, I think it will be December 1st or the 8th however. You have to remember that Blizzard likes to confuse their customers and put out random vague information as to when the patch will launch. Blizzard is the only company I can think of that can give their customers such BS lines and continue to have them come crawling back, I guess that's what happens when you make a fun game. But you also have to remember Blizzard is a business and businesses are in it to make money.

Not giving out release dates has little to nothing to do with money. They don't give out dates for the same reason pawn shops don't give quotes over the phone. If something changes then people will bitch. You might think they could just say something like "release date isn't final" or "subject to change" but they're dealing with millions of people. It doesn't matter how they phrase it or how big of letters they use. People will always read between the lines and hold them to the strictest of interpretations. They learned a long time ago that the best solution to avoid thousands of posts, e-mails and phone calls was to simply not give release dates.

Business? Yes. All about money? No.

[Chimbles]

IMO, this has to go out before Christmas simply because of the impact it will have on new players' experiences. Blizzard can't possibly be stupid enough to make some major changes to the game's early experience shortly after a new wave of players have gone through it.

[Bowen]

For crying out loud TOTC/TOGC has already reached the maximum playability, just release it for Christ sake before more people across realms tell their guilds they will not be raiding much now or quitting raiding.

[Hexus]

I figured they were going to take their time with ICC but that projected date sounds like a stretch.

[darkfenix11]

I agree that it will probably be the 1st or the 8th when 3.3 is released. Everything is pretty much ready in PTR for the initial release. The bosses in the first 3 wings have been tested and retested. Toravon was tested for a few weeks. The 5-man is complete. Items have been added to all the bosses and trash mobs in the new dungeons. The LFG system and quest system are finished as well. Other than a few additional items/bug fixes/stat adjustments there isn't much left to test.

Other than Arthas in the raid, but they won't test that fight for a long time, no need to get a huge spoiler like that out until they absolutely have to.

At this point the release date will be whenever Blizzard feels it's best to release the patch, and i can't imagine them waiting too much longer.

[Bl4ckSh33p]

About Drakes: The Ulduar drakes dont have to go away (maybe because its too easy to get them but thats all). You will get new frostwyrm in icecrown not protodrake.

I hope the patch comes very soon. It takes hours to find a tank or healer, we need the new dungeon tool!

[Deleted]

That means patch 3.3 comes in a month?

[vexacus]

owk lets put it like this than
3.3 live on 15th december. they lets us have some fun with the 5-mans and the new LFG system during the holiday season. and than open the first wing 7th January.
a new instance on the same day as a in-game holiday(winterveil) is a no go. if i remember correctly it was before the summer, there was also a ingame event that got ulduar postponed if im not mistaking.