Think we can expect any major announcement for Shadowlands?

[Soisoisoi]

No new classes
No new races
no player housing
No guild housing
No major class overhaul - they specifically mentioned this at blizzcon, they said they would bring some abilities back but no major overhauls will happen.

Blizzard is literally experimenting with how little they can deliver and still keep subs at a profitable level with every subsequent patch

No new classes is a good thing, they need to fix the current classes before adding more clutter.
Pretty sure they will be doing more allied races in the future, be daft not to.
Nobody actually wants player/guild housing, they just keep people out of the world: See WoD.
Sub Rogues are said to be getting an overhaul according to a German Interview with Ion.

[Zenfoldor]

It is underwhelming so far, in my opinion. Hopefully they announce something good that I can use to get my friends excited but right now it's pretty depressing to think about, for me.

[Florena]

I highly doubt any major features were not announced at blizzcon.

Maybe some small things here or there. But anything major like housing, a new class etc? Not happening. At least not for 9.0, they've added major features like transmog, lfr, flex raiding etc mid expansion. So something like player housing 'could' theoretically come mid expansion, but seems unlikely.

[NoiseTank13]

No new classes is a good thing, they need to fix the current classes before adding more clutter.
Pretty sure they will be doing more allied races in the future, be daft not to.
Nobody actually wants player/guild housing, they just keep people out of the world: See WoD.
Sub Rogues are said to be getting an overhaul according to a German Interview with Ion.

So it takes Blizzard two expansions of no new classes to fix them now?

[MoanaLisa]

So, I've been thinking... While I think the SL announcement was pretty okay, the presentation itself didn't blow me away.

Things I was expecting, that didn't get announced / not happening:
- Cross-faction gameplay: While I never expected them to fully go away with factions and their tensions, this would be the perfect time to make this happen;
- Housing
- New class

No, there won't be any of those things.

[TigTone]

So it takes Blizzard two expansions of no new classes to fix them now?

It’s a cycle prune and de prune at this point.

[Schmilblick]

No, nothing, prepare to the disappointment and to deal with it.

[letssee]

No new classes
No new races
no player housing
No guild housing
No major class overhaul - they specifically mentioned this at blizzcon, they said they would bring some abilities back but no major overhauls will happen.

Blizzard is literally experimenting with how little they can deliver and still keep subs at a profitable level with every subsequent patch

and no matter how bad it is, sheep will always buy it and defend it.

[mvaliz]

So, I've been thinking... While I think the SL announcement was pretty okay, the presentation itself didn't blow me away.

Remember how D:I went over like a lead balloon, yet the Blizzard execs were genuinely shocked that people weren't ecstatic for it?

That's because Shadowlands is pretty much that, they expected Shadowlands to BE the major announcement.

Seriously, say it with me: Maintenance. Mode.
I'm not trying to be a downer here - but I've been saying that Legion was clearly designed to be the "Last Hurrah" of the game designers. Everything else is going to be this kind of level of expansion and it's very VERY unlikely we'll get a Legion-Level of content ever (sans them making a WoW 2 in some way/shape/form).

[Soisoisoi]

So it takes Blizzard two expansions of no new classes to fix them now?

Well they clearly tried with some classes, just not all of them.

[Nomads]

Remember how D:I went over like a lead balloon, yet the Blizzard execs were genuinely shocked that people weren't ecstatic for it?

That's because Shadowlands is pretty much that, they expected Shadowlands to BE the major announcement.

Seriously, say it with me: Maintenance. Mode.
I'm not trying to be a downer here - but I've been saying that Legion was clearly designed to be the "Last Hurrah" of the game designers. Everything else is going to be this kind of level of expansion and it's very VERY unlikely we'll get a Legion-Level of content ever (sans them making a WoW 2 in some way/shape/form).

Not sure how much sense that makes in the grand scheme of things... on one hand it makes sense in that WoW's subs are likely at an all time low, and the game just doesn't generate as much money as it used to. But on the other hand, it's still one of Blizzard's most profitable games on the market... just running it on maintainence mode until it's no longer profitable doesn't make a lot of sense.

I definitely understand why people find this expansion underwhelming, but I personally find it much more exciting than BfA was.... looking forward to the pre patch scourge invasions as well.

It might not have that wow factor that Legion did but it ticks a lot of the boxes I was hoping for. A new land to explore with new races and mysteries. Some solo focused story content in covenants. Small group stuff to do at end game with Torghast. Replayability and alt friendliness...

Personally I think Shadowlands has a lot of potential, and can't wait for BfA to end.

[Soon-TM]

Who knows, BfA at launch was barebones af. It took slumbering ol' Blizzard two major patches to make classes (barely) enjoyable with the Essences bandaid. I plan on returning on 9.2, when Blizz will (hopefully) more or less put its !@#$ together and offer something at least not awful.

Because I won't be going through another !@#$show like 8.0/8.1, that's for sure.

[Sesto]

personally I believe they should add NO no content. no new zones, no new raids, no new dungeons.

why? because they can just use an entire expansion to fix the game. that would be great. then wow would be good again.
people who say they want content like zones, raids, dungeons are stupid. why would they add more stuff when there are already broken things

[Nomads]

Who knows, BfA at launch was barebones af. It took slumbering ol' Blizzard two major patches to make classes (barely) enjoyable with the Essences bandaid. I plan on returning on 9.2, when Blizz will (hopefully) more or less put its !@#$ together and offer something at least not awful.

Because I won't be going through another !@#$show like 8.0/8.1, that's for sure.

In general that's usually a good bet unless you're really excited about something. I didn't buy BfA until it went on sale for like 20% off... and even then I haven't played since unlocking pathfinder part 1...

I'm excited enough for Shadowlands to play from the start tho.

[nuclear12346]

Me playing 9.0 hinged on there being something like a new class or major class overhauls. I'll look at the game again when they release a major patch or two. 8.0 was a big waste of time for me as the expansion felt incomplete. I suspect, as many others do, that there will be even less content in 9.0 to consume than in 8.0. The downhill trend has been going on for a long while if you ignore the anomaly of legion. I'm not even saying legion content was flawless or amazing, but that there simply was a lot to go through at the beginning.

[Heladys]

First time ever, mid-expansion addition of a new class!

[Destinas]

On one hand, with how little they announced at Blizzcon, and the ho-hum reception people have had, you'd think they would announce something else later on. At least, the more dedicated players like forum posters would hope so.

On the other hand, they're already selling the expansion with preorders. The largest sales for it are going to be three days ago, the holidays, and right when the expansion releases. They likely aren't going to announce anything else major for the expansion (as far as systems, things to do, changes to the factions, new races, new classes, etc) since anything else major would be a major selling point right now.

[Fyersing]

That's what you get for having crap forum made expectations.

The weird thing about people who say stuff like this, is that they're effectively suggesting that the customers (i.e. players) are better at conceptualizing mechanics and aesthetics than the actual developers are -- which is made infinitely worse by knowing that those same developers, by their own admission, spend hours and hours on the forums per week reading these community write-ups and yet, somehow, still find ways to botch everything they release.

I feel like you could basically replace Ion, as well as basically all of the team leaders (excepting the Art Team Lead), with YouTube and Twitch personalities -- it's not like their design philosophy could get worse.

[Resheph]

If they aren't dumb, they have already seen the backlash from their bland expansion reveal. Hopefully, they will patch in new class asap, to cut the losses now. But knowing the prideful Ion (whose only achievement so far is presiding over the massive retail MAU loss) they probably wouldn't do it.

Ah yes, spoken from the bubble of the MMO-champ forum where 98% haven't played WOW for 5+ years and still think their -consistently negative- opinions matter to anyone.

[mvaliz]

But on the other hand, it's still one of Blizzard's most profitable games on the market... just running it on maintainence mode until it's no longer profitable doesn't make a lot of sense.
.

That's WHY it's on maintenance mode - its down to its core players at this point, the ones who are going to stick around no matter what to mentally protect their decade+ time investment. What is smarter buisness-wise is to diversify, because WoW won't last forever - it's a slow winding down, and it's better to maintain that wind-down than to just cut it off cold-turkey or try to juice it up an aging turkey with gimmicks.