I on Hazzikostas - there will be NO 8.3.5

[Schizoide]

Not releasing a patch for almost 1 years means....they feel fine about it...i guess?

I assume you aren't actually making that argument yourself.

[Big Thanks]

I assume you aren't actually making that argument yourself.

What do you suggest is going on here? Lack of money? Stupidity?
I assume is "intended" and "optimal" for Blizzard to do this.

[Lei]

Oh hell no, with how bad the stat squishes have played out and the ilvl squish played out that shit is going to need months and months of testing, it's going to be SO bad when alpha first launches.

I'm afraid bugs are not depending on testing time at this point. Just look at 8.3. The more they complicate game systems and try to hide stuff, the more bugs we gonna get. This has started with personal loot and it still causes issues.

I would probably resub for level squish. Not for 8.3. Yuck.

[Schizoide]

Blizzard wants to release content faster. They desperately want to avoid these content droughts. They are just not capable of doing it, after many years of trying, so now they just accept it. That doesn't mean they want players to stop giving them money.

[dragi]

They have to release it in this year, December is dead line, it's guaranteed in pre purchase clause.

[Schizoide]

Yes, it'll come out in 2020. We know from 8.3 they're happy to release without QA, so that won't be a problem.

[Zorachus]

A lot of rumors saying Shadowlands is a ways off, even in this interview Ion says sometime this year when we get the beta going.

Expansion release months have been as early as August, with most in Oct, Nov, Dec. time. So no way Shadowlands comes out any earlier than August, but most likely the typical Oct / Nov release. Which means we have 9+ months of content drought between 8.3 and Shadows. At least it's not as bad as the insane SoO patch and WoD release, which was 14 months. But 9+ months is shit still, WoW will lose tons of subs come Summer with nothing new.

[Unholyground]

So we will have a year long content drought, with no new open world content.

Well done, Ion. Well done.

How many will be still playing before the 9.0 prepatch launches? 100.000?

If you ask me, i believe Ion doses not really care. As long he has his Nyalotha raid.

You clearly do not understand how the dev team was effected by all the job cuts, don't blame Ion he literally does his best with what Activision is allowing them for resources. Research before you open your mouth.

[Big Thanks]

You clearly do not understand how the dev team was effected by all the job cuts, don't blame Ion he literally does his best with what Activision is allowing them for resources. Research before you open your mouth.

You think is a matter of lack of resources? Interesting...

I think its a matter of lack of interest by Blizzards part...because (maybe) is optimal to DONT release a new patch...and actually makes little sense to do it. (money-wise)

[Schizoide]

I think its a matter of lack of interest by Blizzards part...because (maybe) is optimal to DONT release a new patch...and actually makes little sense to do it. (money-wise)

You are not making a logical argument. You need to support it with, well, anything at all.

My feeling is they aren't making 8.3.5 because they're short on resources and need to focus on Shadowlands.

[Talrath]

Look, it doesnt matter who the dev is, its the top guys at activision that make the call. When they say that they want an expansion done in 2020 and no delaying for tweaking, then that means that the devs hands are tied. He simply tries the best thing he can do and make an expansion thats is doable to make in that short time with low workforce and low moral in the developers. He is is listening so that he wont get fired from blizz.

The lore however IS determined by the lore devs, which is why it sucks now. Both of them never have written a book, here you can blame the lore devs. In my opinion, I would hire some expert fantasy writers and keep them forever in a dungoun to write for WoW.

How would I handle things if I was Ion?? Well in the 1e year I would do whatever what activision wanted me to do, after that I wouldnt listen to them anymore and just think how I can make the game better. Be a wall to protect the WoW team against those sharks activision and make a great game, asking employers to submit ideas etc.

[Big Thanks]

You are not making a logical argument. You need to support it with, well, anything at all.

My feeling is they aren't making 8.3.5 because they're short on resources and need to focus on Shadowlands.

Its 2 things:

1) I dont believe Blizzard has "lack of reseources"....lack of TIME, yes...lack of resources...NO (IMO)

2) I made a fail thread with a study on player retention here

https://www.mmo-champion.com/threads...n-study-of-WoW

And it says "lack of content" is not the culprit of "players churning (aka leaving) from WoW"
Quote from the study (5% of entire playerbase leave every month, no matter what)

Second, it also tells us that the lifespan of patch 4.3’s content was less than six months for a lot of players. Around the release of patch 4.2, Blizzard’s CEO attributed churn to the lack of new content. Yet Blizzard did not release any new content for nine months after patch 4.3. In expansion 5.0, they released four patches with new content at intervals of roughly three months. Yet the number of subscribers still fell from 10 to 7.6 million between October 2012 and 2013. If lack of content is not to blame, what could be?
WoW’s lead game designer believes that players burn out because the game has trained them to complete quests as quickly as possible, rather than taking the time to explore the world [10].

So....maybe....i think it makes little sense for Blizzard to have more patches...because no matter what, players will leave and some players will stay

[Schizoide]

We know they fired 800 people and the QA department was heavily impacted. Then 8.3 came out as the buggiest patch since.... I actually can't remember another patch this bad, off the top of my head.

We know that major content patches lead to a rush of returning players, and we know that population drops back down again. We know that expansion releases similarly lead to a huge player spike. There is a definitive positive correlation between new content and population. That said, it's fair to say that players quit the game for many reasons, and lack of content is just one of those reasons.

[Big Thanks]

We know they fired 800 people and the QA department was heavily impacted. Then 8.3 came out as the buggiest patch since.... I actually can't remember another patch this bad, off the top of my head.

We know that major content patches lead to a rush of returning players, and we know that population drops back down again. We know that expansion releases similarly lead to a huge player spike. There is a definitive positive correlation between new content and population. That said, it's fair to say that players quit the game for many reasons, and lack of content is just one of those reasons.

From the study's quote.

Blizzard CEO first blamed the "churn" (players leaving) for the lack of new patches.
And on patch 5.0 they tried patches every 3 months...and 2.5 MILLION players still left...
So the study arrived to the conclusion that "lack of content" is not to blame...or is the biggest factor.

[Schizoide]

What that proved was feeding content to players in small chunks gated by time was ineffective at improving retention. Large patches are a better strategy.

[FelPlague]

We know they fired 800 people and the QA department was heavily impacted. Then 8.3 came out as the buggiest patch since.... I actually can't remember another patch this bad, off the top of my head.

We know that major content patches lead to a rush of returning players, and we know that population drops back down again. We know that expansion releases similarly lead to a huge player spike. There is a definitive positive correlation between new content and population. That said, it's fair to say that players quit the game for many reasons, and lack of content is just one of those reasons.

the 800 were fired almost a year ago my dude... that has nothing to do with 8.3
if they were to effect anything it woulda been 8.2 and 8.2.5

[Schizoide]

the 800 were fired almost a year ago my dude... that has nothing to do with 8.3
if they were to effect anything it woulda been 8.2 and 8.2.5

No. They had X people, now they have X - 800 people. It affected everything in development during and after that period.

[FelPlague]

No. They had X people, now they have X - 800 people. It affected everything in development during and after that period.

I blame this on the 600 people mike morhaime fired back in 2012, at that effected everything then and after.
mike morhaime is the worst.

[wombinator04]

I blame this on china

[mikewatson]

If Shadowlands arrives in August-September, that's 7 or 8 months of 8.3 - whether or not that's acceptable depends on how fun the 8.3 stuff is over the long haul.

Though, I suppose this puts the lid on any extra allied races, at least for this expansion.

"Over 9000" Spam posts yes. everyone can have even 100k...