Im worried about how the launch will be

[Spoonman]

This maybe counts as Spoilers, just a heads up

Shadowlands questing from 50 to 60 is probably most linear questing experience that WoW has ever had
This linear experience only has to be done once as after you have completed on a char your other alts can make a choice to freely go thru shadowlands how they want

It still means that everyone who starts playing on launch will have to go thru the exact same zones in the same order

Legion for example started out with everyone getting to new dalaran - > seperated into artifact weapon quests - > seperated into leveling zones

BFA had 2 scenarios - > Seperated into leveling zones

In Shadowlands it will be, Everyone into a intro zone experience that is not a scenario - > Everyone to the new city -> Everyone to the same starting zone and the exact same quest path to follow to 60

Can Sharding really carry this?

Were basicaly going back to pre Legion launches which I doesnt recall was any good at all
I have a bad feeling about this

[FelPlague]

This maybe counts as Spoilers, just a heads up

Shadowlands questing from 50 to 60 is probably most linear questing experience that WoW has ever had
This linear experience only has to be done once as after you have completed on a char your other alts can make a choice to freely go thru shadowlands how they want

It still means that everyone who starts playing on launch will have to go thru the exact same zones in the same order

Legion for example started out with everyone getting to new dalaran - > seperated into artifact weapon quests - > seperated into leveling zones

BFA had 2 scenarios - > Seperated into leveling zones

In Shadowlands it will be, Everyone into a intro zone experience that is not a scenario - > Everyone to the new city -> Everyone to the same starting zone and the exact same quest path to follow to 60

Can Sharding really carry this?

Were basicaly going back to pre Legion launches which I doesnt recall was any good at all
I have a bad feeling about this

I love how you use the last 2 expansions which have been scaled and say "Its the most linear ever" no, its returning to not-scaling, which makes it as linear as every expansion before it.
in wod you did your starting zone, then you did talador, then you did gorgrond, then you did spires, then you did nagrand
cata you did vash or hyjal, but then you did deepholm, then uldum, then twilight highlands
wotlk you did borean or howling, then you did dragon, then zul, then sholzar, then storm, then icecrown
tbc you did hellfire then zangar then terokar, then nagrand then blades, then nether, then shadow
vanilla was the only one that was really "non liner" that was also not level scaled.



So yes, if you compare shadowlands linerairty to 2 prior expansions which had level scaling, then yes its far less... but thats only the last 2 expacs.

[Spoonman]

I love how you use the last 2 expansions which have been scaled and say "Its the most linear ever" no, its returning to not-scaling, which makes it as linear as every expansion before it.
in wod you did your starting zone, then you did talador, then you did gorgrond, then you did spires, then you did nagrand
cata you did vash or hyjal, but then you did deepholm, then uldum, then twilight highlands
wotlk you did borean or howling, then you did dragon, then zul, then sholzar, then storm, then icecrown
tbc you did hellfire then zangar then terokar, then nagrand then blades, then nether, then shadow
vanilla was the only one that was really "non liner" that was also not level scaled.



So yes, if you compare shadowlands linerairty to 2 prior expansions which had level scaling, then yes its far less... but thats only the last 2 expacs.

I dont complain its linear, I complain that I dont think Blizzards systems will be able to handle it. There is a reason Legion was the most smooth launch ever

Why intentionally create a launch with a lot of crashes when you know how to create one that doesnt have those problems?

Also note the word Probably as in "probably the most". The difference between shadowlands and WoD is that even tho both are linear there arent any free questing at all in Shadowlands since if you get to 60 without having finished the campaign youre f**ked. This will only increase the chances that everyone will always go together

[shoc]

Sharding will carry it.

[Gaidax]

You have three scenarios:

1. Launch will be terribad, servers will melt, our characters will be stuck in nowhere - WoD style bug and we will be sitting in the zones fighting over 3 mobs in the zone blocking mandatory quest to gather 5 rat tails.
2. Launch will be mostly fine, but there might be congested areas or mandatory gather quests that will take way more time than they should.
3. Launch will be clean and everyone is happy.

If you ask me - it will be (2) and there is little "worrying" can do about it.

If you are still so pressured, you can do one simple thing - wait 2-3 days, you can bet after 2-3 days much of the initial mad rush will subside and whatever broken quests or showstopper bugs during leveling will be hotfixed or at least workaround will be found.

So worst case, sky falling, scenario - 3 out of ~700 days this expansion will last are lost. Man, expansion ruined there, no way to catch up from such a setback.

[Mafic]

This maybe counts as Spoilers, just a heads up

Shadowlands questing from 50 to 60 is probably most linear questing experience that WoW has ever had
This linear experience only has to be done once as after you have completed on a char your other alts can make a choice to freely go thru shadowlands how they want

It still means that everyone who starts playing on launch will have to go thru the exact same zones in the same order

Legion for example started out with everyone getting to new dalaran - > seperated into artifact weapon quests - > seperated into leveling zones

BFA had 2 scenarios - > Seperated into leveling zones

In Shadowlands it will be, Everyone into a intro zone experience that is not a scenario - > Everyone to the new city -> Everyone to the same starting zone and the exact same quest path to follow to 60

Can Sharding really carry this?

Were basicaly going back to pre Legion launches which I doesnt recall was any good at all
I have a bad feeling about this

Yeppers.

Remember BC launch?

Worst part is that there are more bottlenecks in systemlands quests than BC which is unbelievable.

[FelPlague]

I dont complain its linear, I complain that I dont think Blizzards systems will be able to handle it. There is a reason Legion was the most smooth launch ever

Why intentionally create a launch with a lot of crashes when you know how to create one that doesnt have those problems?

Also note the word Probably as in "probably the most". The difference between shadowlands and WoD is that even tho both are linear there arent any free questing at all in Shadowlands since if you get to 60 without having finished the campaign youre f**ked. This will only increase the chances that everyone will always go together

Sharding will fix it.
People will be put into the maw, do the intro which will seperate players quite a bit, then they are sent to oribos, allowing players to seperate by those who go right to the quest, to those who do extra stuff like set hearth and profession stuff, then same with bastion, many of the first quests seperate players out quite a bit by letting them sit and listen to talk, or rush the quests.


They are not creating a launch with lots of crashes, cause they have sharding, simple as that.

- - - Updated - - -

Yeppers.

Remember BC launch?

Worst part is that there are more bottlenecks in systemlands quests than BC which is unbelievable.

and guess what, they didnt have sharding in bc.

[Onikaroshi]

I don't expect launch to be flawless, but I don't expect the servers to light on fire either.

[Pebrocks The Warlock]

I still remember everyone being stuck at MoP's opening while on the flying copter since all the kill targets die instantly. Fun times.

[Culex]

This maybe counts as Spoilers, just a heads up

Shadowlands questing from 50 to 60 is probably most linear questing experience that WoW has ever had
This linear experience only has to be done once as after you have completed on a char your other alts can make a choice to freely go thru shadowlands how they want

It still means that everyone who starts playing on launch will have to go thru the exact same zones in the same order

Legion for example started out with everyone getting to new dalaran - > seperated into artifact weapon quests - > seperated into leveling zones

BFA had 2 scenarios - > Seperated into leveling zones

In Shadowlands it will be, Everyone into a intro zone experience that is not a scenario - > Everyone to the new city -> Everyone to the same starting zone and the exact same quest path to follow to 60

Can Sharding really carry this?

Were basicaly going back to pre Legion launches which I doesnt recall was any good at all
I have a bad feeling about this

You should be worried they don't have a good release track record.

[tmamass]

Worst part is that there are more bottlenecks in systemlands quests than BC which is unbelievable.

Sharding + World PvP = Lags + Bottlenecks quests, so yes it will be a mess the first few days.

[Ashelía]

If it happens it happens, after being online at every launch since initial back in 2005 it will come as a no surprise if its laggy on launch its to be expected sure I might get annoyed and abit pissed if I'm online and nothing works but its no reason to worry servers will catch up and you will be able to play usally pretty fast. And If I ding 60 during day 1 or 3 doesnt really matter I got two years in the expansion too look forward to if the levling takes me an extra day or so due to lagg so be it.

There is no reason to worry about not being able to play, I worry more about if classes will be tuned well and how fun the overall experience in Shadowlands will be when it comes to actually being able to play and level thats something that will work for sure even if there may be some problems along the way.

As far as the expansion goes and how linear it is I don't mind that if its because of the storyline it needs to be like it, and people will spread out due to some levling faster and slower so the worst time is probably right after launch but they usally fix the worst problems within hours and your able to play quite well even if not perfect.

[HitRefresh]

This maybe counts as Spoilers, just a heads up

Shadowlands questing from 50 to 60 is probably most linear questing experience that WoW has ever had
This linear experience only has to be done once as after you have completed on a char your other alts can make a choice to freely go thru shadowlands how they want

It still means that everyone who starts playing on launch will have to go thru the exact same zones in the same order

Legion for example started out with everyone getting to new dalaran - > seperated into artifact weapon quests - > seperated into leveling zones

BFA had 2 scenarios - > Seperated into leveling zones

In Shadowlands it will be, Everyone into a intro zone experience that is not a scenario - > Everyone to the new city -> Everyone to the same starting zone and the exact same quest path to follow to 60

Can Sharding really carry this?

Were basicaly going back to pre Legion launches which I doesnt recall was any good at all
I have a bad feeling about this

Yes that is the purpose of sharding.

[Super Kami Dende]

I generally skip the first few days anyway, like most People I play WoW with. Mostly because I'm in no rush and don't see the point in needing to suffer through the queues and shit for at what amounts to a few hours at best of progress.

[Swnem]

There is really no use worrying. The devs are the ones that should have worried about it and can do something about it.

Regardless the game will come out and what happens, happens. There is nothing within our power to prevent it.

[Dracullus]

You should be worried they don't have a good release track record.

Last 'bad' release was 2014 and WoD.

[Nevcairiel]

The current version of dynamic sharding was only implemented after the WoD launch (in fact, within a few days of the launch to help solve the stability problems plagueing that launch). No launch since then was really problematic server-load wise.

Don't forget that eventhough BfA had free zone choice, at least on Alliance it had a mandatory introduction first that everyone had to go through. That part was still just fine here.

[orsraunia]

I've played on every expansion launch (next morning, not after midnight) and the only time I had serious issues (nasty lag) was once, on WoD iirc. They said (and I believe them on this) that it was because they had underestimated the number of people returning to the game, since the number of people buying the game on launch day was a lot bigger than what they were expecting based on pre-orders. It was fixed after 1-2d...

So, I believe that if we experience issues, it will be mostly because of this and not because of same starting zone. Thus, if you know you are going to play and want to help all of us avoid this, pre-order, like I did. Because two things remain the same after WotLK, at least as far as I am concerned. One is that I am playing WoW at every expansion launch and the second that I quit after 2-3 months. Only Legion I played for like 6-8mo...

Ofc that's my personal experience, I get it that experiences may vary.

[tamarin]

this sounds promising, can't wait to spend hours on release day ganking people so obsessed with leveling that they won't even help each other

[Nyel]

I love how you use the last 2 expansions which have been scaled and say "Its the most linear ever" no, its returning to not-scaling, which makes it as linear as every expansion before it.
in wod you did your starting zone, then you did talador, then you did gorgrond, then you did spires, then you did nagrand
cata you did vash or hyjal, but then you did deepholm, then uldum, then twilight highlands
wotlk you did borean or howling, then you did dragon, then zul, then sholzar, then storm, then icecrown
tbc you did hellfire then zangar then terokar, then nagrand then blades, then nether, then shadow
vanilla was the only one that was really "non liner" that was also not level scaled.



So yes, if you compare shadowlands linerairty to 2 prior expansions which had level scaling, then yes its far less... but thats only the last 2 expacs.

Every expansion at least offered you in most cases two different zones you could go to. Shadowlands... doesn't.

WoD: Frostfire / Shadowmoon -> Gorgrond / Talador -> Spires / Nagrand
MoP: Jade Forest -> Valley / Krasarang -> Kunlai / Tonlong -> Dread Wastes
Cataclysm was more like: Vashjr / Hyjal -> Deepholme -> Uldum / Twilight Highlands
WotLK: Tundra / Fjord -> Blight / Grizzly Hills -> Sholazar / Zuldrak -> Icecrown / Stormpeak
TBC: Hellfire (you could even start in Zangarmarsh) -> Terrokar -> Nagrand / Blades -> Netherstorm / Shadowmoon

In most expansions you always had the choice of two zones you could go into. BfA and Legion offered less zones overall but they had scaling, so you had 3 or 4 options all the time available. Shadowlands forces you to go a specific route, doing zone after zone. On top of that, it only has four zones overall (plus the Maw) which brings it to Legion levels of zones minus scaling.