9.0 General Discussion

[Nyel]

That is incredibly unlikely. People have taken time off work and all that, not to mention that they can't delay it by any meaningfull margin to begin with without causing major internal and external issues to the point that they might be better of delaying it even further into next year; something that is even less likely. Delaying it a week or two won't fix anything.

I really don’t think Blizzard gives a damn about people taking off for their expansion launch. That alone sounds ridiculous, taking off because of a new expansion - I know people do that stuff, but why should Blizzard bother about this, in the end it’s still a decision made by people Blizzard has no control of.

As I said, it’s very unlikely, but we’re still in a very weird year. A delay of the expansion is something I wouldn’t find as surprising as most other stuff that’s happening. Likely? No. But there’s no better time than 2020 to pull it off, due to [insert reason].

[razorpax]

Meh, just feels weird that something like previous pre-patches get more time, with less stuff added. I'm fine with three weeks, I just wish we got the actual pre-patch sooner, regardless of how long it lasts. The new customization/leveling revamp is something the game desperately needs.



There is no reason to believe SL will be delayed, but it's a possibility, maybe like 1% lol.

There’s no reason to believe the prepatch was delayed

[therumblings]

There’s no reason to believe the prepatch was delayed

Read my posts. I said I did not believe the pre-patch was delayed.

I think they had multiple options with the 6th being the latest (so 1 week for new changes and 2 weeks for the event bare minimum).

[Nagawithlegs]

The game comes out in almost a month exactly, who cares?

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

I see they removed the Release Candidate.

I dunno at first it was kinda a meme that they'd delay it but something's starting to look legitimately wrong with Shadowlands with basically 0 time left to fix it without either a delay or cancelling the pre-event.

[therumblings]

I see they removed the Release Candidate.

I dunno at first it was kinda a meme that they'd delay it but something's starting to look legitimately wrong with Shadowlands with basically 0 time left to fix it without either a delay or cancelling the pre-event.

I think they had multiple dates in advance, with the 6th being the absolute latest possible. Because they have a 2 week event, and iirc give the first week to adapt to new changes before events. Thus 3 weeks bare minimum for the date. They may have removed the release candidate to not cause confusion, but tbh bothering to remove that seems like a lot of effort just for people speculating.

[Nagawithlegs]

I see they removed the Release Candidate.

I dunno at first it was kinda a meme that they'd delay it but something's starting to look legitimately wrong with Shadowlands with basically 0 time left to fix it without either a delay or cancelling the pre-event.

I’ve seen this parroted in a few places that the expansion is “wrong” but what’s the evidence? Aside from “my class isn’t as good as new shadow priest” or the classes with only one or two good covenant ability?

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

I’ve seen this parroted in a few places that the expansion is “wrong” but what’s the evidence? Aside from “my class isn’t as good as new shadow priest” or the classes with only one or two good covenant ability?

Frankly I don't know. I'm not one that subscribes to "my class isn't top of the meters thus the expansion should be delayed." Hell, I try to avoid looking at DPS rankings because it's always the most boring classes.

I think if something is wrong it's either A) Nathria balancing, or B) Some hidden bug we aren't aware of.

[Toybox]

Frankly I don't know. I'm not one that subscribes to "my class isn't top of the meters thus the expansion should be delayed." Hell, I try to avoid looking at DPS rankings because it's always the most boring classes.

I think if something is wrong it's either A) Nathria balancing, or B) Some hidden bug we aren't aware of.

How about a talent not working with a covenant ability for 2 months despite being widely reported? Every beta reset I jump onto the servers to see if they've fixed it, & I always just laugh when they haven't.

[Nagawithlegs]

Frankly I don't know. I'm not one that subscribes to "my class isn't top of the meters thus the expansion should be delayed." Hell, I try to avoid looking at DPS rankings because it's always the most boring classes.

I think if something is wrong it's either A) Nathria balancing, or B) Some hidden bug we aren't aware of.

Oh I thought you were subscribing to the “the expansion is rushed!” thing.

Like people here would rather go through US election week WITHOUT WoW to hide on.

[Nyel]

I’ve seen this parroted in a few places that the expansion is “wrong” but what’s the evidence? Aside from “my class isn’t as good as new shadow priest” or the classes with only one or two good covenant ability?

Wasn’t class design something they rated as their main priority when they revealed Shadowlands? The thing is, they haven’t don’t almost nothing to most specs in that regard. It was a commitment they never meant to live up to. As good as Shadow Priest redesign is, several other specs needed this as well and they didn’t do anything to them.

[therumblings]

Yeah I don't think Shadowlands needs to be delayed really. I mean giving it more development time would be good but blizzard is stubborn on Covenants so the only changes you would see is class changes and bug fixes, which they just hotfix into live or during prepatch. Not sure why everyone is claiming Shadowlands is the most incomplete buggy expac, but they say that for every expansion I guess.

Wasn’t class design something they rated as their main priority when they revealed Shadowlands? The thing is, they haven’t don’t almost nothing to most specs in that regard. It was a commitment they never meant to live up to. As good as Shadow Priest redesign is, several other specs needed this as well and they didn’t do anything to them.

Class redesigns come down to blizz being stubborn, 5 more months of beta wont change a thing unless they cave to fan uproar. I mean shit, just look at Hunter's Mark for example.

[Nagawithlegs]

Class redesigns come down to blizz being stubborn, 5 more months of beta wont change a thing unless they cave to fan uproar. I mean shit, just look at Hunter's Mark for example.

The Hunters Mark thing is VERY strange considering they have never once commented on it or defended it, and Hunters are the big casual class they always bend over for. Unsure what’s going on there.

[Nyel]

Yeah I don't think Shadowlands needs to be delayed really. I mean giving it more development time would be good but blizzard is stubborn on Covenants so the only changes you would see is class changes and bug fixes, which they just hotfix into live or during prepatch. Not sure why everyone is claiming Shadowlands is the most incomplete buggy expac, but they say that for every expansion I guess.



Class redesigns come down to blizz being stubborn, 5 more months of beta wont change a thing unless they cave to fan uproar. I mean shit, just look at Hunter's Mark for example.

I fully expect them to give us the stuff we required regarding Covenants in 9.1 or at the latest in 9.2 akin to Essences. Same goes with class design, those that feel bad now will get some tuning in 9.1 and the major reworks are postponed yet again until the next expansion. I mean it’s business as usual, the cycle continues.

[Kereberus]

Beta is fine, Classes are fine. SL Launch won't be delayed. Sorry the truth hurts.

[Sondrelk]

The Hunters Mark thing is VERY strange considering they have never once commented on it or defended it, and Hunters are the big casual class they always bend over for. Unsure what’s going on there.

hunter's mark is probably the thing that is the most puzzling about hunters. The class design not being great can be excuses away, but there is no way Blizzard is unaware of the widespread disdain for a 5% damage buff, and the funny thing is that there is no good reason to keep it either, the ability would likely function even better as a flavor tool if they removed it even.

- - - Updated - - -

I fully expect them to give us the stuff we required regarding Covenants in 9.1 or at the latest in 9.2 akin to Essences. Same goes with class design, those that feel bad now will get some tuning in 9.1 and the major reworks are postponed yet again until the next expansion. I mean it’s business as usual, the cycle continues.

I am not sure what more we "require" with covenants. Outside the abilities being bugged or badly tuned I cannot see what about them needs fixing like what was the case with Azerite.

I do feel we are in for some substantial class changes throughout the expansion though. MM hunters especially are on a direct collision course with a degenerate playstyle, and nothing short of a talent revamp or even rotational revamp will fix the issue.

[Dracullus]

It's your first expansion or something? SL on launch will have LOT of bugs, like every expac (and every open world game in general). We don't know how many broken stuff/bugs will have game on release, but Blizzard will pay full price for them, not you.

So why worry? It's new WoW expac after all. You like WoW, right?

[Cosmic Janitor]

I really don’t think Blizzard gives a damn about people taking off for their expansion launch. That alone sounds ridiculous, taking off because of a new expansion - I know people do that stuff, but why should Blizzard bother about this, in the end it’s still a decision made by people Blizzard has no control of.

As I said, it’s very unlikely, but we’re still in a very weird year. A delay of the expansion is something I wouldn’t find as surprising as most other stuff that’s happening. Likely? No. But there’s no better time than 2020 to pull it off, due to [insert reason].

It would be a PR disaster, it doesn't matter how bad/sad of an idea it is. They would barely gain anything by delaying it in the first place, as the window for doing so is just a 2-3 weeks tops, which wouldn't substantially change anything. Balancing and scaling will be fixed on live anyway and most of the actual bugs tend to be quest related stuff that has been reported time and time again in beta. They just need to actually fix it. The fact that they didn't send out proper invite waves for a while now and instead only hand out promo keys to streamers shows pretty much that they have all the data that they want from beta. Apparently that includes the various questing bugs, since they don't need new blood to quest through SL.

So yes, there is obviously a small chance that someone burns down Blizzard HQ and they have to delay it, but that is such an irrelevant statement at this point ..

[Nagawithlegs]

It's your first expansion or something? SL on launch will have LOT of bugs, like every expac (and every open world game in general). We don't know how many broken stuff/bugs will have game on release, but Blizzard will pay full price for them, not you.

So why worry? It's new WoW expac after all. You like WoW, right?

I think a lot of regulars are questioning if they do or not. Not like games are in a good spot in general right now though.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

Oh I thought you were subscribing to the “the expansion is rushed!” thing.

Like people here would rather go through US election week WITHOUT WoW to hide on.

Yeah nah I think it was good enough to launch on time. I just think something may have popped up at the last moment and they're scrambling.