shadowlands prepatch event could hit new record unless delayed also

[Krakan]

I find it a bit silly that they are not implementing the catch up gear on prepatch. I can understand holding back the zombie invasion as that would grow tiresome but why not break out the rares and event bosses?

Everything is being massively nerfed let players run wild I say.

[Amsden]

You do realize the game in general released on Nov 23rd, 2004. Right before Thanksgiving. Not unheard of that they do it again.

Sure, they could, but they won't.

[Revamp Man]

You think they're going to release the expansion 2 days before a major American holiday? Really?

yep launch at midnight then wednesday critical bug fixes

[bledgor]

I mean it is also a prepatch after allied races with a revamped leveling system, more time is perfectly fine.

[Gestopft]

I've got 36 specs to fit in new key binds on and get used to; the pre-patch could go to December 28 for all I care.

[Astrasen]

Yeah not happening they wont delay

just noticed that a i am downloading a 21GB in the background downloader

[Cosmic Janitor]

I find it a bit silly that they are not implementing the catch up gear on prepatch. I can understand holding back the zombie invasion as that would grow tiresome but why not break out the rares and event bosses?

Everything is being massively nerfed let players run wild I say.

Since it will be quite a bit of farming they should at least let you have as much time as possible to get all the transmog imho. Holding that back just wastes time :/.

[Malefic]

The scourge event isn't in the pre-patch, the event will be released later on closer to actual release. When the pre-patch goes live on 13th it will be everything except for the event, the event will then go live 2-3 weeks before Shadowlands actually does.

Which kind of confirms this isn't going to just be a 2-3 week delay, because if it was they would just give us a date, and/or make the event go live and people live with it for the full period of time.

The pre-patch was fully intended to go live on September 29th I'm pretty sure, the week leading up to that is when the delay was internally locked in. As a result players were likely looking at 4 weeks of the scourge event, if the scourge event is now not going live with the pre-patch on October 13th, we can infer that the pre-patch will then be longer than 4 weeks, if you're only going to make it say a week longer or 2, I don't think you make a big deal about the event itself coming later on, and you also likely give a date.

December 8th or 15th with the raid releasing in January, I said it back in mid-early August and got flamed to shit on the forums here because I ended up being wrong, even then I was adamant October 27th was too early and the game wouldn't be ready.

Fun fact, here's a timeline that Blizzard could utilize that makes sense from a business perspective:


Pre-patch October 13th, this encourages people to re-sub for pre patch.
Pre-launch event November 10th, this encourages people to remain subbed.
Shadowlands launch December 8th, this encourages people to remain subbed.
Raid launch January 5th, this encourages people to remain subbed.

[aceperson]

what's the difference between 4 more weeks of nothing new and 4 more weeks or something slightly new? not much. i'd rather take the prepatch over nothing.

[Nyel]

november 24th

they are more likely to delay the raid release

All the drama for a simple 4 week delay of Shadowlands wouldn’t make much sense imho. They bought themselves time, why not use it to the maximum, aka launch mid December (8th or 15th)?

[Revamp Man]

All the drama for a simple 4 week delay of Shadowlands wouldn’t make much sense imho. They bought themselves time, why not use it to the maximum, aka launch mid December (8th or 15th)?

because they cant leave it for too long even just a 4 week delay can be a pretty big deal considering we get a weekly build with changes
24th release gives
get the classes working and get the numbers close to right
release a month late making prepatch 6 weeks and matching up with book release
this gives time for bug fixes before workers go off for the holidays since all launches have bugs for a few weeks including raid release
also delaying the raid this long allows them to fix the big problems they are facing with some bosses

maybe they will release on the 1st
this allows about 3 weeks for bug fixes before holidays
7 week prepatch which is....eh
an extra week for polish and GETTING MASSACRE TO WORK!!!!


mid december seems iffy but thats just for me because we are in the weird holiday time of year where its one after another

[Eurhetemec]

The OP's idea that people will be mad is the prepatch isn't delayed is truly fantastic and just flies in the face of all evidence/experience of WoW history. It really sounds like "I would personally gain some benefit if the prepatch was delayed so I will make an obviously nonsensical argument but everyone will agree and it will happen! Mwahaha!"-type silly business.

The prepatch will also bring an event, so that together with the new systems means that people are going to be keen to have it, and will certainly survive it.

Date-wise, I doubt even Blizzard know right now. I suspect people wanting a month's warning to book holiday may well be disappointed. I mean, I hope not, but I think it's quite likely Blizzard won't decide on late November, December, or even Jan until they see how well they've progressed on finishing and polishing stuff.

[Malefic]

because they cant leave it for too long even just a 4 week delay can be a pretty big deal considering we get a weekly build with changes
24th release gives
get the classes working and get the numbers close to right
release a month late making prepatch 6 weeks and matching up with book release
this gives time for bug fixes before workers go off for the holidays since all launches have bugs for a few weeks including raid release
also delaying the raid this long allows them to fix the big problems they are facing with some bosses

maybe they will release on the 1st
this allows about 3 weeks for bug fixes before holidays
7 week prepatch which is....eh
an extra week for polish and GETTING MASSACRE TO WORK!!!!


mid december seems iffy but thats just for me because we are in the weird holiday time of year where its one after another

The issue is November 24th doesn't work for raid release. Also you're talking about getting the numbers close to right I think you're missing some of the most glaring issues with Shadowlands which is the fact many endgame systems have major flaws, which is why the announcement says "...and iterate on some interlocking pieces—particularly those related to the endgame".

The Maw needs massively addressing as well as the Stygia design. Mythic+ needs addressing due to the way gearing works now. PvP Scaling honestly should just flat out be scraped. Renown and the way it interacts with Soulbinds needs reconsidering.


If the only concern was balance, I assure you Blizzard wouldn't have delayed the expansion, they would have released it and tweaked the numbers in pre-patch and the lead up to the raid (like they always do). Balance is a challenge on test realms because you have so few people relative to the live game participating. It's why Blizzard make changes in the week leading up to Mythic week for raids.

The delay has to be systems related, and systems changes take multiple weeks to see the affects of. At this point I think Shadowlands not even coming out this year is more likely than a 4 week or less delay.

[Revamp Man]

The issue is November 24th doesn't work for raid release. Also you're talking about getting the numbers close to right I think you're missing some of the most glaring issues with Shadowlands which is the fact many endgame systems have major flaws, which is why the announcement says "...and iterate on some interlocking pieces—particularly those related to the endgame".

The Maw needs massively addressing as well as the Stygia design. Mythic+ needs addressing due to the way gearing works now. PvP Scaling honestly should just flat out be scraped. Renown and the way it interacts with Soulbinds needs reconsidering.


If the only concern was balance, I assure you Blizzard wouldn't have delayed the expansion, they would have released it and tweaked the numbers in pre-patch and the lead up to the raid (like they always do). Balance is a challenge on test realms because you have so few people relative to the live game participating. It's why Blizzard make changes in the week leading up to Mythic week for raids.

The delay has to be systems related, and systems changes take multiple weeks to see the affects of. At this point I think Shadowlands not even coming out this year is more likely than a 4 week or less delay.

increase stygia drops
add events similar to the nzoth invasions
BOOM maw fixed

ive never said its just balance because no matter the numbers tuning if an ability doesnt work then it gives 0 numbers
the soulbinds arent tuning knobs because of how they effect every spec
covenant abilities are being changed and reworked just like bosses in raids and dungeons
quests are bugged
the renown system with soulbinds is imo fine to an extent because you will never have balanced trees

the 24th as a release or even the 2nd will allow them enough time to fix the bugs that appear on live and give them enough breathing room for raid to be released in january AND allow the players to have power gain that isnt too much unlike previous expansions. So having a 6 week prepatch and 6 weeks of live before a raid release is fine since you will always have something to do and renown on raid week will allow the players to have the third soulbind unlocked.

the covenant abilities are...can we just agree that entire intertwined system is whats fucking them really hard right now??

[Mafic]

Length of prepatch isn't a deal breaker. I know more people excited about prepatch than the current expansion. My subjective opinion is that prepatch addresses core problems with the game. While the expansion is something new for those players that want to get away from BFA.

It is as simple as that!

[Hey There Guys its Metro]

Wut? The longer the prepatch the better.
What's the "tolerate?"

You think people would rather another day closer to 1 year of Season 4 BFA?

[dcc626]

Wut? The longer the prepatch the better.
What's the "tolerate?"

You think people would rather another day closer to 1 year of Season 4 BFA?

SoO...never forget.

[Revamp Man]

Wut? The longer the prepatch the better.
What's the "tolerate?"

You think people would rather another day closer to 1 year of Season 4 BFA?

the longer its out the more people bitch about the craziness that happens as a result of the game no longer being set in the world of balanced at 50

6-8 weeks is perfectly fine

[Yizu]

Theres nothing to do now anyway lol

[pinkz]

You do realize the game in general released on Nov 23rd, 2004. Right before Thanksgiving. Not unheard of that they do it again.

they also released
- TBC on Jan 2007.
- WOTLK on Nov 2008
- CATA on Dec 2010
- MOP on Sept 2012
- WOD on Nov 2014
- Legion on Aug 2016
- BFA on Aug 2018

SL they should release jan/feb 2021