Dragonflight Alpha/Beta General Discussion

[TheFirstOnes]

Phase 3 takes place on the Arbiter's platform, a location that all players have been before during the leveling campaign quests! However, the skybox appears to be very different this time.

Surprise surprise, how unexpected!

Damn bro...

Almost like everyone knew this.

[Revamp Man]

It wouldn't, but the problem is that 9.3 would already be past that stage now, as would 10.0. It's simply to late to do that. What you seem to miss is that at this point, both are already in active development.

Conveyor belt fits well, but you're forgetting that when a piece moves to the next station, the previous one starts working on the next piece already. They don't just sit around and idle.



No, they can't. You cannot accelerate a project by adding more people to it, especially when it is already late. Dropping 9.3 might make 10.1 come sooner, but at this point, it's to late to shore up 10.0.

blizz even came out years ago and said that legion was being worked on when 6.1 hit i think
i know that theres some mention of them saying WoD and legion were being developed side by side

the people who think "well if they just take the people who would be working on 9.3 and toss them at 10.0 it will speed it up" dont stop to think that making the background systems work and lets say something as simple as the art assets isnt as simple as that because they have to play catch up with the 10.0 team which slows everyone down heck it was an argument back when we were told "the WoW team is bigger than ever" that the reason content was so slow was because they had to train the new guys.

[Nyel]

i already showed a way it can work
you simply have the patches last about 7 months each
also the argument that patches generate no revenue is wrong because the patches get more subs and more token sales for the new crafted gear

the argument isnt patch OR expansion in terms of what they can produce
its patch plus expansion OR expansion only

we also have no clue about the wrath launch schedule or anything like that beyond educated guesses based on the past which is what is being used to estimate the 9.3 launch but you argue that it wont happen

You showed it, but your schedule simply doesn't work on a management / financial basis - theoretically yes, why not. But in reality? Oof. You're delaying the expansion release for almost a year, you really think Blizzard is going to pass on $300 million (that's usually the additional revenue in expansion release quarters) and just have it 6-12 months later? Anyone who thinks this must be joking.

And we pretty much know exactly when the WotLK Classic launch will happen: in Q1/Q2 2023. They shortened Classic to 22 months, TBC originally lasted 22 months as well. So the release window for WotLK is around March/April 2023, as I already said.

Having no 9.3 will undoubtly accelerate the production of 10.0. I don't say 10.0 will magically come 6 months earlier, but more manpower means they get more things done faster. Wasting resources on a potential 9.3 will inevitably delay the release of 10.0 (as if the release schedule for a 9.2 + 9.3 wouldn't do that already). Shadowlands will either be similar to WoD's schedule or we're going to have an awfully long Shadowlands dragging retail down for two more years and bleeding a massive amount of subs / MAUs (as we've seen in the last year, during the pandemic Blizzard lost a considerable amount of players where others gained massive amounts of new ones).

I mean, we don't know it really. I have no clue as has no one else here. I guess later this year we'll know the future of Shadowlands and how it's going to end (pretty sure Ion will step out and directly say that 9.2 is the last patch if it indeed is, like they did with 6.2).

[Revamp Man]

You showed it, but your schedule simply doesn't work on a management / financial basis - theoretically yes, why not. But in reality? Oof. You're delaying the expansion release for almost a year, you really think Blizzard is going to pass on $300 million (that's usually the additional revenue in expansion release quarters) and just have it 6-12 months later? Anyone who thinks this must be joking.

And we pretty much know exactly when the WotLK Classic launch will happen: in Q1/Q2 2023. They shortened Classic to 22 months, TBC originally lasted 22 months as well. So the release window for WotLK is around March/April 2023, as I already said.

Having no 9.3 will undoubtly accelerate the production of 10.0. I don't say 10.0 will magically come 6 months earlier, but more manpower means they get more things done faster. Wasting resources on a potential 9.3 will inevitably delay the release of 10.0 (as if the release schedule for a 9.2 + 9.3 wouldn't do that already). Shadowlands will either be similar to WoD's schedule or we're going to have an awfully long Shadowlands dragging retail down for two more years and bleeding a massive amount of subs / MAUs (as we've seen in the last year, during the pandemic Blizzard lost a considerable amount of players where others gained massive amounts of new ones).

I mean, we don't know it really. I have no clue as has no one else here. I guess later this year we'll know the future of Shadowlands and how it's going to end (pretty sure Ion will step out and directly say that 9.2 is the last patch if it indeed is, like they did with 6.2).

Even the mau argument doesn’t work

You have a super long 9.2 where you’ll lose subs half way through this lose more mau count over the patch release Which bumps the number up

Also classic experienced delays just like every other game recently unless we assume the naxx release was at the scheduled time and untouched.

If we go by what blizz has done in the past then 10.0 is already being worked on.

So from a management and financial perspective stringing players along for an extra couple shareholder meetings and then dropping the game a few months before the holiday season and then the first patch during the holidays makes more sense than losing players and revenue to rush a game especially when they already learned that lesson.

9.1 launch in 3 weeks
9.2 launch in February
9.3 launch in September
10.0 launch in August

This gives the expansion a lifetime of 32 months which is only 5 months more than the BfA to SL release where only the tail end was effected by the pandemic changes which was a big deal according to the devs and means that current content development is still being effected.

People talk about being ok with waiting for a better game but then they convince themselves that the game will launch super fast

Is a lack of 9.3 possible??? No more than a lack of 8.3

- - - Updated - - -

Again this is no different than “oh there’s no 8.3 coming here look at my proof”

Until blizz says something this is just pessimism for the sake of it

[Falkeshall]

I mean, we don't know it really. I have no clue as has no one else here.

Took almost 150 pages for someone to say it.

[Revamp Man]

So lothraxion based on his dialogue in legion is either
A: getting a retcon
B: dirty dirty traitor boy

Also the recent Sylvanas story just kinda kills that character for me even more....like I already didn’t like her because her motives and actions were as unstable as the fans she has but now they are removing the possibility that at one point she was doing good for the forsaken.

If they end up saying each time she died another piece of her soul was taken to the maw and that’s why she’s becoming emotionless (unless she hears the word “hope” which then causes her to blow something up) I feel like Danuser needs to stop watching Crunchyroll and that next expansion is going to be an ancient war with demons

[huth]

You showed it, but your schedule simply doesn't work on a management / financial basis - theoretically yes, why not. But in reality? Oof. You're delaying the expansion release for almost a year, you really think Blizzard is going to pass on $300 million (that's usually the additional revenue in expansion release quarters) and just have it 6-12 months later? Anyone who thinks this must be joking.

That's entirely based on your assumptions, not on any actual factual information. Just as it has been since the beginning of this thread. You keep passing of your personal opinion as fact and get angry people aren't just eating it up.

Especially with your magic thinking that no 9.3 would somehow cause 10.0 to happen faster despite all we know about project development saying the opposite. No 9.3 would to the best of our knowledge simply make the wait after 9.2 longer and not affect anything else in a meaningful way.

[TomatoBisque]

Until blizz says something this is just pessimism for the sake of it

every post by nyel ever

[Nyel]

Until blizz says something this is just pessimism for the sake of it

It's pessimism to expect the next expansion on the usual schedule and not one f* year later? Okay. I'm not pessimistic, I'm optimistic. Everyone who wants Shadowlands for almost three whole years and 10.0 delayed until mid or even late 2023 is pessimistic here.

I want my expansion releases on schedule as they're the peak of retail. I don't care about most content patches unless they're great and there hasn't been a great content patch for a very long time now (due to different reasons).

[Revamp Man]

It's pessimism to expect the next expansion on the usual schedule and not one f* year later? Okay. I'm not pessimistic, I'm optimistic. Everyone who wants Shadowlands for almost three whole years and 10.0 delayed until mid or even late 2023 is pessimistic here.

I want my expansion releases on schedule as they're the peak of retail. I don't care about most content patches unless they're great and there hasn't been a great content patch for a very long time now (due to different reasons).

The usual schedule went out the window the moment SL testing was delayed and again when the launch was delayed

You are essentially the supervisor at a factory expecting the original deadline to be met after the factory shut down for 3 months because of a fire. It likely won’t happen and if it did it would be rushed and crap quality.

If we have new content then I’m ok with a longer expansion

[TheFirstOnes]

Y’all need to calm down with this. We literally don’t even know when 9.1 releases yet.

[Kereberus]

Still think 10.0 is a new designed world?

[therumblings]

Still think 10.0 is a new designed world?

With the absolute state the team is in, probably not, but part of me hopes they have been diverting resources on a revamp for a few years now.

[Tiwack]

Still think 10.0 is a new designed world?

Who can say, imo it'd be cool to see all of azeroth for instance cast in shadow from the void invading and reshaping the world.

[Dracullus]

They cannot delay 10.0 until early 2023.

That is dogma in your thinking that makes 9.3 for you almost impossible (cause yeah, releasing 9.3 and 10.0 in 2022 is almost impossible). But answer this questions:

1. What's more important (for money people in Acti-Blizz): year of expac release or time gap between expansion?
2. Does WoW sales/hype around it suffer when it doesn't release in hot time before Christmas? Or rather it's similar no matter it's August or November?
3. It's possible for SL (with 9.3) to be same or, hell, shorter than BfA? Would that be even hard?

These question are not to prove/disprove 9.3, but to show you that "they CANNOT delay 10.0 until 2023" is nonsense.

Still think 10.0 is a new designed world?

At some point I believed 10.0 is revamp, but more I think about it, less it makes sense. We are for sure going towards some big Light vs. Void expansion and Azeroth awakening, Legion style "end of the world" expansion. Think about it - BfA is similar to MoP (duh) and SL is similar to WoD (external threat, we're going to alien world to stop enemy before he reach us).

That collide with revamp. Revamped EK/Kalmidor should be more pristine, after story reset, some time jump. On reveal WORLD must be most important thing, not crazy Turalyon and Yrel.

As for 10.0, well, Dragon Isles are obvious for Legion style expansion. We don't really have more big Azeroth places hinted in lore (as I said in some previous post, they can invent anything, but it has to be mentioned before in lore to not feel as alien place), Tel'Abim wouldn't really fit.

[Cosmic Janitor]

Still think 10.0 is a new designed world?

New designed as in a new place to visit or revamping Azeroth? I think the later was never really more than people hoping for it and currently Blizzard's plans are hardly clear.

[Sondrelk]

New designed as in a new place to visit or revamping Azeroth? I think the later was never really more than people hoping for it and currently Blizzard's plans are hardly clear.

There is more to a potential world revamp than a lot of people wanting it. For one there are loads of stories that are either ongoing or hinted at specifically for EK and Kalimdor, like whatever happened to the Botani that escaped with teh Mag'har, or the ongoing question of Forsaken and Human Lordaeron refugees and who will end up in those lands.

Secondly and perhaps more importantly there is a finite amount of potential expansion continents that have been seeded enough to warrant a full expansion. And while it is in theory possible to seed new areas indefinitely you would eventually have to go back to the Azeroth players know to reground them in the narrative, otherwise the story just becomes increasingly nonsensical.

[Varodoc]

They're not going to revamp Azeroth. They literally just added a new starting zone for all races. It would be stupid to then revamp Elwynn Forest, Dun Morogh, etc. literally in the following expansion. At best you'll get single zone revamps like Arathi Highlands, Darkshore, Tirisfal Glades, Teldrassil, Silithus.

[Hellspawn]

They're not going to revamp Azeroth. They literally just added a new starting zone for all races. It would be stupid to then revamp Elwynn Forest, Dun Morogh, etc. literally in the following expansion. At best you'll get single zone revamps like Arathi Highlands, Darkshore, Tirisfal Glades, Teldrassil, Silithus.

I think this just points towards that in a world revamp, lv 1-10 zones are less likely to be revamped or are changed to higher-level zones. But exiles reach could be also just a band-aid waiting for a proper solution (but I think that's very unlikely).

We don't even know how leveling after SL will work...
Will it be
10-50 old expansions
50-60 SL
60-70 new zones

or

10-60 old expansion... default SL (or still BFA?)
60-70 new expac

[BaumanKing]

They should at least update Orgrimmar and Stormwind.