So, it's probably safe to assume there's not going to be any more WoW content in 2021

[Lolites]

.

People often make the mistake of saying "I paid $15 a month for this", when they should be saying how much they spent TOTAL.

9.1 cost players $135. Use that to decide if it's value for money.

how did you calculate how much you paid via monthly sub for something that you have no idea how much will take?

bcs if you count number of months of 9.0, you are simply wrong...
you dont pay in advance, or for future content, you pay for realm access, so only logical way to count how much 9.1 "cost players" (which in itself is ridiculous but ill humor you) would be number of months between 9.1 and next patch multiplied by monthly sub (actualy variant for long sub should be used if you play constantly) plus part of game cost (probably third, as its reasonable to assume we dont get 9.3)

[Ivarr]

Yea... sure... nobody is working on wow... Where do they thing their pay check comes from?

From mounts.

[SunspotAnims]

My prediction on the Shadowlands timeline is something like:

-9.1.5 relatively soon. People must've forgotten that .5 patches come out pretty darn quickly. I expect it sometime in September, maybe early October.
-9.2 will be out within 1–2 months of whenever the next Blizzconline takes place. Let's assume February 2022 since it was in February this year. That means 9.2 could be anywhere from December to April. It's a big range but I still have no idea if the time 9.1 took was a one-off or not, so it's a safe range.
-10.0 announcement at Blizzconline, so again likely February
-10.0 release late 2022 or early 2023

Yeah I'm of the inclination that the devs are going to pull a WoD and end Shadowlands early to get to the next expansion sooner. I don't actually think Shadowlands was as hollow as WoD to deserve that fate but starting with the delayed release to everything else it just seemed like the deck was constantly stacked against it, so I wouldn't blame them to just take the loss and move on to 10.0.

In regards to the original conceit of the thread, 9.1.5 will for sure come out this year but who knows what content it may or may not have. I think 9.2 is still on the table for a 2021 release but I don't think it's a given at this point.

[McNeil]

Surely we will be getting more mounts and pets



...... from the store

[kranur]

The only thing safe to assume is that we don't know what their release plans are.

Also, scandal or not, people can't just refuse to do their work lol, unless they really want to become unemployed.

[Thage]

Given how long it took 9.1 to launch, and I've read several sources saying there is no work being done on WoW right now, I'm guessing it's a safe assumption that we won't have any more WoW content in 2021?

I gotta say, I was honestly digging Shadowlands at launch. Crazy how off-track everything has gotten...

There was a duration (between the Tweet mentioning no work was being done the Friday after the story broke and the walkout) where many employees were effectively on strike, but by all accounts work has continued since, while the workers continue pushing for change from within and some investors have begun applying external pressure. A smaller .5 patch may hit PTR relatively soon, but between the general workflow disruption from COVID and things roiling Blizzard behind the scenes, it's no wonder their production pace has slowed dramatically since Legion.

[Ivarr]

• HotS was put into maintenance mode.

Yeah the game went from a field lab on how to break the MOBA genre in innovative ways to a myopic attempt at becoming an esport, pulling the rug underneath everything when this happened.

I don't know who was responsible, but I know exactly what they did and they only got their pig-headed pursuit of prestige without understanding their product to blame.

[Azerate]

No, it's actually fair to say, that 9.1 did not add much content, no matter what you prefer. Korthia is a cool zone and the new raid is one of the best I have ever seen (if you ignore the story), but no matter what, there was not much content in that patch, no matter what your preference is.

The only non-expansion release patch that had more content than 9.1 is probably 8.2, and that literally like one of the best patches in wow's history content volume wise. Korthia is small because it's made to be traversed without a flying mount forever. There's no need to add big empty spaces just to lengthen the travel time (which would no doubt be the complaint if that was the case). Activity-wise, Korthia has probably more than both invasion zones of 8.3 combined. Then you have the old maw additions, assaults, raid and megadungeon.

People often make the mistake of saying "I paid $15 a month for this", when they should be saying how much they spent TOTAL.

9.1 cost players $135. Use that to decide if it's value for money.

That's some funny math because 9.1 has only been out for 1,5 month now. No idea how that adds up to 135$, but whatever. As for SL overall, I've spent 63 days and 11 hours on my main while being level 60, and I probably have another 60 days-ish on my 3 main alts. 9 month of sub to get 3000 hours of gameplay? Sounds like a pretty good value for money for me. Also, it's not even 135$, cause I have the discounted 6 month sub, jokes on you mate.

[Dracullus]

Surely we will be getting more mounts and pets



...... from the store

Check some site like simple armory and see how many mounts we get every expansion. Just 9.1 added more mounts than whole Wrath. Of course, just like back then, many mounts are recolors.

[Lochton]

Given how long it took 9.1 to launch, and I've read several sources saying there is no work being done on WoW right now, I'm guessing it's a safe assumption that we won't have any more WoW content in 2021?

I gotta say, I was honestly digging Shadowlands at launch. Crazy how off-track everything has gotten...

Well. As it seems,. 9.1.5 is coming before 2021 is over, as there is hints for it to come on PTR soon.

[javierdsv]

On the contrary, I believe we will start seeing lots of very small changes happening that will please everyone.

They need to do some damage control.

[Soon-TM]

On the contrary, I believe we will start seeing lots of very small changes happening that will please everyone.

They need to do some damage control.

They certainly do. The question is, will they?

[Berndorf]

The only thing safe to assume is that we don't know what their release plans are.

Also, scandal or not, people can't just refuse to do their work lol, unless they really want to become unemployed.

I would definitely think people are going in and doing work but the question is(which we can't answer) how much of a distraction everything going on at Bliz is to work being done at a normal rate which isn't particularly fast to begin with. Even more so with the new firings on top of covid/lawsuit type stuff. That affects things organizationally as well as morale wise. I doubt people are showing up in the morning, ready to work and with all sorts of enthusiasm to get shit done.

- - - Updated - - -

[bmjclark]

Don't worry, I'm sure there'll be some half assed patch on November 23rd to compete with FF14

[ablib]

People often make the mistake of saying "I paid $15 a month for this", when they should be saying how much they spent TOTAL.

9.1 cost players $135. Use that to decide if it's value for money.

What country do you live in? It's 39.99 in the US.

[GreenJesus]

My prediction on the Shadowlands timeline is something like:

-9.1.5 relatively soon. People must've forgotten that .5 patches come out pretty darn quickly. I expect it sometime in September, maybe early October.
-9.2 will be out within 1–2 months of whenever the next Blizzconline takes place. Let's assume February 2022 since it was in February this year. That means 9.2 could be anywhere from December to April. It's a big range but I still have no idea if the time 9.1 took was a one-off or not, so it's a safe range.
-10.0 announcement at Blizzconline, so again likely February
-10.0 release late 2022 or early 2023

Yeah I'm of the inclination that the devs are going to pull a WoD and end Shadowlands early to get to the next expansion sooner. I don't actually think Shadowlands was as hollow as WoD to deserve that fate but starting with the delayed release to everything else it just seemed like the deck was constantly stacked against it, so I wouldn't blame them to just take the loss and move on to 10.0.

In regards to the original conceit of the thread, 9.1.5 will for sure come out this year but who knows what content it may or may not have. I think 9.2 is still on the table for a 2021 release but I don't think it's a given at this point.

Why would 9.2 be 2021? 9.1 was July and they wouldn't release 9.2 between Christmas and new years. 9.2 in early December would be too soon.

[AKCephalopod]

The way I see it, there's 3 options for WoW right now.

1. WoW keeps going on the content schedule they've been on. They keep their long patch cycle and come out with 9.2 around February 2022. That would suck. Like a lot.

2. WoW puts in some smaller patches. The rumored 9.1.5 would be this and hopefully around October or November. The patch gives some nice quality of life stuff, maybe a mini raid, and we get something to hold us over between now and 9.2, which again is probably going to drop early next year.

3. WoW cuts its losses. 9.1.5 is the last patch of the expansion and the patch spends its time wrapping things up. Stuff like a trial/execution of Sylvanas, forging new sigils, and generally just finishing things with Shadowlands while leaving the stuff with the Jailer as a future plot point. Blizz puts out a statement talking about how they're going to be moving on from the divisive time of Shadowlands and are focusing on giving the best possible experience for the next expansion. We see a new expansion announcement at Blizzcon and get a quick beta announcement with everyone invited as a way to get people playing something during what will inevitably be a long content drought.

[Nak88]

Yes, they will. We will have Phase 2 and hopefully Phase 3 in TBC Classic.

[Raizz]

The way I see it, there's 3 options for WoW right now.

1. WoW keeps going on the content schedule they've been on. They keep their long patch cycle and come out with 9.2 around February 2022. That would suck. Like a lot.

They don't really have much choice. It's not like they can suddenly do major changes in their pipeline.

I really hope they will at least introduce some sort of content in 9.1.5 - a mini raid, M+ Tazavesh and maybe a bit more story progression, but unless they planned it already way back - it won't be happening.

IMO, 9.1 and 9.1.5 being just some system improvements/polish patch lasting for another 6 months will be a complete disaster. Especially with Endwalker, New World and what not releasing in autumn/winter.

People will just bail hard, because 9.1 simply has no content for more than a month or two and that's like a big stretch there - for casual players with story and LFR done - it simply has no more content period already.

---

So yes they will forge ahead with original plan and we hopefully get 9.2 in December or January and I really hope that after that they will grab their heads with both hands and understand that 10.0 and forward it's new rules. They really can't have these 6-8 months of nothing with half-hearted patches after that wait.

[Myradin]

The only 'source' i've seen of no work being done was within like a day or 2 of the initial court filing. Which makes sense, there's a lot of corporate shock.

Now though? What's the point of a walkout if everyone's just sitting around doin nothing all day? They're most likely back to work.

Not to mention there's been plenty of hotfixes both for balance and removing references to Alex. So obviously people are doing work.