Next Expansion Release Period Revealed

[NordWitcher]

If the message Morgan is trying to pass is that it'll take us a year and a half to get to next expansion he is well delusional if he thinks they're going to keep their playerbase. WTF am I gonna do for a year and a half? Might as well play FF14 and finish the entirety of Elden Ring.

I mean considering they just released 9.2 like a month or so ago, we're not even 1/4 of the way in through this season. Another 5-6 months at least before we get a whole new season that could last at least 5-6 months considering the amount of work they are putting into it.

[Kithelle]

Some people here are profoundly addicted to this game. And the other half are playing it out of habit.

Drop it. I'll take 20 months between expansions if it means we get the Legion patch release cadence and content.

Just because you will doesn't mean others will...FF XIV didn't get a sudden splurge because of new players because everyone is sticking around with WoW. WoW is gonna suffer if it's gonna be 16 months till the next expansion

[Kuja]

If they utilize already created old content and make it possible to solo every raid from any expansion before Shadowlands on any difficulty and on any class, improve the transmog and mount drop rates and reward you with daily or weekly loot bags (For more transmog or mounts) for doing old content, I'd be a happy player until there's new content.

[zhorteye]

I dont question your numbers on revnue cos BLZ dont release subs and I cant find numbers on WoW ingame purchaces specifically but I didnt spend much time so maybe you had better luck.
Also I meant the more important metric than you focus.
I meant a model where the subscription numbers at worst stay the same.
I did not mean propped up by microtransactions and with a playerbase that play the game for shorter periods of tíme than previously for various reasons.
Quick turnover is bad in the long run.


I would not say most players care for story or lore that much at all. Story is a bonus, lore I get the feeling is what most players consider as interesting as fishing for the vast majority I mean most players probably dont read quests text including main story quests to begin with.
I do think story is important in an important but very limited segment though, the expansions arch villain and cutscenes but beyond that..


Agree but I think the main issue here is not so much (even though very important) how the tug of war between developers and business calls by higher management with no experience to the game itself pans out and that is that BLZ for once actually take alpha and beta feedback seriously and in time.
All the crap with how azerite or covenants was became could have been avoidable, in early beta people pointed out how horrible they were especially for alts.


This is just a stupid mindset. We players "demand" via subs how we want the game in a very basic sense, keep subs or cancel them.
Before WoW even had competition like today the subs pointed one way. If players gets bored which is a fact then what you advocate is a business model that will kill the game faster than anything else.
So yea, maybe it is time for less waiting around for BLZ to focus on the wrong things and BLZ instead reconnect with its playerbase again for the sake of the game we all love(or loved and hope to love again).

I think the biggest issue is that the game and the playerbase has changed in different directions.. The playerbase has changed towards being much more knowledgeable and efficient and "lets get this done quick" due to the primary demographic being older as many of the people who still play, also players 18-17-16-15-14-13-10 years ago.. and those of us that did, now have jobs etc, meaning we cant sink as much time into the grindy nature of current wow (and even classic/tbc wow) as we could back then..

While on the opposite end, wow has, in some ways stayed the same by continueing to stay grindy, or as some would put it, find ways of keeping the player in the game (often refered to as timegating to make sure the player subs for another month to do that piece of content, which i agree is a predatory way of doing things) but the game, for what its worth, should've evolved alongside the player towards the "lets not make this take as much time" in my opinion atleast.. Unless you're a streamer or a sponsored gamer, its hard for people to find the time to do everything in a day they'd like to do.. especially if you work from 9-5, have kids, etc.

Now, i still dont think we can persay "Demand" anything.. we pay a subscription to have access to the service of playing wow (access to the servers) But even your account is still in the end owned by blizzard and not you.. and could theoretically get cancelled at any time (this is even stated in the ToS, just like it is in many other online games such as league of legends, Elder scrolls, etc.)
The only way, you, or i, as a player, could "Demand" something, is if we owned enough stock to actually be a meaningful "investor" or such..

Blizzard should however totally focus on reconnecting with their playerbase (Which i think the current changes being made, and hopefully future changes being announced on the 19'th are doing a good job of showing their commitment towards doing!)
They need to listen to player feedback, especially in the early stages of developement of new, previously untested systems.. and in the "Further developement" stages of updating those systems for the next expansions..

- when it comes to story and lore, i think the reason most people dont care, etc, is simply because the games story/lore is currently not telling a coherent story.. But that might just be me?

- as to the revenue stuff, I'm taking the numbers that i heard from a recent video made by bellular during one of his latest livestreams about the recently settled 18M$ Lawsuit (source: https://youtu.be/0-4sII6qXU8?t=4 )

[cuafpr]

If they utilize already created old content and make it possible to solo every raid from any expansion before Shadowlands on any difficulty and on any class, improve the transmog and mount drop rates and reward you with daily or weekly loot bags (For more transmog or mounts) for doing old content, I'd be a happy player until there's new content.

this... if they make farming something beyond RNG with bad luck protection or a currency system to just buy old loot/mounts people would stay and come back.

[NatePsy]

Some people here are profoundly addicted to this game. And the other half are playing it out of habit.

Drop it. I'll take 20 months between expansions if it means we get the Legion patch release cadence and content.

20 months of no new content is a big problem, that's basically SWTOR's content cycle and it's a vastly smaller game playerbase wise. For the amount of revenue WoW generates, there shouldn't be such a huge gap between new content. The fact you're okay with this like so many others, is what allows this to keep happening

[exochaft]

this... if they make farming something beyond RNG with bad luck protection or a currency system to just buy old loot/mounts people would stay and come back.

It'll last for some people, but not others. I know I basically had all the mog I could want before I stopped playing earlier in this expansion because I ran old raids for gold while farming certain items (plus I had farmed a lot of the raids when they were current during progression, unless it was normal/heroic loot of a raid I exclusively ran on mythic). However, one aspect that it would alleviate is some of the xmog sets where there's one bloody item that BoE world drop... those are the worst when they're part of an official raid tier xmog set. Even if it wouldn't benefit everyone, doesn't mean they can't improve the system a little bit to iron out some of the extreme issues with the activity.

Anyways, I was thinking about the length of time until the next expansion release, then I remembered that there's something else that Blizz will likely use to boost MAU numbers in the meantime: WotLK Classic! I wouldn't be surprised if we see it drop during Q4 2022 if the Dragonflight expansion releases in Q1 2023.

[Groundwalker]

People been saying the same shit Cataclysm and apperently figures show that BFA had stable 6-7M subs. So yeah. I doubt that. People just make up things.
SL is first time with real issues though.

Denial is the first stage in dealing with grief. Keep your head up man we are here for you.

[Lahis]

If the next expansion is set to release next fucking year, I honestly think it will actually kill the fucking game lol

They have nothing to release this year. That's why the Season 4 vandaid exists.

[Sar-]

People are assuming that this "experimental" season 4 will run for the full length, considering it's not a competitive season.

[Gimlix]

Denial is the first stage in dealing with grief. Keep your head up man we are here for you.

Truth though. SL is doing bad, but still doing better then any MMORPG. I have yet to see any proof that confirms otherwise.

[Tiradon]

People are assuming that this "experimental" season 4 will run for the full length, considering it's not a competitive season.

Exactly I still believe Early 2023 will be the release...

[Groundwalker]

Truth though. SL is doing bad, but still doing better then any MMORPG. I have yet to see any proof that confirms otherwise.

The reason why you have yet to see any proof that confirms otherwise is because Blizzard does not release their subscriber numbers. Now ask yourself why is that? Blizzard up until MOP released their sub numbers, and then they stopped. Did they stop because their numbers were growing? One only needs to take a look at reality and remove themselves from propaganda to see the truth. Is WOW still performing as a MMO, yes they are. Do they have a fraction of the player base that they used to have, absolutely not. Are players un-subbing in massive amounts, yes they are. Are other MMO's presenting themselves as direct competition to a MMO that used to corner the market, yes they are. In the end WOW currently as it stands can be defined as the following: The past king of MMO's that used to corner the MMO market that now finds itself with a reduced player base that is continuing to drop that now has to compete like they never have before for MMO players. Any of this "WOW is growing and still have 7+ million subs" bull crap is exactly that.........bull crap.

[Gimlix]

The reason why you have yet to see any proof that confirms otherwise is because Blizzard does not release their subscriber numbers. Now ask yourself why is that? Blizzard up until MOP released their sub numbers, and then they stopped. Did they stop because their numbers were growing? One only needs to take a look at reality and remove themselves from propaganda to see the truth. Is WOW still performing as a MMO, yes they are. Do they have a fraction of the player base that they used to have, absolutely not. Are players un-subbing in massive amounts, yes they are. Are other MMO's presenting themselves as direct competition to a MMO that used to corner the market, yes they are. In the end WOW currently as it stands can be defined as the following: The past king of MMO's that used to corner the MMO market that now finds itself with a reduced player base that is continuing to drop that now has to compete like they never have before for MMO players. Any of this "WOW is growing and still have 7+ million subs" bull crap is exactly that.........bull crap.

Check out Asmongold video of BFA assumed subscribers. It was still around 6-7M subs. Ofc the game is declining hey that was a clear sign mid Cataclysm. But that does not mean it dwingles up and down. I look at overall info, not just "Searched trends" like how FF14 is being based on.

You have no clue if the game is losing subs by the masses. You don't see that kinda info ur pulling stuff out of your own ass atm. Just check all around you, EU alone has still around 20-30 Full servers and that is not even counting High yet. Of course it isn't as populated anymore as it used to be, but it still going strong for a game so old.

Not only that, lets compare WoW to the next upcoming MMORPG that is supposedly doing much better then WoW. It has a 50% decline already on steam in 3 months time. Majority of the day it has 3-5k views on twitch vs WoW's 40-100k on twitch.

These aren't any proper facts either but you can't tell me a game is 3x more populated when they barely have anyone interested following their game.

Main issue WoW is facing, too many realms, phasing/sharding and much regions split. (EU has Germany, Russian, France, Portugal English realms alone!)
No way it has the 12 million active subs, but you aint telling me it's below 1 million either. no way.

[Auburst]

Late 2022 would be my choice.

[Groundwalker]

Check out Asmongold video of BFA assumed subscribers. It was still around 6-7M subs. Ofc the game is declining hey that was a clear sign mid Cataclysm. But that does not mean it dwingles up and down. I look at overall info, not just "Searched trends" like how FF14 is being based on.

You have no clue if the game is losing subs by the masses. You don't see that kinda info ur pulling stuff out of your own ass atm. Just check all around you, EU alone has still around 20-30 Full servers and that is not even counting High yet. Of course it isn't as populated anymore as it used to be, but it still going strong for a game so old.

Not only that, lets compare WoW to the next upcoming MMORPG that is supposedly doing much better then WoW. It has a 50% decline already on steam in 3 months time. Majority of the day it has 3-5k views on twitch vs WoW's 40-100k on twitch.

These aren't any proper facts either but you can't tell me a game is 3x more populated when they barely have anyone interested following their game.

Main issue WoW is facing, too many realms, phasing/sharding and much regions split. (EU has Germany, Russian, France, Portugal English realms alone!)
No way it has the 12 million active subs, but you aint telling me it's below 1 million either. no way.

All you are doing is selling yourself on a false hope. Also of note, using "Twitch viewership" as a means to calculate a games subscriber numbers is laughable at best.

[Gimlix]

All you are doing is selling yourself on a false hope. Also of note, using "Twitch viewership" as a means to calculate a games subscriber numbers is laughable at best.

For a game that is supposedly 3 times as popular it does show how nonsense that statement is. WoW is apperently dead yet is always in top 20 while FF14 can't even stick in top 50. Sorry but it's just common sense. So far there is 0 prove that FF14 is more popular either when the new expansion got launched their views went up from 5k to 20k. When WoW gets a new expansion it goes from 50-100k to 1.5M viewers. I sure know which of the 2 is more active lol

But just stick to your fantasy

I just hope 10.0 will bring us some proper changes and less chores.

[TheRevenantHero]

They have nothing to release this year. That's why the Season 4 vandaid exists.

That's like slapping a bandaid on a gunshot wound to the throat.

[Groundwalker]

For a game that is supposedly 3 times as popular it does show how nonsense that statement is. WoW is apperently dead yet is always in top 20 while FF14 can't even stick in top 50. Sorry but it's just common sense. So far there is 0 prove that FF14 is more popular either when the new expansion got launched their views went up from 5k to 20k. When WoW gets a new expansion it goes from 50-100k to 1.5M viewers. I sure know which of the 2 is more active lol

But just stick to your fantasy

I just hope 10.0 will bring us some proper changes and less chores.

I know that this is probably going to be difficult for you, but there are individuals who watch streamers play a game that........they themselves do not play(in fact I would argue this is the majority of viewers) hence why twitch viewership numbers do not correlate to subscriber numbers. Also of note, you are the only one mentioning anything about Final Fantasy.

[Vynestra]

Fam s4 is coming with 9.2.5, he said it's really up to when the update is ready, 9.2.5 is likely 4 months, and then however long until 10.0.

Yall make these bait posts knowing full well it's coming Q1 2023.