Dragonflight Alpha/Beta General Discussion

[Nyel]

Yep, it will still come in Q1 rather than Q3.

Yeah, no idea how one would come to the conclusion that Q3, which is still about 13 months away, is more likely than Q1. Their release schedule is pretty clear at the moment:

Q2/22: Diablo Immortal (June)
Q4/22: Overwatch 2 (October - although they almost made it to Q3 here)
Q4/22: WotLK Classic (September-November)
Q1/23: Dragonflight (March)
Q2/23: Diablo 4 (although I don't really expect it to release at that time, I expect a delay until Q3 or even Q4/23)

Q3 this year is a bit lackluster, but I guess they're hoping for DI revenue. Or they squeeze WotLK Classic into September.

[Therougetitan]

Q3 this year is a bit lackluster, but I guess they're hoping for DI revenue. Or they squeeze WotLK Classic into September.

Season 4 could happen in Q3 for resubs plus they are still holding Dragonflight preorders so that is a possibility they are holding it to help boost Q3 profits.

[Le Conceptuel]

It surprised me, I wasn't expecting them to showcase the Blizzard titles the way they did, they even gave launch dates.

R.I.P Blizzcon?



This is my bet as well. I expect to see 11.0 being announced on the June Xbox stream of 2024.

But I miss Blizzcon panels. Even the Dragonflight announcement wasn't that good for me because we didn't get the machinima trailer or the panels. Yeah, we got a Deep Dive, but I still miss the panels and trailers like this:

I do have to wonder precisely why it was all so rushed—it doesn't seem to foster hype for the product, does it? I wonder if it was because of any extenuating circumstances. Are they having trouble recovering from Shadowlands? They seem financially-fine, so I don't know what could be the reason for the poor advertising.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

I don't know what you people see as rushing but DF having a different announceement is pretty obvious, we're still in a pandemic and still in a remote working time. Its not optimal but its the reality of the situation. Going back to BFA, it didn't look rushed, minus whatever creepy behavior was going on behind the scenes that eventually lead to the lawsuit.

[Foreign Exchange Ztudent]

I honestly don't know anymore. The whole fact that the Marketing and PR Team okayed what was a suicidal attempt at revealing a product in a manner in which their primary selling points was "Scalies, 4 zones, Talent/Profession revamp" and then leaving more info to be found only 3 days later in interview while for 9.2 Reveal they had the embargoes lifted immediately or a few hours after the 9.2 Presentation that was universally disliked. Again, they should've opened preorders on Day 1.

This whole situation is absurd from a company whos' main purpose at this point is to extract money while providing as little value to the consumer anyways. So what exactly is happening internally for someone in management to have put a firm stance on shifting policy on the reveal + preorder? Surprising, that is what it is.

Again, they are trying to find their footing again. I think the emptiness of the base product is fine as long as they got the post launch content on lock on at least a 6 month per major patch cycle.

The whole Ion comments on the progress of Dragonflight development and the contradictory state of lack of preorder and Feature Trailer alongside the lack of Unencrypted Alpha it is very odd.

[Le Conceptuel]

I don't know what you people see as rushing but DF having a different announceement is pretty obvious, we're still in a pandemic and still in a remote working time. Its not optimal but its the reality of the situation. Going back to BFA, it didn't look rushed, minus whatever creepy behavior was going on behind the scenes that eventually lead to the lawsuit.

Yes, but they still have the resources to at least slap together a proper features trailer. It seems like the whole thing couldn't really be justified by limited resources.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

Yes, but they still have the resources to at least slap together a proper features trailer. It seems like the whole thing couldn't really be justified by limited resources.

This is like the most minor of complaints to worry about, like its almost petty.

[Foreign Exchange Ztudent]

Looks like Blizzard is confirmed to not be at Gamescom either. So again, there's no visible date for any hypothetical spot for Dragonflight news now.

Very odd considering that the Team has set up another Animated Shorts and they need to reveal Preorders + Release Date.

[Le Conceptuel]

This is like the most minor of complaints to worry about, like its almost petty.

I absolutely do not get why you think of it as petty. The fact that they couldn't put together a proper features trailer simply piques my interest as something hugely awkward and very confusing. I don't know precisely why they didn't bother with it. Plus, it's absolutely something to worry about because advertising is key here—a poor presentation can absolutely fail to attract people. There was already some concern along those lines with Shadowlands, so the lackluster presentation certainly has an impact.

[Makabreska]

Looks like Blizzard is confirmed to not be at Gamescom either. So again, there's no visible date for any hypothetical spot for Dragonflight news now.

Very odd considering that the Team has set up another Animated Shorts and they need to reveal Preorders + Release Date.

They don't need any big event at this point. They did the most important part, the reveal, outside of any 3rd party events.

[Foreign Exchange Ztudent]

I mean I think the lack of preorder is more awkward because it signifies someone internally made a decision surrounding something that was bog standard from the company prior. The fact they also rescinded showing a Feature Trailer and they decided to present the expansion in such a manner thati t felt like they were showing air.

I mean it does make you think.

I am genuinely surprised they won't show up at Gamescom like they did with Shadowlands. Are they planning another Reveal Date with more info + Interview Embargo lifting + Alpha going live + Preorders/Release Date later this month or in start of July?

I honestly don't know anymore, I do enjoy the chaos at this point.

[Makabreska]

I absolutely do not get why you think of it as petty. The fact that they couldn't put together a proper features trailer simply piques my interest as something hugely awkward and very confusing. I don't know precisely why they didn't bother with it. Plus, it's absolutely something to worry about because advertising is key here—a poor presentation can absolutely fail to attract people. There was already some concern along those lines with Shadowlands, so the lackluster presentation certainly has an impact.

Why the need for feature trailer? They sat down and were discussing DF features one by one with in-game snippets. That is much more than any feature trailer we previously had.

- - - Updated - - -

I honestly don't know anymore, I do enjoy the chaos at this point.

Yes, we know. You just can't wait for all of it to crash and burn, as you said multiple times in the past.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

Why anyone would enjoy the chaos of something. Seems kinda messed up, I dunno I'm not one to enjoy seeing people have a rough time.

[Le Conceptuel]

Why the need for feature trailer? They sat down and were discussing DF features one by one with in-game snippets. That is much more than any feature trailer we previously had.

That's a fair point—I'm not strictly complaining, I need to emphasize. What concerns me is that it's simply a very odd change of pace for Blizzard to abruptly expunge their previously-consistent trend of providing a gameplay trailer for any given expansion. It seems like it also was a generally-ineffectual way of communicating this information. I'm not going to say I didn't absorb all the information I needed from the subsequent interviews, nor that it was strictly a bad way of doing things, but you simply expect a proper gameplay trailer for any given game release.

It's not strictly a bad change, and I'm not complaining, but it something which I don't quite understand, especially since I think the pressure wasn't really there that would've prevented them from doing a gameplay trailer, especially since the interviews have always been part of the reveal. They certainly weren't redundant with a gameplay trailer and they seem to not be strictly replacing it because they've always had interviews regarding the gameplay of the coming expansion following each reveal.

My general concern is that it simply doesn't feel like a sufficient reveal for me. It's simply lacking some things which seem necessary—the Shadowlands reveal was awkward, but this is simply strange. It's incongruous with the trend we've seen established for over a decade, and I don't know why this has happened.

[Makabreska]

Why anyone would enjoy the chaos of something. Seems kinda messed up.

It's simple. It was never about the expansion.

[Le Conceptuel]

Why anyone would enjoy the chaos of something. Seems kinda messed up.

I wouldn't strictly call it "messed up". I would call it "edgy".

[Makabreska]

That's a fair point—I'm not strictly complaining, I need to emphasize. What concerns me is that it's simply a very odd change of pace for Blizzard to abruptly expunge their previously-consistent trend of providing a gameplay trailer for any given expansion. It seems like it also was a generally-ineffectual way of communicating this information. I'm not going to say I didn't absorb all the information I needed from the subsequent interviews, nor that it was strictly a bad way of doing things, but you simply expect a proper gameplay trailer for any given game release.

It's not strictly a bad change, and I'm not complaining, but it something which I don't quite understand, especially since I think the pressure wasn't really there that would've prevented them from doing a gameplay trailer, especially since the interviews have always been part of the reveal. They certainly weren't redundant with a gameplay trailer and they seem to not be strictly replacing it because they've always had interviews regarding the gameplay of the coming expansion following each reveal.

My general concern is that it simply doesn't feel like a sufficient reveal for me. It's simply lacking some things which seem necessary—the Shadowlands reveal was awkward, but this is simply strange. It's incongruous with the trend we've seen established for over a decade, and I don't know why this has happened.

It is really quite simple. It's not a cinematic that shows parts of the story, it is a feature trailer that suddenly works less effective when you do not present it in front of the massive crowd and which you can later explain during multiple long panels. They had like 1h total for DF and WotLK Classic, so they went for immediate explanation. It is really an odd complaint to have. They could give us trailer, they did not. We lost nothing.

[Le Conceptuel]

It is really quite simple. It's not a cinematic that shows parts of the story, it is a feature trailer that suddenly works less effective when you do not present it in front of the massive crowd and which you can later explain during multiple long panels. They had like 1h total for DF and WotLK Classic, so they went for immediate explanation. It is really an odd complaint to have. They could give us trailer, they did not. We lost nothing.

Wasn't there a crowd in attendance, though? Sure, it wasn't physical, but it would nevertheless concisely deliver all relevant features of the expansion far more effectively than a sequence of interviews.

[Makabreska]

Wasn't there a crowd in attendance, though? Sure, it wasn't physical, but it would nevertheless concisely deliver all relevant features of the expansion far more effectively than a sequence of interviews.

Would it really? How much did you learn about Island Expeditions, Warfronts or Torghast solely from the feature trailers? EVERYONES BfA reaction I saw was "oh ok, Warftons is the new PvP thing".

[Le Conceptuel]

Would it really? How much did you learn about Island Expeditions, Warfronts or Torghast solely from the feature trailers? EVERYONES BfA reaction I saw was "oh ok, Warftons is the new PvP thing".

That's fair, but that doesn't mitigate anything I said. I don't know why this is a point of debate—it is simply odd to me and a few others that they didn't commit to a features trailer when they had the resources for it. It simply strikes me as an odd decision. I'm not accusing Blizzard of anything and you don't need to be this defensive about it.