Oh wow guys....the game will be released much later than most expected.

[Genju]

Raid testing started in Cataclysm at 17.10. --> Release 07.12 -->roughly 2 Month prior Release.
+/- a couple of weeks, and we should see it end of august/start of september.

[Deleted]

Yes, based on the previous release date announcements an august release seems unlikely.

I checked the release date announcements for all WoW expansion aswell as Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3. They always announced the release date at least 2 months before the release date. On Diablo 3 they even explicitly statet that they would give the release date at least 2 months before release.

So if Blizzard sticks to their strategy an august release seems unlikely unless they announce it this week.

[Count Zero]

Based on what, exactly?

My understanding is that release date announcements for previous xpacs came right around 2 months prior to release.

[MrExcelion]

Raid testing started in Cataclysm at 17.10. --> Release 07.12 -->roughly 2 Month prior Release.
+/- a couple of weeks, and we should see it end of august/start of september.

Yeah, I was thinking September too. There's also some level 90 Brewfest items but it's not a guarantee. The thread title seems misleading, as I think most of us were assuming September at the earliest.

[Daetur]

Too bad I've been saying August/September from the very start...

[MasterHamster]

Keep in mind that they skipped the whole F&F Alpha this time, so add 2 Month to your "average"

... no.
Not really.
like, what sense does that make? the F&F takes place before beta starts. alpha stage had long passed when the beta started.

[briktal]

... no.
Not really.
like, what sense does that make? the F&F takes place before beta starts. alpha stage had long passed when the beta started.

I think the line of reasoning for that is that since there was no F&F Alpha, they would make up the lost testing time by making the beta longer. That is, instead of doing 1 month of F&F Alpha and 4 months of beta, they'd do 5 months of beta.

[MasterHamster]

I think the line of reasoning for that is that since there was no F&F Alpha, they would make up the lost testing time by making the beta longer. That is, instead of doing 1 month of F&F Alpha and 4 months of beta, they'd do 5 months of beta.

We've already passed this time, it's perhaps the reason beta started the 20th of march and not late february.

the lack of a F&F alpha will not affect beta timelength. only it's timeframe

[Bristae]

I think the line of reasoning for that is that since there was no F&F Alpha, they would make up the lost testing time by making the beta longer. That is, instead of doing 1 month of F&F Alpha and 4 months of beta, they'd do 5 months of beta.

They didn't need an alpha phase because... they didn't need an alpha phase. It's a simple subtraction of time not a redistribution.

They never said... "well we decided to just roll that time phase into a beta phase" then that theory would hold water.

Were ANY of you guys in a prior F&F Alpha? Honestly? I was in the Alphas for both TBC and WotLK. I can tell you honestly that the state of MoP on March 21st, 2012 was MUCH better than an any Blizzard Alpha phase I've been in. There is no rolling or adding extra time to an average or compensating for Alpha time with MoP because there is no need. Blizzard has their development tools setup pretty well now. This is their 4th expansion, they are no longer "figuring things out".

Actually I'll give you an example... in one of builds of TBC Alpha, before Draenei was put in, Blood Elves were first put in. They didn't even have a starting zone. When you created one, they started in the Undead area first while Blood Elf starting zone was being developed. It was only so we could test the animations and report any glitches in spells and motions. Blood Elf males looked very chunky at first too. Some actions/spells didn't have animations, so like if you were playing a BE Mage and you were casting a Fireball, maybe the single timed cast animation weren't in yet, so your toon was just stand there and POOF a fireball would shoot out of him.

MoP, on March 21st, Had a complete Pandarian starting zone that went from level 1-11/12 (depending on how you did questing and such)
was pretty much animation complete minus a few cosmetic ones (dance, flirt....)

TLDR version.... MoP Beta at launch WAS A BETA not an ALPHA. PERIOD.

....... /waiting for Fateswarm to tell me how Blizzard REALLY does things and that my Blizzard artist close friend that I've known since Jr. High is full of crap and doesn't know anything about the company he's been working for, for almost 10 years...... wait for it....

[Deleted]

If we're going to compare it to last expansion... Juli will come with a 30% DS debuff, and then we're at the same level as all the other raids, which means about a month after the festivities can start?

[Deleted]

"Thread: O wow guys....the game WILL be released much later than most expected." - Everyone will call you a liar without facts.

"Thread: O wow guys....the game COULD be released much later than most expected." - A lot of people will be interested in a mutual discussion.

Sometimes it's not how you say it, but what you say...

[dethlyhallows]

"Thread: O wow guys....the game WILL be released much later than most expected." - Everyone will call you a liar without facts.

"Thread: O wow guys....the game COULD be released much later than most expected." - A lot of people will be interested in a mutual discussion.

Sometimes it's not how you say it, but what you say...

Alot of people are interested I'd say with 41k views.

[Chrispotter]

its sick how they gave an Annual pass, just to lock us into a year of Stale content.... poor show, i feel cheated and violated.
like really, Over £100 with no new content.

[dethlyhallows]

its sick how they gave an Annual pass, just to lock us into a year of Stale content.... poor show, i feel cheated and violated.
like really, Over £100 with no new content.

Well I find it that the deal was a way to keep the subcribers going with FREE Diablo 3 and MoP Beta because of no new content coming up. It was pretty much known that the 1 year contract would begin then and end by september where the new xpac comes out

[Bristae]

its sick how they gave an Annual pass, just to lock us into a year of Stale content.... poor show, i feel cheated and violated.
like really, Over £100 with no new content.

I don't feel cheated... I still would have played and paid the subscription because I still play with family and friends. I'm working on achievements and alts. I'm enjoying other aspects of the game right now and taking it easy. I wasn't interested in Diablo 3 before at all. I didn't like the first 2 games really at all. But honestly because I got D3 for free I gave it a try and ended up really liking and got sucked into the story and over this weekend killed Diablo for the first time. Now working on Nightmare level and achievements.

All from doing something I would have done anyways... paying my same 14.99/mo.... meh... so where's the cheating/cheated? for me it was a good value. But that's me. For some.. well. ok. maybe you shouldn't have signed up then.

[ryotte]

Well I find it that the deal was a way to keep the subcribers going with FREE Diablo 3 and MoP Beta because of no new content coming up. It was pretty much known that the 1 year contract would begin then and end by september where the new xpac comes out

The first day to buy AP was October 21st. If we get MoP before Brewfest, that's at least a month of MoP in everyone's AP. Which is about what I figured...make sure MoP is released during AP so people will buy and start playing because they're subscribed a little bit longer anyway.

[MrExcelion]

The first day to buy AP was October 21st. If we get MoP before Brewfest, that's at least a month of MoP in everyone's AP. Which is about what I figured...make sure MoP is released during AP so people will buy and start playing because they're subscribed a little bit longer anyway.

Indeed. The annual pass was brilliant marketing.

[Deleted]

And don't forget we're getting a new Annual Pass soon, to get MoP for free.

[Bristae]

And don't forget we're getting a new Annual Pass soon, to get MoP for free.

Source? as far as we know this speculation.

[Count Zero]

And don't forget we're getting a new Annual Pass soon, to get MoP for free.

I hope this is what they do, but I don't think it's particularly likely. Decent chance, not a great chance, imo.