9.0 General Discussion

[Sondrelk]

Did they actually say this, or is this just something the community came up with so they could be mad about it later?

They did, but in hindsight it might have simply been a case of miscommunication, seeing as the zone-specific ability was more prominent before the 5th ring was added. What Blizzard might have meant was that Azerite armor would have more powerful non-class abilities. Which they did.

[Onikaroshi]

Did they actually say this, or is this just something the community came up with so they could be mad about it later?

No, they actually said that the powers in beta were just leveling powers, i'm not going to go dig up a blue post from beta but yea, they promised better powers lol.

[Nyel]

Did they actually say this, or is this just something the community came up with so they could be mad about it later?

Imho they said that. It was always like "the Azerite stuff you'll get in raids will be entirely different, unique and a lot better than the leveling traits".

[Onikaroshi]

I liked Legion well enough but I really don't like the precedent it set. If an expansion now doesn't feature a trillion new features it's a flop and filler like SL, while ignoring how BFA failed because it was filled with fundamentally shit features.

The only thing that makes me sad about SL is no new class. Was really hoping for one, love new classes.

[Sondrelk]

I liked Legion well enough but I really don't like the precedent it set. If an expansion now doesn't feature a trillion new features it's a flop and filler like SL, while ignoring how BFA failed because it was filled with fundamentally shit features.

It is a problem, and it is quite obvious when you compare it to Shadowlands. Which will afterall have all the same systems as Legion, except with a few more things on top. It just doesn't have a centerpiece feature.

[EbaumsTipster]

It is a problem, and it is quite obvious when you compare it to Shadowlands. Which will afterall have all the same systems as Legion, except with a few more things on top. It just doesn't have a centerpiece feature.

They tried to go with covenants being hype (in some ways they are) but while they were trying to go for a "mini faction" feel people are too cynical and just see them as reps.

And Torghast is seen as an island expedition thing??? Because all solo play means islands? Comments like that reinforce the idea that the gen audience is pretty dumb

[Jamie081]

They actually sold it as a replacement to both the artifact AND the legendaries, which it really fell flat on. At least until 8.2.

They even said that the Powers we got in beta where "just leveling powers" and the raid ones would be better, they weren't.

Don't forget Azerite gear was also a replacement for tier set bonuses.

Idk what kind of mental gymnastics were going inside Blizz HQ for them to believe that a bunch of passive traits would replace 3 systems that had beefed up class gameplay. You originally only had access to 1 spec trait per item until 8.1. 3 spec traits on gear, 3 non-class traits and an ilvl boost. Probably the blandest system they've ever done. Battle of Drazar'alor onwards brought the extra tier of traits to choose from because it was so restricted in the first place.

It's no surprise that in BFA most damage for classes is passive, because they've put bandaid system (essences) upon bandaid system (corruption) to try and alleviate the awful decisions they made moving from Legion to BFA.

[Dioporco]

So imagine trying to make from scratch a new system and avoid the stacking of passive we have now.



Legion wasn't perfect but LMAO

-Tiers
+
-Artifact
+
-Leggo

Were way better.

[Dracullus]

It's 24 hours from now, I can feel it.



Anyone remember how much time passed between build and (Blizzard don't read) sandbox?

[razorpax]

No end tier ever lasted less than 9 months, Antorus being the shortest with 9. The average time between last raid and new expansion release is ~ 10 months. 8.3 won't last 5-6 months, it'll last 8-9 months in the best case. Forget an August release already, it's not going to happen. Even with the shortest amount of Alpha and Beta thinkable we're already looking towards a release later than September.

calling it now early to mid october

as much as people want to deny blizzard caring about the game they would never launch it in a way that it disrupts blizzcon with either the launch or the RWF

[EbaumsTipster]

Would be funny if they kept Sylvanas as a raid boss a secret until Blizzcon shortly after launch.

[Alanar]

I wouldn't say many, there's a few out there that are wonky, but most just need an ability or two to round it out.

Out of classes I play regularly, the only spec that I can think of that needs some huge help is MM honestly.

Dont forget the many people who dislike shadow since legion and bfa only took away shit, making it even worse.

Dks could use some help as well..

[Sondrelk]

Would be funny if they kept Sylvanas as a raid boss a secret until Blizzcon shortly after launch.

Definitely not out of hte realm of possibility. Presumably she could be the final boss of the 9.1 raid, which would place her firmly in a place where she would be revealed as a boss at Blizzcon when they talk about future patches.

[zeir]

Would be funny if they kept Sylvanas as a raid boss a secret until Blizzcon shortly after launch.

Will we be able to pop her head on stormwind gate for raid buffs ?

[Onikaroshi]

Dont forget the many people who dislike shadow since legion and bfa only took away shit, making it even worse.

Dks could use some help as well..

I actually much prefer shadow now as to pre legion.

[razorpax]

Legion alpha testing officially started on November 23, 2015. The beta testing began May 9th, 2016

Legion Release Date was 30 Aug 2016



From Alpha to Release 9 months.

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Battle for Azeroth alpha testing officially started on February 7, 2018. The beta started on April 24, 2018.

BFA Release 11 12 August 2018


From Alpha to Release 7 months



So basically 2 months difference and we have Legion and BFA, so yes, testing time <> quality, and this is especially true when you have terrible system like Azerite not properly tested since the begin,

dude you have to realize the HUGE difference in the two expansions

one had to test each and every spec because of artifacts and opening missions with class campaigns and had 3 spec reworks

bfa didnt
you got 2 campaigns one for each faction
azerite gear was essentially untested and even though it was put in for only 3 days players gave feedback of it being shit

lets also take into account the different leveling areas so blizz needed to deal with the scaling which wont be a thing in SL because the leveling is linear and they just tack on the scaling tech after

also fewer areas to deal with
8 dungeons at launch instead of BFA which had 10.

the only thing similar to class abilities tied to a system is the covenant abilities which are singular abilities for each spec i guess compared to azerite traits which had at least a dozen per spec i think with some shared.

the biggest things that blizz will need to test are

1. torghast
2. leveling revamp
3. soul binds

im saying mid october

alpha first week of march
beta in May maybe late april
prepatch in august with extra couple weeks for players to experience the leveling revamp
launch second week of october

blizzcon the weekend before november
raid launch after


9.1 shown at blizzcon
launched in january
a 5th covenant
more soulbinds
possibly more covenant abilities

my reasoning for the above is instead of stacking systems on top of systems you can just add more soulbinds and abilities

im in venthyr and instead of just the one ability i can swap it with another

at launch this covenant was best for burst but a patch later it has burst and cleave


ideal expansion plan

- - - Updated - - -

I actually much prefer shadow now as to pre legion.

S2M used to be godly

[Edward Wu]

I personally want Ret to get a facelift at least. Biggest hope is a cooler system than Holy Power but I'm hoping we at least get Seals back. I really don't care about Auras. Seal Twisting was why I played Ret in WoD.

[Onikaroshi]

S2M used to be godly

S2M was great fun in legion, but i'm talking the whole playstyle. I love the "how long can you maintain the form" playstyle.

[Voidwielder]

S2M used to be godly

It was awkward for everyone - the DPS in the raid, the raid leaders and overall it didn't feel good being carried for 60-70% of the fight only to pop at the end and if someone died or did something wrong at the end, you either had stacks left to go or died too soon.

Sometimes I miss it but overall, no.

- - - Updated - - -

S2M was great fun in legion, but i'm talking the whole playstyle. I love the "how long can you maintain the form" playstyle.

Oh, absolutely. Antorus was the best in this regard because you could hit that perfect 52-60 second loop if you played right. It felt so satisfying when you did manage to weave it like that. Varimathras <3

[Edward Wu]

https://i.imgur.com/S02cVD4.jpg

Where is this from? Is this Kael'thas? Is this a new leak or an old one?