Where has the saved development time gone?

[Zaganite]

Nazjatar. The covenants are Nazjatar reps. It's... not hard to see.

Also everything I bolded is pure speculation on your part.

Um except its not speculation? In the interview they said the mounts will be upgradeable but full details arent known yet. Soulbinds will be a tree system and there are other world benefits such as the movement speed buffs etc. Its on the Wowhead page under covenants - maybe you should go give it a read?

Im holding judgement until proper waves are sent out for Alpha/Beta testing. Any video I have seen was just Bastion but nothing is even done yet (we still dont even know covenant class moves other then mage and DK).

I understand why some people are going in guarded because we have seen this before but I feel that we dont have enough information on anything other then covenants to say if this is going to be good or bad

[WowIsDead64]

Yeah, 9.0 will have basic xpack features, like new zones, dungeons, raid, another rep/AP grind. But it will really lack any NEW features and problem FIXES. It will be just another BFA.

You should clearly understand one thing. New leveling system, new character customization options and return of some class abilities - AREN'T XPACK FEATURES. They're just technical debts, Blizzard will pay. Why? Because you'll get them for free even without buying SL.

And without them, what improvements SL will bring? Some improvements have been suggested by Blizzard themselves:
1) Tinker/Necromancer class (we've just got Mechagon and Mechagnomes and next xpack will be about death - the best time to bring that classes)
2) Faction merge, 3rd neutral/PVP faction. We have peace treaty between Alliance and Horde now. Only some Sylvanas/Tyrande loyalists are at war with each other. So, technically nothing stops players from different factions from playing with each other.
3) Non-linear questing with (moral) choices. Railed story - is completely obsoleted concept.
4) Underwater goblin/fish allied races. We have everything to have them. For pre-order for example.

Some system problems, that aren't admitted by Blizzard, but still exist:
1) Outdoor difficulty level problem. We have 4 dungeons difficulties and 4 raid difficulties, but we still have only one outdoor difficulty. For some (Mythic+ guys) it's way too easy, but for some another (fresh 120) it's way too overtuned. Compromise doesn't suit both. Something should be changed.
2) Flying. No comments. May be Pathfinder itself is justified, but one year time-gating isn't. Period. Flying should be available at release at least in some content, so pro flyers will have some place to play till 9.2, when flying be released in other content. Both categories of players should have their content at release, otherwise it's discrimination.

[Lorgar Aurelian]

Torghast is literally just greater rifts from Diablo 3, except the tileset never changes. Only the mobs.

Have you people that compare things to diablo riffs ever actually played diablo rifts? From what we know, It won’t be timed, there are buffs you can pick up and stack to have different effects though out your run, mobs can also get different buffs to change things up which can also stack.

Wow has nothing like diablo riffs stop saying every thing that is even slightly similar is a diablo rift.

[Sezh]

Are you saying current is the same game as Vanilla?

I had a long conversation with another guy here where we developed this topic, read those replies and if you still have a question after that go ahead.

[Chickat]

Really makes you wonder. When have the big expansion features ever turned out to be better than we thought when they originally announced them? Usually they end up being really bad in reality (Island Expeditions, Warfronts, Ashran) or they get pruned (RIP dance studio lol) or changed beyond recognition before launch (Garrisons).

But yeah, preorder and wait until they fix it in 9.1/9.2/9.3. What could possibly go wrong?

Mythic+ is all i can think of. Artifacts were quite good imo.

[Soluna]

Not that I care much but when I see people yelling about the brutosaurus ...

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Bruh, this is MMOC forums, half the people have the skull filled with salt

True, not sure what I am expecting from these people after all years, maybe a hint that there is a braincell deep inside that meat sponge in their heads they like to call a brain? No clue.

[Sangfoudre]

No, I'm just someone who actually learns from his mistakes.

Are ya? Let me guess, you spent a few thousands in this game, unsubbed, whatever your reasons to do were but now you want to convince others that this is what they must do ?

[Gaidax]

I imagine it's gone into not having to wait 14 months for the expansion.

[Niwes]

just an assumption. into their wallets ?

[Aeula]

Races went to improved customisation for existing races. But people ignore that because they’d rather have those customisations packed into another six shitty reskins so they can pretend their purchase has more value when actually the opposite is true.

[Sangfoudre]

True, not sure what I am expecting from these people after all years, maybe a hint that there is a braincell deep inside that meat sponge in their heads they like to call a brain? No clue.

Yeah, but I had a really good time with the pre blizzcon leak threads, fun and some smart ideas. So I stay there.

[owbu]

The correct time to complain about features being "just a copy of x"/decide to buy an expansion is when we actually have seen the features. So somewhere between alpha and beta. Before that they are some vague concept that could turn out to be great or terrible or "just a copy of x". Making assumptions about which one is just talking for the sake of talking at best and making up agenda driven conspiracy theories at worst.

(which also means that you can tell everyone to STFU about "it's just beta" as soon as we DO know what a feature will look like. I don't remember ever seeing a terrible system in beta that then just turned out to be great on release day.

[Khrux]

Shadowlands is launching with fewer dungeons, zones, and less staple content compared to the past. In addition, there will be no new features, races, classes or professions with the expansion.

• 10 dungeons at release - standard quantity
• 5 zones - BFA had 6
• Mage Tower-esque content - solo/party end game content
• 4 Covenants - Similar model to Legion, covenant story is like a class campaign and progression with covenant is like Artifact weapon trees(3 of them per covenant for 12 total)
• 4 armor sets per Covenant - 16 total armor sets, without stepping into a dungeon or raid. Vastly more than we've had in the past from open world content, again similar to Artifact weapons in this sense.

The only missing content here that people expected is a class and/or race. Covenants provide a "catch-all" equivalent to Artifact weapons, Azerite Armor, Heart of Azeroth, Class hall etc.

Islands and Warfronts were both throwaway content, the only reason anyone did them was for toxic reasons like farming AP (Islands) or for a free high ilvl item (Warfronts).

The core gameplay loop reputations, WQs, m+ and raids remain intact. With Torghast and Covenants providing the key progression and mechanics for the expansion.

*From what little we've seen so far, there is as much if not more progression systems, art assets and gameplay altering changes in Shadowlands than BFA. Its on par with Legion realistically.*

[Doctor Funkenstein]

Are ya? Let me guess, you spent a few thousands in this game, unsubbed, whatever your reasons to do were but now you want to convince others that this is what they must do ?

I never said anything of the sort.

I said that people who don't learn from their mistakes are a fool. And Blizzard has done this every. single. expansion. to one extent or another, and yet people like you still try to convince everyone who has learned from those mistakes that they're the one being stupid (or whatever other term you like to use; god only knows how you've insulted me in every reply you've made thus far). "But guys," you people say, "it's just a presentation/alpha/beta! They totally won't let all these issues make it into the live game!" And guess what? They do. Every. Single. Expansion.

[Sangfoudre]

I never said anything of the sort.

I said that people who don't learn from their mistakes are a fool. And Blizzard has done this every. single. expansion. to one extent or another, and yet people like you still try to convince everyone who has learned from those mistakes that they're the one being stupid (or whatever other term you like to use; god only knows how you've insulted me in every reply you've made thus far). "But guys," you people say, "it's just a presentation/alpha/beta! They totally won't let all these issues make it into the live game!" And guess what? They do. Every. Single. Expansion.

Please present said insults.
Back to the topic, your opinion, not facts, about what YOU call issue.

[Thelyron]

You're essentially just saying :"Shut up and buy it" when people are curious if they even should buy it.

But that's exactly what people should do. Buy something, test it for yourself, build your own opinion instead of listening to others, and then if you don't like it, take it back and get a refund. That's how the world works. Trusting reviewers is the pinnacle of idiocy.

[Doctor Funkenstein]

Please present said insults.
Back to the topic, your opinion, not facts, about what YOU call issue.

"Come on guys, golly gee willickers! It's gonna be great! They're not going to let all these issues go live! They'll fix them in alpha! And when they don't, they'll fix them in beta! And when they don't, well, I'm just going to ignore it and say its super awesome! Wheeee! And nothing like this ever happened before, honest injun! Blizzard is a quality game developer, they don't shit out crap left and right anymore! I spent most of my life playing this game, I HAVE to believe this!!!!!!"

Yeah, that's solid fact right there, buddy. With zero delusion or ignorance to be found.

[Sangfoudre]

"Come on guys, golly gee willickers! It's gonna be great! They're not going to let all these issues go live! They'll fix them in alpha! And when they don't, they'll fix them in beta! And when they don't, well, I'm just going to ignore it and say its super awesome! Wheeee! And nothing like this ever happened before, honest injun! Blizzard is a quality game developer, they don't shit out crap left and right anymore! I spent most of my life playing this game, I HAVE to believe this!!!!!!"

Yeah, that's solid fact right there, buddy. With zero delusion or ignorance to be found.

And that, kids, is why you shouldn't do drugs.

[Doctor Funkenstein]

And that, kids, is why you shouldn't do drugs.

And that is how you respond to something when you have no arguments left.

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But that's exactly what people should do. Buy something, test it for yourself, build your own opinion instead of listening to others, and then if you don't like it, take it back and get a refund. That's how the world works. Trusting reviewers is the pinnacle of idiocy.

Wrong.

That's what corporations want you to do. "Give us money, no matter what kind of shit you throw at us. Yes, yesss... give us your undying loyalty! I mean, we've done the same thing multiple times before, but you should ignore all that! Give us your money and <wink wink> make your own decisions. Just remember to do the same thing next time! And the time after that! Please, dear God, don't learn from your mistakes! Be a cool optimist! The Internet is full of negativity, you don't want to be like those people! Yesssssssss... give us your money! Mwahahaha! <coughs> I mean, thank you very much! Please disregard the evil laughter. Thank you."

[Sangfoudre]

And that is how you respond to something when you have no arguments left.

It's always funny that you say that given you have no arguments and still was able to distort what I said.
But the second part will enlighten us:

Wrong.
That's what corporations want you to do. "Give us money, no matter what kind of shit you throw at us. Yes, yesss... give us your undying loyalty! I mean, we've done the same thing multiple times before, but you should ignore all that! Give us your money and <wink wink> make your own decisions. Just remember to do the same thing next time! And the time after that! Please, dear God, don't learn from your mistakes! Be a cool optimist! The Internet is full of negativity, you don't want to be like those people! Yesssssssss... give us your money! Mwahahaha! <coughs> I mean, thank you very much! Please disregard the evil laughter. Thank you."

nuff said.