Should Blizz delay Shadowland launch to make sure it starts in a good state?

[arkanon]

It doesn't matter what they do because people will never be happy or see the game in a good state.

Edit: The poll seems a bit biased.

A BIT biased? Lol its EXTREMELY bias, just look at the two options - one, with a positive message, one with an obviously leading negative message. For example, no, i dont believe it should be delayed, but my reason for that is because i dont believe it would release in a better state in November, December, or 2026. Its not because "hur dur i want new shiny stuff and i wnat it NOW!!!".

Same with the "yes" reason, you make the assumption that it would be more balanced and "better" if it was delayed - this is a baseless assumption.

[saberwolf]

What should be cancelled is the never ending thread creations of how SL is unfinished, trash, “filler” and so on.

I hope you don't think that's what this is. I don't think any of that. Unfinished, no. But could it be in a better state if they had an extra month? Almost certainly.

[Sluvs]

They should , they wont

This is basically the reality.

[Nnyco]

Title says it all. Thoughts?

Does it tho? What makes you assume it wont start good in current state.

[saberwolf]

A BIT biased? Lol its EXTREMELY bias, just look at the two options - one, with a positive message, one with an obviously leading negative message. For example, no, i dont believe it should be delayed, but my reason for that is because i dont believe it would release in a better state in November, December, or 2026. Its not because "hur dur i want new shiny stuff and i wnat it NOW!!!".

I disagree. I think I'd they had an extra month they could make it better.

[arkanon]

I hope you don't think that's what this is. I don't think any of that. Unfinished, no. But could it be in a better state if they had an extra month? Almost certainly.

Based on what?

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I disagree. I think I'd they had an extra month they could make it better.

See above - based on WHAT? They took like 15 years to release Duke Nukem forever, and its widly considered one of the worst "AAA" games ever.

[saberwolf]

Does it tho? What makes you assume it wont start good in current state.

I just said as good and balanced as possible, not that it wouldn't be "good". Infact I think it will be. I just think if they had an extra month they could polish and tighten it up a bit more.

[1know]

It doesn't matter what they do because people will never be happy or see the game in a good state.

That, just that!!

[saberwolf]

Based on what?

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See above - based on WHAT? They took like 15 years to release Duke Nukem forever, and its widly considered one of the worst "AAA" games ever.

Based on how they seem to be iterrating on system and design on a fairly regular basis and taking regular feedback. BFA they were quiet and didn't listen to the community. They took a lot of those mistakes to heart. Are they Perfect? not by a long shot. But this beta has been sooooo much better than the BFA one.

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That, just that!!

I can see that for sure. Damned if they do, damned if they don't.

[arkanon]

Based on how they seem to be iterrating on system and design on a fairly regular basis and taking regular feedback. BFA they were quiet and didn't listen to the community. They took a lot of those mistakes to heart. Are they Perfect? not by a long shot. But this beta has been sooooo much better than the BFA one.

And those iterations will continue through the entire lifespan of SL - there is nothing to say an extra few weeks would change things at all. They are also, as always, much further along than is publicly known, as they dont announce changes until they have done at least some internal testing. They still get it wrong from time to time, but thats their intention. Additionally, the game needs to be in a playable state by a large audience before many of the smaller issues become known, so at some point, they need to pull the trigger and launch it.

[saberwolf]

And those iterations will continue through the entire lifespan of SL - there is nothing to say an extra few weeks would change things at all. They are also, as always, much further along than is publicly known, as they dont announce changes until they have done at least some internal testing. They still get it wrong from time to time, but thats their intention. Additionally, the game needs to be in a playable state by a large audience before many of the smaller issues become known, so at some point, they need to pull the trigger and launch it.

I can see that point as well. Touche.

[Mirishka]

For me 'ready for new content' outweighs 'mus b balanced' because the game is never going to be balanced. It is literally impossible.

So bring on SL.

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And those iterations will continue through the entire lifespan of SL - there is nothing to say an extra few weeks would change things at all. They are also, as always, much further along than is publicly known, as they dont announce changes until they have done at least some internal testing. They still get it wrong from time to time, but thats their intention. Additionally, the game needs to be in a playable state by a large audience before many of the smaller issues become known, so at some point, they need to pull the trigger and launch it.

Well said.

[arkanon]

I can see that point as well. Touche.

Its like being an artist working on a painting - you can keep making minor touch ups over and over again, but two things can happen - you make minor improvements, or, you make a mistake and make things worse, and take a step backwards. The key as a professional is knowing when enough is enough, and slapping the varnish over the top and calling it done.

The difference here is the varnish is never applied, and the painting is constantly changing, and you need to keep up with little improvements and changes as it evolves. However, at some point, you need to expose the product to its final environment and see how it reacts.

[Toybox]

The systems are fundamentally impossible to balance, but I don't care anymore so long as the imbalanced abilities are fun to use I'm playing with good people, so as long as the game works, that's enough for me.

Delay it/don't delay it? Don't care either way. If it gets delayed (it won't) I'd laugh at the fallout

[Swnem]

Yes, but at this point i think it will never happen, no matter how much time you give them.

[Rootsbum]

N O

Just pretend the unbalance is corruption-effects.

8 months of this is enough. I need the story ro progress, new scenery and the class-changes.

[Unlimited Power]

I don't really care what state the expansion releases in. I just hope Blizzard can keep up a 77 day content release schedule like they did in Legion.

It was by far the best aspect of Legion in my opinion. And by comparison, the content releases of BFA felt like they took forever.

[Jastall]

Its like being an artist working on a painting - you can keep making minor touch ups over and over again, but two things can happen - you make minor improvements, or, you make a mistake and make things worse, and take a step backwards. The key as a professional is knowing when enough is enough, and slapping the varnish over the top and calling it done.

The difference here is the varnish is never applied, and the painting is constantly changing, and you need to keep up with little improvements and changes as it evolves. However, at some point, you need to expose the product to its final environment and see how it reacts.

There is indeed no such thing as "done" in an always online game such as this. That said I do want a minimum baseline of quality at launch, and remember BFA being a bit of a buggy mess when 8.0 released. Whenever delaying the game would change that is unknown, especially since this time Blizzard will still be testing and iterating 9.0 content while pre-patch is live.

[Relapses]

Abso-fucking-lutely yes.

Will they? Of course not. They have quotas to meet and fun little blurbs to put into their Q4 QRs about "engagement" and "breaking records" and other bullshit nobody other than Activision suits actually gives a shit about.

[arkanon]

There is indeed no such thing as "done" in an always online game such as this. That said I do want a minimum baseline of quality at launch, and remember BFA being a bit of a buggy mess when 8.0 released. Whenever delaying the game would change that is unknown, especially since this time Blizzard will still be testing and iterating 9.0 content while pre-patch is live.

Yeah so my opinion here is that yes, we need an acceptable standard at launch - agree 100%. What i will say is that whether people like it or not, releasing pre-patch sooner and using that for final balancing and bug fixes is probably the best way to do this. Beta is good obviously, but it really needs to be seen "in the wild" by the masses before many of the smaller issues can be identified and addressed.

Sadly, as we all know, betas have become glorified demos for free marketing through streamers.