Shadowlands Pre-Patch Release Date - October 13, Shadowlands Launch Delayed

[nacixems]

I think balancing the Cov and powers with class balancing is whats been tricky, as well as the maw being empty and im sure they felt.. 3+ more weeks to continue to balance the Cov and such would be worth it.

All it takes is one or two over powerd to pull a class into .. needing some kind of nerf. which is never wanted. from a class standpoint. as much as i want it to drop on 27th, pushing it back 3+ weeks makes it a more polished game. clean up some quest bugs, instance bugs. and continue to work on the balance issue... is only better for everyone that plays wow. frustration with feeling like your playing a game with a broken leg or arm is frustrating. and not fun, from casual to hard core. as well as some of the questing xp and fine-tune the path from zone to zone. which is another bug..

So. i am looking for it .. earliest...mid to late Nov. latest...early to mid Dec. I would say. if it was only a week needed they felt they would have NOT delayed. so im guessing they needed or decided they needed 3+.. 3-5 more weeks of fine-tuning. all in all, we get the pre-patch on 13th. so they may still make patches for that for class stuff, but, the core team can move forward.. and then when its ready. they will post a date. and then schedule the pre-patch events to get us ready for a polished SL game launch.

[Laytnor]

The delay is good, but I wish pre patch was sooner.
Also, imagine how much less of a hassle and bullshit it'd be if covenants was strictly a cosmetic/lore/flavor choice.
I wish that's all it was.

[Velerios]

Anyone who took time off has no one but themselves to blame.

This is singlehandly the most idiotic post i've read in a long time, and i read a lot of stupid things. What is wrong when you took off time for your favorite game; it's exactly as stupid as to take time off for a concert, football game, holiday and so on. But all of it is already cancelled because of covid 19. So taking time off for wow seems quite logical.

[Ailyana]

Hopefully it will be released this year. I already got one game that got delayed till next year (thanks 343) so pplleease don’t let it be next year

[La]

This is singlehandly the most idiotic post i've read in a long time, and i read a lot of stupid things. What is wrong when you took off time for your favorite game; it's exactly as stupid as to take time off for a concert, football game, holiday and so on. But all of it is already cancelled because of covid 19. So taking time off for wow seems quite logical.

Don't you think it's a bit stupid to also book time off due to COVID being a thing? Especially with how many other games have been delayed due to working from home, or even a basic understanding of where development was in the game? Not to mention even some people who book time off for a real vacation have things go wrong with them, too. The only difference is most companies would have admitted it sooner.

[MatPandaZ]

I've never seen someone be so salty about being wrong about a video game before. It is blatantly obvious to anyone on the Beta that it wasn't going to be released on time. There are entire classes that haven't been balanced, Covenant abilities are all extremely unbalanced, entire zone quest lines are bugged, sometimes you can't even finish Exile's Reach on Alliance side because an event won't trigger for weeks at a time. The Beta currently plays like an Alpha build where half the stuff is missing.

You mean like how BFA launched?

[davesurfer]

Delay is dissappointing but not unexpected. What's annoying is them announcing it on October 1st so people don't unsub. That's pretty fucking shady in my eyes.

What is magic about Oct 1st? When you Sub it is 30 days from when you Sub, not a calendar month.

[TheRevenantHero]

Prove it. Give me your evidence.

I've been playing on the beta off and on. It's true. The expansion really is WoD level bad.

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You mean like how BFA launched?

BfA was nowhere near that bad. It didn't have a good launch but at least most things WORKED.

[Gurg]

Really dont care about why and when. Dates and speculations.
Happiest saddest news that i heard lately and Best. F. decision. that. they. could. make.

I got to the point where i simply didnt care any more about what's going on on Beta/PTR as it was obvious that SL launch would be another
shiStorm and another 2 years of BfA all together, therefore preparing my "alternative options" if SL fails bigtime so i could wait for .1 patch and balance pass.

Sucks for short notice, but good call, really. Well played Blizz.

Now just to cancel my time off

[TheRevenantHero]

This is singlehandly the most idiotic post i've read in a long time, and i read a lot of stupid things. What is wrong when you took off time for your favorite game; it's exactly as stupid as to take time off for a concert, football game, holiday and so on. But all of it is already cancelled because of covid 19. So taking time off for wow seems quite logical.

Except games are always subject to delays. Companies do it all the time. So if people took time off when a game was still in BETA, they absolutely have nobody to blame but themselves for their disappointment. Calling someone stupid for pointing it out is just ridiculous.

[rrayy]

I've been playing on the beta off and on. It's true. The expansion really is WoD level bad.

I have eben playing beta. Everything you claim is false. This is far better than WoD and WoD wasn't even that bad. S, no, you making a claim that just happens to fit your narrative isn't evidence.

[nnelson54]

I have beta access and have been playing around in the beta. I understand why they are postponing but it is killing the experience for me. I scheduled my vacation time around the release. I had to beg for vacation time as we are short handed as it is. My company does not allow vacation time or time off of any kind in November or December and starting in November I will be working 60+ hour weeks. I was really looking forward to enjoying the release for a time before having to knuckle down at work. Now it is all ruined. Since in all likelihood I will have to work ungodly hours for the next three to four months I have canceled my subscription. I am sure when they get it all "worked out" there will still be plenty of issues for people to complain about when it is released. It isn't like Blizz has ever released anything that has been perfect from day one.

I'm trying really hard to figure out how it's Blizzard's fault the company you work for treats you like garbage and doesn't respect your time.

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You mean like how BFA launched?

"They've released bad things before so they should just continue to release bad things," is about the stupidest thing I've ever heard.

[Doffen]

Hooray! Now I can enjoy Hallow's End and finish up unlocking my heritage armors unburdened by the rat race of the new expansion! I hope they release it like in December! Just unlocked Dark Iron Heritage Armor tonight. Vulpera, Nightborne, Zandalari and Dwarves to go!

I get to do my tradition and watch Sleepy Hollow on Halloween without thinking I rather want to play Shadowlands wohooo!

[MatPandaZ]

I've been playing on the beta off and on. It's true. The expansion really is WoD level bad.

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BfA was nowhere near that bad. It didn't have a good launch but at least most things WORKED.

I don't think we played the same expansion. I seem to remember every M+ affix proccing off the wrong things, wrong item level loot dropping to the point where blizzard deleted peoples equipped items. World quests were repeatable for infinite rewards... do I need to go on?

[TheRevenantHero]

I don't think we played the same expansion. I seem to remember every M+ affix proccing off the wrong things, wrong item level loot dropping to the point where blizzard deleted peoples equipped items. World quests were repeatable for infinite rewards... do I need to go on?

The world quest thing happened ONCE and it was quickly fixed. I don't personally recall ever seeing the mythic+ issue you mentioned. Also, I'm pretty sure the wrong item level thing initially had people lose items but then Blizzard gave them back with the correct item level. It also didn't happen enough to say the entire expansion was messed up.

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I have eben playing beta. Everything you claim is false. This is far better than WoD and WoD wasn't even that bad. S, no, you making a claim that just happens to fit your narrative isn't evidence.

WoD was an absolute dumpster fire. Next to no content outside of raiding. Many dungeons were buggy. Rewards weren't worth it unless you were a hardcore raider. All these problems are present in Shadowlands as well. I guess you're just easily entertained.

[Johnmatrix]

Many of you guys keep quoting Shigeru Miyamoto here. This quote about a rushed game does not apply to WoW like it does to Nintendo games.

When a Nintendo game has been released, there is nothing they can do about it. Even now they do very little patching to their games. However, Wow will always be released with bugs, major imbalances and stuff that is not working like intended. It's just inevitable and some may consider it one of the fun parts of a newly opened expansion too. It may make a rough beginning, but with Wow they can always improve on it. Wow can still become a good game, no matter how bad the beginning of an expansion is. It will be constantly patched anyways.

I don't mind a small delay, but leaving the release date open like that most likely means it's gonna be a big delay.

[zrvnavi]

Everyone is acting like Blizzard are heroes for doing this. That is far from the case. This is exactly the press they need in order to get away with this. They had at least a year to "balance" covenants and classes. If you think it will change that much you're delusional.

[dunkl]

more customizations, please!

[Reinaerd]

I’m surprised they delayed it, and pleasantly surprised by the way the delay is being received. I haven’t played beta or PTR, must’ve been a shit show for people to be genuinely happy with a delay.

It was.. this really is the right decision. Balancing those external power gains is going to be a downright nightmare, not to mention the maw really felt underdeveloped and empty.

So yes glad they decided to be done when it's done.
Considering the impact of the epidemic on devs they've done a bang up job so far, with all that in mind i'l gladly await a more finished product.
We really don't need another repetition of WoD.

[MrFawlty]

ANd I have heard from a lot of testers who agree with me and we have seen some in this thread who agree with me. Funny thing about opinions.

Well the opinion that really does matter is Blizzard's and they think it’s bad enough to delay it so why the hell are you arguing about it?

The fact that this is Blizzard tells me it must be in pretty god-awful state, but kudos to them for wanting to put it right before release.