Still no release date announcement

[Evolixe]

What makes you so sure the delay will actually make the expansion "good"?

It doesn't. But that doesn't mean we should just slap on a release date for the sake of slapping on a release date, and then release the game in whatever state it happens to be in at the time of that date.

Making a game is a delicate undertaking. Especially one the size of wow with virtually hundreds of thousands of "moving parts".

Look at it like its a tunnel of which you have no clue how long it is or what speed you're going at.
You can't tell you're nearing the other side of it until you can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

They've indicated they need time. Give them that time. Whatever comes next is anyones guess.

[Razorice]

I for one really do hope it's released in 2021 so I can enjoy the launch since I won't be able to play in December due to work load.

[shise]

Yeah, it really is good news!

Finally they will focus on polishing it before releasing it. I think we are happy about it. Better properly released than half done.

[Unholyground]

With that new transmog going onto the store it is clear it won't be until at least December now and that is to boost their sales until then.

[Raisei]

I am slightly mystified by all these people who think it can't relelase in December because of raids - Blizzard could clearly delay the raid opening into the first half of January without causing any real problems, if they released on Dec 1st/8th/15th. Fixing the inevitable major post-launch issues is more of a problem, so I expect they'll be aiming for the 8th or earlier.

I agree. The raid is most likely going to be coming next year, but the expansion will come end of november/early december.

[iosdeveloper]

i'd release 21-27 December
they should leave people alone to play Cyberpunk2077, than after a month or so grab them by their addicted pussies

[Onikaroshi]

Can we just get rid of this idea that they couldn't just delay the opening of the raid to january? It's really that simple.

Because it's a horrible idea.

[Gorsameth]

i'd release 21-27 December
they should leave people alone to play Cyberpunk2077, than after a month or so grab them by their addicted pussies

And all your devs are gone for the holidays so if something goes wrong your shit out of luck.

There is no way in hell they release during the holidays.

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Considering that a lot of blizzard is currently on strike against activision... that may also have something to do with the delay.

I don't think they actually have devs in France, just support staff so no, the strike won't matter.

[Onikaroshi]

i'd release 21-27 December
they should leave people alone to play Cyberpunk2077, than after a month or so grab them by their addicted pussies

I think people overestimate the amount of people playing wow how care about CP2077, many don't even know it's a thing. Sure the people who do would LOVE to see wow delayed so they can play, but the people who don't would rather not have the game delay only for games they don't care about (issues with the game are fine, delaying for other games is not)

[facefist]

Yeah, it really is good news!

Finally they will focus on polishing it before releasing it. I think we are happy about it. Better properly released than half done.

They aren't "finally focusing" on polishing the game. They just want to make it playable, as it wouldve released in far worse state than prior expansions. So don't keep your hopes up, it won't be any less broken that prior releases.

[schwarzkopf]

I've said it would be late November since the presale happened.

Still sticking with that ... 24th of November or 1st of December.

[keldarepewpew]

I hope no earlier then late november, early december.

[McNeil]

This feels like Warcraft 3: Reforged all over again which is not a good sign. It was also pushed back to January.. same thing might happen to SL

[orsraunia]

The odd thing is this 6 month promotional thing is only 3 months after the last one.

They are just trying to give some extra incentive to people to resub during this semi-dead period, so they make some extra profit. It wouldn't be an as profitable move if they had done so after another 3mo when SL will be probably out. So, them offering an extra incentive now is just good timing on their part for some extra profit. I don't think it means SL will be delayed for 4-6 mo.

I mean, if we accept that most major bugs have been eliminated and they just need to balance the classes and systems, anything more than 2mo is excessive imo. If they really need more than 2mo for balance, then it should become obvious to them that the design flaws are so great that the only realistic solution is to neerf those systems to the ground, so as imbalances are not as apparent, release and fix things down the road. In any case more than 2mo dev time for balance is an obvious waste of resources, especially when we are talking about systems that have little to offer in the long run.

[GreenJesus]

I figured most of the talk about how "broken" the game is was just the usual hyperbole and drama talk, but after playing beta and prepatch - yikers. Shes a total mess - not so much one big problem, more just hundreds of small issues all building to a very, VERY messy crescendo.

I am happier with "soon" compared to releasing it in a state even close to what it is now.

They bit off too much than they could chew. Un-pruning, with level squish and leveling changes, character model changes, multiple systems on top of each other, and new game mode (Torghast), along with all the normal stuff like dungeons and raids. Plus, people are leaving the company en masse and they are experiencing huge brain drain.

[arkanon]

They bit off too much than they could chew. Un-pruning, with level squish and leveling changes, character model changes, multiple systems on top of each other, and new game mode (Torghast), along with all the normal stuff like dungeons and raids. Plus, people are leaving the company en masse and they are experiencing huge brain drain.

Im not sure what impact the last sentence had, or even how accurate it is, HOWEVER, i agree 100% with everything else you said - too ambitious, and from my POV, none of it was even asked for, with the exception of Torghast. I say its the exception because people generally have been asking for more solo game modes and progression, so its hard to hate on them for trying to deliver something.

I personally have not seen anyone request anything even close to all these different systems they are trying to shoehorn into the game, but i have certainly seen a LOT of hatred and frustration towards every single other iteration of similar systems. IMO, SL was the perfect opportunity to do away with all those power related systems entirely. With borrowed power being such a buzz word, i try to avoid using it, but have been calling them 'bolt on' systems. Previously, BFA in particular, the issue came from the core systems of each spec were quite lacking, so they had to use extremely powerful bolt'ons to try and make up for it. This was an opportunity to return the bulk of the players power and performance to the spec itself, and simply use the addons for flavor and flare.

Anyway, yes, i agree they just tried far too much, and looking at the balance right now there are some serious, serious issues. Im have petitioned for less focus on balance and more focus on fun for a long time, but this is certainly not what i meant, when the top dps are doing 40-50% more dps than the lowest. The issue with SL comes from the fact that tuning nob they added? yeah, it isnt unique to each spec, so they are either going to have to greatly buff some specs, or nerf the high performers. Spriest seems so overtuned I just cant understand how it got to this point.

Yes, its only prepatch and balancing isnt important - my concern isnt the current state of the game, but rather that i genuinely do not see a way to fix it with the current systems.

[dcc626]

Let's all reflect on the fact that it is already almost the original release date and there is still no new release date announcement.
And also the new please-don't-leave-us desperate 6-month "promotion."
2021 is looking more and more likely.

yup. 2021 is as likely as 2020. it either is or isnt.

nobody knows. and blizz is smart enough not to announce anything this time before they are sure.

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"Let's all reflect". So... you have something you can add to discussion?

nope. just more circle jerking on the forums. nothing new.

[KridenTagg]

At this point my money is on Shadowlands release on December 8th and delaying Season 1 / Castle Nathria to the first or second week of January. If I'm not mistaken they've done this before with a major patch (maybe in Legion?) to make sure that the raid and raid race were not happening during the holidays. The next month of the beta and the builds being released are going to be the real tell on whether or not we'll see it in 2020 or not.

[arkanon]

I think people overestimate the amount of people playing wow how care about CP2077, many don't even know it's a thing. Sure the people who do would LOVE to see wow delayed so they can play, but the people who don't would rather not have the game delay only for games they don't care about (issues with the game are fine, delaying for other games is not)

Yeah, i agree with this. Of the group i play with, only 3-4 of us will be playing 2077 - half of the others dont even know what it is, the others are just not interested. This happens every time a major title is released - many just assume everyone is excited for it.

- - - Updated - - -

At this point my money is on Shadowlands release on December 8th and delaying Season 1 / Castle Nathria to the first or second week of January. If I'm not mistaken they've done this before with a major patch (maybe in Legion?) to make sure that the raid and raid race were not happening during the holidays. The next month of the beta and the builds being released are going to be the real tell on whether or not we'll see it in 2020 or not.

It absolutely has been done with raid releases, and TBC was delayed to avoid the holiday season because it would have launched to close to xmas. This is the "best case scenario" for those foaming at the mouth to get their hands on SL, imo.

[KridenTagg]

Yeah, i agree with this. Of the group i play with, only 3-4 of us will be playing 2077 - half of the others dont even know what it is, the others are just not interested. This happens every time a major title is released - many just assume everyone is excited for it.

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It absolutely has been done with raid releases, and TBC was delayed to avoid the holiday season because it would have launched to close to xmas. This is the "best case scenario" for those foaming at the mouth to get their hands on SL, imo.

Roger that. I honestly couldn't remember off the top of my head when TBC was released (was ages ago) but I do remember a patch within the last few years that had a decent gap between release and raid release due to Christmas time.