Dragonflight Alpha/Beta General Discussion

[Syegfryed]

After 9.2 release.

normally, expansions were announced before the last patch was released, no?

[micwini]

normally, expansions were announced before the last patch was released, no?

Don't know if its normally, but im pretty sure SL was announced before 8.3 hit live.

[Kiivar86]

People should really have learned not to talk in absolutes after all these years of people biting the dust after going "this is 100% real" or "this is 100% fake". Just wait and see, don't claim anything is either until it's officially confirmed. Everyone is happier and the thread is less shit as a result.

Yup.

Pre-Shadowlands, I remember so many people claiming this leak or that leak was 100% real and in the end, none of them outside of the Bastion artwork and Bolvar cinematic (and maybe a few details) just days before the announcement were real. I've posted it before, but this google doc compiled close to 90 "leaks". Fun to poke through.

[Beloren]

People should really have learned not to talk in absolutes after all these years of people biting the dust after going "this is 100% real" or "this is 100% fake". Just wait and see, don't claim anything is either until it's officially confirmed. Everyone is happier and the thread is less shit as a result.

For many the fun of the thread is that shit - as you put it. If you were a company orchestrating fake rumours, you would love concepts that are not as good as your big reveal.

In fact you would do just enough to cause enough misdirect on a fake leak, that not only tests the waters but gets everyone excited, but you full well know pales in comparison to what you have planned.


Our expectations are so low, that even a new class or race would be exciting. The bar is so low, excitement should be easy to have on this new expansion. Over hype might just dot he trick..at least for release, but they'd have to work hard to keep them.

[Teriz]

So when can we expect there to be an expansion announcement? Surely it'll have to be soon, right? Considering it would've normally happened during Blizzcon

Typically, Blizzard announces the next expansion before the last patch is released. They do that because by that point the next expansion's storyline is obvious. They honestly might do it before the final raid is datamined and the cutscenes are shown.

[Marlamin]

For many the fun of the thread is that shit - as you put it. If you were a company orchestrating fake rumours, you would love concepts that are not as good as your big reveal.

In fact you would do just enough to cause enough misdirect on a fake leak, that not only tests the waters but gets everyone excited, but you full well know pales in comparison to what you have planned.


Our expectations are so low, that even a new class or race would be exciting. The bar is so low, excitement should be easy to have on this new expansion. Over hype might just dot he trick..at least for release, but they'd have to work hard to keep them.

I'm not talking about the leaks or the hype around them, I love that too, but those pretty much clinging to their opinions about the leaks as if they were already a confirmed fact.

[Raetary]

normally, expansions were announced before the last patch was released, no?

Yes, but that happened on Blizzcons, months before the last patch was to be released.

With 9.2 development going as is, we'll see it release within the next few weeks and an expansion reveal would just completely overshadow the patch.

[Akta]

isn't fun that 10.0 will be the first project Danuser will be in full charge of the story lead ( without having nothing to do with the shit afraisabi left him to deal with ) and the tale he wrote for the Folks & fairy tales book is a story about Dragons?

[Syegfryed]

Yes, but that happened on Blizzcons, months before the last patch was to be released.

With 9.2 development going as is, we'll see it release within the next few weeks and an expansion reveal would just completely overshadow the patch.

If anything, an expansion announcement would only boost people coming back to the game to play the final patch.

And legion was announced outside of blizzcon, and this year it will not be one, soooo.

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isn't fun that 10.0 will be the first project Danuser will be in full charge of the story lead ( without having nothing to do with the shit afraisabi left him to deal with ) and the tale he wrote for the Folks & fairy tales book is a story about Dragons?

no, if anything, the story will be worse.

he was in full charge of shadowlands and still did more shit than afrasiabi.

[JDBlou]

I will gladly take the chance and change my name to "Empire_of_dragons_is_fake" if the logo turns out to be the real deal.
Save this post and quote me when the time comes lads and ladines.

Let him stand trial in the Dragon Isles

[Radioactive]

Yes, but that happened on Blizzcons, months before the last patch was to be released.

With 9.2 development going as is, we'll see it release within the next few weeks and an expansion reveal would just completely overshadow the patch.

I totally agree.
They could take advantage of the 9.2 release to get even more hype with a 10.0 announcement at the same time, but I feel that they'll play long-term and let 9.2 generate its own """hype""" without overshadowing it with 10.0 announcement.

I really think that the "announcements in the next weeks for Warcraft" as told by Ybarra will only be about the release date for 9.2.

Then when the 9.2 "hype" falls down during March/April, they'll use a 10.0 announcement to bounce back.

I hope I'm wrong though, I really want the sweet 10.0 infos.

[huth]

Pfft, easy to say when we're almost 2 major patches into Wrath of the Bolvar.

I might give a leak the benefit of less doubt if it was something like Empire of the Wrathion or The Wrathion's Fury or something like that. Empire of Dragons is way to generic.

[Akta]

If anything, an expansion announcement would only boost people coming back to the game to play the final patch.

And legion was announced outside of blizzcon, and this year it will not be one, soooo.

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no, if anything, the story will be worse.

he was in full charge of shadowlands and still did more shit than afrasiabi.

he was in full charge of something that it was alreay set up by others in a shitty way like the whole sylvanas arc.

[Rtrain]

If anything, an expansion announcement would only boost people coming back to the game to play the final patch.

And legion was announced outside of blizzcon, and this year it will not be one, soooo.

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no, if anything, the story will be worse.

he was in full charge of shadowlands and still did more shit than afrasiabi.

I think at one time it was true people would come back after an expansion announcement, but i believe that’s less true now. Their ability to retain players for extended periods of time has gone down over the years. If anything I think the reason they stopped announcing the expansion and the final patch together is so they could hype both individually more and hopefully both times the hype brings players back in. In the past they just didn’t need to do it, they’d hype future content, people would come back, and they’d retain them until the expansion dropped.

[Lahis]

normally, expansions were announced before the last patch was released, no?

That's more about the timing of Blizzcon.

Blizzcon is in November, and that's where they do the big announcements. They can't delay the announcement and start of testing for a whole year, so expansion gets announced before current one is finished.

Right now they don't need to worry about Blizzcon or any other event for that matter since they have all been cancelled for the foreseeable future. They can announce 10.0 whenever they want and it makes most sense to announce it only after players have finished the current expansion story.

The added benefit is also that they can launch the Alpha pretty much right after the announcement and don't need to wait monts untill current expansion's PTR cycles are finished.

[Beloren]

I wonder if even delaying the expansion announcement has cost blizzard too. I suppose it can be turned into an advantage, but the momentum it could have built, with all the timings and delays would behead to make up for.

This is why the expansion needed to be another "best ever" packed with features and content - but it won't, they aren't in a position and they know it, and a slam dunk revival mis now in serious question. Would the expansion even be enough?

They need a win with everything, and they certainly understand what hype does for a community, having employed it so many times. They are also now experiencing the other side.

[Syegfryed]

he was in full charge of something that it was alreay set up by others in a shitty way like the whole sylvanas arc.

and in responde he did ten times shittier, i don't see how its any merit to him.

If anything, what he did with sylvanas in shadowlands was worse than what Afrasiabi did in BfA,

[draugril]

I think at one time it was true people would come back after an expansion announcement, but i believe that’s less true now. Their ability to retain players for extended periods of time has gone down over the years. If anything I think the reason they stopped announcing the expansion and the final patch together is so they could hype both individually more and hopefully both times the hype brings players back in. In the past they just didn’t need to do it, they’d hype future content, people would come back, and they’d retain them until the expansion dropped.

Slightly related, I remember someone (Ion?) using the term "expansion tourist" and completely misunderstanding these types of players. They posited that many people buy the expansion, level up, and bow out since that's all they wanted out of the experience. In my experience... I have not encountered a single one of this hypothetical group. I have encountered a ton of people that match their behaviour, but none of them are "tourists," solely here for the leveling experience. They're all checking out the new expansion, hoping it has that spark that can rekindle their motivation and interest as it relates to WoW.

They are not checking out because they've experienced all there is for them to experience. They're checking out because there is nothing there that they want to experience. They want to keep playing, but WoW needs to deliver content that keeps them interested. It needs to grow beyond the hyperfocused loot treadmill. This potential is what gets me hyped up during the "leak" season. I don't care about another dungeon, another raid, or bigger numbers on items. I want new experiences that are actually followed through on and not kneecapped from the start.

Things like Warfronts and Torghast had me legitimately excited... but they were both half-hearted implementations that essentially stopped receiving support and were muted in concept shortly after release. But I still hope that the next "new" feature will be as revolutionary as Mythic+ was. As cynical as I have become... I still hold onto that hope.

[Akta]

and in responde he did ten times shittier, i don't see how its any merit to him.

If anything, what he did with sylvanas in shadowlands was worse than what Afrasiabi did in BfA,

try to fix sylvanas after the BFA mess ;D

[Khaza-R]

he was in full charge of something that it was alreay set up by others in a shitty way like the whole sylvanas arc.

And? He's still responsible for worst parts of the Shadowlands. The unconvincing villain the Jailer has been, the borderline offensive Elune/Tyrande subplot, the pointless recontextualizations of previous lore.

Maybe he'll do better with something that is completely new and his own work from scratch, but so far he's tanked the story of the series far better than any of this predecessors did.