Dragonflight Alpha/Beta General Discussion

[rhorle]

Yea I know, but maybe they are still deciding on end of this year or early next year. Maybe that it has some important financial consequences or something and they just don't know yet.

They could still choose a specific release date after pre-orders go live though. That is why companies pick the 31st because it allows them a bunch of time to delay if needed. They can also delay to the next year and at worst they have to offer a refund.

There is little reason to speculate on why pre-orders are not live yet because it could be anything.

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I don't think that last one is as far off as you may think. They showed very little at the reveal really. Most of it was gushing over each other and what they had done but without actually showing anything that a player could see and understand were the system is headed. I don't think this expansion is as far on as others have been when revealed by some margin.

Which is normal for a "reveal". Even when at a full fledged blizzcon we don't get much more then they showed.

[Chickat]

Once again I completely agree. Damn shame. People look at wow content as a zero sum game. "If someone gets something they liked must mean I didn't get something I like." This game has 18 years of diverse additions. Sometimes you get something that appeals more to you, sometimes you don't, you can't expect the game to cater to your specific desires every single time.

And its totally okay to wait another round for something you like. The devs have even said they are okay with people taking breaks from the game. Its healthy. If 10.0 doesn't seem to be your jam check back in 2 years. Theres hundreds or thousands of other good games out there in the mean time.

[Alexjimithing]

I actually don't think DF is *that early* in development.

I mean if you go to the email they emailed out the URL says, 'Dragonflight Pre Purchase' and as we know from the leak they've already got the different editions planned out.

I personally think they're trying to extend the news cycle on Dragonflight- drip news for a bit, do a 9.2.5 breakdown that also highlights the preorder features, then open preorders.

Who knows though.

[Nightshade711]

They can put any date they want though. They are not legally required to deliver by the end of the year they first offer it for sale. December 31st is just a default date entered into point of sale systems because they require some kind of date. They could have it for the year 2032 and it would still work just fine.

True.
And before like with Legion they’ve even pushed back release dates if I’m not mistaken.

I’m thinking they might still be on the fence for some of the preorder/deluxe edition bonuses.

Like there might be an allied race they’re discussing. Or perhaps they’re even still trying to figure out if the Dracthyr Evokers will be ready in time to be an early addition like Allied Races were.
They are 100% coming in prepatch, but I wonder if they’re trying to consider moving them to 9.2.5 to keep sub counts up like the BfA allied races.

[wowrefugee]

but I wonder if they’re trying to consider moving them to 9.2.5 to keep sub counts up like the BfA allied races.

I really don't think this is in the cards, for one reason:

They would have to create talents for them using the existing system (and balance them around it), and then scrap it for pre-patch using the new talent tree.

[Chickat]

And why are they doing? why they are giving som many customizations for the elf form?



Such a small indie company who get so low income

Im not sure what their budget is tbh. Activison as of this moment controls their game budgets. Just because a game makes 1b a year doesn't mean its going to get anywhere close to that to make an expansion. They probably get 20-50m a year to make WoW. Another 50-100m a year at most for marketing.

If the WoW team is 300 large. Thats probably bigger than they are, but lets roll with it. The average Salary is 80k a year. Some are a bit smaller, some a bit larger, but that's probably about average. Thats 24m dollars a year. Meaning they only allocate 50-60m max for each expansion development. People act like devs spend a billion dollars on game dev. they spend 5-10% gross income back into development. Thats it.

Hopefully Microsoft is willing to pump a bit more money into WoW. Id like to see them first of all give all game devs a 20-50% raise. Then increase WoWs budget by 50-100%. Meaning it would expand the WoW team to like 400 people with each making 100k a year average.

[micwini]

I really don't think this is in the cards, for one reason:

They would have to create talents for them using the existing system (and balance them around it), and then scrap it for pre-patch using the new talent tree.

Yep. There is no way they implement DE's before prepatch because of this reason.

[Chickat]

How can anyone get back to the old ways when the previous expansion destroyed and nullified everything in the established universe, pinning everything under the control of a single person that was never mentioned before?
How can there be any tension left when DEATH has become little more than an old people's retirement home, where you can go and visit them every now and then?
How can anyone look at developers in light of sincerity, when they've been shown to be worthless incompetent contemptuous frauds?
How can anyone think that Blizzard is promoting female characters, while at the same time stripping them of agency and taking away the feminine appeal with which they were originally introduced?

To me, after being a customer for almost 20 years, Blizzard is dead, and Guildwars 2 is the only thing that's keeping me in the MMO field (especially because it's free).

Guild Wars 2 gets even less content than WOW though? Plus there is no gear grind. Cool looking MMO, but not my cup of tea.

[Dracullus]

Any word yet on when Preorders are going to drop?

Only logical reason is that some preorders bonuses are hidden in 9.2.5. So 9.2.5.

PTR is up like what, 4 weeks? So we should see patch droping somewhere in June.

[Chickat]

Do we know what kind of weapons Evokers are able to wield? Will they be visible in Dragon form / combat?

Guessing Staves, 1h Maces, Daggers, Off hands. Same as balance druids. No I doubt they will be visible in Dragon form.

[Jodmos]

They could still choose a specific release date after pre-orders go live though. That is why companies pick the 31st because it allows them a bunch of time to delay if needed. They can also delay to the next year and at worst they have to offer a refund.

There is little reason to speculate on why pre-orders are not live yet because it could be anything.

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Which is normal for a "reveal". Even when at a full fledged blizzcon we don't get much more then they showed.

I disagree. I think they show for more usually. Maybe not in great detail but they usually explain the systems more in panels afterwards.

[Chickat]

Like i said, is a glorified druid form, you can't do anything if you are not your cat/bear/boomkin form, you need to be the dragon form

And the dragon form does not use your gear like worgens do, they use some set pieces like demon hunter do, that you change in the barber shop

Yes, but they did confirm you can see tabards, belts and shoulders in Dragon Form. Plus the customizable little pieces in Barber shop as well. So you will be able to have them about half covered.

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They didn’t say that.

They said there are armour choices to be made at the barber. Then they said they also use shoulder, chest, and belt armour.

I didn't see them say chest, but tabard for sure. Probably both. Means the only big things missing are helms, weapons, cloacks, boots, legs.,

[Luck4]

They can put any date they want though. They are not legally required to deliver by the end of the year they first offer it for sale. December 31st is just a default date entered into point of sale systems because they require some kind of date. They could have it for the year 2032 and it would still work just fine.

They could put 12/31/2023, but would it be wise marketing?

Blizzard is terribly behind schedule, like for real, while the zones look polished, I'm sure Evoker and Talent Trees are barely over the concept phase, and the development of dungeons and raids has not even started. We're talking about Summer 2023 at the earliest.

Shadowlands Season 4 is the biggest giveaway, seasons last for 6-8 months and Season 3 started in March so Dragonflight could launch in March 2023 or in June/July, even August might not be off the table. I think the WoW team has fewer resources nowadays than in WoD/Legion/BFA.

But NVM, the true question still stands...

WHAT IS THIS MEANT FOR???

[Chickat]

Okay, I haven’t seen this video before, I found it on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/wow/comment...tm_name=iossmf

Man does Dracthyr and Evoker look rough. They look like they came straight out of a cheap Asian F2P MMORPG. The art style and direction is outright terrible.

I know they are working on it and both the visuals and animations need a ton of work. I‘m just surprised in what an early state the supposed main feature of the expansion is.

The more I look at the higher res videos and images the more I like it. It don't think it looks that rough. Sure the proportions on the body could be a bit better, but it doesn't look bad. Just not as good as it could.

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???

It looks like very standard quality wow animations to me.

Oh the animations look sick to me. And the spell effects are gorgeous.

[micwini]

They could put 12/31/2023, but would it be wise marketing?

Blizzard is terribly behind schedule, like for real, while the zones look polished, I'm sure Evoker and Talent Trees are barely over the concept phase, and the development of dungeons and raids has not even started. We're talking about Summer 2023 at the earliest.

Shadowlands Season 4 is the biggest giveaway, seasons last for 6-8 months and Season 3 started in March so Dragonflight could launch in March 2023 or in June/July, even August might not be off the table. I think the WoW team has fewer resources nowadays than in WoD/Legion/BFA.

But NVM, the true question still stands...

WHAT IS THIS MEANT FOR???

You have the answer in your signature. 11.0. They are updating the missing pieces in DF (gnolls, centaurs, dragon models).

[Vyomesh2]

They could put 12/31/2023, but would it be wise marketing?

Blizzard is terribly behind schedule, like for real, while the zones look polished, I'm sure Evoker and Talent Trees are barely over the concept phase, and the development of dungeons and raids has not even started. We're talking about Summer 2023 at the earliest.

Shadowlands Season 4 is the biggest giveaway, seasons last for 6-8 months and Season 3 started in March so Dragonflight could launch in March 2023 or in June/July, even August might not be off the table. I think the WoW team has fewer resources nowadays than in WoD/Legion/BFA.

But NVM, the true question still stands...

WHAT IS THIS MEANT FOR???

Soon the degenerates can ERP in HD. Good for them.

[rhorle]

They could put 12/31/2023, but would it be wise marketing?

Yes? It isn't marketing at all to put a date in for the system. It will only be a problem for those people that think it is a legally binding delivery date but those type of people don't need much of a reason to hate on Blizzard. Blizzard said that typically a season lasts 6 to 8 months. Season 4 isn't typical and doesn't have to last very long at all. You, and others, are reading way to much into comments made by Blizzard.

[Chickat]

I want this to! Hopefully we get more visages in the future, like this photoshop I whipped together:

Those don't look very good IMO. I know they are shopped, but I don't think they could put the level of customization into every other race like they can the elf and human. I think they should add some basic options like horns and some face markings and expand the system. Make characters have to be an elf/human when they create the character, and let them switch to the lesser customizable ones at the barber shop if they wish.

[Syegfryed]

Im not sure what their budget is tbh. Activison as of this moment controls their game budgets. Just because a game makes 1b a year doesn't mean its going to get anywhere close to that to make an expansion. They probably get 20-50m a year to make WoW. Another 50-100m a year at most for marketing.

They constanly claim wow is making more money and having more engagement than ever before, so they can't say they don't have enough budget, especially after cutting the last patch.

Besides, like i said, allowing other visages will not cost a raid tier or a patch.

[Chickat]

Please, don’t try to defend the lazyness of choosing again the blood elf model… how hard is it to put those already created textures on the other races?

Textures wrap around different faces and would look weird. They would have to create custom textures for every race. Horns and maybe some jewelry would be a lot quicker to implement.