Dragonflight Alpha/Beta General Discussion

[therumblings]

But they are further along this time 11!!111!!

I mean today can be the day or tomorrow or next Friday. Nobody knows. I'd rather be interested in the pattern of talent tree releases and then the upcoming Alpha. If Alpha releases today, why did they only feature three classes for the talent trees? Was there a point to it? Was it just coincidence? It would have made sense to release DK and Druid at the same time and then release Alpha, but getting the Priest talent trees and then nothing anymore seems a bit weird. Know what I mean?

DF announcement - 1.5 months silence - 2 talent trees - 4 weeks silence - 1 talent tree

It's quite a strange release schedule, especially since Ion said "Soon no tm", which gets even weirder with the 2022 release date. If the alpha releases today then I guess they only released trees that they considered to be finished or at least ready for the public to see, then I could see them making more posts with the other specs when they come out.

[Catastrophy349]

It's quite a strange release schedule, especially since Ion said "Soon no tm", which gets even weirder with the 2022 release date. If the alpha releases today then I guess they only released trees that they considered to be finished or at least ready for the public to see, then I could see them making more posts with the other specs when they come out.

Alternatively, they only released "some" trees to "tease us".

[therumblings]

Alternatively, they only released "some" trees to "tease us".

It's possible, but definitely not the impression they gave during the announcement and the weeks following it. They made it seem like they wanted to pump out as many blogposts as possible to get the talents in people's hands early. Not to mention the Dracthyr post as well.

But this is mostly irrelevant, I'd much rather have a datamineable alpha build than some blueposts.

[Nyel]

Alternatively, they only released "some" trees to "tease us".

The one month gap between DK/Druid and Priest doesn't make any sense then, does it?

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It's possible, but definitely not the impression they gave during the announcement and the weeks following it. They made it seem like they wanted to pump out as many blogposts as possible to get the talents in people's hands early. Not to mention the Dracthyr post as well.

But this is mostly irrelevant, I'd much rather have a datamineable alpha build than some blueposts.

Yeah, that we still lack any information about Evoker is mind-boggling. It just makes no sense.

[Vasoka]

It's fairly obvious that something unexpected happened, they said alpha soon (not TM) over 2 months ago, it's apparent they had more issues which severely delayed things (again) and prompted the silence and lack of info. Regardless, alpha will be this week or next one latest.

[Veluren]

It's fairly obvious that something unexpected happened, they said alpha soon (not TM) over 2 months ago, it's apparent they had more issues which severely delayed things (again) and prompted the silence and lack of info. Regardless, alpha will be this week or next one latest.

Had the thought might be that history repeated with Proletariat and the work they've been doing on Dragonflight was similar to the Project Titan redirects back in Warlords, where it stalled out a bit because they had to learn the tools Blizz uses to design the game.

HOPEFULLY that's not a portent for the expansion's quality.

[loras]

Everyone stock up on their hopium/copium last night for another day today? I made sure it was kept in the freezer for preservation.

Have you tried curiosum? I've heard it's much healthier.
I've got plenty, but shipping across the atlantic is a pain.

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Man, can people stop being such lousy buzzkills?

Yes, of course it's stupid to be like "Oh, today is the day" and people've been saying that for weeks, but can't people be allowed to be excited for something?

Why would that excitement be something to be protected? If you want reasonless happiness go drink some alcohol.

[TS26]

is it officially time to panic yet?

[therumblings]

is it officially time to panic yet?

Well with Blizzard's time zone we probably have 12 more hours for potential stuff to happen.

[Manu9]

is it officially time to panic yet?

You mean to tell me you're not constantly panicked? Have I been doing this wrong?

[Cheezits]

Guys, it's raidlog and a new race/class. The only thing worth worrying about is how Evoker plays.

[ExiHext]

It's quite a strange release schedule, especially since Ion said "Soon no tm", which gets even weirder with the 2022 release date. If the alpha releases today then I guess they only released trees that they considered to be finished or at least ready for the public to see, then I could see them making more posts with the other specs when they come out.

This 'soon no tm' just shows me that hey ran into problems and just further reinforce my doubts in a 2022 release. I mean more than two months is not even 'soon tm' territory anymore.

[Cheezits]

This 'soon no tm' just shows me that hey ran into problems and just further reinforce my doubts in a 2022 release. I mean more than two months is not even 'soon tm' territory anymore.

Considering they delayed preorders for a LONG time after that, they have locked in the date. It just took a while before they could commit.

I have a feeling this has less to do with issues with the devs, but upper management forcing them to be quiet while they market Overwatch 2 instead.

[Nymrohd]

Man, can people stop being such lousy buzzkills?

Yes, of course it's stupid to be like "Oh, today is the day" and people've been saying that for weeks, but can't people be allowed to be excited for something?

Hey I don't mind people saying that it's likely we will get something during this week. But let's not pretend any day is different than the other.

[Dracullus]

This 'soon no tm' just shows me that hey ran into problems and just further reinforce my doubts in a 2022 release. I mean more than two months is not even 'soon tm' territory anymore.

And they didn't know about this problems 2 weeks ago when they announced release window?

Even if we say that Blizzard don't give a shit and knows we will buy anyway, pushing unfinished DF doesn't even make sense from financial POV. Imagine scenario if devs say "we won't be ready for November". Now they have profits from immortal, then from Overwatch 2, Wrath could be easily pushed for Christmas (hell, maybe even spliting these releases between Q4 and Q1 would increase overall number of subs), Diablo IV is next summer or later. So only early 2023 won't have major releases and DF would fit there perfectly.

Of course there is always scenario that suits are just clueless. Anyway, we will judge ~month from now. If classes will be more or less complete + zones will release at steady pace, it's good. But it's truth it will have to be shortest Alpha/Beta cycle, we are probably just 16 or 17 weeks away from pre-patch.

[Nymrohd]

And they didn't know about this problems 2 weeks ago when they announced release window?

Even if we say that Blizzard don't give a shit and knows we will buy anyway, pushing unfinished DF doesn't even make sense from financial POV. Imagine scenario if devs say "we won't be ready for November". Now they have profits from immortal, then from Overwatch 2, Wrath could be easily pushed for Christmas (hell, maybe even spliting these releases between Q4 and Q1 would increase overall number of subs), Diablo IV is next summer or later. So only early 2023 won't have major releases and DF would fit there perfectly.

Of course there is always scenario that suits are just clueless. Anyway, we will judge ~month from now. If classes will be more or less complete + zones will release at steady pace, it's good. But it's truth it will have to be shortest Alpha/Beta cycle, we are probably just 16 or 17 weeks away from pre-patch.

I do think that a scenario where the game goes live but raids/M+ come 3-4 weeks after is not impossible. Release second week of December, open raids and M+ on second week of January. Gives them a chance to do a big balance patch as soon as they get back to work after the holidays.

[Manu9]

Honestly, personally I just want to see all the talent trees, then everything else.

[Nymrohd]

Honestly, personally I just want to see all the talent trees, then everything else.

THat's not likely at this point imo. They are probably heavily iterating on them. I think it's very likely that when we see the druid tree once Alpha goes live, it will be substantially different. You might get to see them, but they won't actually matter compared to live.

[Nyel]

I do think that a scenario where the game goes live but raids/M+ come 3-4 weeks after is not impossible. Release second week of December, open raids and M+ on second week of January. Gives them a chance to do a big balance patch as soon as they get back to work after the holidays.

Sounds pretty terrible and unlikely, especially with their recent gating of content. They basically have to unlock the entire story that is there right at launch if they don't have Mythic+ / the raid ready.

[MightyWarrior]

Today, tomorrow or the day after its likely there will be a blue post reminding everyone that dataming will begin with the launch of the Dragonflight Alpha in the upcoming days.