Dragonflight Alpha/Beta General Discussion

[Gigantique]

Optimized for current launcher enabled login times and it is only 10 second jingle.

I just hope it starts immediately like vanilla/cata etc and doesn't have the windup intro part like wotlk/SL etc. Then we get to actually hear it and not just the windup

[Nymrohd]

Atm what I am looking forward is a blog about M+ rewards. And maybe a disambiguation about Primal Infusion.

[Makabreska]

Atm what I am looking forward is a blog about M+ rewards. And maybe a disambiguation about Primal Infusion.

Need info about Affixes changes. Necrotic and Inspiring are gone, gotta see new seasonal one and w/e else they will come up with.

[Nymrohd]

Need info about Affixes changes. Necrotic and Inspiring are gone, gotta see new seasonal one and w/e else they will come up with.

Need a blog on M+ in general. I don't expect a schedule on the rotation or anything but they should get most of the information in one place. Affixes, rewards, plans for the loot tables of older expansion dungeons.

[Lady Atia]

Atm what I am looking forward is a blog about M+ rewards. And maybe a disambiguation about Primal Infusion.

Yeah, I really hope the M+ seasonal mount is a banger again

[Dracullus]

That's a rather silly sentiment. Sounds and music are not something that generally requires much testing once the sound system is set up.

Lot of boys who cried wolf here. Every 5 minutes they have bad feelings and are "worried" about something. Some people were in constant panic mode between reveal and Alpha even back when we expected DF to launch next spring xD.

[Makabreska]

Lot of boys who cried wolf here. Every 5 minutes they have bad feelings and are "worried" about something. Some people were in constant panic mode between reveal and Alpha even back when we expected DF to launch next spring xD.

"prIEsT anD DRuid devS havE LEft ThE CoMpaNy, THesE CLaSses aRe FuCKed!!!"

[Revamp Man]

Because they've demonstrated that half the time after they write new old god whispers, they either change their story plans or the content they were foreshadowing gets cut. So the whispers are now pointless. It's like Ed Boon's twitter account. (The Mortal Kombat franchise used to do this thing where they put tons of hints to secret content, but since the 3d era, they keep doing this but for secrets that don't exist. Making the hints pure trolling.)

The whispers always point to something unless we memory hole everything

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I'm still not getting it. Is something said that raises questions?

Yes they were talking about how they already have him in one line in another they said it's roots will run deep and they shall reach us

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Yeah, I really hope the M+ seasonal mount is a banger again

Gonna be a dragon skin but idk for which one because it seems each has only certain options

[Foreign Exchange Ztudent]

I mean the status of the expansion will not be clear until February when we get details about the post launch.

The base product could literally be anything and people will still preorder.

[Nymrohd]

I mean the status of the expansion will not be clear until February when we get details about the post launch.

The base product could literally be anything and people will still preorder.

Very much so. We cannot judge the expac by the release content. By that standard, WoD was an amazing expansion.

[UndedoKoleda]

"prIEsT anD DRuid devS havE LEft ThE CoMpaNy, THesE CLaSses aRe FuCKed!!!"

Nah, this one was funnier:

"BlIZZard Do NOT neEd To haVE a PUbLic BEtA ThIs timE, tHEY CAN tESt It InteRNALlY"

[Shakzor]

Nah, this one was funnier:

"BlIZZard Do NOT neEd To haVE a PUbLic BEtA ThIs timE, tHEY CAN tESt It InteRNALlY"

Well, it works for other games (including MMOs), it's just hell of a lot cheaper to let players beta test everything for free, rather than hiring QA companies or whatever to test everything.

[Rageonit]

Well, it works for other games (including MMOs), it's just hell of a lot cheaper to let players beta test everything for free, rather than hiring QA companies or whatever to test everything.

Like CDPRed did for Cyberpunk 2077? So they could later blame the same QA company for the plethora of bugs?
There's no need for this argument here. Whether you test something internally or not, it's always beneficial to also release a public beta if there are people willing to test things. After all, additional tests never hurt.

[FelPlague]

Can't help but to feel bit cynical about how the first expansion after the Big Discrimination Lawsuit has most queer representstion in the history of the game.

Shadowlands had a fair bit and even bfa had some, but people threw a fit.

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Eh, i'd say the bigger issue is that it doesn't really have a place in the story. WoW isn't about personal relationships. Its okay if characters just happen to be in a relationship, but putting it in the forefront like this is rather overdoing it and thus feels forced.

???? What??? Do you forget us seeing illidan tyrande and malfurion all the time, what about jaina, arthas, kalethas, and kalec, what about sargeras and Azeroth, sif and thorim, the first phase of azshara, the gnome/goblin couple, fucboi in all the lewd books, lothremar, genn and his wife, maraad, garona and medivh, turylon and alleria, sylvanas and nathanos, valleria and ronin, thrall and aggra, I mean there is a fuck load of relationships just front and center in wow...

This feels a lot like.

100 straight relationships. "No problem"
1 gay couple "ewwww why they gotta shove relationships into everything!?"

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You're way overstating both how common those are and the general impact. Illidan/Tyrande/Malfurion was a side note at best, always overshadowed by bigger issues while Jaina's relationships have little to no impact on anything and may as well not have happened for all the difference it makes.
Thrall's wedding had some importance, but who he got married to did not.
Azuregos and the Spirit Healer was little more than a joke.

And that's what, 4 relationships in 18 years of story?

Holy fuck did you just say jainas relationship didn't even matter and was a side note, you really gunna fucking say jaina and fucking arthas had no effect on the story, you serious?
Also 4 relationships in 18 years, bro try like 4 every patch atleast. I missed some of the ones he listed and I gave tons, and literally illidan and tyrande and malfurion a side thing? Literally every time we saw any of them it is brought up, illidans death he even cries about tyrande, malfurion darkshore, oh look tyrande.

Nevermind the COUNTLESS consorts we are introduced to of the dragons, nevermnd ones like sinestra.

[Civciv]

Did this guy legit say "What about Sargeras and Azeroth?" or am I dreaming? They weren't in a relationship.....

[FelPlague]

It's not that they are super impactful it's that wow has always had a ton of relationship stuff and it even takes senator stage from time to time, and no it's not just 4 those are just the most notable ones with big named characters.

off the top of my head there's.

mankrik and his wife
Kalecgos and Anveena
Lor'themar and Liadrin
Kael'thas and Jaina
Draka and Durotan
Ner'zhul and Rulkan
Sylvanas and Nathanos
Vereesa and Rhonin
Alleria and Turalyon

all of theses characters have pretty major story beats based around there relationships and all of them are big players one way or another (other then mankrik) and there are likely tons of other relationships both major and minor through out wow or characters who are defined about losing one half of there relationship.

Lothremar and fuck what's he name, the night borne woman, I'm tired, not liadrin. Also yeah the rest of these as well, also vareesa not valleria lol I'm dumb, but yeah wow is fucking FULL of relationships.

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Did this guy legit say "What about Sargeras and Azeroth?" or am I dreaming? They weren't in a relationship.....

Oh you didn't know? Sargeras fell in love with Azeroth and wanted to convert her to his side. For someone named herald of sargeras, you sure don't know everything about him. That's why he was brooding over her for so long trying to corrupt her and convert her, before pulling a "if I can't have her no one can" when we lock him away.


Also you can qoute people you know that right?

[Atticon]

Like CDPRed did for Cyberpunk 2077? So they could later blame the same QA company for the plethora of bugs?
There's no need for this argument here. Whether you test something internally or not, it's always beneficial to also release a public beta if there are people willing to test things. After all, additional tests never hurt.

FFXIV manages just fine without public testing, even with a decade of technical debt and spaghetti code now. I can't even recall when I last actually encountered a bug in live, save the Raubahn Extreme bottleneck back on Stormblood launch.
The only reason I see WoW benefitting from public testing is tuning and finding bugs in how abilities/talents/trinkets interact, as WoW's design in that regard is extremely chaotic as opposed to a very sanitized, homogenized FFXIV.

In the end though you're right in it not being about public testing being there or not: you still need to invest resources and time in QA and professional testing, preferably in-house.
Blaming external QA is always easy even though the problems always start in design and development.

[Lady Atia]

Very much so. We cannot judge the expac by the release content. By that standard, WoD was an amazing expansion.

Well, the first part of WoD (aswell as HFC itself) was a good expansion. So was Shadowlands, besides the drought and Korthia. Honestly, Shadowlands after the ripcord (which was at the time the team came together and started to change shortly after people like Afrasiabi got booted btw) already was miles ahead of BfA so I wouldn't worry about Dragonflight. If they can keep the patch speed we had since Sepulcher everything will turn out great.

[Shakzor]

Like CDPRed did for Cyberpunk 2077? So they could later blame the same QA company for the plethora of bugs?
There's no need for this argument here. Whether you test something internally or not, it's always beneficial to also release a public beta if there are people willing to test things. After all, additional tests never hurt.

Yes, like this one singular case...
Not like Monster Hunter, Yakuza, Forza, God of War, FallGuys, Pokemon Unite, any CoD, FIFA, FF14, Guild Wars 2 (iirc) or tons of other games.
This "let players beta test" is purely marketing and cost cutting. They don't get any more or better feedback by letting random players test their games.
And before you come with that, yes, games like CoD have "betas", but with them being like a weekend before launch, they're just glorified demos and have 0 impact on anything

[Rageonit]

Yes, like this one singular case...
Not like Monster Hunter, Yakuza, Forza, God of War, FallGuys, Pokemon Unite, any CoD, FIFA, FF14, Guild Wars 2 (iirc) or tons of other games.
This "let players beta test" is purely marketing and cost cutting. They don't get any more or better feedback by letting random players test their games.
And before you come with that, yes, games like CoD have "betas", but with them being like a weekend before launch, they're just glorified demos and have 0 impact on anything

One question that arises in my mind is which of those games has such complex interactions between (as of now) 38 specs - and if their internal teams (or external QA companies) are as experienced with those mechanics as are WoW players with the mentioned specs. Because for me, it feels like testing FIFA or Monster Hunter is rather different to testing WoW. Also, those WoW betas have a long standing tradition, and were (at least in the past, but I think still are) both praised and enjoyed by many players. So yeah, arguing that it's down to cost cutting is a bit mean spirited. If Blizzard suddenly decided NOT to do a public beta, we'd have a huge outcry.