Dragonflight Alpha/Beta General Discussion

[Azxza]

Legion did not last 3 years.

Maybe they're saving it for later but I think Dark Ranger allied races were scrapped from Shadowlands because of Covid. A lot of people are acting like the next expansion was the one that's going to suffer because of Covid, but shadowlands development took all of it. But they've been back to normal for half a year now.

If 10.0 launches in early August 2023 that will put Shadowlands at 2 years and 9 months. 9 months is around the time they seem to be backed up due to everything’s that’s gone on. It took them 7 months to put out a single content patch for this expac. The second content patch is going to take them even longer. So taking into account how backed up they are summer 2023 is the reasonable and most realistic timeframe for 10.0.

[Ersula]

If 10.0 launches in early August 2023 that will put Shadowlands at 2 years and 9 months. 9 months is around the time they seem to be backed up due to everything’s that’s gone on. It took them 7 months to put out a single content patch for this expac. The second content patch is going to take them even longer. So taking into account how backed up they are summer 2023 is the reasonable and most realistic timeframe for 10.0.

There's so much wrong with this statement.

The longest major patch cycle has been 10 months. The shortest was 5 months. 7 is closer to 5 than 10.

Where are you getting 9 months from? We've seen WoD they're clearly capable of wrapping up a story in two patches. Do you think making Shadowlands last an extra 9 months will make it more popular with the community??? Since WoD they've admitted if they're behind on develpment they just abandon major patches: After Legion came out they actually commented about there supposed to be a Shattrath Raid tier in WoD. But they were behind on development so it got ejected. Nazjatar: totally optional. Throne of Thunder? Optional. Ulduar? Optional. Actually Antorus could have been optional in Legion, they would could have slapped the Seat of the Pantheon on to Tomb right after Kiljaeden

[Azxza]

There's so much wrong with this statement.

The longest major patch cycle has been 10 months. The shortest was 5 months. 7 is closer to 5 than 10.

Where are you getting 9 months from? We've seen WoD they're clearly capable of wrapping up a story in two patches. Do you think making Shadowlands last an extra 9 months will make it more popular with the community???

Who said anything about what the community wants? It’s about how much development time they’ve lost due to internal and external problems. I’m sure Blizzard would love to release things sooner. You think they wanted the massive backlash they got after it took them 7 months to put out SoD? Same deal with 10.0. They would love to release it on time, but given the realities of 2020 and 2021, 2023 is what we’ll get for 10.0

Besides, Ion already said there’s much more to come after 9.2. They are going to fix this expansion with the extra time they now have. Strap in and learn to love the shadowlands

[Ersula]

Who said anything about what the community wants? It’s about how much development time they’ve lost due to internal and external problems. I’m sure Blizzard would love to release things sooner. You think they wanted the massive backlash they got after it took them 7 months to put out SoD? Same deal with 10.0. They would love to release it on time, but given the realities of 2020 and 2021, 2023 is what we’ll get for 10.0

But we've already felt most of the development delay: And working from home isn't a big deal for wow: programming & digital art is the ideal home office job. A few people were fired recently. But otherwise they were back to normal workflow since April.

You keep saying 7 months because you've been spoiled by BFA patches: Meanwhile you're proposing August 2023: Look at your math. That's 22 months from now & 26 months from the release of Sanctum. You just proposed to make up for a terrible 7 month content cycle we have 3 8 month content cycles. WHAT???

Besides, Ion already said there’s much more to come after 9.2. They are going to fix this expansion with the extra time they now have. Strap in and learn to love the shadowlands

There's no reason to assume he was talking about major patches & not the next expansion. You just ignored all precedent in WoD. And an expansion helps with Subs way more than any content patch.

[Azxza]

But we've already felt most of the development delay: And working from home isn't a big deal for wow: programming & digital art is the ideal home office job. A few people were fired recently. But otherwise they were back to normal workflow since April.

You keep saying 7 months because you've been spoiled by BFA patches: Meanwhile you're proposing August 2023: Look at your math. That's 22 months from now & 26 months from the release of Sanctum. You just proposed to make up for a terrible 7 month content cycle we have 3 8 month content cycles. WHAT???

There's no reason to assume he was talking about major patches & not the next expansion. You just ignored all precedent in WoD. And an expansion helps with Subs way more than any content patch.

I ignor3d the precedents because they aren’t precedents. No previous expansion has had to deal with what blizzard has gone through in the past (almost) 2 years. All of that stuff you brought up is irrelevant. And why would he be talking about the next expansion when that question was specifically about the shadowlands? It’s right there on the interview.

“ we've already felt most of the development delay”

Lol how? 9.2 isn’t even out yet and it will take even longer to release than 9.1 did. The live team is not the same as the expac team. We haven’t even begun to see just how backed up they are. Or do you believe the delay only affected the live team?

It’s time to stop coping. You will be running laps in oribos for years to come lol

[Ersula]

Lol how? 9.2 isn’t even out yet and it will take even longer to release than 9.1 did. The live team is not the same as the expac team. We haven’t even begun to see just how backed up they are. Or do you believe the delay only affected the live team?

Sir, Covid started halfway though Shadowlands development: If what you say is true, wouldn't the Shadowlands release have been delayed more than 1 month? Covid started before we even had a release date. And the expansion still released the same quarter it was scheduled to. I would say any major delay would only be caused from the adjustment between working in office to working at home. And if you're saying the problems are compounded, now, you're saying the sexual harassment case has somehow slowed development of WoW more than a worldwide pandemic.

You look at other AAA game studios & most of their games were only delayed about 3 months from Covid. Even Other Blizzard content hasn't been delayed that severely.

[Azxza]

Sir, Covid started halfway though Shadowlands development: If what you say is true, wouldn't the Shadowlands release have been delayed more than 1 month?

No cause Shadowlands was already largely done by the time Covid hit and lockdowns went into place. They were in the final stretch of development for that expac.

If it had hit in early 2019? Absolutely would have been delayed as long as 10.0 is about to be delayed.

[Ersula]

If it had hit in early 2019? Absolutely would have been delayed as long as 10.0 is about to be delayed.

I repeat: No other games in this industry were delayed that severely. You keep insinuating working from home delayed development but I really wouldn't have. Their workload was the same. In fact some studies say working from home is more productive than working in an office. Hearthstone is a much smaller team with much faster turnover: But still proportionally, their content releases haven't been delayed at all. Explain that.

[Azxza]

I repeat: No other games in this industry were delayed that severely.

What are you basing this on?

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

I repeat: No other games in this industry were delayed that severely. You keep insinuating working from home delayed development but I really wouldn't have. Their workload was the same. In fact some studies say working from home is more productive than working in an office. Hearthstone is a much smaller team with much faster turnover: But still proportionally, their content releases haven't been delayed at all. Explain that.

*Looks at FF14's team running 6 months behind schedule and their very public statements that it's due to WFH.*

[Ersula]

*Looks at FF14's team running 6 months behind schedule and their very public statements that it's due to WFH.*

Except Endwalker was produced entirely during Covid, and it was only delayed 4 months. Not 6 and not 9. Whereas WoW production has been back to normal for 6 months now

[Azxza]

Except Endwalker was produced entirely during Covid, and it was only delayed 4 months. Not 6 and not 9. Whereas WoW production has been back to normal for 6 months now

Yeah, because Yoshi-P is a much better director and is running a much better studio than Ion is. This is not the reality for WoW, thus the 9 month delay for 10.0.

[Nyel]

I really don’t know why people think there‘s much more to come in the future is about 9.2.5 and 9.3 and not about the next expansion.

He didn’t mention any patch after 9.2 once, he didn’t say 9.2.5 nor did he say 9.3. He said future. Which is the exact same stuff he said 6 months ago when he deemed it as the next adventure. This is as vague as possible and clearly does not indicate that 9.3 is coming (nor does it indicate the opposite; it’s just as vague as possible).

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Ya know, they could be extending SL's length for a multitude of reasons, not just because of COVID.

Sure they can. And lose hundreds of millions of dollars.

[Azxza]

Also look at Deathloop. It was supposed to be a launch title for PS5. Reality? September 2021.

Far Cry 6 was supposed to be May 2021. Came out October 2021.

Halo Infinite was supposed to be holidays 2020. It is now coming out holidays 2021.

No More Heroes 3 original release date was 2020. Ended up coming out in August 2021.

So this is why I asked you, what are you basing your previous post on?

Tons of games got delayed due to the pandemic. Blizzard had the pandemic + massive internal strife to deal with.

[Makabreska]

Also look at Deathloop. It was supposed to be a launch title for PS5. Reality? September 2021.

Far Cry 6 was supposed to be May 2021. Came out October 2021.

Halo Infinite was supposed to be holidays 2020. It is now coming out holidays 2021.

No More Heroes 3 original release date was 2020. Ended up coming out in August 2021.

So this is why I asked you, what are you basing your previous post on?

Tons of games got delayed due to the pandemic. Blizzard had the pandemic + massive internal strife to deal with.

Nah. According to some here Covid was just a temporary inconvenience you get over and Blizz simply lost the ability to produce content.

[Lahis]

Who said they're extending SL's length? There's no evidence it won't be 2 years long, the average for every expansion.

If they do 9.3 the expansion will be over 3 years. Even without 9.3 we'll go past 2 year mark easily before next expansion releases.

[Revamp Man]

If they do 9.3 the expansion will be over 3 years. Even without 9.3 we'll go past 2 year mark easily before next expansion releases.

I mean let’s assume 9.2 in February early March
You get 9.3 in late October finishing off the afterlife in spooky season
Then 10 months for 10.0 launch

The people saying “they were only delayed 3 months” are ignoring the simple fact that 10.0 would still be delayed even if it was only three months….which it wasn’t because of all the different shitstorms.

No 9.3 places alpha in may then 7 months until the latest they would launch because new expansions are good holiday money makers

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It kind of was, though. At least for some industries. My work as a marketer is virtually unaffected by COVID, since I can perform all of my tasks from home without any hindrance whatsoever.

Judging by the poor quality of developers' equipment in that YouTube video about the Community Council yesterday, however, it seems to me like Blizzard staff are simply bad at adapting to WFH. It's like they only function properly when shepherded by Blizzard within the office.

Every game developer was effected by it

It halted a lot of work and then you get output at a much slower rate

[Dracullus]

If they do 9.3 the expansion will be over 3 years.

Do you have calendar in home? Over 3 year expansion = December 2023 or 2024 release. Of course in current situation pessimistic scenarios have no ceiling , but c'mon.

[Edoll]

Can I just say that Shadowlands as an afterlife is really lame? It’s just life. There’s no difference. You eat, you sleep, you fight, you struggle, you die. It’s just kinda lame. You don’t even get answers to how the universe works or anything, it’s another piece of a much larger cosmic that even the inhabitants don’t fully understand.

[Lahis]

Do you have calendar in home? Over 3 year expansion = December 2023 or 2024 release. Of course in current situation pessimistic scenarios have no ceiling , but c'mon.

If they launch 9.3 in November 2022, late 2023 for 10.0 is more than likely.