10.0 Revamp - Seems extremely likely now

[ClassicPeon]

Oh look, doomsayers moving the goalposts again.

In 5 or 6 years, WoW will die off in "5 or 6 years", yet again.

More, or less successful, WoW still has a long way to go. We have minimally sized MMOs (in comparison) still going... but yea, WoW is once again on its deathbed after having died like 20 times before.

As for the topic, i'm expecting big changes to the game in 10.0. My hope (and slight expectation) is us beating the Jailer but not being to prevent his plan, so something catastrophic happens to 'reality'\the living realm. Time jump to the future (100 years?) and explore a new and mysterious territory, with new factions, enemies with very few remnants of our current time. Back to anonymous adventurers facing off bandits, marauders, warchiefs, beasts and the like, before scaling up to the big threats again. No factions anymore.

I dont think wow is going to die anytime soon, but i dont think anyone can deny that the overall feeling of wow has been in serious decline the last few years - especially this last year.
No matter how you spin it - that cant be good for the game looking a few years ahead if they continue this trend

[Wilian]

Whatever they plan to do at this stage I have zero faith the end result will work out.

[Relapses]

I dont think wow is going to die anytime soon, but i dont think anyone can deny that the overall feeling of wow has been in serious decline the last few years - especially this last year.
No matter how you spin it - that cant be good for the game looking a few years ahead if they continue this trend

I'd say that it has suffered from a lack of content in the last year but I feel like that has more to do with a looming global pandemic than it does anything else. But apparently you're not allowed to say that because {insert game here} has been releasing content. I will say that the negativity circlejerking has reached a new level on discussion forums like this; again, however, that's more because of bad faith actors like Bellular and Asmongold programming their fanbases to rattle off half-truths and poorly thought out talking points instead of thinking for themselves.

[Cosmic Janitor]

Remember when we thought they might finally address the imbalance of factions by ending the larger faction conflict as such and then the started to genocide large parts of a playable race? I see frankly nothing that screams "revamp" at all. The story could go that way, but it always could, no excuses needed. What I see is their development efforts clearly not pointing to such a major undertaking right now and probably never.

[Balbuto]

I wonder if this'll be another thinly veiled request for player housing...



Oh hey.

Here's an idea: Instead of asking for player housing in WoW, play a MMO that has player housing in it. Thanks.

Good luck getting a house in ffxiv as a new player

[Relapses]

Good luck getting a house in ffxiv as a new player

Luckily I have no interest in Catgirl Simulator 2014 or whatever it is.

[Progenitor Aquarius]

Yep, will probably happen.
The 9.2 video tells it all.

You mean that developer video?

[MiiiMiii]

Them "needing" to do massive changes does not affect them at all. Look at 9.2, it's 1 raid and 1 zone.

10.0 will be another expansion with a new area, something like "Dragon Isles", then we get a new expansion power progression system and some minor changes to our specs.

Big selling point? "Look at these cool transmogs."

New Class/Race not unlikely, but are you really gonna reroll to it?

[pacotaco]

A
4) WoW's file size is getting larger and larger as we speak. Destiny 2 showed us that companies are willing to "vault" content to preserve file size. This is horrible in Destiny 2 in my opinion, but WoW has WoW Classic to hold and preserve the old zones. They're also clearly going to continue progressing classic servers so everyone will always get to play old stuff whenever they want - if they follow the EverQuest path you can have multiple server sets running in parallel at different chronological periods so everyone has access to a game state they want.

Destiny 2 does it because console limited HDD space. WoW has not that problem.

[Archmage Xaxxas]

I'm really afraid that you and many of these streamers/content creators might be rallying false hype for a 10.0 World Revamp.

Why 10.0, the 9th expansion, over 11.0 - The 10th Expansion falling during the 20th Anniversary of World of Warcraft?


I just see Blizzard biding their time 2 more years before they do this. I don't know why the general collective went from "World revamp will NEVER happen" to "10.0 BETTER be a World Revamp"

Meanwhile they are the very people who are the reason it won't happen in 10.0 in my eyes.

[draugril]

I'm really afraid that you and many of these streamers/content creators might be rallying false hype for a 10.0 World Revamp.

Why 10.0, the 9th expansion, over 11.0 - The 10th Expansion falling during the 20th Anniversary of World of Warcraft?


I just see Blizzard biding their time 2 more years before they do this. I don't know why the general collective went from "World revamp will NEVER happen" to "10.0 BETTER be a World Revamp"

Meanwhile they are the very people who are the reason it won't happen in 10.0 in my eyes.

It's like the who "class skins" hype that happened a couple years back. There were literally no indications that the WoW team would ever consider such an idea, yet so many people were expecting it because of the stray thought of some YouTuber.

[Villager720]

While I'd love a world revamp with updated visuals and story progression - they struggled to do just that with existing art for the zones in Cata (not to mention new quests). They regularly noted how much bigger a lift it ended up being than they expected so the idea they would try again, but bigger feels unlikely.

I do think 10.0 will focus on Azeroth and probably Kalimdor/EKs to some degree, but a full revamp of the world in a 3 year timespan just feels impossible considering how long it took them to even make Korthia.

[Beefhammer]

I think it's happening 100%.
They have been slowly, incrementally updating old world models for the past few expansions. They updated some of the old world zones. They've referred in interviews that they recognize the desire to go back to Azeroth. And they honestly need to do something big, after experiencing probably the most turbulent moment in its history. Final Fantasy XIV has picked up like it never has before (at least from what I can tell), Riot MMO is coming (and the show is generating a lot of interest in the property). Meanwhile WoW and Blizzard have been dragged through the mud, scandals, firings, sexual harrassers, player dissatisfaction. They need to come back with something big. They'll always have their core playerbase, but if they want to maintain the level of success they have had all these years, they cannot continue in the same manner they've been going recently.
Shadowlands only having 2 patches, no new class or race. To me indicates they are investing more in the subsequent expansion.

I've been a huge fan of the idea for a long time. But at this point, and I even though I've argued that they'd never do it, I think they'd really benefit from an actual sequel, a new game, not just an expansion. But I still don't see it happening.

2 patches may be more indicative of Covid and needing to get the next expansion out as opposed to it taking three years. If something big is incoming for 10.0 they could have been working on it long before SL. It could have started after Legion. We know they worked on Legion for about 4 years since it was being developed side by side with WoD. So they could have had a smaller art and systems team working on this for a long while.

The opportunity for a WoW two has come and gone a long time ago. The first would have been after WotLK after that story ended.

[Gestopft]

One of the interviews mentioned something about this patch as "closing a book" on a number of Warcraft stories. I immediately thought of a) time jump, and b) associated revamp.

[Chend]

Doubt it. It would be a lot of time spent on something they get no value out of. Cataclysm revamped zones took a lot of work and most people didn't care cause that's not where their main characters went anyway.

And it backfired because it changed the world so much, people now felt it was an entirely different game and Cataclysm went down as the worst expansion ever. They will not repeat that.

[Archmage Xaxxas]

Doubt it. It would be a lot of time spent on something they get no value out of. Cataclysm revamped zones took a lot of work and most people didn't care cause that's not where their main characters went anyway.

This is the worst argument towards not doing a World Revamp.
Why on Earth would they repeat that exact mistake? Nobody pitching a Revamp is even suggesting or wants that. It's besides the point.

While Cataclysm underestimated the idea of Kalimdor/EK's classic zones being Max Level content,

a 2024 World Revamp, with the way the game is built today, would more than likely be made for 1-60 leveling AND Evergreen Max Level content throughout all later expansions.

But basically players such as yourself, being so vocal about how they detest the idea of having Max level content in the 'old' world that they don't consider 'new', has stopped Blizzard from fully embracing the World Revamp potential, I'd imagine.

[Luck4]

Better get used to the idea, that Blizzard is done putting major work into the game. I expect another bunch of expansion with the bare minimum of content and more "borrowed power" class progression features they will reset each new expansion.

This is why the next expansion is so important, if 10.0 follow your prediction it will mean that Blizzard is done with WoW, and anyone that cares about playing an MMO for more years to come will know that WoW is a sinking ship and a waste of time, veterans and new players alike. Not to mention that people will not come back for another low-effort expansion.

Btw, I'm not saying you're wrong by any means, just that 10.0 will send a very clear message of how Blizzard sees this game nowadays. If you end up being right I'm going to leave this ship. There's no point in investing time playing a dying game that devs don't want to save.

[Chend]

This is the worst argument towards not doing a World Revamp.

No, it's not. You put a lot of effort into revamping the world, the expansion launches, and 99% of players go into the new zones and then people look back and hate the fact that the zones were changed, because it doesn't feel like the same game anymore. That's why we have Classic servers now. You don't see many people asking for Cataclysm servers.

[The Stormbringer]

Then keep playing it. Player housing has no business being in WoW. Blizzard should focus on improving the things the game already does different from other games instead of trying to make it just like every other MMO on the market.

Blizzard gained success by taking things other games on the market did, but making them better and adding their own polish to it. Player housing done right by Blizzard could be an amazing evergreen feature. Personally, I would even consider tying it partially into Timewalking (and make Timewalking something that's always available).

One thing the OP neglects to mention is the numerous updated maps and files that have been added to the game. Arathi Basin, Warsong Gulch, Stromgarde, Goldshire, and so on. Plus tons of old school classic models for critters and mobs being updated too. It all points towards, at the very least, a partial revamp coming soon.

[Chend]

But basically players such as yourself, being so vocal about how they detest the idea of having Max level content in the 'old' world that they don't consider 'new', has stopped Blizzard from fully embracing the World Revamp potential, I'd imagine.

I never said that. I love the old world more than anything else. That's why I don't want it changed. That's why I play Classic. That's where you have max level content in the old world.