They said COVID didn't stop them, so I'm not using that shit as an excuse. It's just them not knowing wtf is going on. Doesn't help people are getting fired or are just leaving left and right.
Unless 9.1 has some crazy fucking shit going on, like fully rendered cinematics, or very big reveals popping in, then this is just Blizzard being an extremely poor and stupid company rn.
If you mean we're all playing a very old game anyway, yeah, high-five, good one.
But if you're talking about enjoying Classic, no, I have zero interest in playing Classic, vanilla or TBC.
Seeing as how Blizzard insiders are afraid it's not coming out soon then I'd say fall at the earliest maybe even winter
Classic is incredibly successful. Classic brought back a ton of players and so will TBC. I think it’s pretty clever to focus on both. That retail is having major issues when it comes to player retention shouldn’t be blamed on Classic, it’s the mismanagement and wrong direction retail is taking since BfA why people are leaving in droves and are starved for better content overall (in my opinion).
MAGA - Make Alliance Great Again
Except most people that played Classic either quit or moved on after like 2 months of playing, and only returned for a raid, or an event then dipped. Sure, there were people that stayed, but still. TBC Classic's success will not nearly be as big as Classic's.
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The thing is that SL is much different than BFA, but it's also on the opposite end of what's wrong with WoW, so we got 2 sides of a very shitty coin. Also, sure Classic and TBC will bring a lot of people back, but they still need a retail subscription to play (I think, yeah?), so why not focus on the main fucking game? TBC and Classic are hype shit, yes. But that only keeps people in for a short amount of time. The main game should be the main concern here.
Who knows? Maybe it'll be bigger. I don't care because I have no interest in playing it. It's like Hearthstone and their MOBA (can't even remember its name!), I don't care about those games.
I'm sure there are plenty of people who enjoy both classic and live WoW. I'm sure classic brought back players to live too. I'm just not one of them.
It's not just about being old. The way the game works, is old. The most restrictive trial edition, no housing beside Garrisons, unintuitive profession system, no action combat, bags for inventory space, no console version, no solo option for dungeons if you are stuck in the queue.
Granted you could argue this isn't a problem since WoW is still a money printing machine, but modern MMOs tend to attempt to move away from these things. Oh and put a lot more focus on and effort in, storytelling.
If anything, the problem with many of WoW's villains comes from the fact that not alot of them are just evil? They have "motivations" or "goals", or they're "MISUNDERSTOOD HURR" like...no.
I WANT AN EVIL ASS MOTHER FUCKER!
Sure, but none of them have managed to compete with WoW in subscriptions or (for F2P/B2P) MAUs. Most of the other MMOs are straight-up failures. Only FFXV and ESO are even in the running in the West. Maybe GW2, although it's clearly on its way out-- and GW2 was the most "modern" MMO released ever, IMO.
I‘m pretty sure TBC will keep players longer interested and subbed to the game than 9.1, because there’s a lot to do in TBC. And even Classic realms after 1.5 years are still busy. Retail is fire and forget, you can rush through the content within a few days. In Classic and TBC you just need more time to get stuff done. And TBC might not be as massive as Classic, but it’s launch and the first months for sure will be at least as populated as retail (during launch I am sure TBC will trump Shadowlands activity).
MAGA - Make Alliance Great Again
Your only hunch is that "September is way too long"is based on nothing. Well that's not really dealing with actual evidence or from what we know. These are different times and I bet COVID has presented Blizzard with new challenges. Shadowlands felt like it was rushed out in the first place and I doubt they had even started working on the 9.1 content back then. They would have shown us something at Blizzcon like they did for Diablo 4, Diablo 2. They showed no game play, no video of the new raid, bosses or anything other than some art work. There is no way are they going to be able to release a patch 9.1 in 6 months under normal conditions let alone during COVID.
There is every indicator that patch 9.1 is further away than most are assuming and nothing to tell us that its anywhere close to release on retail or even on the PTR. This expansion will be a pretty short one. I think COVID has put a huge strain on them and they will not be able to develop content as quickly as they wanted to and I think they'll simply rush through the story they want to tell and release the next expansion after that.
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Based on? I just took September as an earliest point. Not even saying its launching in September. Which is why I said I wouldn't even be surprised if its release late this year.
Indeed. Straight-up evil is one-dimensional and boring. The void as an agent of chaos and infinite possibility is far more compelling than any cackling villain doing dastardly deeds for the sheer pleasure of it.
The problem with WoW storytelling isn't that their villains are three-dimensional characters, it's that many of them try to be, but then fail, because their motivations are never explained. Sylvanas and the Jailer talk about freeing the bonds of life and death, but really, what are those bonds, and what end-state are they aiming for? If they explained that, and it at least made a twisted sort of sense in an ends justifying the means sort of manner, they would be far more compelling characters.