Have you pre-ordered?

[exochaft]

Really feels like there's zero hype for this xpac.

At the very least, there's much less hype than there typically is at this point in development. At this time in Shadowlands, people were getting hyped about Torghast and the crazy power levels you could take your class towards... granted that all got gutted, but that leads towards what's likely going on:

People are burned out with Blizz's promises and "Don't worry, this time will be different!" We always get some signs of change every expansion that point towards a great experience, but Blizz is their own worst enemy when it comes to following through. If one reads between the lines and pays attention to what Blizz says and does (helps if you're part of the testing process, too), the situation where Blizz is now is not really a surprise.

My prediction is that there will be a spike in players at the start of the expansion as usual, but it will be very muted compared to normal. I wouldn't be shocked if it was around half of the Shadowlands launch spike. Optimistically, I don't see raid participation being more than 2/3 of Shadowlands peak raiding at the start. Unless some things change and Blizz makes some statements concerning their game/raid/content design philosophy, I could see the player participation dropping to even lower levels than Shadowlands. The current state of Dragonflight seems designed to slow the hemorrhaging of players, not to increase the player base... basically, we'll see lower participation at reduced rates of loss unless something changes.

[Hotmail]

I'm not even sure I'll buy the expansion at all. Blizz is trying to draw us in with more relevant professions and deeper talent trees... stuff that should've never been cut out of the game in the first place. Smh

[Donald Hellscream]

I am gonna preorder it once the prepatch is out, so that I can try out Evoker.

[Axaron]

Yeah I preordered, even if I quit at the end game it's worth the price in hours played. The smart move would have been to wait for that free month after launch though. So I guess in hindsight I kind of regret it.

[Gumble]

The classes I like are starting to look better, so I might, but not likely until release is getting closer and I'm not paying them money for nothing.

[Arkura]

I pre ordered and yeah I do hope this is gonna be a good one. But I know I would test it regardless so why not just get it over and done with. Holding on to my €60 doesnt really make any difference to Blizz. We are just a drop in the deep ocean anyways :P
And if it keeps me occupied for at least a couple of months I'd say it was worth it. Could always come back later if I'm bored.

[SniperCT]

I always preorder, always get one or two classes to cap and play around a bit before moving onto another game for a patch cycle or two. SL was the first time I quit the second I hit cap.

So it really depends on how much I enjoy DF, the story, the dragonriding and etc. But I usually get my money's worth on any expansion purchase. I don't see much difference in buying now or buying in a year, I'll need to buy when I next play again anyway and preordering removes a step when I actually want to play.

[Asrialol]

I will not preorder. And i will not order. For me, DF already is dead before its birth based on the missing effort of the devs to actually create endgame for others than raiders and mythic+ dungeon runners.

Casual gamers will have the leveling phase and nothing really compelling in endgame. So it is likely millions buy the expac, level, and quit again. Seems the devs got that used to that they do not even plan any effort to make these players play any longer.

That's fine.

Some people act as if quitting or not playing is meaningful. It's a game, you either like it and play, or you don't. Doesn't really matter at all.

Seems like sone people think quitting is a big deal. It isn't. It's a game.

[Sinured]

Torghast like endgame with gearing progression and multiple levels of difficulty. For small groups and solo players.

I wrote a hundred posts about it on this forums. Just watch my posting history if you want details.

solo players dont need high end gear.
skyrim exists for a reason.

[Hypasonic]

Yes, because I know I will be playing it. As I have for the past 17 years.

[Vasilisa]

solo players dont need high end gear.
skyrim exists for a reason.

The situation is that without solo/casual players there won't be enough subs to keep the game going (I know that the discussion was about solo players not casuals but the argument about gear is often used in regarding of casuals as well).

[Velerios]

The situation is that without solo/casual players there won't be enough subs to keep the game going (I know that the discussion was about solo players not casuals but the argument about gear is often used in regarding of casuals as well).

It's astounding how often the same shit comes up again and again: casuals/solo player don't need gear, there are single player games of it; when does finally the last one understand that wow became big because it was MADE for single players. WoW was the first MMO that was played mostly by single players and where not even half of people were raiding even LFR. A sub from a casual and a sub from a raider is exactly the same worth, maybe even more from the casual.

And yes, there is exactly one incentive to do something in the game right now, and this is gear.

And sorry Sinured: i already played Skyrim around 3000 Hours in, so i defintively don't want to play it anymore. And exactly here comes wow into the game; blizzard could do content for 1 hardcore raider or for 100 casuals in comparsion; and if they were smart, they would especially try to gain more players, no matter what.

Also: the issue that gear is not readily available for solo players did not lead to more raiders, it brought us more boosting services. Make it easier available, especially for solo conten that they prefer and voila, these will get more irrelevant.

In the end i think that people who prefer to do solo content should be able to do it and also get gear for it that is tailored towards solo content (by adding a stat that is only available there), and yes, the best gear for solo content should be available for people who want to do it, it's as easy as that.

Gear is the most important stuff in the game, and without it, people leave the game.

[Osmeric]

What would a compelling end game be for casuals?

The devs are being paid $$$ to answer that question, not us.

[Pratt]

Don't understand why people would pay way ahead of time. It's not like they're going to run out. All this pre-order stuff will be available until release.

[Kalistez]

Gear is the most important stuff in the game, and without it, people leave the game.

Gear should be available to all, just at different rates of aquisition.

If you raid or do m+, maybe it takes you a month whereas if you are doing other content maybe it takes you 3-4 months.

I still think WotLK had it right where 2 set was available to all through Valor, and to complete the 4 set you had to raid

[Unholyground]

I will just wait for WoW to come to gamepass.

[Selah]

Nah, I'll try the pre-patch and then see what I'm thinking about it. I'm content to play other games while we wait to see how DF pans out.

[Velerios]

I will just wait for WoW to come to gamepass.

That's not happening. WoW will not come to game pass; it's as simple as that:

Game Pass almost never includes DLCs, so you only would get the basic version of it, and it's already free. Also don't forget Elder Scrolls Online: it's not on game pass, and probably never will.

[vian]

No, first expansion I'm not going to bother with.

[Ihavewaffles]

Torghast like endgame with gearing progression and multiple levels of difficulty. For small groups and solo players.

I wrote a hundred posts about it on this forums. Just watch my posting history if you want details.

I would like that, but it would destroy raids fer sure