World of Warcraft Shadowlands Delayed [Oct 01, 2020, 7:39 pm ET] – Share – Viewing Comments
The Shadowlands expansion for World of Warcraft will remain in the
shadows a bit longer than expected, as
Blizzard announces it is being delayed until later this year. Here's the
update from John Hight, Executive Producer on the MMORPG:
I wanted to let you know that we’re delaying the release of Shadowlands to later this year—and while we’re still in the process of determining the right new date to launch, we felt it was important to let you know about this change in plans as soon as we could. This was an incredibly difficult decision for the team, as we’re as eager to get the expansion into your hands as you are to play it—but ultimately, we feel it’s the right decision for the game—and for our players.
Over the past several months of testing, we’ve made significant progress iterating on and polishing the core features and gameplay of Shadowlands. We’re at a point where the zones, the campaign, the level-up questing experience, and the story we have to tell are essentially ready to share. We’re excited by the Covenants at the heart of the expansion, and it’s been a thrill to see Torghast take shape into a fun new kind of WoW experience, thanks in no small part to your input.
However, as everything started coming together and we’ve been listening to and building upon your feedback, it’s become clear we need a little more time for additional polish, and to balance and iterate on some interlocking pieces—particularly those related to the endgame. Shadowlands is one of the most intricate expansions we’ve yet created, and while we’ve made great progress, the challenge of tuning the endgame was compounded by the team having to work from home.
Blizzard has a commitment to quality. We believe Shadowlands will be something special, and we’ve heard from many of you who feel the same. We need this extra time to ensure that Shadowlands lives up to its full potential.
In the meantime, we’re excited to announce that beginning October 13 we will be releasing the Shadowlands pre-patch, which lays a lot of the groundwork for the expansion and includes our revamped character leveling, new-player experience on Exile’s Reach, and a host of new character customization options. And once we get closer to Shadowlands’ release, you’ll be called upon to defend Azeroth against a resurgence of the Scourge during our pre-launch event.
Thanks for your support and passion, and for your continued help and feedback as we head toward the finish line.
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VaranDragon wrote on Oct 2, 2020, 09:01:I'm sure there are plenty of people who would argue otherwise, see my previous cliché again....
There is a difference though. EverQuest is still a pretty great game (even with all of its faults) WoW got progressively worse with every expansion.
“Extinction is the rule. Survival is the exception.” -- Carl Sagan
Dwarf-Snowninja wrote on Oct 1, 2020, 22:03:
I suspect a lot of it centered around class balance, as several are in need of some severe changes. Shadow/holy priests and shaman are in dire need of a more thorough examination, as there is an immense amount of button bloat, and some decisions that make little sense (damage coefficient for lightning bolt/chain lighting makes them useless atm), and to remain viable (m+/mraid), a fair amount needs to change. No-nevermind how the covenants and conduits are adding a further element of complications, often with some bizarre decisions revolving around multi-spec viability/lack of viability. Either way, I am not at all surprised this happened, and view it as needed breathing space.
I think it would make more sense simply to have characters where you select a specific spec based on what you're doing - solo, group, pvp, or raid. Then the devs just have to tweak the class for each spec instead of trying to make it all balance out for all three things. I always hated that in MMOs when they'd fuck around with a class solely for PvP balance and that would fuck up any of the other non-PvP specs.
“With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." - Aaron Sati
Mr. Tact wrote on Oct 2, 2020, 08:42:VaranDragon wrote on Oct 2, 2020, 03:15:They are still playing EverQuest too. *shrug* Different strokes for different folks.
People are still playing WoW? What gives?
There is a difference though. EverQuest is still a pretty great game (even with all of its faults) WoW got progressively worse with every expansion.
VaranDragon wrote on Oct 2, 2020, 03:15:They are still playing EverQuest too. *shrug* Different strokes for different folks.
People are still playing WoW? What gives?
“Extinction is the rule. Survival is the exception.” -- Carl Sagan
I am wondering if the move they made a while back away from the old straight up power creep class/skill/gear power design into this a whole new power up scheme every expansion, plus attempts to squish levels, is not turning out to be the solution they thought but just as complicated and difficult to iterate and maintain as time goes on.
Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride! - HT
NKD wrote on Oct 1, 2020, 21:24:
I don't think they've delayed an expansion this close to release before. I'm clean from WoW for a couple expansions now so Im a bit out of touch but a little more time can go a long way. Hope they aren't crunching their dudes.
The only other expansion that was delayed was the first one (Burning Crusade). It was announced at the end of October 2006 that it would now be released January 2007 - so that must have been pretty close to whatever the original release date was (which I can't find right now).
The general feeling from devs and related staff on Twitter seems to be relief that the info is out and that they have the time - and bear in mind they haven't even given a specific release date now other than "this year." I would throw my hat in the ring with "Early December," a few weeks ahead of Christmas to get all the initial server and game issues either sorted or put on hold until the new year.
People are still playing WoW? What gives?
El Pit wrote on Oct 2, 2020, 00:21:
Nothing that cannot be fixed by a bit of crunch tiiiime... A healthy 7 days per week and 18 hours per day worktime maybe? C'mon, the shareholders like this idea!
Clearly they're thinking about the employees' health. If they're doing nothing but working, they don't have time to socialize, or go out and contract the virus.
Nothing that cannot be fixed by a bit of crunch tiiiime... A healthy 7 days per week and 18 hours per day worktime maybe? C'mon, the shareholders like this idea!
In the current political and social climate, don't be an aggressive monkey . Show that you have evolved that important thin sugar coating called civilization. Don't fall for the fools.
Some prominent streamer (I don't know the name, I only hear about it) has SEVERELY broken the game multiple times as well, with different Shadowlands mechanics.. one-two shotting max level players with a level 20, for example. So, they definitely have a lot to work out still...
I'm surprised they pushed it back. Very unfortunate we're stuck with the shitty end of, now, probably the longest-lasting expansion to date, but SL also doesn't sound ready...
I'm surprised they pushed it back. Very unfortunate we're stuck with the shitty end of, now, probably the longest-lasting expansion to date, but SL also doesn't sound ready...
Jbadams wrote on Oct 1, 2020, 20:49:It's not just games.
Finally some pushback on the unrealistic release windows. You make money when you put out a good game. This isn’t call of duty where it’s all but just a reskin and new campaign. MMOs take time.
I suspect a lot of it centered around class balance, as several are in need of some severe changes. Shadow/holy priests and shaman are in dire need of a more thorough examination, as there is an immense amount of button bloat, and some decisions that make little sense (damage coefficient for lightning bolt/chain lighting makes them useless atm), and to remain viable (m+/mraid), a fair amount needs to change. No-nevermind how the covenants and conduits are adding a further element of complications, often with some bizarre decisions revolving around multi-spec viability/lack of viability. Either way, I am not at all surprised this happened, and view it as needed breathing space.
Are they doing The Big Crunch at release or a few weeks before? I'd think the working out of a whole new leveling system would complicate also adding all the new zones and quests, but I'm not sure. I'll probably sub up a month or so to try it after release. I've enjoyed the last few expansions, just get burned out by the endgame grind after the story quests are done.
I don't think they've delayed an expansion this close to release before. I'm clean from WoW for a couple expansions now so Im a bit out of touch but a little more time can go a long way. Hope they aren't crunching their dudes.
Do you have a single fact to back that up?
Finally some pushback on the unrealistic release windows. You make money when you put out a good game. This isn’t call of duty where it’s all but just a reskin and new campaign. MMOs take time.
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