Doesn’t that also illustrate that they CAN release and fix as they go?
If Blizzard’s track record shows us that beta is less than productive, launch it.
Releasing in a buggy mess just chases people off.
It’s why most people will remember what No Man’s Sky was at launch, even though they’ve been spending 2 and a half years trying to fix the game.
If Blizzard can’t get the Classic launch right, it’s entirely possible they’ll just send people flocking to private servers even more than are already there.
Especially considering one of the main groups they’re trying to appeal to is those who want an authentic Vanilla experience, and many of us are rather adamant when it comes to things that deviate from what 2004-2006 WoW was =P
Does it though? On a new release I will agree. But this isn’t a new release. People endure a lot more as bugs with WoW expansions and content releases these days. Have the run off?
I’m not suggesting releasing a game that is full of performance issues and crashes. The demo didn’t have that kind of issue so I have little reason to expect the launch, even if launch today, to have those level of bugs.
If anything, the Classic WoW playerbase is more fickle than most though. Blizzard would stand to lose a considerable portion if they don’t stick to their word of making it as authentic as they can.
Especially considering that we’ve seen that many Classic WoW fans are willing to go to private servers when they offer the WoW that those people actually want and Blizzard doesn’t.
A year from now most people wont even give the time we’re spending right now waiting a second thought, but if it’s launched with the mentality of “just get it out, we’ll fix it later”?
That will never be forgotten, much like with No Man’s Sky.
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Again, I am not suggesting launching Classic with issues that prevent play or game breaking in any way.
The “less than authentic” things that might get fixed in beta. Could just as easily be fixed as they are pointed out post launch.
Blizzard isn’t going to dump a crappy product on our laps. It’s just might not be fully flashed out. For example, they are rebuilding the old databases to fit the new infrastructure. If some of the data isn’t correct. Do we need a beta for several months then release?
What does that do to the beta testers longevity? Will they want to regrind? Or will there be an insta 60 button that skips a ton of possible testing points?
Oh, and your claim that these people are fickle. Are those the same people that have endured buggy, laggy, inconsistent, and often incomplete PServer crowd? Because those people relentlessly come back F R E S H after F R E S H.
Bet you anything Blizzard/Activision do NOT want an open beta whatsoever.
It’s bound to have problems and differences and any breath of that to the legion of neckbeards would ruin the entire launch.
That is one of the WEIRDEST analogies I’ve ever seen…I love it.
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Nah. There won’t be nearly the number of people in a beta as there will be at launch. They can’t judge whether or not sharding will be needed until the product actually launches. Better to enable it at launch, then disable it if/when it isn’t needed.
no beta until august
The issues that I’m talking about are things that result in the game not being authentic, rather than things that are stop the game from actually working.
A lot of people put up with private servers because they were the best option at the time even if they were full of problems. However if Blizzard can’t release an authentic product, then why bother to play Classic if private servers do it better?
Also as you said: People on private servers keep coming back to make new characters on fresh servers. Do you really think the beta testers will have a problem with rerolling, given that the PServer crowd seems to do it on a yearly basis?
If Blizzard released an unfinished Classic WoW then the people who wanted an authentic Vanilla WoW will just not play it, and a few months down the line after numerous patches when it’s finally actually finished those people will have stopped paying attention to Classic and wont come back just because it’s been fixed.
Blizzard gets nothing from rushing Classic and releasing it in an unfinished state that gets patched post-release, and they stand to lose one of the main demographics they’re targeting with Classic if they do that.
I knew I wanted to make the “Edgar Suit” reference, so I had to contrast it with someone who really looked the part.
If you honestly believe “authentic Classic experience” is the design goal. What difference does it make if they fix as they go after launch?
That shows intent. If they don’t have it perfectly rebuilt, they are actively working to that goal.
The beta, in typical Blizzard fashion, doesn’t always result in a finished product. What then? Do all the fickles throw their hands up in the air and condemn Blizzard as not authentic?
I’m starting to wonder if the intent is to get that preview in before launch so we can know if we are jumping ship. Beta isn’t and beta then it’s a preview to feign outrage.
To that I say, after the BlizzCon streams, I do believe Blizzard is looking to the players to call them on non authentic so they get their patching. That kind of back and forth player involvement would mean an extended beta to get everything authentic.
If you think that the BFA launch has been seamless and that it’s the kind of experience companies should aim for, I don’t know what to tell you.
Besides, obviously, that you are wrong. The BFA launch was not good and is not a good experience. If Classic launches the same way BFA did, I will be very disappointed and unhappy about it. I can’t imagine any reasonable person being happy about it. (I can imagine a reasonable person who thinks “everything else was good enough that I’ll forgive it”, but not one who thinks “this being a buggy mess is a good thing and other launches should also be a buggy mess”).
Not sure where you decided I said BfA had a good launch, maybe I did. My intent was to say that even in spite of BfA’s launch’ the players that left did so for other reasons.
Launching Classic will be stable. No doubt able that. It might not be perfectly authentic but that can be fixed with time
Well, that’s why I included a conditional. I wasn’t sure whether or not you were saying that it was actually good, but it seemed implied.
That said, though, I don’t agree with you. I believe that the buggy mess of BFA launch absolutely contributed to players leaving. It wasn’t the only reason, there are plenty of non-bug problems with BFA, but it was one of the reasons.
You are going to have to give examples of those bugs because I wasn’t there at BfA launch. The anecdotal evidence from those that I know are still playing have never complained about those type issues.
The forums are less than anecdotal though. So maybe some links?
Seems like a skewed sample, if all you’ve talked to is people who are still playing.
Off the top of my head, there was the M+ chest bug where you got a free M+ item based off your legion key, the recent island expedition AP bug, the pile of bugs with warfronts including the no ilvl requirement, the bugs around azerite armor dropping, the drop rate bugs on island expedition extras…
I’m not sure a single major feature of BFA has launched without some sort of crippling bug being involved. You can look them up yourself, it’s not difficult.
I figure “authentic Vanilla experience” is the design goal because that’s the phrase that they keep using.
The difference is that if they release an unfinished product many people will just write them off at that point. If Blizzard can’t even be bothered to care about delivering a finished product, why should I be bothered to care about it?
A beta would give them another way to catch as much as they can before launch, and it wouldn’t need to catch absolutely everything in order to be useful.
Releasing the game with a couple of things that get patched is fine. Releasing it in a state closer to the demo with the statement “We’ll fix it later, trust us” would cost them a lot of players.
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You’ve given examples of bugs but have you a method of connecting sub losses to those bugs?
Using new content of BfA as the reference for Classic’s long standing content isn’t really realistic.
We are not likely to have those level of bugs. We might get summing stones that work when they shouldn’t but that is quickly and easily hotfixed. Not a reason to unsub
That really depends.
A beta that gets tons of bugs reported then still launch with those bugs. Vs a launch with very active patching and hotfixed.
It really all depends on Blizzard doing what they say they want to do. Even though we have a track record of them not always doing so.