I don’t have any problem with the early release of Dire Maul specifically, but the reasoning behind it (which I don’t believe has been shared by Blizzard) is what worries me.
My concern is that it’s indicative of worse things to come - specifically the quarterly content cycles of Retail. I fear that whatever motivation/pressure is behind the content schedule in Retail is what’s causing Dire Maul to be released at this time, and that after phase 6 the same pressure will lead to history repeating itself.
Honestly, nobody cares about your concerns, certainly not Blizzard. Whether TBC is released or not, the evidence is undeniable that TBC and WoTLK were the golden years of WoW. Subscription numbers verify that empirically. Did you think you would just have a classic server existing in a vacuum frozen in time? Private servers served that function.
vanilla had more growth then any other expansion 8 million. at peak there was like 12 million people meaning most people came for vanilla not tbc or wotlk
WoW still felt like WoW, up until WoD and Legion fundamentally shifted everything to a worse state. So I wouldn’t really mind any expansion prior to WoD getting it’s own server, however unlikely.
The reason they’re releasing it early is because in their data metrics they see people spending less time logged in to Classic. They’re releasing Dire Maul to reverse that trend and to keep people logging in.
Of course Vanilla had more growth, it was the original release. Subscription numbers increased over 50% between TBC and WoTLK peaking at 12 million. You mean to tell me that 4 million people came for Vanilla during TBC and WoTLK?
Well that sounds like a them problem for rushing to 60 during the first phase. I get it, it’s exciting to get to max level for the content but there is still so much to even then. I have zero sympathy for people who decide to blow through content. Don’t play MMORPG’s if your goal is to beat “all the content” as quick as possible. MMO’s are constant and evolving.
I get that you feel some kinda way about it, but everyone is different. Ultimately Blizzard has the prerogative over what they want to do about it. Shaking your fist and yelling into the clouds just makes you look like a dumbass.
Hence, DM being released early. Constant and evolving.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against Blizzard releasing Dire Maul early. I’m thrilled to get a crack at it earlier than originally expected (Not that there was a set time frame but still had to wait). It will only add to my 5 man rotation for loot grinding.
I just don’t feel bad for people who rush to max level and then complain there is nothing to do. Is Blizzard catering to those players? It’s very possible in order to keep subs. Will it work? Time will tell.
From a business stand point, this makes complete sense. Releasing 1 portion of a phase early I still don’t view as game breaking overall. If it’s enough to bring players back, then it was the right call. I think releasing the rest of the phase 2 later on will bring even more of those players back but that is a huge change to the game. I guess we will find out soon enough.
It was honestly done to help the people who are slow at leveling, and wont see MC/Ony for very long. Dire Maul is not going to bring 60’s back, it literally adds nothing raid geared players want outside of pally/lock mounts and mage water.
