I was trying to figure out why expansions come around nearly every two years. I also thought it was insane that we get to around an x.3 patch and then a new expansion drops? I wonder if a monumental part of the reason why patches are delayed or slower is because Blizzard is working so hard to keep to a timeline of rapid-fire expansions.
Think about it – If we get Shadowlands, there is a team already developing the new expansion, alongside the current expansion. They have a timeline crunch, and for the latter half of every expansion we get a long, drawn out patch as development hard shifts to the ‘new expansion’…
Why wouldn’t we simply have a longer duration between expansions and BETTER expansions / current content? It just feels so saddening to me. I understand that each patch shakes us the system (Naz’jatar, Corruption, Korthia) but it just feels insane to me that we put up with literally 2 - 3 patches of new content and then boom, new ‘expansion’.
because people cry about everything not being good so they panic and flush out more stuff to try and keep people happy, but the players turn on them. It’s a vicious cycle of hate, love, hate, love.
So extend the timing between patches and expansions? I don’t think that’d really be good.
Like there’s a time limit before people really just got bored and done with all their things in every patch. We need new stuff. SL is one example hit by unfortunate delays stretching out these patches longer than usual. And it has not been fun, we’ve frequently been starved for things to do and it takes too long for balancing/QoL changes to happen so standout issues become sharper because of it.
I don’t think anyone would want to see this become a regular thing. Previous expansions have been more or less great on timing, it’s worked fine. Barring the gigantic end of expansion droughts we used to have. But when X.3 comes out the next expansion is still at least 10+ months away, so it’s not like they’re back to back.
SL’s delays have nothing to do with 10.0. It was just internal IRL issues that stacked up against them. Hopefully 10.0 won’t have to deal with that. As an ongoing game WoW needs to keep the new content rolling at a reasonable pace to be strong. Frequent droughts are bad and create salty players.
Yes. This is the actual reason, it is well known my friend. They have ATVI breathing down HARD for more than 10 years. It’s the only way to maintain the quarterly profits at an acceptable margin to keep funding on development. Or so they are told.
With how heavily this game is designed around patches, treating each as a separate DLC wouldn’t surprise me. I think they are likely not willing to cut out the massive sub influx that wholly new expansions bring, even if the immediate drop-off is profound.
lol Are you SERIOUSLY asking “why does this company release a product every 2 years that they can charge a PREMIUM for??”
For a better GAME, I agree-- let us have more time to play in the sand. Develop the story more. Let us enjoy the gear we worked so hard to acquire. A million other things …
…BUT NOPE! This murrica! We got mf MONEY to be made!! SHORT TERM MONEY, BUDDY! GET ON IT!
There isn’t really that much work that goes into an expansion compared to an entirely new game.
The problem is that they are understaffed and untalented. They are not building a game from the ground up like Ashes of Creation.
Keep in mind that they have had 2 expansions to think of a good idea and they haven’t had one. There hasn’t been anything new that didn’t bomb since Legion.
The problem is that a longer period between expansions does not guarantee better content either. There is a non zero chance that any extra time is wasted on bad iterations and dead ends.
The trick actually is to set aggressive (but realistic) deliverables and deadlines that you intend to follow through… While knowing you have some leeway to adjust scope, schedule, budget if a problem comes up or you feel you have a good reason to. That last part is Blizzard’s famous When It’s Done™ that they ought to remember, because I do agree they have let it slip for the past decade or so.
I do think we’re getting less and less scope for our budget, if you will. Or it’s invested in the wrong place (systems rather than content).
My problem is with the fact that they are just so comfortable being mediocre now. Like every single patch is the same old… new season for m+, new raid, new daily chores to do in a new zone, etc.
Nothing changes patch to patch except whatever new system they add into the game that is always timegated and requires so much boring grinding for.
Like I already have enough “to do’s” every day in my real life I don’t need them added into this game too. Like I shouldn’t have to get my real life stuff done, then log onto WoW and do my chores there before actually jumping into content that I actually want to play.
It just inevitably always leads to burnout where you don’t want the obligation of logging in to do the chores each day, then stop playing and miss the game less and less each time you stop because you realize it’s just a never ending cycle of it.
I would honestly be blown away if anyone actually looked forward to logging in and doing their korthia/maw/emissaries each day. It’s just something we all feel obligated to do and if we don’t it’s the stress of feeling like you’re behind. Like instead of spending all this time and resources adding in new chore zones every patch, why don’t you guys implement something more into the core modes that people can work towards within their fav mode.
I was bored with this model by WRATH. You know, the expac that everyone drools over as being the best? Yeah, that was when I was in the very, VERY unique position of standing alone in a massive crowd and saying “this sucks.”
Because it’s not just that “it was still new, LK was only the 3rd expac.” It’s that there were, what, NINE tiers inside those three? Coupled with all the dungeons and their mudflation, it wasn’t “just the third expac”, it was an obvious dynamic that WASN’T going to change.
And by then, it should have changed. CERTAINLY in Cata, when the “destruction of the world” shouldn’t have just been the shakeup of the Vanilla landmasses, but the ENTIRE GAME should have been reworked.
That takes creativity and guts… and back then, they still had it.
I wish we could sit on an expansion for 3-4 years and allow devs to create the product they envisioned, but as you know there’s just too many players that get bored easily and want something new.
No. It has to do with work flow issues due to employee turnover from unnecessary layoffs to firing employees who did illegal stuff, to people leaving because they have given up on the company as a lost cause, to managers who are still blaming the playerbase for what is entirely their fault.
