Wow… so, in the end, while my release date prediction was originally spot on… the pre-patch guess was horribly wrong (it’s now slated for October 13) and with todays announcement, I’m retroactively wrong about the release date too (see wowhead post). More importantly, though, we now have more BFA than we expected and a longer wait until the new expansion… is this good?
I was just today watching this new Bellular video and… well his thoughts on the expansion state echo mine (though, since I just got beta 12 hours ago, my opinions are mostly from streamers, youtubers, and friends feedback) and probably say it better than I could… so I’ll just link the video below.
Bellular argues that so many systems are unpolished, haven’t received enough iteration, and that bugs and broken things are still far too rampant. And if even half of what I’ve read and seen are true, then I’d have to agree. Though… I’m not sure I’d say that I want the delay, but that’s just because I’m very done with Battle for Azeroth.
My Thoughts: Unfortunately, since I haven’t been able to play the beta much, I can’t say a lot from my own perspective regarding the state of it. Judging from other content creators and now Blizzard themselves, I have to believe that the delay is warranted. Delaying Shadowlands is far better than their new expansion being bad. WoW is in a precarious position, it seems, after BFA. Most people I play with have said that Shadowlands is Warcraft’s last chance with them… if it’s bad or just not good, if it’s another BFA or close, then they’re out. Off to ESO or FF14 or New World or some other genre entirely. If that mindset is as broad as it seems to me… then Blizzard really has to get this right. A bad launch makes for a weak expansion. So I guess, good job Blizz. It was probably a difficult choice to make and it was likely the best one.
For those who have taken time off work or otherwise arranged their schedules for Shadowlands, I feel for you. But, for the game as a whole, starting an expansion off on the back foot isn’t going to help take the game to better places.