Shadowlands: Release Date Announced (and We Were Right)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=8q5gHTCFlbg

So, at Gamescom today Shadowlands was confirmed to be releasing on the 27th of October. Based on my previous prediction that ended up being confirmed today, I’m assuming the prepatch will be either September 15th or September 22nd. Nice to see we are finally moving forward with the game, however, given how limited beta access has been, I still worry that it will be truly ready. After the break I’m including Blizzards full post about the release schedule (which has a special date for North American servers).

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Shadowlands: Thoughts on the Future of Mythic+

The Mythic Dungeon Invitational

Aside from my abundant issues with the mythic + weekly cache (now the Great Vault), I’d like to share some thoughts on what running keys might be like in the upcoming expansion. Keep in mind, this is coming from someone who hasn’t gotten beta access, so I’m basing my thoughts off the announced changes. Areas of consideration are the dungeons themselves, covenants, new affixes, the aoe cap, and…

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Shadowlands: Release Date Info (Prepatch AND Launch)

Today we got the patch test realm (or PTR) updated for the Shadowlands prepatch event. This includes the level squish, stat squish, corruption removal, unpruning and other ability changes, and the start of the prepatch event story. I think we’ve finally reached a time where it makes real sense to start full speculation on the Shadowlands release date.

Without further ado: Shadowlands prepatch will be September 15, 2020. And the Shadowlands release date will be October 27, 2020. After the break, I provide my reasoning, with a couple of sources and some ptr/prepatch/launch date history. If you want to know why, want to argue with me about why, or want some data to rub in your friends faces about why, then click the more link below.

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Shadowlands: Why I’m Not a Fan of the ‘Great Vault’ (and Why You Might Be)

In Shadowlands, the weekly mythic+ cache is being replaced with the great vault. I shared my initial reaction of their first post about it (and got a correction by a commenter), wowhead has gotten more information, including an actual example of how it works. I’ll summarize a bit of what they said, along with providing a link to the original post after the break. Having seen clarification, there are parts of what bothered me that were my misunderstanding, however, most of my main issues still linger…

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WoW: The Worst News of Shadowlands So Far

During Blizzcon 2019, it was announced that the Mythic+ weekly cache would now have multiple options we could choose from and possibly a currency option if none of the gear was desirable. This was to help solve the issue with our weekly disappointment box (such as how I once got the same exact piece of loot 3 weeks in a row and the same slot 7 out of 8 weeks). Sure, the options could all be bad, but it directly increases the likelihood of getting a piece of gear that is usable in some way. Truthfully, as far as new systems go, this was the thing I most looked forward to. There was a few weeks where I was getting a +15 on every single class and somehow still went 2 weeks in a row without getting a single upgrade, including on characters whose overall item level was under 460 (the box drops 475, for context). The idea that we were looking forward to was a straight-forward quality of life upgrade, not MORE loot or less effort, just a little more “player agency” as Blizzard is fond of saying right now. However, thanks to a Wowhead post… I’ve learned it isn’t quite that simple.

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Shadowlands Beta: What I Hope to Accomplish

Click to go to their beta opt-in

This week I found out about two people in my social circle who have gotten invites to the beta. One, a good friend that is in a top 200 world raiding guild and has been, prior to this expansion, typically between top 100 to top 10 in his raiding progression. However, a friend of a friends mom got in and that player is very casual. So, perhaps they are starting to let in a little more diverse group. You can read more about my thoughts on who they invite in my last post HERE. In this, I’m going to talk a little about what I hope to accomplish when(if) I eventually get into the beta. Maybe you’ll get some ideas for things to focus on, or maybe you can suggest something I’m missing.

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