WotLK official release date... maybe.
by Elizabeth Harper 
Aug 7th 2007 at 6:00PM
It's the 29th actually, they must be lagging..
However, over on the US forums, CM Nethaera gives us the usual Blizzard line:
It will be released (everyone say it with me now, you know how this one goes) when it's ready. ;)
What does this conflicting information mean? It means you should get ready for a May release date... maybe!
[Thanks, David!]
Filed under: Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
pokute Aug 7th 2007 6:25PM
I'm pretty sure he was being a smartass about the 29th. EU forums tend to be a little... wittier... maybe that's not the right word...
John Aug 7th 2007 6:28PM
i find it so annoying when wowinsider just posts some random troll material
slow news day....always....
Lori Aug 7th 2007 6:31PM
Concerning a WLK release date, IMO TBC can't be compared to WLK, as some have been doing, from a software development point of view. Think of what was added in TBC that is NOT new to WLK.
TBC added flying mounts. This required a new way to design the terain and is the reason flying mounts don't work in
Azoroth. This development is not needed for WLK since it has already been done.
Two new classes AND their starting areas. WLK has one new class that, apparently, needs no starting area. And the
developers now know how to add a class.
TBC added a new profession as does WLK. Again developers now know how to do this.
Same with new continents - each adds a new one but they have already figured out how to do it.
Arena PvP? I'm not sure if it was actually part of TBC but work of that magnitude isn't part of WLK or being done in the
same time frame.
So, I expect there is very little NEW software design needed for WLK and next spring isn't out of the question. They
also now know how to add an expansion to the existing game.
Of course all of this is just speculation but it is something to consider.
jcgooch Aug 7th 2007 6:40PM
@3
Pretty sure you meant "races", and while you're correct in that new races are now not new to them, their content would be. However, in this case, there are no new playable races.
Adding a new *class* however, is something Blizzard has not done, and is a task that is probably consuming quite a bit of their resources to balance correctly.
Macsith Aug 7th 2007 6:42PM
The source is amazingly bad, please avoid WOW forums trolls for content. Will we see Rick Roll topics to?
Miksapze Aug 12th 2007 11:07AM
Honestly this post deserves a comment. A comment saying "LULZ learn sarcasm".
Baluki Aug 7th 2007 6:46PM
Just posting the first thing that pops up on the ol' BlueTracker eh? Hey, I hear they told someone to stop trolling. Here's the link: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=712100113&pageNo=1&sid=1#0
Sorry, I'm being a jerk. :)
Seriously though, it was definitely just a joke. The pre-order game sites just make up a date based on what seems feasible at the time. We all know that Blizz won't announce a date until a few months of beta testing have passed.
Lori Aug 7th 2007 6:55PM
@4 Yep, I screwed class/race up. Sry
I also apologize for the line feeds. Apparently notepad did something to them.
Um...balance is most likely something they do with parameters outside of the code and something they are constantly fiddling with. Maybe?
Legobro Aug 7th 2007 6:55PM
May seems sort of late, I would like a Feb or March release. To take on WarHammer Online.
Schwick Aug 7th 2007 7:17PM
Aeus was being sarcastic of course :-)
Pzychotix Aug 7th 2007 7:54PM
You guys seem to think that adding a class or race might actually be difficult or challenging.
If it really was, then I'd have to think that WoW's engine would be severely lacking to add something that's as simple as a race. Figuring out how to do that in an expansion? Psh, 10 bucks says that the backend already supported such addition to content. "Learning" had nothing to do with it. If WoW is honestly such a static piece of software that they have to "learn" how to add content into it, I'd be shocked to hell and back.
The only difficult in all this is generating the content to support the new class/race, and that's no more difficult than pumping out content patches, just a lot more is needed.
Flying mounts is just you swimming through the air. Not hard to implement. The only reason why they don't allow it in Azeroth is because they took major liberties when they designed it, and now they have rooks that are floating when they shouldn't. Flying around would expose that, not some "terrain" that would look bad in flight.
Jp Aug 7th 2007 9:06PM
As I recall, the last "radically" new feature to be announced for Burning Crusade was the addition of the Draenei to the Alliance, and this was done at E3 2006, in May. 8 months later, in January '07, TBC was released.
If we assume a few things(uh-oh), namely that it's roughly as far from completion as burning crusade was in May 06, and that no new major announcements are going to pop up(namely, a second hero class, Gilneas or Kul Tiras or somewhere else suddenly popping up in the terrain, flying mounts in Azeroth proper, etc.), then we can assume we will see Lich King in 8 months, which would put it a month ahead of that date.
Of course, that's a number of assumptions...
Tiforix Aug 7th 2007 9:50PM
The current PTR makes me curious. I don't have a character there, but I lurk on the forum for news. Based on what I've been reading, the current PTR has waaayy more bugs and general weird stuff than most patches do during testing.
This leads me to believe that they are already re-writing a lot of code, and that Patch 2.3 will lay a lot of ground work for the expansion, even if it isn't visible to us.
Personally, I wouldn't be surprised to see the expansion a lot sooner than May.
wobbles Aug 7th 2007 10:07PM
I cannot believe someone thought this was newsworthy. It is obviously not a real release date and just CM teasing the oblivious and gullible.
These online stores just pick what they consider a 'reasonable' date and stick it on their site as a 'release date.'
Dave Aug 8th 2007 1:13AM
actually, I'll be surprised if the thing isn't out by March at the latest.
When we first heard about BC, there wasn't anything to see. This time around we've got a functioning Alpha they were able to demo, as well as a fairly clear gameplan for how they want to finish developing. Remember that we're still yet to see 2 major instances for the CURRENT expansion, so it's not like everything for the next expansion has to be anywhere near completion when it's released. Just enough carrot to keep the horses slowly moving down the track. Death Knights might not even be in the shipping version, and you definitely won't kill Arthas until 6 months after it's on the shelves.
The alpha/beta shouldn't be as lengthy this time too. You're not going to need people to test the 1-20 zones, so there won't be much of a need to give people time to level from 1-70 like they did with the last one.
I think it's all going to go a lot quicker than everyone figures. They're gonna do the last 10-man soon, and probably the last 25-man in 2-3 months (depends on how long it takes for enough of the hardcore guilds to plow through Hyjal/BT right?) and then the expansion 2-3 months after the last patch. (or roughly 6 months after Zul'Aman, which will be the last stage for the casual folks).
So, March-ish.
Acacia Aug 8th 2007 8:27PM
What it means, is that retailers want to make money, and have started their pre-orders as soon as possible. ANY date coming from a retailer before official word, is just an estimate put there to get ppl ordering the game. As with any other game with high expectations. I'm amazed that these speculations are still happening...
Tridus Aug 8th 2007 7:54AM
Anybody remember when Duke Nukem Forever had preorders available for shipping in 1999?
I didn't think so. How about Burning Crusade, remember how many pre-order dates that had?
These pre-order dates mean nothing, the stores make them up to try and get your money early. I don't get why people keep falling for it.
FireStar Aug 8th 2007 9:24AM
One thing to note is although they're adding a new class, it's going to start at at least 55+. Therefore, they dont have to design all new gear for lvl 1-55 for shadow dmg plate armor.
Todd Aug 8th 2007 9:33AM
I too had heard the next expansion was due the first quarter of 2008. I still think this is too soon. I personally feel the next expansion, while the hype is good, should come out near 2009 giving TBC at least a full two years to be on the market.
Todd Aug 8th 2007 9:46AM
I have also heard that the next expansion is due out in the first quarter of 2008. I personally think this is too soon. I honestly feel the next expansion should come out towards the end of 2009, giving TBC at least a full two years to be on the market before WTK.