Patch 5.3 interview with Ghostcrawler
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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsWill Wrath really be ready by November 13?
by Zach Yonzon 
Sep 25th 2008 at 7:00PM
This time around, though, 'soon' is actually November 13, Wrath of the Lich King's shipping date. The announcement came as a surprise to some of us, specially those who were in the Beta and knew a lot of the classes still needed balancing. But a confirmed release date is always exciting and I suppose that overshadowed whatever doubts we might have had about Wrath being ready in time. And then yesterday, Koraa posted something over at the Hunter forums that greatly disturbed me. Talking about Trap Mastery, he said: "this will now be the 41-point Survival talent. Granted, not very sexy for a 41-pointer but we'll do some changes there in a future patch (after WOLK ships)."
Did I read that right? Did Koraa actually admit that they'll be shipping Wrath of the Lich King with a Hunter talent they know isn't ready for primetime? Didn't he essentially say, "we know it doesn't work, but we'll fix it after we release it"? I don't know about you, but that just doesn't sound like the Blizzard we've all come to know and love. Even Ghostcrawler mentioned that the 51-point talent Riptide wasn't going to ship with the intended sounds and animation. Am I supposed to be apprehensive now? Because honestly, I am.We're about a month and two weeks away from Wrath. The golden master of the game should be pressed really soon, shouldn't it? This means we actually have just a couple more weeks, maybe less, to straighten things out before all that code is compiled and pressed into DVDs, packed into those nifty little boxes, and shipped out to where we can get our greedy hands on them. So how come things don't feel as ready as what Blizzard usually describes as "ready"?
Don't get me wrong, I like what I've seen so far in Beta. The game looks great, the story is shaping up phenomenally, and even the little touches -- especially the little touches -- are wonderful. But there's obviously a lot more work to be done. I'm very hopeful that things will balance out in the end, but Koraa's post really upset me. It indicates that Blizzard is willing to put out a game that they know isn't finished, and that's extremely unsettling. Blizzard has never been a slave to release dates and it's always worked to their advantage. If it means getting a better game, this is one instance where I'd rather have Wrath shipped later rather than sooner.
Filed under: Polls, Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, Wrath of the Lich King, Forums
Reader Comments (Page 5 of 7)
AAron Sep 25th 2008 8:21PM
Where is this mysterious post?
Fenom Sep 25th 2008 9:36PM
/sigh
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=10043283732&sid=2000
Throm Sep 25th 2008 8:31PM
Mognet T -
Maybe the exotic pets overshadow everything for you, but the other two trees (Survival, in particular) have been the target of many new changes. Beast Mastery, besides the exotic pets thing, is basically staying the same.
Specifically, the general consensus on various hunter forums is that Survival and perhaps even Marksman will outpace Beast Mastery damage-wise (in both cases) and utility-wise (Survival) in WotLK.
Bigbillybeef Sep 25th 2008 8:36PM
I can totally understand your concerns.
One thing you need to keep in perspective here is that this game is constantly changing, and being patched. Everything is subject to change, and something as unimportant as an animation isn't going to ruin what I'm hearing is an absolutely fantastic extension to WoW.
I really do believe Blizzard are going to have it "done when it's done", but there is absolutely no doubt, that there'll be hundreds of changes to be made in a matter of weeks of it's release. Just as there'll be hundreds more a matter of weeks after that... and after that... and after that.
It's an MMORPG, and we pay them a monthly fee to ensure that we get an ever evolving game. This means that the old school style of "you get what's in the box" simply does not apply any more. They could, if they wished, release the entire Wrath expansion through the Blizzard updator and not actually release it on disc, but people feel like they are getting something tangible when they go pick up a box with discs in it.
This whole argument about the Activision merger changing Blizzards standards is nothing more than people putting 2 and 2 together and making 5.
zone in Sep 25th 2008 8:37PM
look I think that people are getting a little up tight with the thinking that the box has to have the finished product in it. I personally envisage that the main patches will roll with the box and once loaded onto your machine you will have to download the latest patch. It will be the only way everybody can have all the latest fixes come release date. otherwise there will be about a 4 week delay- no one would want that I'm sure
realmreaver Sep 26th 2008 7:53AM
Um the first game came out short 60+ servers and bugs all around tho classes was pretty polish course Hunters got nerfed to hell and gone then on out.
Burning Crusade came out in better shape... kinda. But felt actually WORSE then the first release game-wise.
Classes as spoken before are NEVER done. I also never assumed this game was ment for PvP so trap mastery being really a Major PvP point does not surpirse me cause they have ALWAYS been sloppy PVP wise.
Hastein Sep 25th 2008 8:54PM
Really? This is a post here? ...
thebitterfig Sep 26th 2008 1:57PM
one of the things i've always respected about bliz is that their stuff is mostly bug-free. they tend to do a good job of working out the kinks. wrath is probably being released a little too soon, but have to get it out there before christmas, i suppose...
either way, i fully expect wrath to need to be patched after installation and see nothing wrong with it in principle. there will no doubt be changes they make between pressing the dvds and the eventual release date, but i'm talking minor stuff. none of this "well, we don't like how this talent works, but we'll fix it later..." that i don't care for, and bliz is uncharacteristically releasing a game a hair too early.
Iwanttobeasleep Sep 25th 2008 9:10PM
I'm honestly fine with either. I don't mind waiting, but I also can understand why Blizzard would want to push a release. People are getting edgy, and WAR looks attractive. They've got a commitment to quality, but they're also a business under a new parent company.
Plus, WoW and other MMOs aren't just normal games that get patched because the release was fucked up or rushed. They are, as Penny Arcade put it, living and breathing documents. They'll be working on a patch right after putting it out, even if they push back the launch. I am sure that that they will put out a game that will function and feel complete.
MaverickSoloist Sep 25th 2008 9:25PM
You're worrying too much. :-P With Patch 3.0.2, Blizzard is already not releasing all of Wrath as a self-contained whole on the actual disc media. There's a lot of Wrath changes going live in 3.0.2. What are we really getting on the disc media besides Death Knights, Northrend, and the Level cap increase? Not to mention, when BC launched, Illidan flipped out with the "You Are Not Prepared!!!" stuff when Black Temple didn't even show up until a couple of patches later.
If Blizzard delays the game, that's their decision, but if they release it in phases with some stuff in 3.0.2, us buying the media, and then some stuff afterwards, I will not be surprised, and don't consider it very much to be concerned about. :-)
STereo Sep 25th 2008 9:39PM
Don't worry, it's just hunters and shaman getting the shaft as usual. Your rogues, druids, and warriors will be fine.
obarthelemy Sep 25th 2008 9:45PM
3.0 right now feels very un-finished. Even "blues" admit that some stuff will need to change (hunter talents...), and I feel the continuous changes to spec trees, talents... that are still going on right now ensure there's 0 chance the game will be good and balanced enough for release Nov 13, which probably means going gold and into production at least a month before.
It's not tweaking going on right now, it's major changes that regularly break specs, game mechanics, gear itemization, contradict stated goals...
I'm not even talking about bugs... BC was already not so good (falling through walls every other Shadow lab, Misdirection bug...)... WotLK is setting out to be much worse.
WotLK looked good at the beginning. I'm getting worried. With Activision forcing a release date for an unfished product, get ready for a very rocky start.
Michael Sep 25th 2008 10:11PM
You say all this as if Blizzard didn't learn anything after developing and releasing TBC.
HowNotToWriteSoftware Sep 26th 2008 5:16AM
I totally agree, talents is a prerequisite for balancing classes.
To leave such an important prereq hanging means everything else that depends on it will be shoddy too.
STereo Sep 25th 2008 9:49PM
What is it, 2 years later? Hunters are still waiting for fixes from the TBC beta to make us a viable pvp class.
I don't know why people ever took this "when it's ready" stuff seriously.
Dreadskull Sep 25th 2008 10:04PM
Honestly, it probably wouldn't hurt them to push it back to Decemberish... or late November even. It's just not Blizzard-like for them to suddenly jump at saying "it's going to be out at this date!" and not have everything ready in time for it in terms of talents and whatnot (besides class tweaking here and there with patches).
Though, I guess since Activision is seemingly in charge now that could explain it.
But if its release were pushed back by a month or so, we'd still have all the stuff from 3.0 to keep us busy with for awhile. Though who knows when that's even coming out now : /
sass Sep 25th 2008 10:20PM
I'd like to feel like this is different and blame Activision, but I still remember Captain Placeholder (and miss him!) and World O'Burgercraft still makes me laugh.
Things will be buggy regardless, and sure I'd like a comprehensive "finished" product, but screw it, I have to get to 80 before I can raid anyway.
Ahoni Sep 25th 2008 10:57PM
Let me see if I have this straight. They take the Survival 41 pt talent (Readiness), and move it over to Marks and move it up to a 21 pt talent. They take the Marks 21 pt talent (Scatter Shot) and move it over to Survival as an 11 pt talent where ANY hunter can get it.
In return, they move Trap Mastery down to the 41 pt talent spot. They also admit that this really isn't sexy enough for a 41 point talent and promise to make it better.
And you complain. They just took a great Marks talent and made it available to every one. They made readiness, a very un-sexy 41 point talent a 21 point talent.
People will complain about anything. Not only that, bloggers will blogwhine about anything.
Stoneblood Sep 25th 2008 11:37PM
I had to register just to respond to some of the stupid, misinformed stuff being said here.
Activision does NOT own Blizzard in any way, shape or form. The Activision-Blizzard company was formed when Vivendi(Blizzard's owner, who have never pushed them to do anything or limited creative-freedom) BOUGHT a big stake in Activision as they were having financial problems. So actually, if you want to look at one owning the other, Blizzard has more power as they(Vivendi) put more money in to the new company than Activision did.
The point about it 'not being ready' by the time it hits stores is also misleading. If the game is in the shops on the 13th of November, Blizzard haven't actually been working on it until then, the actual disc content that is. It has to reach final 'gold' status, then the disc is mastered, then it goes off to be printed, boxed and shipped. This all takes time. That means that Blizzard may well have to stop working on the DVD's content 2 weeks or so before release-date.
Then, they continue to work on the content and it's released as a patch on release-day.
You guys are really, really overreacting.
Anaughtybear Sep 25th 2008 11:41PM
Personally, I don't care that a few things aren't finished. We all know some things are going to be broken for many patches to come, so why worry about a few in particular?
We were told patch 3.0 would be "soon" over a month ago, so I'm guessing all that content will just be in Wrath after all. Blizzard should just get the expansion out and continue sticking all their thumbs in the dike, like they always have. They set themselves up for failure by announcing Wrath so long ago. It was a desperate stop-gap to prevent everyone from leaving for Warhammer, which isn't that good anyway. Just get it out and patch it every week. We've waited long enough.