Tides of War book release pushed back to July 24
by Mathew McCurley 
Jan 23rd 2012 at 2:00PM
If the new book release date follows the Cataclysm common wisdom, Mists of Pandaria is on track for a late summer or early fall release. However, this release date means nothing until we get official word from Blizzard. In any case, Mists of Pandaria news, including Jaina Proudmoore's role in the upcoming sacking of Theramore and escalation of war, should be coming soon as well.
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria is the next expansion, raising the level cap to 90, introducing a brand new talent system, and bringing forth the long-lost pandaren race to both Horde and Alliance. Check out the trailer and follow us for all the latest MoP news!
Filed under: Cataclysm, Mists of Pandaria
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mr. Crow Jan 23rd 2012 2:13PM
I am becoming less and less convinced that we'll see a summer release for Mists. The absence of any substantial information, leaked or not, makes me really skeptical that it's anywhere near ready for beta.
Either Blizzard has come up with a supremely powerful method of containing their information, or the game simply isn't even in an alpha stage yet. That makes a summer release impossible.
Klausse Jan 23rd 2012 2:20PM
Maybe they're using the Dragon Soul to keep everything under wraps...
Gordal Jan 23rd 2012 4:40PM
http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/05/23
Well, someone *had* to...
zackwbrandon Jan 23rd 2012 7:54PM
If you're right then Blizzard has ceded the market for over a year to other more recent games. As a shareholder in another company, if they ceded the market for that long to create a perfect product (that will still have to be patched, that will still be replaced in time, that will lack something for someone - in other words that is not perfect) I would sell my shares and unsubscribe from their products.
Blizzard seems to have two options: lose subscribers for having no new content, or lose subscribers for bringing out the wrong content. It would be interesting to see which is projected to cause more harm.
Narayana Jan 23rd 2012 10:01PM
I really can't believe that they plan on letting 4.3 last until July. Conventional wisdom about the Alpha to Beta to Release timeframe, this I just far too long for a raid that has essentially been on farm since release.
I'm all for Blizzard and all, but no game can sustain regular subsribers when every expansion ends with almost a year of no updates.
account Jan 24th 2012 1:23AM
I was thinking about this last night... about the options they have.
I am not sure about how much of a solid timeframe the release date of the book gives, because I have seen those change a lot, very suddenly, especially with that particular publisher.
Then again, my thoughts are:
- The Alpha/F&F beta would have to start VERY soon for a release in June/July
- The Shattering was released on Oct 19th... 6-7 weeks before the Cata release. If the publishing date of the new one remains unchanged, we'd be looking at a release in early Sept.
- Would they even release a game in the summer? I was under the impression that thats an unpopular time of the year for game-releases (summer vacations, people being a bit less interested in gaming), but then again, I might be wrong
- Would it make sense to release it around the time summer-breaks end (Aug/Sep)?
- Would they really expect people to stick with 4.3 for a full year and actually put out MoP in December?
That approach, IMO, would be rather hardcore... it would be a rather reckless move, as to me, that would say "OK, some of you will stick with the game regardless of there being no content for a year, and all of those that will quit the game to check out other games because they are bored will surely come back for MoP"
That'd be a rather risky move IMO...there are several new games coming out in 2012, others (like SWTOR) might be developed further, offering more than they do right now, and I do think people will be bored by... I dunno, April?
With ICC, they did release the patch that opened it in Dec, a full year before Cata, but they did open ICC gradually, so the actual death of the LK didn't happen as soon as the death of DW.
I mean, 4.3 has been out for like 7 weeks, and to think of doing the three dungeons and those raids for another 10-11 months... I don't think Blizz expects that to work. I mean, if that was what will happen, people have enough time to gear all their alts all the way.
So I am quite puzzled by this, and if I was asked to bet, I would have no idea what month to put my money on...
Jamie Jan 23rd 2012 2:30PM
Feelings set to sunk.
Glaras Jan 23rd 2012 2:59PM
I'm thinking it's going to be a long, long Dragon Soul run. Which is a pity, since we saw what happened to raiders in the dryspell at the end of Wrath, which even the Ruby Sanctum couldn't avert.
Consider where people are in the game right now. If you're into PVE, and you can *at all* handle your class, you are a very short hop to get into the HoT 5-mans. Do that in the LFD, and you'll accumulate Valor as well as get 378 drops quite easily. I resurrected an 85 shaman that I had not taken into an instance at all during Cataclysm. Literally, the last time he'd been in an instance was when he got Kingslayer-25. I had to pick up a couple of reputation pieces from Molten Font, but as soon as I could, I took him into End Time. That was less about 3 weeks ago. He's currently at iLvl 383, he's 8/8 LFR, 2/8 on normal. The guild I in, realistically, doesn't stand a chance of doing hard modes, and I have neither the time nor inclination to do them anyway.
So the rest of this expansion is about me trying to get through the rest of DS on normal mode, which I'm sure I will accomplish. And that is the only way I'll be upgrading any gear; I have everything else that I need from earlier content, so there's no point in going back. I can only imagine how bleak the future looks for those elite raiders who are 4/8H already.
Klausse Jan 23rd 2012 3:53PM
My only thought is that Blizzard hopes the D3 release shifts the focus of the WoW player base away from Mists for a few months. Considering that they bundled D3 with the Annual Pass, maybe they're thinking that if D3 comes out in February/March, people will play it for a month or two, then have the Mists beta to come back to in May/June - with the Mists pre-patch in July and a full Mists release in August/September?
I really hope not, because seven to eight more months of DS will be excruciating.
mr.e81 Jan 26th 2012 12:21PM
Yes Klausse, I agree with you a hundred percent. Also, remember how they promissed beta access the the annual pass. I think that they expect wow players to be distracted by D3 and then go into to beta game play for a few months and then MoP will release in the late Fall-early winter for holiday sales. They will also have to find a way to make the game cheaper for new subscribers to afford Vanilla + 4 expansions. Vanilla, BC, and WotLK will be a bundled set and Cata and MoP will be separate. look at the holiday sales Blizzard has for WoW in the past few holiday seasons. Retail wise, that is the best time WoW expansions to release since it is the most affordable time of year to buy every part of WoW.
Cy Jan 23rd 2012 3:11PM
The expansion will be out by June, beta will be announced this week or the next. Investors will be sick of seeing 300K plus subscribers drop every quarter until release. Expect MoP to be released ASAP regardless of polish or lack there of, nobody is going to smile and raid DS for a year.
Drakkenfyre Jan 23rd 2012 3:18PM
You going to hold onto that? If I had a penny for every "beta is going to be announced" statement made by readers for every single Blizzard product, you could buy a lifetime subscription to WoW and every other MMO Blizzard makes.
Game wasn't even in late alpha stage at BlizzCon. Talent trees are still being worked on. Glyph system still has to be overhauled, with the removal of one set, and the inclusion of older talents as glyphs. The pet combat system DIDN'T EVEN EXIST at BlizzCon except as photoshopped mock-ups, and then you have the female Pandarans which haven't been even announced, let alone shown. The 85-90 content to work on, the prelaunch event, and everything else.
To say the beta will be announced next week is foolhardy. Lack of polish is one thing. Completely unfinished is another.
Revynn Jan 23rd 2012 4:02PM
Im glad I haven't been involved in progression wih my guild so far this tier. I have enough to do with farming legendaries, transmog gear and mounts or leveling alts to keep me busy without bashing my head against hard modes for the next 6 months.
Pam Jan 23rd 2012 4:05PM
Actually, this isn't a bad thing, for me. I have 3 alts that have been ignored all of Cata, and 2 more I'm trying to get to 85 before MoP. At least it won't take long for the 3 ignored alts to get geared up for xpac.
Now if RNG would please drop Vanq, my 3 druids will be a lot happier.
underground_slacker Jan 23rd 2012 4:08PM
really? so if its an indicator of mop launch date we go from december 2011 to july 2012 we have 8 month without anything bar the setup patch for the next expansion?
thats too long for me. I can wait for pandaria that long, but id be crazy to wait WITH dragon soul for that long.
I'm sorry blizz but other mmos are singing a sweeter song than another year of ICC lack of content. time to let my sub run out like last time. :(
Wyattbw09 Jan 23rd 2012 4:29PM
I have to agree with some of the other posters, leaving MOP until late summer early fall is just insanity. I honestly, don't understand what Blizz is thinking in this case. I thought for sure the ball would have been well rolling by now. Leaving MOP until past the halfway point in the year is just begging to see more hemorrhaging in customers.
raingod Jan 23rd 2012 4:58PM
Speculating on a release date from a book being pushed back is simply moronic. It has more to do with the publishers schedule or the book needing more work than MoP's release date. I know it's a slow news day but Jesus this is silly.
account Jan 24th 2012 1:32AM
This has been downrated, but he is not wrong, really... I have seen book publishing dates change rather quickly, and I am not sure, but I do seem to remember one of the WOW novels' release dates being changed quite a bit as well.
I am sure Blizz has some kind of agreement with the publisher regarding timing the release with their expansion-schedule, but stuff like this can happen anyway, with the publisher changing release dates quite a bit for several of their books, without considering each case like "OH yeah, then there is this one, which is supposed to go with the release of that video game expansion".
So I wouldn't say this is the most reliable indicator.
Two questions come to mind:
1. Did Blizz ever say anything about Wolfheart coming out so late, AFTER Twilight of The Aspects, when it should have come out shortly after Cata, as that is when the story happens (the story is set before the events in TotA, right?)?
2. Did Blizz ever say that the Proudmoore book will be an actual prelude and will be released before MoP comes out? It doesn't have "A Prelude to MoP" in the title. It doesnt have to, of course, but then again, only Cataclysm had a prelude novel (Arthas didn't come out until April 1st, 2009), so why does Tides of War have to come out before the game? Has Blizzard confirmed that it will come out before the game does, that it will be timed to be another prelude, or is it possible that it will come out afterwards, just like TotA came out AFTER 4.2 and Wolfheart came out months after it should have?
So, just like raingod said, I am not sure that the release date really tells us too much about a possible MoP release date
Klausse Jan 25th 2012 4:37PM
Wow...following the link in the article above, the Simon and Schuster website now shows August 28, 2012 as the release date!!!
Either someone is toying with us, or we won't be seeing Mists for a very long time.
mr.e81 Jan 26th 2012 12:32PM
I am glad someone is paying attention lol.