Burning Crusade pushed to 2007

[LarzJG]

Hey ppl,

I'm pushing this story I did, that Burning Crusade will be officially postponed until 2007 tomorrow.

http://digg.com/gaming_news/World_of_Warcraft_Burning_Crusade_pushed_to_2007/

Sorry for the spam, but I thought you might be interested.

[pct]

Can be bull****.

Tbh as a beta tester myself, the areas now open is atleast in the same state as WoW Retail @ November last year. (US release)

I bet they let us go up to level 70 soon, then we will see if its any logic about it happening this year :)

[kevagron]

I wouldn't be surprised - most mmo's like to run at least 2 months of Beta to get to a finished product. Then you have get a "gold" version, run all the copies for distribution (will be millions), do distribution, advertising etc - thats got to add another month.

I sort of guessed when they started Beta in October that they were not going to be able to release until 2007. My guess is Feb/Mar - hope I'm proved wrong and it come out earlier though.

[det]

Well..this might mean NOTHING, but a german mag is giving out Beta keys (100 of them) if you mail to the mag by November 3rd.

So on one hand Blizzard seems to increase populations on the test realms, maybe to see how stability works, on the other hand I wonder if those people will really only get the opportunity to play for a week, if release dates that have been floating around like "28th November" are to be met.


I sort of guessed when they started Beta in October that they were not going to be able to release until 2007. My guess is Feb/Mar - hope I'm proved wrong and it come out earlier though.

I'd love that release..means we get a good shot at Nef and AQ 40 :)

[Loriel]

TBH I wouldn't mind a 2007 release either, as this would give me a chance to sample more of the current 40 man raiding content - before it's put on the shelf in favor of the new 5 man instances. Not that I'm opposed to the focus on 5-man stuff, nor to the new 25 man raid limit - it's just that I'd like to experience at least some of the current raid content before it's too late. Nef is a possibility, and hopefully at least the first couple of bosses in AQ40.

As for the "delayed until 2007" rumor, it does make sense for the game to be in Closed Beta for at least a month or so, as Blizzard aren't known for sacrificing quality and stability to meet a release deadline. Then again they probably want to capitalize on the upcoming holiday season..

Bottom line - until Blizzard says anything concrete about the release date, all information should be considered rumors, including dates given when pre-ordering through game stores.

[Dhymlos]

Gotta admit I'll be dissapointed if it gets delayed. If it gets delayed too far into 2007 I'm probably gonna miss the initial release due to pre-existing plans, and I was hoping to get in at least a bit of playtime before then. The odds of that aren't looking too good to me anymore though. :undecided:

However, I definitely don't want them to release it until they are satisfied with it. I'd rather them release a well tested and polished product than simply rush it out to meet demand. Like others have said before, no matter when they sell it it's a practically garunteed to sell well, so why rush?

This could all just be BS, but I guess we'll know soon enough depending on if that press release turns up.

[LarzJG]

I really love Blizzard, they're the only company left that has impeccable quality standards, and that's why this is actually credible. I like that about them, that's why WoW ever became this big - and that most of you seem to want it to be done rather than pushed out too soon just confirms that it's a viable option.

Regarding the release being pushed, I'm as close to being 100% on it being true as I could be without seeing the official announcement.

[det]

Meh...so I decided to click your link and the site is full with gold adverts. Expect trouble from the mods here....

[Naolin]

if it's delayed I think I will stop playing untill release, Normal WoW is getting a bit burned out for me as a non raider (Maybe I should start raiding but as an undead rogue...) and for some reason I lost my altoholic tendencies.

[cyradis2003]

I kind of wonder based on the post above about experiencing more raid content what will happen with all the huge 40 man raid groups when BC comes out. I mean people have been working to gear up the main tanks, main healers and the class leaders in 40 mans with the expectation that thier turns will come. What happens when it goes to 5 mans and suddenly the main tank and main healer are all ubered out and running together with a set group of class leaders because they are RL friends (or whatever)?

All those people that didn't get any loot from the 40's could be left out in the cold wondering why they put that effort in in the first place.

[det]

Yeah..I wondered that too....plus I have no idea if the new 25 man raids are only for lv 70 Instances and up to then it is just 5 man dungeons - which would give raidgroups plenty of time to still do BWL, AQ 40 and Naxx for laughs or re-adjust to the 25 man raids....

ATM our 20 man raids are already more fun than the 40 mans...

[Loriel]

From looking at the interactive world map (and my imaginary crystal ball), it seems that all raid instances are at lvl 70. After all it would make sense for Blizzard to implement PvE progress in this fashion, as lvl 70 will be the new endgame - and raiding is still the epitome of PvE content (although now with 25 man groups, which I applaud).

Hence, there is a 60->70 grind to get through in order to tap into the new endgame raiding scene. Smaller guilds might have a hard time assembling capable 5-man parties for these instances, but tbh I don't think it will be a major issue. The winged instances seem to be quick 30-60 min affairs, and guilds can always rotate a few members and run them over and over again. Besides there's the "outdoor content" with quests, reputation etc.

I'm wildly speculating here, but from what I've read so far there seems to be lots of variety and choices in how you want to spend your time from 60 to 70. Hardcore raiding guilds whose only purpose in life is to get to 70 before anybody else (and take on the new raiding instances first) might struggle with getting all the players to level up together, but I think the majority of players will have plenty of activities to keep them occupied.

Including, ofc, still running current raid instances like BWL, AQ40 and Naxx. I don't know what my guild's policy is on this yet, but I for one would like to continue running these even while leveling up. In terms of xp/hour they might be a pretty poor investment, but I'd still like to do it for the fun and the challenge of it.

Places like AQ40 and Naxx won't be instantly farmable by lvl 62s, and I would think even a lvl 70 raiding group can wipe hard in Naxx if they don't know what they're doing. Still, add in 10 more levels and maybe 2-3 months of real time and it might be a different matter. I don't think many lvl 70s will be in Naxx, when there's new challenges (and better loot) to be obtained from Kharazan etc. Personally I would very much like to run AQ40 and Naxx at least once, if not for the loot then for the experience of actually being there.

[Eastwood1427]

Until something solid comes up, I call bull, as it's the same thing you read on the official forums "oh, it won't be out next year because I've a gut feeling it won't".

Whilst it's certainly possible it won't, I'd say the discs were already printed up and boxed, with the beta basically ironing out any game-breaking bugs. Everything else will no doubt be fixed via patches on or after release. This isn't the Blizzard we remember from our youth, guys. This is the corperate Blizzard who're more concerned with profit (Like any company worth a damn should be) than what a few whingy nerds on the net post on their blogs.

So yeah. I still think it'll be out before 2007, at least until a reliable source (like, you know. Blizzard themselves, maybe?) states it won't be out until next year.

Of course, I'd like it to be out soon. Can't be arsed with just leveling an Alchemy alt, as that's almost done anyway. Don't see the point in upgrading my gear, as it'll be redundant soon, anyway.

[Grendo]

As a beta tester, I hope to all that is holy that it is pushed back to 2007.

67+ content hasnt been opened yet, theres a TON of bugs in the current content, and there are quite a bit of class balances to figure out.

[mesonm]

Well, I call bull also, but can attest to the fact that it isn't ready yet, if the beta is an indication of the current state of the code.

It can easily be ready in a month and a half, if they have gold disks now, or will soon, with patches being implemented on release day.

[det]

As a beta tester, I hope to all that is holy that it is pushed back to 2007.

67+ content hasnt been opened yet, theres a TON of bugs in the current content, and there are quite a bit of class balances to figure out.

Well..this would make sense, wouldn't it? There will have to be time to also test the lv 70 instances with "proper" 25 raidgroups and possibly at all difficulty settings?

[Aerath]

One thread would've sufficed.

Checked a few times, didn't spot any bad ads, though I'm certainly inclined to believe Cy here. Will give it another look over later, or just report it if you do find something rotten in the estate of that mark.

(Mangled Shakespeare ftw! :wink: )