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[Fularu]

They officially said that 6.2 was the last content patch of Warlords of Draenor. That means that they only added one new tier of content, no new 5 mans, no new reps, nada. This is the most content-lacking expansion they've ever done. I'd almost say they'd better announce not only an expansion but a heavily discounted price for it too at this point, they've kind of royally fucked up.

Just to correct a few things :

There are 3 new factions
The new raid is bigger than foundry and highmaul combined (and has just 4 less bosses than both)
Tanaan is a beautiful zone
Timewalking with friends using bc or wotlk gear is fun

It would have been a great mid expansion patch

 

[davepoobond]

hm.

if i was going to be optomistic, i would say a new patch for WoW.

expansion would "work" with the timeline if they are going to launch early next year or even during christmas? i would be surprised though, i'm honestly not expecting it that quick, but since there's like no content in WoD i suppose its possible they just focused on the next expansion.


diablo 3 i wouldnt expect an expansion announcement, that seems like a blizzcon thing since they are doing a humongous patch

 

[Muscle Wizard]

I certainly won't disagree with that, but the raids that exist at least succeed in being what they are supposed to be. There's also the (not really Blizzard's fault) issue of the premade group finder being at the mercy of the toxic, shitty community. The implied "have better loot than drops from this raid" requirement for many pugs is still prevalent and still entirely shitty. If finding a normal Hellfire pug was as relatively easy as finding a flex Siege of Org pug was a year ago, I'd probably have bought another token when my account expired two days ago.

The WoD raid changes are really good in theory, but due to the outlier that is the community, I felt that raiding was in a better place at the end of MoP than during WoD. I also miss having ugly-colored versions of raid tier gear so I could feel comfortable doing Raid Finder and not trying to wade through the LFR tool.

Basically, my raiding from MoP to WoD changed to inactively waiting for 45 minutes of Raid Finder to actively searching for raids for and hour and a half in the LFR tool and having all my message expire, denied, or accepted, which lead to another hour and a half finding out whether it was actually worth it or not.

 

[kirblar]

Let's recap for a moment here.

They have 500 demo stations (which is comically astronomical), announced their huge presence back in April in which they stated they have new content showing for five different games, have had six week-long contests fan contest to hype their Gamescom event, have a dedicated webpage for their Gamescom presence, and seem to have a hour long livestreamed press conference where they've invited everyone from major websites to small fansites.

Despite this, there seem to be people who aren't expecting a major announcement.

It's gotta be primarily for Overwatch PVP + Heroes/WoW stuff.

 

[Magnus]

12:00 CEST next Wednesday? So, 6am EST for the live stream? I'm there!!

 

[Anoregon]

Hey guys, I'll offer some clarification as I did in the other thread about the Beta Forums:

We're interviewing some WoW developer. They haven't told us about what or who with. There's a media briefing and then an interview afterwards.

It is WoW specific, and we're free to disclose that we're going to interview about something.

Could be post 6.2 talk, could be an expansion announcement, but we don't know yet.

That's apparently from a Blizzplanet person, fyiw.

 

[Subpar Spatula]

Let's recap for a moment here.

They have 500 demo stations (which is comically astronomical), announced their huge presence back in April in which they stated they have new content showing for five different games, have had six week-long contests fan contest to hype their Gamescom event, have a dedicated webpage for their Gamescom presence, and seem to have a hour long livestreamed press conference where they've invited everyone from major websites to small fansites.

Despite this, there seem to be people who aren't expecting a major announcement.

Blizzard has exclusively announced WoW expansions at Blizzcon probably because WoW is their biggest draw there. Outside of release dates, it's all been Blizzcon. Based on precedent alone you can with almost certainty say no WoW expansion will be announced. Reaper of Souls was announced at Gamescon but it's not WoW, it doesn't fill Blizzcon.

Hearthstone was a smaller project so the release place is understanding. Curse of Naxxaramas and Molten Core were announced at PAX as well. Gnomes vs Goblins was a Blizzcon announcement. Grand Tournament? It gets it own event.

I can see Starcraft II and Diablo 3 getting expansion announcements at other events now (and before) because they simply don't have a big enough following for a lot of people to care. Blizzard's RoS midnight launch may be the last big event for Diablo.

What this all means is Blizzard's current announcements (based on their previous big ones) seem to imply a Blizzcon announcement. They could pull a 180 and announce it at Gamescon but their history says no. I would put an expansion announcement lowest (besides F2P) for gamescon. I would not be surprised if they announced a 6.3. Honest to God, I would not be.

Regarding major announcements, Blizzard says every thing is major like an additional Sanctum, a shipyard, or updated character models.

 

[Svartafaran]

Is a new expansion pack for WOW likely?

 

[Tenebrous]

Is a new expansion pack for WOW likely?

Likely to get released? 100%.

Likely to be at Gamescom? The majority of WoW players both here and in my guild(s) seem to think so. Diablo 3 has a great content patch on the way, while we've already had WoD's last content patch. Overwatch might be there, LotV isn't going to take too much time, and neither is HS given that the new expansion for that is already revealed.

In order of probability, I'd go.

WoW => Overwatch
D3 = LOTV
Hearthstone

 

[Zelias]

If they're doing all this just so they can announce 6.3 for WoW, they're putting in an awful lot of effort for a patch that will contain no raid content.

I'd honestly consider a new game in the Warcraft universe to be more likely than a 6.3 announcement.

 

[Anoregon]

I can see Starcraft II and Diablo 3 getting expansion announcements at other events now (and before) because they simply don't have a big enough following for a lot of people to care.

This is inaccurate. Diablo 3 and RoS were huge sellers and the D3 following at this point is definitely on par with WoW, except that people are actually happy with the direction D3 is moving in, while the opposite is true for WoW.

I honestly think people put way too much stock into the past history of Blizzcon announcements for WoW expansions. It made sense to keep announcements for Blizzcon in the past, so they did. This time it might not. Blizzcon being Blizzcon isn't the end-all, be-all consideration, and this time things look to be lining up in such a way timing-wise than it would make more sense to make an expansion announcement earlier.

If they're doing all this just so they can announce 6.3 for WoW, they're putting in an awful lot of effort for a patch that will contain no raid content.

I'd honestly consider a new game in the Warcraft universe to be more likely than a 6.3 announcement.

Yeah, it would be really strange. It would almost seem kind of, I dunno, embarrassing? Making a big press conference announcement with subsequent interviews just to say "hey we actually do have more content planned for Draenor, it's not just a single patch like we said!"

 

[Dawg]

Confirmed via twitter.

https://twitter.com/Warcraft/status/626437123512471553

 

[RPGCrazied]

Confirmed via twitter.

https://twitter.com/Warcraft/status/626437123512471553

Well there it is. It better not be about Orcs again or for god sakes get us off Dreanor and Azeroth. Playable Naga and a South Seas expansion is what I want.

 

[Tenebrous]

Confirmed via twitter.

https://twitter.com/Warcraft/status/626437123512471553

Oh yes. Good news!

 

[Interfectum]

Blizzard has exclusively announced WoW expansions at Blizzcon probably because WoW is their biggest draw there. Outside of release dates, it's all been Blizzcon. Based on precedent alone you can with almost certainty say no WoW expansion will be announced.

Confirmed via twitter.

https://twitter.com/Warcraft/status/626437123512471553

lol

 

[Tenebrous]

Anyone who thought WoW wouldn't be there just can't be playing the game right now. It's in a fucking woeful state, and they need to get things done ASAP.

 

[Raticus79]

No D3 at GamesCom at all:

https://twitter.com/Grimiku/status/626456892345155584

‏@Grimiku
@theangzt @cm_nevalistis @tyvalir D3 won't have a presence at gamescom, and none of us are going. WoW is gonna rock, though!

 

[Nirolak]

No D3 at GamesCom at all:

https://twitter.com/Grimiku/status/626456892345155584

Yeah, when they announced their presence back in April, they only listed WoW, Hearthstone, Overwatch, Heroes of the Storm, and StarCraft II, conspicuously leaving out one franchise.

 

[Enthus]

No D3 at GamesCom at all:

https://twitter.com/Grimiku/status/626456892345155584

That's okay, 2.3 can subside us. They should announce a new expac at Blizzcon, though.

 

[Subpar Spatula]

Anyone have a shoe I can eat?

 

[Ragona]

Yeah with 2.3 around the corner it would be weird to announce a new xpac now. Showing WoW now instead of blizzcon might hint at them announcing something Diablo related there?

 

[Zelias]

Yeah with 2.3 around the corner it would be weird to announce a new xpac now. Showing WoW now instead of blizzcon might hint at them announcing something Diablo related there?

Well they probably need a showpiece announcement and a D3 Expac would fit the bill.

 

[Raticus79]

 

[bjaelke]

No D3 at GamesCom at all:

https://twitter.com/Grimiku/status/626456892345155584

That's not entirely true.

Diablo III:

Lead Character Artist Paul Warzecha will bring the world of Sanctuary to life with live 3D modelling exhibitions on our main stage

World of Warcraft:

• Fight against the formidable Iron Horde in World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor
• See top guilds battling it out in live raids and racing through Challenge Mode dungeons
• Show us your moves in the World of Warcraft dance contest
• Representing the World of Warcraft development team: Executive Producer J. Allen Brack, Game Director Tom Chilton, Creative Director Alex Afrasiabi, and Lead Game Designer Ion Hazzikostas
• See the next expansion unveiled on Thursday, August 6 at 18:00 CEST
• Watch the live-streamed show on Sunday, August 9 at 17:00 CEST, featuring exclusive World of Warcraft content and developer interviews

StarCraft II:

• Try out StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void, with the new co-operative mode, Allied Commanders, playable for the first time
• See pro players display their skills in show matches
• Representing the StarCraft II development team: Senior Game Designer David Kim and Lead Game Producer Tim Morten
• Watch the live-streamed show on Saturday, August 8 at 18:00 CEST, featuring exclusive Legacy of the Void content and developer interviews

Hearthstone:

• Play Hearthstone on PC and tablet, including some new cards from the upcoming expansion, The Grand Tournament
• See some of your favorite Hearthstone personalities, including Kripparrian, sling cards in show matches at our booth
• Representing the Hearthstone development team: Executive Producer Hamilton Chu, Senior Game Designer Mike Donais, and Senior Director of Business Operations Walter Kong
• Watch the live-streamed show on Friday, August 7 at 18:00 CEST, featuring exclusive Hearthstone content and developer interviews

Heroes of the Storm:

• Battle it out in Blizzard’s new team brawler of heroic proportions, with a few surprises
• See some of your favorite YouTubers clash in show matches
• Representing the Heroes of the Storm development team: Game Director Dustin Browder and Lead Game Producer Kaeo Milker
• Watch the live-streamed show on Friday, August 7 at 18:00 CEST, featuring exclusive Heroes of the Storm content and developer interviews

Overwatch:

• Try out Blizzard’s upcoming team-based shooter, playable for the first time in Europe
• See Overwatch cosplayers display their creations
• Representing the Overwatch development team: Game Director Jeff Kaplan, VFX Supervisor Jeff Chamberlain, Senior Game Designer Michael Chu, and Senior Game Producer Matthew Hawley
• Watch the live-streamed show on Saturday, August 8 at 18:00 CEST, featuring exclusive Overwatch content and developer interviews

 

[Syf]

Excited to see Allied Commanders mode for the first time, they've been pretty quiet about it.