Colleague Philipp has already mentioned it: In WoW, there is a clear content lull, which only patch 9.2 can stop. However, we are not looking directly at 9.2, but at a sad record.
WoW Shadowlands was released with a significant delay in November 2020. At the end of March 2020, we were already worried whether it would even be released in 2020. Just under a year later, we have to admit that all the number-crunching around Shadowlands' content release dates from our side is even worse than expected.
Patch 9.1 was released in the middle of this year, and we know that patch 9.1.5 will be released on November 3. This makes it clear that the developers are only providing players with one real content patch in the eighth expansion of World of Warcraft within a year. If you include the expansion before that, it's even only two real updates in two years.
Review: our doom-and-gloom (and yet naive) numbers game.
In mid-April of this year, it was already foreseeable that Patch 9.1 would be massively delayed, unlike other expansions. Even then, we no longer believed in a third major patch for WoW (buy now € 14.99 )
Shadowlands.The extremely doom-laden prediction at the time: Patch 9.1 will only be released a good 251 days after the expansion's release. In the end, it was 219 days.
World of Warcraft: (1)
Source: reddit.com/cptshooter
Assuming patch 9.2 would be released on 23.2.2022, the runtime of patch 9.1 would even exceed the black-painterly predictions and not come to 200 days, but 238 days.
In this scenario, players would have to wait one year, two months and two days for a second content patch after the expansion's release. A WoW player who is loyal to the MMORPG spends just under 200 euros in monthly subscription costs for two content updates.
For comparison: this is how much content the previous expansions delivered in just over a year
A release of patch 9.2 in February 2022 is very patronizing and the content could be pushed back even further. But let's see how much content other expansions have released in the same time frame that Shadowlands just launched its second proper patch.
TBC: The third major patch is coming to an end and the fourth content patch is just around the corner.
WotLK: The third and final content patch is in full swingCataclysm
: Again, the third and final patch has been out for some timeMoP
: The fourth, but very lengthy, patch is out.
WoD: The second patch has been out for over three months, but is also the last of the expansion.
Legion: The third patch is still quite fresh.
BfA
Honestly, when I think about it, as a heart and soul WoW fan, even though it was foreseeable, I'm still at a loss. Ion Hazzikostas predicted about half a year ago that Shadowlands will not become WoD 2.0. But that's exactly what it looks like - in fact, the situation is even worse now, because even more content is missing. I wonder what the developers will actually do in a year?
It's hard to draw a conclusion. Are the pandemic and lawsuits really to blame for a year with only one patch? Even with my WoW fanboy glasses on, you can't really justify that, especially since the developers themselves have said that the pandemic didn't restrict workflow thatoo much. I'm curious to hear your opinions. Cheers.
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