Blizzard is making a course change. There should no longer be content droughts in World of Warcraft, but another target is being sacrificed for it.
WoW expansions take longer than a year
For many years, Blizzard has tried to maintain the high goal of one expansion for World of Warcraft per year – and almost every time it has failed. In order to fulfill this goal as best as possible, players often had to wait long periods for fresh content, such as just with the Hellfire Citadel, which players were allowed to consider as “current” raid content for well over a year.
With Legion, everything is supposed to change and dry spells are to be a thing of the past. The community does not believe this at first. In the official forum, fans state:
“No content drought at the end of Legion? I don’t believe you. You can say it won’t happen, but how many times has that been the case… 3 times? Actions speak louder than words.”
Blizzard didn’t take long to respond (in the form of Community Manager Ornyx).
“Actions do indeed speak louder than words. I believe we all see this as a fact and know that it takes more than just words for the community’s trust. As Watcher [Ion Hazzikostas] explained yesterday, there was a time when our main focus was on new expansions. In light of this goal, we sacrificed some things, which made the player experience worse for everyone.
We are focusing on a steady flow of new content and want to ensure that we advance the story and fill the time between expansions. We really hope you notice the difference in Legion, and our goal is to avoid situations in which there is no new significant content for 14 months.”
Whether Blizzard keeps its promises will only time tell. But as often as it has emphasized this in recent weeks, it would be a massive loss of image if no actions followed these words.
At least right at the start of Legion, players should not have to wait long for new content. Patch 7.1 “Return to Karazhan” is already in the works.
