Raid fans in World of Warcraft are dissatisfied. Because actually, there should be freedom from now on – but Blizzard has changed something.
Even though many are currently spending time in WoW Remix: Mists of Pandaria, Season 4 is underway in Dragonflight. The final season of the expansion offers awakened raids and new challenges – and should actually provide more freedom starting today (June 5, 2024).
But that is not the case, as the weekly rotation of raids remains in place. Much to the dismay of some fans.
The story continues soon in the next expansion The War Within:
What was announced? The original plan was for the three raids of Dragonflight to follow a fixed rotation for only the first six weeks. After that, it was intended that all raids would be available at the same time in an “awakened” state, allowing raid groups to freely choose which raids they want to tackle that week.
What did Blizzard say now? With the end of the weekly maintenance, some players quickly noticed that the rotation is still active – only the Vault of the Incarnates is currently live again. However, in the official WoW forum, Community Manager Kaivax spoke up and explained:
We have reviewed the process again and can confirm that the 1-raid-per-week rotation is intended to remain for the rest of Patch 10.2.7.
With the launch of the pre-expansion patch for The War Within, all three raids will then be awakened at the same time.
When the pre-expansion patch goes live is not yet known. However, many suspect that it will coincide with the end of WoW Remix. That would be around mid to late August.
How the community is reacting: Although it is disappointing for many that Blizzard has deviated from the original plan, the change is certainly being discussed controversially.
On one hand, there are many who would have preferred more freedom. They want to choose each week which of the raids they visit. This would give them more and easier access to various upgrade badges without relying on “Mythic+”.
On the other hand, the change is also welcomed. Many are convinced that having all raids permanently active at the same time would have created a lot of pressure. Raid guilds could easily see it as a necessity to tackle all three raids each week – which would amount to a significant time investment.
Currently, there are pros and cons to this decision. However, most agree that Blizzard should have communicated this better in advance. It seems that this was simply overlooked. At least there is a consolation, as the beta of WoW: The War Within starts soon and should provide the necessary distraction.
