TBC Official Release Date

[Iefan]

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=38244050&sid=1

IRVINE, Calif. -- Blizzard Entertainment® today announced that the release date for World of Warcraft®: The Burning Crusade™, the highly anticipated expansion for World of Warcraft, will be in January 2007. By adding a few extra weeks to the development cycle beyond its original target date, Blizzard will be able to extend the closed beta test and further refine the new content that will ship with the game.

“We appreciate the enthusiasm surrounding World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, and we’re excited about putting the finishing touches on all of the new content,” said Mike Morhaime, president and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “We feel confident that the extra time spent polishing the game will result in the high-quality experience that our players expect and deserve.”

Blizzard began the closed-beta phase of testing on World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade earlier this month. The January 2007 release window will allow extra time for current beta testers to participate in the final stages of development and continue providing valuable feedback.

Further information on specific worldwide release dates, pricing, and other details will be announced in the near future.

 

[Allanon]

wow, I am a bit surprised by this. They are going to miss the Christmas target. On the other hand, seeing as they have not opened the new high end instances yet, those alone need 5 or 6 weeks of progression and testing. Makes sense, just a bit surprised is all.

 

[Iefan]

Rumor mill is reporting that with the 1.13 patch, the new talents will be opened up. That should throw us a juicy bone to gnaw on until Jan.

 

[Tinie]

Random poster:

Q u o t e:
Well, I have to say I'm impressed with Blizzard's boldness.

Releasing AFTER christmas cuts their burst sales down somewhat, but hopefully will lead to a more polished game.

We'll see.
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Eyonix:

Our top priority with any game launch is to make sure that the game meets our expectations and those of our players. The launch of the Burning Crusade expansion will be no exception to this rule.

Random poster:

Q u o t e:

Fine, that's an admirable reason for pushing the release to 2007. But you should also be cognizant of the fact that this will disappoit a huge amount of the playerbase, regardless of the reasoning behind it. They won't care why it was pushed back to next year, only that it was pushed back.

Eyonix, I would really like you to post just one, solid reason why people should not cancel their accounts right now, rather than pay to play the game the next few months until TBC eventually is released. What would you say should keep players paying for WoW in the shadow of TBC, when they won't be able to get out from under that shadow for quite some time?
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Eyonix:

Well, as I've already stated -- the upcoming content patch which will be made available prior to the launch of the Burning Crusade will be exciting. Plenty of features to hold players over while we spend an extra few weeks polishing the game.

Eyonix:

Keep in mind, we do plan to push a content patch prior to release, which could occupy your holiday time quite well.

Random poster:

Q u o t e:


whats in it.
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Eyonix:

Oh, you know, just a few small things such as a brand new honor system, as well as new talents and abilities along with dozens of other changes and improvements.

Random poster:


Q u o t e:


That sounds... a lot like... the expansion...
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Eyonix:

Remember, we were planning on patching in many things along with the release of the Burning Crusade so that those who chose not to purchase the expansion could still enjoy many new features.

With the delay of the game, we'll be patching prior to its release

Per Tseric:

Ok, one more time with feeling...

What it seems that people are expecting is another content patch that is independant of the expansion. More specifically, a lot of folks seem to be looking for a free content patch, should they choose not to purchase the expansion.

This is not happening. Therefore, the EU CM is correct in saying there will be no 1.13. We will not be patching the original version of WoW any further.

What we are doing is upgrading the game client to 2.0. This is what happens in an expansion.

The patch 2.0 is going to prepare for the expansion. We will release more specifics about what is in that at a later time. For now, consider it as the patch that allows players who don't have the expansion to keep playing with players who do. If we were to fully upgrade to expansion, players who did not get the expansion on release day would be shafted until such a time as they upgraded. We do not want this, so we have a prepatory patch which will bridge between the two versions of WoW.

Therefore, patch 2.0 will be released shortly prior to the release of expansion boxes. There will be no patch 1.13.

Random poster:

Q u o t e:
With the xpac not coming out for another 3 months, I'm assuming beta testing is going to continue for as long as possible. Any word on when the next round of bete invites are going out? Hopefully soon
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Per Nethaera:

There will be more people invited and more opportunities for people to get into the beta as we go along. We are very dedicated to making the Burning Crusade the best it can be and that means making sure we have a solid foundation of testers to help us reach that goal.

We have a large pool of people we are inviting in: some are the contest winners, some are from Blizzcon, some are random.

We also are advising people to keep an eye on the fansites and our own front page for additional opportunities as they are presented.

I am personally not aware of the schedule so I can't enlighten you on that.

 

[Angus_Og]

Since they have extended it I hope I some how get one of the random beta keys for this. Or at least a few more people in the guild so we can get a first hand account of how TBC will work.

 

[Allanon]

Angie, you rock. Thanks for keeping us in the loop. Sounds like Blizzard knows their user base well enough to know what will keep their interest until the expansion comes out. I would prefer to see it out by Christmas as many of us will have holidays to take advantage of it but on the other hand, I think we would all be disappointed with bugs and flaws in a rushed release.

 

[Baraach]

I just heard that the release date was now bumped back to March... Any word, or confirmation or denails?