This Week in Warcraft (Episode 3)

[Ciderhelm]

http://www.wowhead.com/blog=166128 "The Shattering", login screen music
http://www.wowhead.com/blog=166540 Interview with Tom Chilton
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/arti...the-World-Ends Interview with Ghostcrawler

[Rennadrel]

How do you guys think the beta is coming along in terms of development? I get the sense that since we are pushing into September here shortly, and the estimated release time is mid November, I am thinking it might get pushed back to mid December at the earliest. I don't want to start speculation but that is what I have gathered from all the beta stuff I have been reading (still wondering where my invite is) and that many zones are not completed, nor are quests and instances.

Nice shirt btw Aliena, that is pure win!

[Scottpoet]

Blizzard's philosophy is that a game is done when it's done and not a moment before. Every class + spec will need to be tested thoroughly against the game engine. However, just having said that, I think it will be delayed. Diablo III is supposed to be released within 2010.

I can't seeing blizzard releasing them at the same time, and it makes more sense from a business stand point to release Diablo before Cata. But who really knows.

[Pers3us]

Generally speaking, if they delay a game, it probably won't be World of Warcraft (See: Starcraft 2). However, it will be released when it's ready to be released like Scott said. The Beta still seems pretty early in development, but things can move so fast at times, it's hard to tell. The internal build that the Devs have is always 1-2 builds ahead of what we see, so mass changes might just happen all at once one day. They seem to be into a different phase on the talent system at the moment. They're not really just creating new talents anymore, they're nitpicking at them and making sure the choices you have just "feel" right. After that you just have new content, professions, and guild stuff to handle... then numbers. We'll see how it ends up!

On another subject, the login music is a very nice change of pace. I love the new login screen music... although I still hear the original one with my beta client. Either way, it's badass!

[Scottpoet]

I understand what you are saying Perseus. My thought is if Diablo 3 were close to being finished it would be the perfect filler for everyone who has completed the current WoW content. If Cata is released first, there is going to be so much content that some players will never get to experience Diablo, which as a bit of a "Lord of Terror" fan of it makes me kind of sad.

[Xebu]

I said it months ago and I say it again: We will see Cata in 2011 And whoever thinks DIII will be released in 2010 needs a serious reality check.

The new music is amazing. I love how it is still reminiscing of the old music, but one more cataclysmic level further into the spectrum of epic.

And finally, I agree: Aliena's tshirt is genious! If anyone is interested, I just googled it and J!nx has it.

[Rennadrel]

I understand what you are saying Perseus. My thought is if Diablo 3 were close to being finished it would be the perfect filler for everyone who has completed the current WoW content. If Cata is released first, there is going to be so much content that some players will never get to experience Diablo, which as a bit of a "Lord of Terror" fan of it makes me kind of sad.

I don't think Diablo 3 is close to being as finished as people think, I get the feeling that Blizzard will delay it primarily due to the financial gain of releasing Cataclysm being so much higher and then they have time to focus on completing Diablo 3 and working on the SC 2 expansions.

[Thalani]

I have that same t-shirt.
Okay, stop DoTs!

-T.

[swills]

There is zero chance of Diablo III in 2010, and probably only a 10-20% chance for 2011. If it is 2011 it will certainly be late 2011. You all need to remember just how long Blizzard take to release stuff! When *you* think it looks 'complete' (and DIII is far from that) then you probably only have another 3-6 months.

The Cataclysm-Beta shows the game to be a long, long, looooonnnngggg way from completion. Entire zones barely started at all. Lots of 5-mans not present yet. All classes needing major work & balancing still. Tons of bugs. Raiding not even close to being thought about yet as far as testing goes. I certainly would not expect it this side of November. I personally am expecting late Nov to mid-December for release. Activision will force them to get it out before X-Mas no matter what Blizzard tells us about Acti not having a say in the matter.

[Rennadrel]

You know, I would be content if they released Cataclysm with everything but the raids completed. I get the feeling that they might pull another Burning Crusade launch and release the expansion without a raid and patch it in like Kara was, as well as all the subsequent raids that followed it. Not having raids means that people won't feel the need to grind to 85 quickly in order to get guilds into raids quickly and it would give people some time to explore the content. Give it a couple of months and then release the first raid and keep pushing new ones out after several months.