Interpreting the 2015 WoW Roadmap

by JR Cook - 9 years ago     show comments

Let’s be specific about what was and wasn’t said in Bashiok’s big forum post:

What’s Coming in the Patch 6.1 PTR

• The continuation of the legendary quest line (ostensibly “Chapter IV”), which will reward a legendary follower.
• Social media integration (tweet screenshots and item drops from in-game).
• New content for Garrisons.
• The Heirloom collections UI.

However, it’s interesting to note all of the things that were in the post that weren’t specifically listed to be coming in 6.1.

• The flight master improvements aren’t specifically stated to be in for 6.1. Since it sounds like it’s taking some new engineering to get it up to spec, it feels like something that could slip the deadline for 6.1, and it’s possible that it’s not something that can just be hotfixed into play.
• The “gold for game time” exchange (which plenty of players recognize as similar to the PLEX system from EVE Online) isn’t specifically stated to be in play for 6.1. Having it in this post, right before a holiday break, seems primed to make it a talking point among the community so that they have a lot of feedback about the idea when they come back in the new year.
• The improved Arena UI was given a specific timeframe of “next year” which ostensibly means it COULD be in 6.1.
• The blood elf models and other new player model improvements are very deliberately described as coming in “an upcoming patch.” This means it could also slip 6.1 if the art team runs into any issues.
• The continuing saga of the Ashran zone slogs on, but the language used indicates that aside from trying to fix up realm pairing and queue times, nothing major is going to change with Ashran until AFTER 6.1.

There’s also a lot of reading between the lines that you can do here, especially looking at the statements on garrisons. So if Blizzard is adding a heroic difficulty to invasions, a new daily activity (specifically not labeled as a “quest” since “daily quest” has got a stigma now, apparently) for you to do with your friends, as well as new missions and resource dumps, then it’s what they don’t mentions that stands out. Additions we will likely see eventually (but NOT in 6.1) should include new plots, new buildings, and higher tiers for the garrison itself and all the existing buildings within it. All of those things certainly fit the bill for “bigger additions” but leaving them out of the feature list for 6.1 feels like a deliberate move.

This is likely your view of the Garrison for a long while yet.

Of course, the big read-between-the-lines element of this forum post is the timing: the 6.1 PTR will likely launch this weekend, or at the very latest before Christmas Eve. This post is preemptive damage control to set expectations for what will and won’t be in the 6.1 patch data that will be datamined and dissected within minutes of hitting the servers. Since everyone will be off-duty for the holidays, they’re trying to get in front of some the wild speculation that follows a datamining frenzy by putting this information out there.

So, with all that in mind:

What’s ALSO Coming in the Patch 6.1 PTR (maybe)

• Definitive confirmation on who the Legendary follower(s) is(are) going to be.
• Lines of code (usually referred to as “strings”) referencing the gold-purchaseable game time. Announcing that this is something they’re considering ahead of any datamining lets them focus speculation on the system itself, and not a nebulous discussion of “is Blizzard going to copy PLEX?” The discussion is instead “should they?” and “how should they?”
• Assets (likely incomplete) for the improved Arena UI.
• The improved flight pathing. Mentioning it feels like a paean to folks who really want flying, but Blizzard really doesn’t want to give that up yet.
• The improved Blood Elf models. It’s possible that the version we see in the patch data may not be finalized quite yet, and it’s still possible that it could slip, but given how prominent the BE models are this is definitely a “when’s it done” line.

What’s (probably) NOT Coming in the Patch 6.1 PTR

• A new raid or PVP battleground.
• Max-level scenario queues.
• New 5-man dungeons.
• Any major iteration on Ashran, aside from improving the existing functionality to a more playable state.
• Tanaan Jungle, or any other new zones. (The new questing hubs in Krasarang Wilds took center stage in the Patch 5.1 feature list.)
• Flying mounts in Draenor. (Because really, if the flightmaster improvements are enough, we won’t need them.)
• New buildings, plots, or Tier 4 iterations for existing structures in the Garrison.

So curb your expectations, friends. Mists set a new standard for what content patches are meant to consist of, and we haven’t even really finished consuming the launch content yet given how much Blizzard is trying to space it out. We’re only a month in, after all.

We’ll keep you posted about any new patch information as soon as we see it, so keep it locked.