WoW: Burning Crusade Pushed Back to January

[BigJonno]

A post on the Blizzard forums has confirmed that the World of Warcraft expansion, The Burning Crusade, won't be released this year.

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.
You can read the full post here (http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=71337407&postId=713110234&sid=1#0).

Not entirely unexpected.

Thanks soco, and NeuroMan42 for a similar submission.

[Reanimated]

I'm actually glad. I wasn't going to have time to play it until after Christmas anyway.

[grandepolloloco]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! but but.. now what am I going to do to make myself loose tons of sleep and miss days of work, oh right back to raiding must get l33t gear!

[Heretic Machine]

This makes me kind of happy. Frees up money, and time.

[Derella]

I've been waiting for them to say this -- a lot of zones/instances are incomplete/missing from the beta still.

Plus, this is Blizzard. Do they ever release games on time? :D

[Sensei-X]

I've been waiting for them to say this -- a lot of zones/instances are incomplete/missing from the beta still.

Plus, this is Blizzard. Do they ever release games on time? :D

Sure they don't release anything on time, but we were hoping their greed would make them release it ASAP. Guess their commiment to quality has been underestimated (just a bit) and their greed overestimated. That being said, money says it was more because someone at Blizzard said, "Hey guys, we're gonna get pwned by PS3 and Wii if we release in November." then a sudden and unexpected commitment to bug-free releases. :D

[Tharsis]

Now I can take my time with my Hunter's last two levels till 60. Thanks Blizzard!!

[Shifter]

Aw come on Sensei you really do have to hand it to Blizzard for polishing the heck out of titles before releasing them. They do a better job of releasing AAA finished games than pretty much any other developer out there. Sure WoW has had its issues over time, but they themselves never expected the numbers they received. Actually i've got to hand it to them for having the balls to miss the holiday buying season entirely -- not that they need it...

On the other hand... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO YOU BASTARDS WHY WHY WHY!!!??

[Lon Lon Rabbit]

Good for me too. I was going to have to ignore it for a while with the new consoles coming out but now I won't have to.

[Stormwatcher]

Already pre-ordered the CE, so the longer it takes, the better it is for me.

[ghost]

I'm in Perigon's boat on this one; I don't mind the delay, frees up more money for the Wii and more time to, well, school, i guess....

[Goatbert]

but I was going to level to 70 over my vacation :(

Ah well. Sounds like I'll be taking a week off in January :D

And yeah, I'm in the beta, and a ton of the stuff just isn't ready yet, though its close I think. Although there are 3 zones you can't even get into yet.

[Spigot]

Gasp. A Blizzard product delayed? Say it ain't so!

I'm happy they're delaying it, actually. I have enough games to keep me busy until the new year and I'd rather they have everything ready than launch it early. Plus I don't think Blizzard has EVER released a product on the expected release date, so it's not like this was unforeseen.

[Mortis]

This sucks for all the people that are waiting for it. I kicked the habit so I need a new one, Diablo 3 please.

[silv]

This is a Good Thing. More time for polish and testing of the higher level content.

[The Continental]

Considering the closed beta is still capped at level 67, with none of the new end game content getting tested, and the month or two of open beta used for stress testing hasn't occurred, this was pretty much a forgone conclusion for everyone but EB/Gamestop who chose to bill the shit out of the game thinking it was shipping in 4 weeks.

[CrashCart]

Hmm, is this for the US as well? That forum post (on WoW's European forums) states that specific, worldwide release and pricing information will be available in the near future. I guess the guys in Paris could be getting the scoop on the US release date?

Dunno, doesn't really matter to me as I don't play anymore. Just wondering why Paris would be unveiling this info first.

[michaelwhite]

Shadowbane is free. The classic servers on DAoC are showing big numbers.

[Sloth]

frees up money, but i don't know what i want to get. I'd like to get a Wii but i never play my consoles that much. I'd like to get NWN 2 as well. I'll definitely end up getting the latter now.

[Buddha Lotus]

Well.. at least my holidays wont be ruined.. ..

.. and it coming in Jan will be liek a second christmas

[DjinniMan]

I'm happy with the move. I cancelled my account earlier this month, wanting to take a break from the game. I felt a bit of burnout, and wanted to be fresh for the expansion. When I heard that the release was late November, I was a bit shocked. The move to January gives me plenty of time to play the other games that I have been ignoring due to WOW. Metroid Prime 2, I'm looking at you!

[ElPresidente]

Started BC tonight and I'd also like to chime in and say they should take all the time they want to get this right. That isn't to say what I've experienced so far suggests BC has issues but there are spots that you can see are still 'under construction' or being tested.

All it means is a quality expansion at the end of the day and isn't that what we all want?

[digitalErich]

WoW is almost defined by it's polish, for me. Blizzard can take as long as they want. I'm just glad they announced this today. I was planning on bringing my 60 drood out of his 15 month retirement in preparation for BC later tonight. Looks like he'll be out a few more months.

[chingtastic]

good riddance

[Lekon]

I'd almost bet the real reason that the game is delayed... So they can print up more CE Versions of the game to fill up all the ones that are selling out!

/paranoia off.

[Whimbrel]

I cancelled my account his month to free up some time with the expectation that I will be returning once the expansion hits, in March. I am curious though, does anybody know if there is any rhyme or reason to who made it into the beta? Was it high level players from regular, press, other?

[Beelzebud]

I recently got hooked on the WoW crackpipe.

The thing that won me over immediately was the QUALITY. I know there were problems early in the game's life, but as a new player starting just a week ago, I simply can't believe how good the game is.

I'm actually glad they're pushing this back. I'm a little overwhelmed with the current version.

[drakkarim]

they'll also be able to assure a couple more months of everyone paying their online fees. back to your regular camping stations everyone.

[Rifter]

YEA!!! Less money going to games this year!!! Good news to my ears/eyes. :-)

[A Lusty Alien]

Well, that's three months of relief for us from the servers crashing from the sheer weight of all the Blood Elves being born. On the other hand, all the other lands will be absolutely empty.

[BlackPete]

I'm shocked! SHOCKED! By this news! I never saw this coming... and to think that in the past, Blizzard has always worked quickly to release patches on a timely basis... :(

[rainbowblack]

As most people have already stated, "THANK GOD" i was worried about not having enough time to play the expansion due to planning on buying FFXII, GOW and Wii/Zelda

[BigJonno]

Hmm, is this for the US as well? That forum post (on WoW's European forums) states that specific, worldwide release and pricing information will be available in the near future. I guess the guys in Paris could be getting the scoop on the US release date?

Dunno, doesn't really matter to me as I don't play anymore. Just wondering why Paris would be unveiling this info first.

The European WoW site often scoops the North American one. I'm guessing that it's because when they have a press release going out on the 24th, it goes out on the 24th everywhere and we just get to the 24th first.

[flinxz]

Doesn't seem too likely considering that both Jetherik and Myself are in the public Beta test right now.

I never trust the Danes.

I've heard from reliable resources that this is on track for an 06 holiday release still...

Add me to the doubtful group. Beta's looking fiiiiine.

I'm also doubtful. … They're making it pretty obvious that 11/28 is going to be the release day. PS3...Wii? Nothing is going to touch the selling power of this expansion pack this holiday season.

These are all from that little thread yesterday, and I found it to be a bit of a chuckle.

Question: Does DoctorSetebos now trust the Danes?

[ElPresidente]

I'd almost bet the real reason that the game is delayed... So they can print up more CE Versions of the game to fill up all the ones that are selling out!

/paranoia off.

Paranoia or not I'd love this to be the reason too. That CE is pretty sweet and I've not got mine on pre-order. :(

[Wyrm]

I'm actually really disappointed. I won't be able to spend nearly enough time on the game if it hits in January. I was planning on wasting away in front of my computer over Christmas break....

[BlackPete]

I have several friends playing WoW and they've been trying to talk me into re-joining WoW. I keep telling them that I'd play again as soon as the expansion ships.

So this news saved me a few bucks, and pissed off my friends. All in all it worked out great :D

[KingGorilla]

I wonder if the Beta has been going roughly, or more roughly than usual.

[Furious Wang]

Its going to come out when Vanguard comes out. Vanguard is the only title that is offering Blizzard any competition in the near future and Blizzard is timing their release to coincide or trump Vanguard's.

[VTMarik]

Man, is it wrong of me that I want to cancel my pre-order? I mean, I could use that 40 bucks for something more useful and then get it later on when/if it's released in january...

[BigJonno]

Its going to come out when Vanguard comes out. Vanguard is the only title that is offering Blizzard any competition in the near future and Blizzard is timing their release to coincide or trump Vanguard's.

If Vanguard is released in January then it will make Star Wars Galaxies' initial release look like a perfectly polished and complete product.

[ElPresidente]

I wonder if the Beta has been going roughly, or more roughly than usual.

I wouldn't say rough. It's got work to go but its just as much fun as vanilla WoW and those things you see that remind you that, yes, this is a beta... are very minor niggles.