I suppose that it was only a matter of time before we got a hard date on Mists. Whether that hard date will hold (or slip like Diablo III did) remains to be seen, but for the moment we have September 25th as the drop date.
Given the way things work out, I guess we're looking at late August for the pre-release patch.
The guild Soul and I are in is on hiatus and has been since earlier this year, so I presume that people will start trickling back in over the next month or two. What I'm not sure of is a) how many will return and b) how long people will stay.
As for me, I think I'm going to adopt a wait-and-see attitude toward Mists.
This isn't exactly a new position, as I've been on the fence ever since Mists was announced, but I'm going to follow through on my idea to retire my current two mains and have them join Quintalan relaxing by the Dal Fountain. However, I'm not going to promote my Lock, Adelwulf, to main status. In fact, I may get him to L84 and make him a twink for the time being.
So, if not a toon I've got right now, what have I got in mind?
Having leveled an Affliction Warlock through BGs (and their graveyards), I sure do have ideas. And the best way to study the biggest enemy that a Lock has is to create one.
Yes, I'm going Rogue.
By my estimations, if I created a Rogue in the next few weeks and leveled that toon via BGs, I'd probably reach L85 sometime in December. That's a long time before I'd actually need the Mists expac, which should work fine for my finances. By the time I'd be ready to set sail to Pandaria, the new zones will already be devoid of life, just like Cata's were by the time Neve and Tom got there a few months after release.
Will I miss out on the chaos and insanity of everyone getting to the new zones? Oh, I'm sure I will, but that also means that my older PC won't feel the strain of too many toons nearby. It also means avoiding the fights over resources. And, for this ex-PvP server player, it means fewer flashbacks of the inn at Tarren Mill.
One thing that will happen, however, will be a huge wave of Pandarens entering BGs, all of which will have Asian ripoffs for names. ("Mr. Tauren Bullburgers, meet Mr. Pandaren Chopupyoursuey".)
And I'm absolutely certain I'll be on when the release drops with a big bowl of popcorn, because I sure wouldn't want to miss the collective angst of the Trade Chat crazies.
I've seen people mention D3 date slipping twice now. And it's not true, D3 never had an announced date actually slip. They gave approximate time frames that slipped but when Blizzard announces a date it's set and will for sure be the case for MoP as well.
ReplyDeleteFrom the context of slipping once a release date is set, yes, you're correct. However, Blizzard did announce back in September 2011 that they were delaying D3 to 2012, in spite of their expectations all year to ship in December 2011. And when they did ship, PvP and the RMAH were removed from the game. If they hadn't removed both of those options, D3 would have released even later.
DeleteFrom what I've been reading online, it sounds like Blizz has their work cut out for them to get Mists ready for release in late September. Having worked in software, I can tell you these last few frantic weeks will make or break a team, and I don't envy the developers at all.
That sounds like a good idea. I remember when I got to Howling Fjord I was puzzled. Why on earth would Blizzard not put herbs there? I don't remember how many weeks before I saw a flower bloom there again. So waiting for the initial crowd to pass through may be my plan this time too.
ReplyDeleteIf you get a couple of gold farmers competing for resources, that happens even in places like Darkshore, but throw in all of the normal players....
DeleteI wonder how many Alterac Valleys you'll see with your rogue and 39 monks.
ReplyDeleteI pity the mage who gets stuck with 39 monks. At least the rogue can hide if need be. ;-)
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