Blizzard, do the unthinkable
by Mike Schramm 
Aug 29th 2007 at 7:42PM
This is blasphemy, I know. I'm messing with the natural order of things when I suggest something like this. But here's what I think: Blizzard should give us a release date.Excuse me while I duck all those tomatoes. Check out this forum thread, in which Neth voices her feelings about having to deal with players asking about a release date all the time. She gets as far as saying "later, but sooner than much later," which basically means next week or the week after.
Fine then. But, in cases like this, why doesn't Blizzard just go ahead and say a release date? That would shut everybody up, we could all move on with our lives, and Neth wouldn't have to deal with that stuff. And it doesn't even need to be accurate-- if Blizzard said "2.2 is coming on September 18th," and then it dropped on the 11th (which is when Blizzard really planned to release it), then everyone would actually be happy that it came out early. And yes, Blizzard doesn't want to have to explain delays to us, but delays are delays-- surely videogame fans have gotten used to it by now.
I'm not saying they need to change their whole company-- they're not going to give us a date for Wrath of the Lich King, and I'm fine with that: I'd rather see it "when it's finished" (and we will see a release date for it anyway, eventually) But for something like 2.2, where testing is almost complete and they must have some clear idea of when it will drop, why not give us a target, however off it might be? Even "before November," in my mind, is better than all the question ducking that Neth and the other CMs are doing.
Filed under: Patches, Analysis / Opinion, Virtual selves, Blizzard
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Scott Aug 29th 2007 7:50PM
What if it comes out late? The idiots on the forums will be pissed.
Freehugz Aug 29th 2007 7:50PM
I think its video game developer rule #241. You don't give out patch release dates because it has some really bad potential if things don't go well.
LanceG33 Aug 29th 2007 11:32PM
This would require accountability from Blizzard; as much as I like playing WoW, Blizzard as a company is quite arrogant in how it treats the customer base. Sad thing is they can afford to be indifferent at this point as they dominate the market.
Tumples Aug 29th 2007 7:52PM
Is there anything actually good coming from this patch besides voice chat?
Dprice Aug 29th 2007 8:09PM
why??
Ill give you one good reason why. "fullscreen mode." The vocal minority of today's gamers have clearly become impatient, greedy and irrational. The Bioshock developers have had to do some retarded asskissing to "make up" for giving full screen more viewable area. Blizzard has wisely decided that they'd rather deal with incessant questioning about release dates than EVER be put in the position of saying "its coming out on x" and then missing it.
People would completely freak out if they missed the target date by even an hour.
khaosworks Aug 29th 2007 8:10PM
Blizzard can't win, really. Announce a date, people will hold you to it and bitch if it's late. Don't announce, people will bitch that it's uncertain. But to break a promise is worse than to not promise at all, so I can see where they're coming from.
I, for one, have no problem with "It'll be ready when it's ready." It doesn't necessarily stop me being impatient, but at least I'm a bit more assured that when it's released, it's not a rush job, bugs notwithstanding.
klink-o Aug 29th 2007 8:11PM
@ #3:
I re-read the patch notes last night to try to remember why this patch was important, never did figure it out.
As to the subject at hand, yes, I wish Blizzard would be a little less secretive about these sorts of things (as seems to be the industry standard). It doesn't have to be an exact date, just something like "at least two weeks until release" or something along those lines. Another place I wish they'd release a little more information is on the login screen news section. Instead of just "technical difficulties" how about something like "Frank spilled coffee on the battleground server". Is it too much to ask for slightly more information that doesn't look like a fill-in-the-blank form letter?
jaxson_bateman Aug 29th 2007 8:16PM
Paladin buffs are getting... changed (duration for some doubled, others are getting duration nerfed or a cooldown). As a PvE pally who only uses BoSac for Maiden (and now that we're in SSC and TK she only gets one repentance off anyway) and will likely only use BoF for Lady Vashj, I can't wait til the patch comes out. I'll actually be able to buff before a ready check... o.O
Dave Aug 29th 2007 8:35PM
I'd appreciate a target date. Don't call it a release date, we all know those are slippery and unconfirmable until they actually happen.
if a week before a target date is set to be a release date, things don't look like they've progressed towards the place they need to be, just update the target date with the new list of PTR changes. It's not like we don't realize that when you add new features to the PTR, that it means the patch just got delayed by at least a week. Duh.
the nature of updates is such that it'll never be perfect anyway, so it's not like they can't just release a patch and then patch it again the next week with the stuff they found after the "freeze" the week before or whatever. They do it often enough anyway even when they test a ton, and they're going to do it again when they release 2.2. We'll almost definitely see a 2.2.1 patch in a week or two after it hits.
But really, unless 2.2 brings XP gain changes and Season 3 of Arena, is anyone REALLY stoked about the patch? I know it doesn't change much of anything about my game...
Laukidh Aug 29th 2007 8:41PM
I work in a web shop as an admin. Setting release dates and trying to meet them is good. But if you announce that to the public, it becomes an image issue if you don't meet it, which means you'll rush to get it out the door... And rushing means bad quality code, and people screwing up their lives just to look good based on an arbitrary requirement some random person picked out of their hat.
Indigo Aug 29th 2007 8:42PM
The problem is that if they release early it's bad, because they're changing some things over to BOP from BOE (there's a sticky in the general forum) and if they announce a date and go early, there's a good chance a bunch of stuff's gonna get bound to level 5 mules.
And if they release late, we all think they're buffoons.
Lose/lose.
Laukidh Aug 29th 2007 8:43PM
@3. I want my orc's shoulders to be normal size again, so yes.
Green Armadillo Aug 29th 2007 8:43PM
Actual release dates are a bad idea unless you're moderately confident you're going to meet them. (For example, setting an official release date for TBC when the expansion went gold.) Even a ballpark estimate will be quoted and commented upon if you miss it.
I think there is some sense in giving approximate dates for things. For example, people might be assuaged about the lack of actual game content in the 2.2 "content patch" if Blizzard was willing to commit to having 2.3 up on the PTR's within a week or two of 2.2 finally launching, if it ever does. Another good example is all this talk of helping the 40-55 leveling curve, which is all well and good except for the crucial question of WHEN. "Before the expansion" could mean next month or could be a year from now, and that's a lot of ambiguity to tack onto something that could be a selling point to retaining bored customers and/or attracting ones who've left back.
Then again, there's something infuriating about knowing that the dev acknowledge your problem, aren't going to have a fix ready for months, but are still charging you a monthly fee in the mean time. Not sure if it's better or worse than the devs refusing to even comment that they know your problem is there, but I guess it's another pro/con to consider.
Also, the PR dept loves to horde even the smallest tidbits of info so they can trade them for free publicity from places like IGN in the form of articles containing "exclusive info" that could basically have been posted on Blizzard's forums verbatim for all the journalistic input the publishers exert on them.
Michel Aug 29th 2007 8:51PM
NO !
I'm working also in development and I understand blizzard
customers goes completely Wild and Crazy if you miss a date, a time, whatever.
blizzard has to operate the game daily and give a date WHEN and ONLY when the patch is _totally_ FINISHED, TESTED and KISSED by Quality management.
_never_ one second before.
_never_ give a strict date before one second of pure, sincere, honest, certain the patch is fine
when blizzard tried to give date and had some problems, too many people goes ballistic
trolling, insulting and being just ass..
so, for everyone temper and because blizzard loves you so much (and don't want you to be an ass in front of your girl/boyfriend ) they don't give release date when they are not sure.
and,you know, when you change a live functioning software as a game played by Millions of Customers, you want to be _pretty_ sure it's working, really.
me ? I couldn't do that job, I would be dead by stress :)
so, I say : NO ,LET blizzard BE blizzard, they KNOW their business and HOW to hook us.
Anonymous Aug 29th 2007 9:04PM
What does it matter if we do or don't know when a patch will be released? We know it's soon ,and we know it's a sure thing, so why are people whining about it at all? I say shut up and play the damn game you're shelling out $15/mo. for, instead of complaining about something as trivial as this.
Jayus Aug 29th 2007 9:41PM
You (the poster) obviously have no freaking clue about how customer relations work, customers are moronic dicks, all of them, they can be nice friendly normal people 99% of the time, but that 1% of the time when they are customers they are rabid prats.
You never give a date that might ever ever get pushed back, they (the rabid prats) will eat you alive and then spit out your bones and make strange chairs with them and then take a dump in it.
Medros Aug 29th 2007 9:41PM
People have gotten pissed at late patches. People have gotten pissed at earlier than predicted releases. This is best.
Brian Arnold Aug 29th 2007 10:10PM
Poster 9 is the most spot on so far. I've been a software developer (no games, but both desktop and web applications), and having deadlines internally is good, but announcing them is generally bad, unless it's completely through QA and you're just hanging on to make sure you can iron out any last minute bugs. Rushing is bad.
Fletch Aug 29th 2007 11:04PM
@#6:
This patch is important because the sooner it comes out, the sooner we'll have the next patch which might actually have something in it.
Potatowedge Aug 29th 2007 11:07PM
AMEN!!! I'm waiting for 2.2 to drop to do a school project using that handy-dandy Mac video capure that's supposed to be coming. It's due October 9th, so knowing for certain whether or not that patch will be up by then would be kinda nice. You see, right now I'm having to weigh a lot of different options, and one of them is NOT telling my teacher "sorry, the patch that the video capture was in hasn't been released yet." I'm either gonna have to to shoot on the PTRs or using a third-party program.
I can otherstand the billion other reasons for not giving a solid date, and I certainly don't resent Blizzard for it. But in the world of film, you need solid numbers so you can have all your ducks in a row, and not have to spend too much money (ie shell out for an external video capture program).
Okay, rant over. And the extra time will be worth it once my boyfriend starts playing again - hooray for voice chat!