Thought it would be interesting to have a discussion on what patch they will select for TBC Classic launch. Given how things went with Classic - which was not necessarily 'no changes', utilising the latest technical patch 1.12 but holding back content for release in phases, what can we expect for TBC?
Any predictions on phase division, whether it will exist at all? Do you think they'll follow suit and use the latest patch but slow burn the content? What about more divisive introductions such as LFG tool etc. that were introduced? Will Arena be held back to later patches or launch with 2.0?
TBC Patches Summarised
Patch 2.0 - Before the Storm / The Burning Crusade
Released 5th Dec 2006 with 2.0.1, ended 3 April 2007 with 2.0.12. Notable features and changes were:
Patch 2.1 - The Black Temple
Released 22 May 2007 with 2.1.0, ended 10 July 2007 with 2.1.3/4 Notable features and changes were:
Patch 2.3 - Voice chat!
Released 25 September 2007 with 2.2.0, ended 9 October 2007 with 2.2.3. Notable features and changes were:
Patch 2.3 - The Gods of Zul'Aman
Released 13 November 2007 with 2.3.0, ended 22 January 2008 with 2.3.3. Notable features and changes were:
Patch 2.4 - Fury of the Sunwell
Released 25 Mar 2008 with 2.4.0, ended 15 July 2008 with 2.4.3. Notable features and changes were:
So what do you guys think?
Nice write up, teeb! My guess is that they will use patch 2.4.3 similar to what they did with Classic and patch 1.12 then release content in phases.
did I just get fucking rickrolled
I would hope they do the same thing they did during classic, all the frustration of layering and phase 2 considered, I still think they did a fantastic job.
Side note, does anyone have a detailed breakdown of the changes to class abilities and talents etc between classic and TBC? Would like a comparison to see if I want to level my hunter or not.
I wonder if they would stick to the original content release. That would make TBC last a lot shorter than original TBC imo, because SSC and TK were open and fully accessible at launch in original TBC. It just took a lot of time before people were geared enough, attuned and had had enough practice to clear them. If we get 2.4.3 talents (which are a lot better than early TBC, just like Vanilla early vs 1.12.1) and the skill of the current playerbase we can probably expect SSC and TK to be cleared within 2 weeks of release. If they make Heroic keys revered that would be a great first step to delay that.
I wouldn't mind if they release SSC and TK 3 months after release though. Gives people time to level Paladins/Shamans on their faction and gives us the proper time to enjoy Heroics, Kara, Gruul and Mag.
Phew, its a hard one. They will have a lot to discuss, because TBC changed quite a bit over its lifetime.
My guess, without even covering some big questions is
I expect 4 phases, with P1 is Season 1 und basically 2.0, P2 is Black Temple and S2, then ZA and Season 3, and finally Sunwell.
Side note, does anyone have a detailed breakdown of the changes to class abilities and talents etc between classic and TBC? Would like a comparison to see if I want to level my hunter or not.
I can tell you that Hunter are a in a fantastic scenario in TBC with being able to top damage meters and a plethora of spells that open up several options and simplify/resolve many aspects.
Side note, does anyone have a detailed breakdown of the changes to class abilities and talents etc between classic and TBC? Would like a comparison to see if I want to level my hunter or not.
I can tell you that Hunter are a in a fantastic scenario in TBC with being able to top damage meters and a plethora of spells that open up several options and simplify/resolve many aspects.
Cool that’s great to know! I feel like TBC does exactly that, solves a lot of the issues with vanilla without straying too far from the original.
Cool that’s great to know! I feel like TBC does exactly that, solves a lot of the issues with vanilla without straying too far from the original.
You'll love it :)
I really want TBC, not sure why but I guess the FIRST expansion to what has become a HUGE game and made such a huge impact on millions of lives makes me want to experience the first expansion Blizzard planned and had no idea where WoW would take them.
Loved TBC the most. I really hope they will release it soon.
Loved TBC the most. I really hope they will release it soon.
I’m super excited for it because it fixes a lot of issues and brings in my favorite part of the game, arenas. That said, I actually hope they wait a while to release it so that we can fully enjoy classic. I would honestly prefer they even delay it a bit so that raiding Nax is less pointless. I know a common complaint from vanilla was that by the time anyone was even able to clear Nax it was basically time for TBC so farming Nax was looked at as kind of pointless. Would be nice to avoid that this time around, but based on how they’ve paced most of the content so far I doubt that will be the case.
It's funny how Naxx was talked about as pointless but if you look at the timeline it was out for like 7 months. There was actually tons of time to enjoy it as a top raid and not feel like it was wasted effort. But I think the issue was more that there was just so much outrage that an expansion was happening at all. That was the part that I remember the most. It wasn't that an expansion was coming out too soon but that it was happening and everyone had to pay for it and that 60 wasn't the max.
Taladril Yeah that makes sense, I started playing during TBC so I didn’t get to experience it in person. I guess I just personally feel like the pace of release is usually a little quicker than I’d prefer but I assume I’m probably in the minority on that one.