It’s the New Year, and 2014 is going to be a big one for World of Warcraft. This November marks the game’s 10-year anniversary and the 20–year anniversary of the entire Warcraft series. We’re looking forward to celebrating these milestones with everyone, but in the meantime, we’ve got a few Warlords of Draenor–related updates to share.
-Blizzard, Warlords of Draenor Scouting Report Post
Okay, it is a stretch, but kicking off a Warlords of Draenor post with references to events coming up in November? It is enough to make you go, “Hrmm…”
See you guys in the fall?
Plus, when you add in the fact that the post goes on to say that now would be a good time to opt-in for the closed beta, which means that it is probably at least weeks, if not a month or more away, and the timeline for the Warlords of Draenor expansion starts to look more and more like something we’ll see when summer has faded and autumn is upon us.
My 2014 prediction for the expansion release is September 9th. Am I looking warmer now?
And, while we’re on the subject of predictions, Blizzard is talking about finding a way to sell players additional insta-level 90 boosts. That is another on my list. (And it sounds like Blizz is going to give you your insta-90 as soon as you pre-order… once pre-orders are available. No waiting for the expansion to launch.)
In the mean time, I still have plenty to catch up on in the game.
The Ancient Gaming Noob 
I don’t think that’s much of a stretch. October/November releases for their expansions are about par for the course, aren’t they? Releasing an expansion on the ten year anniversary of launch would be very hype-able. Good call, I say.
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Facts:
-Mist of Pandaria released on September
-Blizzard said in Blizzcon that they are further in development of WoD that they were with pandaria when they announced it in the previous Blizzcon
-They also said that they will not release any content patches in order to further fasten the WoD release.
With all that in mind, I highly doubt it will gonna release on November…that is even longer than pandaria..
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I like John’s scenario better. Use the 10 year anniversary for the shark with lazer beams mount.
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Well I didn’t say November, I said “after summer has faded and autumn is upon us.” And I previously predicted September 9th. I was just interested that the announcement mentioned other things that will come up in the fall.
It is also a fact that software is not an exact science, so “further along” is a pretty vague statement to hang your hat on. I had to laugh when people took that empty phrase to mean that we might get WoD in the first half of the year.
The first reliable milestone as to when the game might ship hasn’t come up yet. MoP was just over six months from start of beta to launch. Cata was about the same. So if they get going on that by February, the earliest a release could come is August. I’m sticking with my September guess.
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they would want max subs for their 10 year anniversary. max subs would likely happen a month or two after a new expansion.
August – September release is a good bet.
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There is also the point that they are giving us a free 90 if we pre-purchase so that we can “get the legendary cloak on another character”.
To me, bringing the free 90 forward from the launch of WoD (as originally planned) to when you pre-purchase the digital edition, smacks of “we are giving you something else to do during the longer than expected wait for WoD”. Just like the announcement of another 20-24 week PvP season.
I think after the summer is spot-on.
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I would say Q3 is a good bet. September seems pessimistic, but anytime before May is looking optimistic with the game not yet in beta.
I haven’t been paying any attention to the lore for the new expansion, but I suspect they will do some sort of Caverns of Time homage in a major patch for the November anniversary.
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If they aim for a fall release, the unsubbing over the summer will make the loses seen during Dragon Soul seem trivial.
They have a larger team now for WoW and they said that they don’t want SoO to drag on (actually they said they wanted to avoid another DS situation). They also said that they will do another PvP season soon, so assuming 20 weeks I think the launch date will be early June at most.
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September 9th seems a bit far off. Considering it will be almost 2 years since MoP, and MoP only took 22 months from Cata, and WoD doesn’t have an extra race, extra class or major Talent overhaul.
Still I thought MoP would release a lot earlier than it did.
Also the event coming up in November is almost certainly Blizzcon 2014.
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Alternatively, that could be when they plan to let Hearthstone out of beta. :)
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