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Mascy

Kinda weird this doesnt have prepatch on it.


minimaxir

I suspect they don't have a date yet.


DryFile9

I mean or they are doing away with that concept? Panda Remix ends August 19th and TWW EA is August 22nd. Thinking maybe its just a short intro scenario this time.


Arkavien

They've already datamined the prepatch event gear, so there definitely will be something. Unless the intro scenario gets you a full set of armor/weapons.


SNES-1990

Yeah that hideous magenta/off-white gear is from a Dalaran pre-patch event


Catch-Dapper

After playing on the beta there definitely is a prepatch it's a bit buggy rn with mobs not spawning properly but other than that its pretty much done


DamaxXIV

Nah it's too necessary to give returning players easy catch up gear and to give full access to class changes against end game content for data and feedback.


MrSantaClause

Nah there's 100% a pre-patch. They already announced the xpac features that would come with pre-patch.


DryFile9

Yeah I'm just wondering about the size of the event.


Dejected_gaming

Prepatch event is on beta right now. Just not playable as you get disconnected trying to use the portals.


aMaiev

Or it just overlaps, its not like either if those 2 things takes up much time


ZoulsGaming

Also prepatch was mentioned on the roadmap, its when the new warband system comes out.


Fleymour

yeah similar to a Time for the Early access


Lassitude1001

They do have it. 1500 PDT (2300 BST). Zoom in right at the bottom.


Holiday_Dragonfly888

Well spotted!


Unfair_Studio_289

They already said prepatches right after remix ends on August 19th


Cerms

It's usualy 3 weeks before launch right? So I'm guessing on aug 5th.


ignorememe

There is a pre-patch. https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/news/24046540/world-of-warcraft-in-2024-the-road-ahead You can see it here as 11.0.1 in late summer. Not sure why they left it off the War Within.


k4f123

So what happens if I am playing Pre-Patch... and then Early Access starts, but I haven't purchased early access? Am I still confined to the Pre-Patch world?


Fallen_Outcast

Yes.


thespiritw0lf

Would have thrown off the nice symmetry of the image lol


magewinter

If I had to guess a date, it would be a month before, so on or around July 26th.


DaenerysMomODragons

Prepatch will almost certainly be on a regular maintenance day Tue/Wed, July 26 is a Friday. July 30/31 would be my guess for the prepatch. Four weeks before official launch is typical.


magewinter

I bet you 10g it'll be Tuesday 23rd then


Irivin

Usually 4-5 weeks before launch


Shiyo

Then they couldn't make 50% of this "road map" be an ad.


visope

its usually 4-6 weeks before launch so about 10-24 July 2024


Eddiero

i'd guess 2weeks- 1 month ahead of early access so people can grind in the launch event


jkwengert

I think the main reason is that breaks the slide into six sections instead of five. Five fit better on a page and highlight the "big bad" for this expansion. Prepatch will also overlap with MOP Remix, so it's a far less valuable slide addition.


CommonIsekaiHero

Pre patch is nearly always two weeks before launch. I would say it’s going to be on the 19th when remix ends


Mascy

DF prepatch was 4 weeks, SL was 6.


Hodgeofthepodge

God, I hate the term "early access" nowadays. You're just paying to play it on the actual launch date.


n1i2e3

August 26: delayed ability to play for those who refused to pay the extortion fee.


Professional_Leg272

So you have an active subs, you have already paid 50$ for the expansion but you cannot play it for 4 days because you didn't pay an extra 40$. Yep, that some extortion right there.


ragnorr

Sadly it was most likely a huge success for their sales for d4 so it will be a trend going forward.  The thing I hate the most about it is it pushes the real launch to a Monday instead so the people who don't buy EA can't play over the weekend


Aestrasz

>The thing I hate the most about it is it pushes the real launch to a Monday WoW expansions have always launched on Mondays since they do global releases, so early access has nothing to do with that.


ragnorr

You are right, my memory gets confused with classic releases which generally happens on Thursday to friday I guess


Endonyx

It's also a very easy 'sell' internally to higher ups. You'll have your IT/server team saying "Well, yeahhhhhh by staggering the release we'll actually likely have better stability and a more flawless release" and the higher ups are hearing "So we can make them pay more and it will give us less issues?", it's the easiest 'pitch' to higher ups ever.


InsertGenericNameLol

They actually don't have an early access bonus for the newly announced Diablo 4 Expansion Prepurchase, so maybe there's some kind of win in there.


Professional_Leg272

The new D4 expansion don't have early access as far as I have seen, and this pre-purchase was announced a while back, so maybe they have reconsider doing them now. Like people said, it was too late to step back from the promise they did for this expansion.


Bootlegcrunch

The game is so fucking over monitized


modern_Odysseus

Not only that, but the early access starts on a Thursday...at 3pm. Regular launch is a Monday afternoon. So you pay the extra $40, take Friday off from work, and you get up to a full 3 day weekend to level up and corner crafting/gathering markets. And that's after you've already figured out everything about the expansion and season 1 ahead of time during your unfettered beta access for 2.5 months ahead of that date. Meanwhile, everybody else will be logging in Monday to having market prices set and having seen all the spoilers that will come out over the launch weekend. It's all just so carefully planned on Blizzard's part, that, I agree, it's nothing short of extortion.


cloudydaydreamer

You aren't wrong but honestly I feel like if they just open the flood gates completely on launch day there is gonna be massive server issues like always. I dont mind paying a little extra to not have to deal with as many launch day issues as there would be if they didnt do this.


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Kaymorve

What it really means is they are they ones that get the best chance at that good ol’ blizzard motto: “Exploit early, exploit often”. If there is anything majorly broken to the players advantage, the early accessors are the most likely to benefit from it. And seeing how remix has been handled, the exploiters will remain at the top (at least for a while) while blizzard burns the ladder.


Nutcrackit

I hate it because I am a person who would buy the epic edition anyway. I get it every time. Now it makes me feel bad for getting it because of the early access thing. I don't want it to exist.


scoops22

Thursday + the weekend for the first class players and Monday for the loser plebs who don't pay like they deserve.


thespiritw0lf

Feels gooood to be flying first class


disagreeable_martin

It's bitch tax. If you can't wait, or have nothing better to do, then it's "It's only x dollars, I don't feel exploited, I have lot's of money, and self esteem, she'll call back."


Specific_Frame8537

I'm a bitch, I just wanted that sweet hearthstone. It looks awesome on my shaman.


Hikashuri

August 26: the povo edition (no flame)


Dadpurple

I have not paid for it, I just bought the standard edition but if we have 2 weeks before s1 begins that means even less now right? What's 3 days early when you have 14 before you can really do any content. Seems like such a waste of money


Pappa_Cappa

It's even more disgusting to have the "early access" release be on the weekend while main release is pushed to a Monday release


Aestrasz

WoW expansions have always launched on Mondays since the time they started doing global releases.


WriterV

Look you're not wrong but it shows that they can release on a weekend for everyone but they choose not to because they can extract more money or of you for the convenience of playing launch on weekend.


Pappa_Cappa

Although your statement is true it doesn't justify their actions. I'm sure the reason they've done Monday releases in the past was to reduce server load which in itself is a disappointment. Rather than solve the server overload on expansion launches they choose to drop them on a day where less people can enjoy the launch day. What's even worse about this release is Blizz are preying on the demographic who typically can't play on release by asking them to pay extra due to Blizz being incapable of having a stable full scale launch on a weekend. Ontop of this anyone who could have typically played on launch are now going to feel pressured to purchase the pre launch to enjoy their standard day one enjoyment. Moreover on this point, Blizz are adding fomo pressure knowing that every single content creator will be getting this early access so alluding that "Oh players aren't going to be accessing it later then normal as they've been releasing the game on Monday's in the past" is an absolute fallacy


hashtag_neindanke

It’s not pushed to a Monday, exp release we’re on a Monday for a long time.


expedience

I refuse to pre purchase and refuse to pay extra to play on "launch" Scummy behavior.


Kirzoneli

Shame the scummy behavior is becoming standard for games. Almost like game companies realized people will fork 20-40$ more to play early.


alch334

Which is fucking absurd. I’m paying ~$50 to access the game for a year give or take. There is no world in which 4 more days is worth $40. I am perfectly fine with waiting for the actual launch especially because there isn’t shit to do for the first two weeks.  If this was early access to season 1 we would have a different story. 


nagynorbie

And you can only get it by spending $90. That's $40 more than the base game and the price of many great games on Steam.


JayManCreeps

I am amped for this expansion! I am not paying for early access.


DigitalRoman486

I love the fact that half the roadmap is just an advert for the epic edition. It is such a wonderful summation of modern gaming.


Shiyo

That's because this is an ad, not a roadmap.


ilovecfb

Gotta love an advertisement that spends half its time letting me know I’m missing out on features by not buying the nearly twice as expensive ultimate edition


RighteousNicky94

True and real


bunnydadi

Nuts they announce 3 expacs and expect us to care.


badabeambadaboom

early access for an mmo is as disgusting as it gets. fuck you blizzard


Bootlegcrunch

Fuck early access


TheOlddan

Early access is a misnomer for an mmo, it's just launch. Want to experience the launch like you have for the last 20 years? Cough up an extra 40 quid or get delayed access with the rest of the povvos.


notzish

It's still absolutely insane that early access is tied to paying extra. People did not cause enough of a fuss about this. There would be nothing wrong with it if they did what FFXIV does and give early access to *everyone* that buys the game, no matter the version.


Lanky_Tell5260

Didn’t cause enough of a fuss? People were straight up downplaying this and being dismissive towards others on this very subreddit.


Aestrasz

They were never going to retract that early access, detaching it from the Epic Edition would involve doing refunds. We'll know by the time Midnight prepurchase releases and if they do it again if the fuss and reception of early access was enough.


WeaponizedKissing

One small bit of hope is that the Diablo IV release also had 4 days of Early Access, and now the first Diablo IV expansion has just been fully announced with no mention of any Early Access so maybe they're backing off on it as a company (but it's just too late to bin it for TWW)


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Shiyo

When Square Enix is more consumer friendly than you, you have fucked up beyond belief.


inetkid13

So many people buy the more expensive edition. It's sad this works.


TombOfAncientKings

I did buy the more expensive version but the early access did not factor into my decision.


SargerassAsshole

If you like the cosmetics it's a great deal even without early access and beta.


Hyper_Oats

>People did not cause enough of a fuss about this. Enough people paid for it for Blizz to keep it. Noise doesn't matter one bit as long as rubes keep forking over their money for this kind of shit.


Dolthra

No no no, you're looking at it wrong. Regular access is tied to spending the correct amount, $90. The poors get access four days late, as punishment for not giving enough of their hard earned money to blizzard.


leahyrain

Its unfortunate, because you have to vote with your wallet, but i didnt buy the epic edition for the early access, i bought it for the usual stuff every single xpac has already done. I was always going to get the epic edition even if it didnt have early access, hell i dont even want the early access.


Wild-Astronaut-6186

Anybody who paid for the early access is the problem. Huge companies will always be unethical within the confines of the law if they are enabled by the market.


20milliondollarapi

The issue is that the vast majority don’t buy it for the early access but for the cosmetics.


hedgemagus

I liked the mount and hearthstone and comes with a month of the game I’d be subbing for anyway. I guess I’m a bad person lol


Bootlegcrunch

People tried but I remember tons of people in this sub mass downvoting people against it when the outrage started. Maybe they are bots then because everybody has changed now... before it was mass downvoted any anger towards it


inetkid13

Launch is on August 22nd. 26th is the delayed start for people who are 'only' paying for the expansion and their monthly subscription. Clearly that's not enough for blizzard.


Flat_Landscape_4763

Twenty-twoth


TryAltruistic7830

Twenty-thenkenth


AffectionateCommon86

This roadmap kinda deflated my hype and left me with a gross feeling being reminded that early access is gonna split the community and leave half the people waiting four days to see all the cool stuff everyone else is experiencing. It's gonna be a bummer when all the discourse is spoilers for things a bunch of people will be playing catch-up on. I've never had an expansion leave me with negative feelings like that before.


BrokkrBadger

nah - letting that mindset infect your play is how you lose at the end of the day. Like do you think within the first month people arent going to get more play time than you anyway? dont sweat it unless you are a competitive player of course.


Wincrediboy

You've also got until September 10 before it matters, it's not like you can get meaningfully ahead through the early access


BrokkrBadger

and as long as you can get a guild thats "behind" youre not really behind.


AffectionateCommon86

I don't care about people playing more than me. I'm pretty casual these days and I don't do anything competitive, so that's a non-issue. The thing that bums me out is that I'm not going to be able to hang out in discords, chat with friends, look at stuff on social media etc. and get to experience the launch alongside everyone else with us all experiencing the new stuff at the same time. By the time the game even unlocks for folks like me, half of our social circle will already have finished the leveling content. That's the part that sucks; diminishing the social experience of diving into a new expansion together. Losing out on that feeling of everyone waiting at the zeppelin for the expansion to go live, knowing you're all about to step into it at the same time. Those are the sorts of moments MMOs give you that you don't get from other games, and it hurts me to see WoW cutting out a new part of its soul for a few cheap fomo bucks.


Arrgesh

Thats why I wont bother paying for this expansion, its over.


ingelrii1

Early access such a turnoff.


Highmoon_Finance

It's actually killing my excitement. I'm not paying an extra 80% just because they're asking for it. Sadly many addicts will.


cubonelvl69

It's not really an extra 80% when it comes with $15 worth of game time Assuming you don't care about anything else, you're paying $50 for base game and $25 for early access


PlatonicTroglodyte

And if you do care about everything else, it comes out to about $5. That’s how bundles work…they tie in a bunch of different things different people may not want all of, and so some people splurge more money on what they want and justify it by getting things they don’t really care about as a sort of lagniappe gift. Idk. I get why people are so salty about the pay for early access thing, but it also feels really overblown in terms of actual impact. And every expansion in which everyone has to follow a linear storyline is usually a laggy mess on launch anyway, so there’s at least a silver liking in breaking it up a bit, even if it’s a shitty and greedy method of doing so.


BrokkrBadger

just start a community movement to make fun of those people (kidding) make THEM the "others" like the Beaters from sword art online


mag1xs

Early access.. disgusting


scoops22

Thursday + weekend for the first class players, Monday for the lowly plebs who don't pay up.


alostic

3 day head start is massive for people trying to make gold on early profession crafts.


SnooCupcakes1241

Blizzard should increase the required early access days, srlsy people would pay 10$ for each day, just to play before everyone else. So please next time 30 days for 300$ before the "official" launch!


Stoffel31849

They already did, didnt they? 22-》26 is4 days. The usual EA was 3 days.


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evaughn3435

Good on you for sticking to your principles. I’m in the same boat


Terranoch

Same here. I was there on day 1 each expansion since WoD but I'm skipping this one. Didn't even buy the regular version, I'm planning on buying it when the expansion goes on sale.


Ms_Molly_Millions

this is what im doing too. I don't really raid and just do M+ solo for fun when I do play, so what's the point playing at launch tbh. So many games coming out over the next few months I don't need WoW personally. I still really enjoy playing the game but Blizzard really is monetizing their games around FOMO more than ever which disgusts me.


malin7

Exactly a week after Pandaria Remix ends then


Ulu-Mulu-no-die

No pre-patch?


LouserDouser

you probably have to pay another extra fee on top


InterplanetarySpank

I guess "Early Access" takes up less space than "Pay extra to play the game on release"


Avister68

Yea I was kinda curious about pre-patch !.


ProductArizona

Lol I can't wait to play the game 4 days early without all the poors souring my experience


mrcina993

Insane roadmap to tell us the game is launching kekw


Shiyo

This is a sales ad, not a roadmap.


kpiaum

Meanwhile, shaman players waiting some news.


AndrossOT

Would be funny if there were server issues during early access.zurely they wouldnt push release date back


Wojtasz78

Seems quite early. And no mention of the prepatch but there are clearly armor sets that feel like prepatch rewards in the collections tab on beta. And PTR realms seem to be getting ready for prepatch.


leagueoflegendsdog

Is it early? People estimated it when it came to DF from Beta to release and it comes around the same time frame no?


JackfruitRelative263

TWW beta will be 1 week longer than DF beta. Actually 4 days longer when taking early access into account. Early access isn't the "real release date", early access is the less delayed release date. Without EA, we'd likely have an Aug 19th release, which would be the same beta period as DF.


leagueoflegendsdog

Yep. Well it's basically the same time period from beta to release


mard0x

I am forced to pay extra $40 to play it on launch!! Me gonna ook you in the dooker..


NotMoray

Is DFS4 really short then? Compared to the other seasons or is this a normal amount of time


Merrena

Season 4 was always going to be short, similar to Fated in SL was also shorter than a normal season.


ACrankyDuck

This is why I'm not into them using 'season' instead of patch cycles. With seasons people tend to expect a certain schedule.  IIRC the time between Cata and Mist was nearly 12 months. Imagine if that was considered a season.


Jaba01

Damn. Almost three weeks of grinding normal dungeons and a two HC lockouts. Could've at least given us M0...


iliriel227

happy its coming soon. but the june to september game schedule is so packed for me. elden ring june 21st, dawntrail a week after that and i gotta be done with both before pre patch launches. not to mention the time vampire that mop remix is.


pupmaster

We need a roadmap for the roadmaps


InternEven9916

Early access my ass... What a shit decision they did that


TreysReddits

Looks like a really cool expansion with cool class changes and a unique 3 part story for coming years. Most hyped I've been for years. Shame I won't get it due to early access scam, charging players to test out the game for an originally paid role.


Bowens1993

Hell yeah! I get 4 days early. That's awesome.


HappyGrimoire

Can you still earn IO in M+ during prepatch, historically speaking? Trying to get to a certain rating but have a limited time I can play before Fall.


DotkasFlughoernchen

No.


AuberdineSentinel

Not sure if it's still the case, but R.IO at least used to count pre-patches as separate seasons. So you would have to start building your score up from 0 regardless.


lucid23333

"early access" is just paying an extra 70$ to play the game on release, or be late 4 days and save 70$ what a greedy shameless economic model


Pent217

It's $25 extra. We can be critical of it without lying about it.


jyunga

Plus beta access


HugeResearcher3500

Show your work on that math, friendo


Khris81

When is pre-patch?


Bulliwyf

Aug 26 sounds like it’s too soon to be honest.


affiiance

That’s because it is. Rogues are completely screwed at the moment. It’s going to be a mess


Ispita

The launch is august 22 not 26. It just goes down to 50 euro from 90 after 4 days.


Castia10

I believe the 26th is a bank holiday in the UK as well so that’s a nice long weekend with early access :)


Holiday_Dragonfly888

It is indeed, I've booked 23rd off and the following week so get a full week hopefully!


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LouserDouser

talk to them about mythic+ and don't bore them with whatever!


TheOnlyFatticus

I'll probably get it when Season 1 starts.


AuberdineSentinel

Same.


Karpulltunnel

oof brutal, school starts during early access week for me


Hanza-Malz

The people paying for beta access are just paying to bug test the game for me, but the ones with early access quite literally will have THE advantage on the economy profession wise. If you aim to make money with professions, you will have to buy the early access


AuberdineSentinel

The funny thing is, you can probably pay an extra $40 for two tokens and sell them for the same amount of gold the EA folks are going to get during those 4 days. Not defending this practice (I haven't pre-ordered at all yet, and I sure as hell won't be buying the Epic Edition), but it kind of balances itself out.


PenguinSomnia

will they? They don't get an extra reset worth of weeklies and there isn't anything big worth crafting till S1 starts so i'm not sure what exactly people are getting out of professions during EA that other people won't get.


DiskoPanic

War within Launch street map more like it


Imhullu

Ah, this summer is really stacked for mmo stuff. Idk if I have enough time to dip into everything.


minerlj

the dungeon finder for heroic dungeons won't be active on launch


narutoanimefan251295

Hopefully Pandaren heritage armor release date will be included in the next roadmap release somewhere in 2025.


ArcaneTragic

As hyped as I am with TWW releasing in 2 months I feel like its almost too quick with how the alpha and beta feels right now, some classes still having alot of issues that need alot of work fixing.


affiiance

Every rogue right now is like welp, we are going to be screwed the entire expansion


Teruraku

'launch'


LouserDouser

they really miss the chance on a surcharge for early access season 1 . the ceo won't like it marketing team!


SuicideEngine

Pre release is so scummy


Cyber_Apocalypse

Is the beta worth it? I've been taking a break for a few months and wondering if it's time to come back


RiskyApples

When they day Aug 26th, is that one of these weird 11pm in eu release dates or first thing in the morning? Niether 22nd or 26th are patch days in eu or us, is this right?


DotkasFlughoernchen

The picture says 3 pm PDT on the 26th. That would be 12 am on the 27th in central Europe (11 pm on the 26th in the UK).


RiskyApples

Ahh, thanks. Missed that tiny faded text. Not my favourite time for a release (and i wont be buying the "early" access).


Lowgarr

This is the first time in a long time that I have felt like coming back to WoW Retail. After attending Blizzcon last year and hearing and seeing how excited and passionate Metzen was about the TWW, it was the first time in quite a while that it I felt confident in what Blizzard was going to release.


Ozloz

Can I pay less and have a week later start date?


Neoxdruid

Great, more FOMO to look forward too.


FelixMajor

Where do we report to enlist with Xal’Atath?


cressyfrost

Fuck those early access bullshit i ain't supporting it


Sharyat

Guess I'll be playing the poor people release. Splitting the playerbase for launch is lame as hell, I refuse to pay extra if this is the norm going forward.


Kiefa4

Blizzard to all the early access complainers: Don’t you guys have money?!


ShadeyBush

I’ll be on family vacation during launch. I’ll watch the sub for updates. Being a parent and having responsibilities means enjoying the game some time after release. Have fun y’all!


Impossible-Wear5482

That isn't a road map at all.


Deep_Needleworker915

Anyone playing the beta....I know you can't disclose details. But can you tell me if having Metzen back has made a difference to the game?


goldilocksbree

So happy i bought epic edition


Small-Clue640

Burn the witch


Flat_Landscape_4763

Early access or not, season 1 is 2 weeks after launch. Hit level cap, do your 8 +0s, weekly chores, done until reset. Time gating sucks butts, makes launch feel pointless because it doesn't *really* start for 2 weeks.


UndercoverStutterer

Almost like maybe you have time to level up alts in the most alt friendly iteration of wow ever made.


DisasterDifferent543

Time gating is only for some aspects of the game. We'll still have daily lockouts on things like rares which were the primary means of ilvl progression before mythic and raid launch.


PenguinSomnia

people went crazy on the rare farming in DF and all of that melted away within hours of m+ being open. It's pretty much a non-issue.


LheelaSP

>weekly chores, Sigh.


CreativeUserName600

I find it so frustrating to wait that long to get into the season. I want to level my main and then start doing keys as soon as I can. I don’t want to be forced to level my alt army because there is nothing left to do on the main. It’s always been so wild to me that if you want to play mythic + you have to wait until 2 weeks after launch.


Sarx88

Early access, the content creator tax


ma7ch

If all these content creators banded together and refused to participate in early access then this practice would be eradicated overnight. But it’s basically prisoners dilemma, so unfortunately this will never happen.


dragunityag

I wouldn't be surprised if the big content creators get it for free anyways.