BlizzCon 2016 World of Warcraft: What’s Next Panel Transcript

Patch 7.1.5

Hazzikostas: So first up, patch 7.1.5. So this is Legion’s first small patch. Maybe in the same vein as something like 6.2.3. What is a small patch like for Legion? Well a couple things.

So this type of patch (like 6.2.3 did) revolve around a lot of new systems, new rewards to strive for, and what we call internally “evergreen” content. That is to say content that isn’t specifically tied to one moment in the story, or one particular zone, or tier of gear; but they can actually be relevant throughout the entire future of World of Warcraft’s history (and you know lifespan going forward), and what it also means is that it lets us prioritize getting that content into your hands.

Now we’re all too infamous for the “Soon™,” and for holding content until it’s ready, for holding patches back, or expansions back until they’re ready; and that’s not something we want to compromise on, but we make this type of patch… one of the most important things about it is “when” it gets to you, because for a live game like this to some extent quantity is quality.

Making you wait isn’t fair. It’s not right, and so when we build this type of patch, we want to make sure that the individual features (the pieces that go into it) can actually be separated out if they need to be. So let’s say there are four things that we want to put in this patch, and when it comes down to it, three of them are in great shape, they’re good to go. The fourth we feel needs a little bit of work.

Now, in a traditional huge patch… like… if that thing that needs some work is the main raid zone of the patch, well the patch isn’t going out; but for a patch like this we can decide: “OK, let’s take that four thing, break it off. We’ll put it in a 7.5, or something else down the line, and get the three things that are awesome into your hands ASAP.”

Timewalking

So that is our philosophy when we approach this type of patch, and it’s a bit different from how we’ve often done things. So let’s begin on actual details. First off, Timewalking. So Timewalking, introduced in Warlords of Draenor, It’s been all some kind of updating for the old dungeons giving us a chance to scale down, revisit familiar places, and get rewards that are relevant to us at Max Level.

Time marches on, and now Mists of Pandaria kind of comes into the fold. I think philosophically we feel like Timewalking is probably only ever going to go to the current expansion minus two. Like Warlords probably feels a bit too familiar right now. I don’t know that anyone’s hankering to jump back into Warlords of Draenor dungeons today. I mean… shocking right?, but yes, still Mists of Pandaria is probably where it stops for now.

We are really excited to have all six original dungeons from Msts of Pandaria updated for Timewalking as part of the event rotation. Of course, with a vendor and new toys, and items, and cosmetic things to chase after associated with that particular expansion. So that is coming in 7.1.5. Pretty standard. This is a perfect example of what we talk about when I say evergreen content. This could really go in any patch if it needed to; but 7.1.5 is where it’s going to land.

Next: Brawler’s Guild

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