Blizzard have announced that World of Warcraft's Firelands raid will not feature in patch 4.1. The previously announced content will now be part of update 4.2.
Speaking to Eurogamer at GDC, lead producer J. Allen Brack said "We feel like the player base isn't really ready for the next raid yet."
Read on for the details.
Blizzard are planning on releasing smaller updates more regularly, rather than larger ones at longer intervals. According to Brack, patch 4.1 will now feature "a dungeon revamp, as opposed to an entirely new tier of content with an entirely new raid.
"I'm sure there'll be some grousing about the 4.1 decision, and if it ends up being the wrong decision, then we won't do it again, right? That's one of the nice things. We'll learn from this and make the right decision in 4.2" he continued.
"We've started to put a build up on the PTR [Public Test Realm] so that players can take a look at it. Usually we're on the PTR for six to eight-ish weeks, plus or minus four weeks I would say. So that's probably where we are in terms of the development of 4.1."
After the interview, Blizzard issued the following statement to Eurogamer regarding the patch.
"Patch 4.1 provides our players with access to the completely redesigned Zul'Aman and Zul'Gurub five-player dungeons, where they'll be able to experience challenging encounters featuring all-new boss mechanics, obtain updated epic-level loot, and possibly acquire rare mounts.
"One of our long-standing development goals is to release regular content updates for the community to enjoy. These updates are generally focused on introducing specific content, like a new raid or new gameplay features.
"Our plan is to package these features into smaller content updates and to release them as soon as possible, rather than wait and release larger updates more infrequently.
"The previously announced Firelands raid will be part of content update 4.2 which should come soon after 4.1.
"Our flexible approach to content updates allows us to release content like Zul'Aman and Zul'Gurub so that players will have new challenges to overcome (and loot to collect) until we're ready to unleash the Firelands.
"Our previous experience with content updates informed this decision. We feel like Call of the Crusade was released while raiders were still busy with Ulduar, which stamped out Ulduar raiding. We don't feel that Cataclysm needs a new raid tier just yet.
"Releasing an epic raid dungeon before its time would, in the words of Ragnaros himself, be 'too soon!'"
(via Eurogamer )
