Why won't blizzard finish Azeroth?

#0 - June 19, 2009, 9:41 p.m.

According to Blizzard, there are MILLIONS of active subscribers paying $15 every single month to play this game. That's a LOT of money... 8 or 9 figures every MONTH that they're earning. They're spending a lot of time developing new raids and making upgrades to the gameplay, but what about Azeroth? I know there's a lot of unfinished areas as well as areas that are just for show (like the airstrip, not sure which one that is) and the mountains and a lot of the terrain would have to be redesigned in a lot of areas, but do they NOT have the money?

I want to fly in Azeroth and I know I'm not alone. It seems unlikely that it would cost them any more money to optimize Azeroth for flying than it would to develop Ulduar raids or the Argent Tournament. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE these additions to the game, I'm simply saying I would enjoy the game a lot more if there were an option to fly in Azeroth. It's not impossible, this I know.

Regards,
Hypersonic

Zarhym

#8 - June 19, 2009, 9:50 p.m.

With any design decision we make, time is ultimately the limiting factor... not money. One's development team can only be so big before it becomes bloated, unfocused, or immobile. We have a great team of employees working to develop World of Warcraft, and there's a good sense of community within the team even as big as it is.

Flying in Azeroth would be pretty awesome. There are almost limitless amounts of features we'd like to add to the game, and flying in the old world is certainly one of them. It all comes down to prioritizing as best as possible to keep the game appealing to as broad a population as possible. We try to keep all sub-communities and play styles in mind whenever working on content, and we're always looking at the big picture. Features being added in the next patch are features that were planned and in production months ago, just as features coming further down the road are in development right now.

Azeroth will never be "finished" in the sense that we want the world to continue to evolve and feel alive, so the player gets the feeling that he or she is a part of the continuing Warcraft storyline. :)