Can This Sugar Kick Really Last Until November?

Something's been going on for a while in the Blogosphere, but it wasn't until last week that it became clearly viewable: the small, but distinct signs that we've hit the next phase in this expansion. We're approaching the No man's land - the time when you're done with the current content, but there's nothing new incoming anytime soon.


Decrease of Energy Level
There's been a distinct decrease of energy and activity in the community. Our dearest hunter blogger Pike is leaving. Not because she's done with the game - she still assures that she's as hooked as ever - it's just that real life is calling her. Still the effect is the same. It's sad to see the veterans go.

Others are not quitting entirely, but are openly talking about cutting down their time spent on WoW radically. Nibuca wants to spend more time on other hobbies, Mike Schramm is going into an hibernation period, Brigwyn is having doubts about his future blogging and Dechion is most of all longing for Cataclysm. To be honest this WoW lethargy debuff seems to have effected more or less everyone, at least in the part of the Blogosphere where I dwell. Last week it was as if people had run out of things to talk about. The blog roll showed more and more blogs not updating for days or several weeks. And once they update, the bloggers are rather talking about other games such as Star Trek and Starcraft 2, which still have some novelty aura around them, than about WoW. It's as if the spark is gone now that the initial enthusiasm for random dailies have worn off, and the holiday events are more or less the same procedure as last year.

Candy to cranky children

However, just as I was about to write a post complaining about the lack of spirit, something happened that cheered us up radically. Blizzard seems to have felt the same vibes as I did, and quickly tossed out some news about incoming patches, and especially about the next raid dungeon - Ruby Sanctum . They're tossing a piece of meat to the barking dogs. We don't have any clear schedule for it, but the very knowledge that it will come is enough to make us excited.

Actually it reminds me a bit of what happens if you give candy to cranky children. Their moods will instantly raise to a distinctly higher level. And that's nice of course. The only problem is that it's far from sustainable. The jump-up will inevitably be followed by an equally sudden and deed fall-down, as soon as the effects from the sugar kick has worn off. The cranky child will be back - and this time he or she is in even worse shape than before.

And I'm afraid that this decrease of atmosphere will come far sooner than we would like. Remember Onyxia? It didn't take many goes before we decided that we were done with her again No one's doing her, no one's talking about it. I fear Ruby Sanctum will be about the same, with the difference that there is a hardmode available.

What to do until November?
Back in October Elinia, my former bartender, did a prediction that Cataclysm would be released on February 1 2010. He was dead wrong of course. I guess it was an effect of wishful thinking. Being a non-raider he was running out of content way earlier than a raider like me.

Long after it stood clear that the prophecy was wrong, readers of the PPI have kept discussing this issue in the comments to that post. It's been suggested that it won't be launched until November. And even though I'm an normally an optimist I wouldn't be surprised if that turned out to be right. It makes sense to release a game with Christmas sales not too far away. At least it makes more sense than if they'd try to sell Cataclysm in August/September, when there's still summer temperature and everyone except for the most dedicated enthusiasts would rather spend time outdoors than powerlevelling their toon to 85.

I can understand the reasons for Blizzard not to rush the expansion. It's not only about timing to maximize the sales; they've got a reputation for high quality to care about. So far the playerbase has so far been very forgiving about the slow pacing of content, as long as they keep up their standards. This time around the community as well as the expectations are bigger than ever. Perfection takes time to execute.

However, I can't help feeling slightly worried about the long wait. Let's say we get this new raid instance in April. I don't think that's a rather realistic guess. And let's say that it keeps us occupied for a month or two, as a complement to ICC to give us more variety in our weekly raiding.

What will happen next? It's just like with my rogue when she was combat specced - I pushed that adrenaline rush button and it really improved the game play for a while, but it only lasted ever so long, and when it was gone it was gone and it felt kind of empty.

There's an evident risk that players - among them probably some bloggers - will go on a hiatus, at least until the 4.0 pre-patch of Cataclysm, which we could expect a month before it will be launched. I don't blame them, but I'll miss them.

The long wait for Cataclysm
In my mind I'm already preparing for a very, very long wait for Cataclysm. I can't rely on the community buzz or an abundance of new extra content to keep up my energy level and enthusiasm for the game. If I want to play all the way into the expansion, I have to find out the fun stuff, the lust, the sparkles, the motivation by myself - especially when we've reached the point when we've downed Lich King and done the hardmodes that are within our grasp.

So what to do? Well, I can always go back to my things-I-want-to-do-before-I'm done-with-WoW-list. It's actually really good. Yesterday afternoon I rolled a troll shaman, and to my own amazement I had a ton of fun just casually doing the quests in the starting area. I pondered over how to use totems - without looking at advice on EJ and other places, just trying to figure it out for myself. I died quite a few times and I haunted the lands in the form of a ghost, with a smile on my face. I got lost in the very first cave, just as I did with Larísa so long ago in Don Morogh. I admired my discrete tusks and I enjoyed the game music in the troll villages, suddenly falling in love with this race, just out of the blue.

It's new content. A LOT of new content, just waiting for me to come and devour it. I don't know how long this sugar kick will last me, but it definitely looks promising.

What about you? Do you think you can keep up your passion for WoW if Cataclysm won't come until November?