How do you plan on preparing for Shadowlands now that it’s launching November 23?

We now know it’s about a month to World of Warcraft‘s next expansion, Shadowlands, barring any unforeseen complications this time around. The pre-expansion Scourge event will be on November 10, which means you’ll have about two weeks to explore that content in full before the expansion zones open up and you can begin your climb to level 60. Considering we’d expected to already be playing Shadowlands by now, how do you feel about the new dates? Were you excited to explore the pre-patch without the zombies and other undead vibes, were you feeling like we needed a Halloween touch to things before now, or are you super eager to get on to the new content and explore the afterlife?

I’m personally in a strange place where I actually kind of prefer the BFA content with the Shadowlands systems and I would have been okay waiting even longer for the new expansion, but I know most players aren’t like that, so I’m very curious how you’re all taking the news. A lot of games have been delayed recently, and it feels to me like getting a project as big and ambitious as Shadowlands out by late November is doing pretty well, all things considered. But I’ve heard people upset at the idea that Castle Nathria raiding will start the day after my birthday, and I understand why — my birthday is an important thing to celebrate and you don’t want raiding to detract from that.

But I’m curious about your opinions. Are you excited or want more time? Do you think they should have delayed raiding until after January 1, or do you figure the year of COVID is probably a good one to offer people things to do over the holiday season instead of traveling to visit people? Will you be trying to get to max level in those two weeks so you can hit the raid up first day, or will you take your time and raid it when you get to it, knowing it’s just the first tier of raiding this expansion and a lot more is coming? Share your Shadowlands release opinions with us here.