World of Warcraft – What to Expect in 2020

In ten days or so, World of Warcraft will be getting its big Visions of N’Zoth content update, and afterwards we’ll have a few months to prepare ourselves for the release of the game’s upcoming Shadowlands expansion. With that in mind, you may want to check out this PC Gamer article that makes an educated guess as to the trajectory Blizzard’s flagship MMORPG will take during 2020. Here’s an excerpt:

Though internet commenters will have you think Battle for Azeroth is a hot pile of garbage, the truth is that Warcraft’s contentious current expansion has been getting noticeably better with each major update. In patch 8.2 Rise of Azshara, for example, Blizzard finally overhauled the much-despised Azerite Armor and Heart of Azeroth system, turning the Heart of Azeroth into a piece of equipment that could be customized with special essences found from a variety of places.

Those steady improvements will likely carry into update 8.3, Visions of N’Zoth, but I don’t think it’s going to change people’s opinions on Battle for Azeroth as a whole. Due out on January 14, Visions of N’Zoth introduces a ton of new features, including a new raid, Old God assaults on two new zones, and a new mode called Horrific Visions that’s somewhat inspired by Legion’s ultra-difficult Mage Tower challenge. It’ll also put a final wrap on Battle for Azeroth’s story and set the stage for Shadowlands.

Given just how turbulent Battle for Azeroth has been so far, though, I don’t think Visions of N’Zoth will do much to improve anyone’s feelings on this expansion. Though a final confrontation against the only living Old God is exciting, Battle for Azeroth’s story has been convoluted and hamfisted in a way that makes it hard to care about what’s happening—and a smattering of new progression systems won’t change that.

In the end, I’m expecting Visions of N’Zoth to feel more like necessary filler to chew on while we wait for Shadowlands’ summer release. Like the current Rise of Azshara update, that’ll probably mean lots of grinding for the sake of grinding—but with a new expansion just around the corner is it even worth it if all that progress will be thrown out in a few months?