Blizzard Entertainment Inc has announced that it plans on revealing the next expansion to World of Warcraft at next month’s Gamescom convention in Germany, but with the previous expansion, Warlords of Draenor, less than nine months old and only on its second content patch, is it too soon for the MMO behemoth to be moving on?

According to the game’s fans, the answer is both yes and no. Those in the “too soon” camp point to the sparse content in Warlords, saying that Blizzard should focus on making the current expansion better before moving on to the next one.

Usually when WoW players complain about lack of content, what they really mean is lack of endgame content, specifically raids. In many MMOs, WoW included, the leveling process is only a precursor to the real game, which starts once you reach max level (level 100 in Warlords’ case). When a new raid is first introduced, it can be weeks before most players are able to make their way through the content, but as time goes on, nearly everyone will have seen it all and be ready for something new.

So far, Warlords has only received two content patches that introduce new content for a total of three raids.

World of Garrisoncraft

The fans on the other side of the fence who are ready for a new expansion also point to the sparse content in Warlords, but they would rather have Blizzard cut its losses and get on with something new. Many players have taken to calling the current expansion “World of Garrisoncraft” due to the game’s heavy focus on garrisons, a form of player housing introduced with Warlords.

“At first, it seemed like a cool idea,” one Reddit user wrote. “You were a commander, you had your own base, you had your own followers, everything was awesome! But in reality it was literally a Facebook game – click on followers to send them on missions to get free stuff. It was just bland and boring as f—k. Garrisons also made people just afk in them, so other Draenor zones were half-dead.”

In the past, Blizzard has released a new expansion roughly every two years, and they traditionally arrive less than a year after being announced. Following that timeline, there is a good chance that the next expansion could release in Summer 2016. It is no coincidence that is the same time that the Warcraft film by Legendary Pictures will also be releasing in theaters.

Screenshot by Eric David | SiliconANGLE