Discussion: Is it okay for an MMO expansion's launch to be buggy?

Discussion: Is it okay for an MMO expansion’s launch to be buggy? | PC Gamer Skip to main content Open menu Close main menu PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES US Edition UK US Canada Australia Subscribe Sign in View Profile Sign out Search Search PC Gamer Games Hardware News Reviews Guides Video Forum More PC Gaming Show PC Gamer Clips Software Codes Coupons Movies & TV Magazine Newsletter Affiliate links Meet the team Community guidelines About PC Gamer PC Gamer Magazine SubscriptionWhy subscribe?Subscribe to the world’s #1 PC gaming magTry a single issue or save on a subscriptionIssues delivered straight to your door or device From$1Subscribe now Don’t miss these MMO World of Warcraft: Midnight’s class balancing is steering the MMO headfirst into a mistake that’s been haunting FF14 for years World of Warcraft World of Warcraft: Midnight review: A brilliantly strong start with a few dents to buff out. RPG Crimson Desert is great because it’s a total mess, not in spite of it, and I hope Pearl Abyss doesn’t change too much RPG Players are starting to click with Crimson Desert as it climbs up to Very Positive on Steam and reaches 3 million sales—but Pearl Abyss promises more improvements Action Crimson Desert launches to 239,000 players on Steam but ‘Mixed’ reviews, and it’s mostly because of how dense and cryptic the whole thing is World of Warcraft Pro World of Warcraft player disconnects mid-fight because he forgot to renew his subscription before Midnight’s world first race: ‘I actually bought a WoW token, I forgot to use it’ MMO The best MMOs on PC RPG Diablo 4 game director believes it’s ‘normal’ for most action RPGs to undergo major reworks: ‘Friction points that we could never imagine suddenly rear their heads over the course of 10,000 hours’ MMO Project: Gorgon has recaptured the old-school MMO magic I thought was dead and gone by letting me ask a pig about its mother so hard it dies World of Warcraft WoW’s recent revamp of Silvermoon for Midnight is so good, I’m starting to wonder if the MMO’s model of a ‘new exciting continent every 2-3 years’ was ever the right way World of Warcraft WoW’s classes were pruned for Midnight because many were ‘built in a world’ where its devs assumed they’d be using addons World of Warcraft Playing World of Warcraft with a controller might become my preferred playstyle thanks to this excellent gamepad-friendly addon that’s letting me enjoy Azeroth from my couch World of Warcraft WoW: Midnight’s new Prey mechanic is the coolest system the MMO’s added in a while, but it needs to be meaner—even on lower difficulties RPG Crimson Desert is the most hyped game I’ve seen in a minute RPG After 2 years in early access, Greedfall: The Dying World still feels unfinished PopularSpring SaleClipsCrimson DesertMarathonBest PC gearQuizzes Games MMO Discussion: Is it okay for an MMO expansion’s launch to be buggy? Features By Harvey Randall published 28 March 2026 How many bugs is too many? When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Blizzard) Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter PC Gamer The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? 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Every other week, I’ll be sharing my thoughts on the genre, interviewing fellow MMO-heads like me, taking a deep-dive into mechanics we’ve all taken for granted, and, occasionally, bringing in guest writers to talk about their MMO of choice.After finishing the great, herculean labour that is attempting to review a World of Warcraft expansion, one thing’s been sitting around in my dome—in my estimation, Midnight’s an excellent time that’s been let down by some rough bugs and messy integrations.These are things I mention, but overall I’ve taken them on the chin. And that’s mostly because I’ve been playing MMOs for the better half of my life, at this point. I’ve seen multiple expansion launches, and absolutely none of them have been clean-cut—the terrible queues of Endwalker still haunt me.Whether it’s server issues or bugs, very few MMO expansions set sail without something going terribly wrong, because these are monstrously complicated, long-lived games. I don’t envy any developer or QA tester whose job it is to try and stamp out bugs in a game with over two decades of design intricacies underpinning it.Article continues below You may like Question time: How many of you actually care about going fast in an MMO dungeon? World of Warcraft: Midnight’s class balancing is steering the MMO headfirst into a mistake that’s been haunting FF14 for years WoW’s recent revamp of Silvermoon for Midnight is so good, I’m starting to wonder if the MMO’s model of a ‘new exciting continent every 2-3 years’ was ever the right way But despite my sympathies, I also get why people sharpen their pitchforks over this stuff, especially given that many MMOs as