You now need an SSD to play World of Warcraft's latest expansion - Shadowlands

World of Warcraft's system requirements have gone through some major changes. SSD storage is now a minimum requirement.

[on_line_forever]

This is great news I hope all the games in the future use SSD storage in minimum requirement and use 8Gb vram in minimum requirement for gpu also

[Magatsuhi]

It's almost as if the ps5 is influencing game development. 😏

[lonewolf10]

That would be both consoles if any influence at all (granted Sony's offering is quicker) as they have very fast drives/buses.

[Z501]

Nothing has been shown running on the XSX. So, how are "both consoles" influencing game development? In the context of ssd.
What articles, interviews have you seen?

[Magatsuhi]

Not true, xsx is cross Gen so it still caters to a console with HDD. Ps5 having exclusive content with ssd in mind only serves to influence others to take advantage of it aswell.

[lonewolf10]

@Z501

Going by that logic how could PS5 influence PC or is R&C coming to PC the only game shown so far that would require a blazing fast SSD? Regardless of any games being being shown running on the Series X it still has a fast SSD and throughput, fact.

[MadLad]

They have no plans on bringing WoW to console, and SSD has been fairly standard for PC for a long time. At least of OS installation.

But there's honestly no connection between Sony having a proprietary SSD, and Blizzard necessitating SSD for their PC only title.

[Magatsuhi]

I disagree, ssd has been around on pc for a long time and it's only now that they're deciding to make ssd exclusive content after a console that is light years behind does it. They saw the advantage it gives and its influencing other devs to do it.

[Rhythmattic]

"after a console that is light years behind does it."
Talk about the Most-Tard Race exaggeration .....

Legacy architecture says look into the light.

[Rude-ro]

It is not “technically”... because nvidia and amd etc were already moving this way just slow in incorporating per getting other facets into mainstream.
Not knocking what Sony is doing and has planned... just that there are several heading in the direction

[Profchaos]

I can't believe this is the same game I played by in 2005 with a 64mb graphics card, 512mb of ram, 800mhz CPU and a dial up connection.

[phoenixwing]

well not to harm your utter amazement but when a game gets as popular as WOW blizzard are keen to keep the gravy train going for as long as possible

[SullysCigar]

Why? Last gen won't hold back this gen. Phil said...so must be true??

[Kaedro]

You're right. But unfortunately Craigs cannot be reasoned with.

[xenz]

Great :) I’m all set. Can’t wait!!

[Charal]

Once again, PC players must thanks console market to push things forward.
Sure SSD are part of PC for a long time now, but was just used as an extra for better load times.

Now that next gen games will be able use SSD as a core asset of game structure, i am sure PC minimum requirements will quickly moved to mandatory SSD.

That’s a win/win situation in my opinion, the general gaming community will benefit from it.

[Thunder_G0d_Bane]

No pc players don’t need to thank consoles for holding back tech all these years. Console is just catching up and we should have been on ssd as a standard from long ago. The same with 60fps but consoles keep bringing games down to 30fps.

So one day when 60fps is the standard you’re gonna say pc should thank consoles for it? Lool don’t make me laugh.

Being charged to play your games online is a console standard and we don’t want that to be a standard on pc either. Backwards compatibility not being standard is also an issue that consoles have which pc makes a standard.

[BehindTheRows]

Yeeeppp. Well said!

[KRUSSIDULL]

Its also funny because World of Warcraft isn't even on console so PC gamers should thank consoles for making SSD standard? SSD have basically been in most gamers PC for years but games never required them because of games being multi-platform for consoles...

[BehindTheRows]

@KRUSSIDULL

Also well said. SSDs will be a standard one day, but it will be because of the PC.

[CantThinkOfAUsername]

Yup. I am pretty sure the average PC gamer who buys a $250 GPU would have purchased a $100 240GB SSD instead of a $60 1TB HDD.

SSDs only came within reasonable price in late 2017. Consoles aren't holding anything back. If anything, they give PC hardware more value for the money.

[Charal]

I completely disagree.
PC brute force as always been poorly used as long as console market did not include as specific tech.
You are confusing first release of a tech with pertinent usage of it.

Their is many examples:
- vibration equipped joypad
- Real multithreaded CPU game engines have took off thanks to console including Multicore CPU
- Advance AA solution like TAA have started to be broadly used thanks to console
- Image reconstruction and dynamic resolution engines, thanks to console.
- DX12 is console oriented driver strategy ported to PC
- Now real SSD usage will also by thanks to console market

PC market always answer with dumb brute power to a problem, but due to its limitations clever Solitions always comes from console market.

This is not an attack to pc gamer, i am mainly a pc gamer myself. But i think we must objectively recognized that mass gaming thanks to consoles is a huge advantage for all the gaming community.

[Bladesfist]

@Charal Pretty sure sticks that vibrate is thanks to the sex toy industry.

[Profchaos]

Agree with everything but being charged to play your games I was paying $15 Australian per month to play wow from 2005 to 2007 where I took a break for a year and picked it back up for another two.

[Dwarrior]

You sound a little insecure. Pretty defensive too. Must be a kid.

Who cares who got what first? We all win when tech moves forward.

[ChiefofLoliPolice]

hell cant argue with that.

[MadLad]

"Once again, PC players must thanks console market to push things forward"

Funniest thing I read all day.

Oh yes, thank you people who only want to spend a few hundred bucks every decade or so on tech for pushing the tech industry forward.

[Charal]

But that exactly the case, despite the arrogance of your comment.

PC gamers like us spending thousands of dollars on pc parts are lucky peoples with to much money. Their is no shame to recognize it, and no need to disrespect people with less financial resources that go the console way.

A lot of people here does not make any difference between niche and mass markets.

This is equivalent to formula one and day to day cars.
Sure some technical breakthroughs comes for Fomula one, but mass market industrialization is the main reason we now have tech like twin scroll variable geometry turbos in cars that cost 20k bucks and run for 100k miles with no issue.

But anyway, the discussion is dead on arrival, that’s the first time confront directly with the « PC master race » mindset on N4G: you are clearly out of any common sense and worst that any console fanboy.

Funny thing you don’t even have a clue of the market you are in, but seems like bragging about your 3k machine is your ultimate life goal, so please continue to enjoy it.

[MadLad]

@charal

I never called console players "poor" but, please, claim that I did. Put a bunch of words in my mouth, spin a narrative based on those words, and then basically call me an a-hole for saying them.

Please, continue claiming I'm the "PC master race" while I talk about how much I use and enjoy my Pro all the time, and always take my switch when out camping and traveling.

If you can explain you me how I "have no clue" of the industry I'm in, it's appreciated. Also,If you could point me towards where I spoke of my "3k" machine and how it's my "ultimate life goal", that would be swell.

*rereads your entire comment*
*rereads my response*

Hmmm. It's almost like everything you said was complete BS.

[Charal]

@TheRealTedCruz

Ok then, let’s play your game.

« Oh yes, thank you people who only want to spend a few hundred bucks every decade or so on tech for pushing the tech industry forward »

Please explain me what you mean by that phrase: do you really thanks them to push the industry forward, or is it sarcastic?
If sarcastic, why people « who only want to spend a few hundred bucks every decade» does not push the industry?
That’s your own words, you talk about console gamers as people « who only want to spend a few hundred bucks every decade».

« Once again, PC players must thanks console market to push things forward"

Funniest thing I read all day.» 

Please give me arguments to back up this phrase. On my side I think my point is clear: I think global tech adoption to mass market is thanks to console market.
I have given in previous post some technical point were my personal analysis bring me to my statement.

« I’m right cause you’re not » or « I known it cause I am a game market specialist » without any specific technical points to back up your position is not what I call argue.

That does not mean that what I say is right, I am just sharing my position and some elements that make me build it. Please do the same.

English is not my mother tongue indeed, I don’t see what it brings to the discussion but anyway sorry for any syntax mistakes in my comments.

[Sirk7x]

Unless WoW is finally getting a console port, it has nothing to do with consoles lol. It's been a PC exclusive for 16 years now about. More so, I'd say that technology has finally gotten cheap enough for mass market, and that's why we're seeing it in the upcoming consoles now.

[Charal]

@TheRealTedCruz

Oh yes, the usual “re-read” argument.
That’s convenience when sneaking a message to use it.

Your comment was disrespectful for what it implied, that people that only want to spend a few hundred every 10 years should know their place and don’t pretend to participate to the industry development.

And please spare me the enumeration of your possessions and habits to smoke screen your comment, i does not interest me a bit.

No argument to bring to the conversation, call bullshit everything you disagree, agressive... Really the profile I like to follow on this site, always a good source of fun.

[MadLad]

I responded to your response on a specific comment, being I couldn't directly reply, which is common practice via the system they have in place on here as to make it easy for other readers to keep up with the conversation, and not have to read through a bunch of comments to find which one they're actually responding to. Call it "sneaking" though.
It didn't take you long to fund my oh-so secretive response to you.

Judging by your posts, English isn't your first language, but it's hard when you're even taking my sarcasm literally. I have no idea what the "reread argument is", how it's often used, apparently, or how it conveniently coincides with sneaking messages.

All that said, we're right back to just saying I'm disrespectful to people, based on your own interpretation of my post - of which you added a whole bunch of elements I never even closely stated. You misinterpreted my words, put in a whole bunch of your own, and then held me accountable for it.

I'm asking you to stop. Every time I post on this topic, you find a way to try to paint me in a bad light, based on your own ideas. Even responding to you made me "sneaky".

If anything, perhaps try to respond to some of my points/questions had within my "sneaky" post, That would at least be productive.

[rye74]

This has to be missprint. There is no way WoW will require SSD,

[MadLad]

I'm not exactly understanding the need for it either.

[LucasRuinedChildhood]

SSDs will become an industry standard in the next year or so because we are at a tipping point. SSDs will be standard for consoles which are the lowest common denominator, and a high percentage of PC players already have SSDs. Blizzard would also have data on their own player bases.

It doesn't matter that WoW isn't on consoles either. Blizzard know that SSDs will generally be one of the lowest system requirements, and that the rest of the industry will follow suit.

People are letting their egos and fanboyism get in the way of common sense. It isn't about giving "credit" to consoles (one of the factors) either. It's about recognising an obvious reality of games development. If you think that SSDs suddenly becoming a standard for tens of millions of people isn't a factor ... you need to think a bit harder

[anast]

I finally went SSD just a few months ago. I had the feeling buy another HDD would be a bad move.

[Skuletor]

So it begins...

[Bismarn]

No, you need a time machine to go back to 2008.

[Germaximus]

That is horrible.

[XxINFERNUSxX]

I had my first SSD in 2012, and bought so many after that. I mean come on, mechanical hard drives are just good for holding movies, music, tv shows, pictures, games etc. (I have torrented terabytes of all I just typed :D ) But only to store the games not to run them off. Still surprised a 16yr old game, will be in Nov. needs this now. I play Guild Wars 2 been there since 1st beta next expansion is next yr if it requires an SSD I'm good and I hope it does. Need to get off old tech and push new tech forward.

[ChiefofLoliPolice]

Well just don't let one fail on ya. Good luck trying to recover data on those SSDs. I play games just fine on a HDD. However though I hope for some gaming breakthroughs with SSD requirements.

[QuePasa87]

In 2020 if you don't have an SSD you're doing it wrong