> GW streams new content to users constantly (happens automatically during play) but because I'm not paying a monthly subscription, I don't care too much about whether or not the game is "complete".

I didn't mean "incomplete" as in "the game is too short." I meant it as in "The game only sort of works and huge components of game play are not implemented or not properly implemented." I didn't play in beta, but the general consensus on the forums is that there was little difference between the final day of open beta and the retail release of the game -- though some maintain the game was more stable in beta than in early retail days, which I almost believe.

> With WoW being the first (to my knowledge) subscription-based game from Blizzard, I think they could justify a great deal of additional content without expansions. I also think that it would be a very wise business move on their part -- major new content will keep current subscribers paying and entice new subscribers away from games using the FFXI business model.

Yeah. The model with WoW was supposed to be monthly content updates. This basically didn't happen from release in November '04 until March or so. Since then, they've released two patches that could be qualified as content patches, but one of them (the PvP honor system) merely instituted what was obviously always intended to be a core game component.

It seems like Blizzard is getting back on track. The game is at a point now where there is a fair amount of new content that seems like it's close to being released, there are public test servers before patches go live (amazingly it took them four months to get around to this), and the weekly server maintenance takes only the scheduled 6 or 7 hours, not the previous 20 it had been.

I am very interested to see what they have coming down the pike. I know of another high-end dungeon in the works and new quests/gear. However, Blizzard has hinted that retail expansion packs are a strong possibility for the future (though officially none are planned at the moment). I would not be surprised that if any major new additions are made (the planned implementation of hero classes, new zones, etc.) that they'd require an expansion pack.

Stephen