It's been a whole 20 days since we last speculated on the release date of Burning Crusade, but since then we've gotten lots of new looks at exactly what Blizzard is planning to put in the first expansion: a new PVP system, a 25-player limit on new instances, lots of flying mounts, new pets for hunters, ten new levels of talent skills for all, a whole new profession (with lots of buffs and customization), and a new continent that's a quarter the size of the game right now. That's a lot of stuff.

In fact, is it too much stuff for Blizzard to fit in before their expected fourth quarter release date? Most retail outlets still have the date at or around November 28th, but Blue hasn't gotten any more specific than Q4 2006, and heck, the beta test hasn't even been announced yet. With only 19 weeks left in the year, Kadulous on Feathermoon doesn't think Blizzard is going to make it, and the timid answers by Neth in the thread don't raise our hopes too much. Even considering just a month of beta (and that's cutting it extremely short as it is), that doesn't seem to leave Blizzard time to print the CDs, much less polish up the game to their standards.

What do you think? Will Blizzard get Burning Crusade wrapped up and under pine trees by the holidays? Or will it be Christmas in July 2007 before anyone has the chance to pay to step into Outland?