GOOD NEWS! Jocelyn is our new permanent co-host and we are pretty stoked about it! Today we do a deep dive topic on why we keep buying the same games over and over when they get enhanced, remastered, or resurrected. And why is Mass Effect Legendary a good example, and Warcraft III Reforged such a terrible example. Your thoughts too, plus your emails!

Joined by Jocelyn for a deep dive into the world of Elder Scrolls Online. Is it a game you should play? What kind of player does it attract? We dig down and find out! Your emails too!

We have one more in us for this mess, and then the real work begins on trying to do our part to make the world a better place. Garrett Scott and Patrick on this one. Yeah, we know, more dude talk. But for all the shows we've done in the last week about this, this one needed to happen for the main show crew.

Scott and his guest Jules Scott sit down and have a discussion about more of this Blizz fallout, but more specifically, the need for female voices in the discussion, and how even our best intentions are sometimes just a little off target. We hope you’ll listen and be part of the discussion.

The state of CA is suing Blizzard and Activision and for good reason. Join Scott and guest host Jon as they help make sense of all of it. Plus, our deep look into why Final Fantasy 14 seems to be having such a moment right now in the hearts of MMO players. Your emails and more!

WoW on a handheld? The Steam Deck says, SURE! The big (possibly not real) WoW internal memo leak and what it means, and what we can learn about it. FF14 is getting its own cook book. The Lich King is back with his own board game. Our big discussion this week: Amazon Studios upcoming MMO, "New World". What it is, what we want it to be, what we know, and what we can expect from it. Joined today with guest-host Alex! Emails and more!

Things are changing, and we are here to tell you what that means. What is a single player game when you convert it to a service game? AC wants to find out. Is telling your fans to head over to a competing MMP a revolt, or something else? Also, we go deep on the upcoming D2 Resurrection release, and why we are coming around fast to what they are selling. Also, how do NDA's and non-competes work these days at game devs? Tune in and find out!

A little up top talk about how seeing next gen game environments makes us want WoW to go there. A few E3 thoughts. The WoW team gets a new animated individual. You want Scott's blanket. We have a date for 9.1, and we blow out the discussion about what it will take to get you back into the game at this stage. How things scale in dungeons and more!

Couple interesting stories up top about Overwatch going cross-platform, but what that change in Battlenet means to everyone else playing blizzard games. Then our big topic this week: Is Activision really the problem? We discuss the history of the Act/Blizz venture, what the time since looks like when looking back, and what they might do in future to fix some of things players are concerned about. And some fun discussion about where Warcraft might go when it's not WoW anymore.

The Instance PSA 6-4-2021

There is no Blizzcon in 2021. What might they do? We discuss that. Also, More ex-Blizzard news from Frost Giant. Looks like they have Mike looking over their shoulder as well. Zovaal and why he got kicked out of the good graces of his old pals, and now calls The Maw his home. IGN has a good breakdown about the changes at Blizzard. Why is it easier to come back to some old games and not others? That's our big topic today for you Classic heads. Emails and more!

More ex-blizzard people are starting cool new studios! What does Lightfordge do? We talk about it. BC classic character cloning got cheaper today. Run something with an ARM64 chip? WoW will now run on it. Torghast might let you level one day. Our Main Quest today is all about the art and aesthetic of The Burning Crusade, and how it holds up today ahead of the Classic launch. Your emails and more!

Activision and Blizzard had some revealing things to say at the earnings call last week. We break it down. We all get to return to Outland on June 1st. Some of you will pay another $60 to do it. Emails and more!

The WoW charity worked out great and now you all get to wear a Sloth on your back. Ready to read Warcraft Sylvanas this fall. PTR 9.1 has been interesting. 19 years at Blizzard and that's a wrap for Jeff Kaplan. Blizzard now, vs Blizzard then. Emails about WoW 2 and more!

It's Question and Answer day here at the instance, where we answer some of your burning questions with answers that would make the Lich King proud. Enjoy!

You like to buy game time? Well, you just lost a couple options and we'll discuss why. Frost Giant could bring RTS's back to your life in a big way. TBC Classic is now in beta, and you can get to 66 if you wanna! We've had some time in there and have some thoughts. Why the leveling experience in Shadowlands is more of a party than a game, and more!

Scott and Chris have a sit-down and chat up up about his new big project, plus lots of great insights into development of this kind of project vs something like a major game release at Blizzard. Here’s a bit more about the project. Auroboros: Coils of the Serpent is a 5E campaign setting by Chris Metzen and Warchief Gaming. The first release in this universe, Worldbook: Lawbrand, is based on the roleplaying campaign that Chris ran with his childhood friends in the eighties and nineties, ...

We talk about all there is to know about 9.0.5, which is not a lot turns out. But we have a real Q&A party and answer all your burning questions. Oh, and what TBC bosses do YOU remember?

Lots to cover this week, including the chance that Diablo Immortal might be emulatable. Oh and controller support might not work. 30 days of free Heroes means you should be playing some! Then we hit our big talk this week, all about Patch 9.01 and all the changes and tweaks therein! Your emails and more!

People are not happy about character customizations stopping for the foreseeable future. Suddenly Scott loves Torghast again. How your boost will work in Classic TBC. What the confirmation of a Mobile Warcraft Project likely means. We break down all the wow stuff by the numbers and more today on The Instance!

The Instance: BlizzConline 2021 Co-Coverage with Scott, Garrett, Kyle and Joce!

Valor points are back, and we have the skinny on how those are going to work! Some of you are not gonna be happy about it either. Wanna get your Battlenet launcher to 'Crash'? Well, you sorta can for $40. We have all the details we know about the Blizzconline schedule next week, and break it down for you. We make a few bets while we're at it! We play a game of 'Know Your Cards', and answer your emails!

Forth Quarter results for Blizz are in, and we break down the numbers a bit and what it means for WoW this year. Some weird language in their about getting WoW on "more devices and platforms". Increased Anima rewards in Raids and Dungeons coming next Tuesday! We dig deep into what BlizzConline looks like from this view, and what we expect to happen and a few things we'd love to see from their first online only Blizzcon event. Emails about Classic TBC and more!

We dig into the Vicarious Visions story a bit and what Blizz might be doing with them. How people are running 8 levels of Torghast in 5 minutes. And a BIG discussion of Blizzconline and the possibility of BC happening that weekend in Classic.

We get into some Classic to start things off with the Scarab event, and then to that Battlenet update that most of us had but didn't know about it till recently. The latest DPS numbers are in and things look grim for hunters. When is the right time to put on your PVP pants? Taking Torghast abilities into the maw and more!