When picking an expansion theme, why does Blizzard ignore the themes people want?

[aerosyne]

First, there is no filler content in World of Warcraft because the content exists in the main story line. Filler is stuff like the G-8 arc from One Piece; the content exists within a single universe and isn't a part of the universe that the main story is in. On top of that, none of the material is ever referenced in the main story, meaning its sole purpose of existing is to buy the writer of the source material enough time to come up with new material for the adaptation studio to adapt. Filler content is not content in between major story lines, it's content that can literally be removed entirely and not affect the main story. Halion is the ONLY arguable filler content, and that's a hard sell because he's a means of introducing the twilight/Deathwing's brood.

Second, the amount of people in this thread and in general implying they can write better than Blizzard is pretty astounding and fairly entertaining. If you can seriously do better than Blizzard, then do it. You don't need to graduate from a top global/national university/college to write, you just need a pen and a medium to write on (usually paper). It's a lot harder for someone to tell someone to be a better animator than Blizzard, or a better artist because that requires specific tools and skill sets; writing doesn't.

Now, am I saying Blizzard is infallible? No; they can definitely do a better job and should definitely hire more writers, especially those who are adept at tying the writing into the actual game mechanics so shit doesn't feel forced like most game stories. I'm simply saying that on a forum where the same thread gets made at least ten times every half hour, people have trouble formulating even the most basic of arguments and a handful of this huge minority of the WoW community can take criticism well, you need to prove that you aren't bullshitting because you can't come up with anything better to say.

[Setsoru]

I think the "community" asked for a couple of themes for the least years that we still havent seen, yet Blizzard picks something strange like Warlords of Draenor, that no one asked for.

Some examples:

- Emerald Dream: Pretty much requested since Vanilla
- Demon homeworld / Demon theme: People actually expected this as the upcoming theme and talked about this since BC.
- South Seas: People are talking about this since at least early Cataclysm.

It's not that I have anything against WoD, but the theme just strikes me as odd when there are so many other (better?) themes that people like and have been waiting for.
Especially if they want to get people back into WoW, wouldnt it make more sense to use the themes mentioned above?

Because the major themes of WoW have been Dragons, Demons, Undead and the Horde.

If they took use to the Demon homeworld, what then? We kill the king demon?? WTF?? Where does the leave them for the future of demons??

If they take us to the Emerald Dream? then what? WTF? Where does that leave them for the future of Dragons?

If we confront Sylvannas now?? WTF? Where does that leave them for the future of the Undead? They kinda got around this one with Lich King, but were it not for Syvannas, the undead story line would now be dead. Unless Bolvar were to be corrupted and be a new Lich King.

You see where this is headed? They are a business! They have to think long term, not what people want right now. OoooOo I didn't get demon homeworld!! I am quitting WoW waaaaaaaaaa!

[freighttrain]

blizzard need to introduce new characters that we care about and can relate to.

Arthas - mega story, cool character, people felt connected.
Illidian - same but to a lesser degree.

deathwing - dragon? zzz
MoP - ??? sha/garrosh? zzz

when introducing a new expansion, create a buttload of new characters and find the cool ones and build upon then. We've had expansion after expansion killing cool characters, lets start introducing new ones to kill later!!!

I know I will get flamed for this, but I was far more excited about DW as an end boss than Arthas or Illidan. I never much cared for the Arthas story in WC3 nor Illlidans. I have a greater fascination for the dragonflights. I was also more excited about Pandaria as a setting than any of the previous expansions because it was something new. As for Garrosh, admittedly it could have been done a bit better, finally a really bad person, misguided beliefs instead of corruption, controlled, insane for a change.

That is me, and I am but 1 out of millions. I would prefer seeing new places and new lore than than constantly trying to rehash old RTS story arcs. While I understand the need for those, I welcome new directions.

- - - Updated - - -

Because if left up to the players, we would be fighting the Old Gods and the Legion with Sargeras next expansion and then the game would end. Better to string things out, even if that means throwing in things like Pandaria in between.

Why would it have to end there. We could have Titans to deal with. For all we know we could have ripped open other portals to other dimensions with worse problems than Sargeras that we have to deal with.

[Ineluki]

The customer isn't always right when it comes to an MMO.

Seriously, just sit and think about how a fan made expansion would look, it wouldn't work in a million years.

Plus, they will already have at least a 5 year development plan, that can differ, but more than likely won't change it's core, thus its set in stone, to a degree.

As someone who has spent the last 13 years in retail, trust me the customer is rarely right(you just dont tell them that lol).

But, I have to agree with what many have said they have plan and passion for the direction of the game and feedback is only going to affect that to a small extent.

[xdrop]

They develop the game in their vision, not the players vision. The players don't know what they want... prime example is the Henry Ford one. If he asked what the people want they would say a faster horse, not a car.

[Azrile]

I think the "community" asked for a couple of themes for the least years that we still havent seen, yet Blizzard picks something strange like Warlords of Draenor, that no one asked for.

Some examples:

- Emerald Dream: Pretty much requested since Vanilla
- Demon homeworld / Demon theme: People actually expected this as the upcoming theme and talked about this since BC.
- South Seas: People are talking about this since at least early Cataclysm.

It's not that I have anything against WoD, but the theme just strikes me as odd when there are so many other (better?) themes that people like and have been waiting for.
Especially if they want to get people back into WoW, wouldnt it make more sense to use the themes mentioned above?

Because Blizzard is smart and is INVENTING lore rather than just closing up every little storyline from W1-W3. You guys would write Warcraft lore and paint yourselves in a corner. To have ongoing lore, you can´t just kill off every badguy that was ever mentioned as soon as possible. They need to open a door every time they close one to keep the lore alive.

[The Madgod]

I think the "community" asked for a couple of themes for the least years that we still havent seen, yet Blizzard picks something strange like Warlords of Draenor, that no one asked for.

Because the moment you pander to an audience as an artist is the moment you forsake your creative integrity.

When you create something, you create something YOU enjoy, that YOU like. It's not about the audience. You will generate an audience by yourself. Your focus, as an artist, is to create. Not to worry about how many units you will sell.

[shoc]

Reintroducing nearly every major character from the RTS games into WoW has been a major request for a very long time. I've wanted to see Grommash, Gul'dan, Ner'zhul, Durotan and the gang in WoW ever since Vanilla, just because it wasn't the theme you wanted doesn't mean it's not a theme that many others wanted. The South Seas, Demon planet expansions will come in time, relax.

[Selah]

Because they need to establish events and stories before the final Burning Legion expansion to ensure the survival of the game after we take down Sargeras. That means a few expansions that are around newer themes and events and not around past ones. They've said a couple of times they're burning through old Warcraft way too fast and wanted to slow down. Eventually, if this game survives long enough, there won't be any old lore that they can cover because it's all been resolved, and if they don't establish some events now that they can resolve later in the series than they won't have a game after the old lore is burned through.

[Last Starfighter]

Arguably, Cataclysm was an Old God expansion.

It was not. That would be like saying Wrath of the Lich King was the Kil'jaeden expansion.

[Argarock]

- Emerald Dream: Pretty much requested since Vanilla
- Demon homeworld / Demon theme: People actually expected this as the upcoming theme and talked about this since BC.
- South Seas: People are talking about this since at least early Cataclysm.

I hope you're kidding..

Emerald dream, not big enough to be an expansion, they've stated this about once a month since vanilla. maybe as a zone or a raid, if it ever fits with the story.

Demon homeworld... well yeah, that's the "final" expansion of Wow.. still 3-5 years too early

South seas... pandaria?

[Last Starfighter]

Reintroducing nearly every major character from the RTS games into WoW has been a major request for a very long time. I've wanted to see Grommash, Gul'dan, Ner'zhul, Durotan and the gang in WoW ever since Vanilla, just because it wasn't the theme you wanted doesn't mean it's not a theme that many others wanted. The South Seas, Demon planet expansions will come in time, relax.

Then they should have figured out a better way to go about it. Because right now it feels like the "WoW All-Stars" expansion. And the "alternate timeline" thing is so full of holes. If this is how it is, then every villain that wants to destroy Azeroth can just go to an "Alternate timeline" and get Deathwing, Ragnaros, The Lich King, and every other bad guy and build a super army. It's just weak.

Don't get me wrong, those guys are great. Gul'dan, Durotan, Grom, but it's so out there. Even the devs were stumped at moments when they were doing the Q&A's.

[Issalice]

Personally I'm happy they haven't done at least 2 of the 3 ideas you mentioned. Emerald Dream sounds really stupid (just my opinion). South Seas...ehhh, not really keen on the idea either. Bad feelings towards Vashj'ir have made me totally prejudice against anything sea themed in WoW lol. Demon home world, I'm on the fence about. Honestly I would rather have something more medieval and fantasy themed.

[Last Starfighter]

Because the moment you pander to an audience as an artist is the moment you forsake your creative integrity.

When you create something, you create something YOU enjoy, that YOU like. It's not about the audience. You will generate an audience by yourself. Your focus, as an artist, is to create. Not to worry about how many units you will sell.

And Blizzard does just that time and again. They aren't the company that makes a great game and everyone tags along because it's so good. They are the company that is trying to figure out what they can do that will make the most money. It's money first, everything else second now.

And yes, I know they are a company. But business isn't "Make as much money as you can at all cost". Blizzard is sacrificing integrity more and more as time goes on.

[muto]

You can't please everyone, so you've gotta please yourself

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PECmjB9df0w

[Deleted]

Not sure this is true at all. Especially as regards the lore.

Have you ever read fan fiction ? fans dont have a fucking clue how to write jack shit.

[PuppetShowJustice]

- Emerald Dream: Pretty much requested since Vanilla

They touched on this at Blizzcon. They said they thought they could get a patch and/or raid tier out of it but didn't think it warranted an expansion. I don't really disagree.

The coming Legion expansion is inevitable. Especially after Wrathion's end speech. But I think putting a gap between that and MoP makes sense since Wrathion suggested that the Alliance / Horde conflict would have time to fully resolve itself after SoO ended. He clearly did not anticipate the Legion event to happen in the near future or he wouldn't have sought a long drawn out battle with Undercity / Thunderbluff had his plan actually worked.

So, ED works as a patch. Legion expansion will happen. South Seas could work in a Dark Below style thing. I dunno. I don't know if I agree that any of these ideas are "better" than Draenor. WoD seems like a cool way to celebrate the history of the franchise.

[Sal the Shieldhog]

Have you ever read fan fiction ? fans dont have a fucking clue how to write jack shit.

While this is true for the most part, there are some very good fan fiction stories, they're just few and far in between. Take the Dragonball Z fan fic, Bringer of Death. Very, very good, but things like that aren't the norm for the majority.

But yeah, most fans can't write well. Most of it is completely terrible across the board, just fan service, fan service, fan service, usually ignoring that universe's established rules in favor of what the "writer" wants.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

I think from these boards some concepts are good but thinking out a whole story is more difficult.

[Golden Yak]

I hope you're kidding..

These are, in fact, expansion themes that are often mentioned when people talk about ones they'd like to see.

Emerald dream, not big enough to be an expansion, they've stated this about once a month since vanilla. maybe as a zone or a raid, if it ever fits with the story.

Actually, they've said pretty consistently that the Dream is a big concept and even said than a Dream expansion is a matter of 'when, not if.' It's only at the most recent blizzcon that they've reversed this stance and suggested it be more limited.

Certainly, it's no more limited than pandaria was before Mists came out.

South seas... pandaria?

When people talk about a south seas expansion, they want to see the island zones that haven't appeared in WoW yet, and swashbuckling pirate adventure, usually with Azshara and the naga as main enemies. Pandaria doesn't scratch that itch just because it's in the south.