Was Ghostcrawler fired/forced out?

[Bullettime]

@Synistir

Classes not being unique was primarily an unintended side effect of the shift to competitive 10m raiding where near all tools had to be present on a class in order to keep them viable in 10m setting. Mythic allows them to strip down the additions and more room to rework classes and specs to recapture the uniqueness. Warriors can go back to being the masters of cleave, Hunters and Rogues can be reworked, Rogues and Shaman can be the interrupt kings, Paladins as the kings of defensive utility, etc.

Classes are more balanced than ever. We've come a long way from the original WoW leads telling hybrids to shut up and heal and fuck off to the pures who wanted more than one viable spec.

LFR killed nothing and actually slowed the loss of subs. The gaming market is significantly different than it was in 2004 and the super exclusivity model no longer works. If Blizzard took LFR away, you would see massive sub losses as many casual or social players lost their primary form of end game content.

The community was a rocky mess even from the start, no different than any other online video game anymore.

You also, despite your management experience, clearly have no idea how the video game side of the spectrum operates. Turnover rates and basically developer trading are commonplace today with so many studios covering such a broad spectrum of games. It's rare to see developers, unless they were the creator or cofounder of a certain studio, stay with a company for extended periods of time. More variety in your portfolio when changing studios and more and more lucrative positions being available every year with video game's constant rise leads to high turnover.

[MoanaLisa]

Tom Chilton as game director doesn't work on game systems, doesn't make new character models, doesn't make story, he basically doesn't create anything in game per se. He has completely different responsibilities, and maximum what he can do with game is suggest some completely new ideas to work on. Just like land owner doesn't actually build any house, so Tom Chilton as game director doesn't actually make any in-game changes apart from strategic ones (like suggesting concepts of LFD/LFR, server infrastrucure (yet again, in general, like suggesting concept of Virtual Realms), and has nothing to do with game systems.

He is still 100% to blame, its his job to take the blame, he was a manager of a team of people.

If you work in an office and a report is produced by your team is shit, the manager of the team will get all the shit from the guys up top beacuse its his job to make sure it is good.

This is exactly what I'm talking about though. Systems lead reports to the Game Director. The Game Director is the manager of the game. And yet you get nonsense like Puffler's quote. Chilton was GC's boss. To say that Chilton's maximum impact is to sit around all day and suggest things is more nonsense.

[Goldfingaz]

Classes are more balanced than ever.

lol this is just flat out wrong. I don't think I can recall a time where there was a 25% DPS difference between the lowest DPS and highest DPS.

[Bullettime]

lol this is just flat out wrong. I don't think I can recall a time where there was a 25% DPS difference between the lowest DPS and highest DPS.

The "golden age of WoW" in vanilla and BC saw specs outright doubling the DPS of other specs and 50% DPS differences between the different specs of a pure. Compare a vanilla Combat Rogue to a Feral Druid or Combat to its own sister spec Assassination. Or let's compare Destruction to its sister spec Demonology and then to vanilla Shadow or even TBC Shadow. Or let's compare Fury to Arms and then to Retribution.

The specs that are doing absurd damage now are primarily outliers due to the new model of absurdly powerful trinkets being overly synergistic with the mechanics of certain specs (Affliction.) And that's being changed in WoD. Aside from a small handful of hyperscaling outliers, classes are ridiculously close. A farcry better than the old days.

[Ineluki]

lol this is just flat out wrong. I don't think I can recall a time where there was a 25% DPS difference between the lowest DPS and highest DPS.

You obviously didnt play a ret pally pre-wotlk(I did).

[Aqua]

Ugh really? We're doing this?

Frankly if I was him I'd have moved on a LONG time ago. Of my own will.

I don't know how he didn't come into work and then start crying under his desk.

[Holymoocow]

there has been no really balance in any of expacks, it seem ever new class fine to point than nerf hell and back. monks were new dks nerfs last few patchs and i seen one patch the add new mastery it was fine it proced alot, than the changed made it less great..the messed with ring of peace and it original ver was way better.New brew break cc was good idea but the should made on very short cooldown becease people still spam cc even at this session.

[Goldfingaz]

The "golden age of WoW" in vanilla and BC saw specs outright doubling the DPS of other specs and 50% DPS differences between the different specs of a pure. Compare a vanilla Combat Rogue to a Feral Druid or Combat to its own sister spec Assassination. Or let's compare Destruction to its sister spec Demonology and then to vanilla Shadow or even TBC Shadow.

The illusion that every spec being viable = balance is asinine and needs to be forgotten.

Balance in BC wasn't about the numbers. It shouldn't have ever turned into a numbers war with DPS/HPS. Having Rebirth was balanced, having blood lust for your team was balanced (Chaining lust was not), and being a mana battery was balanced.

Having some actual Utility and being needed for the raid because of that utility is far greater than being replaced because you simply can't pull the numbers. As it stands right now, there is no need to have certain classes as there isn't much uniqueness left in the utility department. Once people start to realize that not every spec should be viable at everything, then we can get back to proper balance. It should be rock, paper, scissors and not rock, rock, rock.

[Goldfingaz]

You obviously didnt play a ret pally pre-wotlk(I did).

Everyone apparently did. I did not, my brother did and still does, same with a guildy of mine. Both loved it in BC and love it a bit less now. Trying to push the DPS meters wasn't important to everyone back in BC, killing the boss was.

- - - Updated - - -

I can't recall such a time either.
It felt really great doing 60% of the damage a Warrior did, really.. no really.. I *loved* wotlk.
And I am not even going to express my love for TBC-balance!

If an arp stacked War was out DPSing you by 60%, I would have to say it's probably because you were smiting as a disc priest.

http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/05/06/ic...lysis-by-spec/

[Kryos]

That we still have millions of players is incredible. We should be down to a core of about 1 million die hard fans, that would be normal for such an old MMO. That WoW after 9 years (!) is still #1 in the MMO market is a big success. People who expect a 9 year old game to have more subs than it had 6 years ago are clueless.

[Draedarr]

Ghostcrawler could have gotten a dream job as a higher up dev on a new Age of Empires, the game franchise he credits for getting him into gaming. He could gotten a senior position at Riot Games who has been on a massive hiring spree to expand their LoL team and to hire for future games and has seen an incredible rise to the top of gaming in a short time.

All we know is that he isn't leaving the industry, he's leaving Blizzard so that rules out Titan, "likely won't be that hard to find," and likely won't be on an upcoming MMO team given an almost guaranteed no compete clause for X years on his contract given how much he knows about the tentative WoW development plan a couple years in advance.

If he stays in the gaming industry, which he said he was, he's more likely to go to a MOBA or to an RTS. Two other areas of his interests without being a massive change from WoW (going fantasy RPG to a shooter for example) and would be areas he would contractually be able to work for. As much as I would love to see his name attached to something like WildStar and it be successful, doubt we'll see Greg on an MMO project for a while, if ever again.



In game development, the turnover rate is pretty high. People bounce to other more lucrative positions as they appear or will take off for other projects to expand the types of games they have under their belt which is better for their longterm careers. Greg did WoW for 6 years and could bounce to say something like Riot Games (League of Legends) and put 4 into MOBAs as well and could translate the 10 year combined experience with two successful companies and games into an even bigger position down the pipeline. You'll see many of the popular game studios trade people around on a regular basis because of that.

Maybe he is going to Destiny

[Bullettime]

The illusion that every spec being viable = balance is asinine and needs to be forgotten.

Balance in BC wasn't about the numbers. It shouldn't have ever turned into a numbers war with DPS/HPS. Having Rebirth was balanced, having blood lust for your team was balanced (Chaining lust was not), and being a mana battery was balanced.

Having some actual Utility and being needed for the raid because of that utility is far great than being replaced because you simply can't pull the numbers. As it stands right now, there is no need to have certain classes as there isn't much uniqueness left in the utility department. Once people start to realize that not every spec should be viable at everything, then we can get back to proper balance. It should be rock, paper, scissors and not rock, rock, rock.

Because being Balance and doing no DPS was fun for the player.
Because being a Shadow Priest and being nothing but a mana battery and contributing nothing else was fun.

The game at the time was just as much about the numbers then as it is now. The difference between now and then is that DPS and utility are more evenly spread now instead of bringing a small handful of utility bots then stacking the raid with as many Warlocks, Rogues, and Warriors as you posisbly could so you could down the boss. The buff bot gameplay was not satisfying to the player which is why they changed it. That's what was even told to them from high end players and is another they changed it. Encounter mechanics are also now better and more intricate than ever and require full team coordination instead of the bullshit resistance checks with brokenly overtuned numbers or bugged mechanics that they used to be. Relative number balance is important now.

[jimbojonez]

well the sub numbers have been getting incredibly low under his reign

A) If you think the numbers are incredibly low, you have no conception of what the sales are like for mmo's.
B) Wow has also gotten much older "under his reign".

[Grumpy Old Man]

well the sub numbers have been getting incredibly low under his reign

So he 'reigned' over WoW.

[Kryos]

lol this is just flat out wrong. I don't think I can recall a time where there was a 25% DPS difference between the lowest DPS and highest DPS.

You never played Vanilla. Compare a vanilla mage with an vanilla druid. Compare a T1 equipped mage dps with an T3 equipped mage. It was so crazy with T3 gear back those days. My T3 arcanemage one-shotted deftanks in PVP gear!

[Peacemoon]

I don't like using subscriber numbers to judge the success of the game.

WoW will continue to lose subscribers now no matter what it does, purely because it is old and people want to try new things.

Also, Justin Bieber has the biggest amount of fans, doesn't mean he is my favourite singer. Its like rating music by how successful it is. A lot of people would argue WoW suffered a lot when it tried to become too mainstream, and attract players who wouldn't enjoy a typical MMORPG (at the expense of loyal fans who did).

[Goldfingaz]

Because being Balance and doing no DPS was fun for the player.
Because being a Shadow Priest and being nothing but a mana battery and contributing nothing else was fun.

The game at the time was just as much about the numbers then as it is now. The difference between now and then is that DPS and utility are more evenly spread now instead of bringing a small handful of utility bots then stacking the raid with as many Warlocks, Rogues, and Warriors as you posisbly could so you could down the boss. The buff bot gameplay was not satisfying to the player which is why they changed it. That's what was even told to them from high end players and is another they changed it. Encounter mechanics are also now better and more intricate than ever and require full team coordination instead of the bullshit resistance checks with brokenly overtuned numbers or bugged mechanics that they used to be. Relative number balance is important now.

If you didn't want to be utility, you didn't roll a utility roll. It was that simple, the people who do not understand this, is why this game has been going down the shitter.

Also, relative numbers aren't balanced properly at all, which is the entire point of what I'm saying.

[Goldfingaz]

You never played Vanilla. Compare a vanilla mage with an vanilla druid. Compare a T1 equipped mage dps with an T3 equipped mage. It was so crazy with T3 gear back those days. My T3 arcanemage one-shotted deftanks in PVP gear!

Comparing different teirs of gear on classes and saying there is a difference in balance its just stupid. Also, read my posts, Being the top DPS isn't necessarily balanced, being able to do DPS and have utility is what balanced it out for Druids, or just going heals.

[Peacemoon]

If you didn't want to be utility, you didn't roll a utility roll. It was that simple, the people who do not understand this, is why this game has been going down the shitter.

Also, relative numbers aren't balanced properly at all, which is the entire point of what I'm saying.

Most players don't consider end-game mathematics when picking their race or class.

[Goldfingaz]

http://i35.tinypic.com/2lkqubn.png

There you go.

I'm sorry, can you show me where the 60% difference is?