Can Blizzard surrvive without Chris Metzen?

[Wildtree]

I kinda like how people can seriously claim "Without Metzen WoW would have better lore"..

With what criteria can one proof such statement at all?

Of course Metzen is not a top novel author. If he was, he'd probably make more money doing just that, writing books..

He doesn't have to be such author, because he writes lore, a lot of it probably, (how much exactly of it is factually unknown to us) for a video game.
WoW is just a video game, and doesn't need to fulfill the necessity of high level story telling.
The best story doesn't help if the game itself sucks. That's apparently the main feature of a video game.

In a way, unless someone can deliver bullet proof facts, the Metzen topic is similar to that of Ghostcrawler, or any other member of Blizzards management level. No clue about what these people actually do, but a judgment has to be made, regardless.

[hrugner]

I kinda like how people can seriously claim "Without Metzen WoW would have better lore"..

With what criteria can one proof such statement at all?

Of course Metzen is not a top novel author. If he was, he'd probably make more money doing just that, writing books..

He doesn't have to be such author, because he writes lore, a lot of it probably, (how much exactly of it is factually unknown to us) for a video game.
WoW is just a video game, and doesn't need to fulfill the necessity of high level story telling.
The best story doesn't help if the game itself sucks. That's apparently the main feature of a video game.

In a way, unless someone can deliver bullet proof facts, the Metzen topic is similar to that of Ghostcrawler, or any other member of Blizzards management level. No clue about what these people actually do, but a judgment has to be made, regardless.

Since one of the big problems with WoW lore is that it's based around the intervention of a handful of powerful characters, and some of those characters happen to be voiced by someone responsible for the direction of the story, I feel like this topic is a bit less outlandish than the GC threads.

[Deleted]

Metzen set the foundation, Blizzard can do fine without him

Also, if anything, Red Shirt Guy is living proof metzen is not that into lore etc

well the guy asked very detailed stuff... you can forget stuff from time to time

[Chaosturn]

Thrall would have to speak sign language, but otherwise i think it would be alright.

[Wildtree]

Since one of the big problems with WoW lore is that it's based around the intervention of a handful of powerful characters, and some of those characters happen to be voiced by someone responsible for the direction of the story, I feel like this topic is a bit less outlandish than the GC threads.

A bit less... Not a lot though. Hence why I said similar..

[Yig]

Metzen set the foundation, Blizzard can do fine without him

Also, if anything, Red Shirt Guy is living proof metzen is not that into lore etc

Yes, because monotone analytical lists are so much more inspiring for a creative team than an impassioned inspirational motivating creative attitude. That's how things work in the creative world, anal retentive qualms really light a fire under that conference room's collective ass.

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I kinda like how people can seriously claim "Without Metzen WoW would have better lore"..

With what criteria can one proof such statement at all?

Of course Metzen is not a top novel author. If he was, he'd probably make more money doing just that, writing books..

He doesn't have to be such author, because he writes lore, a lot of it probably, (how much exactly of it is factually unknown to us) for a video game.
WoW is just a video game, and doesn't need to fulfill the necessity of high level story telling.
The best story doesn't help if the game itself sucks. That's apparently the main feature of a video game.

In a way, unless someone can deliver bullet proof facts, the Metzen topic is similar to that of Ghostcrawler, or any other member of Blizzards management level. No clue about what these people actually do, but a judgment has to be made, regardless.

It's as if people are self conscious about being equated with any number of negative connotations connected to geekdom, fantasy gaming, and MMOs,... and thus want to validate their passion by elevating it on par with Russian literature, accepting anything less is just for the rabble and their rule of cool.

[3DTyrant]

Metzen set the foundation, Blizzard can do fine without him

Also, if anything, Red Shirt Guy is living proof metzen is not that into lore etc

Bring Red Shirt Guy into the lore department of the game, I bet that'll bring some more interesting lore into the game.

As for the question at hand, I would say yes, Blizzard could survive without Metzen, though I have a feeling that there'd be a lot of happy people should he leave the company for one reason or another.

[Krazzorx]

Finding his replacement would be tricky probably. You'd have to find someone who is fine with gameplay>lore and their job is to make lore as great as possible. SoO could only end one way for "gameplay reasons." Idk how many people would enjoy writing that.

Who wants to write a war that can't end?

[BEYR]

The nature of video takes it's toll on story telling. That's even more true for an MMO where you can never really have a "bad guy" within the major lore characters. MoP is a good example of this. Despite all of the events that lead up to SoO, it still manages to be a Horde redemption story. The thing Metzen gets the most flack for is his attachment to that redemption story. It's his recurring theme for almost every major villain. his (obvious) affection for the Horde is a byproduct of that. The Horde is always redefining and improving itself. Almost every Alliance story is about betrayal and degradation. As a fan of the lore, it certainly gets old to have history repeat itself so frequently because they are afraid to significantly move the story along. I think Metzen stepping down, or even just aside, would do the game a great deal of good.

[Last Starfighter]

Metzen set the foundation, Blizzard can do fine without him

Also, if anything, Red Shirt Guy is living proof metzen is not that into lore etc

Warcraft lore is so vast, of course there are going to be conflicting things, or things they miss. Especially when you have people picking it apart. Metzen may be alot of things, but "Not that into" his job is not one of them.

[hrugner]

Finding his replacement would be tricky probably. You'd have to find someone who is fine with gameplay>lore and their job is to make lore as great as possible. SoO could only end one way for "gameplay reasons." Idk how many people would enjoy writing that.

Who wants to write a war that can't end?

My gut says go with a political joke, but I'll go with an academic one instead.

Historians.

[Deleted]

While I have to agree that Metzen is kind of pulling the story into a direction he as a fan would like best instead of a direction that its needs to go,imo WoW can't survive without Metzen story-wise.He is the master.He set the entire thing in motion,and he is still keeping it going.

[SodiumChloride]

He's paid to create, not paid to remember. Even George R R Martin needs to check up on references for his own material, and many fans and associates have pointed out mistakes he's made for characters that he created. It's easy for us fans to filter through all the canon because all we know is canon, we don't know the numerous iterations of story that lead up to the final result.

At least George R R Martin bothers check up on references and does his damnest to keep his lore straight. Metzen? Forgot it was the Draenei that corrupted Sargeras, not the other way around, and had to recon the Sargeras' origin and the Draenei lore to fit whatever was written for BC. It was written in the official Warcraft Encyclopedia they themselves published FFS. There are mistakes, then there is systematic incompetence and apathy.

Fans have that problem today when discussing lore, especially when the RPG books were made non-canon. You'll have people referencing the RPG books, only to later realize that the canon lore is still unexplained and ambiguous. It's a lot of information to sift through when you're at the top of the creation process, and I can't blame Metzen for the constant shifting the Warcraft universe has to go through just to keep things interesting. It's not like Tolkien's universe where everything is set and known; Warcraft is constantly evolving to provide a better experience.

I can. Internal consistency of a fictional universe is fundamental to good story telling. If you can't keep things interesting without reconning every few pages, I suggest you quit the writing profession.

Seriously, there are tons more talent writers out there who I'm sure Blizzard can adequately compensate (at a much lower cost that keeping Metzen around) who can do a better job than that hack who got lucky ridding Blizzard's success to his current position.

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I kinda like how people can seriously claim "Without Metzen WoW would have better lore"..

With what criteria can one proof such statement at all?

Of course Metzen is not a top novel author. If he was, he'd probably make more money doing just that, writing books..

He doesn't have to be such author, because he writes lore, a lot of it probably, (how much exactly of it is factually unknown to us) for a video game.
WoW is just a video game, and doesn't need to fulfill the necessity of high level story telling.
The best story doesn't help if the game itself sucks. That's apparently the main feature of a video game.

In a way, unless someone can deliver bullet proof facts, the Metzen topic is similar to that of Ghostcrawler, or any other member of Blizzards management level. No clue about what these people actually do, but a judgment has to be made, regardless.

Some of us have higher standards. For a multi-billion dollar MMORPG, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect lore of a level above that of B-grade comic books or fan fiction.

[Sting]

Welcome to MMO-Champion, where one guy is always the sole cause of everything wrong with a game. Jay Wilson, GC and now Chris Metzen. Who's next? Find out in a few months in the next installment of this wonderful series of threads. I bet that everything wrong with RoS will get pushed on a single guy aswell.

[ciggy]

It wouldn't destroy blizzard, But it'd hurt them. Metzen is pretty good at what he does, I love the guy.

I agree, he seems like he is really into his work. And most of the folks like that, are damn good at it.

[Azutael]

Sure WoW could go on without Metzen, but it wouldn't be the same.
Besides, they have their own "historians" to keep track of the lore.

It would be foolish to think anyone could keep track of it all, on their own.

[arcaneshot]

At least George R R Martin bothers check up on references and does his damnest to keep his lore straight. Metzen? Forgot it was the Draenei that corrupted Sargeras, not the other way around, and had to recon the Sargeras' origin and the Draenei lore to fit whatever was written for BC. It was written in the official Warcraft Encyclopedia they themselves published FFS. There are mistakes, then there is systematic incompetence and apathy.

No, you can't excuse Martin because you happen to like him. It's one or the other.

Holding Metzen to superhuman standards is disingenuous of you.

[Spraxle]

He's a bit of a Horde fanboy but it'd be a big loss for the company. Plus his speeches are just epic and I don't know if they could go forward without those

[Yig]

Metzen has more passion and charisma for this world and ALL OF IT'S CHARACTERS in his chin hairs than the lot of you combined. Put em up, put em up!

[SodiumChloride]

No, you can't excuse Martin because you happen to like him. It's one or the other.

Holding Metzen to superhuman standards is disingenuous of you.

I don't really know who this Martin guy is ... but I know he is famous and he has wrote a lot of books - I think. You don't get that far as a writer with sloppy lore checking.

Superhuman? Double checking your own lore, that you freaking wrote, when writing the lore for a new expansion involving the origins of your primary antagonist is considered "superhuman"?

Enough fanboy excuses. Please.

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He's a bit of a Horde fanboy but it'd be a big loss for the company. Plus his speeches are just epic and I don't know if they could go forward without those

Wish I could say the same about the speeches of the characters he writes.