Can Blizzard surrvive without Chris Metzen?

[Thelxi]

Yes please. We might finally see something other than orcs.

[jkbostic]

And when it comes to true villain development - the entire process of creating a villain and the motivating the population to rally together to defeat the villain, I gotta say Bliz has dropped the ball since Wrath. Deathwing was so-so. Tough to follow up Lich King imo. But Garrosh was just a failure in my eyes. So much could have been done, but I certainly didn't walk away from either of those two fights with a feeling like - damn...I just saved the world.

After taking a break from WoW in March, I moved to Borderlands 2 and was met with its villain - Handsome Jack. Those Gearbox/2K games folks know how to write in a villain. I hated that guy from the 1st minute of the game until his death. He taunted me, called me names, named his horse after me (Buttstallion, although Piss For Brains was also in the running). And you know what...I must have killed him a couple hundred times and I still hate that SOB and feel good about that final fight and putting him down. Bliz needs that kind of writer.

[Alvito]

I doubt any one person is the lynch-pin holding WoW or Blizzard together. Things might take a different direction then some want or story lines may shift drastically, but that doesn't mean it would be bad or kill off the product/company.

[Doctor Amadeus]

Chris Metzen is singularly the genius responsible for Blizzard and WoW success, and also the reason for it's monstrous failure.

[Soulwind]

I know it's probably the last thing Blizzard as a company would think about, but I'd love to see them employ, like, 10 succesful writers and have them write the next few expansions in a way that:

- Makes sense. No more 'hey guys I just thought about this cool Archimonde thing that may or may not break everything we've said about the Burning Legion, but we're totally going with it even though not even most of our developers really understand the concept'

- Connects the points without plot hooks or retcons with planned plot twists and character evolution, no more sad/cool/evil/crazy Garrosh-es.

- Uses the most characters, places and races in ways a single writer wouldn't come up with. We get it, Metzen, you like orcs and your best stories are always about them.

- The developers feel comfortable with. We know gameplay goes first, so they may as well have a say about where the plot is going, and if the game can handle it. Nerubian zone? Cataclysm world revamp? Karabor and Bladespire?

[TheTaurenOrc]

Just as Disney can thrive without Walt at the helm, blizzard can and will arguably have to survive without Metzen if there's going to be posterity to the Warcraft Franchise. That said, he's hardly an old man and already turning the story into a senile rant so they'd have a coin toss at being better without him.

Disney was touch and go many many times after Walt's death.

Has Metzen left Blizzard then??

[Celista]

Has Metzen left Blizzard then??

Don't think so, someone started a couple of threads with a link to an imgur image of a blue post with a timestamp for this evening on it. No need to take it seriously, I'm pretty sure that same person bumped this thread too.

[MoanaLisa]

Don't think so, someone started a couple of threads with a link to an imgur image of a blue post with a timestamp for this evening on it. No need to take it seriously, I'm pretty sure that same person bumped this thread too.

I don't believe it was an accident that we banned someone this afternoon for starting two threads with fake news of Metzen's leaving and this thread from January of 2014 was suddenly active again. That said, the topic is OK as a basis for discussion as long as it sticks closely to the original premise of the thread. Otherwise it will get closed fairly quickly if it devolves into further rumor-mongering.

[guardian_titan]

I take it no one looks at the date of the OP? It's from January.

I very much doubt Metzen's going anywhere since Warcraft's his baby. Like he'd hand it over to anyone else. Only way that'd happen is if he died in a car accident or something. Even then, it'd probably be better to retire the franchise with him in that case and move onto something new.

[Hardkorr]

-snip-

Funny. Have you watched the extra features from WoW collector editions? I'm sure someone put up a huge compilation of them on youtube. They specifically talk about their thoughts on making the lore and why they tell the stories they tell. Last one I saw was MoP and Metzen said that he felt it was some of their best storytelling and the deal with pandas telling players to slow down was a sign of their growing maturity in storytelling. So either he's truly and honestly into "ORCS SMASH" since they regressed that development in WoD or doesn't realize that his vision for the lore translates terribly into a videogame. Either way, the whole point is to be able to make stories in a way that translates and makes sense in a videogame. Lack of self-awareness or skill is an issue that cannot be compensated with past glories. Regardless, I'd love to see what they said during the interviews from WoD's collector's edition and their reasoning for this expansion.

Now to be clear, i don't expect Metzen to tell great/deep stories, I expect him to be good at his job. But the fact is that many players are outright confused with things like Doomhammer & Grom's Heel-Face turn, the whole deal with this time travel/not time travel/alt universe, the fact that we are more the chosen one than Neo, and other issues that players need to ask other players on forums for clarity because the game simply confuses the hell out of us. The fact that the characterization, plot, and development has been so simplified in this expansion as well only makes these issues more prominent.

[fwc577]

Chris Metzen is not the Drew Karpyshyn of WoW. Blizzard will be fine.

[Deleted]

I think it's undeniable that the story, and atmosphere that Metzen brings to the table is pretty good, but what about after him? Can the franchises Blizzard has created survive with out his contributions?

WoW is politically correct. That means WoW's story options are extremely limited. The writers have their hands tied no matter who's writing.

Orcs = slaves fighting for freedom.

Old Blizzard = orcs were evil bloodthirsty monsters who killed everyone in their path.

[Deleted]

all I'm saying is aliens abducted him and Blizzard is still alive

personally I've readied my tinfoil hats..

[Mosotti]

No one is irreplaceable.

[Celista]

personally I've readied my tinfoil hats..

My tinfoil hat does not yet have a tinfoil hat, so I am not prepared.

[Spinster]

Metzen's stories aren't very good. I am not going to go on about it, but really there are DMs all over the world who have crafted more compelling stories for their little D&D groups thyan Metzen has for WoW. Most games have mediocre storytelling, but WoW is just average even for game writing.

[AFKaelindel]

Metzen's stories aren't very good. I am not going to go on about it, but really there are DMs all over the world who have crafted more compelling stories for their little D&D groups thyan Metzen has for WoW. Most games have mediocre storytelling, but WoW is just average even for game writing.

Thanks for saying it.

At this point, Blizz would be better off without Metzen for lore reasons.

[corebit]

I hope Warcraft never forgets that at its core, it's Orcs vs Humans.

Some people keep saying this, but it's not true. WC3 is the game that brought massive popularity to the Warcraft franchise, not WC1/2. And WC3 certainly wasn't focused on Orcs vs Humans, but on the Undead/Night Elves and the Burning Legion.

Both WoW expansions TBC and WoTLK were centered on the villains from WC3 and they were massive successes. Did you know what happened when Blizzard tried to bring a villain from WC1/2 in Cataclysm? No one cared.

[Khorm]

Some people keep saying this, but it's not true. WC3 is the game that brought massive popularity to the Warcraft franchise, not WC1/2. And WC3 certainly wasn't focused on Orcs vs Humans, but on the Undead/Night Elves and the Burning Legion.

Both WoW expansions TBC and WoTLK were centered on the villains from WC3 and they were massive successes. Did you know what happened when Blizzard tried to bring a villain from WC1/2 in Cataclysm? No one cared.

WC3 screwed WC. Now we're stuck with 2 factions that you can barely tell apart and a company that is scared to change anything in the world.

[bufferunderrun]

Blizzard will survive for sure but Metzen still a better fantasy author than many writers that polluted the fantasy market nowadays.