Can Blizzard surrvive without Chris Metzen?

[Kilperch]

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?

"There are two kinds of people in the world: people who know what I'm talking about, and people who like the Star Wars prequels." - Harry Plinkett

I don't know Chris Metzen personally, so I can't judge whether he's a nice guy or not, but I can judge his work. Honestly, I think he's awful. He's been at Blizzard for far too long, and it shows. He needs to be replaced with some new blood with some new ideas if Blizzard has any interest in quality storytelling again (which they don't and probably won't).

The 90s was a good time for Blizzard, story-wise. Sure, their work wasn't very original, but it was compelling. You could tell they put some effort into it. But the last 10 years or so have shown a very steep decline for them, pretty much proving how lazy the creative team has gotten.

To me, Chris Metzen is a lot like Hollywood screenwriter Damon Lindelof. He doesn't write to create something incredible, interesting or memorable. He writes to make money. He writes to keep people coming back. To set up sequels and get as many people as possible to watch or play. These guys aren't artists, they're businessmen. Just take a look at the Indiana Jones quest chain in the Uldum zone. Literally 50% of the quests are nothing but a pop culture reference. And that's just one zone.

But in the end, who cares? You like what you like. Some people love him, some don't. I think he's a hack, but that's just one person's opinion. I didn't enjoy the stories of StarCraft 2, its expansion, Diablo 3, or the story of the last 3 WoW expansions.

But did we really expect this man to be a genius storyteller? He named his kid after George Lucas for Christ's sake. He's writes fanfic and passes it off as canon for a living.

[Kellorion]

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

Metzen is the guiding force for Warvraft/WoW, Starcraft and Diablo, and has been for nearly 20 years. He forgets about the whether a one person died or not, and he isnt 'all that into lore' ......please.

[tiporispit]

The "orc" nonsense is whiny garbage that doesn't stand up to any kind of scrutiny. It's been listed a million times that the story has been Alliance-centric for the majority of the game's life. We have an orc hero in one expansion, and an orc villain in another. Everything else has been non-orc, including the villain in the hero expansion, and the protagonist in the villain expansion. Such a bunch of short-memoried babies.

[Aquamonkey]

Of course Blizzard can survive without Metzen. There are always good writers around who can take over. It won't be the same, but Blizzard can survive.

Would Blizzard have been as successful throughout the years without Metzen? Probably not.

[Sevyvia]

If anything, they'd probably do much better. They might even get someone who isn't biased, and is capable of more than "hurr durr orcs vs. humans hurr."

[Adoxe]

It would only survive if Chris was replaced by the Red Shirt Guy.

[Deleted]

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.

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.

That's a damn good point. In his head must exist multiple versions of WoW universes, some which never came to be. I would have problems remembering what's canon, too. Just think about things like the Pandaren joining the Alliance in TBC or that Garrosh was originally meant to go to our present day Outland and resurrect the old orc warlords with an artifact. They must constantly ask themselves: "Wait, did we make this canon or not?."

[daem]

NO other game that I played 5 years ago is currently installed on my PC or on my PS3-shelf. They're in boxes and in storage.

A lot of people seem to forget this. For all the crap we "feel" gets put into the game, we still manage to even want to find interest in the game, still. If anyone were to ask us what our favorite games are, we'd have a hard time admitting that an MMO is one of them. I can't refrain from admitting WoW is one of my favorite games because 'it's just an MMO", because I have a hard time naming any other game has manages to get so much time out of me. Honestly, I can't think of one. The closest I can imagine is another favorite series of mine (Elder Scrolls), but even then, WoW still trumps all of the ES game combined in terms of game-time played. Would I admit out loud that WoW is one of my favorite games? Maybe in a dark room and under my breath. Because I can't lie that I still bother to play even after all of these years with earnest. Even if it's just the slightest bit of hope that it'll "recover", though most of us have a hard time trying to even put our finger on what it is it's supposed to be "recovering" from, exactly. Right now, I just want it to recover from Pandaria lore. There's just simply too much of it. And my wish is coming some time this year with WoD. So I'm still here, bashfully enjoying it since 2006.

[Celista]

He does a pretty good job w/the official lore, I don't think the game would be the same without him....his name is pretty synonymous w/Warcraft for me personally. Also I don't think I would trust anyone else with the lore, the non-canonical stuff written by others has been pretty hit or miss.

In game storytelling needs some improvement, though...the last time I've seen good in-game storytelling was the revamped 1-60 content in Cata, and the Arthas buildup while questing in Wolk. Mists had some ok quest lines, but not very many (Garrosh buildup, some Valley of the Four Winds/Kun-Lai chains, etc).

[Kromkar]

I bet he lets the orcs in "Orcs must die" win all the time... :P

[Bananarez]

I wish Actiblizzard would liberate Bioware from EA. Then we might have some decent storytelling.

[Krommm]

Absolutely. He started off really well and maybe he's still enthusiastic, but the story has taken some weird forks. (partially blame an MMO world for this)

[SodiumChloride]

"There are two kinds of people in the world: people who know what I'm talking about, and people who like the Star Wars prequels." - Harry Plinkett

I don't know Chris Metzen personally, so I can't judge whether he's a nice guy or not, but I can judge his work. Honestly, I think he's awful. He's been at Blizzard for far too long, and it shows. He needs to be replaced with some new blood with some new ideas if Blizzard has any interest in quality storytelling again (which they don't and probably won't).

The 90s was a good time for Blizzard, story-wise. Sure, their work wasn't very original, but it was compelling. You could tell they put some effort into it. But the last 10 years or so have shown a very steep decline for them, pretty much proving how lazy the creative team has gotten.

To me, Chris Metzen is a lot like Hollywood screenwriter Damon Lindelof. He doesn't write to create something incredible, interesting or memorable. He writes to make money. He writes to keep people coming back. To set up sequels and get as many people as possible to watch or play. These guys aren't artists, they're businessmen. Just take a look at the Indiana Jones quest chain in the Uldum zone. Literally 50% of the quests are nothing but a pop culture reference. And that's just one zone.

But in the end, who cares? You like what you like. Some people love him, some don't. I think he's a hack, but that's just one person's opinion. I didn't enjoy the stories of StarCraft 2, its expansion, Diablo 3, or the story of the last 3 WoW expansions.

But did we really expect this man to be a genius storyteller? He named his kid after George Lucas for Christ's sake. He's writes fanfic and passes it off as canon for a living.

I have to say your bringing up of the Plinkett reviews is surprisingly appropriate.

http://redlettermedia.com/plinkett/s...hantom-menace/

I won't be surprised if Blizzard is suffering from the same problems as LucasArts. Everyone is too afraid to challenge the old guy.

PS: I also find it amusing that frequently WoW's horrible lore is defended with "gameplay > story", but Plinkett really hit the nail on the head when he said, "We need a deeper meaning to things, without it none of it really matters does it.".

- - - Updated - - -

That's a damn good point. In his head must exist multiple versions of WoW universes, some which never came to be. I would have problems remembering what's canon, too. Just think about things like the Pandaren joining the Alliance in TBC or that Garrosh was originally meant to go to our present day Outland and resurrect the old orc warlords with an artifact. They must constantly ask themselves: "Wait, did we make this canon or not?."

We are in the ages of computers, looking up facts and checking isn't difficult ...

[SodiumChloride]

He does a pretty good job w/the official lore, I don't think the game would be the same without him....his name is pretty synonymous w/Warcraft for me personally. Also I don't think I would trust anyone else with the lore, the non-canonical stuff written by others has been pretty hit or miss.

In game storytelling needs some improvement, though...the last time I've seen good in-game storytelling was the revamped 1-60 content in Cata, and the Arthas buildup while questing in Wolk. Mists had some ok quest lines, but not very many (Garrosh buildup, some Valley of the Four Winds/Kun-Lai chains, etc).

I'm really shocked at the low standards of the WoW player base. No offence.

All the good parts he stole from Warhammer, which he then proceeds to mess up when he expanded on it.

[Celista]

I'm really shocked at the low standards of the WoW player base. No offence.

All the good parts he stole from Warhammer, which he then proceeds to mess up when he expanded on it.

The in-game stuff is pretty bad, but on the whole it's passable. There's a lot of bad RPG storytelling out there, the Warcraft universe is far from the worst of it.

[MoanaLisa]

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

Knowing a lot about lore is not the same thing as creating new lore and story-telling. Anyone can be an expert on something that someone else has created. That doesn't mean they have any artistic bent at all. I have problems with some of the things that Metzen has done but after this long it's fairly clear that he's created something that will be around for a while.

[SodiumChloride]

One could argue that Kosak is "new blood" even though his handling of lore is as bad if not worse. WoW has something movies don't, and it's social interaction. Fun, ultimately, comes from the players' characters not the NPCs in the storyline. While that guy is right about Metzen, imo, WoW isn't a movie. Metzen can write the next expansion as WoW: Dingo Puppy Ukulele Revolution with the dumbest story to date and people would still come back, in large numbers, to play new content with friends, even if the story was horrible (which it has been for quite some time now). There's value to fans who also generate their own stories within the WoW universe, and that is their freedom to write stuff, even if only for themselves, that isn't pure shit and enjoy it with their friends via role-playing.

I repeat, "We need a deeper meaning to things, without it none of it really matters does it.".

The game is suppose to set the backdrop for the players to play in, when you fail at that, there is no point to the backdrop. The backdrop (i.e. the world) is essential to a good RPG.

WoW isn't Minecraft. Minecraft's fun comes from the freedom offered to you. WoW isn't that type of game. WoW doesn't give you that type of freedom. WoW's entertainment comes from playing a role in a interesting world, when the "world" is rubbish ... none of it really matters. Without a good backdrop to provide the fantasy, you are just juggling numbers.

[Sky High]

if they bring a team as impassioned about the lore as him? I see no reason why not. might be able to tell a balanced story and give us characters that don't flip flop personalities...

[corebit]

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!

Not anymore, he barely keeps up with or cares about Warcraft lore much these days. It's pretty evident in Blizzcon panels where he has to consult with his team members on a lot of stuff to remind him what the heck is going on.

He has gotten older and no longer has that passion, very much like George Lucas doesn't care about Star Wars anymore once he got older. I don't blame him for that. People change and his priority nowadays as Vice President is to make more money for Blizzard.

[Bananarez]

if they bring a team as impassioned about the lore as him? I see no reason why not. might be able to tell a balanced story and give us characters that don't flip flop personalities...

World of Obamacraft