What happened to Jay Wilson?

[Joey Ray III]

Brevik was a bit of a douche too; lets not forget

was he? all he did was give his opinion, i don't remember nothing douchey there.

[Deleted]

Probably Janitor's closet after what he did to D3.

[rated]

Where did Jay Wilson get moved to? Titan? Anyone have some information on this?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=jay+wilson Took me less than a minute to search for the info and paste you this link.

He's probably going to stay behind the scenes for a while. After D3 and all the negative attention he brought upon himself from the public it doesn't make good business sense to have him in a position where he's dealing with customers/people.

Mod-note: Please don't use 'let me google this for you'. The tool itself isn't that great when combined with a forum, better to folllow along as you did with a personal answer.

[rhorle]

Yeah, how dare he answer a question and not say that Blizzard are the greatest thing ever! What a loser!

That isn't why he was called a loser, and any one who actually cares to discuss it without a bias should clearly see that. The irony is that when it came time for his own game to be released it had major launch issues. 96 straight hours of working on the issue didn't fix it completely, and that is according to Brevik. This was the "founder" launch that people paid a large sum of money for.

http://www.polygon.com/2013/5/28/437...serious-issues

So while the Diablo 3 haters, Blizzard haters, and anyone else that fits like to blindly bash Jay Wilson and praise David Brevik the reality is that Brevik is nothing special. And had the chance to brag about how he would do things differently when he ended up being no different then Diablo 3.

[Baracuda]

I think he suffered the same fate as Mankrik's Wife.

[Pann]

That isn't why he was called a loser, and any one who actually cares to discuss it without a bias should clearly see that. The irony is that when it came time for his own game to be released it had major launch issues. 96 straight hours of working on the issue didn't fix it completely, and that is according to Brevik. This was the "founder" launch that people paid a large sum of money for.

http://www.polygon.com/2013/5/28/437...serious-issues

So while the Diablo 3 haters, Blizzard haters, and anyone else that fits like to blindly bash Jay Wilson and praise David Brevik the reality is that Brevik is nothing special. And had the chance to brag about how he would do things differently when he ended up being no different then Diablo 3.

I read why he called him a loser when it happened and if I wanted to discuss anything Blizzard related without a bias you would not be on my list. I don't care for either of them, Brevik was asked a question, he answered it wasn't rude and it wasn't anything you'd not expect from an ex-employee. Wilson then decided to insult him on social media, I don't have anything against Wilson saying what he said but it is incredibly stupid to do so in public and does not reflect well on him.

[Joey Ray III]

That isn't why he was called a loser, and any one who actually cares to discuss it without a bias should clearly see that. The irony is that when it came time for his own game to be released it had major launch issues. 96 straight hours of working on the issue didn't fix it completely, and that is according to Brevik. This was the "founder" launch that people paid a large sum of money for.

http://www.polygon.com/2013/5/28/437...serious-issues

So while the Diablo 3 haters, Blizzard haters, and anyone else that fits like to blindly bash Jay Wilson and praise David Brevik the reality is that Brevik is nothing special. And had the chance to brag about how he would do things differently when he ended up being no different then Diablo 3.

so why WAS he called a loser then? the way i remember that accident was brevik telling what he thought went wrong with D3 (most of which was true btw, early D3 was a complete disaster) and then bunch of D3 devs go on facebook to rage like a bunch of insecure teens (most likely thinking it was all in private). it was kinda sad and painful to read.

[rhorle]

so why WAS he called a loser then? the way i remember that accident was brevik telling what he thought went wrong with D3 (most of which was true, early D3 was a complete disaster) and then bunch of D3 devs go on facebook to rage like a bunch of insecure teens (most likely thinking it was all in private). it was kinda sad and painful to read.

Because he said he would have done things differently, even though his game he was promoting turned out to not be that different. And because he said he was happy Diablo 3 didn't do well while bashing everyone at Blizzard South, and those employees from Blizzard North that remained at Blizzard.

[Pann]

Because he said he would have done things differently, even though his game he was promoting turned out to not be that different. And because he said he was happy Diablo 3 didn't do well while bashing everyone at Blizzard South, and those employees from Blizzard North that remained at Blizzard.

Oh so he should have lied to save hurting Blizzard's feelings? What does how his game turned out have to do with answering a question?

He did not say that all.

"I have very mixed emotions about it (laughs). On one hand I am sad that people haven't enjoyed Diablo because it's a love, a passion, and its obvious people still have a giant love and passion for Diablo and they are speaking out about it because they have such love for it. That makes me feel great.

I am sad because people are outraged and, you know, some of the decision they have made are not the decisions I would make and there have been changes in philosophy and that hasn't gone over very well. I think in that way I am a little sad.

I am also a little happy, which I hate to say, it shows that the people that were involved in Diablo really did matter, and so I am happy that it has come to light that how talented that group was and how unique and special that group was. I am hoping that, as this happens very often in the industry, you see it with Call of Duty and things like that , when the people leave the game changes and it shows how critical people are in this industry."

He does not once say that he is happy that D3 did not do well, in fact he says the very opposite, he say that he is happy that complaints show what a good job his team did in the past. If they (him and his team) had not set the bar so high there would not have been so many complaints this is very different from what you claim he said.

[NoiseTank13]

Yeah, Brevik just said what was on his mind on that question, and honesty does sting at times. What was going on with his own game is irrelevant.

Jay Wilson in a moment of passion let loose with something without checking to see if his bases were covered. If anything, the blame should have been on Chris Haga for whining about it like a little child.

[rhorle]

He does not once say that he is happy that D3 did not do well, in fact he says the very opposite, he say that he is happy that complaints show what a good job his team did in the past. If they (him and his team) had not set the bar so high there would not have been so many complaints this is very different from what you claim he said.

I am also a little happy must have a different meaning in whatever country you are from. Because in the English language it means that he has said he is happy. What he doesn't say however is the word complaints. Not once. The question he was asked also didn't mention complaints but asked for his feelings on D3 and not those based on complaints.

"As you created Diablo, how do you feel about it? Do you feel a little let down that the legacy has kind of been mashed up?"

So in the context of the question he said he was happy that D3 mashed up the legacy of Diablo because it shows that the team matters. And this combined with his earlier comments about how Blizzard South has no experience in the ARPG genre despite having several members from Blizzard North still on the team.

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Jay Wilson in a moment of passion let loose with something without checking to see if his bases were covered. If anything, the blame should have been on Chris Haga for whining about it like a little child.

It is relevant because your own experience and failures denote your authority over a topic. If he and his team can't create a different experience then Diablo 3 then what right did he really have to comment on Diablo 3? Don't you call someone who can't do better but is arrogant enough to think they are better a loser?

[arcaneshot]

Yeah, Brevik just said what was on his mind on that question, and honesty does sting at times. What was going on with his own game is irrelevant.

Jay Wilson in a moment of passion let loose with something without checking to see if his bases were covered. If anything, the blame should have been on Chris Haga for whining about it like a little child.

The funny thing is the Jay Wilson quote was in the middle of a Facebook thread started by another member of the Diablo 3 team who felt like they were getting thrown under the bus after reading what Brevik wrote, yet everyone focuses on Jay Wilson's quote like it was the only one that mattered.

Fact is, Brevik made a lot of people on the Diablo 3 team angry.

[Pann]

I am also a little happy must have a different meaning in whatever country you are from. Because in the English language it means that he has said he is happy. What he doesn't say however is the word complaints. Not once. The question he was asked also didn't mention complaints but asked for his feelings on D3 and not those based on complaints.

"As you created Diablo, how do you feel about it? Do you feel a little let down that the legacy has kind of been mashed up?"

So in the context of the question he said he was happy that D3 mashed up the legacy of Diablo because it shows that the team matters. And this combined with his earlier comments about how Blizzard South has no experience in the ARPG genre despite having several members from Blizzard North still on the team.

I did not say that he did not say he was not happy I even posted the whole quote so I don't know why you need to make the bitchy little comments about the English language. Seriously if that is what you take from the whole incident it really is your problem.

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Does it really matter?

The best part of him being mentioned is the angry comments from forum-goers.

Exactly, Wilson was wrong and later apologised.

[NoiseTank13]

I am also a little happy must have a different meaning in whatever country you are from. Because in the English language it means that he has said he is happy. What he doesn't say however is the word complaints. Not once. The question he was asked also didn't mention complaints but asked for his feelings on D3 and not those based on complaints.

"As you created Diablo, how do you feel about it? Do you feel a little let down that the legacy has kind of been mashed up?"

So in the context of the question he said he was happy that D3 mashed up the legacy of Diablo because it shows that the team matters. And this combined with his earlier comments about how Blizzard South has no experience in the ARPG genre despite having several members from Blizzard North still on the team.

He wasn't happy that the franchise was sullied by the new team; he was happy because it validated his past work in collaboration with the old team. No one likes to see the continuation of their work fail when they moved on to different teams, but it does make the experiences before much more special. What part about that do you not get?

It is relevant because your own experience and failures denote your authority over a topic. If he and his team can't create a different experience then Diablo 3 then what right did he really have to comment on Diablo 3? Don't you call someone who can't do better but is arrogant enough to think they are better a loser?

So his work on Diablo 1 and Diablo 2 is irrelevant, but his experience in Marvel Heroes isn't? Really?

[Rindrae]

I'm glad he wasn't fired, but also glad he's been pushed into a non-leadership position.

[NoiseTank13]

The funny thing is the Jay Wilson quote was in the middle of a Facebook thread started by another member of the Diablo 3 team who felt like they were getting thrown under the bus after reading what Brevik wrote, yet everyone focuses on Jay Wilson's quote like it was the only one that mattered.

Fact is, Brevik made a lot of people on the Diablo 3 team angry.

The team was already getting shelled from high heaven by customers/fans/malcontents. Brevik's statement was the feather that broke the camels back.

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Pardon the double post but I'd like to post the full transcript of the interview so people can make their own conclusions.

http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/com...gs-on-diablo-3

IncGamers: You are very well known in the world of ARPGs, and I am going to ask you, Diablo 3 is probably the most anticipated PC title in 10 years. What’s your opinion on the final product?

David Brevik: Honestly, I think that they did a lot of the things the best they could, it was a very different game than I would have created, the team and personalities, the people, the talent and all the design philosophies of the people that worked on it in Irvine, we called them Blizzard South, those people have their own style and the their own way they like to design. It was very, very different from the Blizzard North.

So I think that when Blizzard South took over the development of Diablo 3 it was inevitable that they were going to create an experience that was in the Diablo theme but concentrated more towards the things that they liked to experience. Including more story and things like that.

When Blizzard North shut down they lost a ton of experience with why the Action RPG works and what about it works. That’s really difficult to recover from. They didn’t have the experience of people that knew it well. This is why you do things with random levels for example, and so when you lose that experience you are going to create a very different experience in the end than we would have created.

IncGamers: Do you think they bought the wrong people in? As we understand, Jay Wilson, for example, his background was RTS. From our point of view it looked like they misunderstood what kept people playing, The type of loot drops, which has been a big issues. One of the other issues is they have not listened to their community, and they have not analysed what makes up that addictive Diablo experience. What are your thoughts on that?

David Brevik: Well, the loot system. They made some decisions with the loot system that were very different than the way that we did it in Diablo 2 and I think that obviously the community has been upset with some of the decisions they made. Having all of your powers work off your main weapon and things like that, to having blues that are more powerful than yellows. Eventually the auction house and how that worked, even something as simple as when you equip an item and it’s bound to your character permanently would have totally changed the dynamic of the game.

It seems odd that they have not really responded in a quick fashion to some of these things. I think they are very well aware of the problems at this point and are trying to fix some of this stuff. It’s a shame that they had to learn some of these painful lessons

IncGamers: As you created Diablo, how do you feel about it? Do you feel a little let down that the legacy has kind of been mashed up?

David Brevik: I have very mixed emotions about it (laughs). On one hand I am sad that people haven’t enjoyed Diablo because it’s a love, a passion, and its obvious people still have a giant love and passion for Diablo and they are speaking out about it because they have such love for it. That makes me feel great.

I am sad because people are outraged and, you know, some of the decision they have made are not the decisions I would make and there have been changes in philosophy and that hasn’t gone over very well. I think in that way I am a little sad.

I am also a little happy, which I hate to say, it shows that the people that were involved in Diablo really did matter, and so I am happy that it has come to light that how talented that group was and how unique and special that group was. I am hoping that, as this happens very often in the industry, you see it with Call of Duty and things like that , when the people leave the game changes and it shows how critical people are in this industry.

IncGamers: One of the questions the Gazillion guys asked me to ask you was, where did the name Diablo come from?

David Brevik: I thought of the game when I was in high school and I lived in the east part of San Francisco in a town called Danville and I lived at the base of Mount Diablo and that’s where the name comes from. Once I found out what the mountain name was, I thought that was awesome, I didn’t speak Spanish, so I thought I wanted to use that as a title for a nemesis in a videogame. It’s simply from where I lived.

IncGamers: Well thanks a lot David, you’ve brought a lot of pleasure to millions of people over the years and hopefully you’ll continue to do so.

What's that? Thoughtful and honest constructive criticism? What an asshole!

[rhorle]

I did not say that he did not say he was not happy I even posted the whole quote so I don't know why you need to make the bitchy little comments about the English language. Seriously if that is what you take from the whole incident it really is your problem.

He does not once say that he is happy that D3 did not do well

I'm not being bitchy, I'm responding to you. You said he does not once say that he is happy that D3 did not do well, but that is exactly what he said. He said he is happy that the legacy of Diablo is "mashed up" aka isn't doing well.

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He wasn't happy that the franchise was sullied by the new team; he was happy because it validated his past work in collaboration with the old team. No one likes to see the continuation of their work fail when they moved on to different teams, but it does make the experiences before much more special. What part about that do you not get?

Which only got validated because the new game in the franchise didn't do well.

So his work on Diablo 1 and Diablo 2 is irrelevant, but his experience in Marvel Heroes isn't? Really?

No. But you don't ask Bernie Madoff (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Madoff) for relevant investing opportunities. You current experience, and the products your produce are very relevant when commenting on other things. This is why people hire analysts that know about what they are doing instead of hiring a random person off of the street.

Experience is relevant in most things, so why isn't it relevant here? His experience in Diablo 1 and 2 is relevant but so is his experience with everything since then. Since Diablo 2 wasn't as a result of just him you know.

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What's that? Thoughtful and honest constructive criticism? What an asshole!

He wasn't called an asshole, but a loser. Someone who hasn't created a successful game since Diablo 1 and 2, says he is happy a game was failing when his version didn't, promotes his game as the actually successor to Diablo 1 and 2, says the current team wasn't experienced enough of designers to make the proper decisions doesn't deserve the right to be called a loser by members that felt they were insulted?

Fuck that loser isn't even a really big insult. Its calling someone a loser and in response to someone who felt they were thrown under the bus by Brevik. Someone that did work with him in the past, and someone from Blizzard North. (who would have had the required experience according to brevik's own comments)

[wolfpaq777]

was he? all he did was give his opinion, i don't remember nothing douchey there.

You realize that it's possible to have a douchey opinion right?

[AeneasBK]

Yeah, how dare he answer a question and not say that Blizzard are the greatest thing ever! What a loser!

He could have answered the question without the underhand "I'm secretly kinda happy people don't like the new d3 because it reflects on how good a job I did first 2 times around" comments and if thats not how you're interpreting the words he said thats cool; but that is pretty much what he said. He could have left it at the first 2 paragraphs but felt he wanted to twist the knife a little. His "opinion" fine; but well deserving of a "Fuck that loser" especially as Rhorle pointed out, when he failed to make anything as popular since.

"I am also a little happy, which I hate to say, it shows that the people that were involved in Diablo really did matter, and so I am happy that it has come to light that how talented that group was and how unique and special that group was."

I.E. "The cock up of d3 shows that the team I lead making d1 and d2 were much better /snark"

[NoiseTank13]

You actually put in an analogy for David Brevik with Bernie Madoff.

A guy who actively schemed and scammed money.

And a convicted felon.



There is no discussing this further with you. You are not open to be persuaded and are hellbent on making Brevik the bogeyman in this situation. I don't know what I, or anyone else, could tell you otherwise.

He was asked his opinion. He gave it, along with examples, that were factually correct. Someone on the D3 team took it personal, and Jay Wilson made his error. Yet, it's all Breviks fault.

From this point on it's just easier to say you're wrong and leave it at that.