Rob Pardo leaves Blizzard

[Deleted]

One person with possibly machiavellian motivations doesn't constitute a conspiracy.

Sometimes all it takes is one person.
Muwahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

[Deficineiron]

That's right Osmeric. Everyone knows that in the real world corporate politics is never dirty or manipulative, (and Machiavelli is just some artist in italy).

too funny, I had already written machiavelli before you had posted

more generally though, bc-type heroics in an LFD world had some pretty obvious built-in problem potential. I do wonder if someone was allowed to go fwd with the tuning in order to set them up or in the expectation that they would fail. I can understand a contrary argument - spending lots of resources on instance content that folks blow through in 15 minutes is a problem, but once you attach LFD to it, its a train wreck.

[Osmeric]

more generally though, bc-type heroics in an LFD world had some pretty obvious built-in problem potential. I do wonder if someone was allowed to go fwd with the tuning in order to set them up or in the expectation that they would fail. I can understand a contrary argument - spending lots of resources on instance content that folks blow through in 15 minutes is a problem, but once you attach LFD to it, its a train wreck.

Yeah. On the other hand, sometimes obviously bad things slip through for random reasons. Hanlon's Razor and all that.

They are FINALLY reaching the solution they should have reached earlier, IMO: normal mode 5 mans => LFR, and heroic mode 5 mans => WoD normal raids. The heroic 5 mans tuned harder than currently will be just fine done with guild groups.

[Jessicka]

WoW needs to be timeless and while they do nod in ways at various cultural references from time to time it's well to remember that as a design group they're more interested in putting poop quests into the game than covering every serious social issue. That makes them an easy and very large target for those with agendas but I believe that Blizzard is doing the right thing to resist all of that. WoW is a place to retreat from the real world, not immerse yourself in the same issues and controversies that populate our own.

Just happen to think if it's normalised in this kind of environment, then it stops being a controversy in real life. Honestly, at this point that avoidance just becomes more noticable as it is normalised elsewhere; it's 2014, it's pretty standard on TV and has been for over 10 years, it's really not a big deal anymore. The slow pace of video games to react and catch up is frankly really pretty lamentable by comparison.

[Jessicka]

once again, I feel the 'shut up and sing' rule applies. corporations who embrace social or political issues/positions which have decent %'s strongly against, or at least strongly against having to deal with in their recreational time in their own home (unlike tv, you don't 'change the channel' on wow if you are playing it), are at peril of alienating far more customers than whatever media goodwill they get.

Activision is smart to stay out of the social programming business and just make games. the issue you refer to isn't their problem, nor is it their responsibility to program customers to accept it. Honestly, it is none of their business at all.

Personally, I don't know what EA is thinking with their efforts on this. do they really expect to sell that many additional copies of product vs. the % of existing customers who are increasingly tired of having this overtly put into every aspect of their personal entertainment?

Most people, you know, actually don't CARE what other people do and just would rather not have things they aren't personally interested in thrust into their faces in a clearly contrived and intentional manner.

I can only point to the global success of Game of Thrones on TV, with it's explicit LGB content. You're right, people don't give a shit anymore, and Blizzard are way behind the times by hamstringing themselves by intentionally ignoring it to the point where ignoring it is as time passes only going to be an even bigger deal as it's actually noticably being sidestepped.

[Jessicka]

I think for wow you need to compare to consumer entertainment/food goods that people are paying for.

How are cable/satalite subs or box-set purchases incomparable?

[finskee]

But... how did this thread get sidetracked unto this subject anyway?

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...ernetBackdraft

[ro9ue]

I can only point to the global success of Game of Thrones on TV, with it's explicit LGB content. You're right, people don't give a shit anymore, and Blizzard are way behind the times by hamstringing themselves by intentionally ignoring it to the point where ignoring it is as time passes only going to be an even bigger deal as it's actually noticably being sidestepped.

I don't think they are ignoring it, I just don't think they feel it's relevant to their game. Every game, book or tv show ever made doesn't need to have content for every sexual orientation or race or whatever. It's totally up to the creator what they want to make and up to the consumer if they want to buy it. I don't get why people feel thy have the right to outright demand someone change their art to appeal to their personal views. Those people should complain less and instead use that energy to go out and create the games they want to see. The industry would be better for it too.

[Deleted]

I couldn't say it anything different.

Then you'd not be saying it very well.