Do you trust Blizzard?

[Heldamon]

Well if there wasn't blizzard we wouldn't be playing WoW but something else. And then we would judge that something else.

So what we have now is WoW. Enjoy it as it is, keep giving your ideas but don't expect them to become reality cause after all it's THEIR game. You just agree that you wanna play it as it is.

If you don't like just move on. It's a free market with plenty alternatives. Also there is real life out there that is awesome, especially since YOU make YOUR choices.

[Geckoo]

I used to trust them, but they lost my trust some time ago. I used to look at them as passionate gamers creating a videogame they loved, so did we and we paid them with a smile for the good and fun time they provided us with... but now i just get the feeling that they are a bunch of workers creating a product to sell to us. Sadly this is not something exclusive from Blizzard as we can see the same problem with many other big games and companies.

I guess they lost the 'indie' part they used to have, even if back then they where creating something to earn money, they also did have a lot of passion about their work and that was something you could feel.

[Requiem94]

Why should we trust them? We tell them one thing, they ignore it, we complain that we were right, they then admit it sometime down the line and walk away with their tail between their legs.

[wariofan1]

I trust them on certain aspects, the only part where I feel they're incredibly inconsistent is with storytelling.

[Blithe]

I haven't trusted Blizzard since Warcraft 3 had ended.

[melodramocracy]

I don't need to trust them, as the relationship is far shallower than that When their product no longer interests me, I simply stop partaking, because it's really all I can do.

Most players, including myself, have a vision of what they'd like this game to play like, and it's often going to conflict with what the developers have in mind. I see it mentioned repeatedly in this thread that the company cares about money first and foremost, and would likely disagree with that particular sentiment, as a satisfied playerbase is what allows money to flow in the first place.

[Thessik-Irontail]

People have been writing blizzard off for about 6-8 years now, and since then they remain #1 in MMOs, #1 in RTS, #1 in Action RPGs, #1 in Video Card Games, and are now working on a MOBA.

The company is highly successful in everything it releases even as recently as Hearthstone. I do not think that anyone dismissing Blizzard as a company with only "past glories", can really be taken seriously. They are likely upset, and believe their subjective opinion some how has more truth then the facts of the matter.

Yes I trust Blizzard, they have so far, always come through, something I have not found in any other gaming company. I also think that anyone answering no to this thread is unreasonable given the facts and Blizzards commanding presence in many genres of current gaming.

Not to float my own boat, but my comment was pretty much /thread.

[RoKPaNda]

I trust them about as much as I trust any other major company. I trust that they do their best to make smart business decisions, and not wasting resources on PvP mounts is a pretty smart business decision. Actually admitting that, however, is not.

Not to float my own boat, but my comment was pretty much /thread.

Goat floats are better. Anyway, I agree, your comment was pretty good. Though people have been writing Blizzard off for far longer than that. As far back as Brood War I was seeing people write Blizzard off as a bunch of hacks/has beens/etc. *shrug*

[Eace]

Yes, in a sense, I trust them. I trust them to keep me interested in playing the game.

But I do think that they've got a bit too comfortable with the game.

[xskarma]

Not to float my own boat, but my comment was pretty much /thread.

No it wasn't. It's still just 1 person's opinion in a world full of opinions. I'll also remind you and everybody else that trying to stifle discussion with "/thread" type comments is little more then spam and is frowned upon.

[frymastermeat]

Am I the only one that thinks this entire topic is just wholly unhealthy? Do I trust Blizzard? Are they going to be feeding my cat while I'm on vacation? Are they going to deliver my mail? Why do I need to trust a game developer again?

[Alexandrina]

Not anymore.

[MoanaLisa]

I don't know that I actually need to trust Blizzard or even what the point of that would be. There's nothing they can really lie about in terms of what's in their products when released as there are hordes of people who note down every word they say; every picture or video they release. And they're quite open about stuff they cut or remove.

Do I think they go on Twitter to outright lie? No, not really. I do think they make mistakes fairly often, are generally far too optimistic about announcing their plans in advance and when forced to backtrack--even though they repeatedly say that everything is subject to change--sometimes do so in the worst possible way. Like any big business they have both an internal due date for projects and a budget. It's the budget part of this that hardly anyone ever takes into account. They do have constraints that simply having a lot of money around will do nothing to solve.

That said:

Anyone that has been reading my posts over the last few months will recognize that I think that Blizzard has a real and serious problem with not having a proper communication strategy. They don't speak with one voice and the fact that many of the devs are tweeting all the time finesses the people that are supposed to have a major role in organizing information, keeping straight what has and hasn't been said, and generally maintaining their relationship with their customers: community managers.

Personally until they can get a real communications strategy together, I think they should simply say much less about everything. Hell, if I were Morhaime, I'd cancel all of their Twitter accounts and have them submit whatever they think they need to say about the game to the CM's so that it can be fact-checked and vetted.

It's not so much about whether or not they can be trusted. I pretty much believe that they believe what they're saying at the moment they say it. But that's not a strategy for dispersing reliable information and managing expectations (which I think they are the worst at ever) to an over-informed customer base. That's incompetence. They really need to get on that. And more quickly than "soon".

EDIT: I would also ban the use of the words "epic" and "awesome" in any future corporate communications. They have overused the words to the point where they are meaningless. Let the damn game speak for itself.

[Roamingstorm]

Do I trust that they'll develop a fun game? Yes. Do I trust that they'll cater to my every need if I whine about it? No.

[Deleted]

I trusted Blizzard...but then Cataclysm happened.

[Deleted]

I trusted Blizzard...but then Cataclysm happened.

So true.. actually Cataclysm itself was fine. The day after tomorrow aka 4.1 was not.

[ReleaseDay]

no no no no no no no no

and nope¨


capitals anyone?

[Lunarien]

Nope not at all

[Deleted]

I voted NO

99% of what they said...." or the way they said it " at blizzCON was rubbish, they just wanted to fool more into staying subbed!

This blizzCON will have tons of wow news ^^

[wych]

You should never trust any company.

They exist for the sole purpose of profiting off you, they only give a shit about your happiness or fulfilment if it shows up as maximum profit on their spreadsheet.

So no I don't trust blizzard and I find a large number of their decisions in recent years downright disgusting

- - - Updated - - -

I don't know that I actually need to trust Blizzard or even what the point of that would be. There's nothing they can really lie about in terms of what's in their products when released as there are hordes of people who note down every word they say; every picture or video they release. And they're quite open about stuff they cut or remove.

Do I think they go on Twitter to outright lie? No, not really. I do think they make mistakes fairly often, are generally far too optimistic about announcing their plans in advance and when forced to backtrack--even though they repeatedly say that everything is subject to change--sometimes do so in the worst possible way. Like any big business they have both an internal due date for projects and a budget. It's the budget part of this that hardly anyone ever takes into account. They do have constraints that simply having a lot of money around will do nothing to solve.

That said:

Anyone that has been reading my posts over the last few months will recognize that I think that Blizzard has a real and serious problem with not having a proper communication strategy. They don't speak with one voice and the fact that many of the devs are tweeting all the time finesses the people that are supposed to have a major role in organizing information, keeping straight what has and hasn't been said, and generally maintaining their relationship with their customers: community managers.

Personally until they can get a real communications strategy together, I think they should simply say much less about everything. Hell, if I were Morhaime, I'd cancel all of their Twitter accounts and have them submit whatever they think they need to say about the game to the CM's so that it can be fact-checked and vetted.

It's not so much about whether or not they can be trusted. I pretty much believe that they believe what they're saying at the moment they say it. But that's not a strategy for dispersing reliable information and managing expectations (which I think they are the worst at ever) to an over-informed customer base. That's incompetence. They really need to get on that. And more quickly than "soon".

EDIT: I would also ban the use of the words "epic" and "awesome" in any future corporate communications. They have overused the words to the point where they are meaningless. Let the damn game speak for itself.

It's not just on twitter though, even blizzcon is full of hot air and empty words