Poor Blizz Devs

[Kolvarg]

I think the biggest problem is that When they listen to feedback they usually go to the extreme. Btw I like WoD and garrsions.

Yeap. Sometimes I think they'd be better of almost completly ignoring any feedback/suggestions as far as design choces go (eg heroic dungeon difficulty, max level content such as dailies, etc), and just stick to what the core team believes the game should be like. Let the ones who enjoy it the way it is stay, and those who don't leave for other games (instead of waiting for the pendulum to swing back to their preferrerd choice in the next xpac), making for a better, more like-minded community.

That would mean less sub numbers if it was not already too late to do such a thing anyway. And it's not like it's black and white in most issues /shrug.


But they should defenitely keep in mind by now that the displeased customers are always the most vocal. Just because no one is praising a feature, while a bunch are complaining about it, doesn't mean the majority doesn't enjoy said feature and wants it removed.

[Gadzooks]

I stopped playing WoW near the start of MoP due to not being able to prioritise work commitments over playing the game (yeah yeah), but I often come on here just to see what's being done in the game (and cheering when my class / the class I hate gets buffed / nerfed).

One thing I've noticed recently though is BOY do the blizz dev team get bombarded with so much abuse and allegations!

I realise that they sometimes make what some would consider shit changes, mistakes, etc, but one thing I have noticed is that they are really doing so much more to bring in input from the community to bring these changes forward, more so than I ever witnessed when playing the game.

YET

They are still getting accused quite harshly of ignoring the community, changing things for 1%'ers.. changing things for casuals that affect the hardcores, etc.
I'd hate to have their job to be honest. You guys are incredibly ungrateful!

To err is human. Remember that.

Well, after reading the comments in the beta forum they completely ignored, I have very little sympathy for them. And, I'm sorry, "erring" is not what happened here, at all. Very little that people are upset about happened as a mistake. It was intentional.

- - - Updated - - -

If I was a Blizzard Dev I too would give no feedback to the twitter community, since 99% of the posts are from ungrateful little shitbags that don't know what they are talking about anyway but think they do or conspiracy theorists who try to find false hidden malicious context in anything they say.

Blizzard could say "It's a nice day outside today" and someone would complain.

Ahhh, the stench of fresh smug elitism...

[ihyln]

I stopped playing WoW near the start of MoP due to not being able to prioritise work commitments over playing the game (yeah yeah), but I often come on here just to see what's being done in the game (and cheering when my class / the class I hate gets buffed / nerfed).

One thing I've noticed recently though is BOY do the blizz dev team get bombarded with so much abuse and allegations!

I realise that they sometimes make what some would consider shit changes, mistakes, etc, but one thing I have noticed is that they are really doing so much more to bring in input from the community to bring these changes forward, more so than I ever witnessed when playing the game.

YET

They are still getting accused quite harshly of ignoring the community, changing things for 1%'ers.. changing things for casuals that affect the hardcores, etc.
I'd hate to have their job to be honest. You guys are incredibly ungrateful!

To err is human. Remember that.

Blizz devs said "WoD will fix it"

No, WoD didn't fix it. WoD is a stunning example of what a company without ideas releases to the public.

Now Blizz is trying to prop up sub numbers with the WoW token before Q2 ends. Too bad it's going to be a disaster

[Breccia]

They are still getting accused quite harshly of ignoring the community

I'm an Arms warrior. The accusations are entirely valid.

You guys are incredibly ungrateful!

I'm an Arms warrior. There is nothing to be grateful for.

[dacoolist]

I stopped playing WoW near the start of MoP due to not being able to prioritise work commitments over playing the game (yeah yeah), but I often come on here just to see what's being done in the game (and cheering when my class / the class I hate gets buffed / nerfed).

One thing I've noticed recently though is BOY do the blizz dev team get bombarded with so much abuse and allegations!

I realise that they sometimes make what some would consider shit changes, mistakes, etc, but one thing I have noticed is that they are really doing so much more to bring in input from the community to bring these changes forward, more so than I ever witnessed when playing the game.

YET

They are still getting accused quite harshly of ignoring the community, changing things for 1%'ers.. changing things for casuals that affect the hardcores, etc.
I'd hate to have their job to be honest. You guys are incredibly ungrateful!

To err is human. Remember that.

Your posting on MMO-C, and calling us ungrateful is only going to piss people off. In my opinion, I say - if you aren't playing the game - why come on here and piss the community off that still plays the game. If you haven't played WoW since 2012, stay away, don't come back.

[beanman12345]

They gave a crap product imo, and actually I think they are getting off light... but most game dev's across the board get off light for producing half assed crap these days. And they have no guilt about it what-so-ever so I can't feel bad for them.

[Woadnson]

They are still getting accused quite harshly of ignoring the community, changing things for 1%'ers.. changing things for casuals that affect the hardcores, etc.
I'd hate to have their job to be honest. You guys are incredibly ungrateful!

To err is human. Remember that.

I'm fully aware of developers being human, and I perhaps don't have the same burgeoning rage as others as I unsubbed and stayed away, but even from afar I'm disappointed in the results of WoD. There is a great amount of dissonance between their stated aims and the end product they're pushing out, and I can accept that as the problem of hubris and the factory conveyor belt construction going on.

I'm not sure the "changing things for 1%" really stands... people that use that argument would probably be horrified to learn such divisions of WoW's demographics come back with much bigger percentages than they'd like. The actual problem in this case is in fact Blizzard's reaction to such demographics. It's a world, it has room for anything they want to put in there, so entirely cutting mechanics and game play that has worked in the past is an overreaction on their part. Making the garrison seem important seems to have relied on it usurping traditional professions, crafting and collecting, and trying to make people use them as hubs. They are 'fixing' things which weren't broke, which is entirely their choice, but when people feel the expansion is lacking in content that sort of tinkering is only going to annoy customers.

They have err'd and err'd and err'd... I can forgive it, but when Blizzard acts as a many headed hydra with lies/confusion/damagecontrol affecting it's communications, the lack of consistency will cause a lack of trust.

[Kymei]

I have played a shaman since burning crusade, there is nothing to be greatful for.


Sometimes I ask myself why does the beta exist when things are released broken anyway.

My "relationship" with the devs would have been a lot different if I decided to play a mage since the beginning, because the people responsible for shaman really can't do their job. I don't complain anymore and I don't "bombard" the devs with negativity, when ele is broken I play enhance or resto, when both ele and enhance are broken I play resto, when I want to PvP I play resto.

I stopped playing after getting bored of WoD, but people on the forums complain about the same things as they did 2 years ago. Mobility, train the shaman till it dies, clunky totems. Mobility, train the shaman till it dies, clunky totems. Mobility, train the shaman till it dies, clunky totems. The shaman forum seems like a reddit circlejerk, but the people with other opinions -shaman is fine learn to play, they don't exist.

[bryroo]

They promised high with Wod and delivered really low.

The devs have dug their own hole on this one. I don't feel the least bit sorry for them.

[Kolvarg]

Ahhh, the stench of fresh smug elitism...

He may have been unnecessarily blunt, but there's still truth in what he's trying to say.

The fact is way too much people, especially the more vocal (to avoid saying the majority), are full of bs =P They talk like they're geniuses of game design, state their opinion as fact and their personal preference as standart.

It's easy to think a blizzard developer/employee is a rich bastard that wins way too much money to work way to litle without caring at all about the product or the consumer. But the truth is, ulterior motives aside (those only the devs individually know, no matter whatever anyone says), they're just people, working. They get their paycheck, no matter if Blizzard made 1 or 100k millions that month, what they get is the paycheck. They don't have limitless power, they have to answer to shareholders, justify what they spent and offer enough profit to keep them pleased.

Blizzard as a company may make a lot of profit, but only a very small fraction of that revenue makes its way into the pockets of the developers and creative minds that actually care for the game.

There is no blank or white as far as game design goes. What is absolutely preposterous to someone, is amazeballs to another, and utterly "meh" to the next one.

[Polarthief]

Apperently the best thing the devs can do for WoW now is doing pointless facebook games a.k.a. Garrison and stupid cash mounts and pets, take as an example patch 6.1 , You´re welcome.

When a major number patch (X.Y) introduces little to no content and we're all already back to what we were doing in 6.0, it's a pretty big failure. Also, "Garrisons Update" is the official name of the patch. Just think about that.

Look at the front page, their twitter activity has gone down the tubes. That's been their biggest form of communication since Pandaria.

And even that's in the shitter. The flak they catch for no-communication is as warranted as it gets.

When the CS/communication team says one thing and the others at Blizzard say another thing (and this has happened COUNTLESS times since MoP), they're gonna get flak for it. When things just happen without a single word, they get flak for it.

The flak is not just warranted, but they do it to themselves almost intentionally. Blizzard has addressed next to 0 issues with 6.1, and won't even comment on 400+ upvote threads pointing out the problems with WoD. They haven't said a FUCKING WORD about how to fix anything. They also say things like "BoA tokens for your alts!" and then stick them in the CTA LFD bags. They say things like "character appearance customization" (this was back in Blizzcon) then it gets shelved without a word. They overhyped things like how WoD zones are like Timeless Isle and how amazing Ashran is and we all know what happened to both of these points.

[Seezer]

Look at the front page, their twitter activity has gone down the tubes. That's been their biggest form of communication since Pandaria.

And even that's in the shitter. The flak they catch for no-communication is as warranted as it gets.

Except "no communication" is just spin doctoring and hyperbole. You can damn sure bet they were probably told to hold back a little. When people have a chip on their shoulder and they're obsessed with being right, they'll argue until the sun comes up. Because they're aren't obsessed over actual issues. They're obsessed with feeling like they've won. The internet is great for that. And that's what was happening. People can't hold back their nerdrage. And it was doing nobody any good. So they scaled back. Twitter was bad anyway.

If a game is bad enough for people to lose their shit over, then they shouldn't give it another thought. Don't worry about trying to mold it through complaining. It's only a video game. You can walk away forever and be totally good with it. But people will always find a way to justify obsessing over it. Even when they've stopped playing.

[Bathory]

I feel for em. I don't think they deserve the name calling and downright disrespect they get. Oh no, they changed something, better lose my absolute shit. Better lose it even more if they respond back with even the slightest bit of snark. I hate when a lot of the vocal minority can dish it, but they can't take it. Yeah you're a customer, get over it. The customer isn't always right. You don't get to treat people like shit for 15dollars.

Not only are the devs people too, but they're gamers, they're passionate about what they do. Take it up with the accountants if people don't like their ideas to increase revenue, not the damn artists.

It's a game, not a lifestyle. Holy shit. Step away if it gets you THAT mad imo. I know I did. Will I be back? Maybe? But I like to think that I have matured enough to understand that the game doesn't revolve around me.

[Woadnson]

Not only are the devs people too, but they're gamers, they're passionate about what they do. Take it up with the accountants if people don't like their ideas to increase revenue, not the damn artists.
.

Sure, they don't deserve the general abuse they get, abuse is someone pissing on someone else to feel better about themselves which a lot of the threads degenerate into. That is why my concerns are with the company rather the ideas men. Mismanagement, poorly controlled or thought out communications with their customer base, lack of signs of beta testing being anything other than a preview/pr tool. Don't go shifting it onto accountants though... they don't demand "raise income by so much this quarter by adding hay rides". It is the responsibility of the development departments and management, and they appear to have sailed this boat into a rabbit warren.

[Fang7986]

Look at the front page, their twitter activity has gone down the tubes. That's been their biggest form of communication since Pandaria.

And even that's in the shitter. The flak they catch for no-communication is as warranted as it gets.

why should they communicate though when whatever they do is greeted with screaming and bitching by the player-base

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When a major number patch (X.Y) introduces little to no content and we're all already back to what we were doing in 6.0, it's a pretty big failure. Also, "Garrisons Update" is the official name of the patch. Just think about that.



When the CS/communication team says one thing and the others at Blizzard say another thing (and this has happened COUNTLESS times since MoP), they're gonna get flak for it. When things just happen without a single word, they get flak for it.

The flak is not just warranted, but they do it to themselves almost intentionally. Blizzard has addressed next to 0 issues with 6.1, and won't even comment on 400+ upvote threads pointing out the problems with WoD. They haven't said a FUCKING WORD about how to fix anything. They also say things like "BoA tokens for your alts!" and then stick them in the CTA LFD bags. They say things like "character appearance customization" (this was back in Blizzcon) then it gets shelved without a word. They overhyped things like how WoD zones are like Timeless Isle and how amazing Ashran is and we all know what happened to both of these points.

the problem with 6.1 is a player created issue when blizz never said it was a content patch and in fact was very open on what it would contain and players (cause they are idiots) created it to be some huge content patch and then threw a hissy fit when it wasn't.

[Gadzooks]

He may have been unnecessarily blunt, but there's still truth in what he's trying to say.

The fact is way too much people, especially the more vocal (to avoid saying the majority), are full of bs =P They talk like they're geniuses of game design, state their opinion as fact and their personal preference as standart.

It's easy to think a blizzard developer/employee is a rich bastard that wins way too much money to work way to litle without caring at all about the product or the consumer. But the truth is, ulterior motives aside (those only the devs individually know, no matter whatever anyone says), they're just people, working. They get their paycheck, no matter if Blizzard made 1 or 100k millions that month, what they get is the paycheck. They don't have limitless power, they have to answer to shareholders, justify what they spent and offer enough profit to keep them pleased.

Blizzard as a company may make a lot of profit, but only a very small fraction of that revenue makes its way into the pockets of the developers and creative minds that actually care for the game.

There is no blank or white as far as game design goes. What is absolutely preposterous to someone, is amazeballs to another, and utterly "meh" to the next one.

No, calling everyone "ungratful little shitbags" is elitism. I call it as I see it.

To answer you, it's not a money thing, at least not for me.

They're selling a product.

My issue is not their paychecks, it's what I paid, and what was delivered, and that they are in a privileged position to have a very cool job designing a game, and they're doing a piss poor job of it. Its not being childish to say "That's it?" when I drop $50 on a game that's about $10 worth of content - and has a running meter on it every month. That's why it pisses me off when they complain about how "hard" their jobs are - dev, PLEASE, you don't know hard, you sit in an air conditioned office on an $800 office chair with free soda and snacks and design games about fantasy monsters. I don't want to hear "it's hard" - besides, hard is what you're being paid for.

I don't care about salaries, or excuses about design, or any of that. I want a game that's worth the money I paid for it, and WoD ain't it. As a customer, i have a right to voice that opinion - and to take my money elsewhere, which I did.

I pay Blizzard to do the hard stuff. Beyond that, it's all excuses from them these days. That's not 'erring", that's intentional. And as a paying customer, it's not unreasonable to be irked - and as a paying customer I have no sympathy for them. They sold me a flawed product, that they advertised as being different, and have failed to make good on the lack of my money's worth since. If you sell a product, and ship something substandard, the correct response from the customers is not "Aw, feel sorry for them, they work so hard!" - no, you say fix your damn product, it sucks, or I won't buy any more of it.

And on top of all of that, I'm a creative professional. i've been putting my work into the public eye for longer than I care to admit. Criticism comes with the job, period. If they can't take to heat, they can find new jobs. I have ZERO patience for prima donnas - defend your work, or don't bother. Put out shit, you get shit back. The OPs post is attempting to prima donna the devs, and it's repugnant.

[Arbs]

I've said this before, but they've backed themselves into a corner by trying to tailor this game to be all things to all people. And because of it they've acquired a playerbase who's second favorite word is 'tedium'.

Pretty much, I guess trying to make sure are Grandma's can play the game was the worse idea they have come up with.

[Bathory]

I have ZERO patience for prima donnas -

This was my favorite part.

[mysticx]

"To err is human", eh? That's what beta-tests are for, and then they ignored most of the feedback (embittered arms-warrior here), that is beyond "Oops!" and into "Screw the guys playing this, i know best!"-territory, and for that Blizzard deserves all the flak they're getting and a lot more on top of that.

And the "Raid or die from boredom"-endgame or the "Run years-old content for vanity stuff"-patch that is 6.1: they're that way by design, crummy, uninspired design, and Blizz also deserve to get told off for that.

[Glorious Leader]

Pretty much, I guess trying to make sure are Grandma's can play the game was the worse idea they have come up with.

Yea I don't buy that one bit. They make the game they would want to play and it's not cause grandma wants to get in on hot 20 man mythic action. They design everything from the top down and grandma is lucky if she gets crumbs. ..grandma doesn't want to raid but guess what this game is all about and guess what the developers absolutely love to do...