Why did Blizzard double the dev capacity for WoW?

[Deleted]

Now i dont know the exact numbers of devs on WoW, but lets say its about a 100.
Why would they suddenly need 200 developers, when they JUST did an entire graphical improvement overhaul?
Double the devs could mean double the content, or half the production time. It could also mean they are working on something huge, along the scale of a WoW 2.0.

So what do you think? Why do they suddenly need double the capacity?

[Deleted]

Scourse?

And if your talking about the earlier addition to the team, then i was because they stopped doing project Titan.

[Deleted]

Did they? I dont know.
I just remember reading that they got lots of noobs in the building that needed to learn their ways, so perhaps they needed extra workforce since the noobs are noobs and slower than former staff?

[Deleted]

Scourse?

And if your talking about the earlier addition to the team, then i was because they stopped doing project Titan.

WAIT WAIT WAIT. What if "Titan" was actually WoW 2.0? What if they tricked us all into thinking they scrapped it, to add all the developers to the WoW team just so we woulnd notice they were secretly working on WoW 2.0?

Mind = blown.

[kryptik93]

so they could deliver this disgrace of an abomination called garrison.

[Feali]

Wasnt Titan confirmed to be overwatch? Arent they still developing that?

Titan got scrapped and parts of it are now Overwatch.

[Lochton]

Remember, Blizzard runs a new business plan. 12-15 month expansions is the goal (I added 3 months to give a little lee-way), they need people to run it and from there, get an overview of what is needed to make the new business plan work.

[Morssoe]

Blizzard have said that even tho they now have more in the team, most of the new ppl aren't good at making content. We need to wait a bit so they learn.

I don't have source for this.

[Lochton]

Wasnt Titan confirmed to be overwatch? Arent they still developing that?

WAIT WAIT WAIT. What if "Titan" was actually WoW 2.0?
What if they tricked us all into thinking they scrapped it, to add them all to the WoW team so we woulnd notice they were secretly working on WoW 2.0?

Mind = blown.

Titan got scrapped and parts of it are now Overwatch.

Indeed, Titan was scrapped and what remained either put in storage or added to Overwatch, the team couldn't get it running as they wanted.

[Cracked]

I'm not sure it's even true at this point. Entirety of WoD could have been developed by 5-8 people. I do believe they increased staffing in art assets department however. New models, more voice over than ever, outdoor maps look better than before.

[Deztru]

To rawly decrease the dev time for new expansions. They will probably hire more IT stuff too so that the WoD launch thing doesn't happen again.

IMO Phasing is too volatile to work on a larger scale, I wish they just had bigger realms instead of crz.

[shoc]

During MoP Blizzard had 2 big hiring waves, both increasing the size of the development team by 40%, effectively doubling the development team. They did this to finally fulfill the promise of annual expansions, something they promised every expansion but failed to just due to annual expansions being a lot of fucking work.

That's also the reason why WoD was delayed by 6 months (It was supposed to release around May-June 2015). They had to pull development from WoD to train all the new hires, which I consider a massive human resources blunder. But regardless, there are now two WoW teams, each developing an expansion to facilitate the 'announce an expansion at every Blizzcon' model.

I doubt the X6 team is comprised solely of new hires, both teams probably have just as many seniors as they do juniors. But the sudden influx of junior developers and designers is my explanation as to why WoD was WoD.

[Schadow]

Remember, Blizzard runs a new business plan. 12-15 month expansions is the goal (I added 3 months to give a little lee-way), they need people to run it and from there, get an overview of what is needed to make the new business plan work.

Don't forget to add $10 on an expansion from WoD onward, effectively, you'll be paying even more. Expansion sells more, that's more cash for Blizzard. Pay $15 a month for the sub + $60 for an expansion every year, that's better than $60 every two years!

[Lochton]

Don't forget to add $10 on an expansion from WoD onward, effectively, you'll be paying even more. Expansion sells more, that's more cash for Blizzard. Pay $15 a month for the sub + $60 for an expansion every year, that's better than $60 every two years!

Nothing new there, really. It is a common fact that you can purchase the game to a set price, nothing changes there. It's still a product, you still pay full price for some things you need every day, week, month, year as well.

60 dollars isn't really much, still games selling for more.

[Deztru]

Don't forget to add $10 on an expansion from WoD onward, effectively, you'll be paying even more. Expansion sells more, that's more cash for Blizzard. Pay $15 a month for the sub + $60 for an expansion every year, that's better than $60 every two years!

If the new devs learn from WoD's mistakes I'm ok for the price.

[Deleted]

Didn't Jay Wilson join the WoW team round the same time?

[alucardtnuoc]

I could say wow 2 is in dev, but nobody would believe me =)

[Deleted]

WAIT WAIT WAIT. What if "Titan" was actually WoW 2.0? What if they tricked us all into thinking they scrapped it, to add all the developers to the WoW team just so we woulnd notice they were secretly working on WoW 2.0?

Mind = blown.

I have been saying this for years, and since the day Titan was announced as in development. I was convinced Titan was Wow 2 and I am 100% convinced as I have been since then that we are going to see Wow2 in next few years and it will generate a serious amount of money and interest. It is time.

[Deztru]

I could say wow 2 is in dev, but nobody would believe me =)

I wouldn't say directly a WoW 2, but some serious changes are going to happen in the coming years due to technical difficulties.

Squishing every expansion would make the game ridiculous with all kinds of stuff.

[Morbownz]

WoW 2 would be a titanic risk. How many people have faith in Blizzard based on the game model WoW has become? I'm 99% certain that WoW is just a cash cow for Blizzard, and nothing more.