What do you think blizzard thought/thinks about the cataclysm leak?

[Weriik]

My guess is they got pretty pissed, and might not have an alpha next expac.

[Chilico]

I think it was completely expected and they're not angry at all.

[Garekh]

I think it was completely expected and they're not angry at all.

This, actually.

I think they might actually have planned it going this way all along.

[Kaneiac]

This isn't new. It happened during Wrath of the Lich King too. I have no clue about BC, as I didn't pay as much attention then.

[Bossmonkey]

This isn't new. It happened during Wrath of the Lich King too. I have no clue about BC, as I didn't pay as much attention then.

I think it was the same for TBC too, maybe not the extreme of wrath/cata since the game wasn't AS popular, but still. It was pretty much the same.

[Qwios]

This isn't new. It happened during Wrath of the Lich King too. I have no clue about BC, as I didn't pay as much attention then.

It happened during leading up to TBC except the tools weren't as widely distributed, so you had a handful of people leaking images instead of everyone and their brother with a sandbox/mapviewer/etc.

[Chilico]

This, actually.

I think they might actually have planned it going this way all along.

/nod

[Zilas]

They're probably like "whoopsie.."

Idk, It was bound to happen, they can't keep anything a secret.

[Naivedo]

Most of the leaks are from data mining or private servers. Basically, from people who didn't get into alpha and downloaded and hacked/private servered Cataclysm. Which is why their is no NPCs in any of the pictures because only the real alpha has NPCs.

Why would they be pissed? No one broke NDA. The hosted exe file just got hacked.

[Speculaas]

It's free publicity...fans eat up this kind of news. Why would they be upset?

[kerwyn]

Why would they be pissed? No one broke NDA. They hosted exe file just got hacked.

Ding ding ding.
To violate an NDA you actually have to first sign it.

Blizzard isn't stupid, they had to have realized that the client would be leaked onto the internet within a matter of hours. If anything it's free publicity for them since others are doing the job of gathering the screenshots.

[digiNuck]

It was clearly expected. Why else do you think a lot of stuff which is obviously done appears to be incomplete? There is no way Blizzard would go to F+F mode with a game as unfinished as some of the data seems to suggest. It's a total hype factory, they want to spread as much information as they can to get people hyped without giving everything away. Classic marketing.

[Elementium]

I doubt they planned for everyone to have access to the sandbox. Leaks keep people interested but what's happening with Cataclysm is just insane. I mean even when only boubouille knows and posts screenshots it keeps things interesting but with everyone on the forums posting what they find it feels less like someone searching for cool things to show us and more like vultures picking a part a corpse.

Just my opinion though, I don't want to spoil too much for myself so I tend to avoid Alpha leak threads unless I get a report in one. I've even asked the other mods and admins if we plan on not allowing them but nope.

[Ardichoke]

What does Blizzard expect? I mean no matter what they do, there is always someone from the company that will leak something. I do wish that it didn't happen so soon. Like its only been 4 or 5 days! I hate seeing all this stuff, I wish for it to be a surprise. People see all this crap on website, then when the game comes out, they know what to except. It takes the fun out of everything, and I learned that from looking at everything for WoTLK.

[Pudie]

I honestly wouldn't be least bit surprised if this was all done on purpose by Blizzard. It's cut and dry viral marketing. Show some, but barely any, of what's coming and slowly add more and more to build hype. The Alpha being so "closed" gives people that much more of a rise out of seeing something they shouldn't and builds hype that much more. And it feeds the egos of the leakers to try and squeeze every little drop out of each build.

It's really pretty brilliant when you think about it.

[kerwyn]

It was clearly expected. Why else do you think a lot of stuff which is obviously done appears to be incomplete? There is no way Blizzard would go to F+F mode with a game as unfinished as some of the data seems to suggest. It's a total hype factory, they want to spread as much information as they can to get people hyped without giving everything away. Classic marketing.

Wrath was pretty much the same when it went into early alpha.

Alpha = not feature complete
beta = feature complete, working out bugs/adding new content where appropriate/balance

[Herecius]

Blizzard is probably ecstatic. The leak is building as much hype as pouring money into marketing money could, saving Blizz the trouble.

[psychobrainzkk]

idunno, most of the screenshots were such nice, crisp, (planned) quality that i cant help but suspect that blizzard not only knew, but helped leak it and feigned ignorance

[Deleted]

I honestly wouldn't be least bit surprised if this was all done on purpose by Blizzard. It's cut and dry viral marketing. Show some, but barely any, of what's coming and slowly add more and more to build hype. The Alpha being so "closed" gives people that much more of a rise out of seeing something they shouldn't and builds hype that much more. And it feeds the egos of the leakers to try and squeeze every little drop out of each build.

It's really pretty brilliant when you think about it.

makes sense

[Mr. Smith]

MEANWHILE, AT BLIZZARD HQ