In other words... our game is out of date.

[YoggSaron]

"As a result, it's actually extremely difficult to design Battlegrounds, partially due to the technical limitations that are currently in place." And we don't have the budget from corporate to do anything about it.

Technical limitations of the outdated engine code. The same stuff that's been keeping them from improving other aspects of the game and relying on the buff/nerf system for so long. Just come out and say it, you don't have to hide behind words. A battleground is not a big feat. I don't care what they say. FPS games have been doing the same thing for YEARS. It may be complex, but not from a design standpoint. It's laughable the approach they take in these blue posts. Keep serving up that Kool-Aid.

[Prof_Sarcastic]

You know what else is a really old game? Chess. I still love it, even though the graphics are shoddy.

[Deleted]

You know what else is a really old game? Chess. I still love it, even though the graphics are shoddy.

Do you pay to play it?=)

---------- Post added 2011-07-21 at 08:52 AM ----------

"As a result, it's actually extremely difficult to design Battlegrounds, partially due to the technical limitations that are currently in place." And we don't have the budget from corporate to do anything about it.

Technical limitations of the outdated engine code. The same stuff that's been keeping them from improving other aspects of the game and relying on the buff/nerf system for so long. Just come out and say it, you don't have to hide behind words. A battleground is not a big feat. I don't care what they say. FPS games have been doing the same thing for YEARS. It may be complex, but not from a design standpoint. It's laughable the approach they take in these blue posts. Keep serving up that Kool-Aid.

Question is if they can blame it on lack of budget since wow players probably provide most to their profit?=)

[sarco]

Well the problem is if they do update the core the game will get a major boost but tonns of people might not be able to play it anymore due to having wooden PC. I'm pretty sure that's one of the main reasons Blizz keeps the old core even now.

[Srg56]

You know what else is a really old game? Chess. I still love it, even though the graphics are shoddy.

You're taking your forum ID seriously i see.


So how long is WoW going to last if they don't upgrade the "tech"? Can they upgrade it? And if it's not possible, what is stopping players from migrating to "up-to-date" MMO games such as, i don't know, say, SWTOR?

[mdodic]

Just excuses and the usual Blizz wank.

[Deleted]

You're taking your forum ID seriously i see.


So how long is WoW going to last if they don't upgrade the "tech"? Can they upgrade it? And if it's not possible, what is stopping players from migrating to "up-to-date" MMO games such as, i don't know, say, SWTOR?

This is true, I think people will start finding new MMOs with slicker engines before long, and probably not scratching up many reasons to return. As you said, SWTOR is one of them, but being a completely different style of MMO i'm unsure how many people will do a straight swap to it. Tera on the other hand... yeah.

[Linzo]

"As a result, it's actually extremely difficult to design Battlegrounds, partially due to the technical limitations that are currently in place." And we don't have the budget from corporate to do anything about it.

Technical limitations of the outdated engine code. The same stuff that's been keeping them from improving other aspects of the game and relying on the buff/nerf system for so long. Just come out and say it, you don't have to hide behind words. A battleground is not a big feat. I don't care what they say. FPS games have been doing the same thing for YEARS. It may be complex, but not from a design standpoint. It's laughable the approach they take in these blue posts. Keep serving up that Kool-Aid.

Are you a designer? no ? OK .

This isn't an FPS. they can't just keep adding "Capture the Flag" maps like WSG/Battle for Gilneas and get away with it.
FPS maps can easily get away with that.

also, WoW is an old game and there is nothing We or the Developers can do about it, Other than making a new game.

---------- Post added 2011-07-21 at 12:13 PM ----------

You're taking your forum ID seriously i see.


So how long is WoW going to last if they don't upgrade the "tech"? Can they upgrade it? And if it's not possible, what is stopping players from migrating to "up-to-date" MMO games such as, i don't know, say, SWTOR?

Thing is, WoW STILL runs a lot smoother than all the newly released MMO. Take for example,Rift.
it's what?, 4 months old? has much better graphics but it doesn't "feel" smooth. It feels Sluggish and Clunky.

I don't know how up to date SWTOR is going to be, from what i've read, it's basically your average MMO with lightsabers and shitloads of cut-scenes.

GW2 looks good and I'm definitely gonna try it out.

[dense]

I really do not understand what the difference between creating new pve or new pvp maps is. Ok, you might have to balance pvp maps better, but you can just make some, put them on a ptr, wait for feedback, fix, and be done with it. Not much different from new pve stuff.

[Deleted]

"As a result, it's actually extremely difficult to design Battlegrounds, partially due to the technical limitations that are currently in place." And we don't have the budget from corporate to do anything about it.

Technical limitations of the outdated engine code.

What it sounds like is that their tools suck and/or that whatever they use to script things in the game is too limited or not flexible enough. But saying it's because the engine is "outdated" is wrong for a simple reason: doing these things right was perfectly possible ten years ago.

The problem is that video game programmers have a tendency to hack together ad-hoc solutions that are just good enough to do whatever the game design documents describe at the time. The problem is when the game is expanded upon from there and people want to do new things. A good game engine have to be flexible so that designers are free to experiment with things, because game design is not an exact science.

[JustinLee]

Out of date? Nope!
There are so many new mmo try to imitate WOW , how did u say out of date?
Every expansion release , there is a new WOW !

GW2 looks good and I'm definitely gonna try it out.

So do I

[juzalol]

I think they are just afraid of adding new arena maps after they saw
what a disaster Ring of Valor was / still is.

The post was basically:
It takes time and doesn't bring us more money.

[Izanami-Okami]

I really do not understand what the difference between creating new pve or new pvp maps is. Ok, you might have to balance pvp maps better, but you can just make some, put them on a ptr, wait for feedback, fix, and be done with it. Not much different from new pve stuff.

You make it sound a lot easy than it actually is.

[Duilliath]

Just excuses and the usual Blizz wank.

Actually, no. Do you know how often they tried to fix Ring of Valour? It was out of rotation for ages just recently and when they put it back in, it's still buggy. Bugs like these are completely game breaking. Warsong Gulch is still glitched. It's been in the game since... 1.4 or so? Do you know how often you see people whine about how Alliance can cap Stables a bit sooner than Horde can cap Farm? Or, how the Alterac Valley layout features favour Horde/Alliance (defense near IB / base defense).

They are spot on when they say that map design is very important.

Furthermore, adding yet another variation of AB or WSG gets even more stale. Gilneas or Twin Peaks are okay, but not that exciting. EotS is fairly dull. Don't even get me started on SotA or IoC. Actually, Gilneas and Twin Peaks are both prime examples of maps where there's been quite a few flaws. Life Gripping the FC up to the graveyard sure is fun. Deterrence / Paracloak off the Alliance base halfway over the field in Twin Peaks sure is fun. Swimming underground and leaping up halfway the field in Twin Peaks sure is fun.

So not only do they have to come up with a design we haven't seen before, they also have to make the map bug-free and advantage-free. The design bit already is hard enough, seeing how people complained the most about maps like SotA or IoC, which are actually quite unlike other games we've seen.

[Feral Camel]

While I can understand that new BG's are big projects, I just can't help but feeling pvpers are due for a bit of love.

The original blue post has me a bit worrierd. I was kind of hoping for a new BG before the next expansion.

[Deleted]

even with WoWs out of date engine and such, it still feels a lot nice and smoother to play than any of the newer MMO's, as long as wow doesnt upgrade its engine and end up like rift with clunky and awkward animations then im happy

also with adding new BGs, it means i would have to wait longer for call to arms AV

[YoggSaron]

You know what else is a really old game? Chess. I still love it, even though the graphics are shoddy.

Amazing isn't it. I love it too. It's equally amazing they haven't issued a hotfix or patch in 1500 years.

[Linzo]

Amazing isn't it. I love it too. It's equally amazing they haven't issued a hotfix or patch in 1500 years.

since this topic is now about chess, isn't chess over 4000 years old?

[Mulled]

Must agree with the above poster, wow does feel very very smooth while I'm an avid rift player, nothing compares to wow, rift feels very claustrophobic. But it is disappointing how much they are slacking on wow just because its not bringing the amount of revenue it use to, but that really is blizzards fault really.

[mööh]

I think they are just afraid of adding new arena maps after they saw
what a disaster Ring of Valor was / still is.

The post was basically:
It takes time and doesn't bring us more money.

Don't forget dalaran....