Tom Chilton Switching Projects, Ion Hazzikostas now Game Director

Finding it difficult to put a positive spin on this, I haven't agreed with much of what Ion has done.

Originally Posted by alabaster jones

Finding it difficult to put a positive spin on this, I haven't agreed with much of what Ion has done.

Probably because you don't raid because that was his job until now.

I was excited for a new Diablo project and figured he'd be the new lead on that. Given the spacing on the panels, that's more likely to be an expansion now instead of a new game. Tom could still be taking lead on that.

Originally Posted by Schmoyan89

All you do is make noise.

If you want to accuse me of not being an expert on a variety of subjects, begin by demonstrating any expertise yourself. In all 19 of your posts, not a single one has any relevant substance to the given thread. The only evidence of expertise I see, is in whining and crying. See above.

Originally Posted by Goron24

At least its not holinka, hate that guy

The day this happens is the day I might actually join the doomsayers. This guy has been a train wreck to wow pvp, i can't imagine him leading the entire direction of the game.

RIP warriors. OP 2004-2016 only to be replaced by Shamans.

So how much affection does Ion have for Shadowpriests? I don't pay attention to Blizz office politics.

Class balance an absolute shitshow for years, despite non-stop homogenization, gear simplification and ability pruning? Better promote that guy.

Originally Posted by xhisors

The day this happens is the day I might actually join the doomsayers. This guy has been a train wreck to wow pvp, i can't imagine him leading the entire direction of the game.

I still don't understand how Holinka got the job to begin with, considering his past design experience was full of shovelware. Now after his miserable performance at Blizzard along with his inability to engage the community or at least not act like an ass whenever he does get the spotlight for a few seconds... Gotta be some kind of nepotism going on with him.

I'd rather Blizzard just do outside hires than promote some of their lackluster legacy staff, when the recent legacy has been pretty depressing.

Originally Posted by Yvaelle

They'll cannibalize WoW with WoW 2 IMO

The only MMO that will kill WoW, is WoW itself!



Ah yes Reddit, that shining city on the hill where there is no echo chamber and everyone is an expert on every topic

(And I'm saying that as a Redditer, but your sense of bizarre forum elitism is hilarious)

The Doom & Gloom mod strikes again.

I like Ion better than Tom anyways.

Tom always said something and it would end up not being true.

Bye Kalgan, don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

Sincerely, a Ret paladin

Originally Posted by Partysaurus Rex

The Doom & Gloom mod strikes again.

It's not doom and gloom at all, it's "yay new Blizzard game!"

- - - Updated - - -

Originally Posted by Annesh

So how much affection does Ion have for Shadowpriests? I don't pay attention to Blizz office politics.

He acknowledges that we exist occasionally on twitter, which is more than Kalgan ever did

Originally Posted by Yvaelle

It's not doom and gloom at all, it's "yay new Blizzard game!"

How well do you think a sequel will do though?

I'm sure it would look amazing (that isn't Blizzard's problem).

A huge part of what keeps people coming back is the attachment/commitment to an account/character.

I am not sure I am ready for another mmo. I honestly might consider sitting out.

Ion is the one that wants to remove things so that everyone have to play the way he wants (like the water strider fiasco), and also the shitload of RNG in gear. Terrible decision. Hoping he will be the next to quit.

Ion's one of the only high-up devs to communicate these days and raiding has only gotten better since he started there. Good change imo.

It is cool that a Greek-American has taken over as Game-Director I suppose and good luck to him.

However, I feel sad that Tom Chilton aka Kalgan steps down. With Kalgan there, it felt like there was always one of -us- meaning one of my generation and a veteran of UO days, on the wheel.

And now he is no more. I don't know, first GC steps down now Kalgan steps down. I am starting to feel lonely.

Originally Posted by Partysaurus Rex

How well do you think a sequel will do though?

I'm sure it would look amazing (that isn't Blizzard's problem).

A huge part of what keeps people coming back is the attachment/commitment to an account/character.

I am not sure I am ready for another mmo. I honestly might consider sitting out.

I think a successful transition has to be mandatory (for players), but also incorporated into the existing game - both paying homage, enabling people to maintain their names, communities, etc - but also doing a full reset. A lot can be learned from the attempted (failed) transition between EverQuest and EverQuest 2, because they spun it off as a completely separate game they split or lost their community - a mandatory transition is necessary to keep community cohesion together, and focus resources (rather than split into maintaining a legacy WoW and building a whole new game, otherwise both end up half-assed).

If I were them, it would roll-out as a grand new expansion - at least as far as current players are concerned. Existing WoW server names would be preserved, your character names would be saved on your servers across both games, your characters would remain in their existing guilds (also preserved across both games), your achievements from WoW would still be visible in the Armory/inspection window.

Where it would differ, is you do something like - an 'expansion' - on an entirely new engine, with new gameplay mechanics stealing the best of everything MMO's have come up with over the last 15 years since WoW began - and all the tech WoW couldn't really do because their engine is old.

You put the game in a different time, say, 10k years prior when the Legion previously invaded (War of the Ancients timeline) - that avoids any retconning issues, all the stuff in WoW 1 is now occurring in the far future. Maybe we lose this expansion, Sargeras takes Azeroth - Chromie teleports the entire planet to the past to try again... #StillABetterPlotThanDraenor

So from the perspective of existing players, you log into the next expansion - but you do so on an entirely different client - you start at Level 1, but you still have your current name, server, and guild intact - except now you're Level 1 again - and we're 10k years in the past. It feels like a big expansion.

From the perspective of new players coming to try out WoW 2, they're logging into an entirely new MMO just as they do with Rift, SWTOR, Tera, WildStar, etc. It feels like a new game.

In exchange for all this, you have the opportunity to reinvent the game while preserving their existing community - you get to update the game in a way an expansion never would - and that keeps them competitive for potentially another 10-15 years of MMO dominance. New players aren't intimidated by the 15 year headstart everyone else has currently - to whom they feel they will never catch up (a big problem with MMO's as they get older, is that you bleed current players due to attrition, but you can't take in new players because you aren't shiny and new, and you're way too intimidating to leap into fresh).

Consider the alternative - if they try to keep the game floating for another 3-10 expansions, someone will eventually come out with something that simply blows WoW out of the water - visually and technically. It won't die overnight, old MMO's never do (there are still people playing Ultima and EverQuest 1) - but it will die. The way MMO playerbases work is you get a big spike off your launch - and then you basically bleed that community out from attrition with each patch/expansion - sometimes you can win some of your former players back - but you rarely get truly new players. WoW does a fantastic job of bleeding slowly - no other game has bled as slowly as WoW - but without a massive injection of truly new players - all MMO's fade out eventually.

Originally Posted by apepi

I like Ion better than Tom anyways.

Tom always said something and it would end up not being true.

I disagree, but for the exact same reasons.
Tom would from time to time say something that turned out not to happen, or oversell/downplay certain things. However, Ion is like someone with a severe mental disability; Sure, it is possible for him to function, but everything he touches still gets covered in poop.

Originally Posted by Snackwiches

Class balance an absolute shitshow for years, despite non-stop homogenization, gear simplification and ability pruning? Better promote that guy.



I still don't understand how Holinka got the job to begin with, considering his past design experience was full of shovelware. Now after his miserable performance at Blizzard along with his inability to engage the community or at least not act like an ass whenever he does get the spotlight for a few seconds... Gotta be some kind of nepotism going on with him.

I'd rather Blizzard just do outside hires than promote some of their lackluster legacy staff, when the recent legacy has been pretty depressing.

I'm inclined to agree that he knows someone, which is usually the case these days with all companies. Its who you know not what you know in just about every line of work. I think the WoW community collectively agree that he shouldn't be in the position hes in(not sure people even want him involved with wow at this point). I would be interested seeing a poll of who the community has wanted gone over the past few years.... and by how much Holinka would win that poll over everyone else. lol

Originally Posted by xhisors

I'm inclined to agree that he knows someone, which is usually the case these days with all companies. Its who you know not what you know in just about every line of work. I think the WoW community collectively agree that he shouldn't be in the position hes in(not sure people even want him involved with wow at this point). I would be interested seeing a poll of who the community has wanted gone over the past few years.... and by how much Holinka would win that poll over everyone else. lol

WoW is not a Democracy [Credit: Greg Street]

If it was left up to you and yours to vote for a Game Designer, you'd vote in a Kung Fu Panda who's into k3teenz and rides Pon33z (after My Little Pony) anyway.