League of Legends Lead Content Designer 'Morello' Scott talks about World of Warcraft

[Yriel]

So there are new heros and maps that Riot has to develop separately for Challenger tier?

I think that's a very good point. If exclusive contents keeps players in the game and makes them more motivated then why doesn't LoL have exclusive Maps and Characters for their hardcore players ?
In this light he really looks like a hypocrite.

Thing is that he is not the only game designer saying these things, if you watched some of the stuff coming from the Wildstar devs (some old WoW devs) they are saying similar things.

I think it will be very interesting to see how successful Wildstar will be and if there really still is a market for hardcore MMOs. Until now every MMO that tried the hardcore approach (all PvP games though) failed miserably.

[Deleted]

What BS! The game is OLD, the graphics are OLD, people want to move on, how many people play WC 2 even though it's great? More people who got to see content broke the game? Dumbest argument ever.

The game is old, yet it's having trouble getting casuals glued for longer periods.
Once Lei Shen is dead on LFR, you are done. You're now grinding for gear and then quitting when no more gear is dropping.

Basically, having people see Lei Shen on what will soon be easy-easy mode, they have seen the fight. They did the raid, exactly what LFR was intended to do, but the jump from LFR to normal is not incentivized in any way. Why do normal and having to deal with all of this nonsense?
Morello's point was that if players didn't even have access to these easy-modes, there would be more mystery about them for new players. That is probably what he means by the TBC "sweet spot", that players who were not into PvE would say "I wish I could do that someday".
Keyword "Wish", again, Morello pulled the point of excluding people for the sake of future dedication.

[oplawlz]

I like how so many people keep iterating that this is his opinion on design philosophy as if they are in some way changing perspective on this article, when that is exactly what he said it was, over and over and over.

Stop trying so hard to discredit the argument of others and come up with your own compelling argument, or just be quiet, imo. Makes me think this forum is populated by politicians.

[Fagatronics]

My thoughts exactly, his opinion is just as relevant as any regular player.

I laughed really hard when I read this. Yes, he's only an extremely successful game designer so his opinion of WoW game design is on par with the average customer... I mean Jesus Christ...

OT: I think he makes a very reasonable assessment and it's all his opinion. No reason for anyone to get bent out of shape or think he's maliciously slandering WoW.

[ComputerNerd]

I agree with him - the "everyone must see everything" mentality has driven WoW downward.

LFR is not giving someone everything to see though.
There is heroic only content.
Seeing something in one difficulty does not equal seeing everything that encounter has to offer, and therefore not seeing everything.

The community has done more harm to wow than anything else, this constant bashing by the elitist or well progressed hardcore crowd of anything which does not appeal to them personally with no effort to understand that they have only ever represented a small portion of the community.

The game is old, yet it's having trouble getting casuals glued for longer periods.
Once Lei Shen is dead on LFR, you are done. You're now grinding for gear and then quitting when no more gear is dropping.

Basically, having people see Lei Shen on what will soon be easy-easy mode, they have seen the fight. They did the raid, exactly what LFR was intended to do, but the jump from LFR to normal is not incentivized in any way. Why do normal and having to deal with all of this nonsense?

There is plenty of incentive, but the community gets in the way.
Strict timetables of when a raid will start, how long you must be able to commit.
That immediately cuts out a lot of potential raiders who benefit substantially from the ability to commit far shorter and intermittent periods of time to their play.
That is what LFR offers.

Completing one difficulty is not seeing everything.

[Risale]

If Wildstar does better than WoW, their point will be proven. If exclusive raid content was the "gold mine" why aren't MMORPGs who have it shoot pass WoW in popularity? That is what I was talking about when I said in another post how there is not just ONE thing or one BIG thing in WoWs declining subs. Here is the thing, you can have game developers say all that, that doesn't mean they are right. You have had people in the past who were the leads in their fields of whatever...be completely wrong about their assessments on whatever they know.

All I am saying is that its not just Morello as a game dev saying this, there are others saying it also.
When you read these forums you will also see that the playerbase (the part that posts at least) is also saying these things in their own way.
Now as to who is right or wrong well for the moment it is Blizz, hell they are the ones making all the money.
The only thing is that this game is in decline and I would like for Blizz to acknowledge that something serious is going on for a change I mean how refreshing would that be.

Yes they still have 8 million subs sure but after last quarters reports I am wondering what the numbers will be like not next quarter but at the end of this xpac or hell even at the start of 6.0 will they have lost another million subs or will it be at this level.
WoW subs have dropped by 33+% since it record sub count of 12 million in 2010, any company worth its salt will have to say at some point damn something is wrong with out product (game), especially when you know that they will decline further.
You combat this by releasing a new product (Titan, like thats gonna happen) or you take a real long hard look and fix the product you currently have and here is the rub Blizz isn't fixing it's patching and how many bandages can you put on a open wound.

I love this game, I have done since I first started playing back in TBC but something is wrong and current developments are not making me feel any better about it, yes this my opinion and no you don't have to agree that is your right.

[SamR]

I laughed really hard when I read this. Yes, he's only an extremely successful game designer so his opinion of WoW game design is on par with the average customer... I mean Jesus Christ...

OT: I think he makes a very reasonable assessment and it's all his opinion. No reason for anyone to get bent out of shape or think he's maliciously slandering WoW.

Actually, I think his opinion is worse than the random forum poster. The random forum poster is never going to be in a position of designing content for a hugely popular game that's played by millions of people. As such, random forum posters can express opinions in the theoretical.

Scott is a lead content designer for one of the most played games in the world. As such he is able to actually put his opinions into action. And his actions frankly contradict his opinion. He's not willing to put exclusive content into LoL, but he's criticizing WoW for making content too accessible.

edit: As an example, a random poster on slashdot decrying closed software platforms and adamant that open platforms are the way to go. That's just a guy stating his opinion. Tom Cook criticizing Google Play Store for being too much of a walled garden. That's a huge WTF?!?!

[Deleted]

Jesus Christ I just gained a lot of respect for that guy.

He's one of the most logical people I've seen talk about WoW from a neutral standpoint and defend it properly.

Yep this! Even though I may not completely agree with him, he properly explains his reasoning for his personal opinion (which makes perfect sense).

[Deleted]

I agree with him - the "everyone must see everything" mentality has driven WoW downward.

When you have the "final boss" on the game cover, it's generally a good idea to, you know, make sure most of the people who pay for it get to see it. (Well, in Wrath and Catas case it is)

This "herp derp LFR ruined the game herp derp LFR saved the game" attitude is irritating as hell both ways, LFR is fine in itself, it created opportunities for the lowest form of raider to "see" content - but it's created indirect problems, mainly normal difficulty being over-tuned/community being driven down into a cesspool.

This is a game Balance issue we have here on a monumental scale. People who attack Ghostcrawler like it's always the FOTM need to get a reality check: The game is old, its demographics have shifted all over the place, it is NOT an easy task. Want to know what's really pretty balanced now? Classes. Yep. Their fairly balanced these days.

If you want my honest opinion, then it's this: Quit if you're not having fun, don't waste your life on something you're not enjoying.

Interesting, let us take a look at RuneScape: Aside from the near baseless criticism the game has come under for its "cash-shop" direction (which is how the MMO market is shifting regardless) and "new" combat system (which does not make the game like WoW...at all) - it is still a game that has succeeded in creating content for just about every kind of player out there. Criticize Runescape all you want, but it is a game with a very unique and interesting model of play.

[Ferocity]

What you guys tend to miss (I won't derail thread into actual problem of raiding, it had enough of it in other threads), is that WoW got way too much exclusivity.

Ok, raids are exclusive? Then do what? Hunting rares (mobs, pets, mounts)? They are exclusive due to CRZ. Leveling alt? Fun is excluded due to CRZ and awful leveling system (snorefest on rails with heavy de-powering at 80->90 dings). Hunting achievements? Excluded in some areas by CRZ, and partly due to mess which is Account-Wide achievs now. Enjoying 5-men (esp. as tank/healer)? Excluded by MoP.

Too many exclusions, why even bother? When you will keep telling player "you are not entitled to this, you are not entitled to that" in each aspect of the game, it won't end well.

[melodramocracy]

And yet people have been complaining about the jump of difficulty between LFR and Normal for all of MoP

And you think flex raiding is going to stop this?

*pats head*

How cute.

[Tyrannica]

the LFR method is bad. I prefere those raids as 1 time story telling scenarios with npcs that help you. That way you could see the story too and the content, but won't be forced to farm it, every ID with either a main if its fresh or twinks.
Too much farming destroys the game. Farming points should be pvp only, too. OR remove points completely, and you have to get to a rank/rating to to buy a set of gear with honor.

Entry gear for normal raids should be provided by more powerful 5man gear and more powerful crafts, that will also revive a bit the ah market.

All problems solved. ;>

[Airwaves]

BC, sweet spot? hahaha... Oh he was serious. Raiding was fucking terrible. Running new member through old content because there was no way else to catch up, not being able to find members because people they started a few months late were so far behind, not being able to find members because they haven't finished getting the key for the place. Sure the raids themselves were find but the structure and organisation was a terrible mess. Trying to organise raids would have been so painful it wouldn't have been funny. Wrath fixed these problems.

I feel sorry for lol if this is a dev that is even taken back by nostalgia and not logic.

[melodramocracy]

Ok, raids are exclusive? Then do what? Hunting rares (mobs, pets, mounts)? They are exclusive due to CRZ. Leveling alt? Fun is excluded due to CRZ and awful leveling system (snorefest on rails with heavy de-powering at 80->90 dings). Hunting achievements? Excluded in some areas by CRZ, and partly due to mess which is Account-Wide achievs now. Enjoying 5-men (esp. as tank/healer)? Excluded by MoP.

Too many exclusions, why even bother? When you will keep telling player "you are not entitled to this, you are not entitled to that" in each aspect of the game, it won't end well.

None of these fit the definition of exclusive. And no, you're not entitled to anything that other than game access.

[Uselessrouge]

i agree with him :|

i see it like he does

[Deleted]

I guess about 8 million people disagree with him. It's easy to stand at the side and comment on things, but he's just like anybody else and he has no idea what is good or bad for WoW. Seeing how well WoW is still doing, 4,5 years after TBC ended, Blizzard must have done something right. Too bad for that minority that wants exclusive content, this is not the game to get it in. Go play EVE or something.

So it's impossible to prefer the philosophies from the former expansions and still have an active account?

[Fagatronics]

Actually, I think his opinion is worse than the random forum poster. The random forum poster is never going to be in a position of designing content for a hugely popular game that's played by millions of people. As such, random forum posters can express opinions in the theoretical.

Scott is a lead content designer for one of the most played games in the world. As such he is able to actually put his opinions into action. And his actions frankly contradict his opinion. He's not willing to put exclusive content into LoL, but he's criticizing WoW for making content too accessible.

edit: As an example, a random poster on slashdot decrying closed software platforms and adamant that open platforms are the way to go. That's just a guy stating his opinion. Tom Cook criticizing Google Play Store for being too much of a walled garden. That's a huge WTF?!?!

Wow, you come off close minded and defensive. He showered Blizzard, WoW, and GC with praise throughout his posts and how much respect he has for them. All he was stating was his opinion and the model he personally would prefer is closer to BC. Yes that is wildly detrimental to the glass is half full internet.

LoL and WoW are different games for different audiences, it doesn't mean he can never comment on features he doesn't have in his own game. I assume he can't have an opinion on CoD in your eyes either since LoL isn't a FPS so he would have no idea what he's talking about.

[Zogarth]

Well i agree with him... TBC was the sweet spot, and the best time i have ever had in WoW.

[SamR]

Wow, you come off close minded and defensive. He showered Blizzard, WoW, and GC with praise throughout his posts and how much respect he has for them. All he was stating was his opinion and the model he personally would prefer is closer to BC. Yes that is wildly detrimental to the glass is half full internet.

LoL and WoW are different games for different audiences, it doesn't mean he can never comment on features he doesn't have in his own game. I assume he can't have an opinion on CoD in your eyes either since LoL isn't a FPS so he would have no idea what he's talking about.

He can give his opinion on the best recipe for Sangria if he wants to. I'm just saying that the fact that he does the exact opposite of what he says is good game design makes his opinion worth less than a random forum poster.

Obviously he has an idea what he's talking about. He's a very important content designer for one of the biggest if not THE biggest games in the world. And in his facility as a content designer, he's made sure that there's absolutely no exclusive content at all in LoL. So his criticism of Blizzard has a "do as I say, not as I do" quality to it.

[Deleted]

Looking at TBC you mean 10 million people agree with him?

I think you meant 13 mln WotlK players don't.