Was Ghostcrawler fired/forced out?

[Arbs]

That and Chris Metzen is the lead writer. He made the Pandas, GC just gave them their racial abilities.

Actually Chris Metzen didn't create them, Samwise Didier was the one who created them.

[Gheld]

Actually Chris Metzen didn't create them, Samwise Didier was the one who created them.

Well either way. GC just gave them their awesome racials. So GC didn't make the Pandas. He made the Pandas awesome. He isn't responsible for the art, but rather the underlying gameplay. So if he got poached by another Dev that's actually no two words about it: A really bad thing for WoW.

[liam78]

I've already explained in another thread why you are wrong.

He would have had nothing to do with WoD if they started on the expansion right now.
But they are close to a beta, so you can be sure that he left his great footprint on this expansion.

No, your arguments never hold up to scrutiny, Kangodo.

Just because they kept him around doesn't mean he had the same freedom to keep running amok and destroying the game.

[theturn]

We will probably never know but its unlikely. The best way to tell will be to find out what his new job is. If its in any way a demotion then yeah its possible. For now I'm saying no until I see evidence to the contrary.

[Gheld]

We will probably never know but its unlikely. The best way to tell will be to find out what his new job is. If its in any way a demotion then yeah its possible. For now I'm saying no until I see evidence to the contrary.

A rival developer probably made him an offer he couldn't refuse.

[theturn]

I've already explained in another thread why you are wrong.

He would have had nothing to do with WoD if they started on the expansion right now.
But they are close to a beta, so you can be sure that he left his great footprint on this expansion.

You seem to be contradicting yourself. First you say "Timing seems perfect. They are going into beta soon, so a new 'era' starts." then you say "so you can be sure that he left his great footprint on this expansion" Both cannot be true at once. A new era would be a new expansion but if he has a big impact on the next expansion then its not a new era.

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A rival developer probably made him an offer he couldn't refuse.

I would say thats probable which is why I'm curious about what his new job is.

[Metallikiddd]

This game was NEVER balanced. I completely agree with you.

balance wont happen till arena and kalgan are gone!

[hrugner]

A rival developer probably made him an offer he couldn't refuse.

...or he's a Blizzard mole, joining another company in order to destroy their franchise to open up competitive room for one of Blizzard's other titles.

[Bullettime]

Yeah, GC packed his china and kungfu panda and GTFO just in time. Now we can have a true WoW expansion.

Ghostcrawler was a member who laid the groundwork for the expansion. He just won't be around the development to see how it plays out.

Also, Jay Wilson (Celestalon) confirmed he wasn't taking GC's job. We don't know who will get it. I'm really not opposed to him getting the position though. It still wouldn't be as senior as a position as he had on D3 (he was essentially the Tom Chilton of D3) and thus wouldn't have AS much say in what goes to put something dumb in. Anything Ghostcrawler, Watcher, Valnoth, or Mumper do has to go through Chilton first.

A rival developer probably made him an offer he couldn't refuse.

Pretty much. He probably got an offer as a senior developer (note that he said he's not actively designing on his next project, meaning he got a promotion) on a new Age of Empires or at Riot Games and took the offer. Career advancement and all that that he doesn't have at Blizzcon from his position. Took his promotion, change of scenery, more money, etc.

[theturn]

60% lower would mean its at 40% of what it was when he started

If 7.6m is 40%, that would be 19m when he started

WoW's peak was 12m subs, and that was while he was leading the team

Its about 37% if my math skills haven't failed me

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"You won't have to talk to players."
-"DEAL!"

So, they are just paying him to do nothing and then they fired him for doing a crappy job?
And you can prove this theory how exactly?

He can surely set goals and introduce a new guy into the position while leaving the exact "number-balancing" in the hands of the next guy.

Pre-beta is when they think about what they are going to do.
Beta itself is just the fine-tuning and it'd be weird if he could only help at half of that.

Beta is rarely about adding new features. So basically you took your car to the mechanic he takes it apart and decides what direction to take then calls you to let you know he is retiring and you need to find a new mechanic. The timing is odd. That doesn't mean that he was fired though. Sometimes things just happen that way.

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balance wont happen till arena and kalgan are gone!

What blizzard game is balanced?

[Spiel]

don't think so, and here's why i think that;

despite my opinion about his influence on wow (remember not every responsability falls to the major speaker with the community)

- i didn't know he was in the crew of age of empires (solid member as i recently discovered) and i enjoyed those games to the max, on my own, with my friends on lan and online, those are superb games

[Gheld]

...or he's a Blizzard mole, joining another company in order to destroy their franchise to open up competitive room for one of Blizzard's other titles.

Something like that would never actually happen. GC is a human being and ultimately in the end he's going to do what's best for GC. Knowing this, to prevent industrial sabotage no company in their right mind would hire him directly off of Blizzard's roster without a raise or a promotion. Nor would he be given the power to singlehandedly "destroy" a game franchise.

And there's a good chance he's going to an rpg or mmo type franchise, considering that he was the lead system developer for the most successful MMO ever made. He's obviously not going to get hired to work on a first person shooter or anything like that. And he would also come with knowledge of future ideas that WoW might explore, and future avenues that it might explore with system design, etc. So you can in denial all you want, but this is actually a gigantic kick in the balls for WoW.

And on Blizzard's side they not only have to deal with the abovementioned but now there is going to be a major leadership change. And anybody who has ever worked in a company for long enough to experience leadership changes would know that leadership changes are never easy to deal with.

[Deleted]

Voted "very strong chance he was fired". Because... Come on. Seriously? Guy let pandas in the game, he ruined it not just for one expansion, but for the all future it may have! Maybe Blizzard has finally realised how much damage he's done.

[Bullettime]

Voted "very strong chance he was fired". Because... Come on. Seriously? Guy let pandas in the game, he ruined it not just for one expansion, but for the all future it may have! Maybe Blizzard has finally realised how much damage he's done.

Metzen, Pardo, and Chilton, were responsible for in game Pandas. Ghostcrawler's job was to give playable ones racials and make sure the models worked.

So much ignorance in this thread. This thread so far has proven that most people don't even know what GC's job entailed.

[liam78]

"You won't have to talk to players."
-"DEAL!"

So, they are just paying him to do nothing and then they fired him for doing a crappy job?
And you can prove this theory how exactly?

He can surely set goals and introduce a new guy into the position while leaving the exact "number-balancing" in the hands of the next guy.

Pre-beta is when they think about what they are going to do.
Beta itself is just the fine-tuning and it'd be weird if he could only help at half of that.

Right I see everyone on the forums proving their opinions. Har har

You prove your theory first, I'll meet you there.

Lol keep posting in desperation Kangodo, you are very amusing.

[theturn]

Something like that would never actually happen. GC is a human being and ultimately in the end he's going to do what's best for GC. Knowing this, to prevent industrial sabotage no company in their right mind would hire him directly off of Blizzard's roster without a raise or a promotion. Nor would he be given the power to singlehandedly "destroy" a game franchise.

And there's a good chance he's going to an rpg or mmo type franchise, considering that he was the lead system developer for the most successful MMO ever made. He's obviously not going to get hired to work on a first person shooter or anything like that. And he would also come with knowledge of future ideas that WoW might explore, and future avenues that it might explore with system design, etc. So you can in denial all you want, but this is actually a gigantic kick in the balls for WoW.

And on Blizzard's side they not only have to deal with the abovementioned but now there is going to be a major leadership change. And anybody who has ever worked in a company for long enough to experience leadership changes would know that leadership changes are never easy to deal with.

Depends who is coming in. If its a new guy to the company then yeah it can be rough but if its from in house; which is likely; then its someone who at worst is on the same page management wise or at best someone who has the approval of all the staff. Truth is we won't know if he was "poached" until we know where he has landed.

If he is running off to another MMO then he is going to need all the luck anyone can wish him because Blizzard owns that market and their are plenty of burning MMO corpses to show it. I doubt he leaves for a gamble on another MMO company by choice that's an incredibly risky career move with little to no reward. Best case scenario they are as successful as wow and he basically has the same job he left for. Worst case it crashes and burns and he has no job.

[Marc2001]

i can't even begin to address this ignorance

Well on paper he is right..Ghostcrawler started in Lich King, and from a business standpoint, hasn't been very successful. Gaining subs for the first 4Months of you're tenure then losing 5million Players isn't good for business even if the game is 9 years old.

[theturn]

Metzen, Pardo, and Chilton, were responsible for in game Pandas. Ghostcrawler's job was to give playable ones racials and make sure the models worked.

So much ignorance in this thread. This thread so far has proven that most people don't even know what GC's job entailed.

So you are saying he was a glorified "Art designer"?

[Gheld]

Metzen, Pardo, Chilton, Afrasiabi, and Kosak were responsible for in game Pandas. Ghostcrawler's job was to give them racials and make sure the models worked.

Maybe GC quit because everything he's done for the last couple of years has been overshadowed by inexplicable curveballs in the storyline that have elicited a lot of ire from the community. So while he wants to talk about rebalancing racials and new gameplay mechanics he's instead being forced to answer questions like "WTF, PANDAS?" and "WTF, BACK TO THE FUTURE?" and because he can't answer those questions (because it's not his area of expertise) he ends up looking like a tool. Even though as far as I can tell, most of what he has contributed to WoW is pretty good.

[Deleted]

Oh you kids and your conspiracy theorys, You see to get fired he would have to be bad at his job, which he isnt. What he DIDNT do was tailor the game to the wishes of a whinging 1% and thank fuck for that, If he had done the things you lot wanted THEN he would of been fired.