WoW devs and impartiality

[Deleted]

Is it possible for the WoW devs to remain impartial in their decision-making processes when developing the game?

For example, Ion Hazzikostas is the game director in addition to being a hardcore Mythic raider. Therefore not only would he have strong views about the direction the game should be going, but he is also in a position of power and influence, which can be a deadly combination.

I'm not sure if Ion is designing the game for himself and his clique, or if he is designing the game for the playerbase at large. Given the questionable design decisions as of late, I'm leaning towards the former.

https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/ch...anis/gurgthock
- Ion's char, he's not exactly a hardcore Mythic raider

As for dev impartiality. Most game decisions are directly aimed at making as much money as possible of them(usually by extending subs). Personal decisions are very unlikely to have an impact, and even less likely to ever be expressed by a developer(because despite:" the opinion below is mine and does not represent my employer", anything you say can be held against you).

[Mad_Murdock]

I'm not sure if Ion is designing the game for himself and his clique, or if he is designing the game for the playerbase at large. Given the questionable design decisions as of late, I'm leaning towards the former.

It was said many time by Ghostcrawler that "no one man makes all the decisions". Obviously things can change, but I'm still willing to bet that a good chunk of the decisions are made more by committee, than Ion saying what he wants. I imagine there are many cases in which Ion doesn't get his personal wishlist items.

[yjmark]

It was said many time by Ghostcrawler than "no one man makes all the decisions". Obviously things can change, but I'm still willing to bet that a good chunk of the decisions is made more by committee, than Ion saying what he wants. I imagine there are many cases in which Ion doesn't get his personal wishlist items.

Yeah, I'm guessing that most folks who think Ion is "making all the decisions" has never worked in a real life corporation before.

[FelPlague]

Is it possible for the WoW devs to remain impartial in their decision-making processes when developing the game?

For example, Ion Hazzikostas is the game director in addition to being a hardcore Mythic raider. Therefore not only would he have strong views about the direction the game should be going, but he is also in a position of power and influence, which can be a deadly combination.

I'm not sure if Ion is designing the game for himself and his clique, or if he is designing the game for the playerbase at large. Given the questionable design decisions as of late, I'm leaning towards the former.

"The game director is removing master looter because it would benefit him! it is an obvious abuse of power! Wait... hes a mythic raider in a group that uses master looter well and for sure funnels loot to him because hes a god danm game dev so fuck yeah hes going to get special treatment? Well then..."

Now if he wasent a mythic raider this would make sense, like how some people make the point the scarab lords got ANOTHER mount for something they did 11 years ago or exploited 9 years ago, because he has scarab lord... but this... this is just sad... If he was designing the game for himself why would he remove master loot when he is one of the people POSITIVELY EFFECTED by master looter.

[Dadwen]

step back to when you first started playing... there was still hate for the devs... how many 'I hate ghostcrawler' threads did you see? I remember a great many... now we look back fondly at those devs... how interesting nostalgia can be... but enough of that.

I'm near certain that none of these changes are made in a vacuum and I'm just as certain that a single person isn't making these decisions without any input from the others.

Most of the hate or dislike back then was over numbers mostly, not things that would have pushed me out of the game entirely (hell started playing a month after WoW started, and most of the changes I had no problems rolling with, ( I started playing SV hunter at the end of BC and up till Mid WOD) and someone decided my spec should no longer exist (so I know I'm looking at it from a bitter viewpoint) but I can't see the original dev's dumb enough to do something like that to a existing class unless no one was playing it, a lot of the styles and changes they put in may be good for the D3 group. (what I see a lot of people call their design style) , but they seems to be straying from the original design "vision" but a good margin.

[FelPlague]

https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/ch...anis/gurgthock
- Ion's char, he's not exactly a hardcore Mythic raider

As for dev impartiality. Most game decisions are directly aimed at making as much money as possible of them(usually by extending subs). Personal decisions are very unlikely to have an impact, and even less likely to ever be expressed by a developer(because despite:" the opinion below is mine and does not represent my employer", anything you say can be held against you).

i mean... i would call that pretty good mythic, nothing absolutely massive like top 100 but

[AwkwardSquirtle]

I wonder if it's lack of information that's causing the changes. If Ion is in fact from a mythic guild then he'd have no idea whether the corrupt loot councils are as prevalent as people claim, and if you're to believe the forums it either literally never happens or it's in every guild except yours. Internet hyperbole is quite difficult to design around, but it I expect that most of the feedback they receive is exaggerated to some degree.

[yjmark]

I wonder if it's lack of information that's causing the changes. If Ion is in fact from a mythic guild then he'd have no idea whether the corrupt loot councils are as prevalent as people claim, and if you're to believe the forums it either literally never happens or it's in every guild except yours. Internet hyperbole is quite difficult to design around, but it I expect that most of the feedback they receive is exaggerated to some degree.

It's probably the other way around. I would guess that he has tons of information, and most people on the forums are just guessing from one extreme to the other.

[CommunistXirvant]

They do whatever they want, they are basically activision hacks at this point

[Lochton]

Is it possible for the WoW devs to remain impartial in their decision-making processes when developing the game?

For example, Ion Hazzikostas is the game director in addition to being a hardcore Mythic raider. Therefore not only would he have strong views about the direction the game should be going, but he is also in a position of power and influence, which can be a deadly combination.

I'm not sure if Ion is designing the game for himself and his clique, or if he is designing the game for the playerbase at large. Given the questionable design decisions as of late, I'm leaning towards the former.

This sounds like a few rolls of tinfoil...

[YouWillAllAnswerToSithis]

Ion is hardworking and smart, but has a patient mind. Put yourself in his shoes. Look at what he has to sort through. While he may lead his department and specific team, the brainstorming is a team effort.

[Mosotti]

The decisions are not being taken by a single man. The same stupid shit has also happened with Ghostcrawler. He was the center of hate for everything, simply because he was the one communicating with the players, which includes a large portion of completely insane cretins. A game director is not fucking Kim Jong-un, stop blaming a single person for every fucking little thing you don't like about the game.

They do whatever they want, they are basically activision hacks at this point

No, they are not, stop repeating this stupid shit again and again.

[clevin]

Is it possible for the WoW devs to remain impartial in their decision-making processes when developing the game?

For example, Ion Hazzikostas is the game director in addition to being a hardcore Mythic raider. Therefore not only would he have strong views about the direction the game should be going, but he is also in a position of power and influence, which can be a deadly combination.

I'm not sure if Ion is designing the game for himself and his clique, or if he is designing the game for the playerbase at large. Given the questionable design decisions as of late, I'm leaning towards the former.

This is the worst kind of argument - "I know what he says but here's what he really thinks..."

Don't tell other people what they think or what they mean. It just makes you look like a jackass.

[Seranthor]

Most of the hate or dislike back then was over numbers mostly, not things that would have pushed me out of the game entirely (hell started playing a month after WoW started, and most of the changes I had no problems rolling with, ( I started playing SV hunter at the end of BC and up till Mid WOD) and someone decided my spec should no longer exist (so I know I'm looking at it from a bitter viewpoint) but I can't see the original dev's dumb enough to do something like that to a existing class unless no one was playing it, a lot of the styles and changes they put in may be good for the D3 group. (what I see a lot of people call their design style) , but they seems to be straying from the original design "vision" but a good margin.

One does not need to defend the developers to realize that 'vision's change. The best we can really do is let our voices be heard where it hurts, cancel our subs if we become THAT pissed off.

- - - Updated - - -

They do whatever they want, they are basically activision hacks at this point

*sniff sniff*...

brand new account... check...
Blizzard hate... check...

Okay, I gotta ask, who's alt are you?

[MoanaLisa]

Professional game designers do what they think is best for the game. They get it wrong sometime because a lot of the time decisions are made that won't get in front of a player for a very long time, months and over a year at times. It's their job and their living.

[Sansnom]

The loot master changes are not beneficial to any players no matter what content they do. It's really odd that they would remove it.

How so?

Any system that puts players in control will have issue and subject to the decision made by those players which may not be agreed with by other players.

[Soon-TM]

I don't think that Ion (as much as I dislike him) or any other dev has the kind of power you are discussing, OP. At the end of the day, he's just another employee, and does what he's told to do by the guys in suits.

[munkeyinorbit]

Is it possible for the WoW devs to remain impartial in their decision-making processes when developing the game?

For example, Ion Hazzikostas is the game director in addition to being a hardcore Mythic raider. Therefore not only would he have strong views about the direction the game should be going, but he is also in a position of power and influence, which can be a deadly combination.

I'm not sure if Ion is designing the game for himself and his clique, or if he is designing the game for the playerbase at large. Given the questionable design decisions as of late, I'm leaning towards the former.

Translation: "I don't like ML being taken away but I don't want to look like a dick. I will blame Ion". *Looks like a dick*

[Kallisto]

They do whatever they want, they are basically activision hacks at this point

And here's this bullcrap again proven wrong by the fact no Activision or Blizzard corporate member has been thrown in front of a judge yet (Activision-Blizzard buyout had a clause which is 100% legally binding that one side can not influence or control the other.). Added the fact every former blizzard employee even those with axes to grind all confirm Activision doesn't involve itself with Blizzard.

[Shelly]

Impartial?

Not exactly but I don't think you know what the word means in this context.

All the decisions he's making/signing off on are ones that he legitimately thinks are good for the long term health of the game.

I disagree pretty heavily with a lot of them, mostly doing with their graphical updates that are slowly losing accessibility in favor of aesthetics.

The GCD change also is just going to make the game more difficult to play at the high end without entirely hosing the low end. Oddly enough it's making things less keyboard mashing but that's where the "clunk" factor comes in.

I can say without a doubt that if personal loot was available in BC or LK that there would be a lot more guilds still together too.