Ion's PCGamer interview

[RobertMugabe]

to be honest, the prepatch event Overall was actually pretty decent and probably the 2nd best ever (at least as far as Content goes it offered more than any prepatch event except for the Legion Invasion).

However they shouldn't have released the patch 1 month or so before launch, but like 2 weeks max.

[grexly75]

Even if George R.R Martin himself wrote the storyline of wow most of you would still bitch lol...get real.

WoW storytelling has never been top notch but I've always enjoyed it...still do, my only gripe is the finer points of the story line aren't in the freaking game. I don't mind reading a book for a story, I don't want to play WoW and have to read outside content just for the in-game story to make some damned sense.

I think that was where the mistake was made was in relying on out of game sources to tell parts of the story.. But it is a case of what is done is done and things can't be changed.. Will have to see what happens next..

[megamean]

that's that....

[grexly75]

to be honest, the prepatch event Overall was actually pretty decent and probably the 2nd best ever (at least as far as Content goes it offered more than any prepatch event except for the Legion Invasion).

However they shouldn't have released the patch 1 month or so before launch, but like 2 weeks max.

Will be three weeks total, but even if they did the butthurt from some in this and other threads would not have made much of a difference..

[McNeil]

You don't think burning Teldrassil took guts? I think it's huge! Blizz just destroyed 2 major faction cities, and the x-pac has not even launched yet. Changing the landscape that quickly is quite a big thing imho.

Teldrassil was a rather unimportant capital where its destruction doesn't even change much for the game. New night elves will still be there questing, and everyone can just flip the switch to bring the whole zone back. Maybe if it had a lasting impact without the phasing back in time, then it might feel much more emotional. As it is now its just a small change of scenery where they don't even let you visit the ruins of Teldrassil. If they wanted to show more guts they should at least have killed one important Alliance chaarcter like Tyrande or Malfurion, preferrably Malfurion so Tyrande can go back to her WC3 persona.

[Echoherb]

It was a pretty good interview, some of you people are really bitter.

[Segus1992]

Yes, like everyone and their mother was saying that SYlvanas is going to burn the tree, and blizzard was like "no guys just wait its definitely not her lol", and it was her.

Blizzard is not that good at storytelling as Ion seems to imply they are

Sylvanas is a dreadlord!

[megamean]

and that's that...

[grexly75]

It was a pretty good interview, some of you people are really bitter.

And this is probably why these days Blizzard communicate very little with the community, because of the huge butthurt element in said community..

[Seylene]

It was an okay interview, Ion has actually upped his speaking skills so kudos but I still don't think he grasps why people are upset. But I feel this is a part of the larger disconnect Blizz has with its player base. (Which I understand why they did) But the lines of communication are key, just to keep a finger on the pulse as you will. I don't know what plans they have but I am so far from enthralled I can't imagine staying long enough to see how they unfurl. It would be nice to get teasers as to things upcoming, to keep the interest piqued, as it stands 2 big inflammatory scenes then oh well off to Kul'tiras/Zandalar with you, it's very frustrating.

[Dracullus]

And this is probably why these days Blizzard communicate very little with the community, because of the huge butthurt element in said community..

Communicate very little? We have live Q&A at least every 2 months. And of course ton of blue posts, clarifications, etc. Usually when someone here say: "Blizzard don't communicate with playerbase" it means "Blizzard doesn't bow and listen to Me, most important person in the universe".

I remember when Blizz really communicated very litte - between 6.0 and Legion reveal. It came to the point when we had no idea when 6.2 PTR will even launch for months after Blackrock Foundry released. It really felt that Blizzard is hiding from us (for good reason, heh).

[RoKPaNda]

How many game directors stepped down before Ion got the position? He wasn't first pick for a reason.

Secondly It has nothing to do with the content of the story and has everything to do with the presentation. Play the events in dark shore and then read "A good war". They cover the exact same event which is the burning of teldrassil but the in game events leave out crucial information that should have been in the game but we have to go outside the game and read a short story in order to find out that Sylvanus is not crazy, and Saurfang is just as responsible for the war as Sylvanus and he blames himself. Also the in game cinematic portrays Nathanos as "hesitating" but he wasn't, he wasn't paying attention to Sylvanus conversation so when she randly said "burn it" he didn't know what she was talking about until she said it again.

It's not bad writing it's bad story telling.

He's the most competent game director that this game has ever had. I disagree with some of his decisions, but he doesn't cater to one specific group of players and then have to do a 180 next expansion when that decision sucks ass like previous game designers. He's got a hardcore raiding background which is awesome but he doesn't fuck over everyone else to cater to those of us that raid Mythic. Which is good for the game overall.

I'm not going to shit on the man just because the in-game lore is poorly explained as it always has been.

[meroko]

You don't think burning Teldrassil took guts? I think it's huge! Blizz just destroyed 2 major faction cities, and the x-pac has not even launched yet. Changing the landscape that quickly is quite a big thing imho.

- - - Updated - - -



You know - I was wondering if the Azshara warbringer will show something like this. Throw us all for a loop. I can't wait to see what it shows....

That's one of the reasons I was trying to connect her to all of this, because right now she doesn't have much connection other than Old gods, blah blah.

[Absintheminded]

It isn't the most engaging story in-game. If they wanted to really get players holding their breath and anxious for the plot to resolve, there should have been as much development in the game as the short-stories/novels/etc.

[Akibaboy]

Yes, like everyone and their mother was saying that SYlvanas is going to burn the tree, and blizzard was like "no guys just wait its definitely not her lol", and it was her.

Blizzard is not that good at storytelling as Ion seems to imply they are

It was absolutely the opposite. In the game itself we have Sylvanas' former right hand man telling us, "you're blind, she's going to burn your holy places and the forsaken flag will fly above your homes.", Blizzard was vague at Blizzcon about the order of events and who started what... that's it. They never hinted at anyone else doing anything. It was the forums and e-celebs who immediately went to "GENN DID IT! Or Jaina, Anduin, Malfurion, Azshara, Old Gods, Gamon, Avatar of the Avatar of Sargeras, or Metzen... there's a 0% chance it's Sylvanas confirmed because I saw Ion's eye twitch during the interview."

[Broken Fox]

Well the GoT influence on BFA is obvious but the way they're handling the story in the GAME is a complete mess. Anduin would also have died horribly a long time ago in that universe, lol.

[Lylandra]

He's the most competent game director that this game has ever had. I disagree with some of his decisions, but he doesn't cater to one specific group of players and then have to do a 180 next expansion when that decision sucks ass like previous game designers. He's got a hardcore raiding background which is awesome but he doesn't fuck over everyone else to cater to those of us that raid Mythic. Which is good for the game overall.

I'm not going to shit on the man just because the in-game lore is poorly explained as it always has been.

Yep, but IMO Ion is the wrong person to talk about lore and story development. Because you directly *feel* that this isn't his world. He's competent as a Gdev, as you said. As a systems, class design, encounter design dev who's all about the numbers and the crunch. Even if I often disagree with his stances as well.

But I'd rather not let him touch the lore with a 10 foot pole. And I guess he wouldn't want to either. So why don't they use someone who's from the lore team for story-based interviews?

[blehmeh]

lolololol

War of Thorns the Red Wedding, they wish.

This, so much this.

If only WoW storytelling was nearly as good as Game of Thrones.

This is getting old, both Ion and Metzen come out with interviews in a short time labeling people who think what Blizzard is making is weaksauce as just angry nerds is pathetic and arrogant.

There were other big name people in Hollywood saying the same scripted nonsense too recently. When your product flops, the new corporate hivemind tactic is to blame the consumer.

[Broken Fox]

This, so much this.

If only WoW storytelling was nearly as good as Game of Thrones.

This is getting old, both Ion and Metzen come out with interviews in a short time labeling people who think what Blizzard is making is weaksauce as just angry nerds is pathetic and arrogant.

There were other big name people in Hollywood saying the same scripted nonsense too recently. When your product flops, the new corporate hivemind tactic is to blame the consumer.

This isn’t a flop though. The game has gotten a ton of publicity from this, and millions of people will still play BFA.

It’s also a mistake to assume the minority of people on the forums crying about the Horde being villains or whatever speak for everyone.

It’s too early to say if this story will be good or not, but so far it’s at least rocked the boat and gotten peoples’ attention.

[Relapses]

Yep, but IMO Ion is the wrong person to talk about lore and story development. Because you directly *feel* that this isn't his world. He's competent as a Gdev, as you said. As a systems, class design, encounter design dev who's all about the numbers and the crunch. Even if I often disagree with his stances as well.

But I'd rather not let him touch the lore with a 10 foot pole. And I guess he wouldn't want to either. So why don't they use someone who's from the lore team for story-based interviews?

Ion is the lead game developer and Blizzard is about to launch a new expansion. It's kind of ridiculous to expect the interviewer not to ask lore-related questions when something as controversial as the War of Thorns storyline is going on.