Most damaging Blizzard action

[endersblade]

Remember kids. Companies are living people who make descisions based on emotions and not monetary income. Companies arent in any situation where generating income is omportant - and in some cases mandatory. Companies can be inherently evil. This is what james bond told me.

The old adage, "you catch more flies with honey" applies here. Pissing off your player/consumer base is not a great way to make money.

[crusadernero]

I don't think it's the worst action, but removing flying had an incredibly negative long term impact on WoW. Flying wasn't that controversial back in MoP. You had a fair number of people who grumbled about going back to the old days etc., but it wasn't a huge deal.

As soon as they removed flying for WoD, they created a permanent controversy that still hasn't completely died down. A lot of complaints around BFA's grinding are related to the flying requirements. Whatever you think about whether the game is better or worse with flying, I think that if the people in charge could go back in time 5 years, they would never remove flying the way they did.

- - - Updated - - -



I'm mystified by the economics of the wow token. I can't believe it's as cheap as it is right now (100k in the US). I've bought three in the past 3 months, and without farming gold I have more money now than I did when I subscribed. I just don't spend it on much - only flask when really necessary, only enchant once I'm getting 460+ gear. People must be spending so much real world money to get those BIS corruptions.

Well thats the thing though - you dont really need to farm gold in order to get enchants, flasks++. Just buy wow token and buy whatever your heart desires in the game.
Yes, before the wow token there was alot of dubious sale runs and goldsellers.. But take a look at tradechat now. Its filled with one thing and one thing only: Gold selling runs. Its a neverending shitshow of a spamfest of people selling AOTC, arena boosts, m+ keys. The group finder is also filled with these shite sellers.

So in order to make goldbuying legal Blizzard ruined tradechat, boosted prices for mounts(one example) and has watered down the gap between those who actually clears content and those who buy it. You cant tell if someone bought the AOTC or actually did it themself. You cant tell if people actually got the skills to obtain certain mounts, titles or gear pieces.

And with the amount of non-stop spam for sellruns I would think that alot of people does it. Why bother trying to join a guild, create/join a good raid team and experience the content as it should be with you putting effort in it, when you can instead just buy token, buy a sellrun and watch netflix while getting AOTC.

and as a consequense we got Raider.io to tell the differnce between good and bad players. Except the addon aint that good and often times causes more bad than good.

- - - Updated - - -

Question though why should these fans be expecting a Diablo 4 announcement when Blizzard throughout the entirety of 2018 was telling everyone there was not going to be a D4 showing at the event? That's like going to a concert knowing full well what the track list is going to be months in advance then being a psychopath in your reaction because a song not on the list was not sung because trash tier level music sites (aka the kotaku of music) said it was going to happen

They did some hints before that years Blizzcon about Diablo and that they had something to show us all. Even though they never were specific on what they would show, it was something about Diablo.
When we all know Blizzard is a company that mostly creates PC games and that Blizzard is known for just that, it baffles me how they could screw that part up. Here you have a dedicated PC-gaming fanbase, travelling from all over the world to your convention, who are hyped up for something Diablo related, and they present a game on Mobile Phone.

Just the very idea of presenting a mobile game at Blizzcon would be controversial. Its even more controversial to think it would be a mobile game from one of the most beloved franchises, that more or less failed with the third game, leaving the fans even more desperate for something new.

If Blizzard had presented Diablo I at another convention that they didnt host, im sure it would cause less of an uproar. What they did was so stupid and so out of place I still cant believe it happend.

[Kallisto]

Yes they said there would be something about Diablo coming.

But throughout 2018 they repeatedly said there was no d4 and sorry this whole PC gamer conference is pure bullshit. A blizzard game should be highlighted at blizzcon and phones are as much a gaming platform as a pc or a console in the 21st century. These idiots chose to believe Kotaku who were saying "D4 or D Mmo is coming. True facts, believe us and our no named sources." while blizzard themselves were saying "no. There is no d4 or mmo planned. Temper your expectations, seriously no D4."

The only way Blizzard could have been more clear about there being no D4 at 2018 blizzcon would have been on their main Web page go. "Dont believe Kotaku. There is no D4 planned."

[Ghostile]

That is literally evidence of how popular a game is.

If only 1 person likes your game guess what, your game is not popular.

So, you are saying wow is super unpopular because by the time of Cata it had lost 90% of people who tried it?

[Mmid]

Not giving us account wide essences and keeping Island Expeditions as required content when they were super bugged and not fun for anyone. That is the worst they have done IMO.

[LilSaihah]

The poll results just about perfectly match what I think were the most damaging actions.

I do think "You think you do, but you don't." is higher though. It's right next to "you guys have phones, right"; it's just more evidence that Blizzard doesn't know what its audience wants.

[Logwyn]

Free hong kong!

[Ghostile]

Free hong kong!

This is about the amount of effort people raging about Blitzchung put into freeing hong kong.

[Kolvarg]

That did not audiences for a mobile game. That announcement gave people the impression that "okay, we might not get D4 footage, maybe we'll get confirmation that it is in development, or maybe it will be a spinoff". Go back in time and read up and watch the anticipation leading up to the announcement. NO ONE anticipated a mobile reveal as the big Diablo announcement.

It is a spin-off. It's a mobile game developed mostly by an external studio, with events set between D2 and D3.

No one anticipated a mobile reveal sure. But also no one should have anticipated a D4 reveal or announcement as they almost blatantly said that wasn't the announcement.

So yea. Makes sense to not like it. Makes sense to be disappointed. Doesn't make sense to throw a tantrum.

- - - Updated - - -

The old adage, "you catch more flies with honey" applies here. Pissing off your player/consumer base is not a great way to make money.

And yet their games are doing just fine, and their stock hasn't dropped - in fact it went up since that incident.

It's almost as if it was a non-issue.

- - - Updated - - -

When we all know Blizzard is a company that mostly creates PC games and that Blizzard is known for just that, it baffles me how they could screw that part up. Here you have a dedicated PC-gaming fanbase, travelling from all over the world to your convention, who are hyped up for something Diablo related, and they present a game on Mobile Phone.

(circa 2001) "We all know Blizzard is a company that mostly creates RTS and ARPG games, and that Blizzard is known for just that. Here you have a dedicated RTS and ARPG gaming fanbase, and they present a MMORPG. Boycott Blizzard!!"

That's how much this argument makes sense.

[Foxhoundn]

Where's Activision merge in the list? >.<

[Ghostile]

Where's Activision merge in the list? >.<

correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think vivendi asked them.

[crusadernero]

(circa 2001) "We all know Blizzard is a company that mostly creates RTS and ARPG games, and that Blizzard is known for just that. Here you have a dedicated RTS and ARPG gaming fanbase, and they present a MMORPG. Boycott Blizzard!!"

That's how much this argument makes sense.

How? The RTS & ARPG games were made for the PC gaming crowd. It was made for mouse & keyboard play. Theres a huge difference playing a game on mobile and playing it on PC, especially a game like Diablo. For over a decade Diablo fans got content made for PC on PC. Diablo3 never delivered what the fans hoped and everyone knew that people had started to look for the next installment in Diablo - either a xpac or Diablo 4.



Its like going on a car convention, where everyone are huge fans of cars, and get presented a motorcycle when its obvious everyone wants to see a new car. They both do the same, but still is not the same.

No one wanted D:I. No one were buzzed about getting a Blizzard IP on mobile. The fact that Blizzard didnt realise this in advance is quite frankly shocking. And its just not that they presented D:I, it was also they way they did it. Pumped everyone up for a great cinematic, people got hyped for a announcment of D4.. then its a mobile game.

[Mumba]

Blitzchung incident followed by WarCraft 3: Reforged.
Both of these were deliberate actions that showed "their true colours".

Diablo Immortal, the game itself was never a problem. It was the lack of understanding their audiance that screwed them over. If they would have done what Bethesda did when they announced Fallout Shelter few would actually be annoyed.

[Lazuli]

Legion's ruining of classes takes the cake for me.

[xalenthas]

Most damaging Blizzard action ... listening to player base!

[Kolvarg]

How? The RTS & ARPG games were made for the PC gaming crowd. It was made for mouse & keyboard play. Theres a huge difference playing a game on mobile and playing it on PC, especially a game like Diablo. For over a decade Diablo fans got content made for PC on PC.

How? Because it's just an arbitrary reasoning people make up.

You say Blizzard is PC games, like one could have said once that Blizzard is RTS/ARPG games (regardless of pc or not). There's also a huge difference between playing an RTS and playing MMORPG, and they still made an MMORPG despite having primarily released RTS games.

They weren't forced to make only RTS/ARPG games then, and they aren't forced to make only PC games now.

Hell you can even go further back in time: Some of their first games were exclusive to SNES and Sega Genesis. Using your logic they should have never made PC games, because they were a SNES/Genesis gaming company.


The logic is: Not everything a company makes needs to be targeted at their current audience, or be the same they ever did in the past. It's that simple.


And by the way: There are 6 pc-only main Blizz games: War 1, Diablo 2, War3, WoW, Starcraft 2 and HotS.
Meanwhile there are 6 multi-platform main Blizz games: War 2 (playstation version), Diablo 1 (playstation version), Starcraft 1 (nintendo 64 version), Diablo 3 (multiple console versions), Hearthstone (mobile versions) and Overwatch (multiple console versions).

Saying Blizzard is a "PC gaming only" company is delusional at best, especially nowadays when in the last 10 years (Since Starcraft 2) HotS is the only PC-only game they released.

[Ghostile]

Both of these were deliberate actions that showed "their true colours".

Company following their own rules about 'no politics' is somehow bad?

[Eapoe]

I actually disagree with this.

The type of fan that pays for a ticket to physically go to a convention are the hardest of the hardcore. They're the most dedicated fans of Blizzard, and what Blizzard does. Blizzard is, by and large, a PC-based game company. This isn't ActivisionBlizzcon. It's BLIZZcon. So when Blizzard presents an image or perception of abandoning those fans in order to pitch a PHONE GAME to those PC fans when they knew damn well that all of those con-goers were expecting a Diablo 4 release..... Well. That shows a distinct lack of understanding who their core players are.

It's not wrong of Blizzard to want to expand into other areas of gaming. There is nothing inherently wrong with Diablo Immortal. Where the blunder by Blizzard was is in pitching the idea to the wrong people at the wrong time, and in a way in which REALLY made those core fans feel like they were being swept aside in order for Blizzard to pursue profits.

Are many gamers entitled? Absolutely. But that doesn't mean Blizzard didn't screw up by the numbers here.

Except people expecting something is the fault of the people. People wanting a D4 announcement and then not getting one and becoming outraged, at no fault of Blizzard, and then using it as some “thing Blizzard did morally wrong,” tells more about the entitlement and animosity of people these days than it does or Blizzard as a company.

No, I am not defending Blizzard as they have done plenty of things I don’t enjoy, but I have to call bullshit on this one.

[ClassicPeon]

The old adage, "you catch more flies with honey" applies here. Pissing off your player/consumer base is not a great way to make money.

Absolutely true.

Still think it was a vocal minority of sjw's who got pissed off. It had seemingly 0 effect on sales or subs for blizz

- - - Updated - - -

This is about the amount of effort people raging about Blitzchung put into freeing hong kong.

True words.

Much more effort was put into twitter raging about blizzard :P

[Tenjen]

this should have been multiple choice. Both the blitzchung incident and damage to the wc3x community was what did it for me.