So i got a response from J Allen Brack (which I wasn't expecting)

[prwraith]

So for those who didn't see my email campaign thread before it was locked, I tried to start an email campaign by giving the emails of activision and blizzard higher-ups. What I wasn't expecting was to actually get an answer. I'm not particularly impressed by Brack's answers. But I thought I would share our conversation and see what the general populace thinks.

My dude...don't go into journalism.

[Lolites]

I agree Preach doesnt represent a big part of the community, all im saying is he represents his community of people of which Blizzard do keep an eye on as they do Asmon and Bellular, which all do different aspects of the game. Im the same stopped watching Bellular a long time ago.

I like to read the comments on content, and you would be surprised on how many isn't lemmings to the creator tho.

not sure about that phrase (isnt lemming a rodent?) but from context i assume many do not agree completely with him, which goes to show even in their "fanbase" its not so unanimous...

sure, blizz should watch them, but take their opinions as face value for whole community (as OP does) is just... stupid disregard them completely is not the best approach, but listening to them either, blizz should (and im pretty sure they do) measure their suggestions in themself, not "bcs he said so"

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You're living in your own world if you think you can talk to people with that cocky arrogance and have them provide you with all the things you want like you're some sort of ultimate arbiter.

only one with cocky attitude is you, making WILD claims based on absolutely nothing and when people ask what you base it on say "google it" and start personal attacks...
and sure, you dont have to provide source on your claims, but then you should expect people to doubt them, when they see you are basing them on nothing but thin air and your ego

[Raisei]

I never said that bellulars opinions on what needs to be done are 100% accurate, I said I agree with most of what he says, their philosophy is broken. Half of the issues they run into are the same things they run into every single expansion/patch for the past nearly 10 years now. Half of the things that people complain about are simple flick of the switch fixes. Thats what he has a right to point out.

I am not denying him the right to point out his opinion. I just refuse to put him on a pedestal and take his word as gospel, because he does not know how difficult the development process of the game is and because I know he is only saying these things because they make him money. He figured out years ago that drama sells a lot better on Youtube then facts and moderation, so his channel proceeds to deliver just that. Drama with clickbaity titles to attract those already dissatisfied with the game looking for reasons to be more dissatisfied.

Ive also never said that WoW dosent have a right to make profit, they can charge 15 a month plus a sub fee, whatever, they make a ridiculous profit margin but whatever, go for it, but dont then give us an unfinished product. Im sorry, theres 0 defending this practice.

Not even sure what you mean with "unfinished". Every games has bugs and issues. It happens.

Yes I do have a unique outlook, when you've worked in major studios

If you just repeat what a streamer says on his channel your outlook is anything but unique, it's literally the opinion of thousands of others.

you obviously have a fucking idea how these teams are put together and how the decision making happens, so yeah obviously I have a unique outlook.

Anyone can claim to have worked in some "major studio", so forgive me if I won't believe in your expertise. However, even if you have, as long as you just repeat what another guy says your outlook is just not unique. How could it possibly be?

Half the people on this forum are just a bunch of moaners or corporate defence force who come on here to shit on people for making suggestions/pointing out things they dont like to make themselves feel better or more superior because they're doing it over the internet and theres no consequence to their arrogance.

I mean... are you truely not aware of the irony of your lines? The exact same thing goes for the other halve of the people on this forum (Probably more 70% then halve). They come here to shit on the game and on everyone that likes it calling them "corporate defense force" and other nonesense and because they're doing it over the internet there's no consequence for their arrogance.

No they arent asspulled, do a bit of research, google shadowlands sub record, and you'll find a ton of official statements proving this. Compare that with historical known records from when they did announce this and you can say its 12m+

Bullshit. No one. I repeat: NO ONE outside of Blizzard has the sub numbers. No matter how much you want to have your negative feelings about the game being validated by a decline in subs, you won't get it.

[Cazze]

Bitter lol, nah It just makes me mad seeing people be so fucking stupid, making personal claims then getting upset when someone responds directly to them. I like to sit on this forum while I work, I didnt rage, I gave my opinion on Bellular and all the little salty nobodies came out of the woodwork to shit on him again and me in the crossfire because they're the bitter ones who have nothing while someone like Bellular gets publishing deals and manages to found a company off it. Boo hoo.

Oh look, another personal statement that you have a grand total of 0 fucking knowledge about, what a surprise! Sorry how do you know how long its taken us to develop a game exactly?????????????????

Dude, you are the one being salty, I can tell you that much, no game dev experience needed. You could have said what have you worked on, discredit me and everybody in this thread you believe to be a troll. But all you have to say is how no one understands what it takes, that everyone is stupid, etc. You go on and on about your achievements, how they give you more credibility than others, yet you have nothing to show for it. Also, it would be good, rather "constructive", to not put others' words into my mouth.



"anyone going on a forum and trying to attack others on a personal level are just morons."
"And from where im sitting you're just a big mouthed forum warrior who does that typical internet thing of shitting on others to make yourself feel better."
"Because all I see is a big mouth on a forum."

The irony of your quotes is truly palpable.

[Aucald]

Assuming it is genuine, I think it was magnanimous of Brack to respond to you - and I agree with the substance of his response. I think any developer can say without reservation that design by committee is a terrible course for any product. Projects, be they games or not, need a unifying vision or purpose behind them; and the more that unifying foundation is undermined by competing or mutually exclusive additions the more the final product comes across as muddled or essentially diluted. Blizzard is not beholden to its audience, and that is okay. We are the final judges of the quality of its offerings, voting with our wallets as it was put earlier. I don't expect or require every game (even those from Blizzard) to be tailored to my own specific tastes, and that's the reason I don't buy every game that is sold by every developer. For instance I'm not a fan of HotS and don't play it - that doesn't mean HotS is terrible, and some people still play and love it. I don't agree with every developer choice that's been made in WoW either, but I don't expect Blizzard to create a version of WoW that I feel is 100% perfect for me, because I know that that vision of WoW would probably be terrible for a wide cross-section of other players who want something different. If WoW every fully diverged from what I wanted of it, then I would just stop paying for it and playing it. It would be regrettable, but at the end of the day that's a decision that's on Blizzard to make. If it did turn out to be the death knell of WoW I might feel some cold comfort in having been proven right - but that still wouldn't make it me entitled to dictate terms to them.

Blizzard also does listen to player feedback, even if the answer to that feedback is often a polite or curt "no." Sometimes they're right, and sometimes they're wrong - but again, that's their call to make as it's their product we're all buying.

[Lolites]

Dude, you are the one being salty, I can tell you that much, no game dev experience needed. You could have said what have you worked on, discredit me and everybody in this thread you believe to be a troll. But all you have to say is how no one understands what it takes, that everyone is stupid, etc. You go on and on about your achievements, how they give you more credibility than others, yet you have nothing to show for it.



"anyone going on a forum and trying to attack others on a personal level are just morons."
"And from where im sitting you're just a big mouthed forum warrior who does that typical internet thing of shitting on others to make yourself feel better."
"Because all I see is a big mouth on a forum."

The irony of your quotes is truly palpable.

i mean he claims SL had 13m subs and now have 6m, and as proof he post something that wasnt confirmed and that claims sl had around 10m...
if he cant tell difference between 13m 10m and 6m and doesnt grasp concept of proof im sure his work experience is irrelevant, as it most likely have nothing to do with management

[Thraps]

sure, blizz should watch them, but take their opinions as face value for whole community (as OP does) is just... stupid disregard them completely is not the best approach, but listening to them either, blizz should (and im pretty sure they do) measure their suggestions in themself, not "bcs he said so"

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Now that i completely agree with, im not saying Blizz should listen 100% to the content creators, however they do still provide feedback that they can use, that isnt all the really stupid posts you see on the wow forums. WoW is unfortunately one of them games where gamplay can take you in many many different directions and appeasing the player base is a impossible task. Blizzard do seem to lack that spark right now, every expansion at the moment were constantly testing new systems for a whole expansion.

The only system of recent times to stay in the game was M+. Over wows history what other systems have stayed in the game ... Arena, Dungeon finder, LFR, Pet Battles and transmog. At least Tier sets is coming back making the gear system somewhat stable system again with out the failing evolving state it has been over the last few xpacs.

[/QUOTE]

[Garymorilix]

You're living in your own world if you think you can talk to people with that cocky arrogance and have them provide you with all the things you want like you're some sort of ultimate arbiter. Google it yourself genius. It takes a simple google search and basic research skills to find all of that information, do you not possess that?

Cut the cocky attitude kid, sitting behind a keyboard talking like that, but I bet you wouldnt have the balls to talk like this in real life would you. Zip it. Why the fuck did you even bring up how much money WoW has made compared to me in the first place, fucking ridiculous. Are you trying to discredit me by suggesting that im not allowed to have an opinion on game dev unless ive made more than WoW, okay genius.

You think im going to disclose to YOU what ive done, you're fucking mad.



Yeah okay sure, I mean thats fucking bullshit but okay. Most kickstarter scams are literally just fucking asset packs put together but okay. If you had any idea what you were talking about you wouldnt be saying that and continuing to make yourself look like a fool talking about something you clearly have 0 fucking idea about lol. Most game projects dont show anything until they're ready. First impressions are everything. Cut these 12IQ analogies.



Keep digging that hole bro, you're looking real smart right now.



You just sound super fucking jealous tbh.



And from where im sitting you're just a big mouthed forum warrior who does that typical internet thing of shitting on others to make yourself feel better. Sorry who are you exactly, why should I even consider your opinion. You shit on others who work in the industry but who are you? Give yourself some credibility go on. Because all I see is a big mouth on a forum.



Nah I dont think im a big deal, but when you shit on me and start talking about how ive never done anything and havent made any money ill laugh back at your embarrasing ass. Go back to your basement why dont you, least I have something to work on.

Oh my god, how dare I shit on people who do nothing but shit on stuff?
Afterall, their shitting on stuff is above my shitting, so they are right, I am wrong.

I'm not a dev, never will be. Same as Bellular.

There is nothing I can google because there is no official source of player numbers for the past couple years.
So this means that there is nothing you can refer to at all.

I'm not embarrassing myself, you are.
Ranting like this as a would-be dev is not a benefit for neither you, neither your studio. Which one is it again?

Keep shitting on WoW, I don't care. Keep praising Bellular, I don't care.
Fortunately neither you nor him will make or break my experience with this game. You are insignificant A F.

Oh yea, I'm also so jealous of you. Here, feel better.

[baskev]

---snip ---

asmongold made a good post about people with only negativity like you

Mod Edit: Don't quote a giant post for a single-line response.

[Lolites]

Now that i completely agree with, im not saying Blizz should listen 100% to the content creators, however they do still provide feedback that they can use, that isnt all the really stupid posts you see on the wow forums. WoW is unfortunately one of them games where gamplay can take you in many many different directions and appeasing the player base is a impossible task. Blizzard do seem to lack that spark right now, every expansion at the moment were constantly testing new systems for a whole expansion.

The only system of recent times to stay in the game was M+. Over wows history what other systems have stayed in the game ... Arena, Dungeon finder, LFR, Pet Battles and transmog. At least Tier sets is coming back making the gear system somewhat stable system again with out the failing evolving state it has been over the last few xpacs.

i think the problem of playerbase is they see blizz trying something new and if its a hit its taken for granted and if its a miss its worst thing ever...
well its kinda hard to say feature/system wil be bad BEFORE TRYING IT things like warfront or island expedition seems amazing on paper, in reality they were lacking...

on blizz side i see only "big" issue -instead of reworking system/feature they scrap it and begin anew, which obviously cost too much dev time which leads to less content and worse game...

[aceperson]

Sorry, got to call fake on this one, President for Blizzard and he's mail ends with JAB, no reference to he's position in the company or what company he works for other then mail adress.

well, to all my knowledge it is legitimate. it's entirely possibly someone other than brack answered but this is bracks business email and i did get a response.

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If this is real, thank you for taking the time. You wont get a positive response on these forums because the worst of the worst type of WoW players are on here.

Im disappointed with his answers & gives me very little hope things will ever change because as you pointed out, Ion is the problem & if he is not removed, WoW will keep repeating its current pattern.

i'm not so sure ion is the problem is brack is actually like this. i've been dissatisfied with ion and the management at blizz for a while but if brack is this tone deaf as well, it may be brack calling the shots and not ion.

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Please save and share the EML so we can verify the DKIM signature is correct.

you would need to help me figure out how to do that. i don't even know what an eml is.

[Thraps]

i think the problem of playerbase is they see blizz trying something new and if its a hit its taken for granted and if its a miss its worst thing ever...
well its kinda hard to say feature/system wil be bad BEFORE TRYING IT things like warfront or island expedition seems amazing on paper, in reality they were lacking...

on blizz side i see only "big" issue -instead of reworking system/feature they scrap it and begin anew, which obviously cost too much dev time which leads to less content and worse game...

Im all for Blizz trying something new keeping the game Fresh, the problem is were in a constant state of testing major content features in expansions that doesn't make it to the next. Like you say some systems were lacking in reality, the problem right there is they don't apply immediate fixes to make it better, they just leave it and progress on with the next, lets take BFA as a example islands and warfronts, azerite Armor, then it was like ok band aid that then onto the next corruption, which from the numbers you could see was never tested internally. Wod was no different, Garrisons wasn't perceived well instead of fixing player housing they just did nothing with it. Im hoping to start learn that lesson in many other games if something is clearly not working instead of being stubborn they usually fix it or remove it, in Blizzards case they do neither they band aid it, and move on to the next.

[aceperson]

Oh, somebody needs to explain this always popular gem to me:

Game loses subs because it is either getting worse / not listening to the community (which means less money)
Also game is designed to please shareholders (who like money) and not players (see above, who quit = less money)

It is not like WoW has 1000$ worth of new items on the cash shop every month that some "whales" buy to keep the game afloat.

So how exactly does a game that is tailored to please shareholders, actually does please them if it loses paying customers?

there is a concept called whales. basically, people with more money than sense. while there are non-perpetual options like store mounts and pets, there are repeatable purchases like boosts, faction changes, server transers, etc. it's the same reason the mobile gaming market is riddled with tons of cash grab games.

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im sorry, did i miss something? bcs we have no evidence at all about sub numbers since wod, and thats more than 3years ago...

there was an article recently about blizzard and monthly active users of blizzard games. so not sub numbers. that means it covers the entirety of blizzard games, not just wow.

[DarkAmbient]

The point is that Bellular has no experience developing or managing a multi-million dollar Triple-A title, but he loves to act like it. Hence why he is not a credible source to base arguments on, neither is any other youtuber. They only point out what they like and dislike, taking that as a qualified opinion is wrong, which Brack (if this is not fake) tells our OP.

Especially since they make more money the more drama there is, their aim is not improving the game, but stoking the flames and no one does this more succefully then Bellular and his click-bait videos.

You don't need to be a master chef to know when your food tastes like shit.

[Nightstalker]

well, to all my knowledge it is legitimate. it's entirely possibly someone other than brack answered but this is bracks business email and i did get a response.

How do we know that this is his business email?

[Big Thanks]

OMG...aceperson...

Im sorry to tell but...i dont think you were the right person for this job to contact J Allen Brack
I cringed so much about some things you said (T_T)

You put on a pedestal Bellullar...Asmongold...Preach...really?
You even went as far as to compare Bellular to an actual game developer WITH EXPERIENCE?!?! Which he has NONE!

Omg aceperson...
We (me and you and everyone including the youtubers) dont know anything.

We can only give our opinion and tell how one feels about it.

[Cazze]

Dude, you're living in dream land, do you seriously think that im going to state my name, the studio name, what ive worked on and give proof to a bunch of forum posters here who have 0 interest in discussion and all of their interest in argument and attack of others. Sorry, not going to happen, not in a million years. Nobody would fucking believe me anyway, because people hate it when others have authority/experience over a topic and they dont. Even if I did prove it, they'd probably just call me a shit dev or an idiot anyway hahahaha/

Im not talking about my achievements, all I said was ive worked in the industry my entire adult life, and Ive managed to do well enough to open my OWN studio. And I said that in RESPONSE to someone making a personal attack, I didnt open up telling everyone that did I.

You're linking my words in response to people giving me shit like im going to apologise/say im wrong. I dont say anything like that unless someone makes shitty/arrogant/sarcastic remarks to me. Yeah they are big mouthes, they are forum warriors, they'd never speak like that in person.

You seriously think I care? You should read better what I am saying and stop putting words into my mouth. I don't want your address, nor your name. Safe to say nobody does. You go on about authority, but you only demand it, discrediting everyone else because "you know better". And when it is questioned, you go on the defensive, acting like people are here to hunt you and doxx you.

See, people have no reason to respect your "authority", because such things must be earned. Right now, you are nothing more than a big mouth forum crusader. And I can respect that. But I can't respect your dismissiveness of other's for something you only claim to be. You don't get to be judge, jury and executioner on random things you say on the internet.

I should know, I am Bill Gates after all.

[aceperson]

If I was Mr. Brack, I would have responded to this email, as well. It shows a clear lack of aptitude in regards to the player(s) asking for change in his world. It suggests "Gamers" are just sheep who follow the loudest voices and regurgitate what they spew. While I am glad he responded, I think he did so maliciously to show Ion's right, we're dumb and wrong. It looks like you drunkenly rage mashed the keyboard in your response which just reinforced his image of the stereotype.

Lastly, before attempting to engage in this "campaign" why didn't you contacted someone who could formulate your ideas in professional way? It looks like you put work into arranging all this, why not do it right?

this is a fair point but i honestly wouldn't know who to talk to about this kind of thing.

[Swnem]

Well... brack just gained some respect from me, if this is true. I would certainly not answer such a useless email.

You are being foolish for thinking Ion calls all the shots in WoW rather than it being a team effort. Nothing would change with Ion gone.

And seriously? Being able to swap conduits constantly is the hill you wanna die on? If we were talking about about free covenant swapping, i'd think that would be much better. I have no issues commiting to conduits. Besides, next patch you will be able to equip one more. Such a small thing, it makes you look petty.

[aceperson]

While I will voice my opinion about people in public as well (based on their actions), writing someone to get people fired is an absolute cunt move which has practically disqualified you from being taken serious.

not fired, demoted. i'm not unreasonable. ion was a wonderful encounter designer and i suggested he be put in charge of that again. please attack me with something i actually said. don't make things up.