Is It Possible That Blizzard Will Consolidate Their Talent Behind WoW?

[Luxeley]

They will boost investment in all their games, because they can afford it and it's needed.

This includes WoW, people who think they are going to drop or slowdown WoW are out of their rocker, because the thing still prints a shitton of money and is far from over either, despite the obvious slump.

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This forum meme needs to end.

Blizzard's issues are purely and completely their own. No, it's not Activision that made their higher ups stroll around the office in drunken stupor sexually harassing women employees. Neither it's Activision that made the shitshow WoW currently is or made Blizzard lose their way with Starcraft dead, Overwatch being a rotting carcass and Diablo 4 taking 10 years to come out.

It's all 100% Blizzard proper fuckups and people need to stop thinking there is some big bad man in Activision that forces Blizzard to not make games and shit on remaining ones they have.

Yes, after all that has happened - you bet Activision will actually take over, but seeing the trash Blizzard pulled out of their backsides for years now, damn I'm glad some changes are actually going to happen, because it legit can't be worse than last half a decade of Blizzard results.

As far as the sexual harassment case, I agree. But, with reference to the state of WOW and other Blizzard games, I strongly disagree. Prior to the merger, Blizzard put the fans and fun over profit, they invited feedback and often found reasonable compromises between what the fans wanted and what is good for the game as a whole. There has been a profound change in design philos over the years: short-term parasitic game systems, retread content, microtransactions and with the exception of Legion a series xpacs and patches that have left a lot to be desired. There has also been a massive exodus of big Dev names over the years, including Blizzard founder Mike Morhiem who left largely as a result of corporate culture reasons. When your CEO (a man who dictates culture) leave because of culture reasons, it plainly shows Blizzard is NOT completely holding the reigns

Of course, Blizzard does hold some blame for their poor choices and endless excuses. I do agree a shake-up is needed and new blood will be refreshing. Then again, Blizzard isn't exactly known for paying big $$$ for talent outside the company.

[Raizz]

Blizzard does hold some blame for their poor choices and endless excuses.

I literally have no idea on what basis you constructed this alternate reality where you think the state of WoW and Blizzard as a whole is only of "some blame" on them. No, no it's not. It is straight out pure and simple their own fuckup 100%.

Their decline started with the whole Titan fiasco. They salvaged Overwatch out of it and let it practically die slow death, just like they did for HoTS. They literally took amazing Starcraft IP that could create so many titles and put it in a drawer. They could not even do a proper Diablo 4 game for bloody 10 years and only Hell knows if D4 they make will live up to hype.

Go ahead and tell me how it was not Blizzard's fuckup... what Activision demanded they do not release any new games for fucking half a decade? And this whole shit going on in Blizzard that caused lawsuit - it just shows how hands off Activision was. No, bud, it's not Activision that did a booboo there, it's Blizzard and if Blizzard would be such a good subservient slave of Activision, that shit would have been nipped in a bud.

The existence of this lawsuit just shows how Blizzard was allowed to do whatever the fuck they wanted with 0 accountability total hands off mode.

So yeah, people can conjure this Activision "boogeyman" in their heads all they like, but reality is that Blizzard itself was morally and creatively bankrupt for YEARS and it had nothing to do with Bobby Kotick.

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And BTW, Blizzard were fucking sellouts from the beginning. "Blizzard put fans over profit" - great joke mate. They just pulled out a lucky strike with WoW, so fan vision was clouded for many years, but Blizzard was always $$ first.

[Thage]

Going off the roles they posted hiring ads for recently, I think it's a clear indicator they're doing a serious reallocation of resources into WoW to step up production, at least quantity if not quality (YMMV). Note that this doesn't necessarily just mean shoveling more budget onto the teams; I expect this will mostly involve shifts among the teams to figure out how to beat the Peter Principle and getting people in who actually work instead of just get blitzed and grope their coworkers all day while HR buries the cases and retaliates against reporting employees.

If the reports are accurate and we're seeing even a significant minority of the employees fucking off, getting rid of them and replacing them with people doing their jobs will logically lead to at least a ramp up in production output, again with quality a factor for other discussions. Among other things, I expect 10.0 to feature a large scale class design overhaul comparable to Legion, given the number of class design developers they're looking for. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of 10.0 was a 'back to basics' expansion as systems go and the team focuses efforts on their core systems and gameplay loops before layering the new seasonal power systems atop them.

[Polarthief]

I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of 10.0 was a 'back to basics' expansion as systems go and the team focuses efforts on their core systems and gameplay loops before layering the new seasonal power systems atop them.

I think they need to look at the general class design as a whole for sure. Every expansion as of late has been new system this or new system that, and it's honestly killing class design every single time. If they're that desperate to have people playing longer, why not make actually compelling content that players enjoy instead of putting us back in the hamster wheel every patch/expansion? Not to mention the design problems it causes when a really good trait/artifact power/etc exists and then is just ripped away next expansion (or even patch since the "balance" Blizzard does mid-tier or mid-expansion is usually to apply an atomic bomb nerf on an anthill-sized issue). Class design per expansion should be additive, not subtractive or just replacing old systems with new systems.

I'd pray they can start over from the beginning and having no more new "systems" such as artifacts (weapons or necklaces) or the current system of whatever the crap it is (since I didn't even purchase SL because I don't care and it's what's killing the game for me [among other things]). FFXIV has the right idea of less is more, and then maybe fine-tuning it with REALLY COMPELLING CHOICES (not which one is the obvious best choice) for the talents. Maybe bring back tier sets or unique trinkets or other items to further add on to class design, and keep any/all ones that the players really enjoy.

TL;DR: Actually listening to the fans would be a good start. No one likes this "haha now do it again" system we've had for 3 expansions in a row.

[Luxeley]

I literally have no idea on what basis you constructed this alternate reality where you think the state of WoW and Blizzard as a whole is only of "some blame" on them. No, no it's not. It is straight out pure and simple their own fuckup 100%.

Their decline started with the whole Titan fiasco. They salvaged Overwatch out of it and let it practically die slow death, just like they did for HoTS. They literally took amazing Starcraft IP that could create so many titles and put it in a drawer. They could not even do a proper Diablo 4 game for bloody 10 years and only Hell knows if D4 they make will live up to hype.

Go ahead and tell me how it was not Blizzard's fuckup... what Activision demanded they do not release any new games for fucking half a decade? And this whole shit going on in Blizzard that caused lawsuit - it just shows how hands off Activision was. No, bud, it's not Activision that did a booboo there, it's Blizzard and if Blizzard would be such a good subservient slave of Activision, that shit would have been nipped in a bud.

The existence of this lawsuit just shows how Blizzard was allowed to do whatever the fuck they wanted with 0 accountability total hands off mode.

So yeah, people can conjure this Activision "boogeyman" in their heads all they like, but reality is that Blizzard itself was morally and creatively bankrupt for YEARS and it had nothing to do with Bobby Kotick.

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And BTW, Blizzard were fucking sellouts from the beginning. "Blizzard put fans over profit" - great joke mate. They just pulled out a lucky strike with WoW, so fan vision was clouded for many years, but Blizzard was always $$ first.

I clearly explained why I believe what I believe. The pieces of the puzzle are ridiculously evident with the departure of many Big name Devs at Blizzard, including the founder who stated he could no longer work for or with Blizzard because of the culture. Activision/ Blizzard is a publicly traded company which means their accountability lies with shareholders, not fans or customers. And since WOD there has been a profound change in Blizzard's design philos. That change in Philos is designed around a time-synch business model that is 100% focused on generating MUA's. That philos comes straight from Activision, not Blizzard. It's both amazing and delusional how you completely dismiss these facts.

How exactly does the lawsuit "clearly" show Blizzard does w/e they want? You're inferring that if Activision holds the reigns on Blizzard, the transgressions and lawsuit do not occur. That is ludicrous. You simply don't understand how corporate America works and the massive red tape involved with a company like Activision/ Blizzard.

[Soon-TM]

I expect 10.0 to feature a large scale class design overhaul comparable to Legion, given the number of class design developers they're looking for. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of 10.0 was a 'back to basics' expansion as systems go and the team focuses efforts on their core systems and gameplay loops before layering the new seasonal power systems atop them.

May the Eternal Sun hear you /pray

[Myokony]

I'd love to hear about the other few that are debatable.

I'm not sure M+ is the success that some think it is. That's dying of thirst in a desert, finding a puddle of cloudy water in a hoof print then claiming it was a success of development. There was nothing else to do in BFA and Shadowlands is no different.

"Waah i dont like m+ ergo its bad."

[Lolites]

There was nothing else to do in BFA and Shadowlands is no different.

right so the system is bad but people run m+ rather than leave bcs there is nothing esle good in game...
there are literaly milions of characters runing m+, and the system added another path of gear progresion to PVE, as intended, so it is a success, whether you like it or not...

as for other, debatable, well those are kinda matter of opinion (and what you see as success) but imo: artefarcts, class halls, warmode, megadungeons, mage tower, legion invasions (and later assaults), world quests, emisary/callings, pvp brawls, allied races, heritage armor, HoA essences, mechagon scrapyard crafting, horrific visions, covenants and thorgast

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I am thinking more folks have used LFG than ever run mythic dungeons.

you are most likely correct, but from the stated 5y period M+ takes the gold

[arkanon]

I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of 10.0 was a 'back to basics' expansion as systems go and the team focuses efforts on their core systems and gameplay loops before layering the new seasonal power systems atop them.

Sadly, they made these claims with SL - in particular, regarding loot. Obviously this is NOT what we actually got. I dont pretend to know what "everyone" wants, but for me personally, yes, i would LOVE a reset and "back to basics", although not ALL the way back - something similar in systems / loot / content to Cata / MoP would be fine by me.

[Kallisto]

TL;DR: Actually listening to the fans would be a good start. No one likes this "haha now do it again" system we've had for 3 expansions in a row.

Which fans? You put 100 wow fans in a room you'll get 200 ideas, no 2 can exist coherently in the same game. Then to add to that every one of those fans believe not only are their views correct but they each believe the community is behind them and instead thinking of a compromise position that Could make them all happy would rather scream at each other to the point suggesting for good of the game the other 99 should just fuck off.

There's no finding a solution to listening to fans when they can't even agree on a single thing.

[Irian]

Blizzard lives and dies on investors these days. From an investor standpoint, WoW is a sinking ship not worth saving, because they don't have the investment that actual game players do.

Chances are, sadly the opposite is going to happen. WoW will eventually enter maintenance mode because it's not making them enough money and they'll back themselves behind mobile game development.

[MoanaLisa]

It's safe to say that most of the old guard has already left the WoW team, for a multitude of reasons - but they have left nevertheless.

I don't know that that would be a bad thing. If the game needs freshening up [pro tip: it does] why would you entrust that to people that made the game 15-20 years ago?

[Lorgar Aurelian]

Blizzard lives and dies on investors these days. From an investor standpoint, WoW is a sinking ship not worth saving, because they don't have the investment that actual game players do.

Chances are, sadly the opposite is going to happen. WoW will eventually enter maintenance mode because it's not making them enough money and they'll back themselves behind mobile game development.

Wow has been continuously rising in profits it’s no where near a sinking ship and the idea of them putting it in maintenance mode would have any investor rioting as it would be a loss of hundreds of millions.

[Tarba]

Finding a dev is hard, finding a good dev with experience is really hard. Adaptation to a new company takes time (new guy is less effiscient and it takes time from old guys to explain things). Blizzard has one of the worst image in game development right now, people will leave because of ambiance, and friends leaving will lower morale. Recruiting will be hard. And most of their dev will get a message from other companies like "hey situation is not top notch à Blizz right now, wanna come ?"
The company will survive for a long time, no worry about that, but quality will continue to drop and products delayed.

I didn't play Shadowland but "Upcoming Hotfix - Conduits Upgrades Based on Specialization" seems like something that should have been done from the start. 8 months to bring that is a joke. And the correction itself (depending on specialization and not on loot specialization) is quite ridiculous. That sounds understaffed.

[Edward Wu]

I don't know that that would be a bad thing. If the game needs freshening up [pro tip: it does] why would you entrust that to people that made the game 15-20 years ago?

Because people are looking for WoW to return to its roots, not change to a completely different new-age version of itself. Obviously, there's some level of change that's needed, but people require that familiarity that's really important to them, and you need the veteran core who are attuned to that familiarity to keep it around.

[Cosmic Janitor]

I very much doubt it. I think they will have to get some stuff done finally, so they will probably throw some more people behind their stalling projects: OW2 and D4.

[Soon-TM]

I don't know that that would be a bad thing. If the game needs freshening up [pro tip: it does] why would you entrust that to people that made the game 15-20 years ago?

Oh, I certainly wouldn't, seeing as how this whole 'frat boys' dumpster fire was caused and enabled mostly by old guard'ers.

Even on a purely game design level, WoW looks more and more like something that belongs to a museum.

[Violent]

They have no "talent" left.

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Oh, I certainly wouldn't, seeing as how this whole 'frat boys' dumpster fire was caused and enabled mostly by old guard'ers.

Even on a purely game design level, WoW looks more and more like something that belongs to a museum.

Funny how they still put on tournys for "museum" games.

Is that how you felt about stick-ball too?

[Demsi]

It seems more likely that they're going to diversify rather than consolidate, WoW is clearly declining and has been since BFA, i'm curious if wow is even considered profitable by the shareholders in the future

[Mammoon]

Their proven talent is going to be working on whatever project Blizzard/Activision thinks will make the most money... which in most cases is going to be "the next big thing." It wouldn't make much sense to put all your best people on an old, dying game.

The best hope for WoW is that the younger, newer people that are assigned to it actually have good ideas/talent to improve the game.