WarCraft III Megathread

[Akka]

On a serious note, Metacritic audience score is worthless. I haven't met a single person who actually submits reviews to Metacritic.

Despite what all the butthurt guys claim, I've found that Metacritic audience score is probably the best tool to detect if a game is good or not. Professional reviews are completely disconnected from what the game is, and are more concerned about managing expectations and pleasing publishers. The statistical mass in Metacritics means that you get an actual trend, and that's a pretty good indicative.

[Redroniksre]

I've been pissed about Reforges lack of updated campaign since November, but this is just freaking hilarious. The fact that reforge is a lackluster remaster is one thing, but that people are taking Metacritic seriously when the score has been review bombed by people who just want to be popular is even funnier. Worst game in history? How old are these people, 2?

[Stormspark]

Blizzard is doing a great job upholding the Rules of Acquisition.

#211: Employees are the rungs on the ladder of success. Don’t hesitate to step on them.
#239: Never be afraid to mislabel a product.
#111: Treat people in your debt like family… exploit them.
#109: Dignity and an empty sack is worth the sack.
#21: Never place friendship above profit.
#1: Once you have their money, you never give it back.
#3: Never spend more for an acquisition than you have to.
#6: Never allow family to stand in the way of opportunity.

[Kralljin]

You got 18 years out of that game, and most companies wouldn't have support for as long as Blizzard had done.

For a company like Blizzard, keeping those servers running is absolutely not a huge problem or huge investment, they barely cost anything, you'd just be pissing off people that paid you money for no reason than save some scraps.

All you get out of this is bad PR, the money they would be saving from shutting down Warcraft 3 servers is just incredibly small.
They're still running Diablo 2 servers, a game even older than Warcraft 3.

Blizzard had a choice either upgrade your old game or cut you off from battlenet making you back ally a way into playing with the other 6 people who were still playing a 20 year old RTS.

Think about how many people bought Warcraft 3 just play the custom maps, how many people bought Warcraft 3 in 05-07 just to play Dota?
Let alone any other of those custom maps.
If you think Warcraft 3 was just some RTS game, it basically highlights how little you understand of this situation, the community kept this game alive because the custom games extended the lifespan of Warcraft 3 way past its lifecycle.
And Blizzard still profited from it - because people still bought Warcraft 3 because of that.

Fuck me, even the RTS game itself still has a pretty decent professional scene, where they are still able to host decently sized tournaments.

[Nokonda]

Blizzard said it's due to feedback from their testing that the players were all calling for keeping the OG voice actors and not re-doing the scenes because it meant they'd have to get new voice actors. So basically they chose not to do a revamp because of the mainly OG W3 players hooting and hollering about "muh authentic voices".

No way to prove that it's true or false but it's the statement Blizzard gave. But the fact that most people (like me) who've never played through WC3 and are enjoying the campaign vs the vast amount of WC3 veterans talking about wanting their original version of WC3 back and hating the revamp because of multiplayer issues makes me believe Blizzard's statement is true.

Where Blizzard fucked up all around imo is making the two versions one, they should've just made Reforged its own thing so that OG WC3 is still there for all the "muh voices" peeps.

What this should show is you don't try to make something to attract new people while taking feedback from veterans of a game. Because typically the veterans don't want any changes and have set expectations, whereas new people to the product have no expectations or very little.

Like the campaign plays perfectly to me, and I'm loving the new models. I would not play through original WC3 without this revamp even if it was free. So the price for me is justified, despite the more superior (new cutscenes/landscape changes etc) it could've been.

While I hear what you're saying, as a veteran from the original I could give two sh**s whether they use new or old voices as long as they deliver on their original intent and promises which was to have cutscenes akin to The Culling of Stratholme (and especially given how they're freakin' still advertising It!). Furthermore, I'd appreciate if the animations were smoother and had more weight to them, especially with what's currently on display with the Arthas v. Illidan cutscene.
To me €29.99 is an insane asking price for a poorly executed reskin even if many of the revamped models are adequate.

[Tarba]

Blizzard said it's due to feedback from their testing that the players were all calling for keeping the OG voice actors and not re-doing the scenes because it meant they'd have to get new voice actors. So basically they chose not to do a revamp because of the mainly OG W3 players hooting and hollering about "muh authentic voices".

No way to prove that it's true or false but it's the statement Blizzard gave. But the fact that most people (like me) who've never played through WC3 and are enjoying the campaign vs the vast amount of WC3 veterans talking about wanting their original version of WC3 back and hating the revamp because of multiplayer issues makes me believe Blizzard's statement is true.

Where Blizzard fucked up all around imo is making the two versions one, they should've just made Reforged its own thing so that OG WC3 is still there for all the "muh voices" peeps.

What this should show is you don't try to make something to attract new people while taking feedback from veterans of a game. Because typically the veterans don't want any changes and have set expectations, whereas new people to the product have no expectations or very little.

Like the campaign plays perfectly to me, and I'm loving the new models. I would not play through original WC3 without this revamp even if it was free. So the price for me is justified, despite the more superior (new cutscenes/landscape changes etc) it could've been.

Nice argument but the little I noticed before asking for refund was that they actually changed the french voices of medhiv, thrall and atleast the grunts.
So nope. Just a false excuse.

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

I disagree, this isn't 'artistic pov', this is actual ruining a character
As i said, Grom is only orc i can name in old lore who is skilled in his axe that he can beat enemies far outnumber him and out-strengh him, hence why being lean agile was a very important feature, they even designed Garrosh in wrath to look exact opposite of grom on purpose (bulky and bald)
Making grom just another beefed orc remove his most unique feature, now he is just an orc who has axe and like many orcs have the strength to rival a human horse, he isn't even unique like Orgrim who was described stronger than 10 horses, he is just another orc
Unlike what game presents, lore-wise average orc is stronger than 3 humans, the most accurate representation maybe the warcraft movie (ironic) of how orc vs human really look like

Again, they just redesigned Grom following the guidelines of how all orcs are just beefy AF since WoW. Since WoW, Grom has been shown just as bulky as the rest of the orcs, his lean features retconed a long, long while ago.

Of all the things, you really can't blame Reforged for retconing Grom's physique since that change has been made to his design in oficial art since at least 2010 https://wow.gamepedia.com/File:Grom_Glowei.jpg and that's not even mentioning how Samwise Didier drw him also beefy AF win material for WarIII https://wow.gamepedia.com/File:Enraged_Grom.jpg

- - - Updated - - -

In all fairness, I think a lot of the revamped in-game models/assets look acceptable -- some even impressive. Technical issues, screwing up W3 classic and scummy terms of agreement deals all aside, my main issue is that Blizzard has the nerve to advertise this product as having +4 hours of reforged in-game cutscenes and then showcase Culling of Stratholme as an example hereof on their main webpage. That's what baffles me the most. That and the asking price which is not at all in line with what you get.

I think the most charitable thing you can say about Reforged is that the models look good, even when the art direction feels different from the WoW style, it still looks in terms of quality better than War3 did. Janky models problems aside of course.

[rarhyx]

[Fetus Rex]

Arthas looks like a boy-princess. What have they done to him.

[Zimpoli]

I got mine refunded, very blessed.

I'd prefer to not get my money back and have a good WC3 remaster though

[Nyel]

I mean this template has been used a million times but everytime it’s great. This isn’t different.

In no reasonable way you can explain what Blizzard did with Reforged. Honestly, are they a five-man indie studio?

[FlubberPuddy]

While I hear what you're saying, as a veteran from the original I could give two sh**s whether they use new or old voices as long as they deliver on their original intent and promises which was to have cutscenes akin to The Culling of Stratholme (and especially given how they're freakin' still advertising It!). Furthermore, I'd appreciate if the animations were smoother and had more weight to them, especially with what's currently on display with the Arthas v. Illidan cutscene.
To me €29.99 is an insane asking price for a poorly executed reskin even if many of the revamped models are adequate.

Nice argument but the little I noticed before asking for refund was that they actually changed the french voices of medhiv, thrall and atleast the grunts.
So nope. Just a false excuse.

You guys are helping my point. Blizzard should have just stuck to their initial plans for what they wanted Reforged to be (talks of redone cutscenes, making story changes to fit WoW) and keeping it a separate package.

In that Blizzard trying to appease both veteran players and attracting new ones has led to it feeling utter shit all around. This is why I suggested they should've just gone with their original vision and not put classic WC3 and Reforged as one.

The only people (and I count myself here) enjoying Reforged appear to be those who never played WC3 before and are in it for the Campaign. For the vast majority of players (veteran and new) Blizzard really dropped the ball. There's now disappointment that an old favorite isn't officially available anymore (OG WC3) and misleading advertisement of new features (Reforged story/cutscene changes).

- - - Updated - - -

Arthas looks like a boy-princess. What have they done to him.

They made him a weeb.

[Daymanmb]

A 20 year old game getting the #3 spot seems like it's still pretty damn popular based on Twitch viewers. It seems like the outrage isn't nearly as bad as is being made.

I mean, I checked it on twitch to see just how bad the fps issues et al were, without having to spend $30 to experience it first hand.

[Skulltaker]

This thing never gets old. Amazing.

[Daymanmb]

it shouldv looked like this 0:59

holy fucking shit...

[|Dexter|]

So happy I didn´t preorder this, after the Blizzcon a few years ago, I was hovering over that preorder button like I really loved that redone cutscene but it turns out its not even part of the game and it was the only reason I wanted to buy it! So sorry for everyone that could not resist, I also didn´t preorder shadowlands and will not get it until it's released and only if the reviews are good! The only products I preordered this year so far were Final Fantasy VII remake and Cyberpunk but it seems they both got delayed!

[Aliven]

holy fucking shit...

smol indie company...

[Stormspark]

smol indie company...

Multiple people have said that fans could've made something better than Reforged in a couple weeks with just basic tools.

[Aliven]

Multiple people have said that fans could've made something better than Reforged in a couple weeks with just basic tools.

Propably the hard part is stiching it all together in coherent, bug free experience.

But lets be real, blizzard didnt even want to bother with basic updating of models, instead they outsourced it to different company.

This game is epitome of lazy design.

[Stormspark]

Propably the hard part is stiching it all together in coherent, bug free experience.

But lets be real, blizzard didnt even want to bother with basic updating of models, instead they outsourced it to different company.

This game is epitome of lazy design.

True...but Blizzard had 2 years. Certainly the people making stuff in Unreal 4 that looks 1000x better, in a few days, could do this with 2 years. But yeah, the company they outsourced it to, made a browser game that runs in Chrome...explains everything.