WHat are your thoughts on the current status of Blizzard as a developer?

[KOUNTERPARTS]

(Sent from the future)

I'm not interested in mobile games, so they aren't relevant to me.

underrated post , you got a LOL from me

[Soon-TM]

they took risks with adding warfronts and island expeditions to wow. See how that went

IEs are just reskinned Pandaria scenarios. Not really a big risk, if you ask me.

As for warfronts, they did try to do something new, but I still cannot fathom how the f*** could they think that handing heroic gear away for essentially AFKing was a good idea. They were a great concept, and quite fit for the "total war" theme of this xpac (so far)... but they botched it, as they have with many other good ideas.

[breslin]

They need to make a battle royale game with all the characters from HoTs

[khazmodan]

I feel like they are thinking about ways to keep people playing the game, instead of creating a game that people would want to play. The design philosophy of Legion and BFA is "Give people more power, no matter what they do they can always gain more power", implying that everyone only played the game to get stronger and stronger, instead of playing the game to have fun

10/10 truth spoken

[Coffeh]

They're shit.

Except the Classic team. They rock.

[snackfeat]

They need to make a battle royale game with all the characters from HoTs

I can imagine you drooling all over yourself while typing this.

[khazmodan]

Oh boy... it could. In someones dream.

Just like the developers, you don't understand the value the community strategy in vanilla had for retaining subs.

[Soon-TM]

Just like the developers, you don't understand the value the community strategy in vanilla had for retaining subs.

Don't worry, it's obvious that that poster doesn't know how a game's design shapes its community. WoW these days is effectively a single player game, for anything other than HC/M raids and high M+ keys, so the people fond of the game's current iteration are likely to dgaf about community in the first place.

[Eggroll]

The Designers (for WoW specifically) seem to have forgotten they should be making a fun videogame, not a clinically pure and homogeneous spreadsheet engine and their IPs are suffering from story attrition.

So much this. Sometimes I feel like it's robots running WoW, not human beings...

[vsb]

I have no idea what this fuss is about. I don't care about those portals, I can get anywhere without them. I don't travel that often, so it does not bother me. I think that people are stupid and like to bash Blizzard for trivial things that does not matter. Portals are chaotic and they needed to make some order with them. I hope that Blizzard will stand their position and not cater to whiners, they should continue to polish their game, even if some steps are not welcome by vocal minority.

[spalernTJ]

I have two words for you "Diablo: Immortal."

[DeltrusDisc]

Blizzard has always done other peoples ideas better. Somewhere they stopped

So damned true.

I really want to come back to WoW because I just love the world and the story, but damn, the way they've approached BFA, I just can't be bothered. There's just something about BFA and the way it looks and feels that just turned me off hardcore. Not to mention Boralus is fucking UGLY, but that's besides the point.

I miss all the fun I used to have in WoW, I know I can still have fun in WoW, but it isn't the new content I'd be enjoying, so why should I pay monthly for that? I now don't because paying for old content is stupid.

Meanwhile, as you mentioned, GGG is over here kicking ass and taking names, literally taking Blizzard's name from them. I really wonder how Diablo 4's launch will go. I'll get D4, but I definitely will not preorder it, nor will I buy it within the first week. I hope people really hold back, remember Diablo 3, and wait for the game to launch. Let Blizzard feel like they failed for once, let them prove that it's worth it.

Let them prove they are worth it.

[jakeic]

Think back to the times you bought or first played Blizzard games, when Diablo 2 or Warcraft 2 or Starcraft came out they were events. You weren't just buying a game, you were buying this incredible world and community that spawned up around those games. Now when Blizzard releases a game they sell you a part at a time, which I know is very trendy in the gaming world, but Blizzard was never trendy. By selling their games piece-meal they've broken the aspect of gaming that they had nailed down, the delivering a great (and rather complete) experience for the price of the box game. The games that made Blizzard a giant would not be released today as complete products don't reach the marketplace from AAA developers.

Blizzard has also pivoted away from creating games people want to play, and toward trying to capture a certain group of players. They make decisions that handicap and destroy the investment players are willing to put toward their games by doing things like making sure Diablo 3 can be directly ported to consoles. The PC crowd has always tended toward the more hardcore gamers (as the investment in playing PC games has always been higher than playing console games), in Blizzard's effort to expand they have practically abandoned the fans that created them.

[Eon Drache]

Don't worry, it's obvious that that poster doesn't know how a game's design shapes its community. WoW these days is effectively a single player game, for anything other than HC/M raids and high M+ keys, so the people fond of the game's current iteration are likely to dgaf about community in the first place.

I don't even play Current WoW... I put a pretty big emphasis on community in my multiplayer games. That is one of the reasons why I quit WoW. However, I have played on a few private servers and I can honestly say the community there isn't that much better. The players are arrogant assholes that can't bother to stop to help anyone.

Just like the developers, you don't understand the value the community strategy in vanilla had for retaining subs.

And I doubt you have any better understanding about it then I do. However, strategically, I think a company about money knows more than I do.

[Soon-TM]

I don't even play Current WoW... I put a pretty big emphasis on community in my multiplayer games. That is one of the reasons why I quit WoW. However, I have played on a few private servers and I can honestly say the community there isn't that much better. The players are arrogant assholes that can't bother to stop to help anyone.

Oh, my apologies then

However, I've played on my fair share of pservers (including That One Server Thou Shalt Not Mention Here), and my experiences have been quite different to yours, social-wise.

[Eon Drache]

Oh, my apologies then

However, I've played on my fair share of pservers (including That One Server Thou Shalt Not Mention Here), and my experiences have been quite different to yours, social-wise.

I do find it a little amusing you thought it was "obvious" that I didn't know what drove a community in game design when I never even made a comment about the community. My comment was that I don't think Classic WoW will be the biggest MMO again? I'm a bit confused why I was attacked based on community? Do I think Classic will succeed? Yes. I just don't think it will be the biggest MMO ever again.

[khazmodan]

I don't even play Current WoW... I put a pretty big emphasis on community in my multiplayer games. That is one of the reasons why I quit WoW. However, I have played on a few private servers and I can honestly say the community there isn't that much better. The players are arrogant assholes that can't bother to stop to help anyone.



And I doubt you have any better understanding about it then I do. However, strategically, I think a company about money knows more than I do.

This idea that a big corporation obviously knows more about money than somebody in a forum may be true most of the time but ActiBlizzard is showing only a short term cash grab philosophy that is obvious to all. The number of corporations that screw up in a huge way on money matters almost matches the number that exists so this blind god like view of companies that have had success in the past is unwarranted when there current behavior says otherwise.

[Eon Drache]

This idea that a big corporation obviously knows more about money than somebody in a forum may be true most of the time but ActiBlizzard is showing only a short term cash grab philosophy that is obvious to all. The number of corporations that screw up in a huge way on money matters almost matches the number that exists so this blind god like view of companies that have had success in the past is unwarranted when there current behavior says otherwise.

Blind god like view? To say they know better than someone on the forum that blindly attacks someone just because of a different view point? You said I had no idea about community when I legit never mentioned it. I'll side with Blizzard over you, sorry.

[breslin]

I can imagine you drooling all over yourself while typing this.

Ill admit it was kind of sarcastic, but it feels like thats all the masses play now

[Senphiroth1134]

So this is what I think... I think that we have reached the point where the fans are just being chated by developers... and this is as someone that often takes the developer point of view.

I think people don't understand nerds and nerd culture very well as fans they just want to see super cool things, and often impute al ot of characteristics like they're all
awesome people and amazing people who will do anything to help you and that's just not true at all.

This whole fan culture, see the thing is, I'm not necessarily a major fan myself of many of the develpers, for a long time now... and now I see the developers going full
plow ahead and becoming even worse whereas the fans are in a moment of crisis so let me inject some wisdom that I think will be of value.

Blizzard is an awful developer and an overall awful group of people, some of th e worst possible in the industry honestly, they are fans last honestly.

This has always been true... I was around during the time of Everquest and even as a nerdy person I was reviled for my points of view by no less than John Smedley himself
and the main core of the team.

People like that are kinda just jerks... they get up at 6 am... work all day... nerds aren't necessarily liberal or progressive or exciting.

Compared to Blizzard though Verant is a freaking gem.... and so what I think the fans should do is go backwards instead of forwards....

Everyone here should adopt new MMOs and games... honestly... for instance I'm thinking of driving in a bunch of people to play Pplanetside Arena...

Heres another thing , Verant as it is now without Smedley is MUCH better and I think the future is just getting going.... all the alpha nerds are moving to other
things and the fans should have some self-esteem and say I deserve better because they deserve better.

Edit: and I want to add that I don't ever approve of the hostile attacks on devs themselves, if you don't like it, find something else, just wanted to be clear
I never supported any of the invective/awful stuff directed at these people and am now like wow ok we're great now, not at all.

However, I am going to b try to be objective and evaluate the situation for what it is and this is all also pretty true IMO, two sides as they say.

A really super fan boy I've known since forever for example once ven applied to Blizzard and f got rejected even though he's like the biggest fan ever....

That's because again you guys see it on the outside or maybe just don't know, well that era doesn't have to continue....

Another thing people don't know is I've often been for whatever reason given some ability to input to Blizzard and I 100% defended the fans everytime, no matter
how insane it got ..

You know why? Because I remember a time when there weren't fans, when there just jerks who would ruin your D&D game, the old locker slamming era... it was reall…

all too real... and so fans... for me... no matter how stupid it may seem or awful or silly or even cruel at times are still fans so I'm done with the alpha devs.

The truth is that nerds who are compassionate are actually extremely rare.... and completely in the minority... most skilled professional types etc are very serious
about their craft and don't tolerate all these shenanigans...

anyway Proof that San Diego and Verant is the future for the fans...

1. 100% fan service even in 2019
https://twitter.com/everquest/status...37057867280384



2. They're an actieve full time developer that has always been bigger than Everquest and still curerently develops and publishes games... such as Planetside Arena



Edit: And there's a lot of other possibilities.... this unique Blizzard sauce style is the only thing you really have to give up and IMO it's well
worth it so I've been on way for a long time.

Besides I mean I don't think any of the other video games have ever visually looked bad at all or anything honestly.

I think Blizzard has maybe the richest sort of style but conceptually I think they are fairly inferior to a wide range of companies....

And also thte technical effects 3d processing etc, basically you just have to get past this really really uniquely executed style of illustration etc
and the possibilities become endless.

Besides one day Im sure blizzard will wake up and be like ok yeah we do this visual thing and we're here if people are willing to pay for it...

and then we can have what people here seem to not be able to get themselves to get which is everything in the one big awesome pot I guess.

To be honest.... I think at this point it's become a thing so this is really as far as I know completely true and it's finally a bit ok to actually share it....

So I'm definitely a child of the 1990s... and during that era the jocks/nerds and so on became a thing.....

What I recall happening is something like this feeling like it's all over for civilization almost like they're coming for nerds and all their stuff and so on....

And right across that era you had a n explosion of media all of it geared towards solving that... and like everyone got involved on both
super continents basically... Nintendo Japan various companies Sega etc....

And right here you also had tons of companies, you still had native D&D but you also had Gold Box and Ultima and Wizardy and everything...

At some point or another as in 2010s people are like ok all this tuff stuff but really where did it turn and why and how?

And they start to go oh it's really Blizzard... oh it's really this... oh it's everything and finally in 2016 etc everything went crazy but I can tell you
exactly how it felt from start to the other point.

So basically everyone is dragged in to the big web.... and well essentially my ideas were totally different for video games and media then
most other people...

This is as a child by the way basically but I played and supported the games more or less....

More or less what transpired is I played D&D really a bit and thought wow this is amazing it's like a game where you can go anywhere and do
anything and that's awesome... so I played quite a few games basically and then also online they had text MUDS....

But yeah at a certain point with 3D grahpics it became clear that maybe yo ucould have a D&D game that's 3D and so it would be like you are
playing a D&D gma ethat way. And it's really simple and Everquest resulted basically and for many people basically stopped the tide ….

Blizzard North still feels to this day that they're the ones who turned it all... and they definitely did something. . Blizzard Main is absolultely
convinced they are and also are all incredibly above us all now.

But yeah the thing is once EQ had success that relieved a lot of pressure on nerds and people that play vide go games... so what happened is
tons of people such as Tigole and Pardo etc basically it was like a breakout suddenly everyone could do anything and we had an endless
proliferation...

But whne the winding down came we all went back to our starting points and everyone I mean literally everyone was like oh the Everquest
people are still kicking around well we moved past that a long time ago and it was agfgreed upon by all the major players i.e. Pardo etc
that well it was a good fight but they weren't strong enough to make it (EQ and stuff) because we were weak and there was better since...

Well I don't feel that way then or now, I think Everquest is definitely the nice franchise or whatever but that doesn't mean weak necessarily
it never had the fireworks or pyrotechnics of the other franchises but I think it's the other way, I think the other franchises are sinking now

whereas this one has the future... but none of the alpha devs believe it so I'm left to try and vonc convince the fans basically.


Anyway now I'm seen as the person who sort of caused all the problems weirdly or something... and this whole situation...

What's sad though is all this really started as is kinda like well my mom actually to an extent is like oh my child is sorta different doesn't like
sports or doesn't get it and basically Verant and all this evolved as a way for me to have an option t in life anyway.


But what ended up happening is the whole thing became so crazy popular and so on that it started this giant saga that really went on for
like 20 years uninterrupted.... pretty crazy ….


I played Everquest again recently and it still actually feels very similar to how it once did, they left it basically in tact, I think it would
still be popular for people to try and play as it once existed more or less.


I think what's basically missing in this video game experience is just plain America, Everquest happened absolutely in the kind of mid 90s era

ho hum America, with people like my parents and just general people involved, I think that's like everyone in middle school basically played it

that I remember... like we were all excited and it's kinda synonymous with a lot of our experiences and stuff as basically millennials now I guess.

The thing is I actually remember sorta trying to direct people at the time also... I'm almost certain I basically like told Alex and later J Allen
to go to Blizzard because the environment around everquest be cause of it's popularity became insane and unmanageable.

That's partly why Blizzard got all these other developers and teams, because Everquest became so successful and they had to deal with
all the negative things that come with that.

Well now it's the opposite sorta, Everquest has cooled down so that's no longer issue but the storm is around WoW obviously....

What's really important for me actually the more I think on it is that what happened in America IMO only really could of happened in America
almost....

A lot of nerds etc have really experiences with childhood, they're not necessarily like other children etc that's when you notice a lot of
differences.

A lot of the European elite have felt that way but it gets repressed oftentimes because of their role in the global society...

Whereas for me in America I mean it's just your average American middle school era... completely serene and unbothered basically.

It's in that environment I've been able to think clearly about things other people haven't, it's weird... basically I think of it like an
oasis... my own personal oasis sorta... like 6th-8th grade more or less... American I middle schools are actually really well done
on a number of different levels... they're perfect for me and people like me because there is a lot of intellectual stuff.


Well this is abit too much of a tangent, but basically it's a lot of thoughts and it connects to Blizzard because Blizzard by itself is literally just
Rock N roll racing and Blackthorne, it's very simple actually, but because Blizzard's north's craziness, that affected Blizzard South, which in
turn affected Verant and then we all got tangled together.

and so I'm trying to help untangle them so we can clearly see what's where and why.

To be honest I believe both Blizzard NOrth and South were more or less created to counter what was bure geoning Everquest success... they
said lets get the highest quality nerds to beat down this homegrown thing... I mean Blizzard north devs are all super high Q IQ types and
really intense all that, and Blizzard south they're not slouches either.

I guess on some global conceptual level I've always wanted to move past the tropes sorta... like this is crazy probably a coincidence but not
entirely but essentially I see the entire nerd/video game scene as repeating the rise and fall of the roman empire... right down to the collapse
etc.

But what started at everquest is something else... like again probably coihncidence but everquest's release date is actually March 16th 1999,
which is exactly one day AFTER the eides of March when the Roman empire basically Caesar was assassinated and stuff.

I have other inspirations also like Carthage as opposed to Rome, which is a North African based civilization... it's also why I started to kinda
like Age of Conan MMO a bit since it's just outside the range/norm.

Another weird fact a lot of the villains in Everquest were inspired by real live interactions the and the relative place of nerds insociety….

For example the orcs are 100% and not being racist but 100% basically inspired by aggressive black cultures etc... because nerds were
thrown in with what were perceived to be the worst of society and so we shared a place with basically the worst part of Africa.

That's what's odd... Blizzard enteratinemnt went int he whole Scottish snow direction etc whereas in truth the craziest ideas were basically
in the jungle of Africa is where the story actually technically starts.

It's so low it's actually not even on the conventional European radar... they didn't pick up on it until way later basically I wante dto say like
20 years o well 10 years later... the European system is only interested in you at around 17/18 because generally speaking they consider
childhood similar to how most male European adults of various kinds view it and that's as a sort of younger means stupider/less capable..

If 17 is your peak year sorta deal then your in trouble a bit maybe.. stuff like that...

In fact I've never met a Japanese nerd that has a lot of the nerdiness sentiment between 13-18 etc... same for Germans... and probably
a fair amount of Italians.

J Allen and Alex and stuff are definitely in the 13-18 category, John was also... Smedley that is... But I managed to somehow be all about this stuff at like 11-12 so I fell off every conceivable radar which is weird.

Back in the day I viewed this as my only option, since European and stuff didn't view you as being capable unless you were well
clearly European and a number of other things... but now they7're more tolerant and open so it's not as big a deal, it doesn't feel as
desperate as it did then... However it's still most clearly represented as a franchise for yself here so I'd rather it not go away basically.

Anyway to go back to not being a tangent , Blizzard absolutely became anointed by Europe, well a lot of America, the kinda of liberal elite, etc
any number of people as being superior to all this so they don't really care anymore which is why I'm kinda hoping to get some life into it all.

Everyone shouujld consider Blizzard to have reached the status of a super ultra megalithic corporation... with designs on making them into a
like ultra like global force on the level of Apple and Microsoft, certainly within range of an dpossibly on the level of an Eastern USA corporation
like Northrop Grunmann or something.

But people shouldn't despair for bLizzard either they're well paid and potentially one day we'll see them again in a different context... possibly
more willing to work with the other nerds and so on and so forth.

AT any rate, I don't even know who I'm talking to anymore... maybe to people who are really really genuinely curious about basically everything
that has happened around Blizzard... and in the spirit of ok well nothing to hide to potential fans this is what I can say to add to the picture...

there's probably other details also.

The one thing I would say as a limitation is that if all that sounds interesting and your bLizzard is somewhere else well a lot of this happened
a long time asgo and recreating 1996 nowadays is really, really hard.

Plus there's a lot of things that do NOT belong in the present and shouldn't make anyone's life harder... for starters I absolutely support
Verant but the basic idea that I don't have another option is bad, which is why I am trying to make good witht he Europeans... which for
starters means acknowledign they are the mothership and everything runs through them because it does... Europe and Asia are the home
of all the illustrious cultures and so on and have a monopoly basically on everything that's remotely approaching that... but they're also
often good people in their own right and they offer plenty of things to the rest of us so I'm great with that.

If possible I would have liked to really even just be at Nintendo or something for a month or a year just experiencing what their normal is like
somehow.

But of course it's far away language etc but eh idea is to normalize relations.

The second is of course to make my life not revolve around video games and stuff, I like music and just being a normal person and
I think everyone should have like a ton of normal experiences/normal careet etc ahead of them is possible. I'm sick of the era of everyone
depending on just the one thing rather than having options because that's not practical.

There's one final crazy thing I want to drop which is that I can't believe I'm saying this but MOBAs also started in Everquest' sbackyards…
there's a game called Lords of Everquest which is aprequel to everquest that is a total 100% MOBA way before MOBAs and even though it
came out after WC3 Blizzard sopped that idea right up and benefitted from it.. as does Riot obviously.

But yeah I guess one thing I thought it about is well maybe America is basically the home for stuff like Everquest because it's "not" conventionally European... or at least conventionaly Roman which is what all European and to a lesser extent Asian society is derived....

It's that weird differentness that puts it outside the censors and also makes it a more logical home... in many ways I think anyway.

the biggest reason though is similar to Ae Alex's reason for staying with Acitivions despite the sometimes not so great environment... a fewo of us do not at ALL believe that ther eis such a thing as moving up in this envirojnment…

The powers that be are furious about everything and incredibley distant more so than ever... so they have their own thing
plus there's no way I really trust the br burgeoning social justice/label movement just like Alex... like honestly?

Being a nerd? It's … I don't know... it's really ok all things considered, compared toa lot of alternatives...


Like kinda "one of those people" sorta thing doesn't feel nearly as offensive to me... and besides any conflict that existed

if it really did exist has gradually melted away on that front... not saying all conflict is gone but a lot of stuff kinda has a bit.

It sounds kinda funny... no one ever thinks the funny/under not shiny people have a chance v ever at any thing, but I wonder maybe they kinda
have that.

The prototypical American school experience has a ton of diversity, as I said I already feel that about Middle School, but I wonder now about
the "cool people" in high school, at least in the 90s... they always seemed to have a lot going on for them I guess but are very unique and kinda
powerful in their own right... not in the burgeoning global society agenda at all.... but it's hard as fik to be cool I know because my sister
would always be in that category and it's just really hard but she manages somehow.

I know Riot has a lot of those people I think which is fine I guess...

But you know I still think we're just beginning a lot of things.. I don't think the cool America has it's ideas figured out on a lot of stuff, I just
really feel I know one thing which is that they have some fan genes in them... some more than other and fans are better than the alternative
I know that with 100% really as certain as you can be certain I guess know that so like I wouldn't even be posting here at all if that didn't
exist because you never would want to try and converse with people who you know just hate you and want you gone.