Chris Metzen Starts New Company Warchief Gaming, Dave Kosak Leaves Blizzard

[THEORACLE64]

Given the state of WoW, both during and then after Metzen, I dare say WoW wasn't what gave him his career and life, but rather his own two hands working.

Nope. Without WoW he wouldn’t be known - it gave him his career regardless.

[Kolvarg]

Nope. Without WoW he wouldn’t be known - it gave him his career regardless.

And without him Warcraft and WoW wouldn't be what it is, point being?

His career was already amazing before WoW considering he was an artist on Warcraft, and afterward had pretty much big important positions as artist, writer, designer, lead designer and voice production/direction/casting in all main Blizzard titles before WoW. The man had a huge impact in developing and defining all of Blizzard's universes: Warcraft, Diablo and Starcraft, well before anyone dreamed of how popular WoW would become.

And if anything what truly made him well known was his passion, presence and charisma on stage at Blizzcon and interviews, not just "having worked on WoW".

[THEORACLE64]

And without him Warcraft and WoW wouldn't be what it is, point being?

His career was already amazing before WoW considering he was an artist on Warcraft, and afterward had pretty much big important positions as artist, writer, designer, lead designer and voice production/direction/casting in all main Blizzard titles before WoW. The man had a huge impact in developing and defining all of Blizzard's universes: Warcraft, Diablo and Starcraft, well before anyone dreamed of how popular WoW would become.

And if anything what truly made him well known was his passion, presence and charisma on stage at Blizzcon and interviews, not just "having worked on WoW".

My point was the original post I replied to, saying that "don't let WoW hold you back" when in reality it was the very thing that's given him his career.

There's literally zero wrong with the work that he's done, it wasn't "held him back" at all. You're basically explaining my point for me. Maybe have a little read and see what I replied to originally? it's no wonder threads have always derailed around here so easily.

[Pacster]

I can never take what Chris Metzen is saying seriously, he gives me massive pathological liar type vibes.

Like the scripted story of moving from the house to the garage to the 2000 sq ft space? Totally made up. Boring.

GL Chris you haven't been missed from wow, table top games are a dead end but I'm sure you have enough money to do anything and not give a damn. *shrug*

Well, the story sounds a bit cliche...on the other hand: That's how things happen. Start small and passionate, run out of space, get a bigger space. He got the money so a 2000sq ft space is a no brainer for him.

There is likely no big money in table tops anymore...unless you manage to create a community. If you manage to create an open and welcomming gaming space then table tops may become some kind of social event in the future. Nobody figured out how to make that happen yet tho...

[Redroniksre]

Again, it didn't fail spectacularly. It's still going strong and arguably has more players than retail. Seriously, who told you it failed?

I don't agree with the other guy in the sense that Classic pretty much succeeded where it aimed, that said, i don't even think it is an argument between which has more players. Retail has far more activities for the average andy to do than Classic, though Classic is more of a refuge for players who might want a more casual raiding experience.

[rrayy]

Does this mean he'll no longer voice Thrall?

He will still be Thrall. This doesn't prevent him from doing voice over work with Blizzard if Blizzard wants him. Blizzard would just pay him for whatever voice over work he comes in to do.

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And without him Warcraft and WoW wouldn't be what it is, point being?

ANd yo knw that how?[/QUOTE]Wow verl likely still would have been massively successful without him.

[Rinaul]

Dead-end, what are you talking about? The TTRPG industry is booming.

Go into any decent gaming shop and there are kerjillions of titles for all interests these days.

Apparently if the person isn't into it then that = dead. Much like the people who hang around here just to comment on threads about how WoW is dead/dying /died in 2005

[Kolvarg]

ANd yo knw that how? Wow verl likely still would have been massively successful without him.

Because he was responsible for Warcraft II and Wacraft III's stories, he was one of the key person that shaped Warcraft.

Do note I didn't say WoW wouldn't be successful without him, of course we don't really know that - probably it would considering a lot of WoW's success was due to luck.

All I've said is that Warcraft and therefore WoW were in a significant part his creation, so it's rather silly to suggest that his success and being well known is simply due to having worked on WoW - especially when he was already very successful before WoW.

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My point was the original post I replied to, saying that "don't let WoW hold you back" when in reality it was the very thing that's given him his career.

There's literally zero wrong with the work that he's done, it wasn't "held him back" at all. You're basically explaining my point for me. Maybe have a little read and see what I replied to originally? it's no wonder threads have always derailed around here so easily.

I'd encourage you to follow your own suggestion, because the point I have made very clearly disagress that WoW is "the very thing that's given him his career".

[THEORACLE64]

Because he was responsible for Warcraft II and Wacraft III's stories, he was one of the key person that shaped Warcraft.

Do note I didn't say WoW wouldn't be successful without him, of course we don't really know that - probably it would considering a lot of WoW's success was due to luck.

All I've said is that Warcraft and therefore WoW were in a significant part his creation, so it's rather silly to suggest that his success and being well known is simply due to having worked on WoW - especially when he was already very successful before WoW.

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I'd encourage you to follow your own suggestion, because the point I have made very clearly disagress that WoW is "the very thing that's given him his career".

But it is. Without WoW he wouldn't have the career he's had now, that's not disputable. That's not a bad thing, and I was agreeing with your points in that he made the game what it is, but in doing so that's what he's known for and that hasn't "held him back" (in reference to the original thing I replied to).

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He mad wow. Without him it could be argued that WOW wouldn't be known today

How you gonna give the product more credit than the man that made it? lol

Exactly? That hasn't held him back though, which was my point.

[Ielenia]

He retired. Came out of retirement in a non competing space and used the word warchief. A very common word especially in fantasy genre. you are reaching for drama where there is none.

So you're saying it didn't have any weight in deciding the name, considering we all remember Metzen for playing Thrall, the most famous warchief of the Horde? An easy-to-remember name when a Warcraft fan hears his name?

That's like Peter Cullen creating a company for voice actors called "Prime"

[phattsao]

That company is going nowhere fast. But I guess these guys are rich enough that they can afford to blow some money on a passion project.

[neik]

Metzen will always have a special place in my heart. I just simply like the guy.

From business and personal identity perspective, I think that Warchief is a solid choice, I will need to keep an eye on these two. Will never know what interesting things they might come up with.

[Kolvarg]

But it is. Without WoW he wouldn't have the career he's had now, that's not disputable. That's not a bad thing, and I was agreeing with your points in that he made the game what it is, but in doing so that's what he's known for and that hasn't "held him back" (in reference to the original thing I replied to).

I think it's kinda looking backwards at it, especially considering there are many other people who also worked in WoW, arguably with even more importance to its success, that aren't as well known. Of course WoW's becoming super popular brought it to a different level, but saying "WoW made his career" sounds disenginuous at best. Maybe it's just me.

I think when people talk about WoW/Warcraft holding him back, they mean that creative people can become stuck after they create a "masterpiece". Truth be told, there is likely nothing else he will be able to do in the remainder of his life that will even becomeslightly as successful/popular as WoW did. And that does not say anything about him or his work, it's not that he isn't capable of still creating amazing stories and characters, just that there are a lot of external factors and variables and chances are the stars won't ever align themselves again as perfectly as they did for WoW.

And it's easy for a creator to be held back by that and to try to cling to their past work. I won't claim to know anything about it, and I might be wrong, but I certainly wouldn't be surprised if this (and the decline in WoW's popularity and increase in toxic/negative feedback) had a big part in him retiring from Blizzard and WoW. So seeing him start a passion project and again publicly engaging in creative endeavours is quite positive and a sign that he's moving on from that, if he hadn't before.

With that said, I wouldn't be surprised if he collaborated with Blizzard to create Warcraft/Diablo/Starcraft physical games in the future.

[Eurhetemec]

Not particularly interested re: Kosak as he seems to be leaving for yet another gaming start-up which will probably produce nothing at all and we'll probably hear Kosak is working at some more established gaming company in a year or three.

However Metzen going into tabletop gaming is more interesting. He no doubt has a LOT of money (all the people from his level of seniority in Blizzard seem to be very well-off), and he loves all the right things to potentially lead to actually FUN tabletop games. Not necessarily the most stunningly original or whatever, but who cares? If just created some fun, accessible, punchy tabletop RPGs and/or wargames with nice systems and beautiful visual design, and maybe some kind of online platform to play them on, that could be incredible.

[THEORACLE64]

I took no issue with that portion of your original quote and has nothing to do with what I'm talking about. You said wow made him and that's just incorrect; he made wow.

It works both ways. The popularity of WoW gave him the career he's got - if WoW never took off he wouldn't have the career he has now.

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I think it's kinda looking backwards at it, especially considering there are many other people who also worked in WoW, arguably with even more importance to its success, that aren't as well known. Of course WoW's becoming super popular brought it to a different level, but saying "WoW made his career" sounds disenginuous at best. Maybe it's just me.

I think when people talk about WoW/Warcraft holding him back, they mean that creative people can become stuck after they create a "masterpiece". Truth be told, there is likely nothing else he will be able to do in the remainder of his life that will even becomeslightly as successful/popular as WoW did. And that does not say anything about him or his work, it's not that he isn't capable of still creating amazing stories and characters, just that there are a lot of external factors and variables and chances are the stars won't ever align themselves again as perfectly as they did for WoW.

And it's easy for a creator to be held back by that and to try to cling to their past work. I won't claim to know anything about it, and I might be wrong, but I certainly wouldn't be surprised if this (and the decline in WoW's popularity and increase in toxic/negative feedback) had a big part in him retiring from Blizzard and WoW. So seeing him start a passion project and again publicly engaging in creative endeavours is quite positive and a sign that he's moving on from that, if he hadn't before.

With that said, I wouldn't be surprised if he collaborated with Blizzard to create Warcraft/Diablo/Starcraft physical games in the future.

^^ what I said above.

It's not a bad thing, at all. Most people would die to have the kind of career he's had, and with a game so popular - it's a badge of honour if anything.

[Loveliest]

He retired. Came out of retirement in a non competing space and used the word warchief. A very common word especially in fantasy genre. you are reaching for drama where there is none.

It doesn't bother me AT ALL, but it's not coincidence. It's the first thing that comes to mind, seeing as we know him from WoW and he's the voice of Thrall. I mean didn't YOU think of Thrall or at least the Horde leadership when you saw the name? I would bet money that the majority who know of Metzen would think of the connection.

[Eggroll]

Hmm, the name of Chris Metzen's new company doesn't strike me as particularly innovative given his career.

[arandomuser]

do people play tabletop games anymore? that sounds like something only extroverts can manage

[Tyris Flare]

do people play tabletop games anymore? that sounds like something only extroverts can manage

Virtual tabletops are a booming business. Would not be surprised if the majority of TT games are played remotely at this point, even without covid

[Adhominem]

Good old Warhammer. For the emperor!