Blizzard Employee Letter to Leadership, Other Responses to Lawsuit

[Femininity]

All the "shocked and appalled" reactions by current/former leadership is laughable. It's like the warden being shocked at what goes on in the prison showers.

[DeltrusDisc]

Why am I not surprised Metzen's response is the only thoughtful one, it seems like? I haven't read them all but I've read a few and they've mostly been trying to put the blame elsewhere.

He seems to be the only one who is like "Damn, we fucked up, I'm sorry. Here's what I'd like to do/think we should do to make things better."

[lichbane]

I wonder how many people have unsubbed for the 100th time already. Do you remember all those people unsubbing when the Hong Kong thing happened? Yeah, 2 weeks later and it was forgotten.

Nah. BFA was a dumpster fire. Shadowlands was pretty bad too. 9.1 was a massive disappointed. This scandal is the final nail in the coffin for me. I've already found my fun elsewhere. Once I cancel my sub, that's it for me.

Cancelled. Blizzard is a shadow of its former self ... though that video from 2010, perhaps it never was that great.

[Clbull]

I truly believe this is the end of WoW's life. I mean seriously as both a long time member of this sub and scrolling through all the "wow is dead/dying, this will kill wow etc." I think for real this time.

WoW will survive, albeit as a shell of its former self. A hardcore and very dedicated sect of the player base will likely keep playing, but that's about it.

Actually willing to bet that Final Fantasy XIV has already overtaken WoW in terms of concurrents. Sure, it will never hit that 12 million subscriber peak that Wrath of the Lich King once did, but it doesn't need to.

I do think Blizzard will have to ditch the whole "spoon-feed everybody welfare epics" strategy, because if they shoehorn everybody into the exact same raid on 4 difficulty levels, what little player base they have left will quickly grow bored and leave.

[RoKPaNda]

I truly believe this is the end of WoW's life. I mean seriously as both a long time member of this sub and scrolling through all the "wow is dead/dying, this will kill wow etc." I think for real this time.

It's a civil suit. They'll be fined. That's it. Give it a month and the community in general will have forgotten and moved on to whatever piece of drama is most juicy at that point in time.

I hope they fine the shit out of them, I hope that the abusers get fired and I hope this leads to a better work place at Blizzard. I suspect a lot of people at Blizzard are going to be fired. Most of them you probably will have never even heard of, but fresh blood will take their place and the game(s) will go on.

WoW will survive, albeit as a shell of its former self. A hardcore and very dedicated sect of the player base will likely keep playing, but that's about it.

Even if every single person on social media that you see saying they're going to unsub or have unsubbed was being honest, which they likely aren't, you're still only talking about a couple thousand people at most which is like a drop in the bucket.

[Aliven]

Good for you, how is that a productive comment?

I actually subbed back as soon as this news came out, because I realized that the developers NEED the support more than ever. Game is currently shit, but quitting is only going to make things worse for the actual workers. Think a little bit.

Hint. Devs get the paycheck regardless if you pay sub. They get paid for work. You only show Blizzard you are ok with what they are doing right now. Nothing really to be proud off.

[Lucetia]

So wait, you read what's going on out there, and your sole reaction is "But... muh content updates!", REALLY?

I'm not sure about "Part of the problem", but at least try having some perspective on this horrible situation.

While I don't agree with a lot of what is going on and is a separate issue. At the same time like the person you quoted had mentioned content updates are something they should still be working on. Granted, it could've been said a whole lot nicer than the person you quoted said.

If they aren't going to be actively working on contents then they should freeze subs or something to compensate. To me it would be like if I paid for an oil change program where you get an oil change every so many miles and then the company itself halfway through the term had internal issues and just told everyone to stop working until they sorted it out. People would be upset that they didn't get the rest of what they paid for an would either ask for a reimbursement or an extension of however long the wait is.

Yes, the issue at Blizzard should take some priority, but at the same time it isn't right for the company to essentially stop all work and continuously charge you and say "Content will come when it's ready" knowing that they full well stopped for the time being and will pick up later.

The issue is between Activision-Blizzard and it's employees and not the company and the customer.

The other thing to note is that this happens practically at every big company in some capacity and this one just made the news because it got taken to a state level and we don't see other companies stopping when they have internal issues like this. This doesn't justify it's existence or anything, but to show that other companies were able to serve their customers in some capacity.

To sum it up, I do agree with the person you quoted although it could have been said a lot differently. While at the same time I do agree with your points as well.

[Magnagarde]

He is spot on. If, after everything that transpired in blizz in recent week, somebody response is "why is my content delayed? i pay for it (which is not really true)" then yes. They can fuck off. There are bigger problems.

His job is to develop the game, not preach to paying customers.

I hope when they quit/change/get lay off they would walk proudly from blizzard offices with middle finger for that segment of the community.

They'd do everyone who cares about the game a favour. At least they wouldn't be paid for showing the middle finger, unlike now when they're being paid to preach on Twitter.

[arkanon]

He is spot on. If, after everything that transpired in blizz in recent week, somebody response is "why is my content delayed? i pay for it (which is not really true)" then yes. They can fuck off. There are bigger problems. And i assure you, devs dont give a flying fuck about 17y old game and if and when the patches come. The company crash and burn? Great we have fucking veterans in MMO space, they could literally dictate the terms of their next job in the industry. The Blizz survive that? They got the job, Blizz cant really afford to lay them off.

I hope when they quit/change/get lay off they would walk proudly from blizzard offices with middle finger for that segment of the community.

But it absolutely 100% IS true - we absolutely 100% DO pay for the content - who the hell do you think is paying for it? Why do you think we pay a box price for a subscription based game? Honestly, who do you think is paying for the game? And if its not us, what do you think we are forking money over for?

[manypillars]

I never want people to lose their job for such things, but ill make an exception here - this is beyond unacceptable, and honestly should result in a serious reprimand / demotion, if not outright dismissal.

It dragged me out of my hole to comment here, because as screwed up as this guy's tweet is and how fucking horrific this mess they've just accepted is, I'm not going to join the firehose of hate and harassment he's surely getting right now. I would like to find out just how much he knew what was going on, considering he was in a management and oversight position.

[arkanon]

Hint. Devs get the paycheck regardless if you pay sub. They get paid for work. You only show Blizzard you are ok with what they are doing right now. Nothing really to be proud off.

Yes and if there is no content, people dont sub. If people dont sub, Blizzard dont get paid. If Blizzard dont get paid, neither do the devs, they get laid off.

I dont get where this fucked up idea comes from that Blizzard is too big to fail - they are not.

[lichbane]

I actually subbed back as soon as this news came out, because I realized that the developers NEED the support more than ever. Game is currently shit, but quitting is only going to make things worse for the actual workers. Think a little bit.

Blizzard makes enough money. Maybe Bobby Kotick should stop milking the cow and invest back into the company rather than cutting it. Think a little bit.

[arkanon]

It dragged me out of my hole to comment here, because as screwed up as this guy's tweet is and how fucking horrific this mess they've just accepted is, I'm not going to join the firehose of hate and harassment he's surely getting right now. I would like to find out just how much he knew what was going on, considering he was in a management and oversight position.

Irrelevant - it is NEVER acceptable to literally blame your paying customers for a problem that is 100% internal and self inflicted.

[Ivarr]

Yes and if there is no content, people dont sub. If people dont sub, Blizzard dont get paid. If Blizzard dont get paid, neither do the devs, they get laid off.

But devs trying to get laid is what got them into this mess in the first place!

[hydrium]

If Blizzard *really* cared about their employees then they should cancel subscriptions and make the game free to play, that way they can stop work on all content, just maintain the servers and give their company the overhaul they think it needs. Once finished, resume subscriptions.

Right now they're asking customers to continue to pay for a game that is treading water with no foreseeable resumption in sight.

[Clozer]

WoW will survive, albeit as a shell of its former self. A hardcore and very dedicated sect of the player base will likely keep playing, but that's about it.

Actually willing to bet that Final Fantasy XIV has already overtaken WoW in terms of concurrents. Sure, it will never hit that 12 million subscriber peak that Wrath of the Lich King once did, but it doesn't need to.

I do think Blizzard will have to ditch the whole "spoon-feed everybody welfare epics" strategy, because if they shoehorn everybody into the exact same raid on 4 difficulty levels, what little player base they have left will quickly grow bored and leave.

The majority of the player base hasn't even heard about this drama. To think that wow will die because of this is beyond stupid.

[Aliven]

But it absolutely 100% IS true - we absolutely 100% DO pay for the content - who the hell do you think is paying for it? Why do you think we pay a box price for a subscription based game? Honestly, who do you think is paying for the game? And if its not us, what do you think we are forking money over for?

For beer, cocaine, hookers and whatever they do in the office? Do you believe the money goes into making wow better? Are you naive?

And no, you pay to access servers. Which can be terminated without moment notice. They can literally shut down the game and servers at any moment and they have no obligation toward customers or does not need to provide how many beer's they bought with your 15$.
Do people actually does not read for what they are paying?

[arkanon]

But devs trying to get laid is what got them into this mess in the first place!

hahaha, reply of the thread! well done sir/madam, I gift you 8 internets.

- - - Updated - - -

For beer, cocaine, hookers and whatever they do in the office? Do you believe the money goes into making wow better? Are you naive?

And no, you pay to access servers. Which can be terminated without moment notice. They can literally shut down the game and servers at any moment and they have no obligation toward customers or does not need to provide how many beer's they bought with your 15$.
Do people actually does not read for what they are paying?

When i paid to purchase the expansion, im pretty sure it wasnt for "access to the servers".

[FlemmMinis]

If Blizzard *really* cared about their employees then they should cancel subscriptions and make the game free to play, that way they can stop work on all content, just maintain the servers and give their company the overhaul they think it needs. Once finished, resume subscriptions.

Right now they're asking customers to continue to pay for a game that is treading water with no foreseeable resumption in sight.

Agreed.
/tenchars

[dope_danny]

This metaphorically feels like watching an old landmark house burn down.