J. Allen Brack steps down

[ClassicPeon]

Obviously. Before Ion it was GC and holinka people CONSTANTLY blamed. If Ion would go away everyone would just instantly jump on the brainless bandwagon to blame his successor.

Still remember how people actually used to wail on Metzen aswell until he left- then he was a saint :P

People need their punching bags and their saints i guess

[Kallisto]

The real issue with Ion is that he is obviously super introverted and its a bad call to make an introvert game director on an MMO which, by its nature, should be a very social experience. Raids are great but he probably has a blind spot as to the large number of antisocial systems he is allowing into the game.

Here we go with your bullshit about how introverts are evil and need to be removed from society. That and your civil war fan wanks are all you ever do.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

He was the fall guy, this was inevitable and will fix nothing.

All it does is give Activision more power over Blizzard. We've gone from CEO to President to "Co-Leaders."

Next step will be full acquisition with Bobby Kotik himself in the big chair.

[Coldkil]

To all people that quoted me, saying basically everything and the opposite of it.

I know JAB is a scapegoat. However the point is that the whole company has its image destroyed and it's not good for the franchises it sells. When content creators do stuff like "i'm not covering WoW anymore" it's direct damage and can cause a lot of revenue loss.

It's not about Ion or how i would the game to be like. It's about a change in direction that's needed to tell players "we're different now" and that may or may not go through other heads falling.

That's why i'm curious. I want to see what they come out with, if finally they take real feedback from players and so on. Right now i'm playing WoW only because of my guildmates - i have fun with them, but not with the game.

[Varitok]

He was the fall guy, this was inevitable and will fix nothing.

All it does is give Activision more power over Blizzard. We've gone from CEO to President to "Co-Leaders."

Next step will be full acquisition with Bobby Kotik himself in the big chair.

Kotick himself is already CEO of Blizzard. He didn't fill the seat when Mike left and took it himself.

[CostinR]

"You think you do, but you don't"

Good riddance. Yeah he is the fall guy, but like many others in upper management he knew what was going on

Obviously. Before Ion it was GC and holinka people CONSTANTLY blamed. If Ion would go away everyone would just instantly jump on the brainless bandwagon to blame his successor.

People will always blame those in charge when they make stupid decisions, and yes all those made a bunch of stupid decisions when they were in charge. It doesn't mean you can't respect others things they did.

For my part I feel Ghostcrawler did a lot of good things, but there's also dumb crap he did.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

"You think you do, but you don't"

Good riddance. Yeah he is the fall guy, but like many others in upper management he knew what was going on

Oh he definitely knew, he was around long enough to know.

But now Activision wants us all to shut up and accept it's "fixed" without addressing any employee complaints, while also hiring union busters to ensure they don't walk out again.

So good, but also bad.

[MoanaLisa]

Ion Hazzikostas is the one name that forum users know and his name hasn't come up in this lawsuit at all. He's likely not going anywhere, especially now.

For what it's worth: I don't think that Hazzikostas is necessarily the big problem with WoW. He is a problem but it's more likely that if anyone has a vision of how WoW is supposed to look and go it gets smothered in bureaucracy and "consensus design", i.e. design-by-committee and a pretty big committee at that. I don't think that Hazzikostas as a semi-engineer/technocrat has a creative vision for the game either. I think that they need someone like that but I wouldn't have any idea who that is. Certainly not Danuser.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

Ion Hazzikostas is the one name that forum users know and his name hasn't come up in this lawsuit at all. He's likely not going anywhere, especially now.

For what it's worth: I don't think that Hazzikostas is necessarily the big problem with WoW. He is a problem but it's more likely that if anyone has a vision of how WoW is supposed to look and go it gets smothered in bureaucracy and "consensus design", i.e. design-by-committee and a pretty big committee at that. I don't think that Hazzikostas as a semi-engineer/technocrat has a creative vision for the game either. I think that they need someone like that but I wouldn't have any idea who that is. Certainly not Danuser.

I still have my doubts that someone who took over directly (and frankly learned at the knee of) Ghostcrawler isn't aware of C-Suite, we just haven't found out yet.

Also I dunno about his vision being smothered, after this long with him at the helm I think he is the vision-driver. At least as far as this stripped-down, Diablo-esque 4-button gameplay goes.

But definitely Danuser is another name that needs the boot from a purely "WoW is a terrible game and heads should be rolling for the failures of BFA and Shadowlands" standpoint.

[MoanaLisa]

I know JAB is a scapegoat.

I think he's something more than that. Blizzard has, for years now, been attempting to sell the idea that they are an aware and inclusive company and good place to work. Simply put, he messed up with hand-waving Afrasiabi instead of firing him right away. Brack is not a guy who did nothing wrong and needs to fall on his sword. His management of company founders and the elder group of guys who had been around nearly from the start was the best indication that there are rules for everyone and different rules for a few others.

[Kralljin]

Ion Hazzikostas is the one name that forum users know and his name hasn't come up in this lawsuit at all. He's likely not going anywhere, especially now.

I mean, it's become a bit of a meme to point out his previous job, but Ion as Lawyer should know how to act, especially when that can involve actions with legal ramifications.

Also, let's not forget, John Hight is one step above him and as Executive Producer, he should certainly have to answer when it comes to hiccups in the production line.
And if heads should roll in the WoW team, it's his that likely rolls first unless he can showcase how much of a fuckup Ion, but that would also bring it into question why Hight has kept a him as game director for over three years by now (since Hight took over as Executive producer).

I still have my doubts that someone who took over directly (and frankly learned at the knee of) Ghostcrawler isn't aware of C-Suite, we just haven't found out yet.

Ion was Encounter designer, while GC was Lead system designer.
Those two jobs don't necessarily overlap in their day to day work.

If anything, around the time of Cata / MoP, they were likely seeing eye to eye.

[Voidwielder]

That's good but when is Ion and those two Cosby guys leaving as well?

[Kereberus]

https://massivelyop.com/2021/08/03/c...from-blizzard/
Design Manager on WoD, Legion, BfA + Classic

Principal Designer on Shadowlands + TBC Classic

[lockybalboa]

Why would any self-respecting guy grow a hairstyle like his? It looks absolutely ridiculous

[MoanaLisa]

And if heads should roll in the WoW team, it's his [Hight's] that likely rolls first unless he can showcase how much of a fuckup Ion, but that would also bring it into question why Hight has kept a him as game director for over three years by now (since Hight took over as Executive producer).

Yes, but Ion talks to the players and is the main line of communication between developer teams and customers, much like GC took over that responsibility back in the day because no one else would do it. To the simple minds that don't pay any attention to how things actually work in a large corporation, the messenger is CLEARLY the person who makes all decisions, has all responsibilities, etc. I'm not minimizing what Hazzikostas does as game director but it's been clear to me for a while now that his main job as game director isn't to design the game but to get the various departments on the same page compromising and doing whatever needs to be done to move forward.

Again, I really do think the problem is consensus design. Everybody has a hand in the final design and you end up with a bunch of parts that don't add up to much. Which is a decent and valid description for the game today.

All you need to do is look back at the flying kerfluffle at the start of Warlords and how paralyzed the development team was because they couldn't agree on what to do. So it went on for months and months. It's textbook.

[korijenkins]

Brack sucked balls and was not a good president, however I doubt he's the cause of the misconduct. It either happened under him, or it happened before he got that position. He was not in the photograph in the Cosby Suite.

More concerning is they canned this guy while keeping Stockton and McCree employed, two of the most obvious worst offenders.

I expect more token moves to come. They aren't going to change anything, but a lot of the idiot consumers of their trash products will be duped into thinking they did.

[Schizoide]

Yes, but Ion talks to the players and is the main line of communication between developer teams and customers, much like GC took over that responsibility back in the day because no one else would do it.

Ion clearly hates talking to players. But yes, I suppose he is the main line of communication, even if that line is vanishingly thin compared to back in the GC days.

[Coldkil]

I think he's something more than that. Blizzard has, for years now, been attempting to sell the idea that they are an aware and inclusive company and good place to work. Simply put, he messed up with hand-waving Afrasiabi instead of firing him right away. Brack is not a guy who did nothing wrong and needs to fall on his sword. His management of company founders and the elder group of guys who had been around nearly from the start was the best indication that there are rules for everyone and different rules for a few others.

Didn't imply that. But the fact he was the top guy in Blizzard means also he was responsible of everything happened, even if he didn't partake or know.

I want to see how deep this goes and what teams will be affected, without actually expecting anything.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

Brack sucked balls and was not a good president, however I doubt he's the cause of the misconduct. It either happened under him, or it happened before he got that position. He was not in the photograph in the Cosby Suite.

More concerning is they canned this guy while keeping Stockton and McCree employed, two of the most obvious worst offenders.

I expect more token moves to come. They aren't going to change anything, but a lot of the idiot consumers of their trash products will be duped into thinking they did.

I think this is honestly the end of the token moves.

Now comes the crackdown, the cover up, the player bans, and the union busting.

[MoanaLisa]

Ion clearly hates talking to players. But yes, I suppose he is the main line of communication, even if that line is vanishingly thin compared to back in the GC days.

Yeah, he probably does hate it. At best, he's awkward and uncomfortable doing it. As an aside: Blizzard, despite all of its technology achievements puts these guys in front of an audience with large microphones that they hand around to each other. That doesn't help. Their in-house video stuff is abysmal. I'd be uncomfortable too.