Planted Threads by Blizzard

[Usernameforforums]

I doubt it. The story is trash and could have been made better using this theory assuming they would have enough foresight. If they actually did plant threads to see where things could go and based the story around that and this is what we got would mean they are farther more incompetent to create a good and compelling story.

[Soon-TM]

It used to be that expansions were thought up and planned out far far ahead. In that sense they can't poll a userbase on current events, because those events are already set in stone months / years prior.

However, is this still the case? Sure you need months to create the world in which you want to tell a story, but doesn't it feel like the story is made a lot more on the fly than before?

I remember reading somewhere that the writing team is completely isolated from player feedback, ostensibly so that they can have more "freedom" on where they want to bring the story to.

Not really sure if it's a good idea tbh...

[Ivarr]

If Blizzard had the pulse of their community then they would never have taken this story to where it is now. This is a result of just improvising as they go.

[Hollycakes]

Good evening, everyone.

Over the last couple of years, I've been watching these forums and seen some "odd" topics come up now and again. Topics that are to spark both creativity, discussion and also conclusions.
Now, I've often been one for asking questions simply to incite discussion and whatnot, like: "If Sylvannas go bad, would you forgive her? What would take for you to forgive her?" - that was actually a thread posted a few years back.

So the reason why I am making this post is to incite thoughts and discussion:

Do you think Blizzard have either employees hanging out in fanbases to "take the temperature" regarding certain topics, incite discussions and otherwise gather data for "what if we write the lore this way?"? Do you think this is a good way to get in touch with their playerbase, or should they do more surveys?

Writing this, I realize I might sound like I have been hired or placed her by blizzard themselves (I am just a curious gamer is all ), but do you guys think that many of the threads out there are planted?

I'll admit, I've thought this very thing.
Just the titles sometimes have made me wonder if it's a way Blizz would poll the playerbase.
Doesn't mean they do though and others here would know better than I.

TLDR: Blame lore nerds <3

[Kralljin]

I remember reading somewhere that the writing team is completely isolated from player feedback, ostensibly so that they can have more "freedom" on where they want to bring the story to.

https://www.vg247.com/2019/04/12/bli...uence-stories/

“Specifically with World of Warcraft, our creative director Alex [Afrasiabi] said a wonderful thing. He said our story rooms are dojos. They’re sacred places. And we try to tell a story as best we can and to make our players as happy as we can. But we try not to let the negativity enter the dojo,” said George Krstic, Blizzard’s director of story and franchise development during his keynote address at Reboot Develop today.

[Tyrannica]

Writing this, I realize I might sound like I have been hired or placed her by blizzard themselves (I am just a curious gamer is all ), but do you guys think that many of the threads out there are planted?

Good Evening, Seiken3.(like Seiken Densetsu?)

No, i do not think some threads here are planted by blizzard, especially not those about the narrative of Sylvanas.

If that would be the case, we wouldn't have this mess of a story that nobody wants, quite a number of lore enthusiasts and streamer are raging about it and switched to other games.

I mean its all on youtube...all over.

That does not sound to me like the devs would ever gather any sort of intelligence on a player forum like this.

- - - Updated - - -

https://www.vg247.com/2019/04/12/bli...uence-stories/

“Specifically with World of Warcraft, our creative director Alex [Afrasiabi] said a wonderful thing. He said our story rooms are dojos. They’re sacred places. And we try to tell a story as best we can and to make our players as happy as we can. But we try not to let the negativity enter the dojo,” said George Krstic, Blizzard’s director of story and franchise development during his keynote address at Reboot Develop today.

The irony is strong with this one.

[DingDongKing]

No need for Blizzard to create stupid threads on MMO-C when they're already being posted without any 'planting'.

[Kumorii]

Planted threads, nah... But every developer have people keeping eye on communities both in private because they enjoy it and for taking in information from said community.

That some think "Blizzard doesn't read this" or any other developer is just bonkers.

[Cosmic Janitor]

Planted threads, nah... But every developer have people keeping eye on communities both in private because they enjoy it and for taking in information from said community.

That some think "Blizzard doesn't read this" or any other developer is just bonkers.

Depends. The rumors usually go something like Blizzard devs are rather sheltered and the ones in leading positions don't think much of the "peasants".

That being said, at least from my perspective as an engineer, I would expect that people with a similar mindset as mine are interested in customer feedback. Getting it mostly unfiltered and from people who have hands on expereince with it seems incredibly valuable to me. I mean if my machines/software are well received from the people actually using them, is something I rarely get to know, because most of the feedback comes only from support and the sales department, but through the filter of the customer's higher ups which rarely ever actually touch the device.

I doubt alot would do it, but surely there are some, as you said.

[Kumorii]

Depends. The rumors usually go something like Blizzard devs are rather sheltered and the ones in leading positions don't think much of the "peasants".

That being said, at least from my perspective as an engineer, I would expect that people with a similar mindset as mine are interested in customer feedback. Getting it mostly unfiltered and from people who have hands on expereince with it seems incredibly valuable to me. I mean if my machines/software are well received from the people actually using them, is something I rarely get to know, because most of the feedback comes only from support and the sales department, but through the filter of the customer's higher ups which rarely ever actually touch the device.

I doubt alot would do it, but surely there are some, as you said.

Even if they are sheltered during work hours I doubt they monitor their own private browsing. I know from personal experience there are people who remove themselves from communities just because of anxiety reasons, but often you have meetings where recent feedback is conveyed to the team to brainstorm solutions and what not. Considering the size of the company and the WoW team itself... I think it's safe to assume that there are plenty of workers who are aware of community thoughts across most big sites. Thus it will bleed into the workforce through meetings or casual talks.

[OrangeJuice]

Good evening, everyone.

Over the last couple of years, I've been watching these forums and seen some "odd" topics come up now and again. Topics that are to spark both creativity, discussion and also conclusions.
Now, I've often been one for asking questions simply to incite discussion and whatnot, like: "If Sylvannas go bad, would you forgive her? What would take for you to forgive her?" - that was actually a thread posted a few years back.

So the reason why I am making this post is to incite thoughts and discussion:

Do you think Blizzard have either employees hanging out in fanbases to "take the temperature" regarding certain topics, incite discussions and otherwise gather data for "what if we write the lore this way?"? Do you think this is a good way to get in touch with their playerbase, or should they do more surveys?

Writing this, I realize I might sound like I have been hired or placed her by blizzard themselves (I am just a curious gamer is all ), but do you guys think that many of the threads out there are planted?

I don't think they have actual devs or designers reading this stuff but they definitely have community managers who do exactly that. But, I don't think they actually read what is being said, I think they just look for specific answers like yes or no and turn those into a %; 40% would be happy, 40% would be upset, so lets make Sylvanas go bad for half of the expansion and then create a plot twist that it was all for good".

[Kokolums]

Do you think Blizzard have either employees hanging out in fanbases

Look for WoW devs that actively posted in forums before they got hired by Blizz. Those would be the people most likely browsing and posting on forums today.

[pewpmeiser]

I wish. Maybe sl wouldn't have turned out so awful if they did.

I still don't understand what's awful about SL.

[Kokolums]

I still don't understand what's awful about SL.

For me:

1. the mogs are complete trash. I don't want to chase any of these skins. That kills replayability.
2. torghast sucks.
3. im tired of dark, dank raid or pristine antiseptic raids. I think 13 of the last 14 have been that, all except BoDZ. BoDZ at least was outside partly. SoD is yet another boring, dark, dank dungeon. Zzzzzz.

[Video Games]

I still don't understand what's awful about SL.

Awful lore with bad writing
Unfun class design
Torgasht is an unfun mess
Ugly gear
The maw lolol
The same 4 stats 3 expansions in a row
The same world quests 3 expansions in a row
Only 4 zones with no end game zone
Bugs everywhere
Stupid systems that work against each other
Mythic slg
One raid per patch still

Just to name a few things

[Irian]

Look at modern Blizzard and tell me with a straight fact that you think they give enough of a shit about their games to do something like that.

[NotBobbyKotick]

Good evening, everyone.

Over the last couple of years, I've been watching these forums and seen some "odd" topics come up now and again. Topics that are to spark both creativity, discussion and also conclusions.
Now, I've often been one for asking questions simply to incite discussion and whatnot, like: "If Sylvannas go bad, would you forgive her? What would take for you to forgive her?" - that was actually a thread posted a few years back.

So the reason why I am making this post is to incite thoughts and discussion:

Do you think Blizzard have either employees hanging out in fanbases to "take the temperature" regarding certain topics, incite discussions and otherwise gather data for "what if we write the lore this way?"? Do you think this is a good way to get in touch with their playerbase, or should they do more surveys?

Writing this, I realize I might sound like I have been hired or placed her by blizzard themselves (I am just a curious gamer is all ), but do you guys think that many of the threads out there are planted?

Do you realize how ridiculous this sounds?

If for example I were a Blizzard employee (which I'm clearly not by the way) why would I create an utterly free account on an utterly free site in a matter of seconds, just to gauge interest from possibly future paying WoW subscribers who flock to free websites because they don't have a WoW account yet, or don't have access to the official forums anymore? Again, all for completely fucking FREE.

It's not like a whole department exists for this very purpose or anything.
Yeah, this proposal is utterly ridiculous. I don't even know how people can come up with things like this?

[T-34]

Literally everyone: We hate Sylvanas and want to move on from her horrible excuse for a character arc

Blizzard: What's that? You want Sylvanas to be the center of attention for the next two expansions? I got you, fam!

Sylvanas is one of the least bad chars in WoW.
At least she gets things done and wrecks shit instead of all that Alliance "sitting-around-the-campfire-and-hugging-each-other-crap".
And the fact that she can get so many here to fly into fits of apoplectic rage instead of evoking apathy like other chars in WoW makes her great in my book.

The only one better than Sylvanas is Garrosh: Gets his point across in few words, no talking, no hugging, no regrets. And he went out with a bang, both figuratively and literally.

[Tarba]

Good evening, everyone.

Over the last couple of years, I've been watching these forums and seen some "odd" topics come up now and again. Topics that are to spark both creativity, discussion and also conclusions.
Now, I've often been one for asking questions simply to incite discussion and whatnot, like: "If Sylvannas go bad, would you forgive her? What would take for you to forgive her?" - that was actually a thread posted a few years back.

So the reason why I am making this post is to incite thoughts and discussion:

Do you think Blizzard have either employees hanging out in fanbases to "take the temperature" regarding certain topics, incite discussions and otherwise gather data for "what if we write the lore this way?"? Do you think this is a good way to get in touch with their playerbase, or should they do more surveys?

Writing this, I realize I might sound like I have been hired or placed her by blizzard themselves (I am just a curious gamer is all ), but do you guys think that many of the threads out there are planted?

It seems quite pointless to do so as they don't listen to feedback. Even more with lore as the shit they pull out of garbage tastes like gourmet shit to them.

[Arikara]

Considering how out of touch they've been for years, I doubt it.

But who knows, maybe some employees take individual action to try and gather player feedback? If so, it never reaches the decisionmakers or is otherwise soundly ignored.