Interview with WoW lead: Warcraft needs to be more than “simply an MMORPG"

[kranur]

Well instead of Warcraft 4 or a Warcraft rpg we got ... Rumble and bringing Disney to WoW. If that's how they want to expand it to be more than an MMO, good luck doing it with that mindset.
I don't see how Plinderstorms and Remixes are going to appeal to people who don't play WoW

[Just Passing through]

[SIZE=1]
yea.. BFA is just so mediocre, and TWW is a massive turnaround /s

This kind of metric has been used since forever. It is fine if it works for you. On the other hand ...maybe it is time for another poll so everybody can spin their own narritives.

BTW - I am not trying to defend TWW over BfA - I am more of a guy who was there in every x-pac, when somebody made the latest bean counter list on how "insert previous x-pac" was more awesome and how" insert current x-pac" is so lazy

[Hitei]

Your notion that all of these players, each with potentially tens of thousands of hours invested in the franchise, are somehow experiencing a collective hallucination.

No, just parasocial delusion and a hilariously inept read of who a person is or what they value.

[Just Passing through]

Well instead of Warcraft 4 or a Warcraft rpg we got ... Rumble and bringing Disney to WoW. If that's how they want to expand it to be more than an MMO, good luck doing it with that mindset.
I don't see how Plinderstorms and Remixes are going to appeal to people who don't play WoW

Remixes and Plunderstorm didn't appeal to me and I played WoW since day 1, never skipped a sub. Is there a point other than anecdotal evidence? I have no idea who remixes and Plunderstorm are for. Did they say they were meant to attract new players? I guess they wouldn't mind if new players joined, but remixes really seem to prey on nostalgia and transmog collectors.

[elderu]

This kind of metric has been used since forever. It is fine if it works for you. On the other hand ...maybe it is time for another poll so everybody can spin their own narritives.

BTW - I am not trying to defend TWW over BfA - I am more of a guy who was there in every x-pac, when somebody made the latest bean counter list on how "insert previous x-pac" was more awesome and how" insert current x-pac" is so lazy

Only I'm not spinning a narrative, just refuting the 'mediocre' narrative with some statistics. Doesn't exactly work, like you said, but it's evident either way. It had a ton of content all around, no subjectivity.

[Just Passing through]

Only I'm not spinning a narrative, just refuting the 'mediocre' narrative with some statistics. Doesn't exactly work, like you said, but it's evident either way. It had a ton of content all around, no subjectivity.

Yeah, statistics are a double edged sword as we all know. You could give me a breakdown how TWW had less raidbosses or cinematics or whatever...and all I would be is: "So what...it had three seasons of Delves that allowed me to get all the cool transmogs I wanted"

...and for Midnight people may be like "...don't care about zones or bosses...or dungeons...as long as I get housing updates"

Hard to measure and quantify those things.

[elderu]

Yeah, statistics are a double edged sword as we all know. You could give me a breakdown how TWW had less raidbosses or cinematics or whatever...and all I would be is: "So what...it had three seasons of Delves that allowed me to get all the cool transmogs I wanted"

...and for Midnight people may be like "...don't care about zones or bosses...or dungeons...as long as I get housing updates"

Hard to measure and quantify those things.

So subjectivity in response to stats. That's counterproductive. Anyone who replies that way, and still wants to call the expansion 'mediocre' is just acting subjectively. The stats show Blizzard performed content-wise.

That's why I left out any story mentions. That would be "my perspective vs yours". I believe it's just unfair to say it's a mediocre expansion when put in context this way.
We all have things we don't 'like' or 'like' more. That doesn't matter.

[mbit2]

So subjectivity in response to stats. That's counterproductive. Anyone who replies that way, and still wants to call the expansion 'mediocre' is just acting subjectively. The stats show Blizzard performed content-wise.

The problem with stats is how you measure determines the result. You are subjective in the process of selecting what you measure.
The selected metric can be easily gamed: Splitting a dungeon into two small ones will raise the dungeon count statistic without increasing content. Sidestep with going for playtime in dungeons? Better loot at low drop chance and people will spam dungeons regardless of quality. The numbers wont show it but it might show up as more quitting the game in frustration despite playtime numbers in dungeons being higher. And you could also consider aspects like rehashed assets vs new designs. Copypaste/recolors quick is worse than getting less but completely new content.

tdlr: Such stats lie by omission as they remove important details.

[Luck4]

Yeah, I've seen that talk and its results before with other franchises...

[Syegfryed]

Yeah, I've seen that talk and its results before with other franchises...

This isnt rly accurate, Marvel one is already dead inside too

[Lorgar Aurelian]

Yeah, I've seen that talk and its results before with other franchises...

Why in the world is pirates of the caribbean in this picture? its literally based on a Disney ride how would there ever be any version of it prior to disneys involvement?

[Trumpcat]

They seem to aim to achieve this through infantilization and bad writing.

Well instead of Warcraft 4 or a Warcraft rpg we got ... Rumble and bringing Disney to WoW. If that's how they want to expand it to be more than an MMO, good luck doing it with that mindset.
I don't see how Plinderstorms and Remixes are going to appeal to people who don't play WoW

Warcraft isn't cool, nor epic anymore. It's tame, cute and quirky. It feels like they are trying to turn it into a 4th wall breaking mirror of real life but set in a wacky fantasy setting, but the real life they mirror is limited to the creative range of a 25 years old's social media account with commentaries on trending topics, but not having ever read books or seen good movies.

[Nzx]

Why in the world is pirates of the caribbean in this picture? its literally based on a Disney ride how would there ever be any version of it prior to disneys involvement?

Because when they write "Disney" they mean "woke" and if it has women and/or gay people in it it's woke and therefore bad.

[Lorgar Aurelian]

Because when they write "Disney" they mean "woke" and if it has women and/or gay people in it it's woke and therefore bad.

Even on that front it wouldn’t make any sense because of Elizabeth in the first few movies, unless there was some gay related subplot in the last one I suppose.

The picture as a whole is dumb as shit but the pirates inclusion is just baffling.

[Ghostile]

I mean they could make another one of those games that made Warcraft a thing.. Sort of massively popular thing... Like one of them RTS games.

Man I wish RTS genre wasn't deader than the MMO genre.

[username993720]

The quote is apparently from Metzen with Holly’s response being that warhammer doesn’t have that problem.

So it’s the dirty girl who’s holding up the validity of darker warhammer esc themes some people pretend wow had.

I never expected that from christ metzen. But, from observation, starting a family and having kids usually softens you. Plus, the pressure from the "democratized" WoW team.

How does Warhammer not sound intimidating but World of Warcraft does?

I have a feeling Holly Longdale is responsible for the watered down version of WoW we have today.

[Ghostile]

I never expected that from christ metzen. But, from observation, starting a family and having kids usually softens you. Plus, the pressure from the "democratized" WoW team.

We're talking about a person who in -01 wrote a warcraft novel about racism bad, he didn't change.

[Al Gorefiend]

WoW would do great as a western animation, not another shite animefication like Rohirrim. Something like What If

- - - Updated - - -

Warcraft would do well on the big screen if they made a show or a movie trilogy centered around Arthas. Lots of other video game franchises are doing it, they can’t seem to keep up the trend.

Disagree. WoW in real life looks goofy and lame. No amount of set pieces and million dollar+ makeup budget could stop Warcraft movie's Alliance characters from looking like cheap medieval prop pieces.
They should commit to full CGI if they want the real life look. Orcs looked good. Humans looked like extras from a Camelot film.

- - - Updated - - -

Remixes and Plunderstorm didn't appeal to me and I played WoW since day 1, never skipped a sub. Is there a point other than anecdotal evidence? I have no idea who remixes and Plunderstorm are for. Did they say they were meant to attract new players? I guess they wouldn't mind if new players joined, but remixes really seem to prey on nostalgia and transmog collectors.

Is it predatory though? Its giving the people what they want. A slap of nostalgia, a shit ton of fomo collectibles, a free for all to push the game to limits for the sake of seeing how crazy you can make stats go in WoW. There was hardly any structure, Blizzard just opened the gates to an amusement park and let the kiddos come flooding in for pure fun nothing more.
You aren't saying remixes were poor content, right?

[Illuminance]

We're talking about a person who in -01 wrote a warcraft novel about racism bad, he didn't change.

This is the same guy who made the decision to base the Alliance and Horde factions on racial identity of all things, and then oversaw the creative direction of a game where who you kill is largely determined by what race they are. We can't even talk to players/npcs of races on the "wrong side" (under most circumstances), and my ability to enter their cities depends on what race my character is.

I believe that Metzen isn't a racist and doesn't promote racism, but at the same time he delivered a game heavily steeped in xenophobia.

If the player experience was supposed to be "racism bad," half or more of Warcraft wouldn't have been written or designed the way that it was. Conflict (not just racial) is core to the franchise and part of why it originally was so successful.

[Magistrate]

Yes, BfA was mediocre. This is, not a rare or unusual opinion, its the general consensus. Like, the only reason its not in the worst expansions is because Shadowlands happened directly afterwards and took some of the worst parts from BfA and just went spiralling directly into the ground with them. The points you've brought up didn't suddenly make BfA a good expansion, erase the generally disliked plot, even mention the disliked mechanics like azerite traits (lol at acting like warfronts were a major feature rather than crashing and burning) or bring up this was the expansion that finally broke the faction divide to the point where they haven't developed faction specific content since, and had to open raids up to both factions due to how dead the Alliance was during the time

If you're trying to convince me the "Let's give one faction the highly requested little fox guys and the other faction can get diaper gnomes" expansion was actually decent, then. Lol. lmao.

"The reason bfa was bad is because the largely IP defying addition of a clearly zootopia implant race didn't specifically get lathered on the alliance so I personally can indulge in the new furry chat vr friendship power hour direction of the game" is definitely an interesting take, I'll give you that.