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World of Warcraft isn't the priority at Blizzard

ThomasN7ThomasN7 87.18.7.148Member CommonPosts: 6,690

According to Mr Heimburg Blizzard's B team is now working on the game, with more talented internal developers working on other projects. It would be an odd decision, to move your key talent from a franchise which still has over ten million subscribers.

Eric Heimburg has been involved in the MMO scene for a long time and has worked on Asheron's Call 2 and Star Trek Online. He talks about the bugs which have crept into World of Warcraft and how instead of being tweaked immediately, they now take longer than ever.

MMOZine Issue 13 For our latest World of Warcraft coverage, click here to download MMOZine Issue 13 for free."More and more little mistakes have crept into the game recently - changes that are positive on the surface, but have not been implemented with the finesse that makes them worthwhile."

But we cannot see WoW's dominance changing and the fact that a there isn't much management oversight, may make forthcoming changes more radical and exciting for gamers.

"When the game stops being in the spotlight, the live team suddenly gets a lot more flexibility to make the game fun, instead of being forced to stick to now-outdated "design visions"."

The article is posted on the right, offers gamers an insight into what may be going on at Blizzard towers. We may see some big changes over the coming months.

Source: www.gamerzines.com/mmo/news/wow-not-priority-at-blizzard.html

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Comments

  • HorusraHorusra Member EpicPosts: 4,411

    A company that does not move forward is dying even if they are stable at the moment.  they know it is only a matter of time before WoW beings to topple even if they spend all the time in the world developing and polishing.  The only thing that can ensure Blizzard as a top company is a new game that is number 1 to replace their current game.

  • ThomasN7ThomasN7 87.18.7.148Member CommonPosts: 6,690
    Originally posted by Horusra


    A company that does not move forward is dying even if they are stable at the moment.  they know it is only a matter of time before WoW beings to topple even if they spend all the time in the world developing and polishing.  The only thing that can ensure Blizzard as a top company is a new game that is number 1 to replace their current game.



     

    I totally agree. I think it is a good thing and hopeully Blizzard's next mmo will be more appealing for the long term for me.

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  • tryklontryklon Member UncommonPosts: 1,370

    It's obvious to those who play that blizzard just dont care the game anymore, alot of decisions about some major game changing show this, WoW is now a funding to their new projects and sadly everyone wants to keep paying for this.

     

    The game dungeons and raids are in its greatest part recycles of old bosses and the items and gear the same. Just look at the new tier9, just 8 models, this is probably the first time that they do only 8 models, not to mention that all clothiers will be the same, same with leather, mail and plate, just changing between horde and alliance.

    The game is completely stale content wise. And all the next expanions will be rehashes of what we saw with different skin.

  • RajenRajen Member Posts: 689
    Originally posted by Horusra


    A company that does not move forward is dying even if they are stable at the moment.  they know it is only a matter of time before WoW beings to topple even if they spend all the time in the world developing and polishing.  The only thing that can ensure Blizzard as a top company is a new game that is number 1 to replace their current game.

     

    +1. agreed

  • John.A.ZoidJohn.A.Zoid Member Posts: 1,531

    Developers don't stay making the same game forever. Everyother mmorpg out there has tons of original developers leave over the years because they want to do something new.

  • drbaltazardrbaltazar Member UncommonPosts: 7,856

     eric two game mentionned  never flew very high i hope he does have boss over his head lol 

    nobody wants a guy who hasnt made a succesfull game in the past ,blizzard would have been better to steal one from activision like the cod is a good franchise 

    mm they would have been beeter letting game maker without boss ,blizzard crew knows how to make successfull game they didnt need someone like eric to steer blizzard game maker from succes witch is more likly to happen with an unproven guy like eric who might make very bad call just because he wants to be recognised then maybe blizzard game maker will steer him in the right direction if he listen to them and doesnt act too mutch like a boss

     

  • thaniththanith Member Posts: 144
    Originally posted by SaintViktor


    According to Mr Heimburg Blizzard's B team is now working on the game, with more talented internal developers working on other projects. It would be an odd decision, to move your key talent from a franchise which still has over ten million subscribers.
    Eric Heimburg has been involved in the MMO scene for a long time and has worked on Asheron's Call 2 and Star Trek Online. He talks about the bugs which have crept into World of Warcraft and how instead of being tweaked immediately, they now take longer than ever.
    MMOZine Issue 13 For our latest World of Warcraft coverage, click here to download MMOZine Issue 13 for free."More and more little mistakes have crept into the game recently - changes that are positive on the surface, but have not been implemented with the finesse that makes them worthwhile."
    But we cannot see WoW's dominance changing and the fact that a there isn't much management oversight, may make forthcoming changes more radical and exciting for gamers.
    "When the game stops being in the spotlight, the live team suddenly gets a lot more flexibility to make the game fun, instead of being forced to stick to now-outdated "design visions"."
    The article is posted on the right, offers gamers an insight into what may be going on at Blizzard towers. We may see some big changes over the coming months.
    Source: www.gamerzines.com/mmo/news/wow-not-priority-at-blizzard.html

     

    even the "C-team" of a professional and proven(!) game-development company like BLizzard will do much better than all the "one-day"-flies that spam us with their "suboptimal" crap!

     

    image

  • MystaMysta Member UncommonPosts: 94
    Originally posted by Horusra


    A company that does not move forward is dying evenW if they are stable at the moment.  they know it is only a matter of time before WoW beings tdo topple even if they spend all the time in the world developing and polishing.  The only thing that can ensure Blizzard as a top company is a new game that is number 1 to replace their current game.

     

    Werd

  • TealaTeala Member RarePosts: 7,627
    Originally posted by Eric on July 8th, 2009 - from his blog.


    Ghostcrawler, and anybody else on the design team of WoW right now, I have a little unsolicited advice from somebody who’s been there: convince your bosses to let you play a different MMO for two weeks. On the clock. Don’t touch WoW. I know it feels like there’s a disaster every day and you can’t possibly stop focusing on WoW, but you can. After you get back, play WoW with a different class than you normally play. You’ll see so many new things! Your priorities will do a 180. I guarantee you it will help your perception.



     

    Damn if only you guys at Turbine would have taken this advice.   AC2 may not have been such a horrible game.

  • Daffid011Daffid011 Member UncommonPosts: 7,945

    Somehow I just don't buy the experiences of someone who worked on such marvels as AC2 and perpetuals Star Trek Online as knowing how a successful development team operates.  His experience was that the A team from AC2 was pulled off to work on.... wait for it... D&D online.  Then he worked with a company the screwed up not 1, but 2 mmos and a game engine.  Something tells me he has never worked with an A team at all.

     

    For all his chatter, wow still is not out of the lime light.  Obviously blizzard will move people around when they create a new project and some of them will come from the wow team, but I think his past experiences with companies that mismanaged their products isn't the litmus test we should all think it is. 

     

    I somehow doubt blizzard is turning over the most profitable game on the market to second rates.  Looking at the volume of content and new features in 3.2 I'm not convinced by his words.  

  • TorikTorik Member UncommonPosts: 2,342

    I've definetly have had the feeling for a few months now that the WoW dev team has been getting more 'adventurous'.  Many things that were considered 'sacred cows' are now being changed and things are being added that I never thought would be added.  I don't see this as a necessary bad thing since I long thought that many of those 'sacred cows' should have been hamburger ages ago but I simply learned to live with them. 

  • ThradarThradar Member Posts: 949

     It's called "sustaining," and any business that does any type of development (not just software) functions like this.  This isn't shocking.

  • HorusraHorusra Member EpicPosts: 4,411

    I think AC2's greatest downfall what that the player base from AC1 wanted a game that was AC1 but more polished with better graphics...instead we got crap that was totally different and the player base turbine already had refused to play AC2 and openly attacked it on game boards.

  • MMO_DoubterMMO_Doubter Member Posts: 5,056
    Originally posted by thanith 
    even the "C-team" of a professional and proven(!) game-development company like BLizzard will do much better than all the "one-day"-flies that spam us with their "suboptimal" crap!
     

    I don't know if Blizzard has a 'C' team, but I am sure their 'B' team would have done a far better job with Warhammer than Mythic did.

    "" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2

  • SlyLoKSlyLoK Member RarePosts: 2,698

    Who knows what the " A Team " is doing.. Helping on D3 / SC2 or hard to work on their next MMO. But their B Team is probably more talented than everyone elses A Team.

    I doubt that Blizzards next MMO will be as big as WoW.. I dont think another game will approach those numbers. Who knows.. It is Blizzard and people love those guys. The Epicness of Blizzard offsets the Crappieness of EA.

  • coffeecoffee Member Posts: 2,007

    Two things WoW related I am realy looking forward to at blizzcon are the WoW developer panels, the hunter is getting alot of attention, namley removal of consumable ammo and being replaced with different types of ammo that you can swap out, a new resource system (no more mana) and a new pet action bar.  And the 2nd is the battleground revamps, not clear yet but talk of rankings in battlegrounds and additional rewards. 

    Battlegrounds: http://www.wow.com/2009/07/29/blizzard-to-focus-on-battlegrounds-more/

    Hunter: http://www.wow.com/2009/07/23/hunter-qanda-released/

    image

  • WraithoneWraithone Member RarePosts: 3,806
    Originally posted by Daffid011


    Somehow I just don't buy the experiences of someone who worked on such marvels as AC2 and perpetuals Star Trek Online as knowing how a successful development team operates.  His experience was that the A team from AC2 was pulled off to work on.... wait for it... D&D online.  Then he worked with a company the screwed up not 1, but 2 mmos and a game engine.  Something tells me he has never worked with an A team at all.
     
    For all his chatter, wow still is not out of the lime light.  Obviously blizzard will move people around when they create a new project and some of them will come from the wow team, but I think his past experiences with companies that mismanaged their products isn't the litmus test we should all think it is. 
     
    I somehow doubt blizzard is turning over the most profitable game on the market to second rates.  Looking at the volume of content and new features in 3.2 I'm not convinced by his words.  

     

    Who but second raters would have come up with some of the "balances" and other such antics to be found in 3.2? WoW is on autopilot right now. Server stability post patch is back to where it was in the first 18 months.  Its obvious that Blizzard has pulled their most experienced personnel off of WoW and has them working on its other titles.

    They are after all Blizzards future. They would want their best people working on them. But common sense would say that one has them at least train their replacements, so that we don't see the on going sequence of "issues" and bad design decisions that we've had to deal with. Look at how many talent resets there have been for just the Death Knight class alone. as just one example among many(so very many... ^^) .

    "If you can't kill it, don't make it mad."
  • WraithoneWraithone Member RarePosts: 3,806
    Originally posted by Zorndorf

    Originally posted by Wraithone


     
    Who but second raters would have come up with some of the "balances" and other such antics to be found in 3.2? WoW is on autopilot right now. Server stability post patch is back to where it was in the first 18 months.  Its obvious that Blizzard has pulled their most experienced personnel off of WoW and has them working on its other titles.
    They are after all Blizzards future. They would want their best people working on them. But common sense would say that one has them at least train their replacements, so that we don't see the on going sequence of "issues" and bad design decisions that we've had to deal with. Look at how many talent resets there have been for just the Death Knight class alone. as just one example among many(so very many... ^^) .

    NEVER before so much ground breaking changes were delivered in WOW as in these past 6 months.

     

    And still some dudes  post pure garbage.

    Level though PvP and shut down EXP gains in both PVE and PVP touch upon the core mechanics of WOW.

    HEll, I remember vaguely now a so called "pure" PvP game that held it as a kind of new " revolution" to level purely on PvP.

    Now Blizzard does it the "right way" and the trolls come out of their cage.

    What a laugh.

     

     

     

    Chuckle... Looking at the last four to five months of "issues"(Of course you've not noticed the on going "issues" with Wintergrasp, now have you?...) unless one is a fan kiddie, one tends to notice that their A team can't be in control any more. Given everything else they have going(D3, SC2 and their as yet unnamed MMO) it would hardly be surprising to see them pull their most experienced and talented personnel on to those projects.  Looking at 3.2(and your above) its obvious that Blizzard is taking the easier route of PvP. Why easier? Because then your players create your content for you.  Content is one of THE most expensive parts of a game. Any time you can get players to create it for you(PvP being a good example of that), then thats less time/money and talent you have to invest. 

    Not being any fan of MMO PvP, you will have to forgive me for not being too impressed by the additions you mention above. If I want PvP, I'll play games like UT3 or Quake4 that are designed from the ground up to be skill/twitch games.  Games like WoW include PvP as an afterthought, as a bone thrown to that demographic, and then spend an endless amount of time in a vain attempt to "balance" the classes for PvP. Its ironic that such "balance" is usually left to the less experienced personnel, which leads to the endless cycle of "balance" and "re balance" that we've seen.

    "If you can't kill it, don't make it mad."
  • BarCrowBarCrow Member UncommonPosts: 2,195

    Like Blizzard only has  one "A" team and all their other employees are untrained hacks. Get real. Blizzard has the resources and reputation to guarantee every  staff member is highly skilled and more than qualified to handle just about any situation that falls within their expertise. The entirety of Blizzard IS an A-team.

  • WraithoneWraithone Member RarePosts: 3,806
    Originally posted by Zorndorf

    Originally posted by Wraithone


     
    Chuckle... Looking at the last four to five months of "issues"(Of course you've not noticed the on going "issues" with Wintergrasp, now have you?...) unless one is a fan kiddie, .......
     



     

    Chuckle and he just keeps spewing nonsense. Class unbalance blablabla, Wintergrasp, blablabal, cheap tric to use PvP, blablabla, .... Chuckle.

    Here is a thought .....

    Blizzard - tx to its subscriptions - SELLS the equivalent of 40.000. 000 copies worth of WOW on a yearly basis with a traditional subs system (not even counting Chinese revenys).

    6-7 million subs times 30 Euros (2month) times 6 cards for a full year.

    The subscription system of WOW means .... SC2 and D3 are .... peanuts compared in expected revenus.

    So IF you think that Blizzard put out a so called B-team for a game that has .... 5 TIMES the revenus of the most succesful non subs based PC games... you fall short.

    The Wow hating OP and you and everyone who thinks this is a B team  = NUTS.

    Even IF SC2 or Diablo 3 would sell the unbelievable HIGH amount of 8 million copies, it would only mean 20% of the yearly revenu of a game called WOW.

    Think about it and then come back with MORE arguments than above.

    ------

    And be my guest to study patch 3.2 first. It's an awesome patch with MUCH added mechanisms people were asking for 2 years or more already.

    One of those is indeed level through PvP. You know the PvP in Wow that CAN be played as a ladder base with 200.000 dollar price money. How is that as "an afterthought".

    Perhaps ... think before you post and SEE where the money stream is.

     

     

    I'd suggest you take your own advise and think before posting yourself, but I suspect that anything I'd say that doesn't match up with your fan kiddies perspective would be discounted.  First, you do realize what market saturation is? Not to mention churn? I'll wait while you look those up... Google is your friend.

    Second, its Blizzard Activision now. That brings a new perspective on things in terms of money/time and talent allocation. While WoW is indeed a major source of their revenue stream, its far from the only one. Did you forget that SC is almost the national religion in South Korea? Saying that the Koreans are going nuts over SC 2 would be like saying that a super nova is a "little bright"... Thats not even counting the legions of Diablo fans that are foaming at the mouth waiting for D3.  Let alone the as yet unnamed MMO Blizzard Activision is working on. From the suits perspective, its no doubt a matter of directing their existing talent base to efforts that will show the most return.  Given that we are a rather long wait away from the next expansion, that means to their other projects.  After all, the majority of WoW's player base is so busy chasing the latest bits of digital symbolism and achievements, that Blizzard Activivsion can afford to shift focus for awhile.

    As for studying 3.2, been there, done that. Which is why I'm less than amused by the continued "balances" inflicted on the Death Knight class, and I'm also aware of the "issues" in the new PVP instance(on the PTS)(which I'm CERTAIN will all be addressed LONG before its inflicted on the Live Servers...Just as Wintergrasp was... You DO believe that, don't you Citizen?).

    "If you can't kill it, don't make it mad."
  • WraithoneWraithone Member RarePosts: 3,806
    Originally posted by Zorndorf

    Originally posted by Wraithone


     
    I'd suggest you take your own advise and think before posting yourself, but I suspect that anything I'd say that doesn't match up with your fan kiddies perspective would be discounted.  First, you do realize what market saturation is? Not to mention churn? I'll wait while you look those up... Google is your friend.
    Second, its Blizzard Activision now. That brings a new perspective on things in terms of money/time and talent allocation. While WoW is indeed a major source of their revenue stream, its far from the only one. Did you forget that SC is almost the national religion in South Korea? Saying that the Koreans are going nuts over SC 2 would be like saying that a super nova is a "little bright"... Thats not even counting the legions of Diablo fans that are foaming at the mouth waiting for D3.  Let alone the as yet unnamed MMO Blizzard Activision is working on. From the suits perspective, its no doubt a matter of directing their existing talent base to efforts that will show the most return.  Given that we are a rather long wait away from the next expansion, that means to their other projects.  After all, the majority of WoW's player base is so busy chasing the latest bits of digital symbolism and achievements, that Blizzard Activivsion can afford to shift focus for awhile.
    As for studying 3.2, been there, done that. Which is why I'm less than amused by the continued "balances" inflicted on the Death Knight class, and I'm also aware of the "issues" in the new PVP instance(on the PTS)(which I'm CERTAIN will all be addressed LONG before its inflicted on the Live Servers...Just as Wintergrasp was... You DO believe that, don't you Citizen?).



     

    This is not a popularity contest. I repeat it once again :

    This is revenu coming from ONE game (WOW) and making for 80 to 90% of ALL Blizzard revenus.

    And you believe a company would put out a B management for a product that gets 80 to 90% of its total revenus????

    Apparently you can't count: D3 and SC2 have NO subscriptions, meaning they are down to 5 to 8 million copies IF they will be MORE succesful than before in D2 and SC1....

    Those financial numbers are only between 10 and 20% of the yearly WOW subs income ....

    And sales charts and www.xfire.com show NO decline whatever . In fact last year around this time WOW was around 82 K Xfire players. This is now 90K+

    And we ALL know since AoC and War Xfire is VERY good at predicting trends.

    So YOU say that a company which has 80 to 90% coming from its main product is ... neglecting that product.

    That's plain and utterly silly.

    And patch 3.1 &nd  3.2 show it. HUGE content and changing mechanic patches.

    No matter how you turn it.

    Edit: You suffer from the same disease as others over here. Listen , YOU are not the center of the universe. Your opinion is neglectable on the life of WOW. Learn to see the bigger picture of people entering games at every new day of their lives. For them WOW is as fresh and adventurous as you were at it 4 years ago.

    That's a lesson in modesty when having "personal judgements" about a game, let alone about the industry or "management".

     

    This grows more entertaining by the moment...I take it that the irony of the last part of your diatribe is lost on you?  MMO's are more complex in motivation and psychology than you appear to comprehend. Type /played to see why so many people stick around. Couple that with not wanting to start all over again in a new game, and you have one of the reasons that Blizzard can afford to shift its most talented personnel to other projects.  Yes, 3.1 and 3.2 have large changes. But change doesn't always mean for the better. I've been in since late beta. I've seen the entire endless cycle of "balances" and changes that have happened since then. Thats why I can state that the current server post patch stability is back to where it was in the first 18 months. I lived through it. Now unless you are claiming that the people who learned the hard lessons of hardware/software stability have forgotten them, I'd suggest that Blizzard has new and less experienced people running things in WoW currently.

    "If you can't kill it, don't make it mad."
  • Pro_PwnererPro_Pwnerer Member Posts: 51
    Originally posted by MystaIV

    Originally posted by Horusra


    A company that does not move forward is dying evenW if they are stable at the moment.  they know it is only a matter of time before WoW beings tdo topple even if they spend all the time in the world developing and polishing.  The only thing that can ensure Blizzard as a top company is a new game that is number 1 to replace their current game.

     

    Werd

     

    wow you spell weird wrong fail!.

  • blueshadowblueshadow Member CommonPosts: 146



    Second, its Blizzard Activision now. That brings a new perspective on things in terms of money/time and talent allocation. While WoW is indeed a major source of their revenue stream, its far from the only one. Did you forget that SC is almost the national religion in South Korea? Saying that the Koreans are going nuts over SC 2 would be like saying that a super nova is a "little bright"... Thats not even counting the legions of Diablo fans that are foaming at the mouth waiting for D3.  Let alone the as yet unnamed MMO Blizzard Activision is working on. From the suits perspective, its no doubt a matter of directing their existing talent base to efforts that will show the most return.  Given that we are a rather long wait away from the next expansion, that means to their other projects.  After all, the majority of WoW's player base is so busy chasing the latest bits of digital symbolism and achievements, that Blizzard Activivsion can afford to shift focus for awhile.
    As for studying 3.2, been there, done that. Which is why I'm less than amused by the continued "balances" inflicted on the Death Knight class, and I'm also aware of the "issues" in the new PVP instance(on the PTS)(which I'm CERTAIN will all be addressed LONG before its inflicted on the Live Servers...Just as Wintergrasp was... You DO believe that, don't you Citizen?).

     

    This is a misunderstanding. Blizzard is still Blizzard. Their owner Vivendi Universal ( Blizzard has been under several different owners in the past including Davidson & Assosiates, CUC International, Havas, ) merged their gaming division with Activision calling  it Activision Blizzard instead of Vivendi Games. Blizzard. Is still Blizzard. A Indipendent studio owned by Vivendi and operating under their Activision Blizzard instead of  Vivendi Games division.

    All this talk about A and B teams is a bit silly too.

    Jeff Kaplan left as lead designer of wow to work on their new MMO earlier this year. Jeff was originally a world designer that took over after Rob Pardo, so Jeff leaving isnt first time they change lead designer. No drama.

    Jeff was a guild leader of Legacy of steel, a hardcore raiding guild in Everquest. So strictly speaking, he has a lot less experience on game design than the new  and so called "B team" that have taken over now.

    The new lead designer, Tom Chilton (that have been on the wow team worked as lead designer for Ultima Online in the past and is not in any way a B team developer. Wow also got J. Allen Brack on their team. Previously worked on Star Wars Galaxies (when it was good!), Wing Commander and Privateer. Neither a "B-team" developer.

    Another one, Greg "ghostcrawler" street isnt a b team developer either. So where is their B team? I dont think Blizzard has one.

    And looking at Blizzards Employment pages. No games have more job openings that Wow (14) and their new MMO (11) so that means they still put lots of resources into their number 1 game.

    I have played wow since the launch + lots of other MMORPGs too. And never have I seen a game that has been changed in such a positive way as wow. Its a huge game and a MMORPG can never be without bugs since they are constantly developed. Wow has less bugs than any other MMORPG that I have every played and I think that the game today is much better than it has ever been. 3.2 is an awesome patch.

    And about the armor sets looking simmilar. I think Blizzard wrote that they did this because people complained that previously the sets and items were so different from each other that people looked horrible with all sorts of colors when they were replacing complete sets with new pieces. And to avoid this. They makes set pieces that matches much better.So you dont go from looking like a knight in shiny armor to a feather duster.

    And last but not least. If it was their "A-team" that made Molten Core and their "B-team" that made Ulduar. I know what team I favour! :)

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • WraithoneWraithone Member RarePosts: 3,806
    Originally posted by blueshadow




    Second, its Blizzard Activision now. That brings a new perspective on things in terms of money/time and talent allocation. While WoW is indeed a major source of their revenue stream, its far from the only one. Did you forget that SC is almost the national religion in South Korea? Saying that the Koreans are going nuts over SC 2 would be like saying that a super nova is a "little bright"... Thats not even counting the legions of Diablo fans that are foaming at the mouth waiting for D3.  Let alone the as yet unnamed MMO Blizzard Activision is working on. From the suits perspective, its no doubt a matter of directing their existing talent base to efforts that will show the most return.  Given that we are a rather long wait away from the next expansion, that means to their other projects.  After all, the majority of WoW's player base is so busy chasing the latest bits of digital symbolism and achievements, that Blizzard Activivsion can afford to shift focus for awhile.
    As for studying 3.2, been there, done that. Which is why I'm less than amused by the continued "balances" inflicted on the Death Knight class, and I'm also aware of the "issues" in the new PVP instance(on the PTS)(which I'm CERTAIN will all be addressed LONG before its inflicted on the Live Servers...Just as Wintergrasp was... You DO believe that, don't you Citizen?).

     

    This is a misunderstanding. Blizzard is still Blizzard. Their owner Vivendi Universal ( Blizzard has been under several different owners in the past including Davidson & Assosiates, CUC International, Havas, ) merged their gaming division with Activision calling  it Activision Blizzard instead of Vivendi Games. Blizzard. Is still Blizzard. A Indipendent studio owned by Vivendi and operating under their Activision Blizzard instead of  Vivendi Games division.

    All this talk about A and B teams is a bit silly too.

    Jeff Kaplan left as lead designer of wow to work on their new MMO earlier this year. Jeff was originally a world designer that took over after Rob Pardo, so Jeff leaving isnt first time they change lead designer. No drama.

    Jeff was a guild leader of Legacy of steel, a hardcore raiding guild in Everquest. So strictly speaking, he has a lot less experience on game design than the new  and so called "B team" that have taken over now.

    The new lead designer, Tom Chilton (that have been on the wow team worked as lead designer for Ultima Online in the past and is not in any way a B team developer. Wow also got J. Allen Brack on their team. Previously worked on Star Wars Galaxies (when it was good!), Wing Commander and Privateer. Neither a "B-team" developer.

    Another one, Greg "ghostcrawler" street isnt a b team developer either. So where is their B team? I dont think Blizzard has one.

    And looking at Blizzards Employment pages. No games have more job openings that Wow (14) and their new MMO (11) so that means they still put lots of resources into their number 1 game.

    I have played wow since the launch + lots of other MMORPGs too. And never have I seen a game that has been changed in such a positive way as wow. Its a huge game and a MMORPG can never be without bugs since they are constantly developed. Wow has less bugs than any other MMORPG that I have every played and I think that the game today is much better than it has ever been. 3.2 is an awesome patch.

    And about the armor sets looking simmilar. I think Blizzard wrote that they did this because people complained that previously the sets and items were so different from each other that people looked horrible with all sorts of colors when they were replacing complete sets with new pieces. And to avoid this. They makes set pieces that matches much better.So you dont go from looking like a knight in shiny armor to a feather duster.

    And last but not least. If it was their "A-team" that made Molten Core and their "B-team" that made Ulduar. I know what team I favour! :)

     

     You make some excellent points, Thanks.  But I'm still of the impression that I've seen this dog and pony show before, in the first 18 months when their personnel were first learning to deal with the endless hardware/software issues involved in a massive scale game.  Unless its QA that is dropping the ball(repeatedly), their current Live Team has to lack the hard won experience from that time. Which implies that either they have lost those personnel, moved them to other projects, or experienced more hardware failures than are likely at such a level.

    As for 3.2, once again, its a matter of focus and perception.  I personally am VERY sick and tired of the death knight class being Blizzards favorite nerf bat target(for months and months now). Yet, in 3.2 we have yet more nerfs on order. The Death Knight class is the first "hero" class for WoW.  They HAD to see some of these problems in beta, yet they let everything go live. Its simply yet another example of Blizzards bait and switch mentality(this isn't just WoW, they've demonstrated the same in Diablo one and two, and to a lesser extent SC).  Its interesting that you mention armor sets. Look at how great the original death knight set looks. All that would have been necessary to keep it that way would have been a simple code check for class. If its DK, then shift the color scheme of any armor to blue/black.

    Many people mistake being critical of a game with hatred. If I hated WoW, I'd not have played it since beta. I'd certainly not have two 80's, some 70's, and 60's. Like wise, if I hated it, I'd not waste my time addressing the various issues as I see them. WoW over and above all of this is a *game*, and thus is about entertainment.  Once I(and others) cease being entertained, we will move on to something else.

    "If you can't kill it, don't make it mad."
  • WraithoneWraithone Member RarePosts: 3,806
    Originally posted by Zorndorf

    Originally posted by Wraithone


     As for 3.2, once again, its a matter of focus and perception.  I personally am VERY sick and tired of the death knight class being Blizzards favorite nerf bat target(for months and months now). Yet, in 3.2 we have yet more nerfs on order. The Death Knight class is the first "hero" class for WoW.  ....



     

    So of all the elements we throw at you (Wow having the 80-90% revenus for Blizzard even IF SC2 and D3 would sell 5 to 6 million copies each - because of NO subs)...

    .... the only arguments left is resorting to "nerving" classes as "proof" WOW is not the top priority of Blizzard.

    ....wich makes my statement above very valid.

    "I personally" "favorite nerf". : It shows YOUR perception is YOUR perception and it is meaningless in the vast seas of 11.6 million subscribers who are ACTUALLY very happy we see what comes at us in patch 3.1 and patch 3.2....

    http://www.xfire.com/games/wow/World_of_Warcraft/

    ----

    Wow is revitalized through Wotlk patches 3.1 and 3.2 for the vast MAJORITY of players by giving LOTS of new choices (faction choice - server transfers choice).

    -----> It is NOT about "teams" it is ALL about MONEY and the resources they put out in their game development and since WOW brings in 90% of the money.... guess what takes priority (and why SC2 is not even in Beta).

     

     

     

    Lets examine your second shall we?  That has never been MY contention. You are mixing up my statements with the OP. MY statement was dealing with the post patch stability, which has returned to what I witnessed during the first 18 months after launch. I also stated that the original learning period was only to be expected, due to the hardware/software complexity. How you made the leap from that to my remarks about nerfing the death knight class remains to be seen.

    Next, I CLEARLY stated that my PERCEPTION of the on going series of nerfs made *me* VERY sick and tired of them. I was quite upfront with potential bias on my part, owing to the fact that I have a level 80 DK.  But I also pointed out the extended pattern to be found in Blizzards "balance" activities that spans several games.

    As for WoW being "Revitalized" by 3.1 and 3.2, if it was really the God in a box game that you and so many claim, why would it need it? ^^  WoW is an entertaining game. In fact its one of the better ones around at this point. But like it or not, it and Blizzard have various unresolved issues.  Its a good game all the way to level cap. But then the only real options are raiding/heroics or PvP.  If WoW continues to supply entertainment to millions of people, then it will continue to profit. As I've stated in several different threads, the idea of a WoW killer is unlikely at this point. The only real threat to WoW is Blizzard itself.

     

    "If you can't kill it, don't make it mad."
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