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Diablo 3 director retires from games industry after 17 years

blueturtle13blueturtle13 Member LegendaryPosts: 12,788
in Diablo 3

Diablo 3 director Jay Wilson is leaving Blizzard Entertainment after a decade with the company.

1

Jay Wilson.

"Sad to say after 10 of the best years of my life this will be my last week at Blizzard, and in the games industry," Wilson said on Twitter.

"I'm leaving to pursue my original passion, writing. It's what I was doing when I fell into this job, and I've always wanted to return to it," he added.

"I will dearly miss my friends at Blizzard. They've been the best, most dedicated, most passionate group of people I've ever met."

His work on Diablo 3 was derided by many due to the game's botched launch. Upon release there were numerous problems with the game's servers and login system. Even when the game did function properly many took issue with its controversial Auction House system of micro-transactions.

Eventually Wilson stepped down from the project and worked on the now cancelled Project Titan sci-fi MMO. After that he worked on the World of Warcraft expansion Warlords of Draenor.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016-06-06-diablo-3-director-leaves-games-industry-after-17-years

거북이는 목을 내밀 때 안 움직입니다












Comments

  • LokeroLokero Member RarePosts: 1,514
    Three strikes and you're out?
  • DakeruDakeru Member EpicPosts: 3,797
    Something tells me this will cause doom & gloom voices.

    Personally I think there is nothing odd about a guy retiring after working for the same company for 10 years.
    Especially when you have the money to turn your hobby into your new job.
    Harbinger of Fools
  • WizardryWizardry Member LegendaryPosts: 18,770
    edited June 2016
    Really astonishing to see how many people have left Blizzard when it is such a successful business.I think it likely says the employees have not been paid very well,aside from the obvious top shelf employees.
    I do not think it has to do with them making tons of money and wanting to live out their dream because MOST have left to do the exact same thing only for someone else or to open their own business.

    I know life in general people that have made a great living ,often stay right until actual retirement age "65" and even then many want to stay on and for MUCH longer than 10 years.
    I worked 15 years for my old company until the owner died and have been with this company for 16 years so 10 years is a piss in the bucket.

    Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.

  • LokeroLokero Member RarePosts: 1,514
    Dakeru said:
    Something tells me this will cause doom & gloom voices.

    Personally I think there is nothing odd about a guy retiring after working for the same company for 10 years.
    Especially when you have the money to turn your hobby into your new job.
    I would typically agree.  But, given the last 3 projects he was associated with were largely considered disasters in many ways... I could easily see this as a "forced retirement" just as easily.
  • AlverantAlverant Member RarePosts: 1,230
    Good for him! I wish him a happy retirement!
  • DeivosDeivos Member EpicPosts: 3,692
    edited June 2016
    His ego at the launch of Diablo 3 didn't really help much, didn't keep track of him since then.

    "The knowledge of the theory of logic has no tendency whatever to make men good reasoners." - Thomas B. Macaulay

    "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge." - Daniel J. Boorstin

  • DakeruDakeru Member EpicPosts: 3,797
    Deivos said:
    His ego at the launch of Diablo 3 didn't really help much, didn't keep track of him since then.
    LOL! Yes I remember that. Though in all fairness the D2 guy wasn't overly nice either.
    That fight between them reminded me more of bullies in class rather than top developers in one of the biggest video game companies in the world.
    Harbinger of Fools
  • ShaighShaigh Member EpicPosts: 2,092
    Lokero said:
    Dakeru said:
    Something tells me this will cause doom & gloom voices.

    Personally I think there is nothing odd about a guy retiring after working for the same company for 10 years.
    Especially when you have the money to turn your hobby into your new job.
    I would typically agree.  But, given the last 3 projects he was associated with were largely considered disasters in many ways... I could easily see this as a "forced retirement" just as easily.
    If your disaster ends up selling 30 million copies I don't want to know what a success would do.
    The cynic knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
  • DKLondDKLond Member RarePosts: 2,273
    The RMAH wasn't his idea - he just supported it.

    I think it was one of the best parts of D3, and the problem wasn't that people could use the auction house - the problem was that the auction house felt like the only viable way to avoid a painful grind at the Inferno stage of the game.

    RMAH actually gave you a reason to grind for great gear - instead of simply doing the hamster on a treadmill. It gave you a reason to become an efficient killer - because you could actually make a profit from it.

    That said, he clearly didn't understand Diablo - and that's why he stepped down.

    I have no reason to believe this move to writing is related to that at all, though.

    I hope it works out for him.
  • KopogeroKopogero Member UncommonPosts: 1,685
    I played Diablo 3 for 10-12 days, after receiving it for free on launch for annual sub to WOW promo. That's how bad it was. Interesting thing though, previously when I purchased Star Craft 2 I only played that for around 2-3 weeks as well. Bottom line, WOW was the last good game Blizzard made and of course that's my opinion.

    image

  • blueturtle13blueturtle13 Member LegendaryPosts: 12,788
    Personally I love Diablo 3. To me it has gotten better and better.

    거북이는 목을 내밀 때 안 움직입니다












  • ChieftanChieftan Member UncommonPosts: 1,188
    blueturtle13 said:
    Personally I love Diablo 3. To me it has gotten better and better.
    That's because they took him off the project.

    I remember wanting to love D3 and live there gamingwise for awhile but it had no replay value whatsoever.  The drops were terrible, the endgame difficulty was beyond insane and the whole game seemed rigged for RMT.

    Once he got booted it took a year for Blizzard to get that entire mess turned around.  The auction house was shut down and the expansion made D3 what it should have been at launch: fun.  Blizzard really did an amazing thing to recapture everybody's interest in the game.

    My youtube MMO gaming channel



  • thinktank001thinktank001 Member UncommonPosts: 2,144
    D3 has probably killed the franchise.  I doubt gamers will be as eager to purchase the next one if Blizzard chooses to use any monetization other than a simple box fee. 

  • blueturtle13blueturtle13 Member LegendaryPosts: 12,788
    I think when Blizzard decides to make Diablo 4 it will sell millions. I think the franchise is more than secure. Saying that though, based on Blizzard's glacier development pace we may not see it for another 5 years or more. 

    거북이는 목을 내밀 때 안 움직입니다












  • DKLondDKLond Member RarePosts: 2,273
    Diablo 3 is extremely popular by all reliable accounts.

    It's just that people love to hate it in public, while they lavish praise on subpar games they don't play for long, including Grim Dawn and Torchlight 2.
  • ScottgunScottgun Member UncommonPosts: 528
    edited June 2016
    DKLond said:
    Diablo 3 is extremely popular by all reliable accounts.

    It's just that people love to hate it in public, while they lavish praise on subpar games they don't play for long, including Grim Dawn and Torchlight 2.
    Indeed. I bought it long after the firestorm over its release and I find it to be a good game and a worthy successor because I concurred long ago with someone who commented that the Diablo series from the beginning was the gaming equivalent of knitting, and there's nothing wrong with that.
  • simsalabim77simsalabim77 Member RarePosts: 1,607
    Eadan1 said:
    Why do people believe it was solely Jay Wilson's ideas that ruined D3? Clearly Blizzard knew of them and approved them (or maybe even forced them), and decided to throw him under the bus when players started complaining. Blizzard's later games suffer from the same design and payment model decisions. Hearthstone is a cash shop game without much variety and heavily reliant on rng. HoTS was even worse. What direction is Overwatch going with microtransactions in game before they even bothered to put a ranked mode?

    It's easier to blame a single person that was in the public eye than to think rationally.
  • observerobserver Member RarePosts: 3,685
    edited June 2016
    17 years is a long time for any career.  That's around a quarter of your life depending on one's age.
  • TorvalTorval Member LegendaryPosts: 21,123
    Good for him. If I had the money I would retire and write too.
    traveller, interloper, anomaly, iteration


  • joeslowmoejoeslowmoe Member UncommonPosts: 127
    Wizardry said:
    Really astonishing to see how many people have left Blizzard when it is such a successful business.I think it likely says the employees have not been paid very well,aside from the obvious top shelf employees.
    I do not think it has to do with them making tons of money and wanting to live out their dream because MOST have left to do the exact same thing only for someone else or to open their own business.

    I know life in general people that have made a great living ,often stay right until actual retirement age "65" and even then many want to stay on and for MUCH longer than 10 years.
    I worked 15 years for my old company until the owner died and have been with this company for 16 years so 10 years is a piss in the bucket.
    Nothing in any of the posts related to this announcement would support any such thing.  The fact that this guy is able to retire early from a career he enjoys to replace his career with his "hobby" would imply the opposite of such a presumption. 

    Honestly, where do you come up with such nonsense based on anything related to this story?  Nothing but statements of how grateful he has been for having an enjoyable and successful career somehow equals that he is an underpaid employee who is finally leaving for greener pastures?  Very strange leaps of logic being made here.
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