They have two development teams. It won't affect live at all.
<snip>
They have a vested interest in full teams working on both.
They could for sure but it is about maximising profit.
Blizzard had reduced the team to 125. We know this because they announced they had listened and were doubling the team to 250. That was back when they announced sub numbers and the game - almost certainly - had more players.
At this moment in time though they cannot know how things are going to pan out. So I think they will maintain "2 teams" with a roadmap something like:
Current continues as is with an expansion planned for mid-2020.
Classic releases as originally launched with the original content patches dropping at regular intervals - say 4 to 6 weeks. No reason to release all at once! This will take things through to mid-2020.
Expansion for current releases; they see how it sells; look at how classic has performed over the previous year-ish; see how the numbers stack up compared to current and then make a decision.
Continue with current as is. Freeze current. Go longer until current sees an expansion. Freeze vanilla. Push ahead with vanilla through BC and leading up to WotLK. Until then though it will be suck it and see backed by a plethora of what-if contingency plans.
Not just about making money though its about getting a "good" profit - for whatever value of good they want.
Blizzard will do whatever they decide will be most profitable. If they get massively more subscriptions from having both Vanilla and current servers, they'll do it. If the "Classic" servers have a big rush of people at first and then are ghost towns a month later, they might just shut it down entirely.
My prediction is that on the launch day for Classic, servers will be massively overloaded. Within days or weeks, they'll be mostly vacant. The cross-server technology that they use to balance loads now was not part of Vanilla. If they make it part of Classic, then people who wanted Classic will complain that they brought in the cross-server technology that they wanted not to be there. If they don't, then expect massive server merges not long after launch, though Classic will probably have a large enough player base to keep a few servers adequately populated for months or years to come.
In most games, you have to be very careful about splitting the playerbase, as it could mean that some or all variants no longer have enough players to work very well. WoW is a rare exception, in that it has a large enough playerbase that you could split off a few variants and if one variant of the game only has 5% of total WoW players, that's still plenty enough to make it playable.
Logged in, 20 EU test servers. Only 2 were "high" and 18 were low. Created a priest. Couldn't find the face I remembered I had, but that can be me.
Loaded in. Accepted quest, well I waited (and read) till the quest text was all there and the accept button could be pressed. Cool forgot about that, I actually like it.
Luckily I remembered where to find some bandits, as there is no quest helper.
Stamina buff, check.
Inner Fire, check.
Shield, check.
Smite > Mind Blast > SW: Pain > Smite….
Holy crab, he is running away, wait there's no wand on my hotbar. Okay, Smite again. Next Bandit, oh hold on mana is low. (OOM) Melon Juice in my bag, let's drink it.
---------
The game got the vibe it had in Vanilla. Slow paced, not really taking you by the hand. A lot of running back and forth. The skill trees have so many choices at low level. Do I pick a healing spec right away or pick stuff that will help me "solo". The levelling experience is certainly there. (Endgame, I still have my doubts for, but that wasn't tested this weekend.)
Don't believe they can add too many expansions after Silithius and AQ. At least they would loose me. The aliens crashing/adding Draenei and flying mounts in TBC expansion were kinda ruining my experience. I do see them adding more events that would fit Classic, maybe an event for Plaguelands like in Silithius. Also pet battles and worldquests could be added. The map isn't fully colored. It might break canon with current WoW, but they could add new classic zones.
What I think would be cool is if the way that expansions worked is that all servers on the latest version got cloned to have a copy with the expansion and a copy without it. All characters initially stayed on the old server, but anyone who wanted to could transfer to the new version for free. After most players had transferred, there could be massive server merges on the old servers to keep the server populations up. To avoid name collisions, it would basically be the same cross-server technology that they have now, but a set of 10 servers or whatever could be regarded as the "same" for auction house or guild purposes. Each server could thus have a separate version for each expansion, though mergers would mean that which particular server you were on within a set of ten or whatever was just a bookkeeping thing that didn't matter unless you were on the latest expansion version.
When players create a new character, they could create it on whichever version they wanted. All versions except the latest would have the caveat that they were basically in maintenance mode, with no updates apart from occasional security or bug fixes, e.g., if a Windows 10 update makes the game no longer run, they'll fix it. Players could take an existing character and move it forward to the next expansion whenever they pleased. But that move is one-way and that character can never go back to an older expansion. Thus, you could do whatever raiding you want in a given expansion and then move to the next when you're ready for it--or stay with the older one if that's what you want to do.
Would it be cost-effective to do that? Probably not. So I'm not saying that Blizzard should do this. Only that I think it would be cool.
Bringing back nostalgia is a good thing. I hope Blizzard has great success with Classic. I also hope everyone enjoys the game like they did before. WoW and Lotro going classic is making me really excited.
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Bringing back nostalgia is a good thing. I hope Blizzard has great success with Classic. I also hope everyone enjoys the game like they did before. WoW and Lotro going classic is making me really excited.
I hope they find lots of success with it also, and by combining the subs they'll get paid regardless, but I wonder how they'll be keeping track of subs to Classic vs. Current. And I agree I would hope that eventually people will be able to xfer their capped characters off Classic to TBC Classic, then xfer to WoTLK Classic, and so on. That way we'd all be able stick to our favorite parts of WoW, (mine would be WoTLK most likely).
I thought LOTRO was going classic also, but the Legendary servers will use all the same gameplay systems the current servers do, only gimped to Level 50 cap, and gimped by what was available gameplay-wise at that time as well. Makes me wonder what the point of it all is really...
It so rocks to be able to drop any totems you want when needed, to select your talents according to that, and to be able to beat the odds by smart use of spells. They nailed Classic for me. And I will SO be paying to play that !
Does it have the classic models and animations or the new stuff?
I'd be a lot more down for modern graphics, old content/systems.
It so rocks to be able to drop any totems you want when needed, to select your talents according to that, and to be able to beat the odds by smart use of spells. They nailed Classic for me. And I will SO be paying to play that !
Does it have the classic models and animations or the new stuff?
I'd be a lot more down for modern graphics, old content/systems.
Blizz isn't afraid to go back in time and change timelines up. Maybe in 35 years Wow Classic will come storming through the Dark Portal to take over everything?
Seriously though, given your criteria, I think you could see two products coexist where one informs the other; but, what happens with Classic will probably largely depend on what the vocal mob is chanting for. I think it's the community that will be unsure what to ask of Classic, and not Blizz.
In this scenario, more importantly perhaps, is that a return to a more challenging/Classic MMORPG environment may rub off on other devs to copy and produce similar experiences across the board.
But for this discussion, I still don't see Classic being anything more than a temporary enjoyment for the masses, a seasonal walk down memory lane. The promise of an evolving, persistent world is missing -- isn't it more like intentionally putting a MMORPG on life support?
Time will tell. Whatever happens, I hope it's awesome. I don't mind of the cynic in me is wrong; it makes life sweeter that way
This is why I think Bliz should have left Classic to third party fan service and should have given them license to use the IP (provided Bliz got some say in it)
No developer or single game can possibly match all the various expectations that are listed here. No matter what Bliz does a large number of people will be disappointed. It’s a lose-lose proposition for them.
Had they left it to some hackers who were just paying tribute and not trying to profit, I think Bliz would have been much better served.
I pray that happens and affects retail. WoW today is so dumbed down by Blizzard's obssession with accessibility even a chimp can play it. ...And would find it boring.
what they really should do is work on creating a next-gen WOW, classic game with modern AAA graphics and effects, work on voicing many popular quest lines with cutscenes, and getting the game onto consoles along with PC to inject new playerbases into the game.
Clearly what they have is what people want.
As far as future expansions, no clue, but i think the game has proven the test of time so why not allow it to keep going another 15 years? I might even try to force myself to try to get into again...despite 3 past attempts to get into wow and being unable to...though i dont think i could ever play a tab target game again, it would have to be an action combat game for me to get into it.
Comments
I love WoW, played it from the first day of release - I will no be playing Classic - I did that already.
Its akin to EQ. WoW's dying has been accelerated by BFA and Classic will further hurt it.
-----------------------------------
MMO player
If they do, I wonder if they will keep LFD in wrath, or follow the timerunes model and have people vote on features...
Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.
Blizzard had reduced the team to 125. We know this because they announced they had listened and were doubling the team to 250. That was back when they announced sub numbers and the game - almost certainly - had more players.
At this moment in time though they cannot know how things are going to pan out. So I think they will maintain "2 teams" with a roadmap something like:
Current continues as is with an expansion planned for mid-2020.
Classic releases as originally launched with the original content patches dropping at regular intervals - say 4 to 6 weeks. No reason to release all at once! This will take things through to mid-2020.
Expansion for current releases; they see how it sells; look at how classic has performed over the previous year-ish; see how the numbers stack up compared to current and then make a decision.
Continue with current as is. Freeze current. Go longer until current sees an expansion. Freeze vanilla. Push ahead with vanilla through BC and leading up to WotLK. Until then though it will be suck it and see backed by a plethora of what-if contingency plans.
Not just about making money though its about getting a "good" profit - for whatever value of good they want.
New players can get a welcome package and old/returning players can also get a welcome back package and 7 days free subscription time! Just click here to use my referral invitation
So no matter how you slice it, Blizzard wins. =P
This have been a good conversation
I had fun once, it was terrible.
My prediction is that on the launch day for Classic, servers will be massively overloaded. Within days or weeks, they'll be mostly vacant. The cross-server technology that they use to balance loads now was not part of Vanilla. If they make it part of Classic, then people who wanted Classic will complain that they brought in the cross-server technology that they wanted not to be there. If they don't, then expect massive server merges not long after launch, though Classic will probably have a large enough player base to keep a few servers adequately populated for months or years to come.
In most games, you have to be very careful about splitting the playerbase, as it could mean that some or all variants no longer have enough players to work very well. WoW is a rare exception, in that it has a large enough playerbase that you could split off a few variants and if one variant of the game only has 5% of total WoW players, that's still plenty enough to make it playable.
Logged in, 20 EU test servers. Only 2 were "high" and 18 were low. Created a priest. Couldn't find the face I remembered I had, but that can be me.
Loaded in. Accepted quest, well I waited (and read) till the quest text was all there and the accept button could be pressed. Cool forgot about that, I actually like it.
Luckily I remembered where to find some bandits, as there is no quest helper.
Stamina buff, check.
Inner Fire, check.
Shield, check.
Smite > Mind Blast > SW: Pain > Smite….
Holy crab, he is running away, wait there's no wand on my hotbar. Okay, Smite again. Next Bandit, oh hold on mana is low. (OOM) Melon Juice in my bag, let's drink it.
---------
The game got the vibe it had in Vanilla. Slow paced, not really taking you by the hand. A lot of running back and forth. The skill trees have so many choices at low level. Do I pick a healing spec right away or pick stuff that will help me "solo". The levelling experience is certainly there. (Endgame, I still have my doubts for, but that wasn't tested this weekend.)
Don't believe they can add too many expansions after Silithius and AQ. At least they would loose me. The aliens crashing/adding Draenei and flying mounts in TBC expansion were kinda ruining my experience. I do see them adding more events that would fit Classic, maybe an event for Plaguelands like in Silithius. Also pet battles and worldquests could be added. The map isn't fully colored. It might break canon with current WoW, but they could add new classic zones.
When players create a new character, they could create it on whichever version they wanted. All versions except the latest would have the caveat that they were basically in maintenance mode, with no updates apart from occasional security or bug fixes, e.g., if a Windows 10 update makes the game no longer run, they'll fix it. Players could take an existing character and move it forward to the next expansion whenever they pleased. But that move is one-way and that character can never go back to an older expansion. Thus, you could do whatever raiding you want in a given expansion and then move to the next when you're ready for it--or stay with the older one if that's what you want to do.
Would it be cost-effective to do that? Probably not. So I'm not saying that Blizzard should do this. Only that I think it would be cool.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Hopefully they'll consider opening up respects a bit, or at least make it less expensive to do so.
I might return if I knew I could easily use one character to enjoy all aspects of the game / class.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Aloha Mr Hand !
edit: they were a great support class, just ask a warrior
"Be water my friend" - Bruce Lee
I thought LOTRO was going classic also, but the Legendary servers will use all the same gameplay systems the current servers do, only gimped to Level 50 cap, and gimped by what was available gameplay-wise at that time as well. Makes me wonder what the point of it all is really...
Gut Out!
What, me worry?
I'd be a lot more down for modern graphics, old content/systems.
Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.
Seriously though, given your criteria, I think you could see two products coexist where one informs the other; but, what happens with Classic will probably largely depend on what the vocal mob is chanting for. I think it's the community that will be unsure what to ask of Classic, and not Blizz.
In this scenario, more importantly perhaps, is that a return to a more challenging/Classic MMORPG environment may rub off on other devs to copy and produce similar experiences across the board.
But for this discussion, I still don't see Classic being anything more than a temporary enjoyment for the masses, a seasonal walk down memory lane. The promise of an evolving, persistent world is missing -- isn't it more like intentionally putting a MMORPG on life support?
Time will tell. Whatever happens, I hope it's awesome. I don't mind of the cynic in me is wrong; it makes life sweeter that way
No developer or single game can possibly match all the various expectations that are listed here. No matter what Bliz does a large number of people will be disappointed. It’s a lose-lose proposition for them.
Had they left it to some hackers who were just paying tribute and not trying to profit, I think Bliz would have been much better served.
...And would find it boring.
Clearly what they have is what people want.
As far as future expansions, no clue, but i think the game has proven the test of time so why not allow it to keep going another 15 years? I might even try to force myself to try to get into again...despite 3 past attempts to get into wow and being unable to...though i dont think i could ever play a tab target game again, it would have to be an action combat game for me to get into it.