Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!

Blizzard: A Recovery Story - Garrett Fuller - MMORPG.com

SBFordSBFord Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
edited December 2018 in News & Features Discussion

imageBlizzard: A Recovery Story - Garrett Fuller - MMORPG.com

If you were to tell me this summer that Fallout 76, Diablo, and Steam’s Artifact announcements would go over like a lead balloon I would tell you that you are crazy. However, that is the reality in games this holiday season. Three of the biggest game companies with fans that far exceed the word devoted are now facing a harsh reality, they finally pissed off their fans. For this first article we will focus on Blizzard and how they might recover from the first ever disastrous BlizzCon on record.

Read the full story here



¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 


«13

Comments

  • yonpachiyonpachi Member UncommonPosts: 191
    edited December 2018
    But but but....
    Do you guys not have a phone?!


    Anyways, what they did to Heroes of the Storm was the last straw for me. I won't be touching any blizzard games... I feel betrayed. I love HotS, its the only MOBA I could stand, and they decided to put Maintenance Mode (in disguise) on it. I'm really upset over this, like Really upset. Of course they have to announce this after the sale of the 365Days premium boosters, not the other way around
    Post edited by yonpachi on
    sneakerz007velimiriusWalpermetarealilluminary420ThaharRain_Deathravenwinghaven1infomatzcalibekand 1 other.
  • JeffSpicoliJeffSpicoli Member EpicPosts: 2,849
    Artifact is a shitty game, Fallout 76 & Diablow mobile were shitty idea's.
    [Deleted User]laserit[Deleted User]
    • Aloha Mr Hand ! 

  • mnemic666mnemic666 Member UncommonPosts: 224
    After what they did with HotS, I think they're beyond redemption. They've already committed to a path and they're not deviating. The D:I stuff was more a tempest in a teacup for me, a faceplant they could easily recover from...but their total and utter silence since then (and them not extending double rewards for the season despite extending the season, which has a lot of folks upset right now) has killed their chances by now. They needed to figure out a message to bring the disappointed Diablo fans back and their only response so far has been complete and utter silence, because "We hear you." doesn't count for shit. Let's not even get into the boneheaded "Send us a picture of your D3 on Switch to win...A D3 branded Switch with D3 for Switch!" contest.

    Then they unceremoniously kill HotS esports without even warning the teams ahead of time, and apparently going back on what were previously communicated plans about an even bigger budget to support events this year. It was killed via a damn blog post, with pro players receiving a short, generic email afterwards.

    And that's not to mention the ongoing issues with WoW between crap communication and a lot of ongoing community complaints about things that seems abnormally high compared to at least Legion.

    Yeah, Blizzard's usually rare to have a miss, but they seem to be cropping up more frequently. At least IMO, they're no longer the company they once were and that many of us fell in love with. A lot of folks are blaming Activision, and while I think they have part of the blame I think Blizzard's bad habits (burning money), arrogance, and size are catching up to it.
    JeffSpicoli[Deleted User]laseritsakinolThaharjimmywolfinfomatzborghive49
  • JeroKaneJeroKane Member EpicPosts: 6,959
    You still forgot to mention they pulled a Bait and Switch on their Diablo fans. Especially who are still playing Diablo 3.
    After the whole Diablo Immortal announcement fiasco, they were quick to announce they were not done with Diablo 3 yet and that the fans had something to look forward with the upcoming season in form of new content.

    Right. Seeing the Season 16 announcement and patch notes. Bait and Switch. It was nothing but blatant ad-hoc damage control at Blizcon to put out the fires at their little convention after Diablo Immortal blew up in their faces.

    This is really the last straw for me. Next to the BfA expansion fiasco for WoW and patch 8.1 bringing nothing to the table that would convince me to come back.

    I am done with Blizzard. It's clear they are fully controlled by ActiVision now and them now calling the shots over Blizzard.

    They had a good run, but so did Bioware and SOE back in the good ol' days. Now Blizzard can join their ranks.
    borghive49
  • JeffSpicoliJeffSpicoli Member EpicPosts: 2,849
    I know Rockstar was in hot water over their labor camp like work conditions but with the masterpiece that is Red Dead Redemption 2 I think all these studios could take a lesson. Don't change just for the sake of changing, Respect your fans and build upon what they already love instead of flinging shit at a wall and seeing what sticks .
    bartoni33Thaharjimmywolfinfomatzgastovski1[Deleted User]Oscar1230
    • Aloha Mr Hand ! 

  • GdemamiGdemami Member EpicPosts: 12,342
    edited December 2018
    There is nothing to recover.

    Death of WoW is inevitable, it is just a matter of time and it is time to move on, Blizzard knows this and has already started to branch out to widen their portfollio.

    There will always be some left behind(ie.these boards) and there is no point catering to them, they are not Blizzard's future(or anyone's else).

    So yeah, just fck them.
    [Deleted User]Tuor7Xarkojimmywolfinfomatzgastovski1Gobstopper3DThupli
  • sneakerz007sneakerz007 Member UncommonPosts: 95

    yonpachi said:

    But but but....

    Do you guys not have a phone?!








    Anyways, what they did to Heroes of the Storm was the last straw for me. I won't be touching any blizzard games... I feel betrayed. I love HotS, its the only MOBA I could stand, and they decided to put Maintenance Mode in disguise on it. I'm really upset over this, like Really upset.
    Of course they have to announce this after the sale of the 365Days premium boosters, not the other way around



    I think i read last night that HOTS is officially on maintenance mode. I'm done with blizzard these guys and their investors are just blinded by money. They want so much of it that they just pissed on us and think we giving in with mobile games, life supporting their moba and really nothing for pc anytime soon or ever except for remakes of some old tired games in their library. Why not Warcraft 4 or Diablo 4 or even starcraft 3?
    GdemamiTuor7
  • Dick1232Dick1232 Member UncommonPosts: 54


    And Hearthstone should be losing ground to "Magic: The Gathering - Arena" ... because Arena is a much better game.



    And Hearthstone should be losing ground to "Magic: The Gathering - Arena" ... because Arena is a much better game.


    Forgot to say IMO of course.
  • Dick1232Dick1232 Member UncommonPosts: 54
    Say people still going on and on and on lol.
    jimmywolf
  • MadFrenchieMadFrenchie Member LegendaryPosts: 8,505
    edited December 2018
    Gdemami said:
    There is nothing to recover.

    Death of WoW is inevitable, it is just a matter of time and it is time to move on, Blizzard knows this and has already started to branch out to widen their portfollio.

    There will always be some left behind(ie.these boards) and there is no point catering to them, they are not Blizzard's future(or anyone's else).

    So yeah, just fck them.
    If all our time spent here is wasted time (debatable, but I'll assume it for sake of argument) your reason for wasting yours here has got to be the most pathetic.

    You literally hang around here because you dislike what people post and wanna mark it with an LOL or condescending remark.  Useless.
    [Deleted User]GdemamiIselinXarkoTuor7jimmywolfNildenGrakuleninfomatzTacticalZombehand 4 others.

    image
  • Dick1232Dick1232 Member UncommonPosts: 54
    Dick1232 said:


    And Hearthstone should be losing ground to "Magic: The Gathering - Arena" ... because Arena is a much better game.



    And Hearthstone should be losing ground to "Magic: The Gathering - Arena" ... because Arena is a much better game.


    Forgot to say IMO of course.
    Of course it's my opinion.  That's implied because I'm the one who's writing it.  You're, of course, welcome to your own opinion but I've played both games and compared to the depth of Magic: The Gathering, Hearthstone is relatively simple and unsatisfying.  In Hearthstone you have no ability to intervene on your opponent's turn (and no, secrets don't count because they're triggered).  Couple that with the poor design decision to allow minions to directly attack other minions and you have CCG where aggro has a decisive advantage in most situations.  I had some fun playing it, but at its core Hearthstone is not a very well-designed game.  And now that MTG has a polished digital game that plays well, the more serious CCG players, who enjoy complexity and diversity, will probably head that direction.
    Again IMO needed. Your whole post wreaks of it. Don t say it s anything as fact because it isn t.
  • laseritlaserit Member LegendaryPosts: 7,591
    Gdemami said:
    There is nothing to recover.

    Death of WoW is inevitable, it is just a matter of time and it is time to move on, Blizzard knows this and has already started to branch out to widen their portfollio.

    There will always be some left behind(ie.these boards) and there is no point catering to them, they are not Blizzard's future(or anyone's else).

    So yeah, just fck them.
    There there now

    Maybe the stock will recover next year, but then again maybe not. 
    GdemamiZalgotasGobstopper3D

    "Be water my friend" - Bruce Lee

  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    edited December 2018
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • WizardryWizardry Member LegendaryPosts: 19,332
    Most over rated developer on the planet,maybe people are just waking up and realizing the games are low quality,low budget and just copy cat games done worse.

    You could put ALL of Blizzard's games except Wow into one pile and the effort it would take to make ALL of them is less than one AAA mmorpg.So how they manage to WASTE soooo much money is beyond me,they don't have any quality game engines,none of their games have quality lighting to graphics,like wtf have they been doing to spend so much money,they have a higher overhead than Square Enix but produce far less games and all of the games except Wow are PUNY small games.

    So do they need to win back an angry fanbase or a fanbase that finally woke up and realized Blizzard makes VERY average to sub par games.
    While Blizzard was the apparent COOL wagon to jump on,now it is Fortnite and Epic.I guess Epic's Fortnite cartoony graphics were just one better than Blizzard's cartoony graphics.
    Knwo why the Diablo announcement SHOULD piss you off,they were targeting a MARKET,the mobiel market,they were NOT doing it becuse they wanted to make you a great game..NO,they wanted to corner a market that is very lucrative,that is what blizz cares about,making money.

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

  • ManestreamManestream Member UncommonPosts: 941
    LOL- if i was there and he said that (Don't you all have phones) i would have shouted back (Yes but i use it for phonecalls not for gaming).
    JeffSpicoliTuor7blamo2000infomatzgastovski1JeroKane
  • PhryPhry Member LegendaryPosts: 11,004
    Its Activision now though, so Blizzard ?
    Tuor7
  • gervaise1gervaise1 Member EpicPosts: 6,919
    edited December 2018

    Phry said:

    Its Activision now though, so Blizzard ?



    "Activision Blizzard" even.

    The significance being: Pre-buyout under Vivendi: Blizzard reported through Activision; this was the time of "release when its ready". You got the idea that Blizzard did there thing.

    Post-buyout: the name on the door is Activision Blizzard. Run by Activision and Blizzard bods - with a sprinkling of King bods these days no doubt.

    Which means that we shouldn't "blame" Activision for any of this. The "Blizzard" bods will probably have been behind this stuff - being the ones with the "best insight" into the Blizzard bit of the company.
    Post edited by gervaise1 on
  • MadFrenchieMadFrenchie Member LegendaryPosts: 8,505
    edited December 2018
    And Hearthstone should be losing ground to "Magic: The Gathering - Arena" ... because Arena is a much better game.
    As close as you can get to MtG tabletop without buying the table.

    EDIT- though the card highlighting annoys me.  You can see your opponent highlight a card in their hand during, say, the combat phase, the game pauses everything to give them time to decide if they want to play it or not.  It has the effect, for red and blue decks especially, of tipping the opponent off that you likely have a counter/DD card you can cast at any time.
    [Deleted User]Thupli

    image
  • ArskaaaArskaaa Member RarePosts: 1,265
    Tis is not blizzard anymore. dont get hopes up. indies care about fans.
    JeffSpicoliGdemamiblamo2000Thaharinfomatzgastovski1
  • alkarionlogalkarionlog Member EpicPosts: 3,584
    I don't know about you but, how many years the "big" companys are lacking in they delivery?

    you say these 3 you would never guess? sure its not guessing when you are sure they will fail
    FOR HONOR, FOR FREEDOM.... and for some money.
  • alkarionlogalkarionlog Member EpicPosts: 3,584




    And Hearthstone should be losing ground to "Magic: The Gathering - Arena" ... because Arena is a much better game.


    As close as you can get to MtG tabletop without buying the table.

    EDIT- though the card highlighting annoys me.  You can see your opponent highlight a card in their hand during, say, the combat phase, the game pauses everything to give them time to decide if they want to play it or not.  It has the effect, for red and blue decks especially, of tipping the opponent off that you likely have a counter/DD card you can cast at any time.



    or he does so to make you think that, or he jsut let his mouse in the middle and it highlight it jsut because its there, youa re thinking too much on it
    FOR HONOR, FOR FREEDOM.... and for some money.
  • MadFrenchieMadFrenchie Member LegendaryPosts: 8,505




    And Hearthstone should be losing ground to "Magic: The Gathering - Arena" ... because Arena is a much better game.


    As close as you can get to MtG tabletop without buying the table.

    EDIT- though the card highlighting annoys me.  You can see your opponent highlight a card in their hand during, say, the combat phase, the game pauses everything to give them time to decide if they want to play it or not.  It has the effect, for red and blue decks especially, of tipping the opponent off that you likely have a counter/DD card you can cast at any time.



    or he does so to make you think that, or he jsut let his mouse in the middle and it highlight it jsut because its there, youa re thinking too much on it
    I think at higher levels that will be true.  At the Bronze level I'm playing at currently?  I can almost play based off how long it takes my opponent to resolve their option to play an instant during my combat phase. :D 

    It's not something that doesn't also happen at the table.  Just seems exacerbated because if your opponent doesn't have an instant to play, it instantly moves to the next part of the combat phase.

    image
  • BukkerzBukkerz Member UncommonPosts: 177
    edited December 2018
    I think that Blizzard are reacting to fans responses, its just that no company producing anything worthy can physically produce something out of a hat that quickly. The fact that they are seemingly tightening up in some places and removing folks and funds off relatively 'flat' projects and more than likely onto more 'lively' projects is a positive. Reading between the lines earlier in the year I think that when they marketed news regarding Diablo there was a huge tilt and real enthusiasm towards wanting an MMO or RPG, let alone number '4' and it shocked them.

    This is also backed up by the removal of Graphical Novels and the story arc that went with them, indicating that they had changed their mind and that the penny had dropped in a big way, ushering in a new clear path, yielding a far more exciting game in the future. Of course this would mean they would have to sacrifice themselves on the alter of disappointment for Blizzcon 2018 .... but we live in a fickle world and the gamble is that it is far better to be an even bigger hero at a later date than an average popular Joe now. I would say that they are 'trebling' efforts with a Diablo direction and re-designating in house talent to help. Far better to make one fantastic ship than repainting and tickling tugboats ... so yes bye bye Heroes of the Storm, which was always clearly late and old hat ... and not as modern or appealing as Smite.

    Overwatch is a fantastic game for what it is and so well accomplished and WOW is just experiencing that 'middle' story arc expansion preparing itself for a far better journey. Again this means that from a lull in 2018 I would bet on booms in 2019 and 2020.

    For me a Worlds of Diablo, Devils and Angels MMO would be a Boom .... I wouldn't care if they used the same engine mechanics as WOW ..... at least we know it would work.
  • GutlardGutlard Member RarePosts: 1,019
    The last IP they spent a lot of time/effort on fell apart, but luckily they salvaged Titan parts for Overwatch. "We just weren't feeling it," enough to recoup some money. Maybe the death of Titan just drained their will to dev right out of them all....

    Gut Out!
    blamo2000

    What, me worry?

  • MadFrenchieMadFrenchie Member LegendaryPosts: 8,505
    Gutlard said:
    The last IP they spent a lot of time/effort on fell apart, but luckily they salvaged Titan parts for Overwatch. "We just weren't feeling it," enough to recoup some money. Maybe the death of Titan just drained their will to dev right out of them all....

    Gut Out!
    And unfortunately, Overwatch has shown signs it's longevity may not be what Blizzard was hoping for.

    image
Sign In or Register to comment.