Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
One of the most upvoted Reddit threads I've ever seen - "A Letter to Blizzard Entertainment"
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,126
Not news exactly, but a great post has popped up on the World of Warcraft Reddit that is one of the most highly upvoted posts I've ever seen. It's been upvoted over 25,000 times in well under a day and has earned a ton of Reddit currency.
Penned by "Alizbee", the writer reflects on his years as a Blizzard fan and how the company mantra used to be "gameplay first". His lament is that it's simply not that way any more and that Blizzard has lost its way...maybe forever.
Truthfully, if you're a WoW fan or just a general Blizzard fan -- or WERE at one time -- it's a letter you won't want to miss.
Penned by "Alizbee", the writer reflects on his years as a Blizzard fan and how the company mantra used to be "gameplay first". His lament is that it's simply not that way any more and that Blizzard has lost its way...maybe forever.
Truthfully, if you're a WoW fan or just a general Blizzard fan -- or WERE at one time -- it's a letter you won't want to miss.
You stopped making an MMORPG years ago. Instead, you turned WoW into an elaborate fantasy-themed casino replicator. It's a third-person looter-shooter designed to string players out like addicts looking for a fix. Your other titles are just animated shopping carts that feature mini-games people can play in between opening loot boxes.
We are not your enemy Blizzard. We are your loyal supporters. The luke-warm, fair-weather fans are gone and they are not coming back. We are all you have left. And frankly, when it comes to MMORPGs, you are all we have. Please stop ruining World of Warcraft. Please stop designing it around KPIs, MAUs, and other marketing bullshit. I'll play the game if it's fun. And right now, it's not fun. The people designing and developing the game look tired. Maybe it's time for them to "move to other unannounced projects". Or maybe you just need to let them remember what "gameplay first" means.
But I do know Blizzard games. And I know that whatever it is you are producing recently, are not Blizzard games.
We are not your enemy Blizzard. We are your loyal supporters. The luke-warm, fair-weather fans are gone and they are not coming back. We are all you have left. And frankly, when it comes to MMORPGs, you are all we have. Please stop ruining World of Warcraft. Please stop designing it around KPIs, MAUs, and other marketing bullshit. I'll play the game if it's fun. And right now, it's not fun. The people designing and developing the game look tired. Maybe it's time for them to "move to other unannounced projects". Or maybe you just need to let them remember what "gameplay first" means.
But I do know Blizzard games. And I know that whatever it is you are producing recently, are not Blizzard games.
and 2 others.
Comments
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Man, Googling that and there's like 30 of them... :
https://www.reddit.com/r/wow/comments/a7rrmy/a_letter_to_blizzard_entertainment/
Sorry @Ikeda
https://www.reddit.com/r/wow/comments/a7rrmy/a_letter_to_blizzard_entertainment/?utm_source=reddit-android
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I am sure to many it is a shock but they need to get back to what made them great. Yes some would argue they stole most ideas from other MMOs and made them better but who really cares at this point as long as it is fun. Problem is they went to far left to the esports side of things when they could have stayed the course and never had a single issue.
I would love for this letter to matter and it is heartfelt from the author but I have said it and many others here as well but the king is dead. Blizzard is no longer what it once was and it would be very difficult to reverse course so drastically from what they have become. It would take a purging of leadership and bring back the old guard even if it is as consultants but I believe it is obvious what they left to begin with and that is the parent company wants to treat them like a ATM.
Great letter and honest points to be sure.
So, yeah, as said many times here and people still look the other way, Blizzard is dead, what we have is Activision Blizzard.
But I'm having fun in WoW, not with the content people are complaining, but catching up with previous expansions and quests/exploration. The RNG nature of the latest systems is really unnecessary.
"There is a fine line between consideration and hesitation. The former is wisdom, the latter is fear." Izaro Phrecius, Holy Emperor of the Eternal Empire, Last of Royal Phrecius Family.
While I still hope Blizzard finds themselves back on track, I feel like they are going the way of the DoDo.
Game companies I used to rely on were ones like Bioware, Blizzard, Bethesda. Look at them in the news lately. These were what I would consider stable bedrocks of gaming. Yes, they didn't produce annual CoDs but when games came out, you bought them. Heck, I'd buy them FULL price (and not wait for a sale).
Now companies are driven by stock prices. And the only people who make money off of those are banks and CEOs. The low-people don't gain from it. All they hear is "we have to make revenue". So if a company misses it's forecast by $.01 their stock prices tumble $40-30-20. Which is silliness. In what year, (accounting for inflation) do you expect year over year growth perpetually?
I can hope the system changes, but all the accepted microtransactions and F2P and other various "knock-off" garbage... they aren't fun anymore.
Maybe, it's because I'm getting older but I pine for those days. But thinking about trying to take it up now... I'd rather just get under a blanket and read a book. (e, of course, no filthy paper anymore :P)
Their stubborn insistence on moving forward with systems that received a resounding negative response reminds me of @Superman0X's comments about these pubs and devs drinking too much of their own koolaid.
Devs can't fathom that courting a passionate fanbase is more important than courting every. Single. Gamer. On. Every. Single. Platform. Possible.
I'm hoping some new indie companies can come out and make a big impression now that Blizzard is out of the way.
Sometimes, I still cannot believe I'm actually watching the end of WoW, but I guess the saying holds true, "You either die the hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain".
"game play first" is his statement on what Blizzard USED to be like?Seriously?
Wow is a LINEAR questing game,COPIED off of Everquest and nearly identical to EQ2.
They create a MMO but design it like a SINGLE player game,no i would say if anything Blizzard doesn't GET IT and have no clue about game play.
I can skip years of failed design and go straight to SCALING,sop after creating a single player design,let's also ruin immersion,no question they do NOT get it.
AUTO group finder that also instantly warps you to the zone...sigh,just really sad how they can butcher a mmorpg.
Sadly the majority of mmorpg gamer's this is all they knew,this is the game advertised to them an they all jumped in BLINDLY.They didn't know any better so Blizzard had it easy street with a BAD game design and a poorly run business.I can say poorly run because when i saw the numebrs they were spending a LOT more than Square Enix with far less games.Then they only have ONE large game "Wow",so how did they spend all that money?
Then all these people sticking by a game that has had MANY people LEAVE blizzard over the years to start their own games and acting like it has always been the same TEAM,the same people,well it has NOT.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Aloha Mr Hand !
"classification of games into MMOs is not by rational reasoning" - nariusseldon
Love Minecraft. And check out my Youtube channel OhCanadaGamer
"You have kept me at your beck and call for fifteen years. I shall never again do what you demand of me. By every rule of single combat, from this moment your life belongs to me. Is that not correct? Then I shall simply declare you dead. In all of your dealings with me, you'll do me the courtesy to conduct yourself as a dead man. I have submitted to your notions of honor long enough. You will now submit to mine."
"You have kept me at your beck and call for fifteen years. I shall never again do what you demand of me. By every rule of single combat, from this moment your life belongs to me. Is that not correct? Then I shall simply declare you dead. In all of your dealings with me, you'll do me the courtesy to conduct yourself as a dead man. I have submitted to your notions of honor long enough. You will now submit to mine."
Mostly it's 'cause I'm used to writing news thingies, not posting forum topics.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
traveller, interloper, anomaly, iteration
MisterZebub said: