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Mike Morhaime to Leave Blizzard Entertainment for Good on April 7, 2019 - MMORPG.com News

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  • seshsesseshses Member UncommonPosts: 67
    End of a Era
    SBFordKootur
  • Octagon7711Octagon7711 Member LegendaryPosts: 9,000
    New company comes in and cleans house. I wouldn't be surprised if they started killing off all the known characters or having them do things they would have never done in the past. All while playing the mobile version.
    Gdemami

    "We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa      "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are."  SR Covey

  • SupaMutantSupaMutant Member UncommonPosts: 136
    edited January 2019

    Aeander said:





    Aeander said:




    btdt said:




    Wizardry said:

    These streamers and pro Esport players are terrified their easy life cash cow might disappear so are blaming Blizzard.






    Heaven forbid these people have to get a real job for once in their life.  I say, the harder they fall, the better.





    I'm not into esports, but grow the fuck up. If you're doing something and getting paid to do that thing, you have a real job. There is no such thing as a fake job. They weren't being paid in Monopoly money.






    So begging is a real job? Beggars beg, and they get paid. Self-employment!


    If you want to be pedantic and classify begging as "doing something." Most reasonable people wouldn't classify unemployment as being self-employed.



    Umm... Okay. I'm pedantic. Begging is doing something. It's a verb.

    And, the streamers began as unemployed before viewers started "donating" money to them, then BAM! Self-employed.

    Beggars began as unemployed before people started "donating" money to them, then BAM! Self-employed.

    Am I saying streamers are beggars? Um... Yes, yes I am.

    Although, it is far more interesting/amusing to watch streamers beg for money than a hobo. Because, you know, sometimes they dance in a bikini.
    bartoni33goozmaniainfomatz
    5|_|©|< /\/\¥ |)!©|< /\/\!|<3|3
  • natpicknatpick Member UncommonPosts: 271
    Xasapis said:
    What's up with all the top executives from Blizzard jumping ship lately?
    they have huge amounts of shares in activ/blizz and those shares are becoming less valuable,basically there all cashing in while the shares are still worth something,plus these guys no longer have any real say in day to day stuff so why stay.
    Kootur
  • PhryPhry Member LegendaryPosts: 11,004
    Elidien said:
    Blizzcon was disappointing

    BfA was popular at launch but something tells me subs have tanked in the months since. For my wife and I, we played less than a month and never had our sub renew. This after 15 years of playing off and on.

    Diablo franchise is still in "hurry up and wait and see" mode.

    Diablo mobile? Really?

    Call of Duty sales were not good in October.

    Destiny has rebounded some but I think still disappointing sales of the expansion.

    Its rumored that Heroes is on life support.

    Overwatch seems to be doing ok but the Fortnite juggernaut is hurting so many FPS games.

    Stock was valued around 83 USD on October 1; now is about 51 USD.

    Not been a good 4 months for them.
    After a recent questionaire there is some question surrounding the esport part of Hearthstone, its possible that there will no longer be any tournaments for the game. Hearthstone could very well be about to be put into the same state as Heroes of the Storm, as for Destiny 2, mostly lacklustre any rebound appears to have been marginal and still far below what Activision was hoping for. With continued bad press etc. for Acti/Blizz i would not expect their share values to recover beyond marginal surges between drops. personally i think it will fall more possibly even under $43 though that depends on it falling to $48 in the next 10 days. Must admit i am keen to see how Acti/Blizz reacts, the quickfix bandaid of using the LGBTQ community to deflect attention with Overwatch is kind of hillarious, my popcorn supplies have never been so low! :p
    [Deleted User]
  • tawesstawess Member EpicPosts: 4,227
    Times change. There is no way about it.

    WoW is pretty much just a figurehead brand at this point. The game is in its sunset and nothing can be done about that. There is no innovation that could bring it back. The fact that BfA did as good as it did at all is a indicator of the strength of the brand. Ofc subs will "tank" back to more resonable levels after the initial spike. Most bought it for the "new expansion smell" and once that wears off, so does the subscription.

    No the real money is in games like OW and HS... Especially as they cost way less to make and in the case of OW has a insane return on investment when it comes to brand awareness.

    A mobile Diablo might sound like a stupid idea, but mobile is the future... Not only because the hardware is strong enough but culturally things are changing. We are the dinosaurs.

    Now i am sure that mike leaving is per se just that. The changing of the guard. I hope it was a "this is not my way any more (as in massive AAA publishing and its pitfalls)" and not a "get out you old codger" but i guess we will know once the NDA runs out in 10-15 years.

    Blizzard is changing, because it has to. You can not both have the cake and eat it really. You can not be a global AAA company and still play by the rules of a small to midsize studio. It might be heartbreaking but that is the way it is.

    Now we will ofc never know what would have come to be had Blizzard (chaos studios at the time) turned down Davidson & Associates... Or if Vivendi had passed on Davidson & Associates... or of Activision never bought Vivendi...

    But that is the quirky chain of events that gave us Warcraft in a way as i am sure that the cash-injection from Davidson & Associates did not hurt the launch of Warcraft: Orcs and humans.

    But that is how it is, and we can argue about the soul of a company forever... But once you get in with big biz... you will change.
    Gdemamibartoni33TacticalZombehinfomatz

    This have been a good conversation

  • laseritlaserit Member LegendaryPosts: 7,591
    Time to enjoy the fruits of one's labour.
    [Deleted User]ThupliSabrac

    "Be water my friend" - Bruce Lee

  • AeanderAeander Member LegendaryPosts: 7,820

    Aeander said:





    Aeander said:




    btdt said:




    Wizardry said:

    These streamers and pro Esport players are terrified their easy life cash cow might disappear so are blaming Blizzard.






    Heaven forbid these people have to get a real job for once in their life.  I say, the harder they fall, the better.





    I'm not into esports, but grow the fuck up. If you're doing something and getting paid to do that thing, you have a real job. There is no such thing as a fake job. They weren't being paid in Monopoly money.






    So begging is a real job? Beggars beg, and they get paid. Self-employment!


    If you want to be pedantic and classify begging as "doing something." Most reasonable people wouldn't classify unemployment as being self-employed.



    Umm... Okay. I'm pedantic. Begging is doing something. It's a verb.

    And, the streamers began as unemployed before viewers started "donating" money to them, then BAM! Self-employed.

    Beggars began as unemployed before people started "donating" money to them, then BAM! Self-employed.

    Am I saying streamers are beggars? Um... Yes, yes I am.

    Although, it is far more interesting/amusing to watch streamers beg for money than a hobo. Because, you know, sometimes they dance in a bikini.
    Are artists not working because they rely on others to patronize or purchase their content? Historically, artists relied on wealthy patrons to earn a living, and that isn't terribly different from so-called e-begging.

    The fact is that someone like a streamer is producing content while seeking patronage. It isn't what one might consider high art, but even bad art is still art. And that isn't all that different from buying tickets to a comedy club.

    Even if you were to ungenerously consider it panhandling, there's a key difference. Panhandling isn't viewed negatively because there isn't entertainment or art being offered - because sometimes there is. Panhandling is viewed negatively because there isn't an organized platform for it and the audience isn't able to consent to having a panhandler disrupt their daily lives. Neither are really the case on a platform like Twitch are youtube. There is an organized platform for it and the audience actively seeks them out. 
    GdemamiTacticalZombeh
  • azarhalazarhal Member RarePosts: 1,402
    DMKano said:
    azarhal said:
    Xasapis said:
    What's up with all the top executives from Blizzard jumping ship lately?
    They don't want to do mobile games maybe?
    Lol mobile is an untapped market for them... you saying they dont want money anymore?
    I was responding to someone talking about people leaving a company and asking why. Not everyone wants to design games for the mobile platform(s).
  • gervaise1gervaise1 Member EpicPosts: 6,919
    edited January 2019

    Xasapis said:
    <snip>


    They sold the company to Activision, made their money, at the cost of everything. Why stay?
    They didn't actually.

    They sold Blizzard to Vivendi - a vast media conglomerate - and decided to stay. And Vivendi's put Blizzard with its other game operations and backed them.
    Subsequently Vivendi bought Activision.
    And as before Vivendi put Activision with their other gaming units under the umbrella of "Activision" that released financial reports in the US etc.
    Note: Vivendi owned both.

    And you always got the impression that Blizzard carried on as before. They'd reported to Vivendi for a while, they knew what they were doing and Activision was the "newbie in the organisation".

    Subsequently Vivendi hit some cashflow issues and decided it wanted to raise some cash. And one of the ways it did this was for Activision and Blizzard to do a management buy-out. Which is what happened. They borrowed money which went to Vivendi and a new company Activision Blizzard was formed. Not Activision but Activision Blizzard. Both "old companies" now working as one.

    And as I have commented before we shouldn't go laying Blizzard's disasters or successes on Activision. The old Blizzard management as was - on day 1 at least - was a part of Activision Blizzard. Setting the targets, deciding to pay billions to buy King - note this is Activision Blizzard investing billions in mobile, greenlighting projects and so forth.

    These days its one company. For better or for worse.
    Phry
  • The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • KooturKootur Member UncommonPosts: 352


    I wonder what they'll do to dodge the claims of rampant racism taking place under Blizzard roof-tops.



    It was one claim by a gay guy who was accused of being sexist by a crazy woman. It's like all the "wokeness" is starting to eat each other.
  • AeanderAeander Member LegendaryPosts: 7,820
    edited January 2019
    Kootur said:


    I wonder what they'll do to dodge the claims of rampant racism taking place under Blizzard roof-tops.



    It was one claim by a gay guy who was accused of being sexist by a crazy woman. It's like all the "wokeness" is starting to eat each other.
    A gay guy? The story I'd heard said he has a wife in Blizzard.

    Anyway, I doubt that the issue is "rampant" in any case. It sounds to me like a company that has expanded too quickly and has come to view individual employees as replaceable and thus doesn't bother with handling such isolated incidents as it should.
  • SupaMutantSupaMutant Member UncommonPosts: 136
    edited January 2019

    Aeander said:





    Aeander said:









    Aeander said:






    btdt said:






    Wizardry said:

    These streamers and pro Esport players are terrified their easy life cash cow might disappear so are blaming Blizzard.








    Heaven forbid these people have to get a real job for once in their life.  I say, the harder they fall, the better.







    I'm not into esports, but grow the fuck up. If you're doing something and getting paid to do that thing, you have a real job. There is no such thing as a fake job. They weren't being paid in Monopoly money.









    So begging is a real job? Beggars beg, and they get paid. Self-employment!




    If you want to be pedantic and classify begging as "doing something." Most reasonable people wouldn't classify unemployment as being self-employed.






    Umm... Okay. I'm pedantic. Begging is doing something. It's a verb.



    And, the streamers began as unemployed before viewers started "donating" money to them, then BAM! Self-employed.



    Beggars began as unemployed before people started "donating" money to them, then BAM! Self-employed.



    Am I saying streamers are beggars? Um... Yes, yes I am.



    Although, it is far more interesting/amusing to watch streamers beg for money than a hobo. Because, you know, sometimes they dance in a bikini.


    Panhandling isn't viewed negatively because there isn't entertainment or art being offered - because sometimes there is. Panhandling is viewed negatively because there isn't an organized platform for it


    That is 100% subjective.

    The point is.

    Not everyone that is "doing something", and getting money out of it, should be considered as a "real job". Beggars on the streets being a great example.

    Logically, according to your statement:

    "If you're doing something and getting paid to do that thing, you have a real job. There is no such thing as a fake job."

    Beggars would be self-employment.

    Either accept the implications or retract your statement. Don't be hypocritical and contradict yourself.
    5|_|©|< /\/\¥ |)!©|< /\/\!|<3|3
  • MadFrenchieMadFrenchie Member LegendaryPosts: 8,505
    edited January 2019
    SBFord said:
    @SupaMutant In order to avoid double posting, quote the person's post you want, respond to it and before hitting "enter", quote the next post you want to respond to, do so and then hit "post comment". Double+ posting is frowned up 'round these parts. Just a bit of friendly advice. :)
    In what may be his defense, quote boxes don't show on mobile, and the box has a tendency to jump the text cursor into the invisible quote box with no way to move back outside the box.

    That's why I often don't attempt to multi-quote in a post.
    AeanderSupaMutantSovrathbartoni33[Deleted User]TacticalZombeh

    image
  • AeanderAeander Member LegendaryPosts: 7,820
    SBFord said:
    @SupaMutant In order to avoid double posting, quote the person's post you want, respond to it and before hitting "enter", quote the next post you want to respond to, do so and then hit "post comment". Double+ posting is frowned up 'round these parts. Just a bit of friendly advice. :)
    In what may be his defense, quote boxes don't show on mobile, and the box has a tendency to jump the text cursor into the invisible quote box with no way to move back outside the box.

    That's why I often don't attempt to multi-quote in a post.
    There are a lot of flaws with the mobile version that annoy me. For example, editing the first word of a reply to a quoted post can be frustrating because it will start typing my reply in the quote box with no way to exit it other than to scrap my post entirely.

    I certainly avoid multi quoting on mobile because that has issues of its own.
    MadFrenchie[Deleted User]Thupli
  • FonclFoncl Member UncommonPosts: 347
    He always seemed to be a likeable guy and I've only heard good things said about him from early Blizzard employees. I hope he writes a book about his time at Silicon & Synapse and Blizzard, it would be interesting to read about the early glory days in particular.

    What a streak of games they had up until WoW, one of the most important people in gaming history for sure.
    SBFordPhry
  • LobotomistLobotomist Member EpicPosts: 5,963
    So i seen a real good video about situation at Blizzard. One of less known fact in it was that people working at Blizzard are among least payed in game industry ( in USA ) Some workers even have problems renting apartments. And this was possible because a great reputation out and inhouse good vibe the company had. But it all changed after Morhaime quit ( or being forced too ) and Activision taking over.

    Fast forward and we are seeing Diablo (PC) being trainwreck with skeleton support, HoS probably closing very soon, Overwatch very likely soon going into maintenance mode, WoW at lowest level it has been ... The ingouse atmosphere also became real toxic , and the salary is even reduced ( from low it was )

    It seem that Activision takeover is now just a matter of time
    Gdemami



  • RobbgobbRobbgobb Member UncommonPosts: 674
    A couple of years ago, Activision stock had a double up pretty much and the stock has just dropped down closer to where it was before that jump. The shareholders might have liked to keep that jump but it is not like the stock bottomed out to lower than ever. It is still higher than when the upswing happened.
  • MadFrenchieMadFrenchie Member LegendaryPosts: 8,505
    edited January 2019
    Aeander said:
    SBFord said:
    @SupaMutant In order to avoid double posting, quote the person's post you want, respond to it and before hitting "enter", quote the next post you want to respond to, do so and then hit "post comment". Double+ posting is frowned up 'round these parts. Just a bit of friendly advice. :)
    In what may be his defense, quote boxes don't show on mobile, and the box has a tendency to jump the text cursor into the invisible quote box with no way to move back outside the box.

    That's why I often don't attempt to multi-quote in a post.
    There are a lot of flaws with the mobile version that annoy me. For example, editing the first word of a reply to a quoted post can be frustrating because it will start typing my reply in the quote box with no way to exit it other than to scrap my post entirely.

    I certainly avoid multi quoting on mobile because that has issues of its own.
    Yep, and it happens if your phone attempts to auto-correct the first word (i.e. you type "It's" and your phone auto-corrects it to "its").

    image
  • BruceYeeBruceYee Member EpicPosts: 2,556
    So i seen a real good video about situation at Blizzard. One of less known fact in it was that people working at Blizzard are among least payed in game industry ( in USA ) Some workers even have problems renting apartments. And this was possible because a great reputation out and inhouse good vibe the company had. But it all changed after Morhaime quit ( or being forced too ) and Activision taking over.

    Fast forward and we are seeing Diablo (PC) being trainwreck with skeleton support, HoS probably closing very soon, Overwatch very likely soon going into maintenance mode, WoW at lowest level it has been ... The ingouse atmosphere also became real toxic , and the salary is even reduced ( from low it was )

    It seem that Activision takeover is now just a matter of time
    I would think more like a majority share buyout from Tencent but who knows.

    The problem I think right now with Blizz is they seem to be continuing on the failed course they've been on. They are still releasing lore stories, still 'talking' about their WoW ideas and planning to milk HS players more with another expansion. I expect a video of staff wearing costumes running around their office coming any day now. Even though they see their ship heading towards a reef they are refusing to change course and IMO that is what will cause their end cause people are no longer buying what they're selling.

    What I'd do if I was them right now..
    1. Pull all of the most talented devs from every team, bring them into a room a say "You are all now working on WoW 2". As long as ideas and concepts are being worked on the game is technically being worked on/thought up so you can announce it. Get started on every aspect of it right away with a new engine and have in-game footage with realistic Conan Exiles gfx out to the public within a year.

    2. Hearthstone - Get rid of wild mode, up deck size to 60 and allow all cards from previous decks to be used/purchased and make that standard mode/one mode. Drop the prices straight across the board for pre purchase pixel packs and all pixel packs in general.

    3. Overwatch - Add some type of customizing system like Paladins. Copy those who copied you. Add a **** ton more characters with the swiftness, maybe even two at a time. Release skins not only during events but regularly and sell them for a fixed price without the stress of loot boxes. Make them detailed and fun like they spent more than 5 minutes coming up with the idea and creating them.

    4. Heroes of the Storm - Drastic changes, probably rename it back to the original Blizzard All Stars seeing as their competitive scene is gone and they don't need it to sound cool anymore. Add artifacts/items and maybe a 3rd person SMITE mode as a separate game mode for a different flavor to the game. Answer to those who say some characters won't work in 3rd person view is to either not allow certain characters or change certain abilities for that mode.

    WoW - Make it BTP with cosmetic cash shop that mirrors Guild Wars 2. Add costumes/mounts to that cosmetic only cash shop regularly cause they seem to have no problems making those for $25 a pop. Stop reinventing the wheel with every expansion and make every expac a continuation like in other MMO's. Oh, and add housing once and for all and add housing items/ components as drops all around every single past expac world. Continue working/adding on to content from past expansions like garrisons. Redesign crafting items to work for all levels not just 1-10, 10-20 etc.
  • jtckline3jtckline3 Member UncommonPosts: 60
    This company is doom the moment it signed deals with China Tencent, the shameless cashgrab "game" company ruining the industry
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