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Blizzard's Titan?
d_20
Member RarePosts: 1,878
So what has happened to the Titan Project? Blizzard must be stepping back to observe what happens with the big launches this year.
What will happen to Titan? What do you predict?
Comments
They scrapped whatever they had, cut down the number of developers, and restarted the project from scratch.
"For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed:
And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,
And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still!"
~Lord George Gordon Byron
Titan won't be coming....but they made you an awesome card game instead.... /end sarcasm
It's called recycling....these software development projects typically run in phases, with some sort of board of "deciders" reviewing the decisions made at the end of each phase, to determine whether or not to proceed to the next phase. This is a cost & decision quality control mechanisim that prevents projects from going longer than needed.
If Blizzard has recycled on Titan, their proof of concept may have failed, the market may have shifted to the point that the value of the project has been jeapordized, or there may have been personnel changes that wanted to take things in another direction.
Either way, it was likely done, as a best practice in software development, and a more sound product should come out of it.
By the way, if it was recycled back to the initial information gathering & design phases, they will not need the developers previously staffed to the project....as they are typically needed more toward the middle / end of the SDLC. This is why some of the developers have gone to work on other projects...not necessarily because the project is out of favor.
They got wind of what EQN is doing and decided to go back to the drawing board.
Seriously though, I think Voxels might be a big reason for them restarting.
I was thinking something very similar....
What was rummored about the project was that it was going to be Sci-Fi, but not an existing IP.
news from last year, May 2013
http://venturebeat.com/2013/05/28/blizzard-delays-unannounced-mmo-until-2016-resets-whole-project-exclusive/
The team of 100 developers working on the MMO, codenamed “Titan,” has been reduced by 70 positions, and Blizzard is reassigning those people to other work. Meanwhile, the core of the team will start over on Titan. The title is now not expected to be published until 2016 at the earliest.
EQ2 fan sites
Main Game: Eldevin (Plat0nic)
2nd Game: Path of Exile (Platonic Hate)
LMAO. Really? When was the last good game SOE made? I don't think they have made a good game since EQ and the guys that made that game are either dead or working on something else for the most part. <g>
Planetside II - 6.9 user score. 2012
Free Realms - 6.4 user score. 2011
Wizardly Online - 5.9 user score.. 2011
Everquest II - 7.5 user score.. 2004
Everquest 8.7 user score 1999.
Basically SOE used to make good games back 10 years ago or more. The idea that they can compete with companies who are making good games TODAY is somewhat laughable.
Blizzard has lost their mojo. Notice how all their developers are working on other titles at other companies? Well I have..
People don't get it - companies don't stay the same forever. Its about a core group of guys - and those guys arent at Blizzard anymore.
Hearthstone is the best game they have made in a while - that's saying something. Diablo III, Starcraft II, WoW - they haven't had a new IP high quality game forever - and most of their retreads are barely better then original and sometimes worse.
I think that., partially, it's because they didn't want another product to compete with WoW. Let's face it, WoW is still more profitable than every game in the genre. Plus they're starting to hire monetization specialists (read that somewhere) so you know they're going to be amping up their monetization strategy, at very least. It could be that they slowly turn up monetization on WoW until they see what the breaking point is. If that happens to come around 2016, and they've proven that they can sustain a hybrid revenue model, then you can bet Titan will be sub. Otherwise, maybe they just go F2P and monetize the bejeezus out of F2P players.
The point is, don't cannibalize you primary revenue stream. It would be like the worst idea ever. Chances are, if they can't find a way for the two to co-exist, it won't get released, ever.
Crazkanuk
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Azarelos - 90 Hunter - Emerald
Durnzig - 90 Paladin - Emerald
Demonicron - 90 Death Knight - Emerald Dream - US
Tankinpain - 90 Monk - Azjol-Nerub - US
Brindell - 90 Warrior - Emerald Dream - US
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If i remember right a dev said it would sorta be world of starcraft but not within the starcraft lore.
It's highly likely that big sci-fi mmo's have being hit hard recent times with crap like deifance. But it's probably wildstar + destiny if any singular title could put them off course.
As for revising the tech. I personally don't think assets are that difficult to convert/reuse. Many games go through several engines before release.
"I think that., partially, it's because they didn't want another product to compete with WoW. Let's face it, WoW is still more profitable than every game in the genre."
WoW has been in a what 4 year decline now? Investors care about growth - not profitability. Are you going to buy Blizzard stock because it has 4 million NA/EU subs when it once had 8? Its one thing to milk your cow but sooner or later you got to get yourself a new one..
I dont think its over though, i just think they remakong it, and i dont blame them because after eql & eqn if pulled off right i dont think blizzard stands a chance, eq is going to take back the throne now matter how you look at at blizzard knows this , there only chance to stay king is to make wow 2, a new ip will not cut it nowdays, the reason is we have to many, proof is look at the stats, name the top games out right now, all the top games are pre existing ips, if Blizzard wants to remain king they need to use the power of there ip, wow,starcraft,something new will fail.Literally have it in reverse. And besides that fact that it's almost the first sentence you hear in every Business 101 class "What is the goal of a business? 'To maximize profits for its shareholders'." you can also get a very nice and neat real world example by looking at the state of the global economy. Primary focus? Short term profitability.
Get that money.
First thing an investor looks at . . . ROI, how much will I get back and when will I get it. Not, "will this product or service exist 20 years from now." The money, when can I has more of it?
And money is the reason you're absolutely correct on the first part. They don't want to hurt their big money maker. They're clearing over a billion in revenues annuals. No way they want to stop the cash printing.
Awesome card game!? LMAO........
RIP Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan and Paul Gray.
I have no idea what specific SDLC Blizzard uses, but alot of game companies use some hybrid of waterfall & iterative design.
With waterfall methodology, the most important (and potentially time consuming) phases are the initial information, requirements gathering, design phases. During this time, you aren't doing a lot of development work...maybe some small proof of concept stuff, but the lion share of development comes at the end of the life cycle....where you have your framework / scope locked, design is complete....and you start building it with code.
If Blizzard recycled during the development part of the project, and went back to the drawing board...where they have to come up with a new design...then they don't need 100 developers sitting around with nothing to do....they put them on other projects until they are needed.
The reason the project only has 30 developers on board, at this point, is probably more of an indicator of where they are in the software development lifecycle...and less to do with Blizzard putting a low priority on the project.
While it is true that investors like growth.....it is not true that all assets have to be in a state of growth. There are different classifications for company revenue generators....and one of those is called a cash cow. This is the phase a product / service goes into where their expenses have leveled or minimized, and they are earning high profit margins.
While those margins might be in decline (due to a declining sub base), their profit margin may still be more than acceptable...given they are still around the 8-9 million sub mark.
What investors like is a diversified product mix....cash cow products / services that help fund & limit the risk from new products that might have high startup costs.
And Blizzard is known to take unusually long time to develop new engines and IP.
I think also, they knew Ghostcrawler was leaving. By the look of the influx of new hires from the community itself over the months before he made public he's quitting Blizzard, it makes sense they're training specific people to front WoW now.
The other factor is WoW funds their projects. It has been neglected for essentially 3 years, the subs slipping, and there's a lot of revamping to do (e.g., Northrend would need a revamp after Outland next...so expect the return to the Lich King again). They felt they could just keep WoW on a lighter schedule, but the history of Cata and MoP is showing, it truly has to be actively managed.
.:| Kevyne@Shandris - Armory |:. - When WoW was #1 - .:| I AM A HOLY PALADIN - Guild Theme |:.
Hearthstone is pretty awesome. In fact, i probably will enjoy it more than another rehash of traditional MMOs.
My bet is that Blizz figure out traditional MMORPG has passed its time, and want to do something newer like a MOBA, or a card game.