Blizzard is not your friend

d_20

Here is a video discussing the Diablo Immortal situation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QXV7b63YdI

"Blizzard is not our friend, so why did so many people react like Blizzard is their friend? Why did they react like their friend betrayed them? Why does that relationship exist in the first place? And the answer is: It exists because Blizzard wants it to. It exists because Blizzard can monetize it."

delete5230

I almost played retail World of Warcraft. 

I has two choices: 

Pay $15 and must play extremely old content, only for later to pay for the expansion..... seems ligate, but I didn't like that option none the less.  

Pay $59.95 and only get 10 levels of content, I didn't like that option either !!

TheDarkrayne

delete5230 said:

I almost played retail World of Warcraft. 

I has two choices: 

Pay $15 and must play extremely old content, only for later to pay for the expansion..... seems ligate, but I didn't like that option none the less.  

Pay $59.95 and only get 10 levels of content, I didn't like that option either !!

What a ridiculous way of looking at an absolutely massive game.

New, new, new! Everything must be brand new! If I'm not playing the brand new stuff it must be impossible for me to have any fun. 10 levels? Levels are all that matter! That's all there is to do, get 10 levels! Nevermind the extra 100+ hours of content once you've finished getting 10 levels, none of that matters! I don't like playing games for gameplay, I want moar numbers.

Sarcasm, just in case anyone was confused.

Here's a question, if they added 50 new character levels but everything else in the expansion was the same.. is that now 50 levels worth of content?

Wizardry

Some stuff in that video made me cringe.

The Cosplay stuff is like free advertising but has nothing to do with Blizzard or their work ethic.

The EVENTS,those make me laugh but it works as marketing because they get all those people to yell out and cheer every time they say something about their products.It is like watching a political gathering where all the fanbois cheer at every stupid thing said.Yes i realize that is not proper English,don't even go there lol.

To myself Blizzard has had 3 phases

1/ I never cared about and knew VERY little about Blizzard during the 90's up until about pretty much the time of Wow's release.

2/ Even after Wow a game i tried on release,i still knew little,didn't like their game but didn't think anything negative about Blizzard,they just seemed like a ho hum kind of developer.

3/They have grown to be extremely greedy and arrogant.This might very well have started because of Wow's success,look at us,aren't we great sort of attitude.

Since that time of Wow's release,i have learned more and more about Blizzard and even more so having played several of their games.My conclusion,still a ho hum developer but with a much more in your face attitude.LOOK what we are doing,right before a nerf  or some new cross game sales gimmick.

I am sure a lot has to do being partnered with another giant like Activision and being in safe mode with billions of dollars in the coffers.

delete5230

TheDarkrayne said:

delete5230 said:

I almost played retail World of Warcraft. 

I has two choices: 

Pay $15 and must play extremely old content, only for later to pay for the expansion..... seems ligate, but I didn't like that option none the less.  

Pay $59.95 and only get 10 levels of content, I didn't like that option either !!

What a ridiculous way of looking at an absolutely massive game.

New, new, new! Everything must be brand new! If I'm not playing the brand new stuff it must be impossible for me to have any fun. 10 levels? Levels are all that matter! That's all there is to do, get 10 levels! Nevermind the extra 100+ hours of content once you've finished getting 10 levels, none of that matters! I don't like playing games for gameplay, I want moar numbers.

Sarcasm, just in case anyone was confused.

Here's a question, if they added 50 new character levels but everything else in the expansion was the same.. is that now 50 levels worth of content?

You simply twisted this to your assumption, The game is old I've played several expansions in the past... Honestly I'm sick of them, deeply sick of them ! 

I'm by far from a power leveler, that's the last thing I care about.  

For this price and the options "to play as a new game"... I don't like it.  

It's about time blizzard starts all over again, instead of milking big money  !

Phry

Remember when Blizzard canned Titan because they didn't think it would be good enough? There was a time when Blizzard had a reputation for turning out the best PC game they could. Now their primary focus is going to be Mobile games, which are no doubt going to be MTX heavy? just like all the other mobile games out there, most of which seem to be little more than a cash shop with a game barely built around it. Diablo, well Satan used to be an angel before the fall, seems appropriate somehow.

delete5230

Phry said:

Remember when Blizzard canned Titan because they didn't think it would be good enough? There was a time when Blizzard had a reputation for turning out the best PC game they could. Now their primary focus is going to be Mobile games, which are no doubt going to be MTX heavy? just like all the other mobile games out there, most of which seem to be little more than a cash shop with a game barely built around it. Diablo, well Satan used to be an angel before the fall, seems appropriate somehow.

This got me thinking, sure its a guess, 
Blizzard is full of modern programmers, their no different than any standard mmorpg development company.   Their not the genius people that developed Vanilla World of Warcraft that took the industry by storm.... I would guess Titan was just standard and average and they recognized that.  

Blizzard demands high quality standards much like Microsoft.  BUT they don't have that in their team... That's why WoW seems to be on a downward path.  Titan would have amplified a noticeable change they didn't want the public to see. 

Lets add World of Warcraft would have been un-needed compotation within it's own company.  

btdt

delete5230 said:

Phry said:

Remember when Blizzard canned Titan because they didn't think it would be good enough? There was a time when Blizzard had a reputation for turning out the best PC game they could. Now their primary focus is going to be Mobile games, which are no doubt going to be MTX heavy? just like all the other mobile games out there, most of which seem to be little more than a cash shop with a game barely built around it. Diablo, well Satan used to be an angel before the fall, seems appropriate somehow.

This got me thinking, sure its a guess, 
Blizzard is full of modern programmers, their no different than any standard mmorpg development company.   Their not the genius people that developed Vanilla World of Warcraft that took the industry by storm.... I would guess Titan was just standard and average and they recognized that.  

Blizzard demands high quality standards much like Microsoft.  BUT they don't have that in their team... That's why WoW seems to be on a downward path.  Titan would have amplified a noticeable change they didn't want the public to see. 

Lets add World of Warcraft would have been un-needed compotation within it's own company.  

Blizzard didn't can Titan in the literal sense, they repurposed it to make Overwatch... they later said that themselves.  It wasn't like, "Okay, we're going to make WoW 2... aww crap this isn't so great, delete everything."  It was, "Okay, this is a terrible approach for an MMO, but, it would make a great FPS!  Lets repackage it into something else."

Overwatch left a sour taste for Mac users because it was the first title they released that wasn't Mac compatible.  It was also the first title to be ported to console.  That said far more than the "we won't release it until it's ready" bullshit... people weren't paying attention because it didn't seemingly affect them at the time (PC users got Overwatch, so why get in a kerfuffle over it).

Now mobile is a resounding message... and everyone knows it.  A company that shifts titles to mobile is looking to switch to mobile.  And who wouldn't, it is the LARGEST market out there.  So now the PC users are crying foul because they are now ALSO affected by the shift away from their platform.

It's a sour taste.  Mac users were first.  PC users are second.  Reality is, it's the future whether we accept it or not.
 

Phaserlight

Phry said:

Remember when Blizzard canned Titan because they didn't think it would be good enough? There was a time when Blizzard had a reputation for turning out the best PC game they could. Now their primary focus is going to be Mobile games, which are no doubt going to be MTX heavy? just like all the other mobile games out there, most of which seem to be little more than a cash shop with a game barely built around it. Diablo, well Satan used to be an angel before the fall, seems appropriate somehow.

I was almost going to agree but... it's really not like that at all? The majority of games on my phone have absolutely no microtransactions, and in the ones that do the mtx are easily ignored.  It's about on par with PC.

There is a *ton* of content in the mobile space; you will most likely find what you are looking for with a little searching and effort.

TheDarkrayne

delete5230 said:

TheDarkrayne said:

delete5230 said:

I almost played retail World of Warcraft. 

I has two choices: 

Pay $15 and must play extremely old content, only for later to pay for the expansion..... seems ligate, but I didn't like that option none the less.  

Pay $59.95 and only get 10 levels of content, I didn't like that option either !!

What a ridiculous way of looking at an absolutely massive game.

New, new, new! Everything must be brand new! If I'm not playing the brand new stuff it must be impossible for me to have any fun. 10 levels? Levels are all that matter! That's all there is to do, get 10 levels! Nevermind the extra 100+ hours of content once you've finished getting 10 levels, none of that matters! I don't like playing games for gameplay, I want moar numbers.

Sarcasm, just in case anyone was confused.

Here's a question, if they added 50 new character levels but everything else in the expansion was the same.. is that now 50 levels worth of content?

You simply twisted this to your assumption, The game is old I've played several expansions in the past... Honestly I'm sick of them, deeply sick of them ! 

I'm by far from a power leveler, that's the last thing I care about.  

For this price and the options "to play as a new game"... I don't like it.  

It's about time blizzard starts all over again, instead of milking big money  !

Pretty sure I didn't twist anything. You said you almost played retail WoW.. 'almost'.. which means, literally, that you haven't even played it.

If you didn't communicate what you were trying to say properly that's your fault, not mine.

Asch126

btdt said:

delete5230 said:

Phry said:

Remember when Blizzard canned Titan because they didn't think it would be good enough? There was a time when Blizzard had a reputation for turning out the best PC game they could. Now their primary focus is going to be Mobile games, which are no doubt going to be MTX heavy? just like all the other mobile games out there, most of which seem to be little more than a cash shop with a game barely built around it. Diablo, well Satan used to be an angel before the fall, seems appropriate somehow.

This got me thinking, sure its a guess, 
Blizzard is full of modern programmers, their no different than any standard mmorpg development company.   Their not the genius people that developed Vanilla World of Warcraft that took the industry by storm.... I would guess Titan was just standard and average and they recognized that.  

Blizzard demands high quality standards much like Microsoft.  BUT they don't have that in their team... That's why WoW seems to be on a downward path.  Titan would have amplified a noticeable change they didn't want the public to see. 

Lets add World of Warcraft would have been un-needed compotation within it's own company.  

Blizzard didn't can Titan in the literal sense, they repurposed it to make Overwatch... they later said that themselves.  It wasn't like, "Okay, we're going to make WoW 2... aww crap this isn't so great, delete everything."  It was, "Okay, this is a terrible approach for an MMO, but, it would make a great FPS!  Lets repackage it into something else."

Overwatch left a sour taste for Mac users because it was the first title they released that wasn't Mac compatible.  It was also the first title to be ported to console.  That said far more than the "we won't release it until it's ready" bullshit... people weren't paying attention because it didn't seemingly affect them at the time (PC users got Overwatch, so why get in a kerfuffle over it).

Now mobile is a resounding message... and everyone knows it.  A company that shifts titles to mobile is looking to switch to mobile.  And who wouldn't, it is the LARGEST market out there.  So now the PC users are crying foul because they are now ALSO affected by the shift away from their platform.

It's a sour taste.  Mac users were first.  PC users are second.  Reality is, it's the future whether we accept it or not.
 

They did do that actually. They've said in the past that they wanted to make an MMO that eclipsed WoW, but in the end, they didn't find it fun [and taking into account a lot of the initial heroes were originally the class ideas for the MMO, it's not hard to figure out why]. At no point did they go "it's a terrible approach for an MMO, but it makes a good FPS", especially when the "FPS" part is essentially Blizzard's TF2.

d_20

Did anyone watch the video?

delete5230

TheDarkrayne said:

delete5230 said:

TheDarkrayne said:

delete5230 said:

I almost played retail World of Warcraft. 

I has two choices: 

Pay $15 and must play extremely old content, only for later to pay for the expansion..... seems ligate, but I didn't like that option none the less.  

Pay $59.95 and only get 10 levels of content, I didn't like that option either !!

What a ridiculous way of looking at an absolutely massive game.

New, new, new! Everything must be brand new! If I'm not playing the brand new stuff it must be impossible for me to have any fun. 10 levels? Levels are all that matter! That's all there is to do, get 10 levels! Nevermind the extra 100+ hours of content once you've finished getting 10 levels, none of that matters! I don't like playing games for gameplay, I want moar numbers.

Sarcasm, just in case anyone was confused.

Here's a question, if they added 50 new character levels but everything else in the expansion was the same.. is that now 50 levels worth of content?

You simply twisted this to your assumption, The game is old I've played several expansions in the past... Honestly I'm sick of them, deeply sick of them ! 

I'm by far from a power leveler, that's the last thing I care about.  

For this price and the options "to play as a new game"... I don't like it.  

It's about time blizzard starts all over again, instead of milking big money  !

Pretty sure I didn't twist anything. You said you almost played retail WoW.. 'almost'.. which means, literally, that you haven't even played it.

If you didn't communicate what you were trying to say properly that's your fault, not mine.

Here's the thing about that.  Your making something small into a lot. 

 
I don't like the two options they have to offer.   It really doesn't have to be deeply analyzed into something that has to be broken down into any deep Meaning. 

Kyleran

d_20 said:

Did anyone watch the video?

Not I, rarely do, this is a discussion forum, not Netflix, I expect posters to communicate their ideas with words.

You did provide a bit of text, if that is the summary I can comment on this at least.

No company is "your friend." They might try to cultivate an appearance of being one for the good will benefits, but at the end of the day they are trying to separate you from your money. 

Some try harder than others of course, some use questionable practices to do so, but regardless even the best of them cannot be considered a "friend."

Blizzard is neither good nor evil, they are a business offering a service, nothing more.

TheDarkrayne

d_20 said:

Did anyone watch the video?

I did. It's completely baseless.

If you replace every time he says 'friend' with 'Video Game Provider' his sarcastic analogy makes complete sense in the context of the situation.

That's all he's done to make an argument.. say people are acting like Blizzard are their friend, but they aren't acting like that. So.. what a pointless video.

No one is so naive that they think marketing techniques are acts of friendship and that Blizzard is our friend. Blizzard is not pretending to be our friend either. Blizzard acts as a community facilitator so we can use their products 'with' our friends and to make new friends. That is what they are selling and that is why they bang on about community all the time. It's not some marketing voodoo that's supposed to trick people into having emotional ties with Blizzard.

The video is patronizing and insults a lot of people.

Theocritus

I wouldn't shed any tears if Blizzard went under.....

delete5230

Theocritus said:

I wouldn't shed any tears if Blizzard went under.....

Same here. 
I loved WoW, I loved Blizzards designers back then, but I have to face facts their not the same. 

Sovrath

Well, they aren't our friend.

I've often used the world "club." As "we aren't all part of the same club." They don't make games so we can play them then we all hang out and eat pizza.

Developers are a business. To that point, it seems that a lot of early developers also wanted to be in the business of making games.

In order to be successful you have to run your business "like a business."

Now, there are better ways to run businesses and a business doesn't have to look like it's fleecing its customers but there are always going to be solid business decisions to be made.

And it the business is a publicly traded company then that is purely about making money for investors.

Vrika

delete5230 said:

I almost played retail World of Warcraft. 

I has two choices: 

Pay $15 and must play extremely old content, only for later to pay for the expansion..... seems ligate, but I didn't like that option none the less.  

Pay $59.95 and only get 10 levels of content, I didn't like that option either !!

How dare they charge box price + $15 a month for playing their game.

Vrika

d_20 said:

Did anyone watch the video?

Of course not. This is a forum, if you can't present your argument in less than 5 minutes we're going to ignore it.

AAAMEOW

I think even Blizzard don't think they can make successful PC games any more.  I remember when Diablo 3 first come out.  The complaint about the game is pretty massive.  I think the game got better as time progress, but I didn't stay around to check it.  Standard is much higher nowadays.  

Pemmin

d_20 said:

Did anyone watch the video?

yes its a false assumption. 

there is a difference between being viewing a company as a friend and having brand loyalty. Blizzard cultivated a brand and then rolled its brand followers under the bus for an attempt at a new market. Even from a shareholder perspective its a bad move to alienate your existing base(especially one that helped you become the ~5th largest gaming publisher) while having no guarantee of success in a new market. It was an unneeded risk that has backfired and could further backfire down the round. its guaranteed sales versus future sales argument. 

Octagon7711

My theory is that big companies that lose their founders usually end up getting absorbed by other companies unless they are huge and have a monopoly.  The reason for this is that founders tend to be leaders and everyone under them are followers, leaders don't want to argue with their second in command so they tend to pick followers to succeed them.  This also explains why most companies become trend followers and no longer work on game changing innovations. 

Blizzard always pretty much looked around and took what was out there and made better versions.  Now they just copy/paste whats out there and stamp their theme on it.  Hopefully they will successful adapt and overcome one day.

Thane

i still concider blizz my friend, prob ist, she/he got a new daddy (activision), and can't come out to play anymore

alkarionlog

Octagon7711 said:

My theory is that big companies that lose their founders usually end up getting absorbed by other companies unless they are huge and have a monopoly.  The reason for this is that founders tend to be leaders and everyone under them are followers, leaders don't want to argue with their second in command so they tend to pick followers to succeed them.  This also explains why most companies become trend followers and no longer work on game changing innovations. 

Blizzard always pretty much looked around and took what was out there and made better versions.  Now they just copy/paste whats out there and stamp their theme on it.  Hopefully they will successful adapt and overcome one day.

not likely, only way would be a new company to emerge and make money on something new, even though fortnite make nothing new, they did something who get the people atencion and make then want to play it, blizzard, no, they are lacking it, they was living most on they name only.

compare trion and blizzard, trion make a lot of mistakes on and lose every support from people and they leave, blizzard are also making mistakes, but the hardcore fanboys are still strong, problem is affter last blizzcon, maybe even the harderst fanboys are not as strong, when blizzard lose these fanboys, they will close, question is how much more then can take

WarEnsemble

You people don't get it. The only way to change Blizzard's behavior is to stop buying their products which you wont do no matter how much you complain about them.