@Izkimar I respect that you feel that Blizzard is not for YOU any more. But that is not the same as it being "dead" or producing mediocrity.
Both HS and HotS very much follow Blizzards core idea of making fun and easy to access games based on popular genres. That has not changed as far as i am concerned. Overwatch, apart from lacking a solid story mode is actually pretty brilliant.
HoTS is the very definition of mediocre. I actually like the game too! HS is somewhere in a middle ground. Idk where this myth of Blizz making games fun and easy to access based on popularity came from. Think back to their original days, SC, Diablo, lol Diablo was the pioneering game of it's genre. I guess the launch of WoW started this? But WoW wasn't just a reduction of complexity, WoW was superior in most facets of gameplay at the time, and it still offered a lot of depth.
Again OW is scrapped Titan, so that is a bit of a blemish. It is a good game, I'm not sure but there is talk of them not being happy with how it's performing numbers wise. It wasn't just produced as a stand alone hero shooter, it first had a lot of development resources being poured into it to be an MMO. But seriously, outside of OW which I will give you even though it's still debatable. What has Blizzard produced in the past decade that can even measure up to their glory days in terms of quality all around. I don't just mean in terms of polish and sales performance.
What i think is that you're advertising your Youtube channel.
I'm going to let my anger come out here just a little bit. I probably shouldn't, but oh well. Who the fuck cares if I am? I'm here commenting aren't I? I'm here participating in discussion, aren't I? I'm not just lazily throwing up a vid and disappearing.
There's a lot of small content creators out there, and they have to try and get discovered. What does it matter if people post their content in relevant places, and actually stick around to have a discussion? People don't make content just so they can show it to the wall. If a content creator wants to share their content, and actually participate in discussion then wtf does it really matter?
What i think is that you're advertising your Youtube channel.
I'm going to let my anger come out here just a little bit. I probably shouldn't, but oh well. Who the fuck cares if I am? I'm here commenting aren't I? I'm here participating in discussion, aren't I? I'm not just lazily throwing up a vid and disappearing.
There's a lot of small content creators out there, and they have to try and get discovered. What does it matter if people post their content in relevant places, and actually stick around to have a discussion? People don't make content just so they can show it to the wall. If a content creator wants to share their content, and actually participate in discussion then wtf does it really matter?
Well said.
On topic, I don't believe we've witnessed their death yet. There will be some opportunities for them to stabilise their current trajectory. I see it more as they're bleeding out and just need to patch the hole with something worthwhile.
Overwatch was a great addition to Blizzards collection, though Blizzard seems to have this ongoing issue where they try to fix too much and often irreparably change the game beyond recognition.
On topic, I don't believe we've witnessed their death yet. There will be some opportunities for them to stabilise their current trajectory. I see it more as they're bleeding out and just need to patch the hole with something worthwhile.
Overwatch was a great addition to Blizzards collection, though Blizzard seems to have this ongoing issue where they try to fix too much and often irreparably change the game beyond recognition.
I agree with you from a financial standpoint. I did state that in the video, that I don't think they are dead as a company in terms of monetary success. What I mean is the old Blizzard that just used to make badass games that they wanted to play too.
From my perspective, every Blizzard game to date has had some aspects that are still well-designed and "great".
For example, even though D3 was an overall disappointment, I personally really liked the classes and the way they played.
Games like HotS and Hearthstone might have been jumping on the bandwagon, but they were still fairly "fun" for what they were.
Let's be honest, Blizzard has always been a company that makes games of the "me too" variety. They just had a knack for convincing people that it should be "me first" instead of just "me too".
I guess the real argument to be made is that Blizzard basically went "full casual" with their designs. But, their overall designs are still largely enjoyable and draw in millions every time.
In closing, Blizzard can still make fun and interesting games, but they just don't seem to have the "magic touch" that they used to. It happens. No one can create masterpieces forever.
---Note: I didn't mention OverWatch because I don't care about it at all. I've never played it and have no interest in it.---
From my perspective, every Blizzard game to date has had some aspects that are still well-designed and "great".
For example, even though D3 was an overall disappointment, I personally really liked the classes and the way they played.
Games like HotS and Hearthstone might have been jumping on the bandwagon, but they were still fairly "fun" for what they were.
Let's be honest, Blizzard has always been a company that makes games of the "me too" variety. They just had a knack for convincing people that it should be "me first" instead of just "me too".
I guess the real argument to be made is that Blizzard basically went "full casual" with their designs. But, their overall designs are still largely enjoyable and draw in millions every time.
In closing, Blizzard can still make fun and interesting games, but they just don't seem to have the "magic touch" that they used to. It happens. No one can create masterpieces forever.
---Note: I didn't mention OverWatch because I don't care about it at all. I've never played it and have no interest in it.---
I don't think it's just a matter of losing the magic touch though. There has been HUGE shifts in their infrastructure leading up to their acquisition, and certainly afterwards. Their priorities with the games they design have changed too. It can be objectively observed too by the systems they have implemented in recent years.
Also, I think Blizz as a "me too" company, has always been a tad exaggerated. The titles that built their core audiences weren't bandwagon products. I think the first example you can really attribute to this is WoW, but even WoW brought a lot of much needed innovations to the genre and set the bar higher.
D3 and HoTS might have some redeeming qualities, but that is a far departure from what Blizz used to bring to the table. My whole sentiment with the video, the post, everything, is that I think from a leadership perspective their priorities are a lot different than the golden company of yore.
I think Cataclysm was the first hint that something was not right. Then Warlords of Draenor was the first chink in the armor. Battle for Azeroth (BFA) has been an eye opening experience for many. The Diablo Mobile fiasco was a real wake up call for fans that Blizzard has lost touch with their fans. The "in" thing is to be down on Blizzard now and I'm not sure they'll recover. Honestly, I think their game direction is garbage. The story alone in BFA is a head scratcher. Why troll your fans. The burning of Teldrassil and the Banshee Queen in general are two examples of Blizzard riling up the player base. Why make your fans mad on purpose? What makes anyone think they'll magically come up with something good next Blizcon? Maybe Diablo 4, but the well is dry as far as ideas for WoW. It's been said that WoW will die when Blizzard kills it. BFA is the warriors execute phase imo.
I think Cataclysm was the first hint that something was not right. Then Warlords of Draenor was the first chink in the armor. Battle for Azeroth (BFA) has been an eye opening experience for many. The Diablo Mobile fiasco was a real wake up call for fans that Blizzard has lost touch with their fans. The "in" thing is to be down on Blizzard now and I'm not sure they'll recover. Honestly, I think their game direction is garbage. The story alone in BFA is a head scratcher. Why troll your fans. The burning of Teldrassil and the Banshee Queen in general are two examples of Blizzard riling up the player base. Why make your fans mad on purpose? What makes anyone think they'll magically come up with something good next Blizcon? Maybe Diablo 4, but the well is dry as far as ideas for WoW. It's been said that WoW will die when Blizzard kills it. BFA is the warriors execute phase imo.
Couldn't agree more! Need I even say, "Warfronts"?
My whole sentiment with the video, the post, everything, is that I think from a leadership perspective their priorities are a lot different than the golden company of yore.
I can definitely agree with the notion that their priorities have drastically changed. I hinted at that with my "full casual" statement.
They've basically shifted their focus to go as mainstream as possible, in a lot of ways, to reach as many customers as possible.
When you go mainstream, you certainly do sacrifice some of the things that made up your overall quality.
Still, I wouldn't say that the company people loved is dead. They still are quite capable of quality, enjoyable games.
But, yes, they've definitely evolved. I'd compare them to a butterfly. In their early days they were a caterpillar that might not have been as attractive to the masses, but were unique and fascinating in their own little world. WoW being the cocoon(read: catalyst) that sparked a change and led them to emerge in a more pleasing-to-the-public-eye form.
I think they dealt themselves a number of blows in rapid succession this year, they're too big to die quickly, but they did help me get over my love for their games after the 1, 2 punch of BfA -> Diablo immortal. I've been a huge fan since Warcraft Orcs v Humans, and BfA is a really pathetic entry into WoW. HotS doesn't feel as active these days. HS has a number of competitors now (Eternal, Artifact, MTG Arena) and also feels a bit listless. SC2 seems like a wasted effort. And Fortnite has taken a bite out of pretty much every online shooter this year, I'm sure Overwatch is feeling it.
But the two big ones being D3 not getting a second xpac, a mobile game reskin and BfA being so bad and the dev responses combined with high profile people leaving . . . I lost the faith. I deleted every Blizzard game and uninstalled the launcher, not rashly and not because "I'm mad" - I just noticed that I had stopped logging in and after Blizzcon, I had nothing to be excited about (okay I partially felt a little twinge to play a remastered WC3, but I'm gonna pass on it).
Blizzard isn't dying, but it is disappointing these days. I don't know if I'll ever go back to Blizz. They'd have to really show that they've found their way again, but I really think Activision has taken hold and strangled the old Blizzard into submission.
*oh, also want to add that I feel that Legion was an absolute fantastic entry in the WoW series and was my second favorite to WotLK, so I didn't even hate everything about modern Blizzard. Cata and Wod being the worst until BfA came along and showed me what pure trash looks like.
Just like i mentioned with the EQ franchise,there will be die hards for years to come that will simply buy anything and everything Blizzard sells.Geesh i was in a stream today on Twitch and said streamer said in title "i love Blizzard"which immediately sent a thought to my head.LOL what better way to attract viewers as an upstart streamer than to say you love Blizzard ,like why would you even put that in your title. Many of these streamers are VERY poor,you can just tell and are literally begging for rent money and as i see it have likely never played more than that one Blizzard game they were streaming.Which leads to what i have said in the past,many are aiding Blizzard's cause by streaming their games,it creates advertising and they know it means likely more viewers.
This is the exact same reason these developers,like Blizzard give out free copies and sponsor big name streamers,like the Kibler's,Kripparian's.So as long as their is big business and tons of marketing methods like You Tube and social media ventures like Twitter and Reddit and twitch,they will always have the means to keep the ship afloat.
What has Blizzard been doing for 20 years....copying,just keep copying popular ideas and shove them into the Warcraft theme,rinse and repeat...ahem thinking of you Pandarin,HOTS.Soon incoming,a Battle Royale,likely within Diablo 4 ..sigh.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Is there any scenario where it would not be "dead".
The gaming sphere has changed... A LOT since the Blizzard of old... Change that has forced many companies to either conform or scale down.
There is really no way to avoid it. Blizzard has always been a company that thrived on change and adaptation.
So.. do tell... Why a company who made their entire MO to adapt and improve... Should stay conservative and monolithic just to appease a subset of CUSTOMERS...?
So yeah.. Blizzard of old is dead.. but so is everything else of old... So.. why is water wet?
This. Fail to adapt and you will fail to thrive. Evolve and stay relevant or die off. Pretty simple.
People seem to forget, this is a for-profit industry, they are going to follow industry best practices, they are going to evolve in order to maintain their profit margin. It's smart business. YOU may not like it, but millions do.
So, yes, probably, but you want to know something else? Blizzard will probably be here long after you pass from this world.
If you want a new idea, go read an old book.
In order to be insulted, I must first value your opinion.
Is there any scenario where it would not be "dead".
The gaming sphere has changed... A LOT since the Blizzard of old... Change that has forced many companies to either conform or scale down.
There is really no way to avoid it. Blizzard has always been a company that thrived on change and adaptation.
So.. do tell... Why a company who made their entire MO to adapt and improve... Should stay conservative and monolithic just to appease a subset of CUSTOMERS...?
So yeah.. Blizzard of old is dead.. but so is everything else of old... So.. why is water wet?
This. Fail to adapt and you will fail to thrive. Evolve and stay relevant or die off. Pretty simple.
People seem to forget, this is a for-profit industry, they are going to follow industry best practices, they are going to evolve in order to maintain their profit margin. It's smart business. YOU may not like it, but millions do.
So, yes, probably, but you want to know something else? Blizzard will probably be here long after you pass from this world.
One thing worth pointing out is Blizzard was the company that made the changes and others had to adapt. Now it is Blizzard who is adapting to survive. So yeah, Blizzard is not dying but it is certainly middle-aged now.
Constantine, The Console Poster
"One of the most difficult tasks men can perform, however much others may despise it, is the invention of good games and it cannot be done by men out of touch with their instinctive selves." - Carl Jung
I doubt that very much. It has perhaps morphed into something we don't particularly like but it is tremendously successful, it's laughable to suggest otherwise.
What i think is that you're advertising your Youtube channel.
I'm going to let my anger come out here just a little bit. I probably shouldn't, but oh well. Who the fuck cares if I am? I'm here commenting aren't I? I'm here participating in discussion, aren't I? I'm not just lazily throwing up a vid and disappearing.
There's a lot of small content creators out there, and they have to try and get discovered. What does it matter if people post their content in relevant places, and actually stick around to have a discussion? People don't make content just so they can show it to the wall. If a content creator wants to share their content, and actually participate in discussion then wtf does it really matter?
I"m thinking you could have done a better job at replying to his statement. But maybe that's your schtick? Edgy?
"hey Grunty, it's true, I am trying to make it in the realm of youtube, no lie there. But I also believe that it's more about being a part of the discussion and the communities; hashing it out and then being more informed when I make my videos.
Of course I'd love it if people checked out my channel, but I would love it even more if my channel resonated with people so that they wanted to stick around and hear future discussions.
If you get a chance please check it out. However, even if it's not your thing I'm glad to be part of 'this' community and having interesting discussions with all these fine people"
Or something like that.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
Comments
Again OW is scrapped Titan, so that is a bit of a blemish. It is a good game, I'm not sure but there is talk of them not being happy with how it's performing numbers wise. It wasn't just produced as a stand alone hero shooter, it first had a lot of development resources being poured into it to be an MMO. But seriously, outside of OW which I will give you even though it's still debatable. What has Blizzard produced in the past decade that can even measure up to their glory days in terms of quality all around. I don't just mean in terms of polish and sales performance.
There's a lot of small content creators out there, and they have to try and get discovered. What does it matter if people post their content in relevant places, and actually stick around to have a discussion? People don't make content just so they can show it to the wall. If a content creator wants to share their content, and actually participate in discussion then wtf does it really matter?
On topic, I don't believe we've witnessed their death yet. There will be some opportunities for them to stabilise their current trajectory. I see it more as they're bleeding out and just need to patch the hole with something worthwhile.
Overwatch was a great addition to Blizzards collection, though Blizzard seems to have this ongoing issue where they try to fix too much and often irreparably change the game beyond recognition.
That kind of worries me... No wonder Blizzard is going mobile.
Also, I think Blizz as a "me too" company, has always been a tad exaggerated. The titles that built their core audiences weren't bandwagon products. I think the first example you can really attribute to this is WoW, but even WoW brought a lot of much needed innovations to the genre and set the bar higher.
D3 and HoTS might have some redeeming qualities, but that is a far departure from what Blizz used to bring to the table. My whole sentiment with the video, the post, everything, is that I think from a leadership perspective their priorities are a lot different than the golden company of yore.
But the two big ones being D3 not getting a second xpac, a mobile game reskin and BfA being so bad and the dev responses combined with high profile people leaving . . . I lost the faith. I deleted every Blizzard game and uninstalled the launcher, not rashly and not because "I'm mad" - I just noticed that I had stopped logging in and after Blizzcon, I had nothing to be excited about (okay I partially felt a little twinge to play a remastered WC3, but I'm gonna pass on it).
Blizzard isn't dying, but it is disappointing these days. I don't know if I'll ever go back to Blizz. They'd have to really show that they've found their way again, but I really think Activision has taken hold and strangled the old Blizzard into submission.
*oh, also want to add that I feel that Legion was an absolute fantastic entry in the WoW series and was my second favorite to WotLK, so I didn't even hate everything about modern Blizzard. Cata and Wod being the worst until BfA came along and showed me what pure trash looks like.
Many of these streamers are VERY poor,you can just tell and are literally begging for rent money and as i see it have likely never played more than that one Blizzard game they were streaming.Which leads to what i have said in the past,many are aiding Blizzard's cause by streaming their games,it creates advertising and they know it means likely more viewers.
This is the exact same reason these developers,like Blizzard give out free copies and sponsor big name streamers,like the Kibler's,Kripparian's.So as long as their is big business and tons of marketing methods like You Tube and social media ventures like Twitter and Reddit and twitch,they will always have the means to keep the ship afloat.
What has Blizzard been doing for 20 years....copying,just keep copying popular ideas and shove them into the Warcraft theme,rinse and repeat...ahem thinking of you Pandarin,HOTS.Soon incoming,a Battle Royale,likely within Diablo 4 ..sigh.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
People seem to forget, this is a for-profit industry, they are going to follow industry best practices, they are going to evolve in order to maintain their profit margin. It's smart business. YOU may not like it, but millions do.
So, yes, probably, but you want to know something else? Blizzard will probably be here long after you pass from this world.
If you want a new idea, go read an old book.
In order to be insulted, I must first value your opinion.
Just because things change and you don't like the end result of that change doesn't mean something would have died.
I had fun once, it was terrible.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo