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WoW = Lack of development elsewhere
permster
Member UncommonPosts: 102
I know this post probably doesn't belong here, but this is one of the few sites I post at so here goes.
First off, I am in no way bashing Blizzard in any way with this post. It's just my observation. But it makes me upset when software developers like Blizzard and ID Games release one game every few years. Ok maybe it's cause they are small shops, but doesn't it piss you off when ID releases Doom 3 meanwhile you know it's going to be a few years at least before you see another Quake game.
Same thing goes for Blizzard, now that they have released WoW it's going to be forever before we see another Diablo game for example. Diablo is already way overdue for a sequel.
Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that if a software developer releases a game that I don't personally like, I know it's going to be at least 2-3 years before something new rolls in from that publisher. It's rather disheartening really.
Anyone else notice this? How do you feel about it?
Comments
I think its mostly just that games of any quality take a long time to develope. I dont like it, but thats really just the way it is.
Yeah but at the same time, if there is that much of a demand don't you think they would try and hire on some extra dev's or something? It seems like they just keep on adding more and more games to their lineup, but no more dev's.
Take Diablo 2 for instance. That game has been out since 2000 if I'm not mistaken. Correct me if I'm wrong however. It's only had one expansion pack. Also, Quake 3 has been out since 2000. Not even sure about expansions for that. That sucks arse to wait over 5 years for a sequel to one of your favorite games. I guarantee WoW players won't have to wait that long for an expansion. There will probably be one every year.
I know I've just compared apples and oranges there at the end, but they're both fruit. I don't know, I'm going to let this topic go I guess. It's just upsetting having to wait that long to play your favorite games. Plus I've been reading some other boards talking about how they are such a small group that they can only work on one game at a time.
Oh well...
Well if i have to wait it doesnt bother me if when it comes out its good.Game developers just cant crank out a bunch of crappy games cause then we talk bad about that game dev. How many times have you heard "its a good game but....it needed to be tested more."Im sure they understand that you cant just crank out a good game it takes time all the desighn and the artwork because they use the same people it feels familar or similar.If they hired differnt people diablo might look alot differnt and less familar at the end and its debateable weither it would be good or not in the end.I didnt expect an expansion pack after LoD for daiblo and that was a good one i thought.I guess they wouldnt want to rush a bunch of differnt projects that way you spread the team out to thin right now they develop wow but they could have a couple guys in the back thinking of concepts for the next game or making the artwork or somthing. Like i said i dont mind waiting if when it comes out its good.(but when it comes out it better be good lol)
Demoku: Anarchy Online (Rimor)
I don't have the article nearby, too lazy to go downstairs atm, but I thought I read a brief on Quake 4 in the latest PCGamer.
I agree though, I've been waiting for a sequel to Starcraft for a few years now. No, Ghost doesn't count.
Ico
Oh, cruel fate, to be thusly boned. Ask not for whom the bone bones. It bones for thee.
Good Devs and designers are hard to find, if they weren't, every game would be good.
Until Blizzard actually loses customers and have less than... maybe 2 million subscribers, if Blizzard was my company, why would I bother developing other games when I can continue adding content for an existing game and keep making millions of dollars every month?
Let's face it... WoW is owning, sure people complain, but more people love it rather than hating it. Don't expect Diablo 3 until you start hearing WoW has dropped from 3.5 million subscribers to 500k subscribers like most MMORPGs.
___________ ___ __ _ _ _
Stealth - Ambush - Hemorrhage - Sinister Strike x2 - Cold Blood - Eviscerate - Vanish - Preparation - Cold Blood - Ambush - ... you're dead! :P
It's a tough balancing act to increase the production of artists.
You can add more designers and more producers to an existing team to crank out more games. That works for a while, but the problem here is that every group of people will fail to remain contiguous after the seventh person is added (at least that's what I remember it being). Results vary, but the average is seven.
So what you do is segment your studio into teams. Teams of seven or so that work together on certain specific parts of the project. Those groups then interface through a hierarchy that has many more groups of seven. Most basic companies are structured like that in some form.
But then what happens with creative resources, is conflicts of ideas. On one hand, you want creative freedom so you come up with some really good ideas. On the other hand, you want a common mission or vision that everyone needs to share. After all, you are working on a single game, not a dozen abstract ideas. If you get too big under one roof and you are very likely to get conflicts of ideas with the force to back them up... Bad situation.
So, what happens is you get more than one roof. Blizzard, Blizzard North, etc. This works pretty well, but with each new roof comes a different set of ideals and attributes. Get too many roofs and those things vary widely, even to the extent where they become completely unlike each other (ie, fail to make anything but crappy games). No dev wants to dirty their name and risk becoming synonymous with "crap", so they keep the "roofs" to a minimum and still maintain tight control over them.
To get around this, but to still reap the potential for great ideas and production levels, here comes the publisher. The publisher maintains many "roofs", most with different names. This way, if one of those names happens to produce crap, it doesn't affect the public opinion of the other names. You try your best to maximize the production of the names that are good (making other names like them), but at the same time you aren't screwing around with the critical mass problem that single names have if they get too big. Hate them or love them, EA is great at doing this...
The only disadvantage of this is that each game released isn't a Diablo best-seller because it isn't released under the name Blizzard, nor by the same talent as Blizzard. If a publisher released every one of it's games under the Blizzard name (whether or not it was designed by Blizzard), it would dilute the name and in the end lose the gold status of that name. A good publisher tries to maintain its own name also, but if a dev under it happens to fail miserably, the damage is isolated and controlled. Example, Eidos has a fairly unscathed name, despite the monumental disaster that was Ion Storm.
Anyway, you already knew all this, but it sometimes helps to lay it all out again.
So sure, when Blizzard works on a game they most likely don't have much time to spend elsewhere, but Vivendi may have other names worth looking into. Or better yet, just ignore the name and do your own research on games. After all, a name is just a name.
Oh, almost forgot:
If every game was "good" then we'd still have the same balance of crap games vs. great games. It's all relative. Remember that game you thought was awesome before WoW came out? That game didn't change at all. The bar was simply raised. The difference between crappy and great remains the same.
--Nyture, Arc Convoker of fironia vie server (EQ) --Retired--
-- Nytur 39 Conjuror of Lucan D'lere (Quit due to low populations)
-- Currently playing WoW while waiting for vanguard
Explorer 66%
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Achiever 20%
PLEASE SOE MAKE A CLASSIC EQ SERVER. Shadow of luclin was a prick in EQs side. PoP Was a gun to the face.
Thanks for all the replies. Good games do take time. I agree with that, but do good games take 6-7 years to come out? Maybe an MMORPG I guess, but not a game like Quake or Diablo. That's all I'm saying I guess. Both games have huge following.
The fact that WoW is making a ton of money doesn't change the fact that Diablo has a massive following. Not as big as WoW, but still pretty impressive. If they let games like that go just because WoW is successful, they have another thing coming if they think I'm ever going to play WoW.
I just hope Blizzard is able to dedicate staff to other projects is all I'm trying to get across here. I guess only time will tell how Blizzard handles themselves now that they have a successful mmorpg.
BLizzard is known to not rush in the production of a game. They rely on quality rather than quantity of games and, even in games I'm not fond of, like Diablo 2, they provide a stable, relatively bug-free release with quality work in every aspect of the game. Even the introductory scenes are amazing and put a few computer-animated movies into shame.
In any case, it's a tactic Blizzard has been following for many years before WoW's release, so that title is not to be blamed.
Currently playing:
* City of Heroes: Deggial, Assault Rifle/Devices Blaster. Server: Defiant.
* City of Villains: Snakeroot, Plant/Thorns Dominator. Server: Defiant.
I just hope Blizzard doesn't turn into some MMO warehouse. The ridiculous amount of money WoW makes off recurring subscription fee's would probably make most management decide to develop Universe of Starcraft over Starcraft 2. If Blizzard starts milking customers for expansions, adventure packs, and new mmo's they will lose the fanbase they've built over the years. I agree time will tell.
Currently Blizzard is developing Starcraft: Ghost togheter with Slinging Ape Studios (Or what they are called) and I'm very sure about that they are working on Diablo 3. Remember Blizzard always develops games for a long time before they announce them. Wow was in the works 1-2 years before it was announced. Same with Warcraft III. In the months before Blizzard closed Blizzard North and moved all people to their headquarter, Blizzard North was hiring people like never before. Including 3d artists and people with knowledge in developing rpg's like Diablo 2. Websites like gamespot and gamespy began to speculate if they where making D3 when does jobs began to appear on Blizzards homepage. I think we will first hear more about the expansion for World of Warcraft and then they will announce a new project.