Blizzard Warns Investors About Possible Negative Ramifications of Restructuring Plan - MMORPG.com N

SBFord · March 2019

Blizzard Warns Investors About Possible Negative Ramifications of Restructuring Plan - MMORPG.com News

In new paperwork filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Activision Blizzard has warned investors that restructuring may have "negative consequences" on the business and that "there can be no assurance that our business will be more efficient or effective than prior to implementation of the plan".

Read the full story here

SBFord · March 2019

I mean, pretty standard stuff for SEC filings, but the additional things mentioned in the bullet list are unusual and not seen as often. Basically, "we might be in the same, or a worse, situation than before".

kitarad · March 2019

Standard stuff you say but this sounds very ominous indeed.

jgDuffay · March 2019

just let it burn, they will never get to built up their audience again and has already turned into a shell of themselves.

Pher0cious · March 2019

Their glory days are over. They are on the path of infinite decline.

WhiteLantern · March 2019

SBFord said:

I mean, pretty standard stuff for SEC filings, but the additional things mentioned in the bullet list are unusual and not seen as often. Basically, "we might be in the same, or a worse, situation than before".

I read: "We tried to cut costs, but may not have done it the right way".

Lurianar · March 2019

Finally, something that make sense. I'm quite certain it has been possible for them to witness this already, but obviously the slander their brand received with that restructuring goes beyond simple game quality - it goes about the potential prospect for their games, and the quality of employee they can hire.

There is a reason why even after the restructuring, their stock price didn't budge (small spring-effect, but ultimately always around 40~42$US). I think the only solution might be to get rid of Kotick.

Tiller · March 2019

Pher0cious said:

Their glory days are over. They are on the path of infinite decline.

And with a mobile version of Diablo being in the works one major thing in their way is a "Path of Exile" Womp, Womp

KalebGrayson · March 2019

I don't know why it's so difficult for them to right the ship. Start polling some folks that have left the game. Don't poll the lemmings that still play, they've proven that they'll play anything Blizz puts out. Make the classes fun to play again. I know there have been times and previous expansions where each class had a toolkit and or abilities that people loved. BRING THEM BACK! Bring back talent trees and reforging. Relax your grip on transmog and the coloring of gear. People want their characters to stand out. Implement player housing. Stop doing the timed runs of everything. Raids ARE NOT TIMED. Yes there is a lock out weekly, but no rush through everything. Yes, bosses have enrage timers, but again, fighting raid bosses does not feel like a race. Why then are Mythic + and Islands a race??? Put in gear vendors and provide currency for playing the game. Folks are tired of all the RNG. Scale it back. If you insist on RNG, then give folks the ability to purchase the items they specifically want with currency as well. Bring back dailies. World quests are fine, but they get tedious. Give more options. These are just a few ideas/opinions that would vastly improve WoW. I honestly do not understand how Blizzard can't see this stuff? It's crazy.

MadFrenchie · March 2019

KalebGrayson said:

I don't know why it's so difficult for them to right the ship. Start polling some folks that have left the game. Don't poll the lemmings that still play, they've proven that they'll play anything Blizz puts out. Make the classes fun to play again. I know there have been times and previous expansions where each class had a toolkit and or abilities that people loved. BRING THEM BACK! Bring back talent trees and reforging. Relax your grip on transmog and the coloring of gear. People want their characters to stand out. Implement player housing. Stop doing the timed runs of everything. Raids ARE NOT TIMED. Yes there is a lock out weekly, but no rush through everything. Yes, bosses have enrage timers, but again, fighting raid bosses does not feel like a race. Why then are Mythic + and Islands a race??? Put in gear vendors and provide currency for playing the game. Folks are tired of all the RNG. Scale it back. If you insist on RNG, then give folks the ability to purchase the items they specifically want with currency as well. Bring back dailies. World quests are fine, but they get tedious. Give more options. These are just a few ideas/opinions that would vastly improve WoW. I honestly do not understand how Blizzard can't see this stuff? It's crazy.

To be fair, the sub cancellation survey has recently been added back when you cancel your WoW sub.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.reddit.com/r/wow/comments/au25ce/unsubscribe_survey_is_back_eu_player/

You can mark "The reward system is unsatisfying" as a gameplay reason you unsubbed.

laserit · March 2019

Sounds like the CEO needs a raise and a bonus.

SBFord · March 2019

MadFrenchie said:

To be fair, the sub cancellation survey has recently been added back when you cancel your WoW sub.

Funny thing is that they reinstated it after a significant portion of players have unsubscribed. Part of me is tempted to REsubscribe just for the chance to fill out the survey.

laserit · March 2019

SBFord said:

MadFrenchie said:

To be fair, the sub cancellation survey has recently been added back when you cancel your WoW sub.

Funny thing is that they reinstated it after a significant portion of players have unsubscribed. Part of me is tempted to REsubscribe just for the chance to fill out the survey.

Tell me what you would like to say and I'll unsubscribe, save you the $15

MadFrenchie · March 2019

SBFord said:

MadFrenchie said:

To be fair, the sub cancellation survey has recently been added back when you cancel your WoW sub.

Funny thing is that they reinstated it after a significant portion of players have unsubscribed. Part of me is tempted to REsubscribe just for the chance to fill out the survey.

Yeah, it definitely seems like they kinda missed the boat on collecting a large pool of data for unsub reasons.

What caught my eye was how accurate many of the gameplay reasons seemed to be with regards to issues commonly cited. Story, class changes, and unsatisfying reward systems are all alluded to directly. That, at least, gives hope that they're starting to recognize their assumptions and goals coming into BfA weren't good ones.

Cryomatrix · March 2019

seems interesting to me for them to say that. I kind of like the humble attitude (in this regard at least).

I'd buy their stock if i had any money . . .

Amathe · March 2019

More language from the fine print:

alkarionlog · March 2019

KalebGrayson said:

I don't know why it's so difficult for them to right the ship. Start polling some folks that have left the game. Don't poll the lemmings that still play, they've proven that they'll play anything Blizz puts out. Make the classes fun to play again. I know there have been times and previous expansions where each class had a toolkit and or abilities that people loved. BRING THEM BACK! Bring back talent trees and reforging. Relax your grip on transmog and the coloring of gear. People want their characters to stand out. Implement player housing. Stop doing the timed runs of everything. Raids ARE NOT TIMED. Yes there is a lock out weekly, but no rush through everything. Yes, bosses have enrage timers, but again, fighting raid bosses does not feel like a race. Why then are Mythic + and Islands a race??? Put in gear vendors and provide currency for playing the game. Folks are tired of all the RNG. Scale it back. If you insist on RNG, then give folks the ability to purchase the items they specifically want with currency as well. Bring back dailies. World quests are fine, but they get tedious. Give more options. These are just a few ideas/opinions that would vastly improve WoW. I honestly do not understand how Blizzard can't see this stuff? It's crazy.

becasue to fix something you need to know what is broken and then know how to fix it.

they are clues about both,

Robbgobb · March 2019

Diablo was really all I cared about and they lost me a couple of years ago when they said player were going to lose their **** over what Blizzcon was going to reveal. People did because how bad it was. Realized that at that moment might not want to support them any more.

OhhPaigey · March 2019

Goodbye Blizzard.

Terrible decisions from management, not listening to employees, this is what happens.

Cryomatrix · March 2019

MisterZebub said:

Hey record profits right? Who cares if their brand name is now in the toilet and sinking fast, as long as fat Lil Bobby wobby gets to keep his bonus.

yeah, so they lost some brand points among PC gamers and console gamers. Now they're going to go and focus on a more profitable segment of the population which are mobile phone gamers.

So they 'may' make out more positive in the end or they may crash and burn. Blizzard has an amazing track record of success, so I tend to have faith that they'll bounce right back. I don't play blizzard games because I prefer more complex/niche games and they go for broad based appeal but they have tremendous history of success.

Also, before blasting a CEO, at least look the guy up, he started programming in college and he runs a nice non-profit for helping transition veterans in the US and UK. He was advised by Steve Jobs in 1983.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Kotick

FlyByKnight · March 2019

AKA "all we did was redistribute the operating cash savings into our pockets. Thanks for playing."

Wizardry · March 2019

OhhPaigey said:

Goodbye Blizzard.

Terrible decisions from management, not listening to employees, this is what happens.

I have actually read inside of reddit an employee that said this to be true but in a non direct way.

I would be talking about the Hearthstone team so not really a full indication of Blizzard but quite possibly true all around.
The testers,you know the actual people that could offer valuable feedback would send their information to the leads.Ok i should start by saying this employee was not there to be a disgruntled employee,he was asked if he could answer some questions about Hearthstone and agreed.He just happened to mention he was an employee through a non related thread.

What came about in the thread was that he basically said the feedback falls on deft ears,he said the leads have huge egos and figure they know better than everyone else,so feedback basically gets tossed in the trash can.However Blizzard can still say "we have a testing team" "we listen"just because they accept feedback,however not actually doing anything with it is another story.
Then my take is that if they ever did listen to any feedback with hearthstone,there has not been a single change to the game design or the layout of the game from Beta,so NOTHING has been done.

"Management"Well i also feel Management are just people who take all the credit and collect the big wages,i do not for one second feel they do any real game development work.Management would be more the people that handle investors and ok any decisions a lead may bring to them.it is the system leads,the Producer who are in full control of the game/system designs and imo have done a VERY poor job inside of the games i played HS and Wow and Diablo.

Wizardry · March 2019

The fact of the matter is that when you are rolling in huge numbers,nobody inside of management is going to ever question what the teams are doing.
I also feel that Blizzard Management is so bad they are doing nothing as of right now,this is more all a case of Activision seeing how bad this ship has been run and is trying to clean house.Like i said,even Activision is not going to step up and take notice if numbers are ever improving but when numbers are not so good management steps in,at least Activision management did,Blizzard top execs are just money leeches.

BobVa · March 2019

I'm sorry Activision .. I mean Blizzard.

You did this with your own hand(s), from the moment you let Allen Adham come back to the pathetic BfA launch and the "extravaganza" - "don't you have phonezz?!"

You had such a devoted fanbase ( me included ) , that we could buy everything you released, as long as it was at least decent.

But when you started carrying for money more then your fanbase , well .. you now have an idea how that turned out for you.

You will never get back that loyal fanbase , no matter what you do. Heck, you can release the best game ever and you will still not get it back. At least from my point of view. Sure, I would play that game and maybe I will like it, but I won't give a damn about Blizzard as a whole. If before I played Blizz games with my hearth , if you will release the said game, I will just play it as a gamer and..that's it.

I mean, I like Apex, a lot now but I seriously don't give a damn about EA and my feelings about Respawn are neutral and it will always be like that.

When you love a company for 20 years , you start not only loving their games, but also the company and the people behind it.

Sadly, that's not the case anymore.

Farewell Blizzard!