Let us talk, you and I, about Blizzard

[Ranorak]

Blizzard is possibly the worst thing for the video game industry today, and I sincerely wish it would fall under new management or go out of business.

I'm going to wait for the inner and outer raging to die out. So everyone who is actually interested is still here and the hardcore, never-say-die fans have left. Super.

Reason one: They've not produced anything new since 2001, and I'm being generous. By new I mean a new intellectual property (I.P.). Everything they have produced since Diablo has been a sequel expansion MMO-ification of some old property that has done successfully well. Think about it. Starcraft and its expansions, Diablo and its sequel, Warcraft and subsequent installments. Now, I'm not one to go bashing sequels. I like some of them, I hate some of them. That's not the point. The point is Blizzard is trying desperately to stay where it can make the most money for the minimum amount of creativity. I say if you're one of those people who think that games are joining the echelons of mediums that are considered art you should abandon Blizzard.

Some people say, "I wish every company was like Blizzard. They refine their games, releasing only when ready so that it is perfect." Well, champ, I'm going to present to you the other edge of that sword. Refining is all well and good, but honestly if every game was like Blizzard I sincerely doubt we'd have 3-D gaming, I doubt we would have 2.5-D gaming either. Sure Blizzard's business model is pure gold. They rake in what has to be millions on a bad year. However, in innovation, in pushing the envelope, and in general Blizzard might as well be trying to fight off guns with swords. Sure it works for a little while in real life (and works really well in Final Fantasy) but eventually the guy who jumps on this newfangled gun is going to walk away a winner. Just ask Japan, Montezuma, and a whole slew of other people.

Maybe that's an unfair comparison... to the indigenous people. They didn't know this gun was out here history shows that people learned to use them really quickly. Blizzard on the other hand jams its fingers in its ears and says, "We don't need you we just need the Skinner Box!"
If any of you are wondering there is a "Extra Credits" that deals with this issue. Look it up if you're interested. Blizzard's unwillingness to change is also shown in their inability to embrace other platforms. I will cite Mr. MovieBob's "The Big Picture" episode "The P.C. Gamer is Dead--Long Live the P.C. Gamer" as supporting opinion.

I also hear tell of a new M.M.O.R.P.G. that Blizzard is working on. Now, I might be wrong, I often am. No one is perfect, but do you really think their new M.M.O.R.P.G. is going to vary greatly from W.O.W. in anything mechanical. I doubt it. Doing that would be killing the golden goose 101.

Now don't misunderstand me. I'm not advocating the selling of bad or lazily designed games. People need to remember to take pride in doing their jobs. However, not creating anything new in an artistic medium is laziness in and of itself. I'll let you guys in on a little secret. Leonardo da Vinci never finished the "Mona Lisa". Some of you might be aware of this fact, it's there for the people who aren't. Well let's see: A man left an unpolished, unfinished piece of art to the world and to this day people of all ages and origins flock to France to see it. I like my care and polish as much as the next guy, but at some point I'm going to get bored of the same game no matter how carefully planned and flawless it appears to be.

So Blizzard sticks with what's safe, they make oodles of money for it, and they hide behind the guise of polish. Okay, I can see that. However, do you think any other company could go thirteen years without release in new game and still stay in the black? I don't. Alright, so they make a lot of money from W.O.W., and this I have established is basically learned Skinner-esque behavior. If I let this slide, and for the sake of argument I will, then they're creating a billion dollars a year in revenue a year. So lets be fair. Let's take out funding for new projects, overhead, bonuses, and even though it's technically overhead costs, maintenance on servers, oh I'm feeling philanthropic as well. Let's throw in charities. Even if that leaves them with ten million dollars a year couldn't they push that into some kind of branch or independent label, a studio, something? So, yes they are the worse thing for the modern movements in gaming. EA at least has some small studios that occasionally produce something new and good. Why can't Blizzard do the same. They're like the E. Scrooge of the video game world and there's not any Jacob Marley in sight.

It's not a question of whether or not I like Blizzard games, it's not a question of are Blizzard's games good or bad. It's a question of what is Blizzard doing to move the industry forward, and I feel the answer is, nothing.

Still waiting for reason 2....

Anyway, your only compain is that they don't release new IP's often enough?
And that makes em " the worst thing for the video game industry today"?

Really?
You don't honestly believe that, or you're just hatin' for no reason.
They are good at RTS games, Hack 'n Slash and MMO's.
Why would they need to invent a new IP when they got perfectly good ones serving those goals?

Having said that, they ARE working on a new IP, ergo your one and only point is moot.

 

[Nabohs]

I think Blizzard is to Computer Games as Bungie is to Xbox games. They follow that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" as in, they already have a fan base that will buy the game and accept it as long as it has the title they want on it. I think that they may also be afraid to release a new game because they have the ability for it to get our there, and they could create really good press for it, but they don't know if the fans would like it, kinda like what happened to John Romero's Dikatana

 

[Sean951]

I think Blizzard is to Computer Games as Bungie is to Xbox games. They follow that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" as in, they already have a fan base that will buy the game and accept it as long as it has the title they want on it. I think that they may also be afraid to release a new game because they have the ability for it to get our there, and they could create really good press for it, but they don't know if the fans would like it, kinda like what happened to John Romero's Dikatana

Except Blizzard has 3 major game franchises and is working on a 4th while Bungie does... what exactly?

 

[Nabohs]

I think Blizzard is to Computer Games as Bungie is to Xbox games. They follow that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" as in, they already have a fan base that will buy the game and accept it as long as it has the title they want on it. I think that they may also be afraid to release a new game because they have the ability for it to get our there, and they could create really good press for it, but they don't know if the fans would like it, kinda like what happened to John Romero's Dikatana

Except Blizzard has 3 major game franchises and is working on a 4th while Bungie does... what exactly?

I'm only saying that they are similar in terms of releasing content for certain products. Yes, Blizzard has the Starcraft, Warcraft and Diablo series while Bungie is holding on to its Halo Series, but in both of their earlier years, they had released games that were fun but didn't become hit series like Oni and Myth for Bungie and The Lost Vikings for Blizzard. Now both companies are a little held back when it comes to releasing games because they don't want to get screwed over by one bad game

 

[Sean951]

They wouldn't be screwed, but Blizzard is very much a perfectionist when it comes to releasing games.

 

[Aeshi]

Under that logic we should get rid of Bioware, they only have about 3 IPs as well (and unlike Blizzard they're all the same bloody genre.)

 

[balimuzz]

First of all, your complaint about Blizzard not having any new IPs is countered by the fact that most companies nowadays don't either. Nowadays, it's all about finding something that works and then cashing it in for all its worth. And while Blizzard have this formula worked out to a T, they really do put a lot of effort into expansion packs and some of the best community support in the games industry today.

The one problem I really have with Blizzard is in the category of WoW, which in my opinion is the pinnacle of MMORPG design, but has made it very hard for other MMOs to break into the market and do really well. But this is a really minor complaint seeings as I'm basically faulting them for being successful, which isn't really fair.

I also hear tell of a new M.M.O.R.P.G. that Blizzard is working on. Now, I might be wrong, I often am. No one is perfect, but do you really think their new M.M.O.R.P.G. is going to vary greatly from W.O.W. in anything mechanical. I doubt it. Doing that would be killing the golden goose 101.

I think that if Blizzard actually does make a new MMO, it would be very different from WoW. There wouldn't really be a point to making it if it wasn't. Blizzard isn't stupid, and isn't desperately in need of money, so any new MMO they made would most likely be a very different style of MMO from WoW. Particularly since creating an MMO like WoW means that it will compete with WoW and lose.

I would actually be pretty excited to see a new Blizzard MMO. They have changed the face of the MMORPG genre and really set a new standard for MMOs over the last few years, so why couldn't they do it again?

 

[Hyper-space]

You do realize that MB has absolutely no clue what he was saying in that video, right?

Like I mean absolutely nothing.

Predicting the future does tend to lean on the "difficult to do" end of the spectrum.

Its not as much as "predicting" the future as it is flame-baiting, complete with the most idiotic and unfounded opinion.

 

[Elijin]

I can see Inkidu's point, to be honest. Blizzard have the manpower and money to really push the industry forward, but they are content to sit on old laurels and simply release more of the same.

I don't agree with Inkidu because I don't see that as wrong. Games may be art, but they're also entertainment and primarily a money making industry, why would an industry giant invest in changes who have the potential to flop, when they can go on with the same old story perfectly fine?

Our friend Oda Nobunaga didn't take up the musket and re-invent Japanese warfare for the sake of curiosity or trying, he had a vested interested in shaking things up and using that to gain an advantage over his rivals. Blizzard is not in that position.
Blizzard are the Shogunate who want exactly the opposite.

Anyhow, I'm probably repeating myself by now and I seriously need some sleep, I'll check this thread tomorrow.

But why could they not be the mover and the shaker? Why can't they have a vested interest? Of all the companies with the capital to do it, Blizzard is at the top of my list. They can take that hit, reap that reward, or step on their own foot if that happens, but they can take that hit and still keep fighting. They're not a fledgling company.

In that regard, independent developers have more guts than Blizzard. Not because they can, but because they have to.

You seem to be forgetting we're not talking about some whimsical artist deciding what his next masterpiece will be, but a company. A company with investors to answer to, staff to pay, futures to maintain. Yes, they probably could take the hit. And whoever is responsible for that idea will also lose their job. Because when a big company takes a hit, someone has to be held responsible. Because while videogames may be approaching the status of art, its still an industry, and when you make big losses in industry, even if you can shrug it off, someone wears that mistake.

So what you really need to consider, is would you really want to lose your job security for 'taking a few risks and pushing for innovation'

And before you come out with 'But how would innovation ever happened if no one risked it?' I bet Blizzard have an R&D team which tries new things. I mean well, the progression from Warcraft to World of Warcraft didnt just accidentally happen. That was a huge innovative step. But you only see the end results. The thousands of advancements that dont work, never go past the front door of any company.

 

[Mnemon]

I've never understood the whole "Blizzard needs to revolutionize the industry" argument. I mean for starters they already did that once (maybe twice). The game itself changed the MMO and PC gaming industry. And I'd say their recent revamp of the 1 to 60 world is a similar industry changing concept.

Isn't that enough? To expect miracles every time they release an expansion or patch is just unrealistic.

The problem is with the rest of the MMO industry. Game after game has crashed and burned for a host of reasons, but usually because they didn't live up to WoW gamers expectations for a polished end product.

 

[Sulgoth]

You do realize that MB has absolutely no clue what he was saying in that video, right?

Like I mean absolutely nothing.

Predicting the future does tend to lean on the "difficult to do" end of the spectrum.

Honestly I sometimes think that Bob's just trolling us, more than anything he likes to do the controversial in those video's. His opinion might be there but he likes to word it to get the best possible outrage out of the fact. Saying he has no idea what he's talking about is just falling into his trap.

 

[timeadept]

I finally stopped playing WoW because i got tired of working for gear that i never obtained, and so i could never be competitive in PvP. Without the numerical possibility of victory (or defeat in some cases) there was simply *no* fun to be had for me in PvP.

This was actually addressed in Cata, pretty much all PvP gear is back to being available through Battlegrounds, not just Arena.

Recently, Blizzard has left a bit to be desired with some of their expansions. Cataclysm is a joke and too easy

While yes, many people are complaining about Cata, the most common complaints I see are about how Blizz reversed their decision in Wrath to go to a more "casual friendly" approach with regards to gear and Heroic dungeons.

Too little too late unfortunately. I gave Cata a shot but quit before i hit 85. The game just isn't as fun as it used to be. It could be that the mechanics are just stale, or that i "got tired of preparing to play and just want to play". I'm aware of the change and i was excited for it, but i just don't care enough to try to work my way up the PvP ladder. There will be inevitably be many long battlegrounds of constant deaths before i can turn a K/D ratio >1. Granted, playing a rogue makes that more gentle, since i have a much greater ability to avoid one sided battles, but i have been at a disadvantage for most of my time playing the game. All i want is to be on even ground so that my build, skills, and tactics are what decide the fight, and not the numbers.

 

[MetallicaRulez0]

You know I just thought of something. Blizzard blew up their game world in Cataclysm. They literally blew it up and started all over again. How is that for taking a risk? ... and you know what? It was a great move. WoW, particularly the leveling content, has never been better.

 

[shadowform]

Under that logic we should get rid of Bioware, they only have about 3 IPs as well (and unlike Blizzard they're all the same bloody genre.)

Since 1998 (one of the OP's two magical arbitrary cutoff dates, the other being 2001) Bioware has released Baldur's Gate, MDK2, Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars: KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect, Sonic Colors (absurdly), Dragon Age: Origins, and several sequels/expansions. Even counting all of the general D&D landscape as a single setting, that's still 7 different IP they've developed in, even if only three of them have been new IPs.

 

[FalloutJack]

Sorry, but I'd been waiting for a Starcraft sequel, actually, so you'll understand if I feel there is some merit to be had here.