Poll: blizzards games are they evil or are we to blame

[zwoodco10]

Of course you are to blame for being "addicted" to any game. Games aren't like drugs, thats just the hight of sillyness to even imply it.

It is entirely possible to become addicted to anything from shopping to video games. Whether or not you DO get addicted is based on just how addictive your personality is.

 

[IkeGreil29]

I voted for WoW is the only evil here, not because I think it is to blame for the infamous videogame addicts, but rather because it destroyed a beautiful mythos. That aside, I get the beauty of the game, and I also understand that it gives relatively better content than most MMO's, even if it is only because you need to pay to play.

I never have gotten addicted to videogames. Books? Yes. Videogames are beautiful for that reason: they implement so many things I never forget them. I either remember the sounds, the colors, or the story so well that it reminds me of everything else. So I can always save and quit.

I feel like I went off topic... Long story short: Blizzard and its games and its gamers are not evil, only WoW for destroying the Warcraft franchise.

 

[GrimHeaper]

Of course you are to blame for being "addicted" to any game. Games aren't like drugs, thats just the hight of sillyness to even imply it.

Skinner's box says otherwise.

 

[malestrithe]

It's called normal behavior.

I am not a fan of Blizzard games myself (the last time I played anything Blizzard related was 2005) but their games are not exceptions to any rule.

I am pretty sure that all gamers have played a game for hours on end and sometimes forgetting to sleep and just exhausting themselves into unconsciousness.

Video game addiction will not be in the DSM-V because there is not enough evidence for its inclusion.

 

[Peteron]

The consumers are to blame. I played WoW and I thought it was fun for a tiny portion of time, then got bored. Everyone reacts differently I suppose. Also, your grammar in the poll is beyond horrific. Half your poll options are questions.

 

[MidnightCat]

Blizzard isn't evil... mostly. They just create games that are enjoyable to play and have mechanisms to keep users playing. With WoW, for example, I feel driven to keep playing because I feel a sense of achievement whenever I progress in some way, and with the achievement system it actually feels live you've done something worthwhile. That, the need to improve my character, and talking to the people in my guild, are what keeps me playing.

If I ever wanted to take a break from WoW I'd be penalised. I might lose all of the crap I have floating around in my mailbox (it's deleted or returned after 30 days), and run the risk of being kicked from my guild for inactivity. Not to mention all of the dailies and events I'd be missing out on. So I keep playing, although I do take short breaks when I feel like I've been wasting too much time.

WoW is the only Blizzard game I've played so I can't vouch for the others, but the feeling of "addictedness" you're having might just be enjoyment and a drive to continue playing the game, which Blizzard seems to good at cultivating.

 

[viranimus]

If there is any blame its on the individual. Honestly Blizzards games are rarely if ever original, unique or offer up anything substantial to their respective generes outside of polishing the hell out of tur... other companies concepts.

So the real "evil" is that people are gullible enough to get duped into putting blizzard on a pedestal.


So yes, I blame people. Just watch the "Single female lawyer" episode of futurama, with frys explaination of what people people want from tv. Then apply it to video games, and poof you understand Blizzards popularity.

(DAMN IT YOUTUBE, YOU LET ME DOWN AGAIN!)

Warcraft III introduced hero-based RTS. Starcraft introduced the idea of each faction having a totally unique roster. Yup, totally unoriginal.

Im sorry history disagrees with you on those two points. Warcraft didnt originate heros, it was a concept that multiple RTSs were running with that all hit around the same time. And the unique roster claim is well not even remotely close, because unique rosters were seen in RTS in 1997 (perhaps earlier, dont know personally) at the very least. Granted there might be an "aesthetic" visual uniqueness, but A: thats not gameplay effecting. and B: a byproduct of making a game with Alien races. So visually unique rosters is sort of irrelevant. Mechanically unique rosters were more than commonplace.

Look please dont make the mistake of thinking that because I am speaking critically about Blizzard that I am angry or trying to be hateful about blizzard. Blizzard has its niche, but that niche is always just refining other ideas to the point the reflection can blind you. Hell, thats a good thing in many ways. But in some ways its bad because it also blinds people into seeing things about blizzard that simply do not exist in reality.

Therein lies the point of my original post. Its not blizzards fault that people get the misconception that Blizzards products are better/different than what they actually are. Hell Im sure blizzard has contributed to some minor innovations as all companies have, but fact is, Blizzard is NOT known for their innovation, they are known for their refinement to which there is basically no one better in the business.

 

[SwagLordYoloson]

Its like asking if a Drug Dealer is a bad person, of course not, they are just doing it for the cash!

 

[Sean951]

If there is any blame its on the individual. Honestly Blizzards games are rarely if ever original, unique or offer up anything substantial to their respective generes outside of polishing the hell out of tur... other companies concepts.

So the real "evil" is that people are gullible enough to get duped into putting blizzard on a pedestal.


So yes, I blame people. Just watch the "Single female lawyer" episode of futurama, with frys explaination of what people people want from tv. Then apply it to video games, and poof you understand Blizzards popularity.

(DAMN IT YOUTUBE, YOU LET ME DOWN AGAIN!)

Warcraft III introduced hero-based RTS. Starcraft introduced the idea of each faction having a totally unique roster. Yup, totally unoriginal.

Im sorry history disagrees with you on those two points. Warcraft didnt originate heros, it was a concept that multiple RTSs were running with that all hit around the same time. And the unique roster claim is well not even remotely close, because unique rosters were seen in RTS in 1997 at the very least. Granted there might be an "aesthetic" visual uniqueness, but A: thats not gameplay effecting. and B: a byproduct of making a game with Alien races. But unique rosters was not unique at all.

Look please dont make the mistake of thinking that because I am speaking critically about Blizzard that I am angry or trying to be hateful about blizzard. Blizzard has its niche, but that niche is always just refining other ideas to the point the reflection can blind you. Hell, thats a good thing in many ways. But in some ways its bad because it also blinds people into seeing things about blizzard that simply do not exist in reality.

Therein lies the point of my original post. Its not blizzards fault that people get the misconception that Blizzards products are better/different than what they actually are. Hell Im sure blizzard has contributed to some minor innovations as all companies have, but fact is, Blizzard is NOT known for their innovation, they are known for their refinement to which there is basically no one better in the business.

Name one other RTS game that featured completely unique rosters between the factions. AoE certainly didn't have it, nor any other game I can think of.

As for Warcraft III, I don't just mean a hero unit as better version of another unit, I mean one with unique abilities and the ability to level up and gain new attacks.

 

[black_knight1337]

how can you get blizzard being evil out of you getting addicted to one of their games. its not the developers fault that they are consistently making brilliant games (imo wow is the exception). diablo, starcraft and warcraft are all excellent examples of their genres and are benchmarks for how games should be.

 

[Jasper Jeffs]

They make good games, the people that get addicted to them must be fucking retarded.

Note: I mean addicted, not playing for 20 hours day because you have nothing better to do.

 

[Sean951]

How do people get addicted to the horrible games that Blizzard shells out? I played through them all and they're terrible, not just in story but also in game play. Soulstorm for the win.

They revolutionized the RTS genre not once, but twice. They made an MMO one of the top selling PC games of all time. To call their games horrible is the height of ignorance. You may not like them, but they definitely aren't horrible.

Ohhhh I see your twisted logic. So because Avatar was the highest grossing movie of all time, I assume that means James Cameron ISN'T a talentless hack? [FACT] Making a high-grossing game means NOTHING if the gameplay is still terrible. I own Starcraft 2. The story is terrible, the characters are terrible, and the gameplay makes me want to vomit. Soulstorm and DoW 2 allow for some awesome micro, better story, better characters, and overall nicer people online. Starcraft has none of that. Your game isn't the best RTS out there, get over it

I found the Starcraft story and gameplay to be quite entertaining and enjoyed it (I prefer the Total War games, but those don't really fit into the RTS in the same way). I'm not saying they are the best, but to say what they do is terrible is ignoring reality. James Cameron isn't some amazing epic director, but he made a movie that was enjoyed by enough people that it made over $1,000,000,000, You can say it was crap all you want, but clearly that is your opinion, and it is not an opinion shared by the majority of the public.

 

[Sharalon]

Blizzards games aren't evil, they are just good. Simple as that! I know all of you don't exactly love WoW, but I have played a lot of MMOs and I have to say that WoW is by far the best I've ever played.

Good games, good company, don't blame them, don't blame anyone, just play and enjoy.

 

[Mathak]

How do people get addicted to the horrible games that Blizzard shells out? I played through them all and they're terrible, not just in story but also in game play. Soulstorm for the win.

They revolutionized the RTS genre not once, but twice. They made an MMO one of the top selling PC games of all time. To call their games horrible is the height of ignorance. You may not like them, but they definitely aren't horrible.

Ohhhh I see your twisted logic. So because Avatar was the highest grossing movie of all time, I assume that means James Cameron ISN'T a talentless hack? [FACT] Making a high-grossing game means NOTHING if the gameplay is still terrible. I own Starcraft 2. The story is terrible, the characters are terrible, and the gameplay makes me want to vomit. Soulstorm and DoW 2 allow for some awesome micro, better story, better characters, and overall nicer people online. Starcraft has none of that. Your game isn't the best RTS out there, get over it

If you had said DoW..okay. Winter Assault and Dark Crusade..fine too. But Soulstorm? It was terrible.

'Spehhs marreenes!'
'Metawl bawksessss!'

 

[Pearwood]

Where's the "Blizzard are awesome" option?

 

[Crazie_Guy]

It's a hard position for me. On the one hand, my life was irreparrably shaped by a literal golden age of starcraft and diablo 2, and I still hold up bnet in my mind as the greatest online gaming platform of all time ever with the coolest people around. I could make 2 or 3 friends a day, and the awesome kind too, not the ones that do nothing until you awkwardly delete them from the friends list. Every day was a party back then.

On the other hand, there's world of warcraft. urg.

Cut WoW and activision out of the picture and I'd say Blizzard is one of the greatest companies ever.

 

[Biodeamon]

It's evvvvvvillllllll! It wants to steal your life!
They use subliminal messaging to drag you in and trap you! Yahtzee was lucky to escape with his life!

 

[Easton Dark]

That's why it's called MY opinion. Not the opinion of the thousands of people who made them rich, however sad that is.

Millions of people.

Me included.

Blizzard makes some great games. They make THE BEST strategy games (although DoW is up there). Although I refuse to play WoW. I hate subscription fees so much...