Blizzard has gone from designing the game for the player to designing the game for what Blizzard thinks the player wants, which it is failing at considerably.

 

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This is the plight of any successful MMO anymore.

Find a winning formula and you get tons of loyal customers playing the game and they happy. And then they decide they know exactly what the player wants and makes a huge change that pisses of the core of the people who love playing the game.


Like DAOC did with TOA. Yes we have a hugely successful PVP/RVR game, we know what you guys are demanding, more PVE with gear/abilities that totally ruins the PVP/RVR that you love so much.

I mean WOW had to do something right in WOTLK if they managed to find a way to get me interested in end game raiding and doing rep grinds and so on. I hate raiding for the most part, i have no patience for it, yet I was doing it and loving it. Then Cataclysm comes out and boom, fun goes away.....

I guess is just good old hubris!

 

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It is funny the different ways someone can read something depending on what they want to read.

 

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Dear Blizzard,


I don't really care which development team is in place, or which set of developers are there now who were not there from the beginning, but are being guided by some who were....


I don't really care whether you feel beat or not...


I don't really care how you are struggling to be positive with all the negative around....


Those are your internal issues.


I care about my experience inside the game.


This isn't about YOU Blizzard.


This is about the customer and the customer experience and whether you can demonstrate that (a) you understand it and (b) how important it is.


I'm sorry that you're struggling with issues as a result of your customers repeatedly telling you you've missed the mark in both cases.


Can we please return the focus where it belongs?


Thank you.


-former customer

 

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Wait...wut?


We don't have infinite resources. Although, to be fair, our resources are as close as you can get to infinite in the gaming industry.


People hurt our feelings. How would you like everyone to know you are a C team member? Some of the C team members were some of the best @$#@&@!!#@ mail clerks you are ever going to find. They deserve respect.


Arbitrary stats shoved down your throat like mastery is a GOOD thing. Why would we lie? We want you to have choices but as long as those choices are forced or coerced.


But enough about you, the customer, let's talk about us, the C team!!

 

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Any time you make a change that the player base may not like you are taking a chance. Star Wars Galaxies did it twice. The first was the CU which addressed many long standing issues with the game such as weapon speed having no effect on the game if and only if you took the correct talents. The second was the NGE which took the game and tossed it on its side with extreme game changing changes. The game would have survived the first but the second crashed the game to a level it really could not recover from and although it isn't a bad game today even with server merges the population is very low.

 

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I disagree about the CU not killing SWG, although that is another debate (not for this forum anyway).

Anyway, as long as they are raking in money, they will not be done with it. People move on to other projects, other people take over, the way it is. The people taking over have their own vision, and have probably been itching to implement it, now they have. So, now they have to learn the things the original designers learned about balance, etc. I don't think WoW is going away anytime soon.

Interesting comment about the number of subscribers here;

"http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/35044/Interview_trions_debut_rift_closes_in_on_1M_sellthrough.php"

Its funny how transparent the situation has become.

Blizzard is worried, and every time they post yet another dismissive response to "all the negativity", all they do is confirm that the negativity is finally out-weighing all the positive feedback they used to enjoy.

I'm shocked that the money people at blizzard have not cleaned house and fired every idiot that has spoken to the public so far.

 

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And the "(and gals)" isn't insulting and dismissive? If you're gonna add "and gals" leave the parantheses out, or just say "to the guys" because hey, frankly it doesn't hurt most girls' feelings to be included with "the guys". And hell, I know some girls have gone up to bunch of female friends and said "Hey guys!" What a shocker.


Sorry for the total side note there, that just struck my irony bone.


And frankly, that was a very pretty speech. But it was just that, a speech. Actions speak louder than words, stop talking, and start delivering. And frankly, if your feelings are hurt, too bad. You're a "popularity" industry so get a thicker skin and start paying attention to what makes you popular. And no, it's not you.

 

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Agreed. They are a business. They arent my friends. I dont care if they are "sad" or "upset" about people making them feel bad. I dont want to hear about their personal lives. Quite frankly, Im a customer who expects and demands the proper customer service and am not going to require anything less if one of them had a bad day.


This is what you get when you promote people from within who have no experience with customer service. Yeah sure, Joeschmo was great at designing trees and mountains and has been with the company for three years, but that doesnt mean he can work well with a customer.

 

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