tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015737272343810105.post68558561551515238..comments2024-03-27T07:57:48.010-04:00Comments on The Grumpy Elf: Blizzard's Q1 Earing Call: Misguided or MisinformationTheGrumpyElfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07621615711198405365noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015737272343810105.post-78067898681643930352015-05-18T06:10:24.400-04:002015-05-18T06:10:24.400-04:00People, in general, do not like changes and oppose...People, in general, do not like changes and oppose them, even if they sound good on paper. Faction pride? Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18173436197557929355noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015737272343810105.post-17605819979653320972015-05-16T22:34:40.167-04:002015-05-16T22:34:40.167-04:00Anon, Grumpy's former Guild Leader:
For an ex...Anon, Grumpy's former Guild Leader:<br /><br />For an example of how this might play out, we will use Hogger in Elwynn Forest for the example.<br /><br />Player activates his hogger screen, just as if it were a player character. There are weapons and armor in the appropriate slots, and empty slots that might be filled later. Hogger has a single 16 slot bag. No hearthstone. He (the player) may select one follower from the gnolls in Hogger's area, plus one for every time he has run this mission, up to all the gnolls in both bands in Elwynn Forest being under the control of the PvP player. For lesser gnolls that die, Hogger can recruit another up to his limit of one plus one per time running the event, provided that total is less than the maximum number of gnolls in Elwynn Forest. As his NPC's they attack where and when he--the PvP player--decides. Now suddenly there is a crisis in Elwynn Forest, one where for the PvP player everything not a gnoll is red and he is riding the biggest baddest of the gnolls and for the players, this is a rampaging monstrous horde but with no PvP flagging needed.<br /><br />Hogger gets to keep what ever item winds up in his backpack and any weapons/armor/other slots that are filled. As this is per player running Hogger, eventually each one will be played a bit different just based on accumulated gear. Hogger can loot his dead foes, though it leaves the originals with the dead foe. <br /><br />The fun for the PvPer would be disrupting life through out Elwynn Forest. The fun for the players would be in stopping that. Done maybe once per week, this could be a very fun intense PvP/PvE crossover. <br /><br />Of course Hogger is far from the only possible rare mob come to life in a skilled PvPer. Imagine a PvP player with one of the major world dragons... There would be lots of possibilities in between and with the PvPers selecting their own missions from those available, secrecy in deployment would add to the thrill of the event.<br /><br />Most of the time PvPers would spend in their battlegrounds and arenas (hopefully with an audience possible like in Gorabashi Stadium in the Cape of Stranglethorn. The winners from these would be the ones who earned the right to run a monster each week.<br /><br />See, with a bit of work, suddenly PvP matters a lot. The loot a copy model of gear grabbing for such mobs ensures that both the mob gets stronger and no player is harmed in the process...beaten to death yes, but not robbed of the +2 dagger even though the looter did get a perfect copy of that +2 dagger. In converse, the gear dropped by the mob is what he/she actually has but in copy form so both the mob and looter get a copy.<br /><br />Honestly, doesn't that sound like a viable system for interjecting some fun into the game, along with some unpredictability. The Weekly Unscheduled Monster Rampage, time unknown, date unknown, location unknown. Maybe even have a weekly rampage for each continent / world or just select provinces that will be limited to that one province. To keep it balanced, players take a damage penalty of 10% for every level above the mob played by the PvPer. At 10 levels over, you can't hurt the mob at all, though healing would be allowed. If Hogger is level 14, then a level 24 player character would do no damage to him, a level 23 would only do 10%. The same penalty would apply to NPC guards that might attack the mob. Any NPC 10 levels or higher will just ignore the mob and or his/her minions.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015737272343810105.post-43901692306962599722015-05-16T21:50:36.352-04:002015-05-16T21:50:36.352-04:00All of that sounds amazing.
They didn't do fl...All of that sounds amazing.<br /><br />They didn't do flight because it is way more expensive to model the environment that way, and I believe Blizzard is cutting corners and seeing how much they can get with less input. I remember reading an old Ghostcrawler interview where he explained how much time and money he inferred it cost to go back and remodel the old world so people could fly there.<br /><br />I was a guide in EQ and I often was put in control of elite mobs to surprise players. I remember one night we took 3 really powerful kobolds and started slaughtering players in Steamfont mountains (gnome starting area). Players had so much fun, and raced from all parts of Norrath to come assist. <br /><br />Blizzard doesn't really believe players want surprises like that, no? Because the players that missed it would complain? :)<br /><br />I haven't even bought WOD yet - it is the first expansion I haven't (Mists was the expansion I played the least compared to priors) and reading about it isn't encouraging me to buy. <br /><br />Still, I want to level my characters to 100 - it's been a long journey and I almost feel like I'm meeting them down if I dont. Iseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09489936780809266112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015737272343810105.post-72930506427616045312015-05-16T21:33:25.940-04:002015-05-16T21:33:25.940-04:00Anon, Grumpy's former Guild Leader:
Speaking ...Anon, Grumpy's former Guild Leader:<br /><br />Speaking of stretching lore to the breaking point, what is the reason for a horde alliance war?<br />For the love of god, that story is dead, beat to death, over done finished finis...<br /><br />PvP can be a thing without any reference to a war between the horde and alliance. Bandits and outlaws who refuse to accept the end of the war on both sides would be plenty enough rational for PvP to continue.<br /><br />But for PvE purposes, why doesn't Vol'jin propose the Horde Alliance Council, with Varian as the Warchief and First among equals, the Speaker for Azeroth, Outland and Draenor. (Put the shortest lived race in charge, to dilute that ruler's power over time.) Allow trade between the cities, opening the borders to all to come and go. Reserve the right of raising dead to be a contractual arrangement between the Forsaken and the rest of the sentient races. Some folks would take life in death, rather than die altogether and that should be plenty to justify undead as a player character race without the needless war Sylvanas is always edging towards. For players this could be presented as a player option every-time death occurs, with a warning that it is a one way street, save for paying for a race change.<br /><br />This political revolution on Azeroth would be just in time for the greatest challenge faced yet. The third invasion from the Burning Legion and for the expansions after, the push back, one world at a time. That would be a story worth telling. Integrating guilds across factions, building guild garrisons that are centered around a common market. Flight restored and accounted for in setting up the quests, rather than the lame "it's to hard..." whine we hear currently. And a really hard foe to face. <br /><br />To make life even more interesting for PvP players, let the top players get to run some of the mobs in the world, so that fight that was so scripted will now be fought by a bad ass PvPer. That would be interesting. That rare mob might be truly rare with a player driving the monster. May take a bit of time for the player to adapt to the monster skill set, but I doubt it would be long and having wandering monsters with a player driving would be a new and wonderful challenge. One that would cross both PvE and PvP. <br /><br />I truly haven't given up on WoW, I see even at this late date how it can be saved, but I do truly wonder if it will be. My modest little Horde Alliance Council scenario is just one example of what could be done with the storyline, but as is, I suspect the developers can't see past Horde vs Alliance over and over.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015737272343810105.post-16842622125139822412015-05-16T08:35:42.246-04:002015-05-16T08:35:42.246-04:00I still think Garrisons would have been done much ...I still think Garrisons would have been done much better if it was done by account wide. That way you have one for your entire roster of characters (regardless of server/faction). I know that is a Lore stretch, but really, WoW is just a lore stretch these days anyway =)Iseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09489936780809266112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015737272343810105.post-8685664819920707512015-05-16T07:52:09.844-04:002015-05-16T07:52:09.844-04:00IMHO raiding in Burning Crusade was tuned correctl...IMHO raiding in Burning Crusade was tuned correctly - except for the very last tier. Sunwell was - as Nax in vanilla - a bit too challenging. They should have added a zone wide buff increasing player damage/health every week by 5%. Content lasted longer because of various gates - after one year I saw people running Karazhan cause for them it became "doable" and FRESH content.<br /><br />The "optimal" group finder for me was LFG channel at times it was server wide. I could work on whatever I wanted - and respond to any opportunity.<br /><br />Anon is right - in corporate America you do not tell the (whole) truth. If he is saying "the game is became less social" the real meaning is "the game has become a lot less social". WoW was Facebook in 3D - that part is pretty much gone. <br /><br />The other problem in such big design groups - unless you have very outspoken leaders willing to crush any opposition and stand up for it you always get "design by consensus". Their advantage is WoW is still too big to really fail, and their implementation and execution is almost flawless. So they will keep going no matter what.<br /><br />Rauxis, chosen of CATRauxisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015737272343810105.post-78558202793155528792015-05-15T19:23:47.508-04:002015-05-15T19:23:47.508-04:00With any earnings reports within any corporate env...With any earnings reports within any corporate environment, i take what they say as half truths and smoke screens. All numbers can be spun and interpreted in multiple ways.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16516677270703152907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015737272343810105.post-25406218816087021272015-05-15T15:22:56.476-04:002015-05-15T15:22:56.476-04:00Anon, Grumpy's former Guild Leader:
I read th...Anon, Grumpy's former Guild Leader:<br /><br />I read that interview finally. He is an optimistic sounding fella, but I don't buy his hype. Garrisons are fun enough to me, but they are not the basis for building an entire expansion around as they have done in WoD. Mostly he earned his paycheck with the interview, deviating not a bit from the company line so far as I could tell. Which is fine, that is the source of his income so he should not be bad-mouthing the company. Honestly, I would worry more I expect if he had told the truth about the state of the game. <br /><br />Now be honest, what else could he say about the rise and fall of subscriber numbers. Saying "<br />we hyped the hell out of the nostalgia angle and got our sub numbers up, but of course when the players who returned saw how light the actual content was and how we decimated the skills available to each character, numbers naturally fell back down. We hope we can stem the tide of this loss by hyping our newest patch..." No, that would not have been a wise career move for him. Not even a little bit. Honesty is a fine and wonderful thing, but in corporate America, it IS NOT YOUR FRIEND. Not if you wish to keep on working and feeding your family. <br /><br />I could continue on down the list of questions, giving my own snarky reply to each but in truth what is the point of fisking a propaganda story such as this? Yes, I think he told as much of the truth as the conditions of his employment would allow but even the truth that he told is colored by his rose-tinted lenses. As far as my own interpretation of his remarks, I do not think I have read anything anywhere that came as close to convincing me that it is time for me to move on as his interview. And perhaps that is what in the end, he and the others at Blizzard that love the raid or die model do intend. Perhaps they really do not care whether people like me play or not. Let's face it, with the size of Blizzards subscriber base, losing another million or three subscribers will still leave Blizzard an outsized King Kong compared to any competition that I have heard of. Getting rid of folks like me will only make the criticisms be muted and make it seem like everything is lovely with the state of the game.<br /><br />I have not been happy about Warcraft since Wrath introduced the Looking For... system. I said then and repeat now, that what ever the advantages it introduced to be able to do dungeons (and later raids), were more than off set by the destruction of any hopes for social interactions. Since then, one chip at a time, the towering edifice that is WoW has been eroded for anything other than raiding. And raiding is not all that it used to be either, sub-divided into different difficulty levels and sizes while being the only PvE end game activity of note. <br /><br />Oh well, I guess it is a good thing to know the official company line on how things are progressing with the state of the game. Would be nice though if the rose-tinted glasses were not glued into place.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com