Didn’t we all stop liking them from the allegations from women working there?
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Yes and don’t forget about the protests.
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not only that but it was more community driven. So, they would give a lot back to the community. like pay in part of full for a public building or infrastructure for example.
it can sometime happen still but it’s more like a donation for a tax write off of some form of sponsorship or advertisement.
god I feel old
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I mean the logo is still cool-looking and relevant.
Althought the oldschool d2classic blizzard north prob takes the cake.
I think it’s their team4 that could use a full mmr reset.
Bad apples gone good ones ranked up.
Well let’s look at the easiest side by side comparison for starters: loot boxes.
EA sold (and to my knowledge is still selling) loot boxes that contain actual gameplay elements, locking functional mechanics behind difficult grinds or paywalled randomized offerings. It was so bad in SWBFII that even Disney stepped in, and eventually led to what we can assume is a revocation of licensed exclusivity.
Compare that to OW’s loot box mechanics (or HotS) that only rewarded cosmetic items, were pretty easy to obtain with many ways of accessing them, and offered an alternate path (through coins at least in OW) to acquiring specific loot players may be after. Hearthstone is the only exception to my knowledge where packs contain gameplay elements, but it’s also due to the nature of the game itself. If you wanna go after that as something egregious, it’s still small potatoes to ~4500 hours and/or $2100 to unlock everything functionally gameplay related in an already $60 title.
We can move forward if you’d like.
EA has doubled down on loot box locked game mechanics in its paid sports titles this year. Please don’t tell me they backed off when still exists.
https://www.ign.com/articles/ea-fut-lootboxes-are-a-part-of-fifa-that-players-love
I’m very interested in how OW2’s MTX system is somehow worse than that on a current game-to-game comparison.
Honestly I disagree, I see a lot of allusions to this, but not much in terms of substantive comparisons.
There really isn’t much of a debate until someone says something debate worthy. Most of the time there’s unilateral head nodding and negative comments in agreement rather than a functional or constructive discussion.
20 years ago Blizzard wasn’t owned by Activision.
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Thats cause when they started it was games made by gamers who love gaming. With anything in life if money is your only reason for doin something the product you produce will suffer. What we are experiencing is products with no soul creativity or passion just a new way to try an fleece dollars out of your wallet.
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You know when i took game_theory_101,
as in game theory for americans
i.e. intro level…
it splained these concepts like ‘follow-the-leader’ and ‘tit-for-tat’.
A true market leader doesn’t look at what competitors are doing and say “well, we can emulate that only worse”. they take steps to innovate, and become the envy of others.
This studio used to dictate the tempo for industry, now they struggle for counterplay barely able to leave spawn.
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The gaming landscape was a different beast.
I have been around Blizzard games for about 25 years since Diablo 2, World of Warcraft in 2006. The entire reason this is even a thing, from where I sit, is catering to a group of people who should have stuck with other hobbies, instead of infiltrating someone else’s hobby and turning into another failed program.
You see it every day in the threads designed to make calls to action for “toxic” community members. The video game environment would have been, and could still be better then it is right now. Just have to hope it gets bad enough to wash away the trash.
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I’m really not at all sure what this has to do contextually with the quoted statement.
Look at “what others do” is just bad form. Saying, “well x1 did y1 so x2 can do y2” isn’t bigbrained nor is it conducive to progress and innovation.
Modelling any of the OW franchise off of what other game companies, or the industry at large has done, is risky. It positions your product/service, and your studio into a follow-the-leader situation. That can be disastrous for marketing, branding, tech, R&D, etc.
Better to ignore what others do, own their own path, and care less about what other AAA does.
That’s how they were made great.
EA took the loot boxes out of Battlefront II. Blizzard kept the loot boxes in Overwatch. Then they went further and locked heroes behind the Battle Pass. You can only get them by grinding for hours or paying upfront. And no more free skins.
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But that’s not even my argument.
It took them months to address the issue of why loot boxes were so bad, but also they not only weren’t removed from SWBFII (and are still in the game now) but EA just doubled down on them being in their sports titles. I already explained the latter to you in my response.
Yes they did, once at level 55, but lowered the acquisition rate to level 45.
They also put in specific challenge paths for obtaining heroes after seasons pass.
You know what other game locked character unlocks behind hours of grinding/paying up front? Apex Legends. And I would argue that Apex has a much more limiting factor on Character unlocks than what Overwatch offers. When we compare apples to apples, which one is better, which one is worse?
There are still free skins, the numbers are far more limited and their accessibility is specific.
Truth be told, I have no idea. I’ve never played it.
Diablo immortal didnt had something like that too? They didnt call it lootbox, but there was something where you pay to get chance to get some gems or something, with added on another layer if you spend a lot of cash…
‘Star Wars Battlefront II’ Officially Ditches Paid Loot Boxes (vice)
"Star Wars Battlefront 2 was supposed to be EA DICE’s definitive take on the Battlefront series, which EA inherited from Pandemic Studios. Unfortunately, the decision to include loot boxes that potentially allowed players to earn powerful upgrades, which players said were “pay-to-win,” severely harmed the hype for the game ahead of its launch. EA DICE removed loot boxes from the game 24 hours before launch.
“Battlefront 2’s loot box controversy grew beyond the game and brought the ethical, and legal, efficacies of loot boxes into the mainstream discussion. “Not a week goes by without us thinking, ‘Imagine if we hadn’t launched with loot boxes the way we did,’” Brännvall said.”
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Blizzard is the new EA
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It’s not Blizzard anymore.
It’s Activision, and they’re basically the 21st century Electronic Arts.
There are no decent software houses anymore. None.
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If I was a billionaire, I wouldn’t even care at all for anything you have to say about me either. Stop acting like Blizzard is your mom or dad, they HAVE to take advantage of you, they’re a company. If you disagree with that, don’t use their products.
If you buy a shampoo that didn’t clean your hair well, what are you gonna do start going on riots and in forums to post that people don’t like this shampoo or simply buy another? XD
That’s the result of being an SJW corporation (polarizing one side) while also being a scumbag corporation (polarizing the SJWs you were trying to pander to).
There are now in no-win territory. Everyone has a reason to dislike them, now.
Doesn’t help that their games… well… aren’t really blowing up the charts.
i mean the ceo said himself he liked the frat boy culture because it made for good games
boomer ceo loses touch with reality… say it aint so
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