Hello,
I have been a Warcraft 3 fan for years. I still fondly remember my first play; to say that the gameplay and lore of the game flabbergasted me is an understatement. I played multiple games since the release of Warcraft3, but Warcraft 3 left a pleasant lasting impression in my mind. In December 2018, I was enthralled by the WC3R trailer and all the promises Blizzard made to Warcraft fans. For me, WC3R rekindled my interest in the franchise, and preordered the game based in the promises that Blizzard made to all of us. Months passed since the trailer release. Blizzard kept silent. Blizzard announced new games, but no information about WC3R was provided to the fans. I felt that Blizzard lost interest in the development of WC3R. Then, at the beginning of fall rumors started to disseminate: the withdrawal of WC3R key developers, the massive scrapping of promised content, and a possible delay of release. Some Blizzard fans and the so-called Warcraft 3 purists started to conduct damage control, denying all the rumors. Blizzcon 2019 confirmed the rumors, and still the WC3R development team could not provide the fans with a solid release date. “Purists” and hardcore Blizzard fanatics started an online campaign of full support to Blizzard actions, belittling the concerns of many that felt betrayed and insulted by Blizzard’s disregard of ethical business practices and honor of customer-business relations toward their customer base, and made some of them victims of online harassment and bullying that is still up to this day.
I requested a refund last month not only for the reasons I explained in the previous paragraph, but because I no longer justify the current price for the product in its current state. At this point it is safe to assume that the preorder money we gave Blizzard was used to support the development of other games and not to support the development of WC3R. That would explain why so much content for the game was cut and why the development team is dismissive towards the inquiry of fans regarding the release date and further development of the game. To believe that Blizzard scrapped content to please the purists and hardcore fans is inane and is a questionable business practice that is driving away current and potential customers. While WC3 is among the best RTS’s ever made, its gameplay mechanics and graphics feel dated and need a mayor overhaul if Blizzard wants to rekindle the interest of customers in both Warcraft and RTS games. My recommendation to Blizzard is to refund all the preorders, and to go back to the development table to start back where they left in December 2018. I am sure customers will be willing to support the game if they release all the promised content even if it takes another year to develop.