He was fired, or pressured to leave, whatever you want to call it he was not making fans happy, bottom line.
"Ghostcrawler admittedly left due to difference in game design opinion and loving the open forum and constant interaction between developers and players that Riot Games encourages. Blizzard hadn't started making any real strides towards more developer interaction and transparency until after Ghostcrawler's departure."
Just had to address that misconception, as a former league player, the above quote couldn't be further from the truth. Riot is the most closed-minded company I have ever encountered, and they have stagnated on a single primary map since its creation years ago, with the only "new" content being a champion with recycled abilities every 3-6 months, or longer... congrats? Oh and before the robots start arguing about # of players, let's not compare apples to oranges, league is a free game, and Riot is at the bottom of the barrel if you compare its userbase to other freebie companies like Zynga which has surpassed 1 Billion users now, and unlike Riot which does not have any legally recognized release of numbers, Zynga actually has quarterly earnings reports so their numbers are verifiable in a legally recognized format.
As far as Blizzard "not being transparent" until after Ghostcrawler left, that's an unsubstantiated, and wildly inaccurate statement considering that I've seen Blizzard make massive, consistent changes specifically addressing community concerns, for Years.
Just my two cents.
1: You can't prove that :P
2: I have been more disappointed since he left. Now whether he is still to blame is up for debate. I just know he is gone and the bad news is flowing steadily.
2: I have been more disappointed since he left. Now whether he is still to blame is up for debate. I just know he is gone and the bad news is flowing steadily.
They offered him more money and he left, no need for conspiracies.
Isn't it a little weird that he got more money from the LoL folks than Blizz? I mean, Blizz has a whole lot more money to burn don't they?07/04/2014 10:27 PMPosted by GoldcappedThey offered him more money and he left, no need for conspiracies.
07/04/2014 10:27 PMPosted by GoldcappedThey offered him more money and he left, no need for conspiracies.
I highly doubt that Blizzard, a multi-billion dollar company, couldn't offer him a higher salary than a company with only one free to play title.
07/04/2014 10:27 PMPosted by Milsa2: I have been more disappointed since he left. Now whether he is still to blame is up for debate. I just know he is gone and the bad news is flowing steadily.
Luckily your opinion is just that, an opinion, and with no elaboration at that; "I have been more disappointed since he left," without a single example of what changes you're upset about, doesn't really say much. In fact, Warlords of Draenor is the fastest selling expansion in history, and there has been very positive reaction to it, so you're in the minority, and again with no elaboration at that.
07/04/2014 10:30 PMPosted by MilsaIsn't it a little weird that he got more money from the LoL folks than Blizz? I mean, Blizz has a whole lot more money to burn don't they?07/04/2014 10:27 PMPosted by GoldcappedThey offered him more money and he left, no need for conspiracies.
No i don't find it weird, companies have headhunted employees from other successful companies for a very long time now.
07/04/2014 10:32 PMPosted by WinterlightI highly doubt that Blizzard, a multi-billion dollar company, couldn't offer him a higher salary than a company with only one free to play title.
Then you haven't seen how much money LoL makes from micro-transactions compared to Blizzard.
eh, to be honest people might hate me as well, but I actually dont care about ghost crawler leaving, he hasnt done much. Ghostcrawlers intentions were good, but his idea's sucked. Only real lose in my opinion is rob pardo. That should actually be the real concern for people.
Ghostcrawler who
07/04/2014 10:34 PMPosted by GoldcappedThen you haven't seen how much money LoL makes from micro-transactions compared to Blizzard.
Actually I've devoted several threads to that with multiple citations directly to quarterly earnings, so yes I do know. League made (according to Riot, again no official quarterly earnings that are legally recognized) 624 Million USD in 2013. Again, must emphasize that Riot does not have any legally recognized numbers that can be verified, so that number is according to Riot, and no accountability. Blizzard's QER on the other hand is a legally recognized format, and held accountable, which showed 1.38 Billion USD revenue for 2013, and on top of that, 213 Million USD just from the "Blizzard Store" (i.e. pets, mounts, transmogs), which would put the revenue at over 1.58 Billion, and that is not even including sales of the game itself.
Ugh, really dude? I have voiced my concerns already and I don't think repeating them again and potentially hijacking a thread is really worth it.07/04/2014 10:32 PMPosted by WinterlightLuckily your opinion is just that, an opinion, and with no elaboration at that; "I have been more disappointed since he left," without a single example of what changes you're upset about, doesn't really say much. In fact, Warlords of Draenor is the fastest selling expansion in history, and there has been very positive reaction to it, so you're in the minority, and again with no elaboration at that.
-Do you really want me to talk about flight here? or keep it in the flight thread?
-Do you really want me to talk about capitals here? Or keep it in the appropriate thread?
-Do you really want me to talk about lore here? Or take it to the Lore forums?
-Do you really want me to bring up RNG on RNG on RNG on gear again? or should I just let that die?
I mean really dude? I have explained myself in several appropriate threads already. What good would bringing that stuff in here do? This isn't a thread about those kinds of complaints. it is about why Ghostcrawler left. And yes, it is my opinion. You will never hear me state that everyone feels the same way I do because I know many don't. Even if we are both upset about the same thing, chances are you may be upset for a different reason altogether.
Yeah they make good money. I am just saying that if Blizzard wanted, they could (or at least I think they had the ability to) outbid the LoL folks. So either Blizz is strapped for cash due to expenses, or they didn't want GC as bad as the LoL folks did. That is what I was getting at.07/04/2014 10:34 PMPosted by GoldcappedThen you haven't seen how much money LoL makes from micro-transactions compared to Blizzard.
07/04/2014 10:25 PMPosted by WinterlightJust had to address that misconception, as a former league player, the above quote couldn't be further from the truth. Riot is the most closed-minded company I have ever encountered, and they have stagnated on a single primary map since its creation years ago, with the only "new" content being a champion with recycled abilities every 3-6 months, or longer... congrats?
Oh so the Dominion map is recycled is it? Oh and that... what map was it, the one in the Frejlord, that's recycled as well?
See this is what happens when you don't do your fact checking before you make a post filled with stupid.
Riot Games for the record, is one of the more open game development companies. Every major patch they create a video explaining why they're making their biggest changes. On the forums they've tried time and time again to engage with the players and I don't know where you get off saying that riot recycled abilities for their heroes. Every new hero that I've seen has abilities that I haven't seen anywhere else.
07/04/2014 10:32 PMPosted by BahgawdKotick fires anyone who challenges him.
Would be difficult to do seeing as Kotick has absolutely no say in what Blizzard does as a company.
I liked GC.
He was just a scape goat for everything going 'wrong' with the game.
He was just a scape goat for everything going 'wrong' with the game.
07/04/2014 10:25 PMPosted by WinterlightHe was fired, or pressured to leave, whatever you want to call it he was not making fans happy, bottom line.
07/04/2014 10:32 PMPosted by WinterlightLuckily your opinion is just that, an opinion, and with no elaboration at that;
o.O
I think he left just to watch people theorize why he left.
OP just because Blizzard could offer him a ton of $ to beat Riot's offer, doesn't mean that they have to. It's personally reasonable to believe that Riot did in fact offer him a good amount of money, and Blizzard didn't see the reason to offer higher. You don't become a multi billion dollar company by spending money just to beat someone in a bidding war.
I think it is between him and Blizz why he left.
07/04/2014 10:30 PMPosted by MilsaIsn't it a little weird that he got more money from the LoL folks than Blizz? I mean, Blizz has a whole lot more money to burn don't they?07/04/2014 10:27 PMPosted by GoldcappedThey offered him more money and he left, no need for conspiracies.
No where near as much as Riot. LoL makes them so much money they don't know what to do with it, how to invest it all.
07/04/2014 10:30 PMPosted by MilsaIsn't it a little weird that he got more money from the LoL folks than Blizz? I mean, Blizz has a whole lot more money to burn don't they?07/04/2014 10:27 PMPosted by GoldcappedThey offered him more money and he left, no need for conspiracies.
Blizzard can attract top talent just by being Blizzard. They don't need to bribe people to hop over.
How many people would choose to work for Microsoft if they didn't pay what they did?
<span class="truncated">...</span>Isn't it a little weird that he got more money from the LoL folks than Blizz? I mean, Blizz has a whole lot more money to burn don't they?
No where near as much as Riot. LoL makes them so much money they don't know what to do with it, how to invest it all.
Blizz has annual earnings that are close to 3x Riot's annual earnings...