I was watching a video of a streamer talking with his chat and something he said kind of hit me.
Do blizzard developers aside from ION play this game?
Several classes dont play well and several specs stay nerfed for expansions or patches, looking at boomies. And the playstyles of these specs become mind numbing to play.
I dont know how long elemental will stay viable until they are nerfed. But im starting to believe developers do not play this game at all.
How can you design a game and not play it? You are a game developer.
Watching yourself act in a movie isnt the same as playing a game you designed.
Designing a game should come with a sense of pride and wanting to engage with the game ypuve developed and things you have had a hand in designing.
Youd want to make sure its perfect, youd want to make sure that there is no bugs, youd want people to experience the game through your lense, the perfect lense you designed.
I think in a lot of ways the game is made beautifully. But when it comes to technical things like classes and how they feel and play, tuning, and general thoughtfulness put into those classes is sorely lacking.
I dont think any of the devs designing classes have spent enough time playing any of them, testing them, and really giving them a full once over. Devs behind classes are quite obviously entirely out of touch with the game.
Lots of time artist do not wish to revisit their work once they’re done. If you’ve been designing classes for 8+ hours a day for months and then when you’re finished, I’m not sure you’re going to go home and spend your free time tinkering around with them at home.
I’d want a break.
Also sometimes folks can’t see their own flaws. It’s why authors have editors from spelling and grammar to developmental editors.
The folks who design the classes may not be able to see flaws identified by others.
This is different. I can speak from personal experience because I was the creator of one of the top played MOBAs back in WCIII TFT. I couldn’t wait to get out and try something I had made to see it work and how it affected the game.
Did I spend more time editing this map than playing it? Without a doubt. But both ends were a lot of fun. One of my favorite things was to see how long it took players to figure out new secrets. Usually I was amazed how quickly they found it, others I had a good laugh at the extremes they took chasing red herrings. I guarantee whoever put that cat in Karazhan loved every moment of people not finding it, but was equally excited somebody did.
If the developers are at a point they don’t enjoy their own game, they need to be moved to a new project.
When I designed content for a game. I probably played it way more than anyone else. But often not in the way you’d expect. Usually through private servers and editors. Then I’d get my friends and I to run through the game.
People burn through so much content quickly that you’re always in the building/designing/fixing phase. More often then naught, they probably watch others play more than they play it casually for fun.
Well the new co-lead-game-lead-co-leader or whatever his title is uses his position in the company to sell boosting runs… does giving yourself the best gear in the game and then charging legitimate players to run with you count as “playing”
Blizzard devs were hired because of their relevant skills. Employees get free gametime. But they work a lot of hours. Probably only some play at all, and the ones who do mostly dabble.
