I have played this game from a multitude of angles, casual, organised, mythic, heroic, lfghero etc
Blizzards game systems DO NOT do a good job of supporting the different playstyles. Ion please take this criticism on board, the wow team does a great job getting content out (and its fine) but a terrible job designing the game systems we players interact with.
The non-organised (PUG) gameplay in wow is in complete shambles right now. There are a few reasons for this:
Invalidation of ilvl as a means of gauging skill. Skill used to gate access to rewards in wow. With the proliferation of carries for cash/gold and power being distributed by hoa/corruption, this is no longer an accurate depiction of player power but LFG tools still rely on it as the only metric of power.
Addons are required to provide ânecessaryâ gameplay functions. Going over M+10 requires method dungeon tools and/or memorising routes, the native game client doesnât do enough to support the M+ system. Also raiderio is mandatory for groups above +10. I have been trying to avoid it since coming back to wow preferring to use an unmodded setup but the quality/completeness of the game in this mode is not to an acceptable level. M1-9 its fine, but that is less than half of the gameplay mode.
We need smarter grouping tools and trials need to make a come back. The argument against this has always been it feels bad for players that cannot achieve them but what creates a more toxic community?
Gamers trying and failing a trial (or earning a lower rank) or what we have now where keys are consistently abandoned, grouping with players is controlled by non-blizzard tools (which just creates more the perception of a greater rejection of the player being denied groups)⌠so I gotta ask Blizzard do you play your game? Not from the ivory tower mythic raid guilds, but from all different perspectives because the current game does not reflect that.
I doubt it consindering the diablo 3 thing where they said diablo 3 will be alot harder than diablo 2 -clip shows a level 1 sorceress them playing in normal mode in the weakest area ment for necromancers to get their armys up in
Yeah they do, they just create it with a different mind set. A developer one, so different things take precedence over others. The way you play, what you want, like, or dislike is different from a developerâs mind set.
I think one of my problems is, I look at it from the mindset of cost benefit⌠everyone internally is a resource with a finite amount of input. I see a lot of small easy wins blizzard overlooks, I also see these MASSIVE game systems which are utter and complete failures (azerite/the way corruptions launched) but the reason they are failures is for things that could very easily be seen and planned in advance, lack of player agency usually being the main one.
Thatâs perfectly fine. I get a little annoyed when hearing them say they saw the issue, but left it in 'cause it was too late⌠(Iâd have more respect for them if they just fixed it there and then rather waiting 'till the expansion ends).
A lot of easy wins for sure.
I just know they have a lot to contend with⌠lots of information that gets passed around, forgotten or what not⌠theyâll be stubborn to try making something work⌠and itâs why youâll see people rank other companies higher in areas that basically Blizzardâs CURRENT TEAM really just fails in all honesty. Not to mention internal deadlines, cost and what not.
At the end of the day, I just think people and this trend of ââdo they even play their gameââ are being silly. They do, they know the things said about the stuff they fail at, it hurts them, and they try to learn.
Whether they learn is up in the air, I donât like to assume when Shadowlands is still far away.
Also, I really doubt they play like we do with lots of alts - otherwise they would have a lot more skips/shortcuts for things like that horrible cloak quest.
I also am pretty sure the devs answer to people above them giving them directions to taken gameplay in certain directions.
based on BfAâs launch, balance, patches, and hail mary fix systems that needed hail mary fix systems, your sarcasm is a bit tone deaf.
Opening the spreadsheet and moving 2 numbers by 5% is what qualifies as game design nowadays at Blizzard, but it certainly doesnât suffice for testing.
Oh I know they play and I know many/most of them are mythic raiders (and play at a skill level that far exceeds mine), I think the management team is very lopsided in their views though, almost an echo-chamber. I know they say they take feedback/monitor many different sources but they consistently overlook the simple (too much RNG).
I donât think they even do that, I have a circle of friends and we constantly talk about micro-transactions and what we would/would not pay for. Basically spell effects (in a manner similar to POE)⌠I made a remark about wanting my eyebeam to be the animation/sound effect of those mobs on vexiona that cast annihilation. I would shell out ~$10 on that⌠more if other players saw it too not just me.
It might have fixed the corruption system if they did a simulation or two and spreadsheeted the math some.
Read OP, I know they play, my concerns are more they play only at the top level of the game and that everything below that kind of is phoned in. They have not done much to provide the framework to access the end game, in their minds the way to increase access is to nerf content/dish out rewards everywhere, not improve the systems and tools for players to progress through content.
And that BFA left so many alt-holics really downhearted makes me feel there are quite a few sections of the community Blizz just donât know anything about and havenât been listening to.
The game is SO laser-focused on competitive, high-difficulty endgame content that it has essentially poisoned the well for the rest of the game.
⌠and their solution to those players not enjoying the rest of the content is to build the game to compel them into the stuff they enjoy themselves (competitive, high-difficulty endgame content). The problem with that is it completely misses out on what those players are actually looking for.
Itâs been said many times, Blizzard is great developing on a sterile environment, from an excel sheet, but they have ZERO emotional connection with their audience.
How does it âfeelâ when you play is not a metric they use, or put any significant weight on it seems. Sadly it is THE most important metric in my opinion when it comes to developing games.
They actually have been failures because they have purposely ignored player feedback. This happens when they want to force their idea into the game.
That part is another big issue with why they donât have peopleâs trust at the moment. If you donât have the ability to recognize that in 15 years of gaming you actually might have players that know more about the game than you⌠you are doing the game a disservice.
This one has been denied entry into too many groups, so they list things that need âfixing.â You could make your own group, and then itâs YOUR rules.
Also, Ion does play a shaman , and Iâm quite sure that the other developers play characters as well.
Just because some players give feedback doesnât entitle those playersâ feedback to be adopted. This doesnât mean they donât read the player feedback, but if Blizzard implemented a lot of the player feedback, then this would be a very horrid game indeed, I dare say.
