LOL!! I mean, more like sad-laugh though with this one, the “yep, we get it” laugh. (Though I LOVVVE their “NPC” videos!! OMG hilarious!!!)
While exaggerated, I can see how Blizzard is THAT. They probably do have GMs/CMs who DO care, who ARE part of the community, one of the players but not only that, reading everyday, the issues we have, the frustrations we have, some might actually want to help. They are probably biting their tongues, wanting to tell us what really happened (or at least, what they are privy to, which may not be that much). They want to help the community.
BUT the company doesn’t. At least, those at the head of the company. And yeah, they want all of our money. The Brutosaur I think, is the first of many not-so-micro-transactions.
They like their WHALES - the people who buy things beyond the subscription. Expensive mounts on the store, every “pack” they put out, Tons of gold tokens. And where do all of the GOLD that people buy go into? The better profession mats don’t seem to come down in price till the end of the expansion these days. People buy carries so they don’t have to do content. They buy mounts off of other players in Hallowfall, maybe. But the people who buy those things are who Blizzard values.
And every time that the company merges/gets sold, or whatever happens, it gets worse because it gets further from the vision of the creators (of which very few are left and yeah I DO think the “majority shareholders” throw their weight around). I’m not saying Blizzard was without problems before, but the bad treatment of customers (say, by laying off customer support) got worse with Activision and now, with Microsoft? Even worse. Because they DO NOT CARE about not only the customer but the quality of the product. Can they sell a bunch of gold tokens or mounts? If they can, then that’s GOOD ENOUGH for them. I think many in the company still want the product to be great, to be much better than it is, and want to take pride in their work. But I also think their bosses don’t care. Big bosses probably tell them not to waste time on small things (like a bunch of old-school players losing mats or pets). Bosses will rush things, bosses will lay off people or more people around, or decide that people who did other stuff at other Microsoft companies can easily go in and to what long-time Blizzard people did. And it’s videogame related. What do you think of when you hear BOSSES? They’re not the heroes, are they?
I hope you all had a good holiday. 