Ion's interview

Community General Discussion
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I watched his interview and a few things struck chords with me:
There’s a lot of Roger Goodell in this guy. Very amorphous, very vague, measured, and not expositive.

One of the challenges with WoW is that there are very diverse audiences and play styles. When players accuse the team of being out of touch, it isn’t that they don’t understand players concerns, or what they’d like the game to be. The team has to keep in mind the other half dozen groups of players that want the game to be different things, often opposing things.

This statement in particular is alarming because it displays disjointedness. In past expansions of “new WoW (aka not BC or Classic,)” namely MoP and Legion, I don’t think they attempted to be all things to everybody. If the entire development team is aiming at different targets, you will all miss. Additionally, there’s obviously a lot of carry over from Legion’s systems and at the very least, acknowledge that.

The team has pulled away from talents that gave classes utility in an area that was traditionally weak for them. Someone has to be very mobile, someone has to be less mobile.

This, to me, is something I don’t agree with. Every single damage dealing spec in this game should have the ability to stand on its own two feet in any situation via talents. If you need mobility it should come at the expense of snap burst which should come at the expense of sustained damage. It’s not really that complicated. In some cases, the talents that are supposed to provide this should be baseline and there should be a talent that provides additional mobility because the baseline is so terrible as it stands now.

If you can get crafted gear that is better than raid gear, you don’t really need to raid. If crafted gear is weaker than raid gear, then it is useless.

You don’t need to raid anyway. Bingo crafting is not fun for Tailors, Blacksmiths, or Leatherworkers. Gear progression is probably not meaningful enough as it stands. This is a RPG so adding flavor with some quests or something that provide rare mats to make sets would be far more interesting that what is currently going on.

Going forward, the team wants to keep armor fully unlocked and have a different avenue of progression in the Heart of Azeroth itself.

Let’s not do rented alternative advancement for a while after this expansion, ok? HoA is not really cool or interesting, and the speed at which Azerite is accumulated is far too slow to entice people to actually grind it.

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All I really took away from the interview was a feeling of… YUP that is why WoW is failing. Trying to cater this game to too many different groups of people is killing it.

Oh and the justification on catch up gear. Ya everyone should need to gear up. There was nothing wrong with the B.C. raid system. The issue was how little loot was distributed across all the raid tiers back then. Made it really slow to gear anyone.

But having to run that other raid was supposed to be fun. A stepping stone to the next difficulty level. Not a chore. Ion just confirmed how out of touch they really are.

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I personally agree with you, Gryff.
I think that BiS should be spread across an entire expansion’s raids to entice people to want to go back to older raids (Nathrezim Mind Dagger says hi) and thereby augment groups looking for attunement runs. It’s not like Normal is all that different than LFR honestly. But that is not happening.

I think there’s a lot of different factors at play here, many of them extending beyond WoW, but I will not get into them based upon them being fully based upon supposition.

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Nope disagree

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There are no plans to update the old world zones as it wouldn’t "benefit the players."

Umm you DID update the old world zones. You LEVEL-SCALED them. If the old world isn’t your focus, then why did you place a governor on the leveling process?

If the old world is a slog, then why force players to spend more time there?

•The dev teams don’t feel the need to add new abilities to classes.

This is absurd. We go 20 levels with no new talent(s). If you lack the desire (or ability) to add flavor, or utility to a class, then why do you keep increasing the level?

•The Mage Tower was super successful but they don’t want to do it as a part of the expansion "formula."

Just so I’m clear. Something that WORKED is being removed. Something the players enjoyed as well as participated in to a large degree, is being taken OUT?

•The team has pulled away from talents that gave classes utility.

A better way of putting this is, “The team has pulled away from talents”

•They don’t really know how to improve professions

This is sad. If your computer doesn’t work, you go to an old save. If you are responsible FOR professions, but you don’t know how to IMPROVE professions, then, one, you are admitting that something is not working, aka “broke”, and you lack the ability to fix it.

Again, if professions were in a better state in a previous expansion, then USE THAT MODEL.

These comments tell me some very sad things about the team at WoW:

1.They have been given carte blanche to do whatever they want as long as they stay above a certain threshold. Whether that threshold is a time-played metric, a financial metric (my guess, hence why more in the store), or an internal sub metric, as long as they are north of that watermark - nobody gets fired

2.The above explains why they constantly appear tone-deaf. They don’t have to listen because unless there’s a mass exodus (ala 6.1) they’re safe.

3.The admission that professions are in a bad place, and they “don’t know” how to fix them, means the wrong people are working on that area of WoW. Granted, by the companies own admission, “the best devs are moving to mobile projects”, but sheesh.

I am flabbergasted that those comments were made. Absolutely flabbergasted.

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I watched the interview with Ion and he came crossed as a well measured informed person. I would say he is a good person to be setting in the director’s chair.

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Which is fine, like I said, Goodell-bot. He comes across the same way, even if the actual actions he takes and decisions he makes don’t really satisfy anybody.

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I think he is doing a good job.

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Based on what metrics?

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All of your critique is extremely subjective and serves no point long term or for the health of the game. It sounds more or less of WoW has to be exactly what you want or else it’s them being wrong.

Metrics lul, I’d care about the sub numbers more if the entirety of the internet wasn’t so gung ho about being negative. Not to mention we don’t know what the sub numbers are just speculation and a whole lot of negativity to back up the low numbers claims.

All I know is world pvp is very alive despite the current crying of the forums, the latest raid is actually awesome, and there are more venues of not only gearing up but you can target gear from mythic+. I wouldn’t be surprised if we got more vendors etc. But despite all that toxic internet culture currently will say otherwise. You forum people act like your opinions are what the entire world feels like.

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My game enjoyment.

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“Health”? This game has bled 6.5 million subs in less than 10 years. 54% of the playerbase is GONE from back then.

You care about you. Got it.

Yep. Just got ganked by 20 Horde in Vol’dun.

The irony.

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Hidden profile? Check

Less than 5k achievement points? Check

Glad you’re “enjoying” the game. Many others are not.

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DO YOU GUYS NOT HAVE PHONES??? (indeed)

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I just rewatched that whole encounter. The “pitch” sounds exactly like something you would hawk to the higher ups.

“It’ll be great! Mobile has so much potential! People can play with their families!”

And then there were boos. Boos at Blizzcon.

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You have such a shallow argument. Mass complains across the board and that is the best you have? Shame on you, the majority of the player base is striving for change, and you are content to brown nose someone who has ruined many of the aspects of the game the population loves? Shame.

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Is it necessary to belittle me?

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And, I can’t have an opinion that is different from yours?

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Look BfA isn’t in a good place. It may appeal to some including you and that is fine. What about the other I don’t know 8+ MILLION who don’t even play anymore. Is this game good for them? Clearly if this game was over 400% more popular the way it once was these new cater to everyone systems are not for everyone or good for the long term health of the game.

Simple math shows that but yes you are entitled to be happy with how things are. Others are entitled to hope for change. I hope for change. I have all 50 characters on my account because character investment doesn’t even matter anymore and catch up mechanics are a joke.

I once felt like a nobody doing heroic things. That was a great feeling and it made me feel immersed in the game. I kind of miss it. Now everyone calls me Champion or Hero and that isn’t what I want and I have never felt more un-immersed in this game.

Honestly, I really think Classic and it requiring a sub to the regular game is the only thing that might keep this ship from sinking.

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