Ding ding ding. I understand that they want to make “their” game. But the problem is, they take absolutely no criticism, and it in turn causes them to spend an entire expansion trying to fix what was already pointed out to them months prior.
Azerite, for example. I saw so many posts about how Azerite felt bad to upgrade because you had to have a higher neck level to upgrade the slots. And what went live? And had to be worked on for weeks to months after? Yeah…
Same with Warfronts and Islands. Awful feedback, and what went live? Exactly as they were made because the devs believe that what they made is good content, and that people giving feedback don’t know what they’re talking about.
With Ion at the helm, the WoW dev team gives off the air of superiority and hubris. Anything that isn’t their idea is just “bad” and they’ll continue with a design regardless of feedback. Granted, maybe more people enjoy it than not, and the forums are just a minority. But considering their scrambling to fix issues in BfA, I somehow doubt there are many full on enjoying the bad aspects of Live WoW right now.
Yeah it’s a real shame 'cause BFA I wasn’t excited about BUT it would of been a nice rest from the ‘‘world is ending’’ expansions.
I always wondered what it would be like if they simply changed, removed, etc when they saw something not working well instead of just waiting monnnnnnths away for a fix.
But yeah it’s obvious of their defensive nature - - when they had that video of developers insight where Ion admitted that they messed up… I kind of saw a very fake-PR face on him 'cause they were probably on a high from Legion and got over confident.
This seems to be what causes the pattern of good-bad-good expansions.
-They release an expansion that a bunch of people like and enjoy, complaints exist but are minimal, and it over all does well - Wrath
-They either let their guard down or don’t try so hard because hey, the last expansion did amazing, surely this one will be the best thing ever! And it crashes - Cata
-They got burned and decide to refocus. They create an expansion that looks like a joke but turns out to be really good, and once again they create something that plays well - MoP
-They believe they can do no wrong and that everything they do falls into place, even if the premise is laughably silly. And they stop putting as much effort in only to watch it all crash around them once again - WoD
And on and on and on. They feel like they can do no wrong and it’s exactly what they end up doing. Granted, this is my personal BiS of what is and is not a good expansion, but that’s what it feels like.
I wouldn’t expect it to; but, communication and open dialogue would be refreshing.
Look, I posted this in another thread. I think it should be watched and people give their critcism, opinions or ideas in the comments. “Knowing” we have “this” for 7 or 8 months minimum feels bad™.
Yes and no. The way that expansions are designed, they start really when the first is released.
The good bad argument I never really agreed with. Each expansion kind of has their own back story to why it was what it was. And there are too many subjective opinions as well as rose-tinted observations.
MOP was horribly received on the net. Now it’s the second coming.
Wotlk had huge issues that was toned down 'cause WoW was shining and lots of people loved the idea of facing off against Arthas.
Cata was too huge, too much to bite off that they could chew. And they did not expect the back lash that they got.
WoD was the one expansion a year experiment.
Anyways.
It’s why I say yes and no. EGO and over confidence is a huge issue with these expansions when they just have to run back, redo a zone, or core system and thus are forever behind so content suffers.
Their attitude and design philosophy needs to IMO change and I think the future would be improved.
Or the Ghostcrawler ones - when I see threads to bring back him… safe bet when or if Ion goes on his own way, and WoW is still here, people will want Ion back.
Perhaps, though it is a lesson to the future game directors for wow. Not a good lesson, I’m glad that despite all the crap sent his way, Ion is still willing to talk with us.
I like Jeff’s passion. He clearly loves what he is doing and that comes through in every video he makes about Overwatch. He’s excited, he wants to share what’s coming next. He’s so enthusiastic.
I normally see Bellular as a click bait-y YouTuber who makes a bunch of videos for one topic, but that video Comanche linked above you actually does a very good job explaining what’s wrong with the current design philosophies. If you didn’t watch it yet, I actually recommend it.
On the topic of good-bad, I agree that it’s just conspiracy theory. But for 15 years I have seen the pattern as far as my own enjoyment to the game; there hasn’t been two expansions in a row that I genuinely enjoyed or hated. It’s one conspiracy I agree with because it is how I’ve felt.
Some changes need to be made at a fundamental design level, and that’s what I sincerely hope they’re doing for Shadowlands. The game needs a good, solid experience and foundation to build on.
