Rearranging and Removing Portals

[anon38033770]

Though two dozen posters are shown as “Frequent Posters” that still leaves 1012 others posting here, and the vast majority have clearly been against the changes.

Exactly.
And the irony is that IF it were reversed and the majority were for the changes, the trolls would be screaming it from the rooftops.
Since the majority dont like the changes, of course they have to dismiss the numbers

[Hocksy-emerald-dream]

The interesting thing is, industry experts did an analysis on WoW.

It wasn’t supposed to succeed. By all the rules about company health and everything it should have failed. It was a fluke. It was lightning in the bottle. Which of course can’t be replicated. That’s something people forget.

But, Blizzard, with bad decisions can let the lightning out and give others a chance to steal some of their lightning. Not exactly good business tactics.

Yes.
As you said complacency and changes in leadership. Throw in not learning from the very public history and mistakes of others…

[Verdre-silvermoon (Verdre)]

Throw in not learning from the very public history and mistakes of others…

Those who fail to learn from their history are doomed to repeat it.

[anon38033770]

If it werent such a niche thing here theyd have gone bust years ago with WoD.

I think the reason WoW is still around is simple.

Blizzard grabbed the lightning in a bottle at the perfect moment.

For a number of years they maintained that flash. But then slowly they began to realize they had a captive audience and believed they could do whatever they wanted.

By that point the audience had been hooked, not by a high quality game, but by the skinner box mentality, the hours they played and the friends they developed.

The players quite simply didn’t want to leave it all behind and Blizzard understood that fact. They became complacent and their push for quality began to slip as a result. Because they didn’t have to work to keep an audience. They had one, they just had to maintain it.

And that is what led them to making more and more questionable decisions, which of course began their slow decline as well as shaping them into the company they are now today.

They also became so big in the market due to all these factors that they had become a giant, and they didn’t have to worry about the competition. Which wasn’t helped by the competition either getting greedy or trying to innovate in bad ways.

The smart company would have simply gone “take everything good about wow and add something unique to it.” That would have done damage to wow. But they all had to make something “unique” and different.

[Verdre-silvermoon (Verdre)]

An example of learning from their mistakes would be Square in regards to FF14.

FF14 launched and it was bad. Pretty much universally agreed it was bad. They did an overhaul, learning from their mistakes. The result was FF14 ARR which was vastly improved. They’re coming up on their third expansion.

Guilds (called Free Companies) are much more lively.

They also have a network built specifically for new players. Yes, they openly have an option for NEW players to be able to ask questions. I haven’t played it for like 4+ years. So I was really out of touch on things. I asked simple questions in the ‘newby’ network and the answers were polite and courteous.

If you asked a noob question in WoW, whether on forums or in game you’re going to be treated like you’re some kind of rock eating moron.

Square understands that a healthy community is essential to a healthy game.

[Blays-bloodhoof]

millions of happy campers, vs the vocal minority.

How do you even know that? If the forums are a small representation of the million(s?) of players, wouldn’t the general consensus here reflect that of the players in the game? I’m not claiming either side is better represented here, or has a valid voice, but the consensus seems to be “WTH is with the portal removal, also neat room I guess.”

[Verdre-silvermoon (Verdre)]

How do you even know that?

I also pointed out to him and others that the Forums aren’t the only place speaking up about these changes. He never once acknowledged that fact.

MMOChampion had at least 18 pages on it. Wowhead had discussion on it. Blizzardwatch created an article about it. Reddit of course has had a lot to say about it. Just a few sites I personally found. I’m sure there are a good number more out there.

[anon38033770]

millions of happy campers, vs the vocal minority.

what a load of crap.
the true majority isnt happy about having their game time stolen from them.

[anon38033770]

I also pointed out to him and others that the Forums aren’t the only place speaking up about these changes. He never once acknowledged that fact.

thats because he knows hes wrong.
Every place this discussion is going on that ive seen has been a repeat of this thread with the vast majority hating having more of their game time stolen for no good reason

[Ralanbék-frostmourne (Ralanbék)]

What I would really like to know…I doubt if it is even truly possible.

If 1 person likes or dislikes something in the game and says as much on the forums, what % of the players base would like or dislike that same thing and not even ever come to the forum?

[Ralanbék-frostmourne (Ralanbék)]

thats because he knows hes wrong.
Every place this discussion is going on that ive seen has been a repeat of this thread with the vast majority hating having more of their game time stolen for no good reason

Nah, he just want Blizzard to see he is the voice of reason and don’t worry Blizz, I got your back.

In every single thread he is in…not just this one.

[Spanko-kiljaeden (Spanko)]

Lol that is amazing.

[Jopsy-grizzly-hills (Jopsy)]

uh… the people who aren’t bothered by it, are just going about their business.

millions of happy campers, vs the vocal minority.

Hypothetically, ‘the people’ wouldn’t be bothered by you being ejected from your home and forced to live on the street. We’d just go on about our business, millions of happy campers, vs you, the vocal minority.

‘The Ignorance & Apathy of the Masses’ is an excuse used by bad people justify bad things.

[Hocksy-emerald-dream]

They also have a network built specifically for new players. Yes, they openly have an option for NEW players to be able to ask questions. I haven’t played it for like 4+ years. So I was really out of touch on things. I asked simple questions in the ‘newby’ network and the answers were polite and courteous.

If you asked a noob question in WoW, whether on forums or in game you’re going to be treated like you’re some kind of rock eating moron.

I laughed too hard at this, simply because it is true.
DaoC had something similar, new players were automatically put in a newb guild that many ‘old’ players kept a couple characters in and there was almost always a paid by the company person present/online.
They also had a separate chat channel for ‘info’.
Players policed the trolls out so hard that trolls didn’t bother in those areas.
PvP to protect the newbs, was good for business.
Who’da thunk.

[Verdre-silvermoon (Verdre)]

‘The Ignorance & Apathy of the Masses’ is an excuse used by bad people justify bad things.

As I’ve said on multiple topics. Apathy is a dangerous card to see in play. Because it can spread and infect others, and doesn’t lead to growth but rather stagnation.

[Jopsy-grizzly-hills (Jopsy)]

the true majority isnt happy about having their game time stolen from them.

And even if it is only 5.1% who range from deeply to moderately ‘unhappy’ vs 51%, it’s still bad. May not be the straw that broke the camel’s back, but it’s moving in that direction and it’s HARD TO UNDO.

Why do something utterly and completely unnecessary and risk ANY percentage of your player base unless there’s an upside to it that will make other players happier/more-loyal?

Even shaking the loyalty of 1% of your subscriber base … over one silly arbitrary edit… is beyond foolish.

[Sabine-dawnbringer (Sabine)]

@Phydeaux-windrunner

Could you comment on whether or not Blizzard is working on a new IP that centers around players controlling characters in fully functioning casinos? Seems like you have the right team for it.

LOL, this made me laugh

[Hocksy-emerald-dream]

I just looked at the portal rooms for the alliance and WTH blizz - we horde players have a nice neat and tidy room and the alliance got that double long hallway train wreck???
I have simply lost faith in you blizz.

“Balance” for the utterly impractically ridiculously spread out design of Dazor’Alor. Bank to mission table (before they added a 2nd table in the Great Seal) was like 2 minutes. TWO MINUTES. Don’t get me started on the amount of time wasted going up and down the steps from the scrapper / anvil / crafting trainers.

Say what?
There’s a mission table at the great seal now?
ffs

[Pyromor-shandris (Pyromor)]

Omg,LOL

[Verdre-silvermoon (Verdre)]

The “new player network” also has what are called Mentors. And its not easy becoming a Mentor. It’s considered a mark of pride to get that title. The network (on the server I’m on) typically had like 40-60 Mentors on at any time. With a “newby / returning player” cap of around 500.

So, they’re smart enough to understand that first impressions matter. Especially when you’re overwhelmed by a new game.

Blizzard could stand to have better teaching tools. That’s one area they’ve ALWAYS failed. Sure, they implemented the “class trial” but the problem is that it teaches bad habits. I tried it out on Ret Paladin. It encouraged you to burn Judgement as a method of pulling mobs. Yeah, an ability on a CD, that is tied to improving your DPS, and the Class Trial describes it as a “pull ability”.

Though, that said, all melee classes should have some kind of 30-40 yard pull ability. Doesn’t have to be big damage, just enough to grab their attention.