Should NOT Be Fired

[Aithag-area-52]

Activision had absolutely nothing to do with Sekiro being GOTY, FromSoftware is just good at making good games.

[Rahuon-thunderhorn]

@Oakenfist-durotan

@Rahuon-thunderhorn

Because that is part of the development process and he probably does not know 100% that what they are planning will work out. And if he says “we are doing this” and it doesn’t work out then people will cry about it.

Why is it all “crying” or “whining” or “moaning” with some people? Here’s thought: consider the situation as if a normal human is on the other side of your communication, not a caricature that you made up in your head.

Now that we are doing this, here’s what a normal skeptical person would say after Ion gives his reasoning for something like the GCD change, for example:

“You said it can prevent having a lot of cooldowns macroed together. Why not just target those cooldowns for the change? Why did you put everything including tank mitigation on the GCD? Is there another reason you’re not telling us?”

Or PvP vendors:

“You said the reason is because it’s too hard for a player to know which piece to equip if we let them choose on their own. If that is the case, why did you add RNG gearing systems where we don’t know if an item is better or not until we run it through a third party calculator? Is there another reason you aren’t telling us?”

Et cetera. People are skeptical of the explanations he gives for things, but I guarantee they aren’t shedding a single tear over it.

I think he just doesn’t want to commit to things sometimes. I’m in the engineering business and the scope of projects changes constantly. It’s different than game design obviously but the point is that nothing is set in stone and if he promises something everyone will be up in arms saying “you promised, blah, blah, blah”.

[Lacryma-wyrmrest-accord (Lacryma)]

If anything I respect him more because Lawyer speech. This is because having worked in the legal profession for so long myself… I know him to be something that 90% of the forums is not. An educated man.

This is also why I often frame arguments and issues I have in that sort of logic, such as my issues with the Eternal Traveler set. If it’s something I can I.R.A.C., then it’s something he’ll digest easily when he reads it. Even if he disagrees with X or Y, he gets the gist of the matter.

[Vraith-kiljaeden]

@Vendreck-sargeras

found the blizzard shill

Little old me?
Just here to troll?
Or do you have any arguments that there is a better choice for a game director?
Or just hopping in the thread to throw an ad homineum fallacy bomb?

[Oakenfist-durotan]

Oh yeah, I’m not talking about promises. Totally agree that he shouldn’t say they are going to do something and then they can’t deliver on that.

I’m talking about when people ask him why Blizzard did something that’s already done, and he gives his preferred kind of answer. Those answers are what cause people not to trust him because his given reasons don’t seem to match up with what Blizzard already did.

[Brunden-feathermoon]

Personally I think they should just get out of the MMO business all together. They’re running out of steam each expansion they put out that feels like a rehash of the previous all the way back to WoD. They should just focus on a RTS Warcraft IP from this point on.

[Nill-emerald-dream (Nill)]

@Lalacle-moon-guard

how unfun it is getting stuck on a tiny little pebble of a rock or barely out of the ground tree root

Indeed. We’re cast as world-saving heroes over and over, yet we are stuck by a simple tree root.

[Trojo-zuljin]

I agree Ion isnt the primary problem. It’s the current culture at blizzard combined with terrible management at the top.

That said, I dont think blizzard will ever be on top ever again unless they make serious cultural changes, which would require them replacing a large portion of the the people working there, including HR. All one would have to do is follow a lot of them on twitter to figure out what I mean. People who think getting rid of Ion will fix the problems at blizzard are kidding themselves, he isnt the biggest problem there.

[Huntillia-proudmoore (Huntillia)]

@Trojo-zuljin

All one would have to do is follow a lot of them on twitter to figure out what I mean.

Please elaborate?

[Vraith-kiljaeden]

@Brunden-feathermoon

Personally I think they should just get out of the MMO business all together. They’re running out of steam each expansion they put out that feels like a rehash of the previous all the way back to WoD. They should just focus on a RTS Warcraft IP from this point on.

I am glad you are not making the decisions at Blizz. WoW is still the best game, ever. It can always be improved, which is what we all discuss here. Is WoW losing money for Blizz? That would be the reason to get out of the business.
Do you work for another MMO company and would like the market space to grab up 500k-3M subscribers?
By the way: Legion was a fun expansion. Not perfect, but good and fun.
Or maybe just a troll comment. If so, you got me!

[Brunden-feathermoon]

I’m glad as well I’m not making the decisions there. People and higher ups wouldn’t be happy with me delaying things till they were tested better.

[Vraith-kiljaeden]

@Brunden-feathermoon

I’m glad as well I’m not making the decisions there. People and higher ups wouldn’t be happy with me delaying things till they were tested better.

Most systems in Legion were tested better. If the third patch solution for legendaries were implemented on release, I wonder how much better the community would have received Legion.
BfA beta testing was shorter and caused people to worry. Why so rushed? I think because of Activision pushing for a quick release to keep the pace and fervor going at the cost of quality.
Ion is good, the game is good, can be better, praying for SL development and a Nov release so they don’t rush it.

[Sarandor-barthilas]

@Sevaryn-nerzhul

You…don’t think we’re under NDAs forbidding us from going into details? Hell, I wasn’t even working at a big studio or for that long, and I’m under an NDA.

For 7 years, not likely.

[Sevaryn-nerzhul (Sevaryn)]

It’s not uncommon at all for an NDA to have no expiry, especially when it comes to IP and trade secrets.

Furthermore, even when an NDA does have an expiration people will rarely remember how long it was after they’ve stopped working there. Given the legal implications of talking when you’re not supposed to, assuming it’s forever is by far your best option when confronted by random contrarians on the internet.

[Sarandor-barthilas]

kk - I still doubt.

[Blackstannis-khazgoroth (Blackstannis)]

• The available tech has become much much better, on a micro scale there have been some really terrific game systems added to the game which mesh really really well with my playstyle. WQ’s, mission tables, rare mobs, M+ etc. Even boss mechanics and what they can do in raids continually improves.

• Content is also being put out on a much more frequent basis.

• The reward structure for in game activities is completely bonkers.
• The way different systems interact and influence gameplay is terrible (legion legendary acquisition locking you out of your “good” legendarys (even the concept of having bad legendarys). The entire azerite system.

TL;DR
I think Ion does a great job making the teams under him keep pace and tow the line. I also think either he needs to take more responsibility or provide more oversight on the big picture, how does crafting and its rewards fit in with raiding and fit with the weekly M+ chest (which is god awful when it rewards you with junk), how can infinite stars be so insanely powerful of a corruption compared to the others OR that duty needs to be delegated to another person that has the time to manage such things… Ghost Crawler used to do that very well.

[Sarandor-barthilas]

@Blackstannis-khazgoroth

I think Ion does a great job making the teams under him keep pace and tow the line. I also think either he needs to take more responsibility or provide more oversight on the big picture, how does crafting and its rewards fit in with raiding and fit with the weekly M+ chest (which is god awful when it rewards you with junk), how can infinite stars be so insanely powerful of a corruption compared to the others OR that duty needs to be delegated to another person that has the time to manage such things… Ghost Crawler used to do that very well.

Ion has indicated they don’t know what to do with crafting. Not sure more guidance from him is going to help that.

Professions need to have enough content to be a separate play mode, right now it is just an extra to support raiding for the most.

[Walburgha-aerie-peak (Walburgha)]

I think they’re trying to make the game with two developers and an intern. There’s only so much you can do with a limited budget and small team.

I’m not terribly impressed, but it isn’t completely awful.

[Därkprayers-proudmoore (Därkprayers)]

@Thôr-silver-hand

Yes He’s a lawyer who somehow became a dev for ulduar and is now a director this in it’s self is a cluster.
He has a sharp legal mind which is good for A-B design but not a creative mind which is how you link A-B in a meaningful way.
Just for future note everytime in one those Vods he says a statement starting with “we feel” he means they did what was the most cost effective basic design for idea they could think of and we got the watered down version.

If you don’t know the history as to how he got the job you will never understand why. It is an objective fact that ion has helped create some of the best raids and raid encounters in the games history. I say helped because everything in WoW is done as a team. No one person is responsible for something.
Tbh one of the things that has hurt WoW the most is its player base. From ridiculous request after request, demands for faster content intervals and demanding to put in minimum effort for max reward. This coupled with blizzards well meaning intent to try and appease everyone has diminished the quality and intrinsically rewarding features of the game. The cloak is an ideal example. Nothing is unreasonable to unlock or upgrade it. But the players call it a grind or want it for free or even complain about having to read the quest text.
WoW is being picked away by the requests of people who think they know what makes a game good. Then those same people complain when they get what they want.

[Thôr-silver-hand (Thôr)]

I know how he got the job I know his first big show was ulduar, I also know he would only get the director position after they kicked out anyone who wasnt a yes man.
He is a yes man the make it work and excuse the inexcusable type the face of the creators.
Im sure he can give the most cutting edge point A-Z product but it will be as bland as oatmeal.