/offtop
When it comes to Metzen, there is an idea I’ve read a long time ago (about 15 years ago) about another at the time known game designer (or was he a director of Syberia? Can’t rememer) / concept artist, Benoît Sokal.
After his departure from Microids, he tried to work on other projects, Paradise had a cold reception, then there were a couple ok-ish games. So the idea about it was pretty much:
it’s not enough to have good ideas, the game design / concepts / ideas also need people to accompany, who “know how” to actually implement that stuff.
Metzen was a charismatic WoW developer, and he had interesting ideas. But how much could really be done among the things that actually were done [I mean with the development resourses available at the time: people (with necessary skills, not those who think they have the skill), time, money, etc.), and how much could the team deliver - this I do not know. To what degree the criticizm of “cool” moments is about Metzen following rule of cool, and to what - just inability to deliver in the constraints the solid implementation of those concepts.
Kind of like the original (possibly) WoW movie scenario that also got nowhere.
I wonder what would a “remaster” with all the necessary details and good design around the narrative / gameplay be like 
(is Avellone’s name still mentioned anywhere nowadays?)
gl hf