Blizzard Entertainment's Internal Development Roadmap Leaked

[Mazrim]

I doubt Kotick plays games. He's a businessman first and foremost. He "exploits" product for profit, remember?

Thankfully, he has limited sway in what Blizzard does.

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by Mazrim

Thankfully, he has limited sway in what Blizzard does.

Keep telling yourself that. Both Wrath and Cata have been released early. Cata was probably up for a February release, but someone wanted the Christmas bump. I'll let you guess who.

[Mazrim]

Originally Posted by Blaster86

Keep telling yourself that. Both Wrath and Cata have been released early. Cata was probably up for a February release, but someone wanted the Christmas bump. I'll let you guess who.

I hate to tell you this, but all the way back to The Burning Crusade (well before Activision was in the discussion), Blizzard repeatedly said how they wanted to speed up the release of patches and new expansions. If you can show me proof that Activision actually made these comments instead of Blizzard, I'll believe you.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by Blaster86

Keep telling yourself that. Both Wrath and Cata have been released early. Cata was probably up for a February release, but someone wanted the Christmas bump. I'll let you guess who.

Activision does not own Blizzard. Activision merged with Vivendi, and Vivendi owned Blizzard. When they merged, Vivendi transfered control of all of it's gaming assets to Activision, except for Blizzard. Blizzard retained their entire corporate structure and governance, as well as 100% complete autonomy. This is why it's called Activision-Blizzard. Blizzard wanted nothing to do with managing other assets, and Vivendi wanted nothing to do with dismantling the biggest selling pc game studio of all time.

The last two WoW expansions shipped on time because they've been actively developing the game for 6 years now. It's not a new project they're creating from the ground up. The expansions have been in the works since the game was first launched in 2004.

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

The expansions have been in the works since the game was first launched in 2004.

Considering all the pathing bugs and quest glitches I've encountered in just two days of playing, that's pretty sad.

Also, I highly doubt Blizzard would move slow with everything else, but rush out expos for their biggest grossing game ASAP. It's totally out of character. This announcement you speak of came after the merger and reeks of Kotick hands on. I know Blizzard is still "autonomous" and are still given time with their other games (for better or for worse) but the company has Activision's hands and smell all over it. Quick releases for big money games (WoW), Battle.net 2.0 even though Battle.net was still totally adequate.

[FlamesPuck12]

Originally Posted by Blaster86

Battle.net 2.0 even though Battle.net was still totally adequate.

Actually, Battle.net 2.0 sucks even more than Battle.net

[Coys1882]

Originally Posted by Blaster86

Considering all the pathing bugs and quest glitches I've encountered in just two days of playing, that's pretty sad.

You totally started playing WoW again just so you could bitch in these wow threads didn't you?

I've been playing off and on since Cata release - I've found one quest bug which has since been hotfixed. I think you make half this stuff up or you read the forums and take other people's experiences as your own. I can't believe you've been victim to all these issues.

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by Coys1882

You totally started playing WoW again just so you could bitch in these wow threads didn't you?

No, I started playing again because I am an addict and I have a problem coupled with bad friends who force me into things.

Originally Posted by Coys1882

I've been playing off and on since Cata release - I've found one quest bug which has since been hotfixed. I think you make half this stuff up or you read the forums and take other people's experiences as your own. I can't believe you've been victim to all these issues.

Nope. Deepholm and Vash'ir have tons of pathing issues, and then the pebbles quests are bugged to ####.

[FlameOn]

Originally Posted by FlamesPuck12

Actually, Battle.net 2.0 sucks even more than Battle.net

Totally agree, where is the option to even search for maps anymore? Severely limits ease of trying to look for custom maps

[jammies]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

if you want a Diablo fix and don't want to wait for D3, try Titan Quest. you can get the gold edition on Steam right now for $5.00, which includes the game and expansion pack. it's the best Diablo clone ever made IMO, and the Greek mythology setting is fantastic

Thanks for this, I got it and it is indeed a fantastic clone - in some ways better than the original. I am hacking my way through Athens and having a blast.

[OutOfTheCube]

Yes Blizzard fanboys, keep telling yourself the Activision merger didn't affect them at all...

In the ten years of 2000 - 2009, Blizzard released 7 games, 4 of them were expansion packs.

In this five year plan, half as much time, they're planning to release 11 games, 7 of which are expansion packs.

Just keep it in perspective... don't fool yourself into thinking Blizzard is pouring as much time and effort into these titles as they did all their games from the last decade, because they aren't.

[Mazrim]

Originally Posted by OutOfTheCube

Yes Blizzard fanboys, keep telling yourself the Activision merger didn't affect them at all...

In the ten years of 2000 - 2009, Blizzard released 7 games, 4 of them were expansion packs.

In this five year plan, half as much time, they're planning to release 11 games, 7 of which are expansion packs.

Just keep it in perspective... don't fool yourself into thinking Blizzard is pouring as much time and effort into these titles as they did all their games from the last decade, because they aren't.

Right, because none of that has to do with Blizzard being a much larger company than a decade ago.

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by Mazrim

Right, because none of that has to do with Blizzard being a much larger company than a decade ago.

It doesn't. They've always been a bankable money making company. The only difference now is who they're reporting their profits too.

[Nehkara]

Originally Posted by OutOfTheCube

Yes Blizzard fanboys, keep telling yourself the Activision merger didn't affect them at all...

In the ten years of 2000 - 2009, Blizzard released 7 games, 4 of them were expansion packs.

In this five year plan, half as much time, they're planning to release 11 games, 7 of which are expansion packs.

Just keep it in perspective... don't fool yourself into thinking Blizzard is pouring as much time and effort into these titles as they did all their games from the last decade, because they aren't.

On their current development chart (5 years) they have 10 games of which 8 are expansions (I view the final two parts of SC2 as expansions).

Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty was in development for 7 years, Heart of the Swarm will be 1.5 years and Legacy of the Void will be an additional 1.5 years after that.

Diablo III has been in development for 10 years and is due to be released at the end of the year. Each of its two planned expansions are also planned to have 1.5 years of development time.

World of Warcraft was in development for 5 years before release. Its 4th and 5th expansions will each have 1.5 years between them.

Even if Project Titan releases on time it will have been in development for ~7 years or so.


So what, exactly, in this whole development scheme leads anyone to believe that Blizzard no longer takes their time?

[Nehkara]

Oh and to give a decent excuse for bringing up an old thread... the latest on Project Titan:

'Without giving away any details, we have some of our most experienced MMO developers, people who spent years working on the World of WarCraft team, working on this project,' he said.

'We're really trying to leverage all the lessons we learned through the years. Some of which we were able to address in World of Warcraft and others that maybe because of the design decisions we've made, you just can't address.

'So we're kind of taking a step back with all that knowledge to make something that's completely new and fresh. We're not trying to make a WOW sequel.'

Source: Mike Morhaime, originally posted on Ars Technica

[TylerSVT]

MMO's are so stupid and annoying. 15 bucks a month to play a video game... seriously?

[Nehkara]

Originally Posted by TylerSVT

MMO's are so stupid and annoying. 15 bucks a month to play a video game... seriously?

This is a strange post. $15 is the equivalent of going to one movie and not getting anything at the concession.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by Nehkara

This is a strange post. $15 is the equivalent of going to one movie and not getting anything at the concession.

To me the difference is that if you buy a normal game, it doesn't matter when you play it. If the game is any good, you'll get your money's worth.

Whereas with an MMO, if you don't play every month where you have an active subscription, you're wasting money.

[Nehkara]

Originally Posted by SebC

To me the difference is that if you buy a normal game, it doesn't matter when you play it. If the game is any good, you'll get your money's worth.

Whereas with an MMO, if you don't play every month where you have an active subscription, you're wasting money.

Yeah, if you want to be smart with your money you need to cancel when you're not playing.

[llama64]

Originally Posted by TylerSVT

MMO's are so stupid and annoying. 15 bucks a month to play a video game... seriously?

MMO's are stupid and annoying for the most part - but the subscription isn't the irritating part. You're paying for server maintenance and game content updating (a lot gets released for "free" in these games as a part of minor content updates).

MMO's generally suck for single person games - as in you're not playing with a bunch of people you know. However, they rock if you happen to have a couple friends who like to drink beer, talk on Skype and do something while you're shooting the breeze. It's like poker night, but for people in different cities who like to pretend they are cow men with giant schlongs.