World of Warcraft: Current Year

BoozeCube said:

Who knows but they should have ended the arms race with addon bullshit ages ago, also they should have fired Ion long ago but I doubt anyone they could replace him with is any better. All talent fled blizzard long ago.

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Addons should always have been limited to skins. Think of how much innovation they've not had to pursue or develop because they spend every waking moment combatting the player and the addon developer. They really just develop systems out of spite to control people.

Neranja said:

I'd like to know who the fuck it was who decided to "esport" an MMO, and why they thought that was a good idea. It most likely wasn't Ion, as he seems mostly interested in his raids and that people play them.
It must have been around 2017 with the MDI when it became obvious. Was it John Hight?

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No. It was well before that. You may have noticed it with WoW because Legion's introduction of Mythic Dungeons at that time. But they were pursuing the esport bullshit with raids before then. Starcraft, and to a lesser extent, Warcraft (RSTS) - were the OG culprits. I recall really hearing about how raids were being designed against addons starting sometime in Cataclysm's prime. Which just so happens to be roughly around the same time as Starcraft 2's prime. Or we could really just point the finger at South Korea and be done with the conversation.

I can follow there motivations for wanting to include it into every game. But it has taken them far, far, too long to realize that these competitive modes have alienated a huge chunk of their player base. I shouldnt feel like its a charity situation to group with people I like grouping with. My buddy shouldnt feel like he has to beg me to play with him just because he does low item lvl content. Goes against the social bonds of an MMO and they should have saw that disparate change way back MOP at the very least.

But its whatever. Its just a game to play for a couple weeks every now and then, and thats all it'll ever be.

Neranja said:

I'd like to know who the fuck it was who decided to "esport" an MMO, and why they thought that was a good idea. It most likely wasn't Ion, as he seems mostly interested in his raids and that people play them.
It must have been around 2017 with the MDI when it became obvious. Was it John Hight?

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They put a massive investment into StarCraft 2 e-sports. Some good documentaries on it covering the fall of Blizzard's e-sport ventures. They really tried to brute force SC2 without any grass roots movement. The presumption that SC2 could be a global phenom was ridiculous, especially in light of the balance issues and breakneck APM that even turned off SC1 professionals.

Someone at Blizzard thought they could take StarCraft 1's existing popularity in Korea and if they just funded it and backed it enough they could mainstream SC2 to everyone and make it a phenomenon. So it was around 2010 that Blizzard tried to e-sport one of their games by force. Overwatch having moderate e-sport success (with longevity) is probably the main reason they will never let go of the MDI. If Overwatch completely failed and was rejected as an e-sport the same way SC2 was, MDI likely never exists.

There is nothing to stop Blizzard from keeping M+ timers for "professional league" play (via a UI command or opt-in), or introducing the timer at 12+ key level (I'd say 12 key is around where "pro" coordination starts to develop) and separating the e-sport element from the normal customers.

Their 10k viewers will still watch the MDI every year whether normal M+ has a timer in it or not. "It has a timer because it's the pros" sounds fine to me. Just make a separate compromise for the 10,000 people who want a timer.

Out of touch. This is just a buff for the MDI crowd.

Should have been set to something attainable for core players. Nobody is PUGing 2850. 2700 maybe could be puggable over the course of an entire season.

jayrebb said:

Out of touch. This is just a buff for the MDI crowd.

Should have been set to something attainable for core players. Nobody is PUGing 2850. 2700 maybe could be puggable over the course of an entire season.

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They removed Guile in S2 so the wall is gone. I got bored and quit but solo pugged it past that as a warrior in S1, there was someone else in the FoH guild that I played with that ended up getting a number of characters past that in pugs or duo with me only. Guile was a big big problem, now there is a smoother curve and many people wont stop at 11.

Its still a retarded achievement, but with the wall gone more invites will go out to more people probably since theres no risk to blowing the key. Its not solving problems suffered by the majority of the M+ player base however. And with the new dungeon pool its going to be a mess, I know I am not resubbing for it lol.

TJT said:

It goes way back to who these people are. Some of us remember the Legacy of Steel weekly raid dumps of how much they rekt dragons and bosses. Which were awesome in the context of the neckbeard MMORPG nerd niche subculture. This translated into the next generation of the same neckbeards with Ion and the gang. Who similarly dunked on eachother for world firsts and other shit. When they eventually became leaders at Blizzard they thought everyone would love this!

When in reality this is the nerdiest of nerd shit that existed only in the sub-basement of general nerd culture.

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Ion did hire a lot of devs from elitistjerks. EJ ran most of the development for years, probably still does. By this point, some of them are likely still around and in the most senior positions.

Wheres the FoH meet up happening?!

M+ participation hits record lows, forces Ion's hand.



Whether they want changes or not, change will come.



40% of all M+ runs overall are one of these 5 specs.



It's a war cry.

jayrebb said:

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“We aren’t really focused on whether people actually play this game mode, only that those who do, play it in the way we want them to.”