“When it is ready”, This is what Blizzard used to say about their games. Now, every game company changes and evolves over time, and the gameplay of WoW sure is no exception. However lately it feels like the game has lost itself. Not in the way it plays, but the way it works.
I remember watching interviews, people asked the same questions every time, when will the next patch come out, next expansion? The answer were the same every time. When it is ready. However I think it is time to voice my opinion about how WoW has evolved, and all tough I like a lot, its not been for the better, and 8.3 has so far been the absolute lowest point.
From an outside perspective, it feels like the game lacks such a severe development time, proper QA, that once was valued, and it feels like the game is rushed, and not released “When it is ready”. On Macs, the game has been unplayable for 3 weeks, there has been massive bugs, that easily got picked up and fast by the community. Rushed bans that later proved to be bugs. Content thats rapidly changed from week to week.
I get that most developers focus on Shadowlands, and that there are strict deadlines, but right now, I prefer the old Blizzard, that released content when the content was ready and polished. 8.3, and huge parts of BFA has not been blizzard quality that we all fallen in love with. I rather wait 3 years, have 1 year of last content patch, than experiencing this ever again. Somewhere along the rapid development, it feels like the development, or monetisation have affected the game in such a way that is not healthy for the games best interest.
I hate to bring up the monetisation, but it kinda is a point to it, as the buyable content, mounts, pets etc, gets most of the attention to detail etc. The quality of default content suffers, and it feels like the game itself does that as well, as we quickly want to move into Shadowlands, cause thats another 50 Euro. “There is no money in patches” is what this feels like. And with all the cosmetics for real money? You pay 11Euro a month, 50-70 Euro per expansion, and another 20Euro for cosmetics and character services. I cant think of any other word, then that we get unreleased content, and the company I once loved for being ready when it was ready, and kept getting delayed for quality, now has become covetous.
Ive also been unfortunate to be a mac owner, so 50% of the gametime, where I have not been able to play on my PC, I had to sadly get stuck with Kernels and freezes. 3 Weeks with literally unplayable content, Please Blizzard. Take a breath, watch some old interviews, please do not rush content anymore. “Release it when it is ready”.
Once upon the time, we were ensured, that Blizzard made their own calls, and Activision would not affect them. Sadly, and with the departure of Morhaime, the last bit of resistance that stood up to Activisions and their greed. Im afraid Activision will keep gaining influence of Blizzard, and it already has resulted in the Departure of employees, including QA workers, which now with 8.3, and the Mac issue is all too evident. 8.3 has gave me the realisation, that there is more money than love in this game. It genuinely made me sad to see how Activisions business models affected Blizzard 12 years later.
If there is any self worth left in Blizzard, and if there are voices that actually have a saying, please Divorce Activision. I hate to see the games I once loved get lost to fear, and a corporate culture that takes the fun out of games.
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