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Blizzard's reputation collapsed in just three years

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Re: Blizzard's reputation collapsed in just three years

#42

So, firstly, I deplore the behavior that's been exposed recently. I hope the people responsible and their leaders end up getting shut out of the industry, sued and/or criminally charged as appropriate. But I wonder if those hoping aloud that this saga kills off Acti-Blizzard are indulging in wishful thinking. Isn't it likely that this is yet another so-called PR "disaster" that the vast majority of customers won't be…

> Blizzard is perhaps the best in the industry at this. They've done shitty things before, as documented in this article, but it hasn't really mattered. The users are hooked and business is booming.

Not as of now they are losing talents. Blizzard is notoriously in the industry for exploitively underpaying their employees.

Re: Blizzard's reputation collapsed in just three years

#43
post #3

Blizzards reputation has been going downhill since the merge with Activision. Some of my veteran WoW friends returned with the release of classic and TBC classic, but no one stayed for long. Blizzard has been destroying all of their franchises WoW - convoluted imbalanced hot mess Diablo - repetitive. Diablo immortal. Warcraft III - buggy and laggy steaming pile of undelivered promises Overwatch - imbalanced. Overwatc…

[deleted]

Re: Blizzard's reputation collapsed in just three years

#44
post #3

Blizzards reputation has been going downhill since the merge with Activision. Some of my veteran WoW friends returned with the release of classic and TBC classic, but no one stayed for long. Blizzard has been destroying all of their franchises WoW - convoluted imbalanced hot mess Diablo - repetitive. Diablo immortal. Warcraft III - buggy and laggy steaming pile of undelivered promises Overwatch - imbalanced. Overwatc…

This just reads like a person that doesn't like Blizzard games... edit And at the risk of getting flagged for being brief and baity, I'll elaborate. > WoW - convoluted imbalanced hot mess The biggest MMO of all time, still even today. > Diablo - repetitive. Diablo immortal. It is a game about repetition. To call it repetitive is like saying baseball has too many bases. > Warcraft III - buggy and laggy steaming pile o…

> The biggest MMO of all time, still even today.

Honestly, for the first time in a long while there are questions about this. Subs of anyone who renewed around shadowlands launch are expiring and active player numbers are down. It's hard to know for sure since neither WoW or Square release numbers, but if ffxiv retains enough of the current surge of newbies, Endwalker will almost certainly have more players than 9.2

Re: Blizzard's reputation collapsed in just three years

#45
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it's customers who need to be their main concern, but employees. I have to imagine that they are going to have to pay a pretty significant premium to recruit good people going forward. Maybe related: See the criticism of their games in this thread. Potentially this is explained by blizzard having trouble employing people who can make them good games...

It would be unprecedented for one of the most profitable companies in the games industry to struggle to hire top talent. The industry has always relied on a hiring pool that is willing to put up with untold amounts of bullshit for the privilege of working on games instead of CRUD apps. I don't think this thread or any other social media is a good indicator of a company's ability to hire talent. Look at Google and Fac…

Facebook pays well above the typical market rate from what I can see, presumably as a result of that being the only way to attract the talent they want with their reputation.

Google has a great reputation as a great place to work with most people in the industry. I think that is actually responsible for a pretty decent portion of their success.

People in the game industry who are any good have the ability to work for any number of companies in the game industry, Blizzards worsening reputation is going to mean blizzard has to do more (probably pay more) than those other companies to attract them.

Re: Blizzard's reputation collapsed in just three years

#46

So, firstly, I deplore the behavior that's been exposed recently. I hope the people responsible and their leaders end up getting shut out of the industry, sued and/or criminally charged as appropriate. But I wonder if those hoping aloud that this saga kills off Acti-Blizzard are indulging in wishful thinking. Isn't it likely that this is yet another so-called PR "disaster" that the vast majority of customers won't be…

What constitutes a "significant number" of customers to your mind? Losing 5% of WoW customers in very mature recurring revenue business would be huge hit, and not something they can easily make up. Its not like kids today are beating down the doors to play a game that launched the year Ronald Reagan died.

Even customers without a heart will be upset when content deadlines slip because of labor turmoil caused by this mismanagement.

And, of course, people who are upset about this who do like Blizzard games or work for Blizzard don't want Blizzard to be killed off. They want things to change. And it is not like 'frat boy culture" or incompetent management benefits shareholders. So perhaps that change could come.

Re: Blizzard's reputation collapsed in just three years

#47
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple is a master at this. News of its child and slave labor abuses have been brushed off because people love their products.

Also making a lot money off what is essentially a huge casino. (games that use Addictive Gambling Mechanics to sell Micro-transations)

That is on android too. So Google too

Re: Blizzard's reputation collapsed in just three years

#48
"Asmongold on Blizzard Now Blaming Players for Being Too Toxic"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFqbfdcnNf8

i saw the tweet by Blizzard dev. He blamed the players for Blizzard internal problem. this whole mess is Blizzard's own problem and he is dragging the players into it.

he should just say due to internal problem. the patch for WOW 9.2 will be delay and leave it.

Blizzard have been going down hill for awhile. They treat their players like cash cow and try to milk them anyway that they can.

players = paying customers. if you can't cook the burger that a customer already pay for. your paying customer will leave. its simple as that.

bottom line: Blizzard treat their employees and customers like shit.

Re: Blizzard's reputation collapsed in just three years

#49

So, firstly, I deplore the behavior that's been exposed recently. I hope the people responsible and their leaders end up getting shut out of the industry, sued and/or criminally charged as appropriate. But I wonder if those hoping aloud that this saga kills off Acti-Blizzard are indulging in wishful thinking. Isn't it likely that this is yet another so-called PR "disaster" that the vast majority of customers won't be…

Anecdotal evidence: I've seen so many posts of WoW players swearing to log off for 1 day in protest of recent events. One whole day. Meanwhile posts of players cancelling their subscriptions are few and far between.

That'll really teach Blizzard. Lower their server costs for one day. Ha!

Re: Blizzard's reputation collapsed in just three years

#50
post #3

Blizzards reputation has been going downhill since the merge with Activision. Some of my veteran WoW friends returned with the release of classic and TBC classic, but no one stayed for long. Blizzard has been destroying all of their franchises WoW - convoluted imbalanced hot mess Diablo - repetitive. Diablo immortal. Warcraft III - buggy and laggy steaming pile of undelivered promises Overwatch - imbalanced. Overwatc…

> Blizzards reputation has been going downhill since the merge with Activision. That was in 2008, right? So their reputation has been going downhill for 13 years?

Pretty much, yes. I’d say most wow fans say Burning Crusade was the high point and that was released in January 2007.
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