Well for a community manager, that post did not seem very community manage-y.
He's not a community manager. Previously were an online rep maybe, but by the time D3 shipped he was a customer support rep. I'd guess Linkedin just isn't up-to-date.
Well for a community manager, that post did not seem very community manage-y.
He's not a community manager. Previously were an online rep maybe, but by the time D3 shipped he was a customer support rep. I'd guess Linkedin just isn't up-to-date.
I think this is a pretty fair assessment of the situation. I feel the same with Jay Wilson's comment for the most part, the guy has been part of some pretty good games. He said something dumb on what was supposed to be a private Facebook conversation (at least I think it was) and react like they've never taken criticism badly in their lives.Why this is dangerous is that the community at large is sometimes very incapable of critical thinking, and instead just compress, compress and compress until Blizzard is digging itself into an imaginary hole, and all that is thanks to a COMMENT on a facebook page made by a CM.
As far as I am concerned, Blizzard's efforts with communicating to the fans (the HUNDREDS of Bashiok posts in the past few months only, all the explanations, back-and-forths, developer blog, the patch 1.0.4 and the other goals that are yet to be implemented) GREATLY trumps one overzealous CM who does not understand that his post, however true it might be for quite a few people, will not only not change their mind, but will only escalate things.
So it's actually the communities fault that Blizzard employees are, lately, acting like complete assholes in social media.Why this is dangerous is that the community at large is sometimes very incapable of critical thinking, and instead just compress, compress and compress until Blizzard is digging itself into an imaginary hole, and all that is thanks to a COMMENT on a facebook page made by a CM.
That's Bashiok's job as a CM, he doesn't deserve kudos for posting on a message board, even ones as shitty as the bnet forums. Almost every development team these days has various forms of interacting with their playerbase through community managers, dev-run blogs, and actual back and forth discussions with actual developers in official and, sometimes, fan forums.As far as I am concerned, Blizzard's efforts with communicating to the fans (the HUNDREDS of Bashiok posts in the past few months only, all the explanations, back-and-forths, developer blog, the patch 1.0.4 and the other goals that are yet to be implemented) GREATLY trumps one overzealous CM who does not understand that his post, however true it might be for quite a few people, will not only not change their mind, but will only escalate things.
Read my previous comment. Developers communicating with their playerbase is neither new nor special. It is true that Blizzard goes the extra mile by holding fan conventions with all sorts of neat stuff to do, but again they are not the first nor only company to do such a thing. The only reason it seems special to you, I'm assuming, is because you pay more attention to Blizzard than you do most other developers. It's a bubble that Blizzard fans commonly find themselves in, and I won't begrudge you the naivety of it.Looking at the big picture, I still have yet to see other examples of teams that are this communicative about their games like Blizzard is - with a few VERY good exceptions like Grinding Gear Games and ArenaNet -, because by large, the industry is as one-sided as it gets. And until Blizzard is the exception to this rule, I do not feel like I should be mad at them for what they are actually doing right.*
I see two ways out of this tunnel.
One is realizing, recognizing and accepting that the developers of Blizzards are not demigods, or not even the peaks of the human existence - they are capable of failing and yes, they say FUCK YOU when someone pokes at them just as much. Especially if they think it is a private facebook conversation, not a public one, but hey. Yes, they swear, they make mistakes, but their goal is to improve the product they are making. And that is more important to me, personally. Might not be for others.
The other way is to close off all non-professional communication channels to all staff and only allow them to express themselves through the official chnanels. Which would be a sad development, maintaining a social prison because they and their community are both not ready for a natural social engagement yet.
Which way do we go?
And we learn they are human.
GAF is firing him?
Everything Blizzard touches is purest gaming perfection. And you'd better not say otherwise.
I never really understand GAF's "I want their heads!" reactions. It's mostly just funny to watch grown adults act this petty and childish.
You want to see the entire entertainment industry crash and burn, don't you?
No, it's not, the same games with a different name wouldn't be regarded the same way.
Just watching how WoW has developed over the years, and not just its general direction, but how they've responded to feedback, how they've changed game systems, as well as watching how they've handled Diablo 3, I've gotten a general feeling that many of the higher-ups there have developed very fragile and very bloated egos.
I can understand how they can come to dislike their own community, though, and how that plays into being sensitive to criticism in general. Usually the most vocal people, the ones they hear the most, are the unreasonable ones, or ones who have no idea what they're talking about. I think having to listen to that kind of stuff so much, and to have to put up with so much of the idiocy has put them into defensive mode, where all of a sudden anybody who talks poorly of them gets written off or mocked. When you seem to always be dealing with unreasonable and unknowledgeable critics, it's easy to slip into assuming everyone is evil, dumb, etc., even when they're being constructive or otherwise mild in their criticisms.
I can see where they'd be especially touchy with a guy who, if you're looking for an angle and are paranoid enough, can be seen as saying "Well, they screwed the pooch. Our old team was awesome they can't beat us." Of course, he didn't say that, but I could believe it that people like Jay Wilson are that temperamental when it comes to games they've made.
Just a shame to watch them fan the flames like this. (Or even start the fire to begin with.)
dammit blizzard you were one of my favorite companies a few years ago
Sorry, I thought you were being seriousSarcasm. I agree with you.
I wish my company gave me a sword after five years. All I got was a framed certificate.
Does Kotick get a full set of armour?shield at 10, a special ring at 15.
one man speaks the truth and a bunch of blizzard employees need some pacifiers. I love how they preach how much they love constructive criticism yet can't really take it from another developer
one man speaks the truth and a bunch of blizzard employees need some pacifiers. I love how they preach how much they love constructive criticism yet can't really take it from another developer
Brevik is not just another developer. He is one of the original creators of the franchise so he knew very well the reach that his comments would have and how they would be used to fuel the critics. He is free to comment on the game off course, but he knew what those comments would result in. Jay's reaction is something everyone would have, every single one of us, but in private. He just went ballistic in the internet. That served only to escalate the issue and now this ex-CM will just make this snowball even more.
No one is getting fired, not even the "fecal matter" dude.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHz2ky-jng8
Watching this video is like, it seems to be the undertone even with the upper management that: "We used to be about the games...sigh...wish we still were." I know it's a retrospective video, but the phrasing and tone is so subtle, especially from Adham that it looks like they're going through a rough patch and the good days are behind them. Maybe it's just nostalgia, who knows.
I don't really care what anyone says this way or that, since the merger it's slowly changing. WoW is processed methodical formulaic poop now and D3 obviously should've been held back another few months to add some semblance of an end game.
On the other hand though, there are some people that really are keeping the hope alive there. Greg Street gets more shit in a day than anyone deserves, and he just keeps on truckin with a smile and does his best, it's a thankless job and any hiccup is fixed while the community just shits on him for even making a mistake in the first place.
Metzen is also doing really well with the books, IIRC the Warcraft books that get released are for the most part acclaimed. He doesn't write them I don't think, but he's in charge of the lore and keeping everything in check, it's all as good as it ever was.
You think so? You don't think maybe some people would be apt to listen to the guy that made the successful Diablo instead of berate him?
You think so? You don't think maybe some people would be apt to listen to the guy that made the successful Diablo instead of berate him?
Dude is contemplating the past with rose tinted glasses...but truth is the new school could show more respect to the old geezer, even though his attitude is nasty.
Listen? In what way? "Oh, he made a good point by saying that it shows why Diablo III sucks - apparently it does -, it was because our whole team is simply not fit for the job we have been doing in the past 5+ years. Pack it up guys, He Hath Spoken!"
There are things to listen to, and there are thing to not. That interview was the latter. And they keep listening to constructive criticism.
Listen? In what way? "Oh, he made a good point by saying that it shows why Diablo III sucks - apparently it does -, it was because our whole team is simply not fit for the job we have been doing in the past 5+ years. Pack it up guys, He Hath Spoken!"
There are things to listen to, and there are thing to not. That interview was the latter. And they keep listening to constructive criticism.
This and games community making such a commotion over this.
Its a wonder devs even dare to speak to the public.
patch 1.04 looks awesome yeah i want to torture myself with grinding.
So you either now out gear inferno acts or out level inferno acts.
And the increase of rare drops is also nice so instead of 5 rare you can get 20 if im not mistaken. Should make farming a lot nicer and out gearing a lot easier.
The "old geezer"'s studio was making Diablo 3 and got disbanded perhaps because Vivendi did not like the direction where it's going. Then they handed the franchise to a new bunch of guys with experience in other genres, that can't feel good for a creator of the franchise...
Math doesn't work that way. You just have a greater chance to get a magical item from trash mobs. It will increase the amount of drops, but probably in a very subtle way.
As opposed to "Let's have this guy in charge, he obviously knows what he's doing! Good PR too!"
I think the general consensus is that D3 sold on the shoulders of D2, we'll never know for sure if the game would've sold as well on it's own I guess, but maybe the idea that something isn't working with the people making D3 (and probably the expansions) now aren't the best people they could have working on it.
Math doesn't work that way. You just have a greater chance to get a magical item from trash mobs. It will increase the amount of drops, but probably in a very subtle way.
The original team Diablo 3 development resulted on the disbanding of that team and Blizzard North demise. In the initial state of development it was planned to be an MMO even. Sure it was really early in the process and those plans could change while in the dev process but can you imagine what these people that are criticizing the Diablo 3 that we currently have would say if that happened? It would be a massacre. It's still too early to make a final judgment on Diablo 3.
Am I the only one who feels like this whole incident is just silly, and has been typically blown out of proportion?
So what if a few developers stood up for their game and made a remark (an indirect one on a facebook no less) towards an ex-employee. Not saying that it was the right way to go about it, certainly not on a publicly visible facebook - but good for them for standing behind their game. The only real mistake they've made is making that post visible to everyone, but I certainly don't think it warrants hate towards Blizzard.
And I think this latest thing is pretty poor too, but considering how hostile the gaming community can be (lets not deny it, developers/publishers are harassed or threatened with a boycott for every wrong step or remark they make) I'm not surprised if someone acted out in the heat of the moment.
Honestly, the reaction from their community has more to do with their disappointment in the game than their need to defend David Brebik. Also, I would imagine that the Blizzard devs reactions to David Brebik is more of a result of the fan reaction to Diablo 3 than Brebik's words. Brebik just added fuel to a fire that was already burning and now it's just getting out of control.