Poster: Ineluki at 5/14/2006 9:49:24 PM PDT
Subject: Why Naxxramas and not a 5man? Answer here. |
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Time: October '05
Location: Irvine, CA conference room
ETA for Burning Crusade: Q3 2006
Content Pipeline: 7-8 months per instance
Meeting Agenda: You have the manpower to design 2 new instances. You can only finish one for the level 60s before the expansion comes out - the other one will ship for level 70s with Burning Crusade.
Put yourself in the designers' shoes. Those are the facts. Do you:
a) Release the 5man dungeon first; ship the raid as level 70 content in BC. For two months, everyone's happy; then the expansion hits, and people run the 5man you worked so hard on about as much as they run Sunken Temple today. The level 70 raid is still out of reach for them.
b) Release the raid dungeon first; ship the 5man with the expansion. For two months, everyone's unhappy; then the expansion hits, and casuals have access to both your level 70 5man for a small group challenge, and the level 60 raid dungeon for some really nice gear if they feel like it.
Today's hardcore content is tomorrow's casual content. With that philosophy in mind, which choice do you make?
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Poster: Tseric at 5/15/2006 7:45:41 AM PDT
Subject: Re: Why Naxxramas and not a 5man? Answer here |
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Wait...what? Someone is taking the long view without resorting to petty name calling or gross generalizations? Whoa.
To live outside the law, one must be honorable
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| | http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-general&t=8328480&p=#post8333192 |
Poster: Tseric at 5/15/2006 7:53:50 AM PDT
Subject: Re: Why Naxxramas and not a 5man? Answer here |
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Q u o t e:
I sure hope Nax will have no use once BC is released. Otherwise I see no point in buying the expansion.
So no, I still don't understand why Bliz spent that much time designing huge content for <5% of players, while there hasn't been any new 5-man in one year.
But, wouldn't it seem more likely that a group who had leveled past such content might be more compelled to go back to it at a later time? Going back to 5-mans is usually a solo-farming venture, but having a raid dungeon that you've never been in might be tempting as retro-content for a smaller guild.
Seems like a bunch of level 70s going back to BWL or Naxx seems just as likely as players going back to farm SM.
To live outside the law, one must be honorable
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| | http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-general&t=8328480&p=#post8333296 |
Poster: Tseric at 5/15/2006 8:01:07 AM PDT
Subject: Re: Why Naxxramas and not a 5man? Answer here |
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Q u o t e:
So its ok to make progression in your game stagnant for months just because of this "long view"?
Sorry, no.
If Blizzard was as concerned with the "long view" as you seem to be indicating in the first place, such a collosal mistake as this would have been seen before release. Its not an issue of "long view" its an issue of "long view" + overwhelming and self-serving hyperfocus on content that doesn't cater to enough people or a board enough playstyle.
Explain to me how, if Blizzard has enough sense to utilize this long term view, they managed not to see thier current stagnation from over 1 year ago?
That "collosal mistake" as you call it was a result of the development cycle being delayed and changed in order to cope with the success and demand of the game for months after the release. Had this game not had to have work done to revamp and adjust for a growing player base, the release of these various dungeons would have gone differently. There wouldn't have been a reordering to put in DIre Maul first. The release of all of these dungeons would have been more timely. Hence, there would have been less of a "content gap" and people would have been trucking on their merry way to 70 on an earlier timeline.
Your post suggests we are doing this deliberately, out of ignorance or malice. Neither point stands up.[ post edited by Tseric ]
To live outside the law, one must be honorable
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| | http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-general&t=8328480&p=#post8333407 |
Poster: Tseric at 5/15/2006 8:40:43 AM PDT
Subject: Re: Why Naxxramas and not a 5man? Answer here |
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Q u o t e:
So because the player base grew rapidly, the DESIGN team somehow hit a road block? Haven't you told us time and time again that departments are seperate and that a choke in one area can't be handled by anyone but those responsible for it?
So why is the DESIGN team being held back by an issue that the service providers are responsible for Tseric?
Because when it's a company's first MMO the growth pushes on all ends. The success of this game has affected every single department of this company, often in fundamental ways. In two years this company has more than quadrupled in size and has expended vast resources to feed the hungry masses, so to speak.
We have tried to accomodate everyone and predict a turbulent future. In doing so, we have made mistakes. But in doing that, we learn more.
This is an MMO. Everyone is affected.
To live outside the law, one must be honorable
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| | http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-general&t=8328480&p=#post8334058 |
Poster: Tseric at 5/15/2006 8:58:53 AM PDT
Subject: Re: Why Naxxramas and not a 5man? Answer here |
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Q u o t e:
No offense, but do you really think excuses matter to paying customers? So you were so successful, raking in millions and millions of dollars.. a month.. that this curtailed creation of new content? Gee, our hearts bleed for you. :p
So the "content" we can enjoy is leftovers from old raiding instances? You are joking, right? Raid instances designed for a healthy mix of classes. Designed with class mixes in mind. Players get to trudge through these places as their "content" eh, with funky class mixes / less people. Great, glad to see you are thinking so highly of what is clearly the majority of your paying customer base.
So there you have it! New content for non-raiders is leftover raid instances! Brilliant.
Are you also suggesting that a year ago, when Dire Maul was being released, your crew couldn't see the growth pattern of this game, and plan accordingly? If they had started a new non-raid instance when Dire Maul was first completed, it'd be out now.
The fact remains that a small minority of your players are even touching existing raid content. Even less will touch Naxx.
And your answer? Once the expansion is released, you have your "content" in old raid instances.
Brilliant.
Is that the longterm solution as well? Just curious if we can expect more of the same after the expansion. That is, more raiding instances, and when your *next* expansion comes out, then all the raid instances will be our "new content" once again.
Well, we are adding content that is accessible to everyone in 1.11, but I'm sure you'll just poo-poo that like you are doing right now with everything being offered. We are looking into some fundamental improvements for PvP in 1.12, but I'm sure you'll find an excuse not to participate.
Don't worry, we'll keep trying to please the people who dismiss everything that comes their way, too.
To live outside the law, one must be honorable
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