It doesn't matter if we are safe for 2019 or not. And it doesn't matter what was told to community members on the Summit.
What matters is that we know now that there will come a time someone at ActiBlizz will look at the numbers and decide to cut sc2 and focus only on OW and HS.
I'll never again buy a Blizzard product. And I really hope SC2 content creators start thinking how they can branch off to new non-Blizzard games. You don't want to be in Khaldors situation, ie. moving to another continent and fully devoting to one game for 3 years, completely neglecting your twitch stream and your brand on social networks, and then finding out the game is no longer existant.
Personally, i would be worried for SC2 esports. With all the negative news about how Blizzard management is changing to be more corporate and fixated on more profits than making good games, surely they must be looking at SC2 as well.
You mean like a shitty card game with overwhelming marketing? A shitty TF2? A shitty dota? A shitty diablo?
Back then you could blindly buy any blizzard game, they were redefining the highest standard for PC games. They're just another big company now.
I also strongly dislike esport being pushed. Sure it's more convenient to have readily accessible competitive game but it's too accessible. Pubs used to be pubs, now ladder games are like a WCS grand final for some raging nerds and the "casual" (as they call this option) games are just people willingly trolling. It was better when we had a sort of wall to access competitive game, like creating a stack on IRC, garena, subscribing to ESL or whatever. Ladder games would be competitive but without life at stake and actual tryhard environment usually involved well behaved people because it took some effort to organise it and if they were dick no one would play with them again.
On December 16 2018 18:21 Odoakar wrote: I'll never again buy a Blizzard product. And I really hope SC2 content creators start thinking how they can branch off to new non-Blizzard games. You don't want to be in Khaldors situation, ie. moving to another continent and fully devoting to one game for 3 years, completely neglecting your twitch stream and your brand on social networks, and then finding out the game is no longer existant.
Really ? I liked Khaldor back in the day but don't have a clue of what he is doing now? any news, ?
On December 16 2018 18:21 Odoakar wrote: I'll never again buy a Blizzard product. And I really hope SC2 content creators start thinking how they can branch off to new non-Blizzard games. You don't want to be in Khaldors situation, ie. moving to another continent and fully devoting to one game for 3 years, completely neglecting your twitch stream and your brand on social networks, and then finding out the game is no longer existant.
Really ? I liked Khaldor back in the day but don't have a clue of what he is doing now? any news, ?
He went all in on HotS, both solocasting stuff and being hired as a commentator. He could possibly stay with HotS and cater whatever following is left or just leave and work with another game.
It is not the birthright of anybody to work with e-sports either. I am sure both players and broadcaster know dramatic things can happen.
On December 16 2018 18:21 Odoakar wrote: I'll never again buy a Blizzard product. And I really hope SC2 content creators start thinking how they can branch off to new non-Blizzard games. You don't want to be in Khaldors situation, ie. moving to another continent and fully devoting to one game for 3 years, completely neglecting your twitch stream and your brand on social networks, and then finding out the game is no longer existant.
Really ? I liked Khaldor back in the day but don't have a clue of what he is doing now? any news, ?
He went all in on HotS, both solocasting stuff and being hired as a commentator. He could possibly stay with HotS and cater whatever following is left or just leave and work with another game.
It is not the birthright of anybody to work with e-sports either. I am sure both players and broadcaster know dramatic things can happen.
I'm really surprised by how ineptly this was handled. I feel the dramatic nature of this announcement has substantial intangible costs in terms of their reputation. They could have scaled back HGC and more gradually (and quietly) shrank the Heroes team and no one would have batted an eyelash. It would have cost them a bit more, but it would have saved them all the bad press. As it is, there are negative articles posted on every major gaming website, and it reinforces the narrative that Blizzard is going downhill. Seems like a PR blunder.
On December 16 2018 18:21 Odoakar wrote: I'll never again buy a Blizzard product. And I really hope SC2 content creators start thinking how they can branch off to new non-Blizzard games. You don't want to be in Khaldors situation, ie. moving to another continent and fully devoting to one game for 3 years, completely neglecting your twitch stream and your brand on social networks, and then finding out the game is no longer existant.
Really ? I liked Khaldor back in the day but don't have a clue of what he is doing now? any news, ?
He went all in on HotS, both solocasting stuff and being hired as a commentator. He could possibly stay with HotS and cater whatever following is left or just leave and work with another game.
It is not the birthright of anybody to work with e-sports either. I am sure both players and broadcaster know dramatic things can happen.
He said he would be going into WC3 casting now.
He has been focusing WC3 before the news even came out (basically after BlizzCon). So I think he will be fine.
On December 15 2018 09:03 sneakyfox wrote: maynarde tweets
ya, problem is HOTS community members were issued guarantees HotD 2019 and HGC 2019 were happening during Blizzcon. Look what ended up happening.
If some financial overlord several management layers above all these Blizzard employees decides the funding for WCS is cut... its over.
if people are feeling paranoid... let 'em... its justified.
That is not true. Blizzard has been silent on HGC since BlizzCon based on all tweets from HOTS players that I saw. The players and team owners have been asking about HGC since after BlizzCon given Blizzard didn't release any confirmation regarding HGC 2019. They keep saying they would release information soon which was eventually a shutdown. The players and teams did speculate a scale-down of some sort but didn't expect a full shutdown. They thought HGC would last for another year.
Blizzard employees spoke to Kala just days earlier. UNless he is lying about that. I doubt he is. Its more likely these Blizzard employees sincerely believed what they were saying to Kala. And then someone way above their management level changed plans. This is what happens when you get a new CEO man.
Haven't you ever worked at a place where a new CEO takeover occurs? Its standard for everyone to think and say 1 thing.. and the CEO says "not true any more .. this is what we're doing"
I'm NOT saying Kala was lying but he never specified which Blizzard employees or "high-up" people he was talking to. Some random community manager's words generally mean nothing these days. They could just say some stuff that they thought might happen. Unless he heard from the CEO himself, then what he heard was just "he said she said". Frankly, by the wording "if not more support coming this year", I could already tell whoever talked to Kala was just bullsh*ting. Even pro HOTS players thought they might have one more year at best given there is no growth in HOTS scene anymore. Some pro players already switched to other games a year ago. Blizzard makes it very clear that they focus heavily on OW so "more support" to the game that has no growth doesn't even sound plausible.
Anyway, regarding SC2, I feel Blizzard should announce something this coming week given it is their tradition to announce details of coming-up year the week before Xmas. Fingers crossed for SC2. I hope for another year but if things go south, I wouldn't be surprised.
On December 16 2018 18:21 Odoakar wrote: I'll never again buy a Blizzard product. And I really hope SC2 content creators start thinking how they can branch off to new non-Blizzard games. You don't want to be in Khaldors situation, ie. moving to another continent and fully devoting to one game for 3 years, completely neglecting your twitch stream and your brand on social networks, and then finding out the game is no longer existant.
Really ? I liked Khaldor back in the day but don't have a clue of what he is doing now? any news, ?
He went all in on HotS, both solocasting stuff and being hired as a commentator. He could possibly stay with HotS and cater whatever following is left or just leave and work with another game.
It is not the birthright of anybody to work with e-sports either. I am sure both players and broadcaster know dramatic things can happen.
He said he would be going into WC3 casting now.
Ok thanks all of you. I'd like to see him cast some sc2 again
Morhaime knew this was coming a few weeks before BlizzCon. He did not want to run around shaking hands with a smile plastered on his face telling everyone how great everything was at Blizzard during BlizzCon knowing HGC, HotD and Heroes would be cut.
So he quit. He made damn sure in his farewell statement he had been relegated to "Blizzard Fan Status" and had zero decision making abilities.
Mike Morhaime is the greatest. That sad look on Mike's face at Blizzcon was because he was sad for the fans because he knew this was coming. He was not sad because he lost his position at Blizzard.. he didn't care. I saw Morhaime standing beside a building he bought in the 2000s for Blizzard to work in. It was a celebration ceremony for Blizzard. The guy bought a fucking giant building worth millions and he must've had $100 worth of clothes on. What a guy. damn...
To Blizzard I say : " you called down the thunder .... now reap the whirlwind "
On December 17 2018 00:25 JimmyJRaynor wrote: Morhaime knew this was coming a few weeks before BlizzCon. He did not want to run around shaking hands with a smile plastered on his face telling everyone how great everything was at Blizzard during BlizzCon knowing HGC, HotD and Heroes would be cut.
So he quit. He made damn sure in his farewell statement he had been relegated to "Blizzard Fan Status" and had zero decision making abilities.
Mike Morhaime is the greatest.
To Blizzard I say : " you called down the thunder .... now reap the whirlwind "
I don't know about you, but that was the most awkward hand off between Morhaime and Brack .. I knew it was the end of the Blizzard we knew and the beginning of major changes. so here we go! Hold on tight!
On December 17 2018 00:25 JimmyJRaynor wrote: Morhaime knew this was coming a few weeks before BlizzCon. He did not want to run around shaking hands with a smile plastered on his face telling everyone how great everything was at Blizzard during BlizzCon knowing HGC, HotD and Heroes would be cut.
So he quit. He made damn sure in his farewell statement he had been relegated to "Blizzard Fan Status" and had zero decision making abilities.
Mike Morhaime is the greatest.
To Blizzard I say : " you called down the thunder .... now reap the whirlwind "
I don't know about you, but that was the most awkward hand off between Morhaime and Brack .. I knew it was the end of the Blizzard we knew and the beginning of major changes. so here we go! Hold on tight!
They knew it was the end of Blizzard too. the question is .. did you know.. that they knew.
Sc2 has a very stable player and fanbase and now its even on the rise. Its the ultimate esport for 1v1 games and probably best RTS since forever. It has such a histroy that it cant be compared to Hots imo. Canceling SC2 events would make a huge scandal, blizzard might think twice before doing so.
I agree I think SC2 is fine, I was kinda dissapointed in this as well but you know, Dota2 and LoL are on the decline as well (still good viewership and playerbase though), but HoTS never really made it as big as those games and I do think Blizzard needs to concentrate on their efforts elsewhere and new products.....
I would love to see a new Starcraft game or major content, no not a SC3 I don't think thats necessary for even maybe another like 4-5 years but like a new single player spin off or something would be nice with maybe like a new race or something different. Or maybe like a campaign where you play like multiple races and setting up some story for SC3 either way...the story telling and whatnot need to be on point if and when they come out with a new Starcraft game.
On December 17 2018 00:25 JimmyJRaynor wrote: Morhaime knew this was coming a few weeks before BlizzCon. He did not want to run around shaking hands with a smile plastered on his face telling everyone how great everything was at Blizzard during BlizzCon knowing HGC, HotD and Heroes would be cut.
So he quit. He made damn sure in his farewell statement he had been relegated to "Blizzard Fan Status" and had zero decision making abilities.
Mike Morhaime is the greatest.
To Blizzard I say : " you called down the thunder .... now reap the whirlwind "
I don't know about you, but that was the most awkward hand off between Morhaime and Brack .. I knew it was the end of the Blizzard we knew and the beginning of major changes. so here we go! Hold on tight!
Well Morhaime was the one publishing a bandwagon game and creating a clearly unsustainable esports scene around it. And let's not pretend like WOW business model has anything on mobile game, it's a game where you need to buy a (well like 7) full prize game and a monthly subscription fee that still manage to have thousands of dollars in micro transaction with some of them being clearly pay to win. Sure the quality of Blizzard game has fell of and their communication seem lacklustre at best, but let's not pretend like Blizz was at some point our good old friend who let us down.
On December 16 2018 18:21 Odoakar wrote: I'll never again buy a Blizzard product. And I really hope SC2 content creators start thinking how they can branch off to new non-Blizzard games. You don't want to be in Khaldors situation, ie. moving to another continent and fully devoting to one game for 3 years, completely neglecting your twitch stream and your brand on social networks, and then finding out the game is no longer existant.
Really ? I liked Khaldor back in the day but don't have a clue of what he is doing now? any news, ?
He went all in on HotS, both solocasting stuff and being hired as a commentator. He could possibly stay with HotS and cater whatever following is left or just leave and work with another game.
It is not the birthright of anybody to work with e-sports either. I am sure both players and broadcaster know dramatic things can happen.
He said he would be going into WC3 casting now.
He has been focusing WC3 before the news even came out (basically after BlizzCon). So I think he will be fine.
How is sponsoring in WC3? And how about viewership? Is the game popular? I've never actually cared for or watched Warcraft.
They can kill SC2 like they just did Heroes at any moment that they want to or their investors aka Activision decides to.
Highly unlikely it'll happen but that's exactly what all the Heroes people thought too.
Blizzard has a monopoly though on the RTS market - SC2 is the only good RTS game on the market, there is zero competition so SC2 is pretty safe for the moment. No company is going to give up a product where they have a complete monopoly on the market share.
so as soon as a better RTS comes out...yes, they will do what they did to Heroes to SC2.
With that said...it won't happen no other devs have the balls to make a new RTS So we are safe
On December 16 2018 18:21 Odoakar wrote: It doesn't matter if we are safe for 2019 or not. And it doesn't matter what was told to community members on the Summit.
What matters is that we know now that there will come a time someone at ActiBlizz will look at the numbers and decide to cut sc2 and focus only on OW and HS.
I'll never again buy a Blizzard product. And I really hope SC2 content creators start thinking how they can branch off to new non-Blizzard games. You don't want to be in Khaldors situation, ie. moving to another continent and fully devoting to one game for 3 years, completely neglecting your twitch stream and your brand on social networks, and then finding out the game is no longer existant.
What do you mean with "now"? It was always clear for every sane person that Blizzard will eventually stop support for a title and move to another.
EPT
