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[Lecture] Mike Morhaime on Blizzard so far

Forum Index > General Games
Post a Reply
dementus
Profile Blog Joined March 2007
Singapore1151 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-06-28 06:18:35
April 04 2011 15:40 GMT
#1
Hey friends!

Found this old (circa 2008-2009) video of a guest lecture Mike Morhaime gave at the University of Texas at Austin where he details Blizzard's storied history, their game design philosophy, coping with the overwhelming success of WoW, and what lies beyond.

It's moderated by Warren Spector, whom most of you will remember fondly for his involvement in legendary franchises such as Ultima, Thief, and Deus Ex.

I found this worth posting because I think most of you enjoy games enough to be interested in the companies that make them, and this was particularly compelling. Small nuggets like how Morhaime's a huge fan of poker, what exactly Blizzard thinks of WoW gold farmers, and how they've maintained creative autonomy despite being publicly held for years get revealed here. Oh, and this wouldn't be a Blizzard-related game talk without him discussing their infamous tendency to delay releases.

[image loading]

[image loading]Watch it here!

You can also grab the raw file
[image loading]
HERE
(original source) or [image loading]HERE (FileFactory)

If you enjoyed this series you can check out OTHER INTERVIEWS hosted here. I found the Richard Garriot one of especial interest.
"I couldn't stop myself from having unreal macro and sick timing senses."
Bibdy
Profile Joined March 2010
United States3481 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-04 16:24:49
April 04 2011 16:24 GMT
#2
This is very cool, thankyou. Are these files hosted by yourself? They're pretty large, so I don't want to go destroying some nameless person's bandwidth usage
dementus
Profile Blog Joined March 2007
Singapore1151 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-04 20:10:04
April 04 2011 16:28 GMT
#3
They're not; I'll have it up on a public file-sharing site or two within an hour or so! A vimeo embed will be up later today.
"I couldn't stop myself from having unreal macro and sick timing senses."
dementus
Profile Blog Joined March 2007
Singapore1151 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-04 20:09:33
April 04 2011 19:52 GMT
#4
Alright, updated the OP to include a link to FileFactory.
"I couldn't stop myself from having unreal macro and sick timing senses."
NB
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
Netherlands12045 Posts
April 04 2011 20:10 GMT
#5
this thread should be high lighted :D... a gem right here!
Im daed. Follow me @TL_NB
dementus
Profile Blog Joined March 2007
Singapore1151 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-06-27 23:17:01
June 27 2011 23:16 GMT
#6
Slightly rude bump, but I've since posted it to vimeo (can't embed it here, sadly) I thought I should let you all know.
"I couldn't stop myself from having unreal macro and sick timing senses."
shawster
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Canada2485 Posts
June 27 2011 23:58 GMT
#7
thanks for bumping it, i'm enjoying it atm. i'm liking the lecture so far.
Randomaccount#77123
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
United States5003 Posts
June 28 2011 00:24 GMT
#8
--- Nuked ---
Randomaccount#77123
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
United States5003 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-06-29 17:26:26
June 29 2011 17:26 GMT
#9
--- Nuked ---
Bibdy
Profile Joined March 2010
United States3481 Posts
June 29 2011 17:44 GMT
#10
Yeah I watched a bunch of these back in April when I posted above. They're really insightful and absolutely great material, so great thanks again for linking them, dementus. Sadly, controversial and debatable topics tend to be the ones that stick to the top of the list, while the great, informational threads fall by the wayside.
Roflhaxx
Profile Joined April 2010
Korea (South)1244 Posts
June 29 2011 17:49 GMT
#11
It is probably the big [Lecture] thingie that throws people off. :p
A game where the first thing you do is scout with a “worker”. Does that make any sense? Who scouts with a “worker”? That’s like sending out the janitor to perform recon, what general would do that? Retarded game.
JohannesH
Profile Joined September 2009
Finland1364 Posts
June 29 2011 18:24 GMT
#12
On June 30 2011 02:49 Roflhaxx wrote:
It is probably the big [Lecture] thingie that throws people off. :p

Or the 2h45min length
If you have to ask, you don't know.
rebuffering
Profile Joined December 2010
Canada2436 Posts
June 29 2011 19:04 GMT
#13
That was a great talk, and i dont even like Blizzard as a company, but i think this guy proves to me that theres some good in there, and loved hearing the logistics of taking on the biggest MMO, thanks for the up!
http://www.twitch.tv/rebufferingg
Triscuit
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States722 Posts
June 29 2011 19:10 GMT
#14
I'm going to start watching this now. But all I can say is, damn I go to school there and I can't believe I missed this lecture. If it was before Fall 2008 though I wasn't at the school yet.

Couldn't imagine hearing about this and just deciding 'nah' considering I played WoW for ~4 years leading up to then.

Thanks for the bump.
Alabasern
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
United States4005 Posts
June 30 2011 02:33 GMT
#15
Thank you for the lecture.

Holy Check!
Support your esport!
dementus
Profile Blog Joined March 2007
Singapore1151 Posts
June 30 2011 08:55 GMT
#16
On June 30 2011 03:24 JohannesH wrote:
Show nested quote +
On June 30 2011 02:49 Roflhaxx wrote:
It is probably the big [Lecture] thingie that throws people off. :p

Or the 2h45min length


Haha definitely true! I always expected this to have very very limited appeal, because let's face it, it's much more immediately gratifying to watch some killer GSL coverage or read some hilarious thread.

I just posted this because I'm pretty sure a few like-minded people out there would find this cool. The fact that a handful of you guys soldiered on and enjoyed it as much as I did made it worth sharing
"I couldn't stop myself from having unreal macro and sick timing senses."
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