4 74 A Series of Unfortunate Events
4 74 A Series of Unfortunate Events
Preachs LFR experiment, in an attempt to determine how
far he can get by doing absolutely nothing
Picking Cherries
"Q. Why not just let casual players get rewards comparable to those from raids?A. It would be almost impossible for us to do, and this is a philosophical decision. We need to put a structure in place for players where they feel that if they do more difficult encounters, theyll get rewarded for it. As soon as we give more equal rewards across the board, for a lot of players it will diminish the accomplishment of killing something like Nefarian."
- Former WoW Lead Content Designer Jeff Kaplan, on why raids like Naxxramas arent intended for a casual audience.
The New York Times, Kill The Big, Bad Dragon (Teamwork Required) January 28th, 2006
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"Dungeons too, we wanted them to be a much more hardcore experience, we wanted only groups in there, and so on. The dungeons are there to serve more of the core market. Its something to strive for, a bridge for the casual players to become a little more hardcore."
- Former Blizzard VP of Design Rob Pardo, speaking at the Austin Game Conference on WoW design strategy.
Raph Kosters Website, AGC: Rob Pardos Keynote September 6th, 2006
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"The whole point for a lot of hardcore players is to show off your advancement. So we chose the best gear to be from raids, so we can recognize someone�s achievements based on their gear. The tradeoffs is that you lose everyone looking different and users expressing creativity. And if you try to have both, youll end up muddled and somewhere in the between."
- Former Blizzard VP of Design Rob Pardo, speaking at the Austin Game Conference on WoW design strategy.
Raph Kosters Website, AGC: Rob Pardos Keynote September 6th, 2006
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"[Game] designers need to understand human psychology, sociology, and philosophy behind design. They need especially to understand how persons and groups behave when anonymous...Balance is in the eyes of the player. It doesnt have to be balanced; the average player just has to feel like it is balanced. Totally balanced PvP means losing half the time. Losing half the time is not necessarily fun....the community is good at identifying problems. The community is bad at designing games and generating workable solutions. The community disagrees tremendously but does not recognize its disagreements. The community, though, is always right."
- Ethan Kennerly, recalling a talk given by Jeff Kaplan at USCs Videogame Production class (ITP 280).
Fine Game Design, World of Warcraft Content Design October 10th, 2007
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"I think its a great idea...The only caveat for me is that I feel that the highest-tier zone at a given time should start off as a 25-man-only experience and then have the 10-man version unlocked once the zone is defeated on a server, or once a given amount of time passes, whichever comes first...I do feel that 10-man-only players should get to experience the same lore and ultimately see the same content, but I dont think that the easier alternative should be available right away."
- Gurgthock, on the introduction of 10/25 raids in WotLK.
Curse, Interview with the Guild Leader of Elitist Jerks June 27th, 2008
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"Im not super interested in compromising LoL design in the name of accessibility. Yes, League is obnoxiously hard to learn if you dont have a friend showing you the ropes. That sucks, but its not worth stripping away the depth or potential for mastery for our core audience -- you guys -- in order to attract new players. Thats not an approach every game can or should take, but its the right call for League."
- Former WoW Lead Systems Designer Greg Street, addressing the League of Legends community speculation about his charge at Riot Games.
Manaflask, Ghostcrawler on WoWs casualization, accessibility, and raiding August 26th, 2014
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"First and foremost, I learned that you must put game quality and player experience first in everything that you do. Gamers are not driven to buy games because they have a clever business model, they buy games that are fun and immersive that deliver on what was promised. I also learned that being a trend chaser or first mover is not a key to victory...force feeding a development team to chase a business model or game type trend when the team doesnt love it is a likely losing proposition."
- Former Blizzard COO Paul Sams, reflecting on lessons learned.
GamesIndustry.biz, Blizzards Paul Sams joins Ready at Dawn as new CEO June 8th, 2015
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"We would have been in bad shape had we not done that,"
- Current WoW Game Director Tom Chilton, commenting on what state World of Warcraft would be in had Blizzard not embraced casual-centric features.
Polygon, World of Warcraft would be in bad shape without embracing the casual revolution August 23rd, 2013
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"How is your gaming experience diminished by it? I cant honestly understand whats the big deal on people that isnt you doing something that you dont want to do...Perhaps we should just tell the devs that we should close all raids until the Top 10 guilds clear them on heroic, so that they can feel superior to everyone else as they are seeing content that you, the raiders not-as-good-as-them arent seeing."
- Blizzard Community Manager Draztal, responding to community concerns over a lack of staggered endgame content between LFR and traditional raids.
Battle.net Europe Forums, we consume content too fast? March 8th, 2012
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| The "strategy game of money, power and wealth," Capitalism II |
Whatever Fits the Narrative
"For a developer to acknowledge that their TWO YEAR OLD game is still one of the best multiplayer games around, to continue to support it through a FREE online system...and STILL patching the damn game? How many games dont get a single patch? For Blizzard delevopers [sic] to still be updating and fine-tuning a game this long after its release, and for people to STILL enjoy playing it is fucking incredible."- Slashdot user Trillian_1138, commenting Blizzards dedication to its community.
Slashdot, Diablo II 1.10 Patch Finally Released, October 28, 2003
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"Outside resources dont play into it - no gold buying, etcetera. We take a hard line stance against it. What you get out of micro-transactions is kind of the same thing and I think our player base would feel betrayed by it."
- Former VP of Design Rob Pardo, on Blizzards philosophy regarding in-game purchases.
Eurogamer, Micro-transactions "betray" players February 21st, 2008
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"In an industry full of passionate gamers, Kotick stood apart: the guy who never picked up a joystick."
- Forbes, Guitar Hero, February 6th, 2009
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"In the last cycle of videogames you spent $50 on a game, played it and took it back to the shop for credit. Today, well (charge) $100 for a guitar. You might add a microphone or drums; you might buy two or three expansions packs, different types of music. Over the life of your ownership youll probably buy around 25 additional song packs in digital downloads. So, what used to be a $50 sale is a $500 sale today."
- The Escapist, Activisons Bobby Kotick hates developers, innovation, cheap games, [and] you, October 23rd, 2009
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"Bobby, youre not on the fucking Death Star. Youre Palpatine...You didnt get there by accident, you got there by the decisions you made."
- Game Lawyer Tom Buscaglia, responding to Bobby Koticks involvement in the Infinity Ward fiasco.
The Escapist, Game Lawyer Calls Bobby Kotick "Emperor Palpatine", March 17th, 2010
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"Well, he makes a big deal about not liking games, and I just dont think that attitude is good for games in general,"
- Tim Schafer, when asked why he thinks Activision/Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick should care more about how gaming consumers perceive him.
1up.com, Tim Schafer: Activision CEO Bobby Kotick is a Total Prick July 4th, 2010
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"Huge deal. The Chinese claim that they will put up between 1-2[billion dollars]...The boys are meeting with [Warren] Buffett on weds in Omaha. We are the only pe firm. Super confi[dential]"
Ex-Activision director Peter Nolan commenting on the stakes of the then-proposed buyout of Activision/Blizzard from Vivendi Universal.
Bloomberg, Vivendi Considered Firing Activisions Kotick Over Buyout July 16th, 2014
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"Q: Will there be any management changes at Blizzard as a result of this deal?
A: No, there won�t be any management changes at Blizzard as a result of the combination."
- Activision / Blizzard FAQ forum post on Battle.net December 2nd, 2007
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"This is an important change as it will allow me, with Thomas, to become more deeply involved in areas of the business where I believe we can capture great potential and opportunity..."
- Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, in a memo to employees, on his reassignment of Mike Morhaimes boss, Thomas Tippl, to COO.
Los Angeles Times, Activision quietly restructures senior management and internal organization March 30th, 2010
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"In short, he has to either break even or make money to get the stocks, and he has to maintain that for the next four years."
- Ben Gilbert, commenting on the Tippl Amendment that outlines the requirements of his financial reimbursement plan as COO.
Engadget, Activision CFO Thomas Tippl now COO, March 30th, 2010
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"[Franchise fatigue] is something that I have not bought into...I think its an excuse for lack of innovation. If you have a great franchise and you stop innovating, then yes, you will lose your fan base."
- Activision Blizzard COO Thomas Tippl, on his opinion regarding franchises getting too old to retain consumer interest
Gamasutra, Activision COO Tippl: Franchise Fatigue Is An Excuse June 17th, 2010
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"Were happy to announce that through the wonders of modern gnomish engineering, you are now able to change your characters names."
- Engadget, Finally Paid Name Changes! October 26th, 2007
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"Blizzard just announced that StarCraft IIs single player campaign would be split into three separate products."
- Kotaku, StarCraft II Single Player Is A Trilogy! October 10th, 2008
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"In short, for a fee of $15, you can rebuild your character, with some restrictions. You can change your gender, face, skin, hair, and name, but not your race or class."
- Engadget, Character Re-Customization available for a small fee December 10th, 2008
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"...players wanting to switch teams will only need to shell out [...] $30 USD before applicable taxes."
- Toms Hardware, Paid Faction Change Now in WoW September 4th, 2009
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"Purchase queues began forming soon after the virtual item went on sale, with players in the forums reporting upwards of 12,000 folks waiting at the virtual cash register at one time for a chance to purchase the translucent flying mount. Wow.com reported yesterday that at one point the number topped 140,000."
- Kotaku, Blizzard is Selling World of Warcraft Mounts Because Players Demanded Them April 16th, 2010
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"They can also claim that by bringing in the secondary market under their umbrella, they will be providing a better quality of experience for their players. And thats true, certainly, but its also certainly true that if there was no additional money to be made, they wouldnt be interested."
- Wired, Sold! Hawk Your Diablo III Loot for Real World Cash August 1st, 2011
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"On the heels of Hearthstone�: Heroes of Warcraft� surpassing 50 million registered players, Whispers of the Old Gods�, the third expansion for Blizzard Entertainments award-winning online strategy card game, is now live."
- Activision Blizzard Press Release,
Whispers of the Old Gods� Takes Hold of Hearthstone� as Registered Players Top 50 Million, April 26th, 2016
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"...theres a lot of distrust out in the community, because I think a lot of players have felt like theyve been burned in the past."
- Jeff "Tigole" Kaplan, on his observations regarding pricing skepticism following Blizzards announcement of Overwatch
GameEspresso, Blizzard Still Debating Microtransactions for Overwatch December 11th, 2015
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| In-Game Store, World of Warcraft
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| In-Game Store, Hearthstone |
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| In-Game Store, Heroes of the Storm |
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| In-Game Store, Overwatch |
Context is King
"I know that if something is instantly gratifying, it will be repeated."- Casino Mogul Steve Wynn
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"Each year [casino] revenues in the US yield more profits than the theatrical movie industry ($US 10.9 billion) and the recorded music industry ($US 7 billion) combined. Even the $US 22.5 billion combined revenue of the four major US sports leagues is dwarfed by earnings from the commercial casinos industry."
- The Conversation, Losses Disguised As Wins, The Science Behind Casino Profits November 3rd, 2014
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"(High-rollers) drive business. They drive revenues. They drive profits."
- Las Vegas Sun, LV Casino Host Spoils His Big-Time Losers, April 22nd, 2002
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"Of the 4,222 casino customers, just 2.8% -- or 119 big losers -- provided half of the casinos take, and 10.7% provided 80% of the take."
- The Wall Street Journal, How Often Do Gamblers Really Win, October 11th, 2013
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"In general, [Casinos] need [whales] to stay in business. Atlantic City can no longer survive on a steady stream of casual east-coast gamblers."
- The Economist, Making the House Beat Itself, May 5th, 2012
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"I told [Microsoft Co-Founder Bill Gates] The most I can make from you is $10,000 a night -- my guy bets that on his first hand. You can move now or security will be here in an hour."
- Steve Cyr, on courting high-rolling whales that become big spenders at his casinos
Sabotage Times, The Las Vegas Whale Hunter, June 26th, 2013
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"And if you are a whale, we take Facebook stalking to a whole new level. You spend enough money, we will friend you. Not officially, but with a fake account. Maybe its a hot girl who shows too much cleavage? Thats us. We learned as much before friending you, but once you let us in, we have the keys to the kingdom. We will use everything to figure out how to sell to you."
- TouchArcade, We Own You: Confessions of an Anonymous Free to Play Game Producer September 16th, 2015
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"Its a weird hybrid of gambling addiction and more traditional video game addiction, neither of which is anything new, but the combination of the two is a relatively novel emerging phenomenon, and one all the mobile games giants are taking advantage of to full effect."
- Forbes, Why Its Scary When 0.15% of Mobile Gamers Bring in 50% of the Revenue, March 1st, 2014
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"...if youre the CEO of McDonalds, you should not feel good about your job, you should feel ashamed. We don�t have that in the games business -- we dont have that sense, because we feel like theyre just entertainment. We dont feel like we can do things we can be ashamed of yet..."
- Jonathan Blow, on the ethics of certain reward systems in video games
Gamasutra, MIGS 2007: Jonathan Blow On The WoW Drug, Meaningful Games November 28th, 2007
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"Id use birthday money, Id eat cheaper lunches, Id ask my wife to pay for dinner so Id have a spare $10-$20 to spend in the store."
- Gamasutra, Chasing the Whale: Examining the Ethics of Free-to-Play Games July 9th, 2013
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"The illusion of control is a crucial element in the maintenance of gambling addiction � [as it] instills a feeling of skill or control...there are a number of in-game features [such as the boosters in Candy Crush] that allow players to believe they are affecting the outcome of the game, and in some cases they are, but those instances are rare."
- The Guardian, This is What Candy Crush Saga Does to Your Brain, April 1st, 2014
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"More effective treatment is increasingly necessary because gambling is more acceptable and accessible than ever before...Today you do not even need to leave your house to gamble -- all you need is an Internet connection or a phone."
- Scientific American, How the Brain Gets Addicted to Gambling, November 1st, 2013
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"[World of Warcraft] didnt even account for the majority of sales. For the first time, that honor went to a batch of different titles: Diablo and two new brands, Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm."
- Fool.com, Activision Blizzard Inc. Doesnt Need "World of Warcraft" Anymore, August 18th, 2015
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"There are other metrics that are better indicators of the overall Blizzard business performance."
- Activision Blizzard, at the Q4 2015 earnings call, after revealing that World of Warcrafts subscription numbers had dropped to 5.5 million.
Gamespot, Blizzard Will No Longer Report World of Warcraft Subscriber Numbers November 3rd, 2015
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"These companies were really smart around analytics and monetization and very light in terms of product and content creation. Im not sure any of those things are particularly sustainable. The future lies in going into the larger part of the market which is people that self-identify as gamers, and where the user acquisition and long-term value creation comes from making great games."
- Paul Thelen, CEO of Big Fish, on the decline of profitability in the casual gaming market,
GameIndustry.biz, Gamers rule: Only 10% of the industrys $50 billion comes from casuals December 12th, 2012
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"Hes like my dad,"
- Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, referring to the influence and impact Steve Wynn, Casino Mogul, has had on him
Kotaku, A Delightful Chat With the Most Hated Man in Video Games June 14th, 2010
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