Bobby Kotick wins again

[DraKon2k]

Sure, I was just saying that Activision doesn't give a damn whether you buy their game or not due to your principles as long as the game generally sells as well as it does. And with you not buying you wont start a sudden revolution resulting in nobody buying the game anymore. That's just what I want people to realize. Of course the series will run out of fatigue eventually, but I think that's rather going to be a long process and in the end you'll probably get the same under different names. Simply because there is always demand for a more simple action-game like CoD.

 

[Amerikaner]

Sure, I was just saying that Activision doesn't give a damn whether you buy their game or not due to your principles as long as the game generally sells as well as it does. And with you not buying you wont start a sudden revolution resulting in nobody buying the game anymore. That's just what I want people to realize.

Everybody already realizes that. Do you really believe on any given CoD game's launch day those of us who choose not to buy are sitting around with a big grin saying "haha got you good Bobby Kotick!"? Just like the majority of people who are conscious of recycling don't collapse with an immense sense of pride once the recyclables are sent out.

Whether the outcome of our choice not to buy is insignificant in the bigger picture or not doesn't really matter because at the end of the day we made the "good" choice. To us that sense of supporting "good" development is worth more than the fun we would get from the game.

 

[smokeythebear]

It's about not supporting a publisher is bad for the industry. Regardless of how "good" their games might be.

I think (and can't see why anyone wouldn't think) Activision is a bad publisher. And I do not want to support them in any way.

Well then I'll look at it like I'm supporting the developers. Blizzard is the only company that knows how to make a competitive RTS anyway.

 

[Reise]

Well lets not get started on Blizzard and their monopoly.

Being "the only company that knows how to make a competitive RTS" wouldn't be possible without millions of blind and obedient fans.

 

[Grobut]

Also, some of us just aren't interested in the game at all, sorry, but i find it so very tedious and dull.

I do however enjoy pointing out that Kotick is the bloody devil, and that console ports are poo compared to propper PC games, that's allways fun to me, so you haven't heard the last of me yet!

 

[DraKon2k]

Also, some of us just aren't interested in the game at all, sorry, but i find it so very tedious and dull.

Yeah that shows with all the people bashing the game in the BO thread

 

[[TW]Wilsonam]

Well, you all know what the answers are...

1. Buy Tripwire games. All of them. Lots of times.
2. Campaign to get all your friends to do the same. Lots of times.
3. Evangelize all over the place, so that the hordes of Evil Buyers of CoD/MoH become loyal Tripwire fans - and buyers.

By that time, Tripwire will be bigger than EActiUbiBlizz and we will force the world to play the RIGHT PC games. And we'll all have more money than the US national debt - and then we can build RO24 and KF19 to keep you all happy

Nota Bene: Not ALL of the above is completely true, or even likely...

 

[Amerikaner]

Well lets not get started on Blizzard and their monopoly.

Being "the only company that knows how to make a competitive RTS" wouldn't be possible without millions of blind and obedient fans.

And how did they get millions of obediant fans? By making good games to begin with. Whether you personally enjoy them or not, Starcraft, Diablo, and Warcraft are well made games that have tons of care poured into them. No one ever seems to say it but the original Call of Duty was a good game too. It would have been much better in retrospect had RO mod never come out but that's a different story. The difference is Blizzard hasn't blatantly milked their franchises.

There are two Starcraft games that came out twelve years apart. It's been about ten years since Diablo II. There is a new CoD game every year. In fact they just announced a new CoD game will be releasing next holiday season just mere days after Black Ops launched. The only thing you could really argue about Blizzard is that WoW is a monster but having a subscription based grinding mmo is not something they dreamed up. Even splitting up SC2 into three boxes will be reasonable since the second installment will release approximately 2 years later.

I feel like alot of SC2 hate is coming from people who fit into one or more of the following categories: don't like rts games to begin with, don't like the scifi theme, aren't good at the game, or are just hating because its popular. Yes Blizzard is insanely popular. Yes they merged with the devilish Activision. BUT do they still make good games with lots of care. YES! And this is coming from someone who justed started playing their games a year ago, not a longtime fanboy.

 

[SheepDip]

BUT do they still make good games with lots of care

See the only problem here is the plural, good games? If you discount WoW expansions, they haven't made a new game since 2004.

Blizzard (like Valve) rarely release games, and when they do release a game it certainly doesn't warrant the huge gap between releases - thankfully they know that too much of a good thing (if it is your thing) is bad.
That is why Blizzard doesn't have a bad rep, and that is why they have a very large following...and why a large part of the rts audience are enamored with them.

Since being acquired/merged with Activision they've got big plans releases over the next few years (I heard late 2011 for Heart of the Swarm and another 18 months for Legacy of the Void). But at least they've stated their intention for them to be of expansion pack price.

In my opinion though, like the recent influx of 80's TV show movies/rehashes (Transformers, GI Joe, TR0N) - "refreshing franchises" a decade later is just an oppertunity to cash in on the audience who used to have to nag their parents...who now have their own disposable income.

 

[DraKon2k]

Say that in South Korea and you'll get torn into pieces.
In my opinion I can't understand how anyone can seriously be talking about Blizzard like this, they are one of the biggest PC gaming strongholds there are. Like someone else said, the SP campaign alone in SCII was a) definitely the best I've ever played for an RTS game and an incredible presentation for any kind of game. And I'm definitely not an RTS person(last RTS I really played A LOT was generals and before that red alert 2), yet I can clearly see the GOTY potential this game carries.

That's the problem here. You can't just assume that the millions of players who buy blizzard games or CoD are all braindead morons, just like you can't say all RO players are realism nerds with no life. This generalization really annoys me and so does this arrogant "Oh I'm so mature, I only play hardcore realism PC games" attitude. I play games for my personal entertainment and not so I can feel superior to those who play easier games.

 

[Amerikaner]

See the only problem here is the plural, good games? If you discount WoW expansions, they haven't made a new game since 2004.

So your issue is that they aren't making new ip's?

In my opinion though, like the recent influx of 80's TV show movies/rehashes (Transformers, GI Joe, TR0N) - "refreshing franchises" a decade later is just an oppertunity to cash in on the audience who used to have to nag their parents...who now have their own disposable income.

What about people like me who never played the original Starcraft until 2010? Clearly I have no nostalgic attachment yet I still thoroughly the sequel.

 

[SheepDip]

So your issue is that they aren't making new ip's?

Sort of. Blizzard makes (made) a simply astonishing amount of money from WoW, and hasn't really done anything with it except to push out some expansion packs.

What about people like me who never played the original Starcraft until 2010? Clearly I have no nostalgic attachment yet I still thoroughly (enjoy?) the sequel.

So you're basing your opinion on Blizzard soley on StarCraft 2? How much have you played the original StarCraft?
Really it's not appropriate to go through your entire Blizzard "history" in this thread, but stating

they still make good games with lots of care

would surely require you'd a bit more of a history than playing SC (a little) and SC2 (a lot) this year - they're a 20 year old developer.
And I'm not suggesting people who never played the original Starcraft 12 years ago won't like StarCraft 2...

Say that in South Korea and you'll get torn into pieces.
In my opinion I can't understand how anyone can seriously be talking about Blizzard like this, they are one of the biggest PC gaming strongholds there are.

Why are Blizzard a big PC stronghold? Before Starcraft 2 came out, exactly what were they doing that was so good? Because I thought they were milking a MMORPG cashcow.
They certainly haven't been as pro-active as some developers have been in terms of pushing the PC forward as a platform - despite their extremely safe position with all the revenue generated, and the sheer reach they have from WoW.

Please tell me what else have they done that's so worthy of merit or this high esteem they are held in.

That's the problem here. You can't just assume that the millions of players who buy blizzard games or CoD are all braindead morons, just like you can't say all RO players are realism nerds with no life. This generalization really annoys me and so does this arrogant "Oh I'm so mature, I only play hardcore realism PC games" attitude. I play games for my personal entertainment and not so I can feel superior to those who play easier games.

What does that have to do with anything?
No one is suggesting people who buy said titles are lacking in mental aptitude, nor are they suggesting other platforms are inferior...

 

[DraKon2k]

No one is suggesting people who buy said titles are lacking in mental aptitude, nor are they suggesting other platforms are inferior...

Well as a matter of fact LemoN did and he's banned now, but by all respect that is so obviously the attitude of certain people here. But let's get back to topic, don't wanna have that 3 in my signature change into a 4.

 

[gusone]

Well, you all know what the answers are...

1. Buy Tripwire games. All of them. Lots of times.
2. Campaign to get all your friends to do the same. Lots of times.
3. Evangelize all over the place, so that the hordes of Evil Buyers of CoD/MoH become loyal Tripwire fans - and buyers.

By that time, Tripwire will be bigger than EActiUbiBlizz and we will force the world to play the RIGHT PC games. And we'll all have more money than the US national debt - and then we can build RO24 and KF19 to keep you all happy

Nota Bene: Not ALL of the above is completely true, or even likely...

But then you'll be the thing that you and everyone hates....haha... That's right folks... ATVI. You see people. There is no future. Only ATVI.

Disclaimer: I am a happy ATVI shareholder and look forward to spending my dividends, thanks to the money you spend on ATVI games, to buy ALL my future TWI and ATVI games!

 

[cmdrsven]

Why are Blizzard a big PC stronghold?

Because they prove there is life in the PC as a platform. I deem it highly likely that we would've seen even fewer PC releases and console ports over the last few years if it wasn't for WoW. With WoW Blizzard has created a huge target audience of PC players other developers can rely on as well. What if Blizzard had focused all their energy on something like StarCraft: Ghost, which was to be a console title, instead of WoW?

 

[SheepDip]

My point is Blizzard haven't been focussing their energy at all...and I'm pretty sure that the aforementioned huge target audience could easily be expanded, or have their eyes open to different areas with the smallest effort on Blizzards part.

I'm not saying that they're bad for PC gaming - just that they aren't an ideal, or a benchmark. It's their position as a large player that is exactly my issue with them. Because unlike smaller players (big example : Valve, small example : TWI) they have done nothing to help the industry around them.

 

[gusone]

It's below and a 1 and a 2 and a 3 to get ready and a 4 to delete

 

[gusone]

My point is Blizzard haven't been focussing their energy at all...and I'm pretty sure that the aforementioned huge target audience could easily be expanded, or have their eyes open to different areas with the smallest effort on Blizzards part.

I'm not saying that they're bad for PC gaming - just that they aren't an ideal, or a benchmark. It's their position as a large player that is exactly my issue with them. Because unlike smaller players (big example : Valve, small example : TWI) they have done nothing to help the industry around them.

Errr... 2 SC2 xps, Diablo 3 and the new Blizzard MMO. How much focus do you want? As a shareholder it's wet dream time sunshine.

 

[SheepDip]

Errr... 2 SC2 xps, Diablo 3 and the new Blizzard MMO. How much focus do you want? As a shareholder it's wet dream time sunshine.

I didn't say they hadn't been focussed on the PC, I said they hadn't been focussing their energy - they have a huge power and influence and enormous financial clout - they'd done nothing until the Activision merger, at which point surprise surprise a bunch of sequels popped up.

(Granted Blizzard had plans for these sequels many moons (5+ years) ago, but it wasn't until AV joined in did they decide to surface).

It didn't take TWI 5 minutes to get stuck into some extra curricular activity with other developers, or titles. And yet a well established well respected company with more money than Croesus has done what...?

Nothing.

 

[Amerikaner]

So you're basing your opinion on Blizzard soley on StarCraft 2? How much have you played the original StarCraft?
Really it's not appropriate to go through your entire Blizzard "history" in this thread, but stating would surely require you'd a bit more of a history than playing SC (a little) and SC2 (a lot) this year - they're a 20 year old developer.

You're making an assumption and then basing an argument off of an assumption. I am not basing my opinion of Blizzard solely on Starcraft 2. As I said I didn't start playing Blizzard games until about a year ago but that included the original Starcraft battle chest as well as the Diablo battle chest (so original Diablo, sequel, and expansion), and Warcraft III. I played each of those titles for about a month each. So I've played all of their highest profile games besides WoW.

EDIT:

they'd done nothing until the Activision merger, at which point surprise surprise a bunch of sequels popped up.

Actually SC2 development began in 2003. The Activision Blizzard merger was on July 9, 2008.

Not to be a dick but your arguments are worth much less when you're relying on assumptions and faulty facts.