w797 – The Collection of Game Post

Sometimes it’s tough being blue. Blizzard, that is; or technically, Activision-Blizzard. It can be easy to forget that the developer/publisher that launched World of Warcraft a few years ago isn’t quite the same company it is today. Except, that is, during times like these.

Because of a recent remark made by Activision-Blizzard CEO Robert Kotick about raising the price of video games (and, perhaps, the recent news that StarCraft II’s release is being pushed back until 2010), some gamers and MMO fans are on the verge of an all-out, nerd-rage meltdown.

But is the anger really justified? Or is this just another example of the anonymous online collective banding together for a quick “screw the Man” tirade, only to dissipate and retreat to its usual consumer habits a few weeks later?

In a conference call between research analysts and Activision-Blizzard last week, one of the analysts—Tony Gikas—asked about the company’s “comfort level” regarding its new, higher-priced games. (He was referring to games like Guitar Hero, which are bundled with special controllers or peripherals.)

Activision CEO Kotick replied, “You know if it was left to me, I would raise the prices even further,” according to the transcription from the conference call (via vg247.com). As you can imagine, if you haven’t already seen the resulting blowback from the community, a whirlwind of accusations and speculation ensued.

Some websites and blogs reported the story with a level-headed approach, while others pretty much demonized the CEO, accusing him of devaluing customer loyalty for the sake of pure greed. One guy,(”James” of WeDoTech.net, even called for a boycott of all Activision properties in a video that’s been making its way through the blog circuit. He claims Kotick and Activision-Blizzard are setting a harmful example within the industry, and placing us in danger of a gaming price-fixing fiasco reminiscent of the late 80s.

This isn’t the first time Kotick has met opposition from the media and gaming communities; he’s been quoted as saying that Activision-Blizzard doesn’t consider a game worth publishing unless it has “the potential to be exploited every year on every platform with clear sequel potential and have the potential to become $100 million dollar franchises,” according to MTV Multiplayer.

Another scathing—yet truthful?—commentary comes from a classic ArsTechnica editorial, written by Ben Kuchera back in January:

With Kotick, he’s very brazen about his need to squeeze every last dollar he can out of every franchise under the Activision Blizzard label. He wants to exploit his games. He wants to make sure he has a sequel every year, and don’t forget the Wii and DS ports. Why have one StarCraft game if you can have three? Just because people are used to Battle.net being free doesn’t mean you can’t find some way to make more money from the service.

World of Warcraft may look like it will go on forever, but the only thing greater than the loyalty of those players is Kotick’s cash-lust. The only question is if the two will ever collide.

As an MMO fan, it’s a bit easier to turn a blind eye when you’re confronted with news and commentary like these, especially if you only play PC games and don’t dabble in the console market. But don’t mistake MMO or PC properties as inherently immune to the same issues and concerns that the console gaming community faces.

It used to be that the traditional, “living room gaming” market; i.e., console games, utterly decimated PC games, in terms of sales. In recent years, the gap between the two has significantly started to narrow. The whole Activision-Blizzard entity is, itself, a testament to that fact. Admittedly, Activision-Blizzard makes for an easier target to exemplify this concept, but the same is true with companies such as Electronic Arts, Atari and Sony; console and PC gaming have become bedfellows, both sharing a single publisher or developer.

That also means the successes or failures of each industry within a company like Activision-Blizzard aren’t as insulated from each other as they were in the past. To illustrate that dynamic, consider the pushback of StarCraft II’s release date. Activision-Blizzard explained the reason for the delay, claiming it needed to work on the Battle.net service before it launches the game. A portion of the official release:

Over the past couple of weeks, it has become clear that it will take longer than expected to prepare the new Battle.net for the launch of the game. The upgraded Battle.net is an integral part of the StarCraft II experience and will be an essential part of all of our games moving forward. This extra development time will be critical to help us realize our vision for the service.

According to Kotaku’s coverage of the story, Activision-Blizzard is forecasting its global revenue in 2009 lower than it originally predicted—and partly due to StarCraft II’s new release date. The upcoming StarCraft II trilogy will no doubt be a money-making cash cow, and it’s no surprise that Activision-Blizzard wants to make sure Battle.net is working optimally by the time the game launches. You have to wonder, though—would things be different if the two industries weren’t so intertwined as they now are, relying on each other’s success and affected by each other’s failure?

Sometimes it’s difficult to remember that a video game publisher’s sole reason for existence in this world is to make money, especially with the kind of media coverage we’re privy to online. It can be tough for many gamers to see anything but the color red when they have honest issues and concerns as consumers, yet stumble upon an itemized report of Kotick’s $15 million salary for 2008.

Despite the fact that patch 3.2, “Call of the Crusade,” just launched, WoW fans have continued speculating about what we might see in Icecrown Citadel (that big castle where Arthas is hiding out). In a post over in the official forums (a post that has absolutely nothing to do with this subject, ironically), Ghostcrawler wrote that the upcoming dungeon will feature 31 bosses.

“[...] once we say ‘tanking niches’ players have visions of the DK who parks outside of Icecrown until boss 4, 17 and 31 (yes, IC is that big),” he wrote. When you consider that dungeons the size of Karazhan only featured half as many bosses, it leads you to believe that Icecrown Citadel could be the largest instanced structure we’ve ever seen.

As you might remember, last month we reported that Blizzard trademarked the title “Cataclysm,” which led to speculation that the next World of Warcraft expansion would bear that name (and perhaps focus around the events that were set in motion by The Great Sundering). Well, it wasn’t long after that WoW.com reported the discovery of new Halloween masks in the game files, depicting two races that will remain nameless until after the jump. (Hey, I don’t want to be “that guy” that spoiled you.)

When it comes to “leaked” information, WoW.com has hit just about as many as it’s missed. That’s why we’re reporting that they’ve reported inside sources have leaked the big one, and “confirmed” to the website what the next playable races in WoW will be (and for which faction). You can check out the site’s post here, or click through to the jump if you’d like to know what WoW.com claims the next playable races will be.

Quoted directly from WoW.com:

Our sources have told us that the new races of Cataclysm will be:

Worgen – Alliance

Goblin – Horde

BlizzCast episode 10 has been released, and this one features Zarhym discussing patch 3.2 with Lead Encounter Designer Scott Mercer and Senior Game Designer Dave Maldonado. They talk about the Argent Tournament, Crusaders’ Coliseum, Isle of Conquest and BlizzCon. You can read the transcript or listen to the podcast on the Blizzard site. You can even download an mp3 of the interview to listen to whenever you want.

In addition, Blizzard is celebrating the release of episode 10 with a contest. All you need to do is answer five questions pertaining to the interview and you could win a “Blood Elf Rogue vs. Draeni Paladin” diorama from Sideshow Collectibles, which is worth $299. Check out the rules and submit your answers here. You can find the questions after the jump.

It’s been a little while since our last BlizzCast, and we’re celebrating its return with a brand-new contest.

Are you a BlizzCast enthusiast? Have you downloaded every episode within minutes of its release? Do you take notes to distribute amongst your guild? Well then, this is the opportunity you’ve been waiting for. Listen carefully to BlizzCast 10, answer the questions below, and you may just win yourself a fantastic prize.

1) Who was the interviewer in this BlizzCast?

2) For what purpose or purposes is Tirion Fordring running the Argent Tournament?

3) How did the Tribute system come into being?

4) What was Senior Game Designer Dave Maldonado looking forward to in patch 3.2, Call of the Crusade?

5) Why is Lead Encounter Designer Scott Mercer so excited to go to BlizzCon?

Check out the Contest Rules and submit your answers here: http://www.blizzard.com/submission/contest-form.html?contestId=7

Contest Rules: http://www.blizzard.com/us/misc/contests/blizzcast/index.html

Crygil has posted a handful of recent in-game fixes that were applied over two different days. They include fixes to the Isle of Conquest battleground, Alchemist transmutes in raids, and Prayer of Mending for priests. You can read the list of fixes after the jump.

There’s also two noteworthy hotfixes that were discussed in detail in other threads. Heal over time spells now trigger HoT-related effects, even when the target has full health. Greg “Ghostcrawler” Street talked about this change in a thread about Val’anyr: “This means that effects that were able to proc from HoT ticks that did some healing can now also proc from HoT ticks that overheal completely. The most notable such effect is that Val’anyr’s absorb shield should now work as advertised.”

Also, Crygil made a long post about changes to Hot Streak for mages. Here’s the final result: “Hot Streak triggers exactly as stated in its tooltip: ‘2 non-periodic spell criticals in a row using Fireball, Fire Blast, Scorch, Living Bomb, or Frostfire Bolt.’ Only non-periodic damage interacts with it, and only those spells listed. Periodics do not affect the streak in any way. Direct damage from the listed spells always count, for or against the streak.”

8/8/2009

• Prayer of Mending will now trigger Divine Aegis on the healed target and not the priest who cast Prayer of Mending.
• Players on vehicles, when the Isle of Conquest battleground ends, will now properly receive the appropriate number of Isle of Conquest Marks of Honor.
• General Vezax will now cast Shadow Crash slightly less frequently. He will also refrain from casting Searing Flames multiple times in succession.
• Hand of Reckoning is no longer able to be used on targets that are immune to taunt, including players.

8/6/2009

• Alchemist transmutes, while in raids, will now count towards quest completion.
• Steam-Powered Auctioneers are no longer attackable.
• The Generals in Isle of Conquest now do less damage.
• Druid, Priest and Shaman heal over time spells now appropriately trigger heal over time related effects, even when the target has full health.
• Mage Hot Streak Update:
  http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=19110153306&sid=1

Rumors have been floating around that Ozzy Osbourne will be performing at BlizzCon. Well, now it’s official. WoW.com noticed the program details for BlizzCon on the DirecTV Pay Per View site say Ozzy will be making a special appearance at the convention. While an appearance doesn’t necessarily mean Ozzy will perform, the previous rumors on Blabbermouth and Zakk Wylde’s Twitter both suggested Ozzy will play.

Whether you like the Prince of Darkness or not, BlizzCon will be filled with all sorts of news and announcements. You can find out how to order either the DirecTV footage or the Internet stream in our preview guide to BlizzCon. Also, keep an eye out for our coverage on ZAM.com during the event.

According to Massively.com, Blizzard announced during a conference call with investors that they had sold 20,000 BlizzCon tickets within eight minutes of their release. Fans purchasing these hefty $125 tickets can expect to hear more about Diablo III that’s currently in development, and perhaps (we’re all hoping) hear about Blizzard’s newest MMORPG. This year’s BlizzCon World of Warcraft tournament also features one of the closest matchups in recent history, with each country (Taiwan, Europe, North America and Korea) having at least one or two very strong teams. Keep an eye out for guys like SK Gaming USA (the winners of the past two tournaments), Button Bashers (formerly HoN of Korea), Shipit (new up and comers in the Korean tournament scene) and Woah (with no tournament wins, but is expected to do well).

You can also check out WaxPaper’s excellent BlizzCon guide over here!

The first list of recent in-game fixes to follow the launch of patch 3.2 has been released, although they all might not be active until today’s maintenance is complete.

The weapon damage and armor of items in the 5-man heroic Coliseum have been updated to match their levels, and epic gem recipes are now available from Aldor and Scryer vendors in Shattrath. You can check out all nine fixes after the jump.

• The weapon damage and armor of items dropped in the 5-man Coliseum Heroic version have been updated to match their item level.
• Using Braxley’s Backyard Moonshine will no longer trigger the regurgitation animation.
• Wintergrasp Commendation and Commendation of Bravery can no longer be used inside any battlegrounds.
• Kel’Thuzad should no longer cause some players to disconnect during the encounter.
• Reginald Arcfire will no longer grant Horde players access to the Alliance auction house.
• Epic gem recipes are now available from the following vendors in Shattrath:

  Kirembri Silvermane (Scryer)
  Nemiha (Aldor)
  Inessera (Aldor)

• XT-002 Deconstructor will now spawn in fewer adds.
• The Black Knight will now drop a Frozen Orb in heroic difficulty.
• Razorgore can once again be controlled multiple times and defeated appropriately.

Last month, a rumor began circulating from a Twitter comment made by Zakk Wylde that Ozzy Osbourne will be performing at BlizzCon. Well, WoW.com noticed a second rumor has begun to circulate through a post on Roadrunner Records’ Blabbermouth.net site. According to the article, guitarist Gus G. of the band Firewind has been tapped to play with Ozzy at BlizzCon.

Ozzy told Classic Rock magazine in June he was looking for a new guitarist to replace Wylde, although Wylde said in an interview with a radio station on July 29 he’s never even gotten a phone call from Ozzy about being replaced.

So will Ozzy be at BlizzCon? The Blabbermouth article emphasizes “this information has not yet been corroborated by anyone in the Osbourne camp and should be treated as a rumor only.” So only time will tell to see if this actually happens. Members of the ZAM team will be on the floor at BlizzCon, so we’ll be sure to keep an eye out for the Prince of Darkness.

As we all know, patch 3.2, Call of the Crusade, is now live. I’m sure you’ve already logged in to see what 3.2 has to offer, or at least read the patch notes. But have you check out the new trailer?

Since this is a content update and not an expansion, don’t expect to see an opening cinematic. Instead, you’ll see in-game footage of massive dungeon fights and the Isle of Conquest battleground. If you’d rather see it in HD, you can download it for PC and Mac from the official site.