Growing complaints fall upon deaf ears...

Q u o t e:
I'd really like a response from blizzard about why they put so little effort into the new tier9. It sucks and there was a thread 146 pages long from people who were upset about it. Did blizzard ever respond? Nope. They just quietly locked the thread and pretended everything was fine. (you've lost my respect blizz. that was low) It's tier9, not some half effort pvp set.

This is going to be a tough one to clear up with you in a way that you're going to accept. First off, I can't say that "complaints" don't fall on deaf ears, because that may be true, but not in the way you think. Constructive feedback is very very welcome. Complaints don't equate to constructive feedback though and don't open the door for constructive discussion.

We've addressed Tier 9 several times now. We posted about what we had in store here as well when we did the initial preview- http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/underdev/tier9.html

In general, when we explain our design philosophy and why we do what we do, we get a lot of responses of the sort that call for more people to be put to work on designing these sorts of things, but throwing more people at something does not increase the ease of creating them. These take a lot of time and collaboration.

In this case, like all of our armor sets, we have set resources to apply to creating new armor sets that we must work within. This does not change with each new set, but remains the same. I'm sure to some, this may seem too limiting, but we work within these constraints so that the art team can also continue to work on the many other projects they have on their plate, while still continuing to put out quality designs (whether you may believe they are quality or not.) Increasing the demand on them for these will not aid them in all of their other tasks.

That said, these new armor sets are much more focused on creating a visual division between what is representative of the Horde and what is representative of the Alliance who are obviously still at odds with each* other despite the best efforts of the Argent Crusade to bring them together. (*See Isle of Conquest)

We're not pretending anything, but we are continuing to moderate and direct discussions into more productive topics. I'll leave this topic open for now with the caveat that should it devolve into non-constructive discussion, I will close it. The armor sets are what they are whether they are your favorite or least favorite. The work that went into these was not diminished, nor were the resources for them compared to other sets. Please refrain from any further degradations of the art team or Blizzard employees and their work.

Q u o t e:
Hey Neth, nice thoughtful and direct response.

However, I checked out the posted preview link and the difference between horde and alliance sets appears to be that horde has shaman and hunters, while alliance has mage, priest, and warlock. And apparently you tell the classes apart by a slight glow color difference.

Was that the right link? I never cared about looks, but .. the sets look reallllly similar. I can see why people who do care about looks would be a bit perturbed.

They're broken down into armor type: cloth, leather, mail, plate. So (much like we did in Sunwell), there is a theme with the armor and each armor type fits within that theme depending on if it's Horde or Alliance.

For those that don't care much about the divide between the Horde and Alliance, this may seem very little. For those that revel in the conflict between the two, this is a statement of loyalty that can be earned and worn in battle.

Q u o t e:


I understand where your coming from when you say that the art department or team used the resources that were given to them at the time to make up the art for the tier 9 pieces and that at the time, it was felt that there needed to be more of a distinction between the horde and alliance.

It is also obvious that the current tier 9 pieces are here to stay, so wanting a remake of that is not going to happen.

Saying that, the responses in the thread got to 146 pages long.......that's quite a long thread about 1 topic, even if it probably dissolved into a trolling/flame fest.

What people would like to know, is if because of that thread, and perhaps ones made by countless others across the web, will that design philosophy of separating armor by faction be kept, or will we be going back to seeing each class with unique armor for the next content patch?

Aesthetic design choices often seem as if they would receive the least responses and discussion, because (after all) it doesn't affect gameplay, but I've found over my many years of community management that it is often a very hot topic and one that transcends just number crunching. It's something visual and gets an immediate emotional response from people. It's like that poster (please don't link it folks) "I don't know much about art, but I know what I like." People know what they like and don't like even if they aren't art aficionados and everyone has a different interpretation about what they envision themselves to appear as.

Will we change how we approach the next armor set? I couldn't say at this point in time. Each armor set is uniquely designed to fit into it's environs and the story they go along with.

Q u o t e:


You know, I don't claim to know how your funds are appropriated but I'm going to wager a guess that our monthly fees pay said art team's paychecks. We ARE entitled to voice our opinions about them, or any other Blizzard employee. Though, admittedly , many posters could use a course or two on how to more eloquently express their opinions.

We're always open to people voicing their opinions provided it is done in a constructive manner. Opinions about particular employees however fall into a very gray area. Saying you do not like their approach or choices is one thing, saying that they are lazy or should be fired falls into the "no go" category.

We love hearing from the community. We love sharing our enthusiasm with you and hearing about your enthusiasm as well. I sound like a broken record but I truly believe that passion (one way or another) means that the community cares. It's apathy that is the enemy. I just want to continue to remind everyone that we are looking for constructive discussion and don't mind negative discussion as long as it falls within the constructive category.

As far as the word used "entitled", I don't want anyone to get the wrong impression here, but the forums are something we provide as a bonus and we are glad to do it. It is not considered a part of your subscription, though a subscription affords you a voice within them. I don't want to diminish anyone's part in them, I just want to clarify that and avoid any further debates on this.

Q u o t e:

I would hope that changing the design for the next set would be the obvious decision with the overwhelmingly negative reception of the current design. Countless players have said that they want unique sets much more than they want faction specific sets. This isn't something you need to hold a meeting about. Players have spoken, they don't like it, so you should stop doing it.

Do know that the feedback is duly noted, however, I have no doubt that someone of an equal but opposite opinion as you will say that it is obvious that the positive reception by players confirms the validity of this design choice.

Let's all please refrain from any attacks against each other no matter their personal opinion on this. Some statements being made seem to be a bit too inflammatory and I'd like to continue to see people discuss rather than accuse each other of not understanding their viewpoint. Again, constructive discussion is great. We're all working toward the same end here even if we may disagree on how we get there.

Q u o t e:


I can't tell if *he's just saying that all armor sets are created with the same body of manpower (in which case why are people complaining so much about this particular set if all are equal) or if he's saying they are now working with a smaller staff and thus simply don't have the hands to make tier9 what players want it to be?

From the decline in number and timeliness of blue posts I suspect this may just be the result of scaling back the WoW effort to put more focus on the upcoming MMO, but it's probably still a bit early to say for sure...

(*She)

No, I'm saying the amount of resources is not diminished or increased, just the same as other sets. Contrary to popular belief, the World of Warcraft team is as strong as ever. And also contrary to popular belief we do not have "B" teams here. Each of our development teams has bright, knowledgeable, and creative people that I am so very privileged to know and work with. In addition, while we have separate teams working on different things, we are very focused as a company in all voices being heard within the company and sharing our knowledge with each other so that everything we do is up to Blizzard standard.

Any "declines" in blue posts are often as a result of our schedules becoming more full than usual. We do a lot more than just post on these forums and there are many things we do behind the scenes that you may not realize we've had a hand in. :) It all results in doing what we can for the community as a whole.