Blizzard vs. Real Money Trading (RMT)

[Roland]

Take a step back, though. If you knew about the internal workings and machinations of any entertainment company, you'd develop the same viewpoint.

In the end, companies are out to make money. Behind the PR fronts that each and every company on earth puts up is a grubby, messy, dirty underbelly that is kept hidden from the public. It may seem more offensive when it involves an entertainment company, but it's the same anywhere you go.

Is it though? I can't imagine that all human beings are so bloodsucking and heinous. Honestly, do you truly believe that? Are you truly resigned to that? I understand that it's a business. I work for a living, at a job that bears my name on the company logo, so I know all about making money. What I also know about, and refuse to participate in, is putting money before principles. I do not see how Blizzard is keeping the same path.

Or, to put it into better perspective, why are you OK with what Blizzard is doing, but now OK with what EA and/or Bioware are doing? What sets one apart from the other?

Blizzard, in my eyes, is actively working to swindle you. They are creating mechanisms and steering their entire platform around fucking you over for their own profit. I expect that sort of behavior from the likes of EA, but it's been my experience that either the developers or the customers or both have enough sway and pushback to keep that moderately in check. Blizzard has nothing of the sort - just legions of new fanbois bred on WoW, who have no knowledge nor desire to learn about Blizzard's past, their foundations, their principles. Blizzard saw a mass exodus of employees - for whatever their reasons, but from what little I've heard it's because of a genuine disagreement in the direction of the games and the company. That sounds to me like the guys who made Torchlight, and Hellgate: London, and Mythos, and whatever else didn't want to follow the direction Blizzard has been, and currently is, taking.

I know what you're saying Bolty about business - they need to make money, to turn a profit. I get that. My livelihood depends on that just as much as theirs, if not more so. Even so, I'd rather see my company fail - honorably - than resort to the sorts of practices they are engaging in. Maybe that makes me a poor businessman, putting scruples over survivability, but I like to sleep at night (however little I get). I understand that there are far worse companies out there (Zynga, for example), but I have to believe there are far better, and I also have to believe that Blizzard was not always about profits. I think, in creating WoW, they have lost focus on what made them great in the past. I think they've lost their true passion, and I think it's been done so slowly and subtly that they don't even realize it. Honestly, I pity the developers there that I am sure have tried to resist the commands from higher up (as possibly noted in the recent Skill Rune changes), but I cannot seem to separate my personal beliefs regarding the ethics of the company from the product they produce.

World of Warcraft, IMHO, is a mediocre game. Starcraft II is a mediocre game. Diablo III is a mediocre game. I'm tired of mediocrity, but more over, I'm not willing to put up with mediocrity designed to milk me for every dollar I have. I pay damn good money (too much!) to game companies that deliver something, and on principles that far outweigh Blizzard's. You do not see the level of narcissism and greed at Wargaming.net, nor Hi-Rez Studios, nor Bethesda. I have paid untold amounts of money for League of Legends, World of Tanks, and Tribes: Ascend. I have bought into Alphas and Betas to support developers that don't even have a finished product - some of them nowhere near complete! - because I believe in what the developer is doing, I see a good (possibly great) game within their desires, and I want to support them in their efforts. I do not feel the same way about Blizzard anymore.

I see absolutely no reason for me to buy into Blizzard's bullshit except for the chance to have some truly awesome games with some truly awesome people - and it has nothing to do with what game I'm playing. The game is merely a vehicle for enjoyment and camaraderie, but in purchasing that vehicle I help fund a company that I am learning to despise. It's a painful choice for me to have to make. At this point I'm still intending to purchase Diablo III, but it's not with any excitement or, even, any true enjoyment. It's just so that I may once again fight side-by-side with people whom I've grown connected to (in some way) over the years. To build stronger bonds with existing friends, and forge new bonds with strangers. I am not, in any way, impressed by Diablo III. I am offended by the company behind it. There are simply too many negative things for me to turn a blind eye to.

Anyway, enough ranting and rambling. Sirian has the right idea - don't dissect everything, just play the damn game and find some fun in it. I'm hoping I can do that - I truly am. I just don't know that truly want to over making an actual stand in the only meaningful way I can - by not purchasing the game. We'll see what I ultimately decide, but after the disappointment that was SCII and now Diablo III, I'm debating even buying the rest of the SCII trilogy - something I was looking forward to buying when they announced it, despite my agreement that it's a cop-out to milk more money from customers. I could handle buying a glorified expansion pack at an inflated price when I believed in the company, and wanted to collect the extra goodies for posterity's sake, but not now. I'd be surprised if I've put in more than 30 hours in SCII, a game I eagerly bought the CE for, and one that I have virtually no desire to return to. Contrast that with the likes of World of Tanks, or Tribes: Ascend, both of which I've spent as much if not more than the price of the CE for Diablo III (and the latter isn't even out yet), and will happily continue to do so because I enjoy the games. I have no problem with paying continually for enjoyment, even if it costs me far more than the old model of gaming. I wholeheartedly embrace a proper Freemium model, or even a model that requires purchasing the game upfront, and paying for additional content (ala Skyrim, Oblivion, etc.) As long as it's ethical and not game-breaking - ala "pay-to-win" - I have no problem with it. I refuse to support pay-to-win scenarios, though. It ruins the game, IMHO.

And yes, I'm still ranting. Enough for one post. We'll see what happens, and I'll try to find some faith that Blizzard is better than they appear.