Blizzard Lead Producer Moves To New MMO

Leord - 314 days 9 hours ago

Well, yes, if you can call Kaplan the big guns. But he is pretty senior in Blizzard, so I suppose he has been promoted and probably in charge of this project. Very interesting to see what comes out of it. He must be one of the people with most MMO experience in the business, so it's just a matter of WHAT greatness will be made, not whether or not it will be...

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Dorjan - 314 days 9 hours ago

It is Blizzard and they can pull off whatever they want atm but using a big gun from WoW creates the danger of maybe running into the same ideas as WoW and just making a clone.

I'm sure Blizzard will be careful of this and maybe he is there to make sure things aren't too WoW like?

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BRG9000 - 314 days 8 hours ago

This seems like a good move. Warcraft is so well established and its design team is so large that I'm sure it will continue on just fine without him. But a new(ish) team on this MMO can stand to gain a lot from this experienced developer.

And I'm not convinced Blizzard is against the game being WoW-like. WoW has been unimaginably successful, so they'd be sticking with a formula they created and everyone knows is great. Plus by keeping the game similar (with obvious engine upgrades among other improvements), they keep it likely that the huge WoW populating will funnel into the new game. At least, I imagine that is Blizzard's eventual goal for this new game. Putting out a game to compete against a still-expanding WoW would seem like an odd choice.

*crosses fingers for Galaxy of Starcraft*

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Dorjan - 314 days 9 hours ago

Yeah it could be the start of WoW being put on the side-lines if they are moving top-crew around

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Donger - 314 days 7 hours ago

They could totally drop the R&D on this game and still make a ton of money for years to come.

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BRG9000 - 314 days 7 hours ago

I fully expect the next WoW expansion to be the last, then for Blizzard to release and heavily push this new MMO about 3 years from now. Maybe Blizz realizes that something, someday, will defeat WoW, and they figure it might as well be themselves.

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Perjoss - 314 days 5 hours ago

"I fully expect the next WoW expansion to be the last, then for Blizzard to release and heavily push this new MMO about 3 years from now"

I cant agree,
Everquest has been going for what, 10 years? and i think it has around 15 expansions, this is a game that peaked at 500k subs iirc. WoW will be around for a long time to come and the expansions will not stop until the demand goes away.

Bliz are too smart to release an mmo to be in direct competition with wow, it will be something that appeals to gamers that dont like the fantasy setting, maybe it will be sci-fi, maybe not.

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BRG9000 - 314 days 3 hours ago

I think setting is irrelevant though, if Blizzard releases a new MMO it's going to be in the "BLIZZARD MMO" genre, and people are going to play just one game or the other. Most will probably leave WoW for the new shiny one.

Frankly I think you'd be hard pressed to find someone who's never given WoW a try, but would play a sci-fi MMO if Blizzard made one.

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Leord - 314 days 9 hours ago

StarCraft MMO, pleeeeease, for the love of me!

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Dorjan - 314 days 9 hours ago

I hope it's not a SC mmo, it would be rubbish and ruin the name.

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SCFreelancer - 314 days 8 hours ago

I don't think an Starcraft MMO is what I would wan't to see! Its nice to play but it ruins the whole Lore :( Thats what WOW did to the Warcraft Lore.

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Leord - 314 days 9 hours ago

I don;t think there is any danger of anything happening with WoW. I mean Kaplan is nice and all, but not the Alpha Omega of WoW. They will tread along fine.

I am MUCH more curious about the unannounced project!

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Dorjan - 314 days 9 hours ago

You say that Leord, but if you look at most things the momentum comes from the person who created the idea and lead the bull by the horns.

It could easily go down hill from now, what with Star Trek and KotoR MMOs coming out...

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Cogo - 314 days 6 hours ago

Good point, and the history of WoW proves my point. Kaplan was nobody in terms of Blizzard before he started with WoW. Many people from the original team leader structure left, and the game continued to become a huge success when released.

I don't think Kaplan is the leader that holds the bull by its horns...

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Cogo - 314 days 6 hours ago

If it's SC MMO, I don't think it will hurt WoW very much. For that same reason it would seem stupid with another fantasy MMO. WoW 2 or Diablo MMO seems unlikely to me.

A new IP, or SC, really.

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Cogo - 314 days 6 hours ago

Was there a game ANNOUNCEMENT this year? Well, if they don't have any other games under wraps, it's definitely it. I thought the big "thing" this years was a release (SC2)

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SCFreelancer - 314 days 8 hours ago

True, but I think that the huge size is somewhat tied to any MMO.

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Cogo - 314 days 6 hours ago

Hehe, well, it IS an MMO, that's confirmed. I think I'll side with the people wanting a SC MMO, actually!

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Leord - 314 days 5 hours ago

Yeah, well, from a PR perspective, anything fits that category.

I am a bit afraid that you are right though, it could very well be a new IP completely...

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