{"id":59,"date":"2008-07-01T11:02:00","date_gmt":"2008-07-01T11:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rglas.dds.nl\/wordpress%20blog\/index.php\/2008\/07\/01\/wwi-2008-notes-from-a-brand-fest\/"},"modified":"2021-02-15T07:49:29","modified_gmt":"2021-02-15T07:49:29","slug":"wwi-2008-notes-from-a-brand-fest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.reneglas.nl\/index.php\/2008\/07\/01\/wwi-2008-notes-from-a-brand-fest\/","title":{"rendered":"WWI 2008: notes from a brand fest"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Blizzard Worldwide Invitational I visited last weekend certainly was a unique experience. For those of you unaware of what the WWI <\/a>is, it\u2019s basically a yearly celebration of all things Blizzard, ie. the Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo videogame series, for non-US players (as those have their own Blizzcon<\/a>). Thousands of eager fans swarmed <\/span>Paris<\/span><\/st1:place><\/st1:city> in search of Blizzard developers, playable unreleased games, scoops and, of course, goodie bags. I gleefully joined them.
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The whole thing started with a giant opening ceremony. The most fascinating part about this ceremony wasn\u2019t that the hosts whipped the crowd into a cheering frenzy for the presence of Blizzard\u2019s \u2018superstars\u2019. That was to be expected. No, it was because these \u2018superstars\u2019 included not only the designers and founders of the company but also the heads of PR, marketing and, yes, even global finance. So here was a crowd of thousands, cheering for those who did not make the games and virtual worlds they adore, but for those whose job it is to make a lot of money out of this love. In all fairness, most of the crowd didn\u2019t even know these \u2018suits\u2019 (or didn\u2019t hear their names being called out due to the deafening music) but cheer they did. Hurray for the money!<\/span><\/p>\n

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A fellow researcher also present at the event sighed at one point that, in retrospect, the Sony organised Everquest events of yesteryear where far better organised – as a meeting point for community members that is. At these events, she told me, players all wore tags with their server and guild names on it, and the event nourished these sub-communities to meet and greet. No such things were organised at WWI. In Blizzard\u2019s defense, this event was not just for World of Warcraft players (in contrast to the Everquest events). But it does fit WoW’s image of being allabout playing alone together<\/a> quit well.
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The MMORPG genre has \u2018grown up\u2019 commercially. But it seems to have lost a lot of its tight community feeling.
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Sub-communities a plenty though, and all were looking for acknowledgment with the Blizzard dev\u2019s. Raiders where present to cheer for everything re-establishing their hardcore-ness (for example when, during a Q&A session, someone asked when Blizzard would solve the problem of the large influx of \u2018newbs\u2019). PvP\u2019ers sat on the edge of their seats when class balance was discussed (how dare they\/they should give [insert random class] a more powerful [insert random spell]). RP\u2019ers showed up in full costume, proudly defying ridicule (murloc\u2019s ftw!<\/a>). There was even a brave furrie <\/a>\u2013 he must have been one! – who asked if druids could please get gendered versions of their animal forms (short Blizzard answer: no).<\/insert><\/insert><\/span><\/p>\n

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All groups had to deal with Blizzard developers stressing that the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion pack Wrath of the Lich King is going to become \u2018not easier, but more accessible\u2019, with \u2018less barriers\u2019 and \u2018reduced complexity\u2019 (one might suspect these terms now form the official developer\u2019s mantra, as they were heard many, many times). Some cheered, some winced, some took their opinions to the web to cause yet another flame war between casuals and hardcore players.
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All I can say is that it\u2019s a logical step that Blizzard is supporting the more casual approach to World of Warcraft play. By far the largest part of the player base can be considered \u2018casual\u2019 players.<\/span><\/p>\n


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On the other hand, it\u2019s also usually this group who cause the feeling of a fragmented, individualised community. You can\u2019t really blame casual players though; not everyone wants a \u2018second life\u2019. WotLK\u2019s design approach simply looks like the future of the genre in its popular form. We will have to wait another few months for the expansion pack to come out to see if it\u2019s really that bad\/good for the community as a whole.
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Oh, and the game they were hinting at<\/a> in the days before WWI? It was Diabo III<\/a>. When they thought it couldn\u2019t get worse, here\u2019s another title for moral crusader’s on game addiction and violence to start worrying about. Hell, it must be the devil\u2019s work!<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Blizzard Worldwide Invitational I visited last weekend certainly was a unique experience. For those of you unaware of what the WWI is, it\u2019s basically a yearly celebration of all things Blizzard, ie. the Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo videogame series, for non-US players (as those have their own Blizzcon). Thousands of eager fans swarmed Paris … <\/p>\n

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