This article originally ran under a different banner/website in November of 2019 and is now being here re-uploaded for purposes of convenience and consolidation. Please enjoy.
HEAR YE!!! HEAR YE!!! Some people have grown up with the adventures of Link and Mario to inspire them. Some people regale stories from the Final Fantasy series. Others recall the golden age of gaming when the PlayStation 2 was king of the mountain. I, the Video Game Doomsayer, did not endure any of these luxuries. The year was 2009 and my friends had introduced me to World of Warcraft. Enthralled by the world of Azeroth, I soon began my transformation into a Blizzard fan. Over the years, I would find myself moving away from World of Warcraft but drawn back to Blizzard games one way or another. I have dueled the best in Hearthstone. I have satisfied my MOBA fix with Heroes of the Storm. I have saved the world from angels and demons in Diablo 3. I have, in a desperate attempt to defend a capture point, landed a five-man Dead-Eye in Overwatch.
I recognize this fanboy nature in me. At times, I have used that fanboy nature to justify being extra critical of Blizzard, because I know they can do better. This year alone, I and many others, have beaten Blizzard into the ground. From massive layoffs to Hong Kong protests, Blizzard can’t seem to escape our fiery gaze. I promise I don’t do it out of malice. I do it because I know the company can be better. I have seen it. I HAVE WITNESSED IT!!! With BlizzCon 2019 coming to a close, I see this as a possible redemption arc for Blizzard. Could this be the year they turn it around, or will we have another Diablo Immortals disaster on their hands?
Let’s begin with the forgotten child, Heroes of the Storm. Blizzard has been slowly disconnecting themselves from their take on the MOBA genre. They have either lost faith in the player base or don’t think it is profitable. Either way, I remember BlizzCons where multiple heroes and maps announced for Heroes of the Storm. Now I am willing to excuse a drop in quantity in exchange for an increase in quality, and adding Deathwing, the Aspect of Death, certainly fits that requirement. I always admired the developers of Heroes of the Storm when they were crafting weird and wild champions. I found the release of Cho’Gall and Medivh to be infinitely more fascinating than the release of a standard tank or healer. Deathwing has captured that same awe. I can’t recall a single champion within the MOBA genre who can’t be targeted by his own team. Of course, this comes in exchange for being constantly immune to crowd control. It is hard to tell if Deathwing will be a game-changer, but honestly, I love it when the Heroes devs get to go crazy with their champions. I certainly encourage it while Blizzard’s interest lay with other games.
Next on the chopping block, Blizzard announced the next expansion to Hearthstone: The Descent of Dragons. The Savior of Uldum and the League of Evil are having a final clash over Dragonblight and have recruited numerous dragons to their cause. The first thing I noticed from the cards Blizzard decided to show off was how powerful some of them were. The Galakround hero card especially feels game-breaking. Giving rogue multiple ways to draw cards that cost zero and infinite lackeys feel like it is praying for the glorious return of Miracle Rogue decks. Many of the legendaries also seem like they are going to take the game balance and snap it over their knee. Any early game deck is going to be crushed by a control paladin deck with Nozdormu the Timeless. My main complaint is Hearthstone always feels cynical when all the power is concentrated in the legendary and epic cards. You must either purchase infinite packs or except your life in the lower end of the ladder. Compare this to a set like Rise of Shadows, where most legendaries were only powerful in specific situations and powerful cards were rare and commons like Underbelly Angler and Evil Miscreant. Yes, the breath and explorer cards look strong, but I can’t escape the feeling that Blizzard designed Descent of Dragons to increase pack sales.
Now let’s discuss the new World of Warcraft expansion: Shadowlands. After beating up Bolvar Fordragon, Slyvanas Windrunner snaps the Helm of Domination in half to access a realm resembling Stranger Thing’s upside down. The realm is being called the Shadowlands. The darkest of terrors supposedly envelope this dark and twisted realm. Despite us being told the Shadowlands are infinite, there appear to be only four zones, each with its own faction that you can befriend. While initially feeling like the factions from Legion, some digging has informed me that you will only be able to champion one of these factions. This will inevitably lead to everyone befriending the faction that gives them the most game-breaking buff or item. All and all, World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, doesn’t feel like enough to draw in new players or stop current players from playing World of Warcraft: Classic. As always, I plan to sit back and enjoy the story from afar.
Now if you were to ask me if Blizzard was going to pull Overwatch 2 out of a hat, I would have shrugged the idea off. A sequel to Blizzard’s live service hero shooter seems pure insanity. I understand Overwatch has a lot of dedicated fans, but I could not see that announcement going well. Players have spent countless hours grinding for achievements and cosmetics, only to have them start all over from scratch seemed like the tipping point. Sure enough, Blizzard showcased another impressive cinematic trailer, followed by Jeff Kaplan announcing Overwatch 2. Suspicions ran as I was curious how many hoops Kaplan was going to have to jump through to justify this. Shocking not too many as Kaplan promised co-op PvE and our skins and achievements would carry over from Overwatch. Frankly, it all sounded like Overwatch 2 would be an expansion to Overwatch especially when the two games won’t split the community. Knowing Blizzard’s history with expansions, I am almost considering picking up Overwatch 2 … if they removed loot boxes from Overwatch. Unfortunately, we all know that won’t happen.
After last year’s embarrassment that was Diablo: Immortals, I think we all knew Diablo 4 was coming to BlizzCon this year. After a rather bloody trailer, Blizzard showed off what appeared to be Diablo 3 gameplay with a Diablo 2 color palette and a dash of verticality. The idea of allowing you to jump or interact with other levels of terrain seems like a subtle tweaking that could break up the monotony from dungeon crawlers. However, the more Blizzard talked about Diablo 4, the louder the alarm bells in my head rang. If your map is so large that players have to use mounts, don’t you think it be easier to craft a smaller map with a dense amount of encounters. Of course, that would also mean you can’t have various amounts of players populating a server. THAT’S RIGHT LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!!! DIABLO 4 IS A LIVE SERVICE GAME!!! KISS AN OFFLINE MODE GOODBYE!!! ALL SO YOU AND MILLION RANDOM PLAYERS CAN FIGHT RANDOM LEGENDARY MONSTERS!!! Oh don’t worry, microtransactions will be coming to Diablo 4, because Blizzard clearly didn’t learn from the Diablo 3 auction house disaster. I want to be excited for Diablo 4, but Blizzard’s need to turn Diablo 4 into an MMO, really turns me off. Why must games become second jobs, why can’t they just be games?
Now before you hurl your tomatoes at me for my skepticism of Overwatch 2 or Diablo 4, there is an elephant we have to address: J. Allen Brack’s speech. For starters, I don’t blame J. Allen Brack. I could feel Bobby Kotick firmly tightening his grip on J. Allen Brack’s leash during that speech. A speech that had been picked apart on the surgeon’s table by the Activision marketing team. A speech where Brack never says that an American company should not be silencing the free speech of anyone. Brack only apologized for moving too quickly and being slow to react. Hollow apologies because I am sure without a doubt, Blizzard would do it all again. Blizzard acted so quickly to appease China and held off from responding so it didn’t affect Activision-Blizzard stock. Brack’s apology didn’t affect Blitzchung’s punishment; in fact, Brack never even said Blitzchung’s name. This apology felt on par with all those times community managers fire meaningless phrases like “we are listening to feedback” and “we agree with the community.” Brack and his team will claim that they are all for free speech, but that is hard to believe when they are forcing Overwatch coaches to remove pro-Blitzchung tweets. Brack claims they didn’t live up to the high standards they set, and his non-apology just digs the company in a deeper hole.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!!! If there is anything you can take away from my BlizzCon 2019 breakdown, it is I find it incredibly hard to trust Blizzard these days. From the Blitzchung debacle to pioneering the popularity of loot boxes, Blizzard has traded on trust for profits. Now I am not saying you can’t exercise some excitement for any of these titles, but please do not rush to pre-order these games. Despite all my criticism, I want all of these games to succeed. It breaks my heart to say I didn’t enjoy a Blizzard game, but they don’t deserve special treatment. I hope Blizzard can focus on making entertaining games over profit-driven products for Activision. They truly have to, or else their end is nigh.