Shane Dabiri interview: How has the World of Warcraft evolved?
Ever wonder how player comments and feedback really affect the World of Warcraft? Blizzard lead producer Shane Dabiri answers this question among others as play.tm’s Paul Newcombe was able to score an interview.
According to Dabiri, WoW‘s success “really pushes (them) to keep delivering great content.” Of course the follow up question is the current state of the MMO industry – that it can literally be MASSIVE. Dabiri said that they play other MMOs to see what else is out there. Is it possible to grab a big piece of the pie – big enough to be really considered a competitor? “If the games are enjoyable enough and well-designed, I’m sure they’ll receive player support.”
Here are some excerpts that caught this writer’s attention:
Has the game evolved in ways that you didn’t expect when it was first released?
In some ways it has, but the great advantage of working on an online game is that we can sometimes make some pretty broad changes as needed. One example that comes to mind was the original PvP Honor System. We thought players would enjoy the challenge and accomplishment of achieving the highest rank, but after receiving good feedback from the community we decided to change the system to better fit the play style of our customers. Today, great rewards are within reach of casual players via the revamped Honor System, and we’ve created an entirely new PvP mechanic with the Arena System, which caters to more hardcore players looking to show off their skills.
How much does player feedback and requests influence future design?
We’re very attentive to feedback, as it tells us what kinds of content are popular with players and whether design elements are working as we’d intended them to. The evolution of World of Warcraft, like any MMO, is really driven by the players. That said, players don’t always have access to some of the details that we have when it comes to game balance, and there are many factors we have to weigh in addition to player feedback before making design decisions.
Player feedback does matter. (We’re not sure if these include nerf and new server threads.) Anyway, the interview also covers the new content that came with The Burning Crusade. In conclusion, Dabiri said that he still finds time to play WoW. “There’s no better way to get a feel for how the game is working,” he adds. You can check out the entire interview by clicking the Read link below.
Ever wonder how player comments and feedback really affect the World of Warcraft? Blizzard lead producer Shane Dabiri answers this question among others as play.tm’s Paul Newcombe was able to score an interview.
According to Dabiri, WoW‘s success “really pushes (them) to keep delivering great content.” Of course the follow up question is the current state of the MMO industry – that it can literally be MASSIVE. Dabiri said that they play other MMOs to see what else is out there. Is it possible to grab a big piece of the pie – big enough to be really considered a competitor? “If the games are enjoyable enough and well-designed, I’m sure they’ll receive player support.”
Here are some excerpts that caught this writer’s attention:
Has the game evolved in ways that you didn’t expect when it was first released?
In some ways it has, but the great advantage of working on an online game is that we can sometimes make some pretty broad changes as needed. One example that comes to mind was the original PvP Honor System. We thought players would enjoy the challenge and accomplishment of achieving the highest rank, but after receiving good feedback from the community we decided to change the system to better fit the play style of our customers. Today, great rewards are within reach of casual players via the revamped Honor System, and we’ve created an entirely new PvP mechanic with the Arena System, which caters to more hardcore players looking to show off their skills.
How much does player feedback and requests influence future design?
We’re very attentive to feedback, as it tells us what kinds of content are popular with players and whether design elements are working as we’d intended them to. The evolution of World of Warcraft, like any MMO, is really driven by the players. That said, players don’t always have access to some of the details that we have when it comes to game balance, and there are many factors we have to weigh in addition to player feedback before making design decisions.
Player feedback does matter. (We’re not sure if these include nerf and new server threads.) Anyway, the interview also covers the new content that came with The Burning Crusade. In conclusion, Dabiri said that he still finds time to play WoW. “There’s no better way to get a feel for how the game is working,” he adds. You can check out the entire interview by clicking the Read link below.