I don't know if he meant he was on the development team working for blizzard... Sounds like he was just a beta tester, lol.
If that even lol. I gotta agree with Stfuppercut and Selexin on this. I don't think RedridgeTroll even played Vanilla.
redridgegnoll, what exactly was your role in development that you're claiming?
I've been asking this for quite awhile. I actually got quite a lot of pushback for giving him a hard time in the past despite his outlandish claims and crackpot ideas. I even received a bit of a talking to from the big guys. I feel as though at a certain point these kinds of people do a bit more harm to the conversation than good. I dont mind being the bad guy that calls them out either, regardless of the consequences. Im not trying to be intentionally abrasive but at a certain point someone needs to step in and correct this foolishness. Glad to see we still have some reasonable voices around that dont coddle this behavior.
edit: I will add that I am incredibly disappointed with the shear quantity of stolen valor in regards to Vanilla. I have not raided with, nor talked to a single person on private that was not a Naxx-super-warlord-high-beta-marshall-alpha-testing-developer during retail vanilla. Yet when I talk to these people one on one, they get exposed for bullshitting within 5 mins. This was no different with Redridgegnoll.
Blizzard had no experience developing MMORPGs back then, but they had the resources and personnel to create the best one. Vanilla was based on what are now considered "old school" MMORPGS. Ultima Online, Everquest, Dark Age of Camelot etc.. which were all released years prior to Vanilla launching. I have no idea what direct impact I might have had on Vanilla WoW, if any, but Blizzard certainly relied on the alpha/beta community for ideas and feedback. They had players like myself with more experience in the genre than much of their development team. Features like instanced vs. non-instanced dungeons/raids is something which was a contentious topic between the devs and community. Nowadays that seems ludicrous.
There came a point when Blizzard stopped listening to the "old school" MMORPG community. The one which helped shape Vanilla WoW. That is partly why I think we ended up with something like the Burning Crusade. The Burning Crusade was a success in many ways, and even made some improvements to the original game. However, it marked the end of Classic MMORPG design, and the beginning of the Blizzard MMORPG design. This new direction for MMORPGS is what has dominated the genre for the last decade if not more. Blizzard's mentality with The Burning Crusade was to implement systems that catered specifically to certain playstyles. All that ended up doing was fragment the community, and isolate players from eachother and the world. The same developers who brought you Vanilla WoW, also brought you flying mounts, dungeon finder, and horde paladins. How much of the original team really understood what made Vanilla special?
MMORPGS before WoW were primarly about the open world and server communities. It was about the journey, not the destination. Vanilla WoW honored that, but was also able to achieve a better balance between forgiving and unforgiving gameplay. I remember when I returned to WoW on WOTLK launch night. The game was unrecognizable. I rolled a cow deathknight in order to more fully immerse myself in the absurdity it had become. I felt what so many who were there during the early days of Vanilla. They massacred my boy. It turns out many of us were right all along, Vanilla WoW was always the best.
edit: I will add that I am incredibly disappointed with the shear quantity of stolen valor in regards to Vanilla. I have not raided with, nor talked to a single person on private that was not a Naxx-super-warlord-high-beta-marshall-alpha-testing-developer during retail vanilla. Yet when I talk to these people one on one, they get exposed for bullshitting within 5 mins. This was no different with Redridgegnoll.
lol at Vanilla WoW stolen valor. It's stupid, but a good way to describe it.
Here's my valor:
~1700 hours played. I thought it was closer to 2,000 hours, lol. Only been in two raids during that 1700 hours, both molten core, carried both times. PvP rank of Master Sergeant, which I thought was higher, but I just checked and discovered it is only rank 4.. 1700 hours into the game and I never knew what rank # it was. In fact when I was still bothering to play retail I ran around with the Master Sergeant title because I thought it was higher rank than that :lol: Shows how much I cared about PvP rank.
So no, not everybody here was PVP Rank 40 and was farming Naxx in their sleep during Vanilla. At least I wasn't.
Still no answer on his development experience... How he was a well respected and valued member on the vanilla WoW development team... Wonder why he keeps side-stepping that question?
Still no answer on his development experience... How he was a well respected and valued member on the vanilla WoW development team... Wonder why he keeps side-stepping that question?
He was a beta tester.
Still no answer on his development experience... How he was a well respected and valued member on the vanilla WoW development team... Wonder why he keeps side-stepping that question?
I was a tester during an early version of the beta.
I was a tester during an early version of the beta.
... Okay. That puts things in perspective. So that may or may not be true, but still doesnt really give you any credibility. You we'rent actually a part of development if we are being honest (assuming you actually did beta test - every interaction I have ever had with you indicates you havent even touched vanilla). I'd reword your "experience" when you allude to being a part of development. If your feedback during your beta testing was anything close to what we're seeing here, I doubt they spent much time reading your feedback. I also can see why you disagreed with the route the game began to go as you are looking to create an entirely different game.
I was a tester during an early version of the beta.
I was also a beta tester in the closed eu beta. Actually one of 2000 europeans, first wave.
I don't think we ( as beta testers ) were wildly influencing the game. Most of us were too mesmerized and loved everything blizzard did. We sure did some bug squaching, but the actual changes were mostly brought by blizzard themselves after long threads in us boards. And this was mostly QOL or class balance stuff.
That was a bit off topic, sorry.
I don't get the appeal of trying to change/add or in your mind try to improve the game?
I mean why can't you just enjoy the game as it is....Classic's goal wasn't to improve Vanilla it was to bring back something that was lost that the previous community can't truly play. It is suppose to be a shrine of what the game used to be and how amazing it is, to experience vanilla a second time. Don't be concerned about Classic in year number 2, classic will be just fine, Its a long game.
When I want to play an old game I loved, I dont want to play the old game+ or old game expansion #34 or old game w/ #12 and #56 changes/updates
I don't get the appeal of trying to change/add or in your mind try to improve the game?
I mean why can't you just enjoy the game as it is....Classic's goal wasn't to improve Vanilla it was to bring back something that was lost that the previous community can't truly play. It is suppose to be a shrine of what the game used to be and how amazing it is, to experience vanilla a second time. Don't be concerned about Classic in year number 2, classic will be just fine, Its a long game.
When I want to play an old game I loved, I dont want to play the old game+ or old game expansion #34 or old game w/ #12 and #56 changes/updates
Because the game runs out of new content after a year or so. As good as I think Classic WoW is, I recognize the problems with the content post-ZG. Phase 5/6 is what I am referring to. That is why I am critical of the game, and am curious about how it could have been improved.
As much as I don't like TBC, I now realize the foresight that Blizzard had at the time. They made TBC more lobby based. Queue systems with ratings for example. Look at gaming today. That is the norm. However, MMOs are unique for their massive multiplayer open worlds. I would have preferred had Blizzard upheld that and created more open world systems instead of instancing everything. Look at Retail, even the leveling zones are instanced to some degree. There is also the sharding controversy in the Classic Beta. It will be interesting to see how Classic is received, considering how accustomed players are to structured ondemand content. It is possible that open world MMOs are just a relic.
Some posters are so defensive about Classic. I can't even post on the Classic subreddit because of this. I appreciate Barrens Chat, as discussion is more welcome here. I see players defend content like Naxxramas, which I find ridiculous. Yeah Classic was great, but I think it could have been way better.
Because the game runs out of new content after a year or so. As good as I think Classic WoW is, I recognize the problems with the content post-ZG. Phase 5/6 is what I am referring to. That is why I am critical of the game, and am curious about how it could have been improved.
As much as I don't like TBC, I now realize the foresight that Blizzard had at the time. They made TBC more lobby based. Queue systems with ratings for example. Look at gaming today. That is the norm. However, MMOs are unique for their massive multiplayer open worlds. I would have preferred had Blizzard upheld that and created more open world systems instead of instancing everything. Look at Retail, even the leveling zones are instanced to some degree. There is also the sharding controversy in the Classic Beta. It will be interesting to see how Classic is received, considering how accustomed players are to structured ondemand content. It is possible that open world MMOs are just a relic.
Some posters are so defensive about Classic. I can't even post on the Classic subreddit because of this. I appreciate Barrens Chat, as discussion is more welcome here. I see players defend content like Naxxramas, which I find ridiculous. Yeah Classic was great, but I think it could have been way better.
I get it and don't disagree but the thing is changes will make it not vanilla/classic...and making changes and such will snowball it to something entirely...maybe back to a different style of BFA, where they need to re-re-release Classic again...idk
This will get hard after lets say 10 years of Classic with no changes...because eventually yes something will need to be done
Either re-release the other expansion, C++, WoW 2, change the direction of retail to kinda meet between classic and BFA to bring in both player base
As much as I don't like TBC, I now realize the foresight that Blizzard had at the time. They made TBC more lobby based. Queue systems with ratings for example. Look at gaming today. That is the norm. However, MMOs are unique for their massive multiplayer open worlds. I would have preferred had Blizzard upheld that and created more open world systems instead of instancing everything. Look at Retail, even the leveling zones are instanced to some degree. There is also the sharding controversy in the Classic Beta. It will be interesting to see how Classic is received, considering how accustomed players are to structured ondemand content. It is possible that open world MMOs are just a relic.
Lobby-based gameplay is an interesting way of putting it. That's actually pretty accurate. Lots of standing around waiting for the game to call your number for your dungeon appointment.
Because the game runs out of new content after a year or so.
It all be released in lets say 2 years, Naxx patch, but you cant tell me everyone will be done/bored 1.5/2 years...?
Not everyone will get there by then. Maybe in 4 years people may be done with Classic with no new content..
I will be an example, I will not be stepping in Naxx when it releases.
I may not even enter until like 3 years or so, if i even decide to get that far or play that long...I dont have the time
Lots of standing around waiting for the game to call your number for your dungeon appointment.
LOL
Receptionist: "Pippina, Dr. Ragnaros will see you now! Please enter Assistant Major Domos room and he will summon the doctor for you"