  |
The Road to Mediocrity -By 6and7eighths 2-22-2001
A
Blizzard Entertainment. For some, the name itself evokes images of gaming genius, of the Holy Grail of modern entertainment. Hell, for all I know, it could evoke images of an infinite number of monkeys tapping at an infinite number of typewriters. For me, it brings to mind the image of the Titanic, sinking into the ocean. But in this case, the boat has been replaced with a company that's grown too big for its britches, and the ocean has been replaced by a sea of mediocrity.
Ten years ago this month, Blizzard Entertainment came into being as an upstart game company that had made the leap from consoles to the personal computer. Over time, Blizzard proved itself to be one of the most innovative companies on the market, easily outshining competitors. Today, Blizzard has three of the most successful franchises in computer game history. StarCraft alone is one of the most popular games ever, as evidenced by the fact that it made a comeback to the Top 10 selling PC games (it actually managed to place number 6, beating Diablo 2 which came in number 8) three years after release.
But how long can Blizzard keep it up? Despite the fact that they've released only five titles in ten years, Blizzard is still head and shoulders above the competition. But this is a two edged sword, and it easily affects Blizzard just as well as it affects other companies. How many people went out to buy Diablo II, yet went back to StarCraft soon after? I know I did, and I don't think I'd be taking much of a risk by saying that many other people did as well. Diablo II will be remembered for the hype, not the groundbreaking gameplay. There wasn't any depth to it, just hack and slash. And if you ask me, I think Gauntlet Legends did a better job of it.
One of the biggest problems came right down to staying power. Battle.net really didn't provide much of a difference from the single player game, and the slew of bugs that have plagued the game since release have made things even more difficult. And when you take into account the various server problems that Blizzard has experienced, including the problems immediately after release and the recent loss of numerous Hardcore characters, you get an online experience that leaves a good deal to be desired.
And then we come to the as-yet unreleased WarCraft III, the much-awaited WarCraft III. The very disappointing WarCraft III, at least from my perspective. Already the Burning Legion has been dropped from the playable races, and there's talk of severely limiting player customization by taking out the ability to replace graphics through the level editor. Blizzard, while obviously trying to do their best in light of a difficult task, are alienating their fans, as evidenced by polls on this very site as well as their own Battle.net forums. But the question remains; will WarCraft III live up to the ever-falling expectations? It's hard to say right now, as all we've seen have been a few pretty screen shots and a lot of dropped features. Much like Diablo II, I seriously doubt WarCraft III will live up to its own hype.
Perhaps my biggest gripe with Blizzard at the moment has been the mistreatment of their largest fanbase. Namely, StarCraft players. It started out innocently enough with the cutbacks in the popular Map of the Week program, replacing it with the Trigger Maps of the Month. Then came the delays on the v1.08 patch. And now, Blizzard might as well be saying, "we've got better things to do then worry about StarCraft" with the latest from GFrazer. Personally, I believe that 1.08 is going to be the last update for StarCraft, and that's the reason why it's taking so long. Like it or not, Blizzard has lost interest in its most successful franchise, and is obviously in the process of phasing it out. It seems that they've mistaken "recent" for "popular". And with StarCraft II several years off, Blizzard is running a huge risk of losing a good deal of fans.
In conclusion, it strikes me that Blizzard is in the process of becoming just another game developer. They are turning from hardcore gamers to business men.
|
 |
