Jeff Kaplan leaving World of Warcraft
by Elizabeth Harper 
Feb 12th 2009 at 2:48PM
In a surprise announcement this afternoon, World of Warcraft's Game Director Jeff Kaplan (whom you may know from the forums as "Tigole," and whom those of you with a longer memory may remember as the guild leader of Legacy of Steel back in the EverQuest days) is leaving the WoW team to work on a their unannounced MMO. (What this means for how far along that project is it's hard to say -- are they perhaps bringing in a solid game designer because they're just now getting things started? Or to polish off the finishing touches?) Says Kaplan of his time with the World of Warcraft team:I wanted to take a moment to let the community know that I've switched roles here at Blizzard to work on our upcoming, unannounced MMO. World of Warcraft has been such a central part of my life these past six and a half years, and it's success would not have been possible without the tremendous community around it, so I wanted to say thank you to all our players who've shared this amazing experience with us so far.
World of Warcraft isn't going anywhere, however, as the rest of the team is remaining in place, including Kaplan's "partners in crime" Tom Chilton and J. Allen Brack.
Mr. Kaplan, while we haven't always agreed with you, we'll certainly miss having you around. And, since you're going, we have to ask... can we have your stuff?
Filed under: Blizzard, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
takatobell Feb 12th 2009 2:50PM
seriously?.... o.O
Brimoonfang Feb 12th 2009 2:55PM
He's probably butthurt that hybrids (i.e. Druids, Paladins, Death Knights) are finally permitted to tank raid bosses just as well than his beloved Warrior...
Personally, I'd be happier if he left Bliz altogether.
I didn't know him in his EQ days, but the stories of his immaturity and rudeness are legendary.
Kolo Feb 12th 2009 3:08PM
LOL @ all the hate in some of these replys.
I'm sure that Tigole doesn't deserve any credit in a game we've enjoyed for years *roll eyes*
crsh Feb 12th 2009 4:28PM
@Brimoonfang
Dude, you're confusing Kaplan (Tigole) with Kalgan.
TheKarmaPolice Feb 12th 2009 4:11PM
Kalgan =/= Kaplan
McRaider Feb 12th 2009 5:31PM
Hmph... our guilds main tank (and the best one) is a druid. I've seen him having 47k hp... I want to have that much too!
Dominace Feb 13th 2009 1:46AM
I think you guys are thinking of fuhrer.
RogueJedi86 Feb 12th 2009 2:52PM
As long as Ghostcrawler doesn't leave, I'm happy. That guy is awesome.
Eversor Feb 12th 2009 3:08PM
I agree. I seriously admire the guy for having the balls to stare right into the mouth of the million headed hydra that is WoW forums and talk with it, while the beast hisses and boo's at him all the bloody time.
In b4 "GC sucks" shitstorm from spineless whiners.
AxisOfJustice Feb 12th 2009 3:14PM
How am I more "spineless" than you or anyone else here, Eversor? We are all behind our monitors rather we disagree or agree with GC. So just because I have a different opinion than GC means I am somehow "spineless" and you're not? F off.
Eversor Feb 12th 2009 3:26PM
If you are one of those who believe that every thing going wrong in the game is solely GC's fault, then yes, you are a spineless whiner.
AxisOfJustice Feb 12th 2009 4:43PM
No. I do not believe he is what "everything that is wrong in the game". However, I believe that he doesn't play his own game when he makes statements such as "people wear Naxx gear because it's easy to get, not because it's better than pvp gear", which makes him a clueless moron (notice how a huge chunk of dps classes in 2000+ arena ratings are wearing a mix of pve gear?).
Eversor Feb 12th 2009 4:56PM
So you want to claim that Naxx gear is not accessible, and, say, ret pallies would not benefit from it far more than from the honor bought blues to start up arena? Sure, for other classes/specs with far less survavibility tools there is no such option to wear PvE gear and win, but that does not nullify the fact that Naxx gear really is the best a beginner in the arena can get. Honor blues, really? For the time invested to get them, they completely suck, if you do not farm arena.
Burst is FotM this season. I'd like you to add one with one and think why. Yes, it is the same reason why you claim GC is a clueless moron. So maybe one of the lead developers isn't as big of a moron as some of the clearly bright talents in WoW playerbase are? Oh no wait, I forgot, the playerbase knows what is best, they all are experienced MMO devs.
RogueJedi86 Feb 12th 2009 5:00PM
Guys, calm down. I just meant I love how Ghostcrawler tells us about upcoming changes and exactly why the changes happened. That's why everyone loved Ghostcrawler at BlizzCon'08 and love him now, it's his openness to the player base. It makes us feel like we're involved in the development process.
AxisOfJustice Feb 12th 2009 5:09PM
If you think that the devs have never made any mistakes regarding class balance and especially in pvp, then I think that is quit laughable.
I'm going to end the conversation here; and in the meanwhile chuckle to myself as you continue to call people names such as "spinless" without knowing what it really means, the fact that you continue to use it out of context, and the fact that you do not realize the irony and the hypocrisy of you calling others "spineless" while in the comfort of your room, hiding behind a monitor and a keyboard. Enjoy your day.
tano Feb 12th 2009 5:25PM
Agreed. GC posts some insightful comments. And he is respectful.
I hope Tigole/Kaplan doesn't turn their next MMO into an EQ/WoW clone. It's like he took the worst aspects of EQ and added them to WoW... Talk about doing a 180.
Dizko Feb 12th 2009 5:36PM
@AxisOfDouche
LOL RUN ON SENTENCES FTW!
You have proven your nerd raging well. OMG I R ANGRY SUMONE CALLEDED TROLLS THAT HATE ALL DEVS SPINELESS.
Get.
Over.
Yourself.
DIAF.
Eversor Feb 12th 2009 5:37PM
I'd like you to point out exactly where I said that the current PvP balance was flawless. But obviously you are quite sensitive in this matter, so I take you like to throw out criticisms pointed at devs quite often.
As for hiding behind the keyboard and hypocrisy, funny that someone sitting behind one as well suddenly thinks he has a morale highground and now can preach me on how to behave in the Internets. I have seen plenty of "FU GC" whines. They are made by people with little to no comprehension about development process whatsoever, they saintly believe that exactly GC is to blame about every thing going on wrong in the game, and they think that he is supposed to answer every of their retarded threads (which he does in his free time), they are hardly ever made by those who really put in effort in the game and rather work to improve than sit all day in the forums, tapping the buttons into endless walls of text, so yes, I believe that the adjective "spineless" fits in nicely.
RogueJedi86, sorry for derailing your comment and filling your e-mail box with this nonsense.
silverdragon Feb 12th 2009 5:52PM
I'm just typing to make this comment reply longer.
Justin Feb 13th 2009 1:18AM
lolololol long comment