Patch 5.2 interview with Dave Kosak
Inside an old alt's vault
The latest patch 5.2 news
All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsA challenge to Blizzard's secretive philosophy
by Adam Holisky 
Sep 10th 2009 at 4:00PM
Blizzard is notorious for not announcing release dates or patch days until the very last minute -- if at all. Sites like WoW.com and MMO-Champion have had to develop relationships with people in the know in order to have any idea when a patch is coming out, and even then we usually don't find out for sure until about 12 hours before a patch makes it onto the live servers.
Not all MMORPG companies are so secretive however.
CCP, which runs the hard core space based MMO EVE Online recently had to push back an announced patch -- from Wednesday to Thursday.
What happened when they did this? Fans rejoiced that a bug was being fixed. They cheered because you finally could shoot stuff that was 0 meters away with turrets.
Now in Blizzard's world, at least the one they display to everyone outside of their organization, pushing back an announced patch would be the end of world. Cats and dogs would live together, and fire with the occasional brimstone would rain down upon the Earth. They have said many times that the reason they don't want to announce patch dates is because if they don't hit their target, they are going to upset the fans.
This is an admirable notion, one that a lot of other companies could use a little bit of. Don't upset your player base, keep them happy. But there does come a point where a company needs to stand up for what it's doing. If they are targeting a release date of Smarch 13th for Patch 3.3, then they should say it. If they can't hit it because there are still things that need to be worked out -- then say that. Such a level of communication from Blizzard can't hurt, indeed it would help immensely in providing a certain, and dare I say necessary, level of transparency.
Granted if a larger company like Blizzard would announce and then push back a release date, many people would complain and flood the forums. But that happens on a daily basis about anything. Such is life when you're dealing with 12 million people, 6 million of whom are going to complain no matter what Blizzard does.
It's high time that Blizzard stops catering to the whiners and complainers and stands up for the development process that has served them so well. Pushing back a release date isn't a bad thing, especially when there are reasons given to sedate the intelligent of the masses.
With Patch 3.2.2 on the horizon, I have a challenge for makers of WoW -- take a page from EVE's playbook. Let us know when the patch is scheduled to be released, and if it can't be -- communicate briefly why and see what happens.
I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
2n - 1 go left, 2n go right. I don't see enough DoTs! More DoTs now! Are you ready for the return of Onyxia? With the Brood Mother being revitalized as a 10 and 25 person raid, you'll need to be sure you know everything that's coming at you. WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.2.2 will make sure your set for the next patch!
Filed under: Patches, Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 5)
James Sep 10th 2009 4:21PM
Yeah, let's tell Blizzard (the most successful MMO company in the world, EVER) to alter their core philophies in the same vain as other MMO companies. Hey, aren't I smrt?
Go ahead. Announce a release date... so you HAVE to rush to meet it when you're not ready. And you HAVE to postpone it when you can't. (Oh oh well. nobody cares anyway if you make and break commitments anyway right? which kinda begs the question, why in the world you would make commitments if you don't keep them?? seems, idk, stupid to me) Or maybe you don't announce a date. Maybe if you finish by the target, you release it by the target. And if you don't finish by the target, nobody knows any worse.
But we need transparancy! The god awful transparancy! Inquiring fans want to know. No, we don't. We want a quality product. If Blizzard needs to take time, then they can take the time. They should not feel pressure from us while they are busy developing their game. There are a lot of things we will never know. And when Blizzard "might" have released a game or a patch, that is not important to me. What's important is when they DO release a patch/game. Because obviously, anytime before that the game just wasn't ready.
mtsadowski Sep 10th 2009 4:50PM
"Hey, aren't I smrt?"
Nice! Another subtle Simpsons reference! Kudos!
/I am so smart! S-M-R-T!
laina Sep 10th 2009 7:01PM
I wish i could vote your post ABOVE blue, into purple, because it is truly epic. People never seem to realize that what they *think* they want and what they actually want are two very different things. What do we really have to gain by knowing a 'release date'? not much, especially if it lapses frequently, which i'd say blizz is wont to do.
Hannuran Sep 13th 2009 4:45PM
I agree with above poster, unfortunately not with the columnist this time, no matter how well-written the original post is. I think the basic arguments are flawed; for example a day to fix a bug may be forgiveable, but some bugs would take much longer to eradicate which would wear the patience of more people thin.
I've played Warhammer Online, which is a good demonstration of what happens when a game gets released before it's really ready (and has the horrible drop in subscriptions to testify).
Even though its POSSIBLE to deliver a game on time by cutting features and letting bugs stay unfixed until the next patch, it is almost never wise. Announcing release dates puts pressure on programmers to do rush jobs when unexpected problems arise, which leads to bad programming which is less maintainable and will give much more headaches in future. To quote 'the Princess Bride': 'You rush a miracle man - you get rotten miracles.'
In most cases, Blizzard is taking the time they need, which allows them to make games like Starcraft, Diablo and World of Warcraft, which are to my knowledge still considered some of the greatest games ever made.
Would I LIKE to hear release dates? Sure! But not at the most likely cost of buggy patches and jagged coding. What I would like though sometimes are 'negative deadlines', namely before what date the patch is NOT going to be released. That would prevent my curiosity from inciting me to check the Blizzard site incessantly when my work is boring ;)
Avan Sep 10th 2009 8:08PM
Sadly, the truth of it is that Blizzard does rush patches. Let's take 3.1 for example. It was on the PTR, people were testing it. Bugs being reported, things getting fixed. All seemed well, right? Then 3.1 launches. What happens? A month of hotfixes and patches.
Why? I postulate that it's because the patch was rushed. Blizzard had set a firm release date, didn't announce it of course, and then delivered the patch at that date whether it was ready or not.
I would not square fault entirely upon Blizz's shoulders, though. 3.1 simply wasn't properly tested. That's a fault of the player base not using the PTR for intended purposes. Players on the PTR, at large, do not care about ensuring that the final product is ready, they just want all the practice they can get on the new content so they have an edge up on the competition. Of course, the quality of the testing environment could be largely improved as well.
There are many more ways that Blizz's patch deployment can be improved, ways more important than announcing some mundane target release date, beyond issues with any given PTR.
I invite everyone to vote this comment down for bashing Blizzard, being QQ, etc, etc. You know you want to.
Rich Sep 10th 2009 4:22PM
Blizzard doesn't do that for a very specific reason.
If they announced the patch is being released on X date, a portion of their 5 million US and EU customers would disappear until that date. Since the game is loot centric knowing that better loot is coming for sure in 2 months, more than a few people will disappear for awhile until said loot is ready. Now, its one of those carrot on a stick in a hamster wheel thing. The date for the patch is not really known so people stick around just in case we get surprised, enough we've all gotten good at least at pinning down a rough estimate.
For EVE, since its not so much loot centric, they can announce these patches ahead of time because the community is smaller and more dynamic than WoWs.
Derek Sep 10th 2009 4:27PM
I have to agree with others here, I don't think it would be a good idea on Blizzard's part.
Let's just say they set a time in March for the 3.3 release. Imagine how many people would be on the forums whining and saying "No new content until March, I'm canceling my subscription until then!". By keeping it a secret they keep stringing people along hoping the next update will be sooner rather than later.
The maintenance and hour long server outages already cause the forums to erupt in outright hatred. Imagine when a patch that had been advertised for months was missed by even a couple of days.
Granted, the forums are a horrible indication of the feelings of the community as 95% of the people there makeup the lowest 5% of the WoW community in terms of quality, but still. I think they should keep doing what they're doing.
jake Sep 10th 2009 4:28PM
No body remembers the Blizzcon ticket issue??????? They announced the day and time, and then had to push back because it was too overwhelming. NO one was willing to accepted hardware failure as an excuse, everyone repeatedly said blizzard is a huge company they should be able to do it right the first time and blah blah blah, it went on for months.
Even after Blizzard implemented a ques system, fans were outrage.
It's called managing expectations.
Danzigmother138 Sep 10th 2009 4:30PM
Cory Stockton at Blizzcon said 3.2.2 in November. Suprised you guys didn't remember that. You hiring?
d Sep 10th 2009 4:29PM
While I really appreciate games that are extremely open about the development process, I'm afraid I have to agree with what some other people have already said about the fact that WoW's playerbase not being as... well, mature, quite frankly, as is found in games like Eve.
I do think Blizzard should be more open than they currently are, though. Not necessarily to the extend of giving planned release dates well in advance, but at least giving us an idea of what to expect things. When about is Blizzard expecting to release 3.3, for example? November? December? January? February? Later? It would be nice to at least have a general idea of the MONTH to expect it in.
And it would also be nice to know when to NOT expect a patch. Blizzard might not know whether or not a patch will be quite ready in time, but many times they'll know that it won't be. So we're sitting here on a Monday night, wondering whether or not tomorrow will be the big day for 3.2 or what have you, and Blizzard already knew last week that it wouldn't be ready. Even if you don't know the exact date that a patch will be released, at least don't leave us hanging when you know there's no chance of it being this week.
onetrueping Sep 10th 2009 4:29PM
Pretty much every response so far has been on the ball. WoW and EVE are two different games, attracting two entirely different crowds. The best way to compare the communities, actually, would be to look at each company's forum.
Adam, your faith in the WOW community is touching, but sadly unfounded. Blizzard's policy is a good one, and one that I hope will continue. Don't release things until they are done, please.
percinho Sep 10th 2009 4:57PM
The first time they missed a patch date you'd not be able to move for people posting "ZOMG THIS IS ALL ACTIVISIONS FAULT IT NEVER HAPPENED UNDER BLIZZARD IM GONNA CANCEL MY SUBSCRIPTION" and such like.
dawnseven Sep 10th 2009 4:32PM
I'm all for this. And I agree that those that won't be pleased about a pushed back date are the same people that can't be pleased anyway. It's sooooo nice to have a clue though. Blizz did give a firm release date for TBC and then had to push it off by 2 months, and the world didn't come to an end or anything. I'd give anything to know what Blizz is thinking on Cataclysm now, even if it doesn't come to pass. Are they thinking maybe as early as June or July, but more likely in the Fall? Are are they thinking that right now we have no chance at all of seeing it before next October and more likely Feb/Mar of 2011? They must be shooting for something no? Even on patches it would be nice to hear a "this week or next week" or "we're shooting for by the end of the month" as opposed to not knowing whether you have just a couple of days to prepare for it or 6 more weeks to kill.
brew Sep 10th 2009 4:33PM
Eve's Player base = A small group of intensely dedicated hard core gamers, experienced in the MMO Genre
WoW's Player base = average Walmart Shoppers without any prior MMO experience, Internet kiddies from Generation Y with entitlement complexes, and SOME experienced MMO gamers.
Maybe 1/3 of WoW's player base would benefit from transparancy. The other 2/3 would be up in arms on the forums, causing holy hell.
No thanks. I like the way Blizzard has been doing things for the last 5 years. It certainly has seemed to work for them, wouldn't you say?
grump-e Sep 10th 2009 6:33PM
3 or 4 years ago, there was less QQ.
There were also less players and that percent of experienced players was higher and blizzard was also more secretive, game changes were less constant but more precise.
Players were more polite, forums were more helpful and wow fanbase was more respected.
Nobs Sep 10th 2009 4:33PM
They stopped annoucing launch dates because they never hit them. It was a joke for D2 and SC that we always knew the game would come out about 6-12 months after they first announced it.
Blizzard got tired of that rep and just decided to keep their mouths shut.
Lethe Sep 10th 2009 4:34PM
I have to disagree with this. Blizzard doesn't really owe us any transparency. You get what you pay for. You're paying for the game as it is, not as it will be in the future. When there are problems, they have been good about hotfixing quickly when able, and pushing out minor patches when a hotfix isn't able. Large content patches are another matter entirely.
Imposing a deadline is a bad idea. You stick a deadline on something and the mindset becomes, "well, I have to have it done by X, so I can't spend time on Y." I'd rather that they be able to freely take the time to do things as well as possible. I'd rather they take the time to test things as thoroughly as possible. Yes, there will always be something popping up regardless, some bug or exploit or mistake. That's the nature of being human.
Imposing the deadline limits the creativity of the designers. "Well, it would be cool to do this, but we have to release the patch next week." We're not getting vaporware patches, there really isn't any need to force such a constraint on it. If they get a cool idea, I don't mind if a patch gets pushed back another week. Of course, I'm a pretty calm and reasonable guy, not everyone is, as evidence by the way the forums constantly light up.
It's not like we're running out of things to do in WoW. A little patience goes a long way. Blizzard also isn't pulling the wool over our eyes, we know whats coming and see many of the iterations that patches go through on the ptr. That's the kind of transparency I prefer, and is much more important to me than the date a patch will be released. People already complain enough about the game, there's not much reason to add fuel to that fire.
Taladan Sep 10th 2009 5:20PM
"Blizzard doesn't really owe us any transparency."
No, they don't. You're completely right on this. But neither does CCP and they have full disclosures of bugs and you know, before hand, what their patches will change.
Own us? No. It would be nice of them if they did? SURE!
Hendrata Sep 10th 2009 4:42PM
But they do have a point. Why post "by 2 pm PDT" if you KNOW (realistically / historically) you can't finish by then? This is not an uncommon practice in the software industry. But what the author here is asking is equivalent to "ok we can't make 2 pm PDT so we'll push it to 6 pm PDT and this is why...."
cuchulayn Sep 10th 2009 4:43PM
I recall the Assistant Producer of an early MMOG (Airwarrior, if any of you kids know your internet history) proclaiming on the forums that he could everyone laid and they would still find room to complain loudly and at length about the experience. (FWIW, the standard reply to queries about when an upcoming patch was going to be released was 'Two Weeks'. )
It's an eternal existential CS dilemma - announce the patch and upset people when the date slips, or don't and upset them when it arrives.
I'm going to say that there is no perfect way to handle updates within the community. You can't make everyone happy, and some people, I am convinced, are dead set against being happy. Myself, I'm pretty happy with Blizz's efforts.