Ask the Devs scrapped, new Q&A coming soon
by Mathew McCurley 
Jun 16th 2011 at 5:00PM
Criticism for Ask the Devs was occasionally harsh. Players submitted questions and then voted on which questions would be answered by the developers. Blizzard acknowledged that this system did not work as they had intended and will most likely be changing the format to meet the needs of the question and answer format.
Bashiok took to the forums to discuss why Ask the Devs hadn't panned out for Blizzard the way they would have liked. Much like many of the arguments against the format, Bashiok agreed that the popularity-based scheduled Q&A system was not something that provided the developers with the best questions, nor the best questions that had salient answers. In this tricky business of game design, sometimes asking the right question is more important then the answer you get. Bashiok assures the community that something new is in the works and up his sleeves, and I eagerly await the new and improved Q&A format.
Hit the jump for Bashiok's full post on the Ask the Devs feature.
Bashiok
I'm not going to bother getting into the specifics of what was answered or why or any fansite articles bashing the process; it's been covered many times before.
But, at the core, I think we agree it's not working. While we could (and do) lament over the reasons why a scheduled Q&A based on question popularity doesn't sit well with people, the bottom line is it can't go on as it is.
We don't expect people will ever be completely happy with any Q&A. Regardless of how they're conducted we'll never get to every question, so there are always going to be complaints that we didn't answer the right ones. But Ask the Devs is different. While there are certainly arguments that answers didn't say the right things, or didn't give a firm answer on how a problem would be resolved, the process just doesn't work because of the format.
We've spent a lot of time discussing why it doesn't work, and while that's interesting to us, the bottom line is that once we've finished the role Q&A's with healers, we will be ending the Ask the Dev series.
Our goal with Ask the Devs was always to increase interaction with the developers, to provide a direct conduit to their thoughts and process. We're in the planning stages for a new Q&A process that will replace Ask the Devs, and while we're absolutely certain people will continue to be upset we didn't answer every question, we think it will overall be a far more successful approach.
But, at the core, I think we agree it's not working. While we could (and do) lament over the reasons why a scheduled Q&A based on question popularity doesn't sit well with people, the bottom line is it can't go on as it is.
We don't expect people will ever be completely happy with any Q&A. Regardless of how they're conducted we'll never get to every question, so there are always going to be complaints that we didn't answer the right ones. But Ask the Devs is different. While there are certainly arguments that answers didn't say the right things, or didn't give a firm answer on how a problem would be resolved, the process just doesn't work because of the format.
We've spent a lot of time discussing why it doesn't work, and while that's interesting to us, the bottom line is that once we've finished the role Q&A's with healers, we will be ending the Ask the Dev series.
Our goal with Ask the Devs was always to increase interaction with the developers, to provide a direct conduit to their thoughts and process. We're in the planning stages for a new Q&A process that will replace Ask the Devs, and while we're absolutely certain people will continue to be upset we didn't answer every question, we think it will overall be a far more successful approach.
Filed under: Blizzard
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 3)
McGintoy Jun 16th 2011 7:08PM
According to Bashiok's post, they will be doing the DPS and Healing "Ask the Devs" as planned, then stopping after them.
They probably figure that the rage from the perceived dodging of DPS and Healing questions will be less than the rage from skipping them altogether.
Lemons Jun 17th 2011 4:36AM
Haha, I forgot that the lore questions were never answered. I can just see a huge stack of papers being flopped on Metzens desk. He thumbs through them. Sighs, sits back, bounces a ball, and then gives up and goes back to writing Thrall fanfic.
Snuzzle Jun 16th 2011 9:44PM
The main reason it sucked was that the threads would cap out within hours of being posted, and if yor post wasn't in either one of the first few pages or the last page, chances are it wasn't getting picked no matter HOW good it was. No one wants to read through almost 30 pages of posts, unless they're very bored at work, and I don't blame them.
What Blizz could have done was to pick 50 or so questions out of the thread themselves and say to the community "We'll answer 15 of these, tell us which." That way questions that have been addressed numerous times get pre-weeded, we still have choice, but all of the questions are getting weighed for answering. It sucks for the guy/guys that has to scour the 30 pages for those prospective questions, but hey, they're at least getting paid :)
Galaharenn Jun 17th 2011 5:31AM
This. This was my first thought too. It would have been a much better way to identify quality questions while still giving the players chance to input into the process.
ParagusofEonar Jun 16th 2011 6:45PM
I don't have a twitter account ( /Craig Ferguson "gasp! IIIIIII -knooow-!" /Craig Ferguson), so I clicked through Allison's TwitLonger link to read her glorious list and discovered I absolutely MUST steal the "commune with the books" line.
That is all.
Allison Robert Jun 16th 2011 7:14PM
I once had a wonderfully snarky palaeography lecturer who had some difficulty prying me away from a 1,000+ year old manuscript. In my defense, if you get the opportunity to leaf through a book like that, by God you should f&*#ing caress it.
Mr. Crow Jun 16th 2011 7:14PM
The important thing to take away from this event is that Blizzard acknowledged that the system was flawed, and instead of allowing it to continue, they're cutting it off and innovating a new system.
Of course, at this point it's really interesting to ponder exactly what system is going to replace the existing models they've tried in the past. "Ask The Devs via Twitter" was a failure because it would be useless questions asked and unprepared answers provided for an hour. The forum-based question-voting Ask the Devs failed because even with the community selecting the questions and the devs having a week to prep an answer, the community AND the devs were still dissatisfied with the results.
The clear problem here is that when the community at large is allowed to pose the questions, the community is never satisfied with the results.
What's next? "Elect a class representative from the community, who will then be empowered to ask questions of the devs!" I chuckle when i consider the idea of a Warcraft Forum Congress, but if you want to place someone who is going to screen the stupid questions from the smart so that the developers answer what the community actually wants answered, it might be a way to do it.
rice2007 Jun 16th 2011 7:18PM
Instead of just crying, let us give forth idea.
Have the questions emailed rather than posted on the forum. The devs/moderators/whomever will sift through the questions, eliminate all questions that are the same and combine ones that are similar. For example, "Will the Priest spell Divine Hymn ever have its power increased to effectively top off players with low health in most situations?" "Will Divine Hymn ever have its cooldown time reduced?" and "Will Divine Hymn ever be reworked to hit more players or the entire raid?" can be reworded to include a basic overhaul.
After they're proofed, make a poll available for the community. This will cut down on the pages of repetative/similar questions. This will (hopefully) alleviate the problem of wanting to only view the first 10 questions and voting using only those choices. Any question that can be answered by browsing the patch notes should not be included in the poll like, "Will there be a second boss added to BH in 4.2?" Questions that just don't belong such as "Which is better, Horde or Alliance?" should not be included in the poll.
Finally, the devs should just out-right answer the selected questions. As someone pointed out, we are not entitled to the inner workings of the devs. On the other hand, if they're going to give us access via questions, they should oblige. If I'm running a business and run a promotion for buy one pizza get a medium pepperoni pizza free, but give my customers the free pizza with only 2 pepperonies, that's bad for business. I technically fulfilled my side of the bargain but I'm giving them a less-than-stellar product. Skirting, for example, the Divine Hymn question above by saying, "We have thought about it and may do something," is giving us a free pizza with 2 pepperonies. If you have a problem with offering the promotion then don't do it. I know I'd rather you offer nothing if you're going to give me a sub-par product in your promo.
Don't play with us Blizz. I give you your money (with which I have no problem doing) so don't play me.
undeadgoat Jun 16th 2011 7:20PM
If they keep upvoting in, they should answer, say, 10 out of the top 30 questions with no question guaranteed an answer, or maybe only the top question guaranteed.
zanshato9000 Jun 16th 2011 7:57PM
A major issue that is being over looked here are the answers that have been provided by the developer. In contrast to WoW insiders "the queue", "Asks a Dev" answers were often nebulous, murky, and all around vapid- if not ignored. I fear regardless of the format we're still dealing with the same developers who for what ever reason have absolutely no tact when it comes to answers questions efficiently.
It doesn't take a litterary genius to see that most of the answers provided are thought out, direct or geniune. If Blizzard truly wants to show the community that it cares then they need to take some thought and consideration with the answers they provide.
Rules to success:
#1 Don't ignore parts of the question, and address it in its entirty.
#2 Dont beat around the bush
#3 If you can't answer the question in deepth explain as to why you can't go into
further detail
Blizz by following these 3 simple rules your community will LOVE you! :P
Tygerbrow Jun 16th 2011 8:19PM
The problem is that since people want them to answer a question in it's entirety, Blizzard would have to outright ignore questions they didn't want to give an answer to. An example would be something like this:
Ability XX works well under circumstances Y and Z but in circumstances A and B it is broken. How are you going to fix this?
Blizzard has the option of ignoring the question, giving a partial answer, saying they are watching it, or that they don't agree. Unfortunately, if they say they are watching it or they don't agree people go insane about how Blizz is clueless, not paying attention, etc, etc... If they try to give a partial answer saying something like we know that there is a problem with it in circumstance A and B but we aren't sure how to fix it, people yell that Blizz isn't doing enough, etc. The worst is almost when they say: Yes, we know about the problem. At this time we are thinking about making these changes to it. IMO, that is probably the worst because when they later test it and find out the initial solution would only create a bigger problem (or some other issue) then the players yell that Blizz promised them they were changing it a certain way (which is always better then the actual fix).
DragonFireKai Jun 16th 2011 8:24PM
@Tyger
It would be better for them to simply not post the questions that they don't have any answer to rather than to post them, and then not answer them. The former makes you feel like you're being ignored, the latter makes you feel like you're being ignored by an idiot. Which is better for morale?
sostyger13 Jun 16th 2011 8:31PM
@DragonFireKai
I'll agree that would probably be the better idea. (Devil's advocate time again) However, then the community would rise up in arms because this important question that had 200 votes wasn't answered and it is gamebreaking!
Truthfully, Blizzard has said many times that they don't like saying what they are planning for many things incase they do have to change it. I can totally understand their reasoning considering the number of times that people have taken it as gospel when they do tell them this. That is part of the reason Ghostcrawler used to make the joke about 'Ghostcrawler promised me a pony!'
loop_not_defined Jun 17th 2011 9:04AM
"However, then the community would rise up in arms because this important question that had 200 votes wasn't answered and it is gamebreaking!"
DragonFireKai has already made this exact complaint, for the record.
Paul Jun 17th 2011 2:21AM
The "Ask the devs" format will probably only work if it is performed as a podcast and a third party chooses the questions, with Blizzard notknow what the questions will be, forcing them to answer from the hip.
This directs the "bad question choices" from Blizzard and by making it spontaneous, more (but far from all) players reading/listening will tolerate bad answers because they understand that it's harder to answer instantly instead of being given a chance to prepare.
I doubt Blizzard would allow employees to answer "from the hip" on a podcast though.
I wonder if they'll do a "interview this department" instead, maybe asking fansites to do the question compilation and giving them a week to answer. Who knows?
Lemons Jun 17th 2011 4:39AM
How about we send one person from each class on an all expense paid trip to Irvine, California to have a one on one interview with the Devs?
I humbly nominate myself as the rogue candidate.
Izzy Jun 17th 2011 11:07AM
While I enjoyed Ask the Dev, ultimately it just felt like they were not focused on the questions the community really wanted answers for. The Tank AtD was absolutely atrocious, if not insulting. I'm betting the DPS one will cause an uproar, which is funny because I'm willing to bet they'll actually answer far more than they did for the Tank one. I understand their a business, and they don't want to promise anything, but understanding certain reasoning is all a lot of us really want. I'm going to guess the other Q&A is going to be even further watered down and more political. Blah.
Rob Jun 19th 2011 2:18PM
You know, to me, at least they are making an effort. It's a far cry from developers of a decade ago who frankly did not give a shit. At all. And their games were very limited. Now with MMOs, you NEED to have some feedback, and I think they are doing a great job. I do not play a ton of other MMOs but i know that WoW is better than most in this regard; and this is probably why WoW is so successful.
Granted, the tank q/a sucked, but ohters were good, the GC blog series is good, the blue representation in the forums is good.
I work for a multi-national company whos customers have mission critical software applications, who pay thouands of dollars a month in support (as opposed for $15).
Frankly the blizzard support is just as good as my companies, IMO. People are perhaps expecting too much for $15/month