Why did Blizzard not work on WarCraft Adventures?

[inwoker]

Most of the story was already done IIRC. Did they simply want to hold off on doing that game and waiting until the time is right to do it justice?

Note: I am referring to the plot, not the location. I realize Warcraft 3 borrows some parts from WarCraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans, like Dhrall character.

 

[Jools]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warcraft_A ... _the_Clans

A few details about the cancellation.

 

[Luzur]

because 2D point & click Adventure games where dead by then.

 

[baronjohn]

The decision centered around the level of value that we want to give our customers. In essence, it was a case of stepping up and really proving to ourselves and gamers that we will not sell out on the quality of our games.

That's ironic, considering that all their games are shit

 

[Stainless Veteran]

'cause they are faggots?
And how is this topic RPG-related?

 

[Jaesun]

 

[Erebus]

I read the Lord of the Clans novel last year. It's not the worst piece of shit I've ever read, but it's still a pretty big one. To be fair, the author apparently had to write all of it in six weeks.

 

[Lyric Suite]

I think that one of the big problems with WarCraft Adventures was that we were actually creating a traditional adventure game, and what people expected from an adventure game, and very honestly what we expected from an adventure game, changed over the course of the project. And when we got to the point where we cancelled it, it was just because we looked at where we were and said, you know, this would have been great three years ago.

Bill Rober truly is a dumbfuck. Cancelling the game because it wasn't next-gen enough. Its even more amusing considering he actually thinks people expected those changes. Confusing a marketing prediction with real demand (the last thing people wanted at that time were 3d adventures with shitty controls) must be one of the stupidest blunders in the history of the company. The game was done. Fucking release that shit already.

 

[Destroid]

Need a bliz employee to go commando and leak it from the archives.

 

[Metro]

It would have sold enough copies to be profitable simply by having the Blizzard name on it back then.

 

[treave]

It would have sold enough copies to be profitable simply by having the Blizzard name on it back then.

It still will.

If they release this on BattleNet 2.0 as a $5 download they'd get a respectable amount of sales from it.

 

[fizzelopeguss]

The game looked like shit, an entire game made of outsourced janky ass animation. To release it and sell 10k copies would have been an embarrassment.

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

Didn't they cancel it because they realised that they are committing a game series rape?
The same with the Ghost?

 

[Jools]

Didn't they cancel it because they realised that they are committing a game series rape?
The same with the Ghost?

Wait, you mean some total lore-wise anal-nuke, like they did with The Burning Crusade? Didn't stop them on that one...

 

[Azrael the cat]

It didn't look great, even taking into account Blizz's policy of having functional graphics rather than top-notch graphics (idea being to run on lowish computer specs so buyers don't have to have 'gaming rigs', hence a larger market). But I think it was also the perception then that adventure games were on the way out. Adventure games are held in better esteem now than they were 5-7 years ago: the fact that they HAVEN'T disappeared, combined with them being a genre that indies have been able to sell consistently to, has shown to the publishers that there's a small but dedicated market out there that isn't going away - at least in terms of something sold at moderate pricing over steam or similar.

I don't think even that would be enough for Blizz - selling a long-awaited title as a forgettable steam indie would have been embarassing and possibly hurt their brand, even if it made a decent profit. And considering how much worse the state of the adventure game market was back then (in terms of how the industry perceived it, not in terms of its underlying resilience that hadn't been realised yet), there was no way Blizz was going through with it.

 

[attackfighter]

Didn't they cancel it because they realised that they are committing a game series rape?
The same with the Ghost?

Wait, you mean some total lore-wise anal-nuke, like they did with The Burning Crusade? Didn't stop them on that one...

same with starcrap 2

METZEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN

 

[treave]

I don't think even that would be enough for Blizz - selling a long-awaited title as a forgettable steam indie would have been embarassing and possibly hurt their brand, even if it made a decent profit. And considering how much worse the state of the adventure game market was back then (in terms of how the industry perceived it, not in terms of its underlying resilience that hadn't been realised yet), there was no way Blizz was going through with it.

Your argument is very sound, but I personally believe Blizzard can't hurt their brand more than it already has; WoW mounts, exclusive Starcraft 2 pets for WoW, and the whole shebang about removing LAN come to mind.

 

[Dyspaire]

Better yet, considering they bring in 100 million-plus a month in revenue, they could spend a small sum tidying the game up (everyone knows it was nearly done, all art assets in place, etc), and release it for free to an adoring public.

(Know it will never happen, but it should.)

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

Didn't they cancel it because they realised that they are committing a game series rape?
The same with the Ghost?

Wait, you mean some total lore-wise anal-nuke, like they did with The Burning Crusade? Didn't stop them on that one...

I meant a game from a different genre.

 

[Jools]

Didn't they cancel it because they realised that they are committing a game series rape?
The same with the Ghost?

Wait, you mean some total lore-wise anal-nuke, like they did with The Burning Crusade? Didn't stop them on that one...

I meant a game from a different genre.

Then they did that with WoW. WoW is no more than Diablo2 set in the Warcraft scenario, and without the isometric camera.

 

[Ermm]

It is a proven fact that Warcraft Adventures beta is travelling around Russia, and as far as I know it is only given to trusted persons.
I think 1C or other had some deep involvement with it, like animation or development?

Still, it is travelling somewhere around there.

 

[Drakron]

There are some YouTube videos that shown its nearly complete, someone certainly have the Alpha build.