http://www.pcgamer.com/blizzard-legend-chris-metzen-has-announced-his-retirement/?utm_content=buffer927d1&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=buffer_pcgamerfb
QuoteBlizzard legend Chris Metzen has announced his retirement
Chris Metzen, Senior VP of Story and Franchise Development at Blizzard, has announced his retirement from the company after 23 years. As one of the most public-facing figures at the studio, Metzen is known for his work across the Diablo, Warcraft and Starcraft series', and also served as creative director on Overwatch.
Metzen announced the move in a blogpost on the battle.net forums. "For nearly twenty-three years I've had the very distinct privilege of shaping worlds and building games with the brightest creative minds in entertainment," Metzen wrote. "I've walked with giants (and stood on some giants' shoulders, too). In short, I've had the time of my life."
The amicable departure is not, apparently, in preparation for a new career move. Metzen is really retiring. "The reason I use the word 'retire' is because I'm not going to some other company or starting up new projects or anything remotely like that," he wrote. "It's been a long, amazing stretch of years. Now it's time to slow it down. Rest. Lay around on the couch and get fat. Well, fatter...
"Seriously though, I'll be focusing on the one thing that matters most to me in all the world—my family. They're the core of my life and the source of my deepest joy and inspiration."
Metzen leaves at a pretty good time for Blizzard: Overwatch is burning along just fine, and World of Warcraft's Legion expansion has been well-received.
That's my planned retirement age too, though I'm sure his financial situation makes it more realistic than mine. :(
My guess is that he'll get itchy feet and be back at it in a few years.
Yep.
He'll do something else just like the Doctors of Bioware are doing now.
hopefully he's gone for good
Quote from: Grey Fox on September 13, 2016, 08:07:30 AM
He'll do something else just like the Doctors of Bioware are doing now.
Aren't they brewing craft beer or something now?
Quote from: Valmy on September 13, 2016, 09:42:47 AM
Quote from: Grey Fox on September 13, 2016, 08:07:30 AM
He'll do something else just like the Doctors of Bioware are doing now.
Aren't they brewing craft beer or something now?
Yes, I think so.
Quote from: Grey Fox on September 13, 2016, 09:52:08 AM
Quote from: Valmy on September 13, 2016, 09:42:47 AM
Quote from: Grey Fox on September 13, 2016, 08:07:30 AM
He'll do something else just like the Doctors of Bioware are doing now.
Aren't they brewing craft beer or something now?
Yes, I think so.
Basically a hobby. They are no longer feeling pain. The pain of dealing with Bioware's toxic and psychotic fanbase anyway. I know the rather over-the-top response to Dragon Age II killed their enthusiasm.
Everything is a hobby when you are wealthy like those guys but it is still not retirement.
Quote from: Grey Fox on September 13, 2016, 09:55:30 AM
Everything is a hobby when you are wealthy like those guys but it is still not retirement.
Of course it is. There must be a huge qualitative difference between doing a work/business just for the heck of it because your finances are sorted for life, or because you and your family face an uncertain future if you don't
Quote from: Liep on September 13, 2016, 06:48:42 AM
That's my planned retirement age too, though I'm sure his financial situation makes it more realistic than mine. :(
What is Metzen's net worth, and how old is his wife?
:cheers: Good for him. Wish I could do the same.
Quote from: celedhring on September 13, 2016, 06:57:14 AM
My guess is that he'll get itchy feet and be back at it in a few years.
Yeah.
Quote from: Valmy on September 13, 2016, 09:53:57 AM
Quote from: Grey Fox on September 13, 2016, 09:52:08 AM
Quote from: Valmy on September 13, 2016, 09:42:47 AM
Quote from: Grey Fox on September 13, 2016, 08:07:30 AM
He'll do something else just like the Doctors of Bioware are doing now.
Aren't they brewing craft beer or something now?
Yes, I think so.
Basically a hobby. They are no longer feeling pain. The pain of dealing with Bioware's toxic and psychotic fanbase anyway. I know the rather over-the-top response to Dragon Age II killed their enthusiasm.
To be fair, it is shitty.
I know there were many disappointing things with DA2 (esp. gameplay-wise), but I, for one, appreciated what Valmy despised: I liked the fact that, for once, events were unfolding without you being the prime mover and shaker, or the main reason for all plans to be thwarted in one climactic battle. The quintessential climatic battle is often announced super early in the beginning of any RPG - i.e., you know where you are going - and everything else feels contrived. At least, this time around, you could see in germ the conflict, and it involved much bigger stakes than you. It gave depth to that world. Too often RPG stories try to mix the epic with the political - and that doesn't work very well.
Quote from: Oexmelin on September 14, 2016, 07:25:26 AM
I know there were many disappointing things with DA2 (esp. gameplay-wise), but I, for one, appreciated what Valmy despised: I liked the fact that, for once, events were unfolding without you being the prime mover and shaker, or the main reason for all plans to be thwarted in one climactic battle. The quintessential climatic battle is often announced super early in the beginning of any RPG - i.e., you know where you are going - and everything else feels contrived. At least, this time around, you could see in germ the conflict, and it involved much bigger stakes than you. It gave depth to that world. Too often RPG stories try to mix the epic with the political - and that doesn't work very well.
I think that's very fair. I think the large problems for me were indeed in gameplay. Okay to have a smaller scope but that doesn't mean I wanted to get the same scenery constantly recycled.
Quote from: Oexmelin on September 14, 2016, 07:25:26 AM
I know there were many disappointing things with DA2 (esp. gameplay-wise), but I, for one, appreciated what Valmy despised: I liked the fact that, for once, events were unfolding without you being the prime mover and shaker, or the main reason for all plans to be thwarted in one climactic battle. The quintessential climatic battle is often announced super early in the beginning of any RPG - i.e., you know where you are going - and everything else feels contrived. At least, this time around, you could see in germ the conflict, and it involved much bigger stakes than you. It gave depth to that world. Too often RPG stories try to mix the epic with the political - and that doesn't work very well.
'Despised' is a bit of a strong word. I thought it did straight jacket you from doing what seemed logical to do and instead forced you to just sit around and be reactive. But I certainly enjoyed the game. I thought it was just as good as Inquisition, even if both games had radically different (And often contradicting) strengths and weaknesses.
Ironically I thought the thing you didn't like much, the gameplay, was its strongest point. DA2 was many things but it was always challenging and fun.
Quote from: Valmy on September 14, 2016, 08:06:42 AM
'Despised' is a bit of a strong word. I thought it did straight jacket you from doing what seemed logical to do and instead forced you to just sit around and be reactive. But I certainly enjoyed the game. I thought it was just as good as Inquisition, even if both games had radically different (And often contradicting) strengths and weaknesses.
Well, to be fair, I used to word mostly to incite you to comment... :P I am really interested in how narratives are built in video games, and I thought you had quite perceptive comments about it in DA (and in your AARs in general) that helped me think about the epic, the political, and the material.
I actually like a bit of straightjacketing in RPG. This is what I meant by the difference between the epic and the political. Epic characters don't care about the political. It is in their nature to transgress the rules of their world - sometimes for good, sometimes for evil. But many contemporary writers prefer a world of grayish morality, much more political, with twists and turns, and ambiguous characters. This is decidedly not epic, unless the ambiguity stems from the foreigness of the protagonists' moral compass (i.e., Odysseus, Beowulf, the Knights of the Round Table all do things which most of us would not qualify as epic, honorable, or chivalrous).
In providing stories that are political, RPG should hint at what makes things political: a larger society, things happening without the player, and upon which the player, his friends, allies and enemies, should attempt to grasp, or influence, or simply react to. In DA2, I liked the fact that there wasn't one over-arching conspiracy by some shadowy nefarious force (à la Baldur's Gate), but a flurry of little situations, some engineered by some groups, other by other groups, with unforeseen repercussions. Your later enemies reacted to what other people had done earlier - unconnected if not by the simple reality that they lived in the same community. This made much more sense to me than so many other fantasy settings which look like North American suburbia of disconnected neighbors transposed in faux 15th century. (complete with zoning laws: a "rich" neighborhood?, really?)
Similarly, I think railroading can be very profitable in some ways, especially if a game setting needs to enforce a foreign, or exotic morality upon the player, to better underline the difference of that world. When I was a kid, one of the "Chose your own adventure" series I preferred was one where some of the characters could not contemplate certain courses of action - because they would be dishonorable - charging into an obvious trap, because that's what had to be done. For instance, I like how the protagonist of LA Noire got blinded by the ambient racism of LA and that you, the player, could better see what he couldn't or wouldn't.
I actually appreciated DA2 aim of building a tapestry of sorts of a bustling and contradictory micro-society that ultimately breaks down while you fruitlessly try to plug the holes of it. It just wasn't a fun game to play; hell, combat segments and dungeons felt like a chore to go through. But I thought story-wise it was ambitious, and I had no problem with their choices in that department, railroading or not. I don't give a damn about railroading if the scenery the tracks go through is engaging enough.
Well one particular part that annoyed me was that there was a group of Templars I wanted to support and at every opportunity vocalized my support for them. Yet they eventually moved against me because they thought I actually supported the other faction.
I get what you are saying I just thought the way it was done in DA2 was frustrating. But that was hardly the only problem with the game. Naturally Inquisition went waaaay too far in the other direction.
Quote from: celedhring on September 14, 2016, 08:44:58 AM
I actually appreciated DA2 aim of building a tapestry of sorts of a bustling and contradictory micro-society that ultimately breaks down while you fruitlessly try to plug the holes of it. It just wasn't a fun game to play; hell, combat segments and dungeons felt like a chore to go through. But I thought story-wise it was ambitious, and I had no problem with their choices in that department, railroading or not. I don't give a damn about railroading if the scenery the tracks go through is engaging enough.
Damn if you thought DA2's combat was a chore I hate to think of what you thought about Inquistion. I thought DA2 had some of the best fights in the series.
My problem with the story is damn there was shitload of opportunities to allow you to make choices and have it make a big difference. I mean with those time skips you might make a decision in Act I that might make a huge change in Act II that might make you want to play it over and over to see all the cool things you could do. But that was not the case. Bummer.
Quote from: Valmy on September 14, 2016, 08:48:16 AM
Quote from: celedhring on September 14, 2016, 08:44:58 AM
I actually appreciated DA2 aim of building a tapestry of sorts of a bustling and contradictory micro-society that ultimately breaks down while you fruitlessly try to plug the holes of it. It just wasn't a fun game to play; hell, combat segments and dungeons felt like a chore to go through. But I thought story-wise it was ambitious, and I had no problem with their choices in that department, railroading or not. I don't give a damn about railroading if the scenery the tracks go through is engaging enough.
Damn if you thought DA2's combat was a chore I hate to think of what you thought about Inquistion. I thought DA2 had some of the best fights in the series.
My problem with the story is damn there was shitload of opportunities to allow you to make choices and have it make a big difference. I mean with those time skips you might make a decision in Act I that might make a huge change in Act II that might make you want to play it over and over to see all the cool things you could do. But that was not the case. Bummer.
Haven't played Inquisition yet... Want to get a new rig first.
Why play when you can just read my AAR? :w00t: :P
Did not like the DA2 combat and customization. Liked most of the rest of it. Merrill sucks.
Quote from: Scipio on September 14, 2016, 10:45:08 AM
Did not like the DA2 combat and customization. Liked most of the rest of it. Merrill sucks.
I liked the combat because in the other DAs it is pretty straightforward and boring 99% of the time. Well ok boring is a little strong but it was straightforward.
In DA2 there were always unpredictable and weird tactical situations as adds would just keep pouring in. Kept it fresh and fun. The big fights tended to have phases with different tactics needed for each phase which was very nice and refreshing as well.
I understand the customization but I thought it was more than made up by the fact that each character had unique skills so having Sebastian or Varric in your group was actually different rather than just plug and play ranged rogues.
Agree on Merrill :P
Good for him, but like others I'm also thinking that in a few years he'll be getting back into something. He's too creative and enjoys what he does to be out for good at such a young age.
Quote from: Valmy on September 14, 2016, 12:17:55 PM
Quote from: Scipio on September 14, 2016, 10:45:08 AM
Did not like the DA2 combat and customization. Liked most of the rest of it. Merrill sucks.
I liked the combat because in the other DAs it is pretty straightforward and boring 99% of the time. Well ok boring is a little strong but it was straightforward.
In DA2 there were always unpredictable and weird tactical situations as adds would just keep pouring in. Kept it fresh and fun. The big fights tended to have phases with different tactics needed for each phase which was very nice and refreshing as well.
I understand the customization but I thought it was more than made up by the fact that each character had unique skills so having Sebastian or Varric in your group was actually different rather than just plug and play ranged rogues.
Agree on Merrill :P
Valmy, did you play on a console or PC?
Quote from: Berkut on September 14, 2016, 01:29:31 PM
Quote from: Valmy on September 14, 2016, 12:17:55 PM
Quote from: Scipio on September 14, 2016, 10:45:08 AM
Did not like the DA2 combat and customization. Liked most of the rest of it. Merrill sucks.
I liked the combat because in the other DAs it is pretty straightforward and boring 99% of the time. Well ok boring is a little strong but it was straightforward.
In DA2 there were always unpredictable and weird tactical situations as adds would just keep pouring in. Kept it fresh and fun. The big fights tended to have phases with different tactics needed for each phase which was very nice and refreshing as well.
I understand the customization but I thought it was more than made up by the fact that each character had unique skills so having Sebastian or Varric in your group was actually different rather than just plug and play ranged rogues.
Agree on Merrill :P
Valmy, did you play on a console or PC?
PC. The last console I owned was a NES. Though I play on my son's WiiU from time to time that is just to play games with him.
My son actually bought me (or had the wife buy me) DA2 for the Xbox One. It was a nice gift, but of course...playing on a console? Uggh. The combat seemed very clunky to me.
Quote from: KRonn on September 14, 2016, 01:26:33 PM
Good for him, but like others I'm also thinking that in a few years he'll be getting back into something. He's too creative and enjoys what he does to be out for good at such a young age.
I don't know if that is such a sure thing. That industry is a young man's game. Lots of stress and long hours. He might do some consulting or something.
Quote from: Berkut on September 14, 2016, 01:53:03 PM
My son actually bought me (or had the wife buy me) DA2 for the Xbox One. It was a nice gift, but of course...playing on a console? Uggh. The combat seemed very clunky to me.
Gameplay on consoles is always clunky unless the game is built around jumping. IMO anyway.
And granted I am hardly somebody who plays loads of console games :P
Quote from: Valmy on September 14, 2016, 01:56:43 PM
Quote from: KRonn on September 14, 2016, 01:26:33 PM
Good for him, but like others I'm also thinking that in a few years he'll be getting back into something. He's too creative and enjoys what he does to be out for good at such a young age.
I don't know if that is such a sure thing. That industry is a young man's game. Lots of stress and long hours. He might do some consulting or something.
Meh - if he gets back in it would be with his own company. It's not as if he's going to be pounding out code for 18 hours a day.
Quote from: Barrister on September 14, 2016, 02:11:48 PM
Meh - if he gets back in it would be with his own company. It's not as if he's going to be pounding out code for 18 hours a day.
He is not a manager or CEO though. He is a designer.
I dunno - he's got the credibility, and name recognition, that I'm sure he could start up his own company and people would fund him. You have a lot more creative freedom as CEO than as lead designer working for someone else.
Quote from: crazy canuck on September 14, 2016, 08:55:25 AM
Quote from: LaCroix on September 13, 2016, 09:34:42 AM
hopefully he's gone for good
Why the hate?
the best analogy is probably george lucas. his early stuff was good, arguably great (for video games). over the past decade, however, he's been pretty consistently terrible.
Would you mind explaining a bit more? I have only ever played WoW from Blizzard's list of games and not since 2007.
a bunch of stuff like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-eJezQV1cY (narud is duran, get it? he's now a shapeshifting agent of a dark god)
a few other things like kerrigan going back to human, then back to zerg, then cliffhanger (but she probably became phoenix rising and turned human again). series turns into a bad love story between raynor and kerrigan. any sort of political intrigue is gone. characters who were once interesting just do stupid things. a great evil awakens; let us unite and defeat it, etc.
granted, I don't think starcraft 1 was a perfect example of video game storytelling, because a lot of the interesting stories, etc. are probably at least to an extent nostalgia/being young at the time. but starcraft 2's and diablo 3's storylines pissed off pretty much their entire fanbases
I don't think metzen had much to do with WoW, so he gets a pass there. (plus, WoW's storyline can be excused by the fact it's an endless MMO.)
This shit was much more compelling when I was 15.
Quote from: Valmy on September 13, 2016, 09:53:57 AM
Quote from: Grey Fox on September 13, 2016, 09:52:08 AM
Quote from: Valmy on September 13, 2016, 09:42:47 AM
Quote from: Grey Fox on September 13, 2016, 08:07:30 AM
He'll do something else just like the Doctors of Bioware are doing now.
Aren't they brewing craft beer or something now?
Yes, I think so.
Basically a hobby. They are no longer feeling pain. The pain of dealing with Bioware's toxic and psychotic fanbase anyway. I know the rather over-the-top response to Dragon Age II killed their enthusiasm.
can you blame the fans for not liking an half baked product sold to them at 60$?
Quote from: Oexmelin on September 14, 2016, 07:25:26 AM
I know there were many disappointing things with DA2 (esp. gameplay-wise), but I, for one, appreciated what Valmy despised: I liked the fact that, for once, events were unfolding without you being the prime mover and shaker, or the main reason for all plans to be thwarted in one climactic battle. The quintessential climatic battle is often announced super early in the beginning of any RPG - i.e., you know where you are going - and everything else feels contrived. At least, this time around, you could see in germ the conflict, and it involved much bigger stakes than you. It gave depth to that world. Too often RPG stories try to mix the epic with the political - and that doesn't work very well.
I liked the concept too. You are a nobody, really. Only through your actions in the game do you become the Champion of Kirkwall, not because you were born for a greater destiny.
It's just sad that it was so badly implemented.
Vip, you need to post more inane right-wing shit. First, we agree on Room - the movie - now, on DA2? What is the world coming to?
Quote from: viper37 on September 16, 2016, 08:57:50 AM
can you blame the fans for not liking an half baked product sold to them at 60$?
No. I blamed them for being over-the-top about it.
Besides the game wasn't bad. Granted I got it for basically nothing years after release (though they got me with the DLC).
Quote from: LaCroix on September 14, 2016, 09:59:40 PM
a bunch of stuff like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-eJezQV1cY (narud is duran, get it? he's now a shapeshifting agent of a dark god)
That was in the original Starcraft, 1998.
Zeratul discovered the project when investigating the source of protoss energy signatures on the dark moon.[5] Duran himself uncloaked in front of a stasis cell holding a successful specimen and spoke to Zeratul.[34] From the manner in which Duran replied to Zeratul, claiming to be many millennia old (and having had many names over these millennia) and serving "a far greater power", Duran's background became even more enigmatic. Duran, referring to the hybrid, said it was a "completion of a cycle. Its role in the cosmic order was preordained when the stars were young".[5] Quote
a few other things like kerrigan going back to human, then back to zerg, then cliffhanger (but she probably became phoenix rising and turned human again). series turns into a bad love story between raynor and kerrigan. any sort of political intrigue is gone. characters who were once interesting just do stupid things. a great evil awakens; let us unite and defeat it, etc.
Well, that's what made the charm of the series. When last we saw her, Kerrigan was the ultimate evil. Yet, we need her. We can't kill her, but we can't let her do what she pleases either.
Quote
but starcraft 2's and diablo 3's storylines pissed off pretty much their entire fanbases
That's not a great feat these days ;)
Quote from: Valmy on September 16, 2016, 11:12:36 AM
Quote from: viper37 on September 16, 2016, 08:57:50 AM
can you blame the fans for not liking an half baked product sold to them at 60$?
No. I blamed them for being over-the-top about it.
Besides the game wasn't bad. Granted I got it for basically nothing years after release (though they got me with the DLC).
Paying full price for a game where all the settings are identical? You would have been frustrated too :)
Quote from: viper37 on September 16, 2016, 01:12:31 PM
Paying full price for a game where all the settings are identical? You would have been frustrated too :)
Not sure what you mean by settings :hmm:
Quote from: Valmy on September 16, 2016, 01:15:02 PM
Quote from: viper37 on September 16, 2016, 01:12:31 PM
Paying full price for a game where all the settings are identical? You would have been frustrated too :)
Not sure what you mean by settings :hmm:
I think he means the recycling of dungeons. ME1 reused locations too, but DA2 was really sloppy about it.
Quote from: Valmy on September 16, 2016, 01:15:02 PM
Quote from: viper37 on September 16, 2016, 01:12:31 PM
Paying full price for a game where all the settings are identical? You would have been frustrated too :)
Not sure what you mean by settings :hmm:
all levels, all places. Every room a variation of another.
vipe, your quote doesn't contradict what I said
re: charm of the series, I'm not sure how what you said has much to do with what I said.
re: great feats, it is easy to accomplish the utter outrage of almost every fan of the originals, and agreement that the new series/work is garbage. creators of bad games and films often do that. creators of good games and films manage to avoid that. we're not talking about some vocal minority who think the SC and D3 stories suck. almost everyone agrees on that point.
Quote from: celedhring on September 16, 2016, 01:17:03 PM
Quote from: Valmy on September 16, 2016, 01:15:02 PM
Quote from: viper37 on September 16, 2016, 01:12:31 PM
Paying full price for a game where all the settings are identical? You would have been frustrated too :)
Not sure what you mean by settings :hmm:
I think he means the recycling of dungeons. ME1 reused locations too, but DA2 was really sloppy about it.
Oh that. DA1 did that alot as well. But yeah they went rather overboard with it in DA2. The fact that often you were visiting the exact same location several times didn't help.
DA:I then went the other direction and included lots of places that had been visited in the previous games but completely redesigned them to the point they in no way resembled the place they supposedly were. Ironically the only exception to this was located inside Kirkwall :lol: