Why did Blizzard fail (so far) with Bnet 2.0?

[Triceron]

I don't think so. Bad games really hurt the future sales of the company, and even though I'm sure the single player campaign will be solid, the multiplayer is great, but such a huge part of SC2 @ Bnet 2.0 to really be a missed shot is way too much.

SC2 is not a bad game though. Bnet2.0 is not unplayable, it's simply lacking in a few features. Bad games do hurt the future sales of a company, but this clearly isn't a case where that statement holds true.

And with the fact Blizzard want it to be the "best online client" and "always connected" experience they fall way too short.

And WOW can't be successful forever, everything has a begging and everything has an end.

They have more projects lined up ahead, and as Blizzard proves again and again, their support to the community only grows stronger. WoW never started perfect. Their support at the release of WoW is no comparison to the way WoW is handled now. I can tell you for a fact Bnet 2.0 of 3-5 years from now is not going to be the same as what we have now.

It's an ongoing thing. Yes, it does suck that many features are lacking right now, but it's not to say that this is a permanent thing. No matter WHAT Blizzard says, things are subject to change.

If they screw it with SC2, its going be a rough ride.
People will loose trust, they will be way cautious and critical of, D3 meaning lower sales on it as well.
And one by one games start failing to provide good revenues and look at what happened to EA.
They can't sell any game that isn't sports or called "sims"

Even Spore was a huge failure for them and look at who created that game.

Says who? You?

For every person who complains about Bnet 2.0, there are 10 who won't know what's missing. There is a whole demographic out there that will be using the added features such as facebook/WoW integration that has been previously untapped. For every 'fan that they lose' they are gaining many more potential customers.

This is like complaining about Nintendo's choice of calling their system the Wii, not releasing mature titles, not making use of online features will fail them because they're not appealing to the hardcore audience. Sure, that's a sacrifice to make when you're trying to appeal to a NEW audience. The hardcore fans don't simply go away. They're simply going to be waiting for something to appeal to them.

What Blizzard is doing makes sense from a corporate/business point of view (And I don't mean from the evil eyes of Activision, I mean general business). WoW has brought in a HUGE demographic of non-RTS players into their world, and they are trying to make it less intimidating to migrate from game to game. Starcraft is a hardcore game, and Blizzard is trying to make their gaming hub more appealing and 'easy to use' for the casual player.

[Crazy_Jonny]

SC2 is not a bad game though. Bnet2.0 is not unplayable, it's simply lacking in a few features. Bad games do hurt the future sales of a company, but this clearly isn't a case where that statement holds true.



They have more projects lined up ahead, and as Blizzard proves again and again, their support to the community only grows stronger. WoW never started perfect. Their support at the release of WoW is no comparison to the way WoW is handled now. I can tell you for a fact Bnet 2.0 of 3-5 years from now is not going to be the same as what we have now.

It's an ongoing thing. Yes, it does suck that many features are lacking right now, but it's not to say that this is a permanent thing. No matter WHAT Blizzard says, things are subject to change.



Says who? You?

For every person who complains about Bnet 2.0, there are 10 who won't know what's missing. There is a whole demographic out there that will be using the added features such as facebook/WoW integration that has been previously untapped. For every 'fan that they lose' they are gaining many more potential customers.

This is like complaining about Nintendo's choice of calling their system the Wii, not releasing mature titles, not making use of online features will fail them because they're not appealing to the hardcore audience. Sure, that's a sacrifice to make when you're trying to appeal to a NEW audience. The hardcore fans don't simply go away. They're simply going to be waiting for something to appeal to them.

What Blizzard is doing makes sense from a corporate/business point of view (And I don't mean from the evil eyes of Activision, I mean general business). WoW has brought in a HUGE demographic of non-RTS players into their world, and they are trying to make it less intimidating to migrate from game to game. Starcraft is a hardcore game, and Blizzard is trying to make their gaming hub more appealing and 'easy to use' for the casual player.

I could've said this in the thread I just made, but you say it way better.

[ArcherofAiur]

For every person who complains about Bnet 2.0, there are 10 who won't know what's missing.

Just to put things in perspective, on Youtube their are currently 500,000 views of the Starcraft commercial and 300,000 views of the Husky "State of BNET 2.0".


Than again the commercial didn't have kittens...

[spychi]

You really think the CEO of a company as large as Activision is going to have an active hand in development? If that were true then Kotick would be a God among men and deserve every penny he gets.

Obviously, he only directs the direction as someone said. This is Business 101 and I point to anyone whose taken the class as proof

as I can't find the quote right now, he said something like that:
"people forget that I am still developing video games and I am working on projects" something like that, it sticked in my mind

[Dragoonx]

as I can't find the quote right now, he said something like that:
"people forget that I am still developing video games and I am working on projects" something like that, it sticked in my mind

I highly doubt Robert Kotick does any hands-on gaming development.

[Triceron]

Just to put things in perspective, on Youtube their are currently 500,000 views of the Starcraft commercial and 300,000 views of the Husky "State of BNET 2.0".


Than again the commercial didn't have kittens...

When Husky's report gets shown during NBA finals, let me know.

[ArcherofAiur]

When Husky's report gets shown during NBA finals, let me know.

When you make a statement backed by actual numbers you let me know.

[Drake Clawfang]

He's not wrong. YouTube isn't counting all the folks that saw that commercial on TV, which easily numbers in the millions.

[ArcherofAiur]

He's not wrong. YouTube isn't counting all the folks that saw that commercial on TV, which easily numbers in the millions.

And not all of them know or care what starcraft is. All your saying is TV does not equal Youtube. Now if you look at two equivalent forms of media to deteremine what percentage of youtube users watched the starcraft commercial and what watched are aware of BNET's problems/kittens...

[Triceron]

So you want me to use arbitrary numbers that make me look like I know what I'm talking about in order for you to understand common sense? Sorry, my name isn't ArcherofAiur.

I hope you do realize that you also tear down your own argument by saying not every one of the people who watch the Starcraft 2 trailer is a genuine fan. Not everyone who watched the Husky video is in automatic agreement to what he says.

I've sent the video to many many many people I know who don't care about Starcraft. For the kittens.