Yay, blizzard.

ashman512

I like that Blizz doesn't ride on the names of their franchises. Yes, they only have a limited number of IPs. But what I mean is that they actually strive to refine it. Even though It may not be innovative you can tell that a lot of work goes into actually making the game and it's world.

Also they are committed to their games after they are released. Starcraft had patches years after the games release. Of course this is due to the popularity of the game. But it is nice to know that they still supported the game years since its release. They could've just given up on it and waited until part 2 to update it.

It'd be nice to see more developers with this level of commitment. Especially for multiplayer games, and for consoles since they can now be updated.

kryzhal

I am pretty sure it should be Starcraft and not Starcraft II. Typo. I do hope they come up with a new IP. I think even they might get bored of their properties. Although I wish they would go back to making Starcraft Ghost.

AzureDrag0n1

@Hisdon: Even though that's true, I wouldn't count MS Solitaire as a game, in the same way other games are. MS Solitaire came/comes with every version of Windows every sold.

kadaj24

Pretty sure the "Starcraft II" was a typo. I think he meant the *original* Starcraft is known for it's prefect balance.

Morithain

@SpishackCola:
that = than, damnit. Started thinking about something else right before I finished typing out that sentence.

SpishackCola

Good ol' Blizzard.
How to make something better than generic try-nothing-new WoW?
Just use another more popular license than Warcraft.
They'll be all over it. Because something is mentally wrong with PC gamers.

otimus

Vegas Odds of game being more successful that WoW, 10^8*6:1

SpishackCola

@PrivateJ0ker:

Also "renowned" should be spelled reknowned. :_)

PrivateJ0ker

"StarCraft 2 is renowned, he said, for its "perfect game balance" - but it didn't launch that way, the team recalled."

Um, excuse me? Was Starcraft 2 released or something? Or is this article...from the DISTANT FUTURE!!

PrivateJ0ker

@FrigidAir44: Actually I find that they still sound very humble considering their track record and stupidly huge success.

cowondinosaur

@Figcoinc: @kadaj24:

both wrong, Microsoft Solitare holds that title. No, once again, that's not a joke.

Hisdon

@mfwahwah:

I was thinking more of making Diablo a single player game with a pay-to-play multiplayer.

PapaBear434

as much as i like the existing blizzard IPs, i really would like them to develop something new. their story telling ability is pretty god damn good, and anything they could come up with for game mechanics would most likely be interesting/entertaining.

knifey-spoonie

I'm thinking it's starcraft - a good deviation from the fantasy and into sci-fi, diablo would be too close to WoW as far as style goes. IT could be a brand new IP, but I doubt it - and if it was, I still think they'd go with the more sci-fi route.

Oh, and WoS would be amazing.

robotleawesome

starcraft universe will be mine

FlapDangerous

@kadaj24:

I believe Tetris followed by Pac-Man hold that title.

Figcoinc

I always like Blizzard. I tried WoW a couple times, but the kiddies drove me nuts. I think they are almost as bad as the kiddies on Xbox Live, and that is saying a lot. So I decide to go lifetime with LOTRO because the jerk factor is much less there.

I have to say WOW is a great game. It may not have grabbed me, but I respect quality when I see it. I am sure whatever Blizzard's next MMO is it will be great. I will look forward to it whenever they decide to release it. For now I will get myself ready to kill Diablo...again.

Figcoinc

More successful than WoW?? That's nearly impossible. Isn't WoW the most successful video game of all-time?

kadaj24

WoW has already borrowed a lot from the Diablo world as it is, from class types to interface and game mechanics... So basically, I think a Diablo MMO would risk turning out too similar to WoW for Blizzard's taste. A Starcraft based one or something new alltogether seems much more likely.

Kyuu

WoW In Space. You heard it here first.

kumuasata

IP? What's that?

Furude

"Similarly, StarCraft 2 is renowned, he said, for its "perfect game balance" - but it didn't launch that way, the team recalled."
Wow, that's a news right there! ;]

Kro

Am I one of the few people who hasn't bought any Blizzard products? I got Starcraft from a friend, my grandfather got me the warcraft II battle chest, and I played Diablo on a friends computer for about 10 minutes.

trogam

@PapaBear434: Doubt they're working on D3 AND a DMMO >.>

mfwahwah

@willz0rz: @ostartero:

popular rumor says it is a new, unannounced IP.

I know that's hard to believe, considering we're talking about blizzard, but that's the word on the street.

Hisdon

Such arrogance. And they have every right to be :)

FrigidAir44

Please don't make Diablo an MMO... Please don't make Diablo an MMO... Please don't make Diablo an MMO... Please don't make Diablo an MMO... Please don't make Diablo an MMO...

Keep it free, keep it fun. Battlenet forever, baby.

/earn my love again, Blizzard

PapaBear434

@animemecha: I agree

Damnit. That would be like mixing heroin and coke. There goes my marriage.

Letsgohokies

Most likely World of Starcraft, but I'd rather see World of Rock'n Roll Racing or World of Lost Vikings, or World of BattleChess. :)

GPman

heres hoping its a Starcraft MMO

Ibramgaunt

I agree with blizzard on the "your only as good as your last game, everything else you have to earn."

tottally true

tooji

The very idea of a MMO more sucessful than WoW scares me

animemecha

Looking forward to whatever they are releasing

SilverRecluse

Already a backup plan for their now astronomical income.

As long as the MMO would be a new IP, I think it would be a huge success.

ostartero

"The same challenge is on us. Are we going to make the right decisions? I don't believe that just because we made WoW, we're guaranteed on the next MMO that we make to have the same success."

so what is their next MMO then?

willz0rz

It's like he's a father talking to his kid after he just found pot in his room. "I'm not mad, just disappointed".

sarcasmOD

It damn well better.

Furude

@a_pink_poodle: That's presuming that most people are going to keep 2 subscriptions active when they are likely going to be spending the vast majority of their time on either the new game or the old one.

That being said however, you are right but the reason why should be stated differently. In the sense that these MMO's have a limited lifetime, something alluded to by Kirby himself, it would be foolish for Blizzard not to make a new game to try and woo these people back into playing and paying for new subscriptions towards the new game when otherwise they would have simply stopped playing WoW and therefore stop paying subscription fees to Blizzard as well.

We can see this already happening by virtue of the attrition rate of people who've quit WoW for other games. If these people renew their subscriptions for a month from time to time, without any intention to stay for the long term, they can't be considered continuing subscribers.

Ramonskito

@KirbyMorph:

I always laugh at people that think this.

Let's think about it! They have WoW, right? If they make a new MMO that is as popular as WoW, it'll be like having the income of two WoW's! How is this going to happen? Some people on WoW will stay on WoW but there will be some people on WoW that will go over to the new MMO. Not only that, a majority of people will not only continue playing WoW, they will be playing the new MMO as well! They not only retain their subscriber numbers but gain more subscribers to the new MMO!

a_pink_poodle

World of Warcraft...2?

wolfeditor

I predict Diablo MMO. Just like they did with Warcraft world.
Warcraft 3 came out and WoW followed in shortly.

biofreak

@Vezroth: Right now I'll be pleased with just any other game they release that isn't an MMO. MMO's are overrated, imo. Everyone and their mother wants to make an MMO and make billions nowadays, but the market isn't infinite and the customers are not going to be loyal to different companies at the same time, like they would with more traditional games. What I mean is, you will hardly be able to find people who are playing multiple MMO's at the very same time, like you would with games like Diablo 3, Starcraft etc. The market is not that flexible and the customers would more likely come from cannibalizing existing MMO gamers rather than bring in completely new players.

Ramonskito

I hope that whatever it is they're making is something brand new. No established universe, just something completely fresh from the minds of the amazing brains of Blizzard.

Vezroth

Hypothetically speaking, any upcoming game could be more successful than WoW.

Realistically though, I don't think any game will be. Not even a game made by Blizzard.

jtyson

Wait, did he just say that Starcraft 2 was released already??

I'll be back after I pick up a copy :p.

I can see Blizz making a new MMO, but I don't think it should be set in the Warcraft universe. The next Warcraft game should seriously be an RTS. Blizz should break out a new IP and turn that into an MMO.

Phlycheez

@KirbyMorph: You mean like Apple coming up with iPhone, which has all the functionality of iPod! GASP!

Seriously, you're being incredibly narrowminded. They would be stupid NOT to start making a new MMO, did you even bother to read the article? You even conceded that they could only milk WoW for possibly another 3 years max. Now, given that development of a new MMO especially of WoW's caliber and size can take 4-6 years, it would be incredibly stupid if they don't have some kind of new MMO in the early stages of production right now don't you think? In fact, I'd be very surprised if this were so. Remember that Diablo III, Starcraft 2 et al have been in development for a very long time now but have only been recently broken to press.

Ramonskito

Funcom should take a hint from these guys. You can only work on one MMO at a time, not a smorgasboard of them like Funcom has with its Secret World, Age of Conan, horror MMO all being worked on simultaneously.

That being said though, WoW has definitely become stale for a lot of people. Its game mechanics have barely changed, and even with the new DK class it's not going to be incredibly interesting. It has its core 'crazy fan' base though.

Ramonskito

They'd be stupid to make a new MMO. THey can milk WoW for another 3 years, easy, especially wiht expansions and the complete lack of any worthwhile competition (well, we'll see if WAR can make a splash). Any new property from Blizz would merely compete with WoW.

It would be like Apple releasing a zPod mp3 player that costs the same, has roughly the same characteristics and is, for all intents and purposes, an iPod with a new look while continuing to sell iPods. It would be stupid and merely cut into their own profits and audiance.

KirbyMorph

@PapaBear434:
This, to the nth degree.

Channing

@FrigidAir44: Where do you see arrogance? For perhaps the most successful software developer in the world, they're pretty humble about it. Compare Kaplan's comments with the thing Ken Kutaragi said before the PS3 came out, things like "they'll buy it no matter how much it costs" and "we will be the winners of this console generation, hands down". Whereas Blizzard talks about their success with phrases like "we have to prove ourselves to our fans with every new release" and "our games are only so popular because we take the time to fix their problems over a series of years"

The key difference is that Sony (the arrogant company) is taking its fans for granted and therefore makes a half-assed effort, whereas Blizzard (the humble company) feels it has to re-earn their love with every new release, so they're always putting their best foot forward.

GhostWhoWalks

@Figcoinc: Actually, the most popular game of all time is Solitaire on Windows. Sad, but true.

masterdingo

The idea of an MMORPG besting WoW boggles my mind, I can't even comprehend how such a feat could ever be achieved again. Im still dumbfounded that WoW has done as insanely well as it has.

Rajolae

I've had a great deal of respect for Blizzard since I was introduced to them via wc3, and this just goes to show how worthy they are of that respect. It's clear that they put a lot of effort into the things they do to make their games as fun and balanced as possible, and I'm glad to see their mindset for progressing beyond WoW.

Ladi

@AzureDrag0n1:@GhostWhoWalks:

Agreed.

EternalGameNation

@Rajolae: Exactly what I thought! Not to speak of that it would be the end of the world, what with the huge number of souls being sucked into it (more than WoW? Whoaaaaa)

SensAzn

World Of Starcraft 09.

Better graphics plz.

Laughtrey

If a company can fulfill this it will be Blizzard.

And yes I would buy immediately the Collectors Edition of StarCraft Online

Holgerm

@Ramonskito: @a_pink_poodle:
I think you've both got great reasoning but from a developer side of things you use this sort of talk to convince the publishing guys that making an MMO is a good idea.

The *reason* you make a new MMO (rather than a stand-alone) as a developer is because it lets you fix mistakes and break the rules of your last MMO. Whatever they're making you can bet they're taking a serious look at what they hated about WoW and scrapping it if they can.

My personal bet? Expect an even more accessible game, maybe even a console MMO. Expect a new take on PVP to appeal to the hardcore. And... not sure...perhaps more customizable chars (as that's sort of their thinking in WotLK).

Xorrel

World of Starcraft was briefly mentioned by lvl70etc at the WWI in paris...

tonka_92

I think the future success in the business lies in creating MMO cable companies. Rather than relying on one game to continue subscriptions I think they should develop multiple MMORPGS but put them under one subscription. I know I would be far more likely to try something other than wow if I wasn't afraid of adding another 15 bucks a month to my bills. Although I would be willing to pay a higher monthly fee. I suspect if they raised their rate to 25 for multiple content or maintained their 15 for a single games they could grow subscriptions increase revenue and keep the fans for years longer than just relying on WOW as good as it is. They could search the landscape for dead ips and add them to their collection.

onepoker

StarCraft GHOST Anyone?
nah i doubt it. Diablo 3 will do.

Go Team Venture

@otimus:

What's wrong, get confused with "all those buttons" on keyboards?

The best games ever made have been on the PC and not consoles, as for Blizzard, they are the best at what they do.

z0phi3l

@Furude: IP = Intellectual Property.

And we all know he's talking about World of Starcraft. He knows we know as well.

Lemming

Sadly, It's an MMO. Check their website for job offerings, it's right on there, they're looking for a Lead Designer for a Next-Gen MMO.

Vezroth

I hope the next game fails because WoW is still very young for them to be working on another MMO.

Dalren

world of starcraft!, woot!

pumpkinguts

I certainly hope World of Diablocraft is good. I am still waiting for Starcraft II and Ghost, though. Get to work Blizzard!

curtisawa

@Dalren:

It's not really all that young. WoW is what? 7 years old now? I would actually rather see Blizzard produce a new game rather than go the way of Everquest or to a lesser degree Guild Wars and just keep bumping out expansions every couple of years to keep people interested.

Vezroth

@Vezroth: More like 3 years. When it's 7 years old you can say it's old, but you should never stop development of an MMO just because it's old either. I don't want to play a new MMO that will probably not be a warcraft game and might not even be a fantasy MMO.

Dalren

For this to happen, I feel like it has to be something along the same lines of fantasy-style gameplay. I don't think a StarCraft or futuristic MMORPG could surpass that. I personally feel like fantasy elements are a lot easier to take in that SciFi (even though I love it all). Maybe a WoW 2? Lost Vikings MMO? I have no idea... but as long as Blizzard do not allow dancing gnome warriors to carry around the Frostmourne, I'll still be happy with WoW.

SphericalCrusher

@Dalren: You're way too much of a Warcraft fanboy. Blizzard must love you. You never get bored, you're willing to put up with endless expansions of basically the same thing. If they raised the level to 1000 you'd still be around playing. Nope, they wouldn't mind easy customers like you at all.

Ramonskito

"If there was an MMO out there that had a tone different from WoW but was executed as well, I actually think there could be a huge audience for that. When I get disappointed, it's because I don't see that level of execution."

Different tone? Hm...

ankeet