Founders leave Blizzard Entertainment

[Dyne]

so now ghost will appear on the next gen of systems and wow will ship 4 years from now....oh well.

and you guys need to settle down...he's entitled to his "opinion". different as it may be from your own he's still entitled.

[Drewbacca]

Originally posted by ShineAqua
That's great and I'm proud of them, that doesn't make Diablo LoD suck any less. And the idea of a WarCraft MMORPG isn't all that apealing.

I'm sure Blizzard Entertainment will be crying themselves to sleep over a random jackass on TNL not enjoying their games on a matress stuffed with hundreds.

Originally posted by 88mph
Does this effect Starcraft 2?

It probably will. It was their brainchild and they most likely directed it closely. Now you'll have some dink come in and decide to make all the costume colours pink and the world full of horrible pathfinding AI.

[DArque Bishop]

Originally posted by Andrew
It probably will. It was their brainchild and they most likely directed it closely. Now you'll have some dink come in and decide to make all the costume colours pink and the world full of horrible pathfinding AI.

Huh? Starcraft was released by Blizzard South. With one exception, the guys who left were from Blizzard North. Diablo was their project.

Just my $.02...

[Joust Williams]

Good. Now maybe they can start making games I like

[Rumpy]

Vivendi has been in trouble for awhile, Blizzard being by far their greatest asset. Something bad is bound to happen now if the four leaders of the company decide to bail out.

WoW looks freaking sweet btw.

[Drewbacca]

Originally posted by DArque Bishop
Huh? Starcraft was released by Blizzard South. With one exception, the guys who left were from Blizzard North. Diablo was their project.

Just my $.02...

They said they were the founders... which I took at Blizzard as a whole and not simply a division. If that's the case then Starcraft will be fine, but if they are the founders this report makes them out to be, it isn't.

Originally posted by Rumpy
Vivendi has been in trouble for awhile, Blizzard being by far their greatest asset. Something bad is bound to happen now if the four leaders of the company decide to bail out.

WoW looks freaking sweet btw.

It'd be really awesome if I got to own blizzard and all of its licenses because I went to some auction where they were auctioning them off.

[Saint of Killers]

Originally posted by Andrew
They said they were the founders... which I took at Blizzard as a whole and not simply a division. If that's the case then Starcraft will be fine, but if they are the founders this report makes them out to be, it isn't.

Read the article again:

"In a statement, Blizzard Entertainment said Blizzard North co-founders Erich Schaefer, Max Schaefer and David Brevik, along with a fourth employee, Bill Roper, "resigned from the company to pursue other opportunities.""

[LOL]

I can't wait to play Diabolic and StarFight.

[epmode]

Originally posted by Rumpy
Vivendi has been in trouble for awhile, Blizzard being by far their greatest asset. Something bad is bound to happen now if the four leaders of the company decide to bail out.

there are rumors on the gaming age boards that vivendi universal has been sold to an unknown bidder. the games division might be included in the deal, but no one really knows. it would explain the resignations, though..

[RoleTroll]

Acclaim is purchasing Blizzard, as well as certain 3DO licenses. The Blizzard employees will be starting on the next generation of Army Men games and GoDai 2: The Legend Returns.

Or maybe not

Actually, here's the real scoop... or rumor, anyway. The suitor is Take-Two Interactive, of GTA3 fame.

news
New York-based Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. is mulling a bid for the video games business of Vivendi Universal SA which the French media conglomerate has put up for sale to reduce its borrowings._
__
Take-Two Interactive would make a bid for VU Games with financial partners, according to a source familiar with the situation._

The source said Take-Two - which notched up revenue of $794 million in the year to Oct. 31, 2002 - values VU Games at near $1 billion, well short of the $ 1.6 billion that Vivendi Universal Chairman Jean-Rene Fourtou is said to be looking for._

However, the source's estimate of the value of a possible Take-Two bid contrasts with reports that VU Games might be sold for only $800 million or less._

Other parties reported to be considering a bid for the video-games business are private equity firms Thomas Lee Partners, General Atlantic and Francisco Partners, as well as Bain Capital with TA Associates._

The source said negotiations on the fate of the video-games business are at an advanced stage._

Vivendi Universal has been seeking a buyer for its games business - a small player in the sector - for many months after it dropped plans last year to raise $800 million from a partial spin-off of the unit through a listing on Nasdaq as market conditions worsened.

http://www.fatbabies.com/

[Zerodash]

Wasn't MS going to buy Blizzard?

[Chojin]

Well they were major members of Blizzard North so it's not that big a hit but the fact that they randomly just outright left seems to point to a future buyout.

[Shine]

Originally posted by Despair
Hey, what the fuck are you saying. LOD was awesome expension that added ALOT to the game, and D2 LOD is still great experience to play on Bnet. And how World of Warcraft is not appealing idea for MMORPG???

Take your trolling somewhere else.

So I'm a troll because I don't like LoD? Grow up. LoD made drastic changes to the Diablo 2 formula and not for the better.

Barbs were suddenly useless because practically every boss was immune to physical not to mention most of Act 5 to boot, fucking immune, how the hell can something be immune to a pike upside the back of the skull? Sorcs lost most of their charm when you were no longer allowed to specialize in one elemental form of magic because most enemies were immune/resistant to one form of magic and dungeon bosses were immune to two and if you were real lucky resistant to the third. The only two classes that went through virtually unscathed were Pallys and Necs only because most of their magic didn't have an elemental base to be immune to. As for the added classes, they were nothing more than cut and paste versions of the five existing classes you began with. I could go on about the "improved" item drop rate or how "balanced" the game became after LoD took it's hold but it's harldy worth my time.

For Warcrafts sake it's an excellent game and any expansions should serve it well. But the MMORPG market is flooded with crap that's hanging by a hair and I don't see WoW doing any better. The main draw of Bnet games is that there is no premium charge to play them. WoW has to overcome the obsticle of convincing people that it's worth paying $120+ a year over playing Warcraft 3 for free.

[LOL]

http://www.homelanfed.com/index.php?id=15275

Roper confirms that his leave was due to Vivendi being douchebags.

[Shine]

Isn't that how it always is though? Think about it fo a minute. If it weren't for larger corporations dicking it's employees some of the greatest companies would've never come to be. I can almost assure you this will yeild positive results.

[RoleTroll]

More on the leave from Vivendi. Looks like no buyers around, even for bargain basement prices, and will only go lower with their departure.

http://money.cnn.com/2003/07/01/comm...ming/index.htm

[Despair]

Originally posted by ShineAqua
So I'm a troll because I don't like LoD? Grow up. LoD made drastic changes to the Diablo 2 formula and not for the better.

Barbs were suddenly useless because practically every boss was immune to physical not to mention most of Act 5 to boot, fucking immune, how the hell can something be immune to a pike upside the back of the skull? Sorcs lost most of their charm when you were no longer allowed to specialize in one elemental form of magic because most enemies were immune/resistant to one form of magic and dungeon bosses were immune to two and if you were real lucky resistant to the third. The only two classes that went through virtually unscathed were Pallys and Necs only because most of their magic didn't have an elemental base to be immune to. As for the added classes, they were nothing more than cut and paste versions of the five existing classes you began with. I could go on about the "improved" item drop rate or how "balanced" the game became after LoD took it's hold but it's harldy worth my time.

For Warcrafts sake it's an excellent game and any expansions should serve it well. But the MMORPG market is flooded with crap that's hanging by a hair and I don't see WoW doing any better. The main draw of Bnet games is that there is no premium charge to play them. WoW has to overcome the obsticle of convincing people that it's worth paying $120+ a year over playing Warcraft 3 for free.

The changes Blizzard made with LOD, and continues making with every patch upgrade, are for the BETTER for the game. Making monsters immune to atleast one element, or physical damage, made the game MORE CHALLENGING, since now you have to find different ways and strategies on how to deal with different enemies. Oh wow, Sorcereses who were TOO OVERPOWERED to begin with now, have to use Different skills instead just maxing up Fire tree, which made 99% of them on Bnet friggin same. How dare Blizzard trying to improve the game's balance and make it more fun and challenging !!!!

Did you EVEN played LOD??? Cause what you saying DOESNT MAKE an OUNCE of Sense. Both Assassin and Druid(and YES I AM PLAYING AS BOTH NOW), add to the game, since Assassin is excellent FAST MELEE FIGHTER, and while lacking the brute strenght of Barb, she has Shadow skills that are GREAT to use, and Traps that makes her pretty dangerous. While Elemental skills of Druid are week now(but will be changed in upcoming 1.10 patch), the Werewolf and Werebear are VERY COOL to USE.

Plus new weapons, items, Charms, RUnes and Rune Words added soo mucb needed variety to the gameplay. Sure Blizzard is not perfect, and Bnet got overloaded by hacks and PK, but there are still CAN BE ALOT OF FUN to be had with D2:LOD.

[Shine]

Originally posted by Despair
Did you EVEN played LOD???

Yeah it's one the, only two, games I have ever returned because they sucked. I won't bother arguing against you because I don't feel like filling this thread up with complaints about D2. All I will say is that you are right about the Runes and such adding more variety to the game but it just wasn't enough to make it worth my time anymore.

[Mfkzt]

Originally posted by ShineAqua
So I'm a troll because I don't like LoD? Grow up. LoD made drastic changes to the Diablo 2 formula and not for the better.

The Diablo 2 formula was piss poor to begin with. The artwork sucked, and I hated the quests and the skill tree system. I liked how you could get through Diablo 1 without talking to the townsfolk or obsessing over arcane skills. It was the perfect evolution of Gauntlet.

Blizzard without Bill Roper is like Nintendo without Miyamoto. It's not a good sign at all, no matter how they spin it. I was considering The Frozen Throne, but I want no part of it now.

[The Ampersand]

Who care's if Blizzard's games go down in quality? They'll just start a new company and then you'll have to just give your $60 to someone else. And that's *if* the quality in games goes down. Which I seriously doubt. Don't be so quick to say it's the end of the world.