Chris Metzen is retiring

[Orcnet]

Metzen began his career in Blizzard Entertainment as an artist in 1994 at the age of 19. In Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, he took a bigger role as the designer of the story, but also made artwork and voice acting. In Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal the company outsourced Cyberlore Studios to do the game and Metzen was in charge of story line consultation and editions.

His style characterized the earlier Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo series and he eventually became art director. His position in creative development has given him the reins over lore and storylines created for the games of the Blizzard franchise, the foundations of which were laid by previous designers. He later served as co-producer on the 2016 Warcraft film.

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You've read the post folks, The Man of action, the dude who made all of this to happen announced that he is retiring. At the age of 42, after nearly 23 years of good o'l Blizzard gaming.

In post on all Blizzard forums Metzen shared the story of his entry into the games industry, his experience working at Blizzard, and the importance of friendship in gaming, describing Blizzard as a "tribe" and a "second family". He explained that he chose the word "retire" to reflect that he was not moving onto new projects, but stepping back from all projects, saying it was "time to slow it down" and to focus on "the one thing that matters most to me in all the world—my family", including his newly arrived third child.

You can see the whole story by clicking the source from here: [LINK]

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What do you guys think? is it best for the man of action to finally get some rest with all of the best games ever created? or would it drastically change the atmosphere for Blizzard Entertainment? You can drop some comments below and discuss!

 

[pyf]

(I knew I could never finish my own paper on time)


He may most probably still be around as a consultant, or something like that.
Also, he should keep playing Thrall.

According to GameSpot, "Metzen has not been the only notable staff member to leave Blizzard this year. In July [2016], Diablo 3 director Josh Mosqueira announced his departure from Blizzard to "pursue other opportunities." This was preceded by the departure of Jay Wilson, former director of Diablo III."

While I am at it, I point out Rob Pardo, the lead designer on World of Warcraft, left Blizzard in 2014:
http://us.battle.net/forums/en/wow/topic/13348514719


The times they are changing...

 

[deepstrasz]

I have no high hopes for Blizzard now. It'll basically become a after George Lucas Star Wars, meaning the Farce will Awaken. Even the next SW title says it all: Rogue. I feel I'll be also stepping down from future Blizz products unless... a miracle of course.

Also, he should keep playing Thrall.

I'd like to see him actually play Thrall in a Warcraft movie, now that they're at it with this sort of Warcraft rehashing.

 

[pyf]

I have no high hopes for Blizzard now. It'll basically become a after George Lucas Star Wars, meaning the Farce will Awaken. [...] I feel I'll be also stepping down from future Blizz products unless... a miracle of course.

I, too, felt a great disturbance in the Force Fel.

I'd like to see him actually play Thrall in a Warcraft movie, now that they're at it with this sort of Warcraft rehashing.

... or he might reprise his small cameo role as a perfume merchant?

Hidden

 

[deepstrasz]

or he might reprise his small cameo role as a perfume merchant?

I don't remember seeing him in the movie and I've seen it on a big screen, in the cinema!
Stan Lee's appearances are conspicuous.

I, too, felt a great disturbance in the Force Fel.

Let's just drop that Fel business before it's too late.

 

[Morris]

'Time's changed' *In Garrosh voice*
He also stated that he will keep being the voice actor for Thrall for future expansions but his retirement raised alot of questions.
He was the creator of warcraft and it's associated lore and other Blizzard games. I fear for the future of WoW
This guy made my childhood so awesome and knowing that he won't part of this broke my heart <\3
I just hope that they don't ruin WoW after his departure

I don't remember seeing him in the movie and I've seen it on a big screen, in the cinema!

I haven't seen him too but he stated that he had a cameo-appearance as a vendor or something in SW market

 

[deepstrasz]

I fear for the future of WoW

WoW is the least of my concerns. It's Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo that I'm worried about.

This guy made my childhood so awesome

Well, we have to credit the other artists and programmers too. I mean a team made the games possible in the end.

 

[pyf]

I don't remember seeing him in the movie and I've seen it on a big screen, in the cinema!

Strange... Wowpedia says "He cameos in the Warcraft movie as a perfume merchant." Yet his name does not appear in the full film cast:
Chris Metzen - Wowpedia - Your wiki guide to the World of Warcraft
Warcraft: The Beginning (2016) - Full Cast & Crew - IMDb

[...] He also stated that he will keep being the voice actor for Thrall for future expansions [...]

I am unable to find such a statement from an official source.

It might be possible, fans are mis/over-interpreting his tweet?
Chris Metzen on Twitter

 

[Morris]

Well, we have to credit the other artists and programmers too. I mean a team made the games possible in the end.

Yes indeed, but he made the whole story

WoW is the least of my concerns. It's Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo that I'm worried about.

I believe Starcraft will be finished and abandoned once they release the final Nova pack, though this game was great too!
I don't play WoW but I keep up with everything related to it. My true concern is will they make a sequel for Warcraft?, I mean WoW is great but enough of the RPG style and bring back the original RTS game!

There is still much in store for Diablo. Diablo 3 won't be the last one because the story isn't finished yet

I am unable to find such a statement from an official source.

It might be possible, fans are mis/over-interpreting his tweet?
Chris Metzen on Twitter

I read his tweet and I like to believe that he will still contribute to the game by playing Thrall

 

[deepstrasz]

Yes indeed, but he made the whole story

That was edited by the likes of Bill Roper, Micky Neilson and others. I'm not saying it's a bad or good thing because I don't know how the original stuff was.

I believe Starcraft will be finished and abandoned once they release the final Nova pack, though this game was great too!

Yeah, the gameplay is great. The story is good for WoL and LotV but quite mediocre for HotS. That being written, there are a lot of retcons of the original StarCraft story, some making more and others little sense.
For Warcraft III, it actually helped the story and universe a lot but the thing that they didn't explain was Grom's appearance in Azeroth while Beyond the Dark Portal ended with all Alliance and Horde heroes fighting near the portal. So, we can only assume and fantasize.

There is still much in store for Diablo.

For me, Diablo's story ended in LoD but I got with the groove of DIII to see what was cooking. I wasn't much surprised of retcons (cheesy Kulle and his stone) but the one with Adria killed me. RoS was OK but raised many questions.

Diablo 3 won't be the last one because the story isn't finished yet

My dear hiver, it's not about the story. Today's gaming isn't considered art anymore, at least not by who uses it as a casino strategy. Nowadays, gaming is a means of cashing in. If Diablo would not be a good marketing strategy, then the hell with it. Look at Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans. Even though almost finished, they just threw it away because of that reason.

 

[deepstrasz]

So, is this going to make it first page or what? It's been days since the artist announced his change to veteran.

 

[Silva]

Retirement in his 40s ? that's a bit early, even though he started young.

 

[aeman]

i'm read the article in twitter, im hope the one who replace him don't screwed the blizzard

 

[Dr Super Good]

You've read the post folks, The Man of action, the dude who made all of this to happen announced that he is retiring. At the age of 42, after nearly 23 years of good o'l Blizzard gaming.

Yet someone like myself will have to work until 71...

Unless he has an underlying health condition he really should not be retiring at such a young age. It is not a good example in this day and age.

 

[Chaosy]

Good thing the story of WoW is already written 2 expansions ahead so his work will remain for a while longer.

 

[A Void]

Pretty soon Blizzard will no longer consist of those people who started it all with Warcraft, Diablo & StarCraft. I'm not sure if I will ever feel the same about their "newer" games without these amazing people like Chris who was there from the beginning. The new generation of Blizzard developers don't have that magic to make games (no offense).

Ps, this article needs to have signature removed.

 

[deepstrasz]

Pretty soon Blizzard will no longer consist of those people who started it all with Warcraft, Diablo & StarCraft. I'm not sure if I will ever feel the same about their "newer" games without these amazing people like Chris who was there from the beginning. The new generation of Blizzard developers don't have that magic to make games (no offense).

It's what I'm also afraid of.
I don't know if Chris the Man was right from the start but he came in very early.

Unless he has an underlying health condition he really should not be retiring at such a young age. It is not a good example in this day and age.

Hopefully, not midlife crisis as a friend of mine suggested. Jokes aside, you know, the American dream. I mean when you gather some money you can just forget about stuff like working, you know?

 

[fladdermasken]

This probably slipped through the cracks.

Moved to the main forum, for good measure. Even if it's not technically news anymore.

 

[Kyrbi0]

Why's he pointing at the Maelstrom?

I love that word.

 

[Kaijyuu]

People don't stop contributing to society just because they don't have a regular job; they stop contributing when they get a useless service job like flipping burgers. And family is the ultimate example of a huge contribution to society most people make that costs money instead of earning it. I don't know the dude's paycheck, but if it was more or less normal and he made good investments, it's way better that he retire early than have spent all his money on consumerist junk and be required to work to the bone until old age like most people. Maybe he got a way higher paycheck than was warranted, in which case my opinions change a bit, but there are muuuch bigger fish to fry when it comes to that than Chris Metzen.

 

[Chaosy]

Why's he pointing at the Maelstrom?

I love that word.

Because he is the one who created it.

 

[Rui]

Retired at 42 years old? Damn
Warcraft had a great lore, at least until Warcraft III we can say it's consensual. I do not know exactly which parts of the lore are Metzen's more recently, but plots have been getting way too predictable as of late. This is partially due to the graphics hype, but yeah I miss the old feeling of not knowing how something's going to end up; the unexpected. Though not completely, we did have a good deal of that with the original StarCraft and Warcraft III campaigns (Wings of Liberty campaign was phenomenal as well). I do not doubt Metzen had a significant impact in all of that. Kudos for him x)