The Future of Warcraft

[Leubast]

what I would like in the campaign games is if you could build an army...

let me explain further.

units should be able to gain experience that directly affects their combat/magic and armour.

then!

at the end of every game you get to select 10 units you would like to be able to take over to your next game.

this way when you start a campaign mission, all those starter units are units you have already trained.

your personal army

it would create personal attachment between the units and your game

and

make your successes before add to your chances now

I think that would be brilliant!

You literally described Warlord's Battlecry. Try it out.

 

[Rao Dao Zao]

Wow, I heard the rumour that real people had been involved but I never thought for a moment it was true. Good stuff!

I hope you told them we want another Rexxar campaign. ;D

 

[water_Knight]

and as i said before all this does is rub it in the faces of people that you know something we don't And this is just adding salt to the wounds.

 

[Kam]

and as i said before all this does is rub it in the faces of people that you know something we don't And this is just adding salt to the wounds.

This is not the correct way to approach what has occurred. In any organization there are people that know things that others do not. Ralle knows what the plan is for this website's future for instance. We have some details but the exact plan is hidden.

This whole process should communicate that Blizzard is not making a one time pass, that there is a real future in this game both in competitive play and custom map making, and that the people in charge of the Classic Games team truly care about the titles in their realm.

There is no "wound". As far as any of us were concerned prior to this news this game was done for in terms of support. As far as I know no other game company has ever done what Blizzard is doing now.

 

[water_Knight]

This is not the correct way to approach what has occurred. In any organization there are people that know things that others do not. Ralle knows what the plan is for this website's future for instance. We have some details but the exact plan is hidden.

This whole process should communicate that Blizzard is not making a one time pass, that there is a real future in this game both in competitive play and custom map making, and that the people in charge of the Classic Games team truly care about the titles in their realm.

There is no "wound". As far as any of us were concerned prior to this news this game was done for in terms of support. As far as I know no other game company has ever done what Blizzard is doing now.

By all means you also never had to state that you know what there plans are even if you can't explain what it is. But you did rubbing it in our faces.

 

[Kam]

By all means you also never had to state that you know what there plans are even if you can't explain what it is. But you did rubbing it in our faces.

The point is not to "rub it in your face". By communicating to you that we know these details we are demonstrating that our excitement is founded on actual information rather than baseless hype.

If we had come back and said: "hey guys we saw some cool stuff but didn't talk about anything", what would be the point?

I understand you want details. We will release them as we are able to.

 

[Dark-Zalor]

So exited, an update on the best game ever made

Thanks you so muche for what you've done PurgeandFire; Kam

 

[PurgeandFire]

By all means you also never had to state that you know what there plans are even if you can't explain what it is. But you did rubbing it in our faces.

Sorry if it came off that way. As Kam said, it was mostly to stir up excitement. Most of the past patches were aimed towards melee and bug-fixes. And this last patch (1.27a) was aimed purely towards compatibility. If we weren't in contact with Blizzard, it would've been only natural to assume the patches would follow that trend, right? I know for sure that I would've been pretty pessimistic. I would've still been happy, but I wouldn't have expected any changes on the modding front.

Wow, I heard the rumour that real people had been involved but I never thought for a moment it was true. Good stuff!

I hope you told them we want another Rexxar campaign. ;D

We definitely have it on the list!

New Content: Starcraft 2 recently introduced the idea of “Mission Packs”. We feel that a similar concept could get players interested in Warcraft 3 again. A new bonus campaign or even just a new tavern hero would have people coming back to reinstall. It could even just be a map with Chris Metzen speaking in Thrall’s voice for 4 hours, we’re positive that people would buy it.

But if it comes (we don't know for sure), it'll come later down the line. They wanted to focus on other things first (e.g. compatibility, battle.net, etc.).

 

[Rao Dao Zao]

We definitely have it on the list!

You guys.

Couldn't wish for any better community liaisons in my book!

But if it comes (we don't know for sure), it'll come later down the line. They wanted to focus on other things first (e.g. compatibility, battle.net, etc.).

Absolutely! I've dealt with a few legacy codebases in my time, stability and refactoring come before new features. And whether it emerges or not, the fact that real new content is even a concept in people's heads is totes amazeballs.

 

[Rui]

A translator would be helpful. The balance is being handled by them as that market seems to be the primary player base currently - it is massive.

Contribution?

Yeah, in ezekiel's thread.

(...)
units should be able to gain experience that directly affects their combat/magic and armour.

then!

at the end of every game you get to select 10 units you would like to be able to take over to your next game.
(...)

Possibilities are endless, but that sort of thing better fits a different game entirely or a more powerful editor. We'll be lucky if they address the game's bugs and provide a few features for modders.

By all means you also never had to state that you know what there plans are even if you can't explain what it is. But you did rubbing it in our faces.

Hmm, now that you mention it... =P

 

[SpasMaster]

@PurgeandFire; @Kam: First of all, I'd like to thank you both for making this trip, sharing the community desires with Blizzard themselves and then telling us all that is possible about the future of the game all of us in here love.
Some comments in here come sounding very ungrateful. We could be living in a world where the company couldn't be caring about its old game and community. Instead we get 2 of our staff members invited to personally talk with Blizzard about the future of the game.

And we have some people complaining that you actually talked about that? What is wrong with that, really? We are getting such exciting news and confirmation that new things are coming our way. Would you rather stay in the dark, deprived of any information about the game future? Or you expect the exact opposite - to get all the information you need served to you on a silver platter? Well, guess what - that's not how anything in this world works at all. Let me give an example:

-When a new movie (or game) gets announced, do you get the script, cast and plot told to you? Of course not. You have to wait 1-2 years for the movie (game) to come out to find out what exactly it is about. In the meantime you get trailers to get your excitement for the product going. Consider what Kam and PurgeandFire gave us here the equivalent of a trailer - they let us know that new things are coming. So quit complaining and enjoy the fact that someone actually pays attention to such an old game.

Thanks for all the information guys!

 

[Rui]

I'd prefer Warcraft 4 over updates for WcIII, but it's better than nothing, of course =P

 

[CAAentertainment]

I would love an increase in limits. As na RPG map maker, keeping the MB size below 8MB is challenging work. Not to mention, there is a limit on the number of certain Doodads/Destructibles one can place on the map. I'll love this limit to be removed as to allow more vibrant environments. And also for the limit of Neutral Passive units on the map for Quest Givers.

I don't use the Newgen Editor, and such find limitations annoying but a challenge to work around.

 

[Linaze]

I'd prefer Warcraft 4 over updates for WcIII, but it's better than nothing, of course =P

Won't happen; not in a shape and form we want anyway.

 

[Kam]

Won't happen; not in a shape and form we want anyway.

And what might that be?

 

[IloveRoC]

Hey guys, Great news that Warcraft 3 is still being looked at!!

Kinda big fan here, played the game since 2002.

As you can tell from my name, I am mostly playing reign of chaos.


Reign of chaos still has small community that loves the game very much, I am not asking much, just few little things for the game overall.


Delay in Battle net is the biggest problem I see for the game right now.

This makes it really hard to play in battle net, when you have over 1 second delay.. So I am asking for it being '' removed ''

2nd is spam bots in battle net.

People use spambots to spam channels(clans) so that we have to make them /clan private, which makes hanging out with other people kinda hard...

3rd. Match making, if you manage to play ladder with this delay, once you have very good stats, you have to start losing on purpose to find other people, because if u have too good stats.. you just dont simply meet other people very easily.


4. Hackers, yes, I put hackers this low, because the skill hackers usually have isn't that good, they can still be beaten, but when you meet someone who has decent skill and uses maphack, its quite frustrating and hard to handle.. so please, take a look at that .

5. Finally, some balance changes in ROC aswell.

I know this will probably be.. like talking to a white wall.. not getting much back..

-Balance Changes-

But I try, because well.. I have hope

First, Night elf.

I wish, Demon hunters level 6 ability were to be changed a bit,

His current lasting time is 60 seconds, I hope this were to changed so it would be a bit shorter, like 40 seconds. Also you could make its cooldown a bit longer.

Remove some of his range ( Currently 500 range with chaos attack/splash damage)

Change manaburn from 50/100/150 to 50/75/100


Undead.

-Buff expanding.


Human

-Nerf tanks a bit ( reduce armor or hp )

-Nerf level 3 elementals.



Thanks guys, thats my imput for the game...

Hopefully someone listens..<3

 

[Kyrbi0]

Wow, I heard the rumour that real people had been involved but I never thought for a moment it was true. Good stuff!

Nope, sorry, only robot people are involved.

You guys.

Couldn't wish for any better community liaisons in my book!

I Know Right? They even put "new tavern hero" on the list, and high to boot!

 

[Avahor]

I'd prefer Warcraft 4 over updates for WcIII, but it's better than nothing, of course =P

Well, maybe Blizzard is trying a different strategy as they did with starcraft. All we know RTS genre popularity today isn't same as early 2000's. Deploying war4 on the table requires an entire new perspective of RTS. In war3 the premise of "classic" perspective is built from two obvious sides, first one is the NetEase effect on China where if you put a war4 game with new engine and new requirements maybe they might continue on war3 due its easy launch and play. (how many millions of chinese players are active? :S) and the second is the popularity of the mods done into. I'm sure they know more than us in professional means about the potentials of these aspects reached by war3. The DotA effect (I think) still is making noise into their ears. A third aspect would be the enchant of this game (the number of games that have been active along 14 years as war3 did would be very low, diablo 2?, Cs?, Snes rooms maybe XD?) I don't know but if they want to make alive warcraft franchise then this way is a very interesting manner thus it fits with the incoming movie too.

 

[Nii-San]

How about adding a re-connection in game if we disconnect from a current game because of Internet disconnection or other problems. I think DotA 2 currently has this feature integrated.

 

[Ralle]

Ralle knows what the plan is for this website's future for instance. We have some details but the exact plan is hidden.

Replace hidden with "to be determined as we go along". I think Blizzard feels the same way. Which is why they don't want to make exact promises.

 

[Linaze]

And what might that be?

I don't like too speculate all too much since obviously I can't know for sure what the future holds. However given the collapse of the AAA RTS market I have a hard time seeing a $60 retail, PC-exclusive Warcraft IV unless the market changes drastically in the near future.

 

[Leubast]

What if they went the "Savage: The Battle of Newerth" route for Warcraft IV? Have maybe 6 teams: Human, Night Elf, Draenei, Orc, Undead, Blood Elf. One player from each team is the "King/Queen, High Preist(ess), Prophet, Warcheif, Forsaken King/Queen, Lord/Lady" and (s)he's the one that builds buildings, researches upgrades and trains troops while the other 18 players (24 players sounds good, 4 per team - 1 as the commander) are the Heroes that can get items, level up, grow stronger.
A mix of Warcraft III and WoW.

 

[PurgeandFire]

@IloveRoC and Nii-San: Thanks for the input. Those are awesome suggestions. We're making a new forum called "Patch Discussion" where you'll be able to write up your suggestions, get feedback, and get it into the list. It'll be easier to discuss and easier to find!

 

[TKF]

What an intense feedback on this post its only 2 days old...


This future patch has big consequences!

If this patch comes it might get some people to never retire from WC3....


It will become the new mappers world of wc3.

 

[Holymind]

This patch did nothing! We still can't host maps larger than 8mb! Blizzard did a crap job!

 

[Rui]

However given the collapse of the AAA RTS market

I haven't kept up to date on this. What matter do you speak of exactly?

 

[PurgeandFire]

This patch did nothing! We still can't host maps larger than 8mb! Blizzard did a crap job!

The notes we made are for future patches. The current patch (1.27a) only made compatibility changes for Windows and Mac.

 

[Linaze]

I haven't kept up to date on this. What matter do you speak of exactly?

The fact of the matter is that nobody makes classic RTS games with a big budget anymore. And the few titles that actually are released are usually smaller titles that receive a lukewarm reception (such as Grey Goo).

 

[titans_zealot]

Yay!

 

[Holymind]

The notes we made are for future patches. The current patch (1.27a) only made compatibility changes for Windows and Mac.

Well, hopefully they're gonna remove the limit asap, since the warcraft 3 player base are reducing day by day. We can't host amazing 60mb maps. We're stuck with crap 8mb maps....

 

[Kam]

The fact of the matter is that nobody makes classic RTS games with a big budget anymore. And the few titles that actually are released are usually smaller titles that receive a lukewarm reception (such as Grey Goo).

Grey Goo is quite fun as well, the Goo race is unique.

The market doesn't have the patience for the RTS genre like they did in 2000. The MOBA is king currently due to the ease of entry.

Well, hopefully they're gonna remove the limit asap, since the warcraft 3 player base are reducing day by day. We can't host amazing 60mb maps. We're stuck with crap 8mb maps....

I would not worry about population.

 

[Meatmuffin]

With the new size limit coming along I think they should add a feature in-game, sort of like the advanced statistics, just how it was edited. Example:
The map's exact size;
How many imported files and how much are they in size when summed up;
How many triggers it has;
How many custom units, abilities, buffs etc.

I feel like this is going to help people differentiate between a trash map and a map thats full of effort, especially when in Battle.net it automatically downloads the map for you, a person might want to know information about the map first.

Also, not the place to say this, but with Hive 2 coming along, the big names could also add this option when reviewing maps. I say this because there's gonna be a flood of oversized maps not only in battle.net, but also in online forums/databases. Potentially, they could hire more map moderators/reviewers.

 

[WerBackIII]

Grey Goo is quite fun as well, the Goo race is unique.

The market doesn't have the patience for the RTS genre like they did in 2000. The MOBA is king currently due to the ease of entry.

Well, I do not think ease of entry is the only issue. People who enjoy more planning-oriented, complex games have shifted to TBS games and simulators, with the prime examples being the Civilization series, which is as strong as ever, and Cities: Skylines. Notably, Cities reinvented the whole city planning genre, and Civilization keeps pushing the boundaries of the TBS genre by simultaneously making the game more accessible and more complex.


Meanwhile, at the RTS front, the only major development over the last 10 years has been the MOBA. People who play MOBAs are the same people who would have enjoyed playing multiplayer RTS games 10 years ago. However, the MOBA is indeed more accessible on the multiplayer front; more quick to play, and even easy to follow in regards to E-sports.


Still, I do think we are about to see surprising reemergence of good RTS titles in the next 5 years. The MOBA market is getting quickly oversaturated, with 4 major games already out (DOTA 2, Heroes of Newerth, League of Legends, and, of course, Heroes of the Storm). If another studio wants to join in on the fun, they will have extremely hard time drawing away the player base of any of those four titles. In order to do so, they will have to offer something different, and I do think this "different" thing will be something more akin to the RTS games of the past.

 

[Holymind]

Grey Goo is quite fun as well, the Goo race is unique.

The market doesn't have the patience for the RTS genre like they did in 2000. The MOBA is king currently due to the ease of entry.



I would not worry about population.

But you should worry about the quality of maps that can be hosted.

 

[Linaze]

Grey Goo is quite fun as well, the Goo race is unique.

The market doesn't have the patience for the RTS genre like they did in 2000. The MOBA is king currently due to the ease of entry.

Grey Goo is indeed a fun little game. But it's no Warcraft 3 in terms of scope and ambition. Nor is it a Wacraft 3 in terms of reception and community.

And you're quite right, MOBAs have probably absorbed a large part of the former RTS base. Furthermore, most of the big RTS developers are gone, including both Westwood and Ensemble. Heck, even Blizzard has lost Rob Pardo.

 

[Zwiebelchen]

Grey Goo is indeed a fun little game. But it's no Warcraft 3 in terms of scope and ambition. Nor is it a Wacraft 3 in terms of reception and community.

And you're quite right, MOBAs have probably absorbed a large part of the former RTS base. Furthermore, most of the big RTS developers are gone, including both Westwood and Ensemble. Heck, even Blizzard has lost Rob Pardo.

The RTS genre will probably experience the same revival as the oldschool point & click adventure genre does today.

P&C adventures were called dead not too long ago, but now with certain reboots and large franchises being successful, it's stronger than ever.


I expect the same to happen with RTSes eventually; all it takes is some innovation to make the genre more accessable to the masses (the very same reason why adventures got so popular lately). Also, I still wait for the first MMORTS.

 

[Shar Dundred]

The RTS genre will probably experience the same revival as the oldschool point & click adventure genre does today.

While I personally doubt that since RTS games, unlike point'n'click adventures, take you quite a while to accomplish something and the new player generation appears to be not "patient" enough anymore, I wouldn't mind that to happpen. Missing good RTS games.

 

[RED BARON]

The market doesn't have the patience for the RTS genre like they did in 2000.

Hmm I would personally consider that wrong. It may feel like it, but keep in mind the huge amount of RTS and RTS like games currently on the market, all with players. I believe they might have just been spread out more.

 

[Kam]

Hmm I would personally consider that wrong. It may feel like it, but keep in mind the huge amount of RTS and RTS like games currently on the market, all with players. I believe they might have just been spread out more.

I'll re-phrase. In 2000 a PC gamer probably played a RTS of some kind on a weekly basis. In 2016 it's a MOBA. The trend is for games that are entertaining for people not playing. Yes Wc3 casting is a thing and people watch it, but not even at it's peak did the Wc3 prize pools come near Dota 2's prize pool. To put this in perspective Wc3's lifetime prize pool (2002-2016) is $4,057,070.34, and Dota 2's last year is $18,429,613.00. Videogames have now become a spectator sport, and like any sport if you can't keep people glued to the screen you're not making money.

 

[Zwiebelchen]

I'm not saying that the RTS genre as we have it today will see a revive, but rather a modernized RTS genre. In a way, that already started with all the casual strategy browser games out there.

The revive of the adventure game genre also came with lots of modernization.

 

[Trakya]

Question here. Where blizzard puts news for WarCraft III? If it wasn't for hive I might not even heard for patch 1.27

 

[Kam]

Question here. Where blizzard puts news for WarCraft III? If it wasn't for hive I might not even heard for patch 1.27

http://us.battle.net/en/forum/12790218/

 

[Radicool]

I'd prefer Warcraft 4 over updates for WcIII, but it's better than nothing, of course =P

Won't happen; not in a shape and form we want anyway.

Hmmm...I don't see Warcraft 3 updates making a major impact on player base or bringing in as much change as we all hope it would. Warcraft 4? Hmm...I'm not against the idea, but it would take forever to come out and I'm a little worried if it follows too many Starcraft 2 design principles.

So why not release another Warcraft 3 expansion? It would be significantly cheaper than a new game and quicker to release, but the revenue could justify greater changes than patches alone. I'd imagine the advertising of a new expansion would really send a louder message to bring back old players, and bring in fresh new ones!

Something else worth noting. Isn't there a team working on creating HD Warcraft 3 models to the Starcraft 2 game? A new expansion would really compete if it's models were updated to more recent standards. Guess what? All the work is pretty much done for them! Blizzard could try to buy the rights to these models, saving a year or two on doing that work themselves. They could focus on more editor functionality, bug fixing, etc. There could be an option in the menu to switch between "old" and "new" graphics, just like the remastered Halo games on Xbox have done.

An expansion sounds exciting! Let me know what you guys think!

 

[Spellbound]

Warcraft 4? Hmm...I'm not against the idea, but it would take forever to come out and I'm a little worried if it follows too many Starcraft 2 design principles.

Cannot agree more. Starcraft 2 was in not way a bad game, but it certainly didn't live up to the legend of what Warcraft 3 became.

So why not release another Warcraft 3 expansion? It would be significantly cheaper than a new game and quicker to release, but the revenue could justify greater changes than patches alone. I'd imagine the advertising of a new expansion would really send a louder message to bring back old players, and bring in fresh new ones!

Something else worth noting. Isn't there a team working on creating HD Warcraft 3 models to the Starcraft 2 game? A new expansion would really compete if it's models were updated to more recent standards. Guess what? All the work is pretty much done for them! Blizzard could try to buy the rights to these models, saving a year or two on doing that work themselves. They could focus on more editor functionality, bug fixing, etc. There could be an option in the menu to switch between "old" and "new" graphics, just like the remastered Halo games on Xbox have done.

An expansion sounds exciting! Let me know what you guys think!

I'm glad someone else said this because Blizzard teaming up with the makers of Warcraft III Reborn to make an official HD Warcraft 3 with a new expansion sounds really cool. I for one would love that to be the case.

 

[Leubast]

If they do a Warcraft IV or a second War3 expansion, what the story be?

1. Ignore WoW and make a new story after TFT.
2. Follow WoW's story and do the Burning Legion's invasion and Arthas' death.
3. Take place after WoW: Legion and the war on Gul'dan and the alternate timeline Legion.

 

[Spellbound]

Most likely going to be after WoW's story, but here's another (unlikely) possibility:
4. Pre-quel. Tell the story of the Highborne when Sargeras was fucking shit up via Azshara.

 

[GhostThruster]

i keep mentioning this...

i really think a wc4 would be a bad idea. they've run out of space to explore new narrative themes. i can't see a possible wc4 story that isn't just a retread of wc3's (disparate good guys unite to defeat ultimate bad guys) or completely untrue to the nature of the warcraft universe.

i'd want either a spin-off rts set in the warcraft universe (e.g. a prequel) or even better, a spiritual successor to wc3. give us the same awesome melee gameplay and hero system, better modding capabilities, and a new and exciting story with different themes/characters and an entirely foreign setting e.g. a cyberpunk RTS with wc3 gameplay. much better than milking the warcraft franchise.

 

[Spellbound]

i keep mentioning this...

i really think a wc4 would be a bad idea. they've run out of space to explore new narrative themes. i can't see a possible wc4 story that isn't just a retread of wc3's (disparate good guys unite to defeat ultimate bad guys) or completely untrue to the nature of the warcraft universe.

Well Sc2 had a shiteous story, didn't stop Blizzard from making the game. That being said, I can't help but love a good epic story

i'd want either a spin-off rts set in the warcraft universe (e.g. a prequel) or even better, a spiritual successor to wc3. give us the same awesome melee gameplay and hero system, better modding capabilities, and a new and exciting story with different themes/characters and an entirely foreign setting e.g. a cyberpunk RTS with wc3 gameplay. much better than milking the warcraft franchise.

Agreed, sounds like the better idea. Like what Blizzard is doing with the nova missions in sc2. Spin-offs.

 

[WaterKnight]

We're stuck with crap 8mb maps....

May I remind you that there was a time before 8mb, when we had half of it? And still most iconic maps were created in that era.

With the new size limit coming along I think they should add a feature in-game, sort of like the advanced statistics, just how it was edited. Example:
The map's exact size;
How many imported files and how much are they in size when summed up;
How many triggers it has;
How many custom units, abilities, buffs etc.

Trigger pages are a GUI concept, the number and kind of defined objects can vary. For example with a BonusMod system, you can quite easily add some thousand variants. There may be ways to circumvent these statistics but I think it's a good idea anyway. However, for preview, Battle.Net of course does not download the complete map, so they would have to change header/w3i/some file formats to collect the necessary information therein.

The RTS genre will probably experience the same revival as the oldschool point & click adventure genre does today.

Does it? I thought it was mostly a german thing and primarily due to Daedalic in the last few years.

 

[Mgeterno11]

I am really delighted that they are still taking care of this cool game. Also, it is now more compatible with new operating systems. The statue also looks cool.