oh Jim, you silly terran you...

I had something to say about Blizzard trailers being epic *quality ...but now I can't remember what is was.......

Boosting this quality contribution up in the Hot Listing - declared quality by Lendl.

Hearth Stone is just so so, but I'm looking forward to this. From what I've seen and heard, it sounds to be a very casual MOBA experience... more Smashmuck Champions than DOTA 2/LoL. Purge, one of the bigger names in DOTA 2 posted a video of his impressions (enjoyed it, but doesn't see it being a competitive game since there is no last hitting and no items): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ip3I-7H6CQ

*actionpack *animation

Meh to this game.

Adding video to channels (Actionpack, Animation) - requested by ant.

If nothing else, blizzard knows how to make something epic.

http://videosift.com/video/Blizzard-knows-their-epic

Or, more epic.

I *almost* thought this was a bad April Fools joke.

Looks like too little, way too late.

It's funny how bored people are by a Blizzard game. Then Valve basically puts out a Blizzard game re-hashed (technically it wasn't a Blizzard game but it was based off their engine & feel) and it becomes one of the best games of the year. Go figure.

But, maybe I am being too optimistic for old Blizz? tThey really still haven't proven themselves after the launch of Diablo 3 - what have they done? Released two really good expansion packs and put out a Magic the Gathering game. All of which are really good. I honestly think Diablo 3 was a fluke - I'm not sure how they let that beast out. Probably because they got so sick and tired of re-making it to be any good.

They do still release awesome games - I think it comes down to they have done nothing mindblowing. I had a conversation with a co-worker not too long ago about how Valve is release a fucking OS and what has Blizzard done comparatively with it's trillions of dollars? I think that is what pisses people off.

@shagen454:
Blizzard has never been a creative force; their strength was in polish. They were great at taking existing concepts and designs and showing everyone how it should be done (see: Warcraft/Starcraft, WOW).

Unfortunately, game design is incredibly stagnant right now and Blizzard has nothing new to emulate. 1996 was the last time they launched a unique property (Diablo). They've been mostly remaking their own games since then:
* Warcraft sequels/spinoffs
* Diablo sequels/expansions
* Starcraft (Warcraft meets Warhammer 40k)
* Starcraft sequels/expansions/spinoffs
* WOW (a spinoff but a major one)
* WOW spinoffs/expansions

Then they lost a lot of the talent that made them good at the one thing they were good at (see: ArenaNet), so they're stuck milking the addicts at this point.

I can agree with some of that.

You are correct that they reuse elements from other games and bring them together and polish them. Is that not creative for some reason? It's like saying that Sonic Youth was not creative since they used concepts from No-Wave, Glenn Branca and labelmates on SST, polished it and made something of it.

One thing that has always pissed me off about people trying to piss on Blizzard is they never even consider the ambient sound, the music and the environmental sound. I've spoken to people about it and it flies over their heads - "I listen to Rammstein when I play WoW"... There were parts in Wrath of the Liche King that sounded nearly straight off "On Land" but done in their own fantastic way in a fantastic world.

Not to mention the art direction and style in all of their games is very satisfying, weirdly psychedelic art. They blend all of the elements far better than most companies but actually make games out of them, grindy games but still games with many details and many elements. I definitely wouldn't say they are not creative. And as much as I liked Guild Wars 2 initially after a couple of months it was forgotten about completely,

Speaking of ex-Blizzard employees I liked the Torchlight series, both 1&2 were far better than D3 in art direction and gameplay but still became boring fairly quick.

When I say they're not a creative force, the emphasis is on force. Yes they have great music and sound and they're quite clever, but they're not defining new genres or breathing new life into them.

Their art and character design tends to be one of two things (or a little of both):
1. Family-friendly Games Workshop
2. Americanized anime

Now, I'm not trying to shit on Blizzard; I was a huge fan for a while (mostly in Starcraft's heyday); but I recognize why I barely give a shit about what they're doing anymore and that's what I'm enumerating here.

Yeah,

I hear ya and agree with ya, though I still think Blizzard is one of the best "forces" out there.

I think they are limited and I like I have said elsewhere even I have been aggravated by the fact that they haven't completely blown my mind by now because I think they really could if they wanted to or maybe they can't and that is exactly what you're saying. They certainly have enough money to pay someone to do it for them if that is what it takes!

Jumping of Shark; Detected

I'm not sure about the music... I guess they're trying to set a more playful, non-fantasy tone?