I had a fairly scathing post written criticizing a lot of the over-the-top drama that the RealID forum issue has generated among a lot of my fellow bloggers. I deleted it in order to let the issue fizzle out, rather than contributing to the flames.
This was a bad P.R. decision by a big company. Nothing more. It wasn’t a betrayal or a slap in the face or a reason to start a million-Orc march on Blizzard headquarters.
And its gone. We can now resume our previous gaming experience.
/agreed
Yep.
Man I was just about to dust off an old Orc for the march too. Nuts.
I’m afraid I have to disagree. It was more than a bad PR decision – it was something which potentially affected many of their player base. I don’t think they would have revoked the decision if it wasn’t for the virtual march on Blizzard headquarters – I think a topic running to 2495 pages constitutes the closest thing to a march the somewhat geographically spread players of the game can muster.
Sure, at the end of the day Blizzard is a company. But they are a company who largely are so successful because they foster a fan base in a way no other gaming company has. Blizzard can almost guarantee sales of most anything, not because of the game, but because of the Blizzard logo on the box. But every customer who has been a fan of Blizz since the days of Rock and Roll Racing has the right to feel ‘betrayed’. Blizzard would NOT be the success it is without these die hard fans. A company that stops caring about the interests of its consumers is not worth supporting, and that was the message Blizz were sent.
Sure, it’s gone now. And we can all be happy and play again. But I know there are many who feel a bit concerned, knowing that Blizzard are willing to sell out the interests of the consumer for the possibility of slightly higher profits.
I disagree.
First, I don’t see how anyone can feel betrayed. THEY LISTENED AND FIXED THE PROBLEM! If anything, this is an affirmation that they are paying attention. You should be gleeful and happy. All the “betrayal” talk after the fact is just to follow up on the outrageous overreactions that flew around when the news first broke, IMO.
In Business 101, you learn that the #1 priority of ANY company is profits. Its probably priorities #2-5 also. The reason that a company puts profits before all else is because they have investors/shareholders that expect returns on their investments. If the company is not pushing to increase revenue, then investors are not being given value for their investment and the value of the company drops.
Blizzard has provided value by creating good products, NOT by pandering to the will of the masses. Their product is so good (compared to the competitors in the MMO market) that it is easy to fool yourself into thinking that they are doing everything for the enjoyment of the fan base. That’s just not the way a successful business works.
In the same way as New Coke was reverted to Classic Coke, Blizzard reversed a bad decision. I didn’t feel betrayed when Coke changed its formula, but I was relieved when they fixed it.