World of Warcraft creator tells game journalists to stop blaming gamers after Blizzard's fiasco

Mark Kern has told game journalists to stop blaming gamers for Blizzard's fiasco.

[CyberSentinel]

Word.

[-Foxtrot]

Yeah man. What a hero.

Look at what most of them said...verified twitter users aswell 🙄

https://i.imgur.com/CF4GBYG...

[VenomUK]

This whole fiasco demonstrates that there is a huge disconnect between websites like IGN, Kotaku, Kinda Funny Games etc and their reporters and gamers.

The Diablo fans were expecting a mainline Diablo game and were shown a mobile game that is likely built on micro transactions. They were unhappy do whilst at the BlizzCon event they booed, which is a way to express their unhappiness. Sure you can say that was immature but they didn’t swear, shout or threaten the developers. For this they were called toxic.

These websites and their reporters have seemingly got too close to their industry friends and they don’t realise it. This is why gamers trust them less.

[moomoo319]

@VenomUK
Very true man kinda funny used to be my go to but greg miller has become a complete shill

[UltraNova]

Venom, If you wanna be kept in the industry loop you should be ready to bend...ahem a knee when they ask you to.

[Christopher]

How many wrote articles about the company acting just as much of edgelords when a person asked if the game would ever make its way to PC they said "Everyone has phones, right?" But, no, let's focus on this one person who definitely paid to go to the event and asked a lame question, but still showed is displeasure at paying to go to an event that had Diablo announcement and it ended up being on a platform that Diablo is not known for or is even a console/PC.

None of these journalists would ask the hard-hitting question of: "Knowing that almost every Diablo fan at BlizzCon has played the game on consoles or PC, do you think it was a bit tone deaf to only show or announce a mobile game that is a reskinned version of a game out of China and not have anything to announce for your current fanbase of console and PC gamers?"

[AngelicToucH]

Those are not journalists. They are just random dudes and girls trying to be against the wave and gain some fame.

[darthv72]

So this is just a spin off game right? What's all the hub bub about? This mobile game doesnt mean a diablo 4 will never come out so the reaction doesnt really make sense. Especially when other companies have released mobile spin off games as a side project to a mainline game.

It's nothing new so why all the commotion?

[rainslacker]

there are very few people in the gaming press who will reliably, and consistently do their jobs like a journalist.

I know many of the people we really dislike in the gaming press are capable of doing it. Many of them did this during the reveal of the X1, and the subsequent E3, where they did hound MS, and asked the hard questions. They even did it in a responsible way. It wasn't hit based, but based on what people were wanting to know. They asked the hard questions of MS, and reported the answer, and left editorial to other articles beside the actual interview or article about a press release/twitter comment/stupid comment/whatever.

I recall having a rather hostile exchange with Kotaku's Editor in Chief right here in an N4G blog post about how they were being extremely unbalanced in the whole representation of women argument and their very vitriolic views of the gaming community, only to be quite impressed with his, and his staffs work during that whole DRM, Always online, forced Kinect which MS said would spy on you fiasco. It was about the only time in God knows how long I recall there being a massive solidarity between the gaming press and the community at large.

It quickly went back to normal after MS did their 180's though, and the press isn't being quite as good as they were during that time, and if anything, seem more prone to towing company lines which will allow MS to get what it wanted in the first place.

In retrospect they probably did their job well, and didn't make it as hit based as we see now, because the topic itself was inciteful enough with the facts, that they didn't need to twist things around. But a small part of me hopes it was because they actually had the consumers interest in mind as well. I just wish they'd approach more of the topics we see every day with the consumer in mind, and stop blaming the consumer for voicing their opinions for things they don't like.

The day the gaming press realizes that it's supposed to be more a service for their readers...the consumer...and not primarily a service for their own vanity to feel like part of the industry, is the day that they can maybe start to get better. The gaming industry isn't going to shun the press across the board if the press has more interest in reporting the facts, or asking the hard questions. The industry needs the gaming press for it's marketing. The consumer doesn't need the gaming press anymore. So, when the gaming press decides to call out its readers(their consumers) as entitled or in the wrong, they're only saying that they have no interest in being there for us, but rather, there for themselves, and the industry they serve.

[Rachel_Alucard]

@Darth

Yeah and while Bethesda announced Fallout shelter alongside 4 when that conference happened. Where was the Diablo 4 announcement? Oh yeah, nowhere. They wasted a ton of time and shot themselves by dedicating a segment to a game nobody wanted or asked for except shareholders, showed no Diablo game announcements outside of that, and the people asking questions were desperate to find some way to enjoy it only to get shut down by "NO U BUY PHONE!" They could've at least announced something their fans could actually enjoy like Diablo 2 Remake but nope.

[UltraNova]

Rain,

The whole xb1 reveal press uproar you so eloquently reminded us of was nothing more than a mob mentality incident. The despicable things planned by MS were so anti-consumer and blatantly aggressive that the press had no otjer choice but to criticize MS. They were shielded (mob mentality) from future... "implications" with MS simply because the harsh criticism was universal and simultaneous. What I'm saying is that press ( big press outlets especially) didn't miraculously develop a backbone and concsious that day.

[rainslacker]

@Ultra

That may very well be the case, and I even said that may be the case by saying that the topic itself was inciteful enough to not have to spin it around.

But despite that, many sites did actually do their jobs as journalist, and held MS accountable. They asked the hard questions and made their stories on behalf of their readers, and not on behalf of the industry, or themselves.

I wouldn't say its kept them from reproach going forward, because it also didn't take long for the community to think they were as worthless as they always were.

[PapaBop]

Mark Kern, the hero Blizzard fans deserve.

[Wrex369]

What once was may never be again, and it is all the worse for having been so. The Creator we need right now.

[Relientk77]

Thank you Mark Kern

[Shikoku]

Nice to see someone who gets it.

[rainslacker]

It is a nice change of pace to have someone from the industry say something like this. As a consumer of games, I'm kind of tired of being made into the villain. I never actually feel that way, but I don't appreciate those I may with to buy a game from, treating me as I'm not worth listening to.

I've worked in plenty of customer focused fields in my jobs, even those without general consumers, and I would never disregard a customers concerns with such blatant disrespect towards their opinions or concerns. I would always do my best to explain why things may be the way they were, or endevour to fix their concern. I'd always thank them for letting me know how they feel, and make it apparent I appreciated the opportunity to grow a product or service based on their feedback....even if there couldn't be an immediate remedy. There were times when I'd have to be firm with a customer and tell them they were being unreasonable, but it was very rare, and usually when they were trying to force me to do something I just couldn't do, or come to a remedy that was well beyond the scope of the problem.

When I was in college, and even when I went back to college later in life, I managed a pizza place within a national chain. It's sad that my minimum wage employees who were usually in high school or working a job while in college, could understand the concept of appreciating the customer and not piss them off across the board by following the above principals, and then you have these team leads making six figures, or even some publisher execs making half a million or more a year, who can't even practice this simple concept.

What's more, there are a number of companies which have policies for how to handle concerns, and through these companies, I learned the value, and reason of taking this approach, and why its important to see it from this point of view of customer first. You don't even have to admit the customer is always right...just make the customer feel they are right....even if they aren't.

It's not to say that behind closed doors we wouldn't talk crap about some of the people we had to contend with. but we didn't do it to their faces, and certainly not publicly, and even then we never made such broad sweeping generalizations about the entire customer base.

These companies don't have to bow to the whim of whatever it may seem that the vocal community may want at any given moment. That would be unreasonable, and impractical. But they should at least show some respect.

Blizzard made a mistake in announcing a Diablo mobile game at the venue. But the bigger mistake was not respecting their customers, and how they reacted or talked about them after that happened.

Long post short.....

Mistakes aren't usually the biggest problem a company faces. It's how they handle those mistakes which defines who and what they are, and how people feel about them. A company that can adequately remedy a mistake, can make a customer for life. Handling a mistake properly can be a more powerful asset to ones company than just maintaining customer good will.

[Shikoku]

Its just nice to see a industry person take game journos to task and put a large pub and dev on blast. Im tired frankly of companies who think stock holders are the only people who can vote or count when it comes to products they are selling. It feels honestly like they think we are literal sheep and completely stupid.

[CrimsonWing69]

Well yea, gamers are the consumers that Blizzard is making a product for. It’s not the other way around so I think it’s the duty of a consumer to express dismay for a product they don’t like or even wanted, which hey that’s what we’re doing.

All this really is, is a corporation trying to get a piece of a lucrative market and trying to wrap that product up in a nice little package to fool hardcore brand loyalists into thinking this is something they want. Only these kinds of marketing tactics don’t really work in this day and age especially now that people are way more vocal with their opinions.

[rainslacker]

In this case, it's a matter of Blizzard not recognizing their audience for the announcement, and seemingly oblivious to why people are upset. I don't think a mobile game announcement on its own would cause so much disdain....although I've always contended that Blizzard fans get pretty uppity at the smallest perceived slight.

But in this case, I feel that their venue for announcing such a game was greatly miscalculated, and shows a rather marked ignorance to the nature of the gaming community to only care about what it wants.

What makes it mistake is the venue isn't just some random event that people may be attending, but a paid event for the most die-hard of Blizzard fans. Those fans are primarily PC, and some console, gamers. There likely weren't a number of die-hard HearthStone players there, who don't play other Blizzard games.

What made it worse, is how they reacted to the backlash. It showed even more they either didn't care to understand the problem, or they just couldn't understand the problem.

In the former of not wanting to care, it's bad, because they think that they can disregard their rather devout...if not vocal...fan base, and still make a lot of money. It's saying to those customers that they aren't as important because there is money to be made, and they can likely make a lot of it off the backs of people who don't care, or don't know.

In the latter of them not being capable of understanding(which I doubt is the case), it indicates that they have gone from a company which has generally been very good at providing the customer with what they want, and being very pro-customer focused, to being just another corporate publisher run company that seeks to maximize investment at the cost of their user base.

They handled it poorly all around, and in no way should the consumer be blamed for their reaction or feelings about how it all transpired, or how they were treated afterwards.

I don't care about this game. I don't really care about Blizzard much, and not a fan of Diablo. But I understand how these fans feel, because at some point in time, I think we've all had a time where we've felt the same way.

[AllMightyFox]

doesn't this whole event point to the FACT that "journalists" aren't writing for the consumer or the gamer but rather the industries interest ?!?

SMASHED !!!

[rainslacker]

Haven't we been aware of this for quite some time?:)

[AK91]

Mark Kern you are my hero

[AnubisG]

Always respect your customers, always! They are the ones who buy your products and im turn, put food on your table. They are the ones who made Diablo into what it is today and Blizzard took a huge dump on their heads at Blizzcon.

[rainslacker]

yep. There are times where it may be appropriate to cut a customer loose. Those are the ones who are losing you money, or doing something that is detrimental to your business.

But you don't cut your entire customer base loose unless you are just planning on going in a different direction. These are the fans that will end up buying the next Diablo games they are rumored to be working on, and while they'll probably still buy it in droves, you don't disrespect them just because you know they'll keep coming back. Do that enough times, and eventually attrition will take its toll, and then you have the publishers sitting there thinking that people don't care about the series anymore, instead of seeing that people just don't care about the publisher or developer anymore. It's happening to EA right now, and while they're in no danger of going out of business, some of their games which should be doing great, are not selling to expectations.

Any job I had in my lifetime, if I was so blatently disrespectful towards my customers, I would have been let go that same day.

[Silly gameAr]

Journalist are actually the biggest sheep of all.

[william_cade]

The reporters of sites like Kotaku and IGN are not journalists. They are extensions of various marketing teams and political parties. I would pay them no mind. It's not the gamers fault, gamers are the ones that pay their bills and have every right to be upset and be vocal.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Extensions of marketing teams and political parties lol oh God

[Cobra951]

Well, he's certainly right about Kotaku. IGN, maybe not.

[rainslacker]

They are. Not officially sanctioned, but they certainly do behave that way. The industry uses the gaming press, and the gaming press is happy to be used. They also are happy to serve their own interest by disregarding the readers who are the consumers of their content.

What's sad is that they do this willingly, while being completely oblivious to just how ineffectual they actually are.

[MWH]

passion and corporate are two parallel lines, the two cannot coincide.

[raWfodog]

I'm not into Diablo at all but I came to say I'd also prefer a console (or PC) iteration over mobile. Not to say I don't game on mobile at all but I love having my games on a big display with tactile buttons to press. I'm just old-fashioned that way :) I think the fans disappointment was warranted but they could have been more respectful to the devs during that Q&A.

[Xaevi]

I feel like most are quick to forget, this sort of thing happens all the time. with sites like Facebook, and Twitter that let us connect directly with studios, and specific devs, I ask what's the point of sites like IGN and Kotaku? more often than not they attack their readers, and push agendas,that image Foxtrot shows on his comment the very first tweet says "toxic masculinity" smh. I much rather get my info directly from a Dev than visit these sites tbh

[Bleucrunch]

I think Blizzard intentionally misled its customers and they are pissed about it. Wouldn't you if you went to an event under false pretenses? Mobile games are fine, they have their market which is mainly casual. For Blizzard to push out a new Diablo game knowing it was mobile and knowing its fanbase/customers have played Diablo on PC/Console, what were they really expecting?

A game like a Diablo on a mobile platform will be hard to sell, who the heck makes decisions over there? The sheer massiveness of Diablo's world, to try to condense it to mobile would be a disservice to this franchise. Even if you are going to do it, you don't plan a big ass conference to showcase a mobile game??? LMAO WTF!!!!

[Casepb]

It's sad how easily people like these "game journalist" turn every little thing into "misogyny".... Not a single person had to even mention anything at all about a female.

[tanukiesuit]

Kind sad the first thing that any “journalist” has to mention, with regards to gamers, is “toxic masculinity”, “misogyny”, etc. when they don’t agree with us. I thought gamers included females - and guess what? I’m sure there were a few females that hated the announcement. Or, do “journalists” suddenly downplay that, too?

[McMahonme7]

I mean I get that people shouldn't be dicks to the presenters and what not, but what do you expect when you set yourself up for it? It makes sense if this is where the Diablo 4 announcement was supposed to be, but wtf did Blizzard expect as a reaction if they put a FUCKING MOBILE GAME in its place.

[bigmalky]

If anyone is toxic in the gaming industry, it's the majority of journos.

Anything to start a fight for clicks.

[opc]

Are they not releasing Diablo 4 at all?

[sampsonon]

Someone is kissing A

[Atomicjuicer]

It’s easy. We have the money, we have the power.

GetwokeGobroke

I’ve started to pay and click only gamer media that respects their audience. Stick to that and ignore the rest.