I wanted to take a moment to let the community know that I?ve switched roles here at Blizzard to work on our upcoming, unannounced MMO. World of Warcraft has been such a central part of my life these past six and a half years, and it?s success would not have been possible without the tremendous community around it, so I wanted to say thank you to all our players who?ve shared this amazing experience with us so far. Also, while I have served as the spokesperson and Game Director for World of Warcraft on Wrath of the Lich King, by no means would WoW be where it is today without the dedicated team that we have in place. The WoW development team is comprised of some of the most talented and experienced game developers in the world, and it was an absolute honor to serve amongst them, and they will continue to make WoW better than ever. I still plan to be very involved with the future course of World of Warcraft, but will leave the day to day operations of World of Warcraft to my partners in crime, Tom Chilton and J. Allen Brack.
When all is said and done, WoW is still my favorite game. I play it every day. None of that passion is gone. If anything, it fuels the challenge of making our next MMO even better. We know we have some big shoes to fill. So thank you to everyone who has been so supportive over the years, and likewise, thanks to those who have given us pointed feedback on all areas of the game. Without all of the feedback and participation, WoW would not be the game that it has grown to be. Azeroth truly belongs to you and we?re lucky to have shared in your journey. And as always, I?ll still be lurking on the forums and in the game.
Mostly, I just wanted to say thanks. It has been an absolute honor.
Jeffrey Kaplan
So is anybody else wondering if Blizzard's next MMO will be based on the Diablo series?
That's what I think as well. More logical on Blizzard's part.
But I dunno about a whole new franchise.... I guess its possible, but Blizzard likes to perfect and build on things they already have.
If it is a new franchise, I hope its some sort of apocalyptic modern day setting. I'm not sure why... its just what I feel like.
It will not be WoW 2. I assure you.
I am confident it will be a FPS Styled MMO set in a brand new universe.
Blizzard is not likely to start a brand new franchise with an MMO. To make an MMO game you need to have an amount of lore to build the world upon. That is the reason why every single MMO out there has failed (except WH Online which is just a crappy game overall and lacks the competitive factor).
Starcraft: My money is on this one, as well as my hopes. Whether it is going to be an MMORTS or an MMORPG... who knows. MMO means Massively Multiplayer Online - it doesn't have to be a WoW clone. It can be any genre that allows for massive player interraction.
WoW 2: If the thought of them making a sequel to WoW has occurred to you then you are a retard void of analytical thinking. WoW 2.0 is called WoW: The burning Crusade. WoTLK is already WoW 3.0. They pretty much went through all the lore and there is very little to expand upon. What do you expect them to do? Make a remake of everything with better graphics? Firstly, a remake would be retarded because it would demand resources and time and bring absolutely nothing new, expect making players have to reroll their characters. Secondly, nobody gives a shit about the graphics in WoW. It's all about the lore, and they would either have to flush everything they've done so far (lulz) or make a remake of everything they have already done to perfection so far. Which makes more sense to you? If you have an answer to that, please check in with a psychiatrist.
Diablo: This is very unlikely. They know that the hardcore Diablo fanbase mostly consists of poor people who will boycott any game that comes with a monthly fee. On the other hand, I can't help but dream about it. The one thing that would make the Diablo MMO different from any other MMO is that it could keep the arcade factor. It may have been the first and only successful MMO Hack and Slash game. A huge world, massive player interaction, complex dungeons, complex RPG elements. *drool* So the porblem is that it would either be aimed towards the casual player (say, a Diablo 2 player), who doesn't enjoy competitive MMO's in general and refuses to pay monthly fees for a game that he enjoys to play solo anyway, or it would be aimed towards hardcore players. The most hardcore players are already spending their hours in WoW and it is enough to quench their appetites. I don't see them switching to another MMORPG. Nothing can really replace WoW unless it's better than WoW, and after 4 years of active development, any new game that shows up will not stand a friggin chance. That goes for this new MMO, whatever it is, no matter the fact that Blizzard is making it - it will take years before it can establish itself and become a competition to WoW.
EDIT: Oh I forgot that the thread is actually about Jeff Kaplan! Imagine if he was to design boss fights in a would-be Diablo MMO! It's like a wet dream come true. Alas as I said, it's not likely at all.
I just hope that new mmo won't be a complete wow clone with different models.
By the way where is the source of that quote ?
Itll be something completely new, it will also come out at least 2 WOW expansions from now. And probably wont even be announced until after diablo 3 comes out. This game that they're taking about is 2012 at the earliest.
By who, and when ?
Uhhh... I'm slightly lost. My thoughts are that it won't be Starcraft, and it won't be Diablo, simply because blizzard doesn't work that way. No, it has a higher chance of being related to Wow, unless pixartist is correct, in which case no one of us should know what it will be. Originally I had the same thought as pix, but I never heard anyone say it for sure.