PC Gamer Interview With Holly Longdale - What Blizzard Should Have Done Differently
PC Gamer interviewed Holly Longdale, Vice President for WoW, about what Blizzard should have done differently, reflecting on the last 20 years of World of Warcraft. Her answer: «We should have listened more.»
Holly Longdale Interview with PC Gamer
We highly recommend reading the full article for additional context, but we've summarized the interview below for easy reference.
Interview Highlights
Holly only recently joined the WoW team in 2020, but offered insights as both a long-time player and recent leader. Her tenure at the company has been marked with significantly more transparency and in-game content.
When asked about the one thing she might change about WoW's history, she said, «I think we should have listened more to the player base.»
Navigating feedback while keeping the game intact is a difficult balance for developers. That balance had been disrupted with the release of Shadowlands as indicated not only by feedback but by subscriber numbers.
Throughout Dragonflight and its development, Blizzard has recommitted to listening to player feedback and WoW has turned around as a direct result.
Game development over the last 20 years has dramatically changed where it was initially driven by instinct and passion. How players give feedback has changed in the age of social media where it was previously relegated to centralized forums.
Strategy has shifted now to listening to feedback from a variety of sources but also verify those discussion with in-game analytics to really get at the core of the problem.
In the past, Blizzard took too long to respond to players, especially in Shadowlands, though pandemic working conditions were a major factor. They committed themselves to creating content during the pandemic, but «it wasn't the right stuff.»
Blizzard is taking those lessons to heart and using it as guidance for WoW's future.
