Many players wished that the race for the “World First” in WoW would become an esports event organized by Blizzard. However, the WoW director explains why that probably won’t happen.
The race for the “World First Kill” is always a big event in World of Warcraft. Since the major pro guilds like Limit and Method started streaming the process, it has become a massive crowd-puller on Twitch. Tens of thousands tune in to follow the race, but there is always criticism as it is simply not fair. American guilds start playing earlier than European ones, and in China, the bonus roll system works differently.
In an interview with the small YouTube channel “Warcraft Radio”, game director Ion Hazzikostas spoke about the race and explained why it probably won’t become an esports event.
That’s why the “World First” race won’t be an esports event: When asked whether one could not simply hold the mythical raids on tournament realms, Hazzikostas explained that this is not planned. Mythical raids like Ny’alotha represent the pinnacle of PvE challenge, and PvE is defined by continuously improving one’s own character.
A lot of planning and preparation goes into each character. This includes possibly bringing along classes that may not be optimal for the early bosses so they have better gear for the later fights where they can shine.
Additionally, he said:
This is a case of “Don’t fix it if it ain’t broken.” At its core, [the race for the World First] is an exciting, competitive event that we don’t want to interfere with because it works great.
Later, he explained that the time advantage of American guilds is indeed a problem, but it doesn’t really matter if the development team does a good job and balances the fights accordingly. Moreover, members of Method have also said that Limit simply played better this time and deserved the victory.
This is what Hazzikostas said about the bugs: N’Zoth was heavily criticized because the fight had some bugs and was even despawned by the developers during the fight. Hazzikostas also addressed this. He explained that while bugs are annoying, they inevitably belong to reality.
Although the QA team works hard, they cannot find all the errors that later dozens of pro guilds discover, who approach the fight with completely different strategies.
He also explained that there used to be bugs as well. Most players, however, didn’t notice them because the fights back then took place “behind closed doors.” The first thing players saw of a first kill was later the kill video on YouTube, where the fight then goes smoothly. However, there have always been errors in older raids as well.
By the way: Pro guilds like Limit and Method all have one or more contacts at Blizzard whom they can email if something seems wrong with a fight. Typically, Blizzard then works feverishly on a hotfix to resolve the issue.
The interview receives a lot of praise: In general, the interview is massively praised in the comments. Good questions were asked, and Hazzikostas also addressed the uncomfortable questions and answered them thoroughly.
Even if some players may not always like the answers, it is nice to hear what the developers thought about certain situations. The consensus is unanimous: They wish for more communication with the developers and more such interviews where Hazzikostas or other key figures from Blizzard answer questions.
What do you think of this interview? Cool answers and interesting questions? Or just all “PR talk”?
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