Jeff Kaplan is currently talking not only about his time as Overwatch lead or his new game, but he is also sharing anecdotes from the original team for World of Warcraft. One detail is particularly exciting.
What does Jeff Kaplan reveal? The veteran developer was famously brought to Blizzard by Rob Pardo, and the two MMORPG fans knew each other from the EverQuest guild “Legacy of Steel”. Kaplan was one of only two quest designers alongside Pat Nagle. He also helped design the first dungeons and raids. He quickly rose to the role of Game Director alongside Tom Chilton and J. Allen Brack.
Despite his short time at Blizzard, Jeff Kaplan took on a key role in the development of World of Warcraft fairly quickly. In a 10-hour livestream on Twitch he revealed that he wanted to use his influence early in development to transform WoW into a pure first-person MMORPG.
Jeff Kaplan explains that he was heavily influenced by EverQuest. He had good reasons for his plan and wanted to inspire other developers at Blizzard for it.
I really wanted WoW to be first-person. I argued a lot for it. […] “EverQuest was completely first-person. And oddly enough, I saw my guildmates much more up close because of that. I felt I perceived and appreciated the character design much more. I didn’t see myself, but I knew that other people saw me up close. In EQ, the appearance of my character was actually more important to me than in WoW.
Jeff Kaplan on Twitch
“The game would have been a flop”
How does the community react to this? In a discussion on Reddit, many players express relief that this chalice has passed them by.
- pragmatic84 explains on Reddit: “Since I suffer from motion sickness in first-person view, this decision would have changed the last 20 years of my life!”
- stormdelta sees it the same way on Reddit: “The game would have been completely unplayable for me if it had been first-person.”
- nepriyatel2 confirms on Reddit: “Thank God we just avoided that.”
- ZombifiedSoul is sure on Reddit: “The game would have been a flop.”
How does MeinMMO editor Karsten Scholz evaluate this? A strict first-person perspective would necessarily have affected many aspects of WoW, especially the mechanics in dungeons and raids, but also some class abilities would have had to function quite differently. World of Warcraft would thus certainly have become a very different game.
Moreover, I know several long-time WoW fans in my immediate circle who avoid almost every game with a first-person perspective because they get sick while playing. Blizzard would certainly have reached a noticeably smaller target group with a WoW without third-person. And now I have to go, Uns-Jeff is currently reacting quite roughly to criticism: If you don’t want to play Jeff Kaplan’s new game, he has some kind words for you: “Shut your mouth. No one cares.”
