So, in this blogpost Malstrom explains his reasoning behind blaming Kotick for being the one responsible for Blizzards desicions about splitting SC2 and removing LAN.
http://seanmalstrom.wordpress.com/2009/08/10/the-destruction-of-blizzard/
I have to say, judging from the quotes from kotick it is very very likely that he has something to do with it.
Some relevant quotes:
"In less than a year, we’ve seen Blizzard introduce paid character customization to WoW ($15), announce paid faction changes (not yet implemented, presumedly at least $15), and declare that Starcraft 2 will be released as a series of three episodes rather than as a unified whole. How fair of a deal this turns out to be depends on what price tag Blizzard attaches to each episode, but it’d be surprising if the company came in below $39.99 and $49.99 is my personal bet.
In the new, Activision-powered future, it appears that you can customize a character, switch factions, or buy Starcraft 2 one slice at a time—provided, of course, that you don’t want to play the former over a LAN. Does anyone else find it ironic that four years after the company launched its license to print money, it’s removing functionality end-users have come to expect? I’m all for stopping pirates and ensuring that artists/content creators receive their due, but attempting to jam a feature rip down the throats of gamers and cloaking it in blatant half-truth regarding the multiplayer experience smacks of a company that doesn’t have the guts to admit its newfound greed."
"King Kotick has specifically become very excited about in-game ads in Starcraft 2.
Blizzard has denied that StarCraft II will have in-game advertising, despite what Activision CEO Bobby Kotick said at the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference.
Kotick had been talking about things he’d learned from Blizzard ahead of Activision’s merger with Vivendi, and said that, “because it is a short-session experience, [StarCraft II] can actually be the model for in-game advertising and sponsorship and tournament play and ladder play for the future.“ "
The company’s vision for Battle.net is a “true online destination platform,” and Kotick expects it to “become the foundation for connecting tens of millions [of players] in the Blizzard community in a social gaming network across all Blizzard’s future games.”
Oh God, there is that word again, “platform”. This is how Microsoft describes Xbox Live as a “platform”. “Platform” is a way of saying “microtransactions and subscription fees”.
“This will begin with World of Warcraft and StarCraft II,” Kotick added, calling the planned service, built by the Blizzard team, “similar to Xbox Live.” It’s primarily Battle.net, not StarCraft II — subtitled “Wings of Liberty” that needs this additional prep time, according to Activision.
King Kotick wants Battle Net 2.0 to be a “platform” so the game has to be delayed.
So, it's not official, but it seems Kotick is doing stuff behind the scenes after all.
Now I don't really care about Kotick screwing with the Activision games that I care about as much as I care about mosquitoes drowning in the toilet, and his other laughable quotes, but if there is even a remote chance that this guy is messing up Blizzard, my favourite gaming company of all time, he deserves mine and all PC gamers undying hate!
Blizzard is one of the few really good gaming companies left, and if he screws them up too......... I don't even have words for it, it's just too much.
I created a new thread since the old one were getting long.
I LOVE ICELAND!
