Ghostcrawler is Now Lead Game Designer at Riot Games
Ghostcrawler left Blizzard last month to pursue a "great opportunity for something new and exciting". He updated his LinkedIn today to list his new position of Lead Game Designer at Riot Games.
Originally Posted by Morello (Source)
His title is the same title as Morello. I wonder if he got replaced?
Nah - League's a huge game and there's a lot to do. GC's actually some MUCH-needed help on the leadership side - it's just too much for any one person to handle and make the progress I'd like to see. We'll be dividing up some of the effort on leading it, but other than making sure more things have support, the teams are pretty unchanged from who's doing want (Statikk and friends are still doing Game Health, Meddler still heads champ development, we just have more expertise to draw on now).
A lot of the things we want to focus on with game health this year (and preseason is a kick-off to this effort) is primarily around fixing a lot of the old problems. After finishing up support (IE the gold item particulars + Annie problem), we want to focus on adding choice and depth by taking a HARD look at "ball of stats" stuff so we can actually introduce interesting stuff with trade-offs.
IF he is able to make league more about playing better then the other team then just picking the more OP team then I think he can be a good asset for Riot.
I am looking at this optimistically in hopes that it will make more champs viable and perhapws even breaking the ADC is a must meta to some degree.
I appreciate the positive thoughts.
I worked with Greg both directly and indirectly for years. He's an awesome guy who took on the impossible task of doing what Morello has done for league for so long on a game where people are incredibly invested in their character and any nerf is an extremely personal offense.
It's a tough, tough job. Greg tanked it like a champion.
I'm excited to see how helps bolster our ranks.
A while back we asked if you still wanted to see occasional Ghostcrawler Tweets and the majority did.
Keep in mind that he is no longer is speaking for Blizzard in these tweets.
Originally Posted by MMO-Champion
I am no longer working on WoW. You should consider any Blizzard comments I make my personal, if educated, opinions. (Source)
Dev Feedback
I dunno, you guys manage to sound pretty trite and curt and certain on the forums, too.
We're never certain. Game design is very much a crap shoot, tempered by experience, feedback and your gut. (Source)
If you left WoW because of the community I wouldn't blame you, some of the people tweeting and blaming you...
No way. I was just ready to work on something else. Ultimately game developers want passionate communities! (Source)
But most polls suggest the talent changes were liked overall, even if they weren't 100% liked. (Source)
Who was polled and when? the existing community at cata launch? the lost subs between then and now? wtb better metrics
Blizzard has excellent metrics overall, but are also smart enough to know when not to let metrics make the decision for them. (Source)
People distrust metrics they have no ability to see. Is more transparency in some of these cases worth while?
My fear was always that players would swap from giving feedback on what was fun and try to become data analysts instead. (Source)
Game Design
makes me also wonder who in Blizzard ever came up with the idea that grinding was fun? The reward is fun.
Some players enjoy being recognized for commitment and not just raw skill. (Source)
How can an evolving MMO be designed around zero grinding, zero RNG and constant meaningful rewards?
Player made content maybe? (Not a WoW announcement by any stretch.) (Source)
but this is an interesting question: how to deal with frustration. Is it something devs take in account?
Totally. As I said, too much frustration can make players quit. (Source)
But, when rewards come too easily, that can lead to boredom, which can also make players quit. (Source)
Oh, glad you pointed this out, I clicked and saw she cited me and there. Maybe some people would be surprised .
I thought the 275 vs 300 food was perfect. It really let folks decide what kind of player they wanted to be. (Source)
Interesting to see if player behavior changes post-itemsquish, when they're choosing between +24 and +25 food.
Yes! Like that economic study that shows folks will drive across town for cheap gas but not $100 savings on a dress. (Source)
So Greg, what's your thoughts on two vs. three factions in an MMO?
If I was doing a new MMO (I'm not) I would have one. H vs A is good for WoW overall IMO, but is a barrier to playing with friends. (Source)
I think mmo gameplay is fun because for me it taps into desire to optimize, gain much power...and be better than others.
One thing I underestimated as a designer is how some players simply prefer clear power gains to interesting choices. (Source)
RNG sucked on items like trinkets, etc it will suck even more on gear. RNG != fun
RNG is a challenging philosophy for designers to explain. Players typically want to minimize it, but there is risk in doing so. (Source)
RNG is a challenge for players to overcome, but that sometimes gets turned into pleas to overcome it by removing it. (Source)
We *think* we want to minimize it. But the other side of that hill has a lot less grass on it than we claim to see.
Being able to reliably predict outcomes makes games boring. Even chess has a form of RNG in the actions of your opponent. (Source)
Calling bullshit. Chess is pure strategy, no RNG at all. RNG would be if pawn takes queen had an 85% chance.
Perhaps you could say games need unpredictability, which can be provided by RNG or lack of complete information. (Source)
In the internet age, it's hard for games to have incomplete information (you Google everything) so RNG has grown as a tool. (Source)
Back when I played Wasteland or Wizardry 6, you had to "solve" boss encounters and BiS lists on your own. (Source)
You are conflating random behavior with strategy, which is... wrong. Very much so.
Same is true of gear. "Should I take this upgrade?" (RNG) is more interesting than "Just 3 more Immerseus kills and I'm done." (Source)
What if I'm just -really- sick of Immerseus? I don't want to spend a year trying to get one item. :-\
Immerseus is there regardless. Would you rather have a shot at gear or know 100% of it will be sharded? (Source)
I understand the good RNG does but getting screwed by it feels REALLY bad. We don't like feeling helpless.
Yeah, and we implemented some very bad luck protection systems. With millions of players, someone is going to be the 0.01% dude. (Source)
PvE
This makes me sad. Cata heroics at launch were so much fun with friends.
I agree. There was just no alternative for solo players. Maybe that problem is fixed now. (Source)
I know why they wouldn't come back, but I miss the days of 2hr dngns because of the sterility.
I am totally a big, long dungeon customer. But I recognize not everyone is. (Source)
How did 5M end up in its current state? It went from being the most important part of the game in Classic to the least in MoP
Overall, I think zerging dungeons just became more popular, which meant dungeons had a shorter lifespan overall. (Source)
Not blaming players for that trend necessarily, and as I said, I like orchestrating pulls and CC personally. (Source)
what happened 5 mans, used to be so many in BC/Wrath, also not very rewarding. Used to love spamming them for badges.
Keeping dungeons (or any content) relevant when you start to outgear it is a big challenge for WoW. (Source)
Players would exhaust them quickly. Few want to run the same dungeon 6 times a night, 2-3 nights a week. (Source)
It's more scenery though than same raid instance 7 nights a week in several difficulties on several characters...
Just depends on what you're into, but the WoW biz works best when players have things to do for weeks rather than come and go. (Source)
the lack of new 5 man's is why I stopped playing. No