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    The friend I mentioned in my previous post about Blizzard read the article and decided to think deeper as to why Blizzard is so successful. His name is Joe. Here's the response he wrote, it's quite good:

    Being "that friend" who first got you hooked on the demon-shaped narcotic that is D2, I feel it pertinent to chime in on this one.

    Blizzard holds a special place in the hearts of many gamers, whether they like to admit it or not. Their games are generally nothing short of perfection: hyper-addictive, and constructed JUST RIGHT so that you the gamer never hit a dull spot nor are you over stimulated, thus never giving you the chance to regain consciousness and think "Hey, I haven't moved from my computer for 2 weeks; maybe I should shower."
What makes them such a powerhouse of entertainment? Why are all their games instant classics that will see sales for the next 10+ years? Why do I own at least 3 copies of every game they have put out? Why does the thought of a Zerg rush give me the compulsive reflex to hide in a reinforced titanium bunker?

    It all starts with production values. This is what Blizzard does better than anyone else.  Though they have a long history working under a corporate entity, they retain the values of an independent developer. Because they make ridiculous profits for extreme amounts of time off each game they make, they have the power to take as LONG as they WANT. They don’t have to set a release date. They don’t have a deadline. They can sit, create, tweak, build, scrap, and ponder as long as they want. And in the end if the game they have in their hands isn't world class, they throw it away. Easy as that. There are several Blizzard games that were over halfway finished that were just canned, simply because they were not GOOD ENOUGH to have Blizzard’s name on them.


So we have the industries best production values: that alone does not guarantee a fantastic game. Their next strong point is their art department. Samwise Didier, the man who has drawn up countless units for Blizzard’s games over the years, has fantastic skills that shine in making highly detailed and believable units and landscapes. So much so that you can look at them and not just see, say, a siege tank, but you can see past it. You can see its weight, the intricacy of its construction, the heat emanating from its cannon, and it makes you wonder, what has it fired upon? Are their endless swarms of the Zerg just outside of the picture? Is this tank soon to become nothing more than scrap; destroyed with all its marvels of engineering scattered about while endless waves of biological horrors trample over it, on to their next target? It feels personal, like you know that tank, as if you have been there beside it the whole time. From his drawings the graphic designers are able to transfer this into the units of the game. So when you lose your battalion, or when your party downs that dragon, you can already feel where it came from. It’s this level of immersion that you are allowed to submerge yourself in, where you become entranced and lost, but at the same time oblivious to your plight and perfectly content.


    Spun around this beautiful artwork is a story, not your usual paper thin, half-assed, closed door type story. No. It paints a universe for you. From Griswald, the blacksmith of Tristram, to Tassadar and Zeratul, these characters and towns have histories. They have life and emotion and don’t feel like a quick construct, but as if they were true places that are just outside of our reach. I recall spending countless hours reading back stories and side plots related to World of Warcraft, wanting to know everything (a futile task btw). It’s this Tolkienesqe style of weaving a story that leaves you craving more.


    All of this leads me to my favorite part, the gameplay. This is where Blizzard’s philosophy really shines. Blizzard doesn't re-invent the genre, they don't make some fancy gimmick, they don’t have some graphical powerhouse, no, their philosophy is best summed up by a mantra of engineering: "It’s not perfect when you cannot add anything more, but when you cannot take anything more away". The mechanics are not overcomplicated, the menus are not cluttered, the skills are not mind-boggling and expansive. It is a pure distillation of what said genre should be, a good way to describe it would be taking a steak dinner for example. You can get a steak most anywhere, and most places will give you the option of dressing it with sautéed onions or some kind of sauce. But what you can’t get anywhere, what will stick with you, is that perfect steak. the one without any toppings or sauce, perfect 90 degree grill marks, and cooked just right. Sheer. Unbridled. Perfection. This is what Blizzard games feel like to me. No frills, no distracting toppings, just a morsel that comes as a result of years of trimming and polishing.

    So now we are left to wait. While countless message board trolls and comment flamers try and slam Blizzard for taking so long to release Starcraft 2, I personally take solstice in every delay, knowing that behind the doors of Blizzard that time is being spent to make something perfect.

    One thing I will tell you though. You DO NOT want to be in Korea when SC2 comes out, not unless you have some riot gear and a good shotgun. Even then your survival isn't guaranteed.*

*Editor's note:  I'm sure he meant to write, Safety Not Guaranteed 

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