Former Diablo Director Jay Wilson Leaves Blizzard

Steven Bogos

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Jan 17, 2013
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Former Diablo Director Jay Wilson Leaves Blizzard

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Jay Wilson served as game director of Diablo 3 from launch up until November 2013, when he was replaced by Josh Mosqueira.

Former designer [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/diablo%203?from_search=1&&os=Diablo+3], explaining that he is leaving to pursue his original passion of writing a novel.

Wilson was the game director for Diablo 3 until 2013, when he was replaced by Josh Mosqueira and moved to an "unannounced project" within the company. Now that he is leaving, we may never know what that project was.

He faced harsh criticism for the way he handled the launch of the game, staunchly defending the in-game Auction House feature [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/121582-Diablo-III-Game-Director-Steps-Down], and telling nostalgic Diablo II fans that they didn't actually remember things the right way.

He got into even more hot water with his infamous apologized for [http://www.cinemablend.com/games/Diablo-3-Jay-Wilson-Tells-Diablo-2-Designer-Fans-F-ck-Off-45895.html]).

He hinted that people could expect to see something from the "sci-fi, fantasy, urban fantasy range" from his literary endeavors. He also plans to move back to the Pacific Northwest.

Mosqueira stepping in for Wilson in 2013 was honestly one of the best things to happen to Diablo 3, in my opinion. During his entire run as game director, Wilson did nothing but tell fans what they wanted, rather than listen. Mosqueira actually listened to the community, and took lots of steps (such as removing the dreaded Auction House) to make the game as great as it is today. I wouldn't be surprised if the "unannounced project" Wilson was simply code for putting him out of the way somewhere until all the heat surrounding him died down.

Good riddance, says I.

Source: Gamesindustry.biz [http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2016-06-07-jay-wilson-leaves-blizzard-after-a-decade]

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Hawki

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...Sigh.

Y'know, I don't think I'll ever forget the aftermath of the Diablo III launch. I say that because, with complete and utter sincerity, I've never seen such bile thrown around by people on the 'net before, and as I'm sure we're all away, that's one pretty big cesspool. Leaving aside whatever gripes people might have had with the game itself, in what reality does this necessitate personal attacks on the people behind it? There's a mantra that I hold, "attack the product, not the people," and the reaction to D3 is part of why I hold that mantra to be true today.

Now, Wilson isn't entirely free of fault either, namely the "fuck that loser" incident. Curious though, how few people remember that said incident stemmed from Facebook with fellow employees and wasn't intended to be public. Not that I condone the language in itself, but he appologized for it. I'd have liked to think that three years on, that would have been moved past by.

But no, obviously not. Jay Wilson is forever going to be remembered for his work on Diablo III, rather than Company of Heroes or Dawn of War. The fans seem to be just as petty and vindictive as ever. It's part of why I refuse to call myself a "gamer" because this is the kind of behaviour that such a label entails. I get it, people were pissed off at Diablo III. I've been disappointed with a lot of stuff in my life, games included. I don't have the time, energy, or spite to go on personal tirades against individuals for slights that are meaningless in the greater scheme of things.

So, as an individual who also writes science fiction and fantasy stories as a hobby, all I can say is that I hope Jay Wilson has better luck in the novel-space than game space. From personal experience, it's a far less hostile one.
 

Neverhoodian

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Barbas said:
When did you start doing editorials?
Don't bother. Every time I've brought up the issue of editorials masquerading as news articles around here I'm either ignored or get a reply something along the lines of "just trying to make it interesting, yo." Drives me crazy, but I've resigned myself to the fact that it's not going to change any time soon, if ever.
 

Barbas

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Neverhoodian said:
Don't bother. Every time I've brought up the issue of editorials masquerading as news articles around here I'm either ignored or get a reply something along the lines of "just trying to make it interesting, yo." Drives me crazy, but I've resigned myself to the fact that it's not going to change any time soon, if ever.
Mods and techs share a comm. channel with [some of] the staff. The least I can do is make a suggestion, since I'm clearly not the only person this is bothering. We'll see what comes of it.
 

Hawki

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Caramel Frappe said:
But the third one ... don't ever mention it. The third game is dead to me, you hear? Dead.
So there's an empty space in your heart that makes you feel dead to it? ;)
 

Neverhoodian

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Barbas said:
Mods and techs share a comm. channel with [some of] the staff. The least I can do is make a suggestion, since I'm clearly not the only person this is bothering. We'll see what comes of it.
Thank you, I appreciate the effort.
 

votemarvel

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Hawki said:
...Sigh.

Y'know, I don't think I'll ever forget the aftermath of the Diablo III launch. I say that because, with complete and utter sincerity, I've never seen such bile thrown around by people on the 'net before, and as I'm sure we're all away, that's one pretty big cesspool. Leaving aside whatever gripes people might have had with the game itself, in what reality does this necessitate personal attacks on the people behind it? There's a mantra that I hold, "attack the product, not the people," and the reaction to D3 is part of why I hold that mantra to be true today.

Now, Wilson isn't entirely free of fault either, namely the "fuck that loser" incident. Curious though, how few people remember that said incident stemmed from Facebook with fellow employees and wasn't intended to be public. Not that I condone the language in itself, but he apologized for it. I'd have liked to think that three years on, that would have been moved past by.

But no, obviously not. Jay Wilson is forever going to be remembered for his work on Diablo III, rather than Company of Heroes or Dawn of War. The fans seem to be just as petty and vindictive as ever. It's part of why I refuse to call myself a "gamer" because this is the kind of behaviour that such a label entails. I get it, people were pissed off at Diablo III. I've been disappointed with a lot of stuff in my life, games included. I don't have the time, energy, or spite to go on personal tirades against individuals for slights that are meaningless in the greater scheme of things.

So, as an individual who also writes science fiction and fantasy stories as a hobby, all I can say is that I hope Jay Wilson has better luck in the novel-space than game space. From personal experience, it's a far less hostile one.
The thing is that these reactions were there before the internet ever existed. All it has done is bring them to a far wider audience, often including the creators themselves, and that larger audience lets things continue for far longer.

Before the bile and vitriol we see from fans about games would have been written in to the gaming magazines of the time, there however they would of had an editor and staff to make sure nothing like that got published, or discussed with like minded friends. It's boundaries would have been the edge of the playground or end of the bar.

However as we know, there are very few limits on the internet and the smallest of mistakes that may have been forgotten a few years ago can now be reinforced by encountering like minded people on a global scale, enabling the rage to continue on whereas before the limited communications options we had would have meant any fuss would have quickly burnt out.

Take Mass Effect 3 for example. Almost every day it seems on forums and social media a new argument breaks out about the endings to the game. Before the internet you simply would not have been able to keep the discussion going due to the relatively limited amount of people you'd meet, let alone of those who were into gaming as you.
 

Neurotic Void Melody

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Kibeth41 said:
Hawki said:
Y'know, I don't think I'll ever forget the aftermath of the Diablo III launch. I say that because, with complete and utter sincerity, I've never seen such bile thrown around by people on the 'net before, and as I'm sure we're all away, that's one pretty big cesspool. Leaving aside whatever gripes people might have had with the game itself, in what reality does this necessitate personal attacks on the people behind it? There's a mantra that I hold, "attack the product, not the people," and the reaction to D3 is part of why I hold that mantra to be true today.

Now, Wilson isn't entirely free of fault either, namely the "fuck that loser" incident. Curious though, how few people remember that said incident stemmed from Facebook with fellow employees and wasn't intended to be public. Not that I condone the language in itself, but he appologized for it. I'd have liked to think that three years on, that would have been moved past by.

But no, obviously not. Jay Wilson is forever going to be remembered for his work on Diablo III, rather than Company of Heroes or Dawn of War. The fans seem to be just as petty and vindictive as ever. It's part of why I refuse to call myself a "gamer" because this is the kind of behaviour that such a label entails. I get it, people were pissed off at Diablo III. I've been disappointed with a lot of stuff in my life, games included. I don't have the time, energy, or spite to go on personal tirades against individuals for slights that are meaningless in the greater scheme of things.

So, as an individual who also writes science fiction and fantasy stories as a hobby, all I can say is that I hope Jay Wilson has better luck in the novel-space than game space. From personal experience, it's a far less hostile one.
This right here is pretty much what I came here to say. Great comment.

It's disappointing that even the article is written with contempt towards Wilson. That's an issue I have with when Bogos writes articles. It's fine if someone throws an opinion into an article, but Bogos tends to write the article around his opinions.
I have noticed the same thing mostly; each time an article appears with a title that makes me go *sigh* "this is going to rile up unnecessary fanboy rage", 9/10 times it is a Bogos article. To be fair, i didn't even know of this Blizzard guy till now, was it all his fault or something? I get the impression i am supposed to hate him.
 

Newage

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I find it really hard to have any kind of sympathy for him. I understand that he wanted to make something new and unique, but it failed, and the reaction should've come much sooner than it did. The game we have now is pretty fun, but all the friends I used to play with moved away from it. It's a bit of a shame.
 

Dreph

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I was with this article until the final two paragraphs. I get how you don't like the guy and his treatment of customers was bad, but if you are going to editorialize please note it somewhere.

I'm totally down for editorials and I think they are great for starting discussions, but please note them as editorials and don't slip them in the end of news articles. It ends up just ruining the news article and doesn't allow for enough analysis for discussion.
 

Nazulu

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Jun 5, 2008
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I remember when I saw the first Diablo 3 teaser. It was not cel-shaded and looked to be right my alley. Then they changed the style significantly, and each time I heard new news about D3 it just disappointed me more and more.

I wonder if it was because of this guy.
 

Aeshi

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Goodbye Jay, it was nice having at least one person on Blizzard who didn't felicitate every shrieking rat who couldn't tolerate the idea of someone else having nicer gear than them in a non-competitive game.
 

Redlin5_v1legacy

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Barbas said:
Neverhoodian said:
Don't bother. Every time I've brought up the issue of editorials masquerading as news articles around here I'm either ignored or get a reply something along the lines of "just trying to make it interesting, yo." Drives me crazy, but I've resigned myself to the fact that it's not going to change any time soon, if ever.
Mods and techs share a comm. channel with [some of] the staff. The least I can do is make a suggestion, since I'm clearly not the only person this is bothering. We'll see what comes of it.
Thank you. I knew I wasn't the only one thinking it as I was reading this.