World of Warcraft

Exclusive Interview: Jeff "Tigole" Kaplan

Posted Aug 08, 2007 by Kody
Filed in World of Warcraft
Post your Comment (14)

We had a chance to talk with Jeff "Tigole" Kaplan during our BlizzCon excursion. Jeff was kind enough to answer a number of different questions, including his experience going from a player to a designer, what exactly Blizzard would like to receive in terms of feedback, Naxxramas returning in Wrath of the Lich King, what Blizzard learned from Karazhan and 10-person raids, Arena teams abusing well-equipped players to power-level poorly equipped players to extremely high ratings, whether Burning Crusade quest itemization will remain in WotLK, and some new information regarding the Zul'Aman patch.

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  • Drift3r said
    Wed, Aug 8 2007 1:46 AM ()

    80 hour weeks ? Hello these guys are make billions in revenue but somehow they can't seem to hire enough people to further the increase the development of WoW? Kind of have to not believe this statement.

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  • KeeZnl said
    Wed, Aug 8 2007 1:46 AM ()

    wtf... badges coming to KZ / ZA ? Finally a way to get those without spending hours and hours wiping on trash in heroics...

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  • h41fgod said
    Wed, Aug 8 2007 1:46 AM ()

    "billions in revenue" Why do people always grossly overestimate the amount of money blizzard take in? Sure they get bucketfulls of money every month now, but they really dont make that much, just server costs probably take up most, yes, most of the revenue. Besides, at the moment most of the players are in China, amount of paying accounts are declining in Europe/US from their consensus reports. That also decreases total revenue since it costs less to play in China and North Korea.

    Millions, not billions, maybe even hundreds of millions per year. But not more.

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  • Nugma said
    Wed, Aug 8 2007 1:46 AM ()

    They have enough developers, but few "lead designers" like other games. And good working people don't grow on trees.

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  • BBR said
    Wed, Aug 8 2007 1:46 AM ()

    Don't have audio at work. Does anyone have the text? :P

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  • Zarcath said
    Wed, Aug 8 2007 1:46 AM ()

    you guys should really look into using lapel mics.

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  • Krotzkok said
    Wed, Aug 8 2007 1:46 AM ()

    You know, qualified developers or designers don't really grow on trees. That got little to do with money.

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  • JamesZ said
    Wed, Aug 8 2007 1:46 AM ()

    Great interview guys!

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  • georgemag said
    Wed, Aug 8 2007 1:46 AM ()

    This was a great interview. I think I am the first real person to post on this thread.

    Increased itemization is good thing and using Heroic Badges as incentives is a great way to keep 10 man teams together once you have cleared Kara.

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  • FalinMor said
    Wed, Aug 8 2007 1:46 AM ()

    h41fgod:

    Go look up the word "revenue". ;)

    Although you're right about it not being "billions", your definition of the word is wrong.

    Cool interview.

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  • KyanMehwulfe said
    Wed, Aug 8 2007 1:46 AM ()

    Good questions. Specific. Most of the media *** coming out of the event been broad ad nauseum.

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  • Yurgon said
    Wed, Aug 8 2007 1:46 AM ()

    Drift3r I think your missing the point here. 80 hours a week is totally believable. They can hire a million people but not everyone can or should be doing the job that only a few do.

    Awesome interview btw Thanks.

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  • hamor said
    Wed, Aug 8 2007 1:46 AM ()

    Awesome interview!

    Quick comment on the money stuff: Being in the work positions I am/have been, I know that the server cost alone probably consumes 60% of their total sales. Then you add in marketing, CM's and GM's, Website team, and all the other stuff that doesn't involve core game development, and you're not talking alot of money left for it. Also, the point about who's working on the stuff is a very good one. The reason Blizzard games are so good is because they have people that really know what they're doing and really care. 80 hours per week is not only believable, but expected in this industry.

    Well I guess that wasn't too quick, but oh well. Moving on, I think adding badges to 10-man bosses is a great idea! It not only allows more people to get gear (and the new gear they're releasing sounds awesome), but gives everyone a since of reward for beating a boss. It sucks to finally take down that boss and see 2 itmes that have nothing to do with you drop.

    What I would REALLY like to see, is more 10-man instances that are pre-raiding difficulty, with no reset timer (or maybe 1 day like heroics). Think UBRS. Heroics are a cool idea, as they are essentially 5-man raids, but I think more 10-man action would be awesome too.

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  • ShadeofChaoS said
    Wed, Aug 8 2007 1:46 AM ()

    Tigole is a dumbass

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