Ion Hazzikostas - A New Era For WoW Dragonflight?

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Twitter: @Preachgaming
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Credits:

[Preachgaming]

This is the full interview from Mike's visit to Blizzard at the end of October last year. We've had them up on our website for premium supporters but now we are going to be steadily releasing them publicly on Youtube. Ion's audio was not great unfortunately due to his mic position and the room where it was recorded so apologies on that front. Please bear in mind the time that Ion's comments were made in light of the recent Blizzard drama, and that Ion is not responsible for any decisions that fall outside of the development of the game itself - his perspective on the harassment and working from home is interesting - but of course he was limited in what he could discuss.

we hope you enjoy the interview which was intended from the off to be an informal discussion - with no preapproved or set questions - where Mike could ask whatever he wanted.

[legreeniris]

Thanks for posting the entire interview. This is honestly the best interview with Ion I have listened to.

[StrobeFireStudios]

Ion is actually great. I love that guy. Really humble, really intelligent, very down to earth and connected to the game he's played and designed for years. Really great watch. Thanks for this.

[blech]

I’m digging the fact these two talked about their experiences east back and not just focused on current WoW.

[TechNinjaHS]

Honestly I would watch/listen to this discussion even if it was double the run time, hearing all these well thought out questions asked by Mike and also the interesting answers given by Ion made this worth watching/listening.

[yummyirl]

Who is this chilled, relatable Ion? 😮 I have literally never seen him in any interview ever. Huge kudos to both of you for making the opportunity and environment for us to meet him on this level. It's so good for the community to see this side of him. His responses are always thoughtful and considered regardless, but I wish he would do more of this stuff to balance out the constrained, lawyerly image he more often projects. It's so reassuring to see another actual gamer in charge of wow stuff that matters to me.

[kaaiooo]

What a great interview! Mike being genuine and curious with his questions and Ion answering candidly. A great discussion not avoiding the sore spots.

[luja]

For once Ion doesnt look stressed out. I know he took over as lead game designer during wod when players were not happy with the game so that had to be very stressful.

[dusk]

Again, I just appreciate that both Preach and Mr. Hazzikostas took the time to do this.
Interviews like this provide what was missing for far too long: Context.

It's one thing for us as players to assume the best or worst after Blizzard announces a feature or content. That's usually informed by our own perception of a developers past behaviors.
However, it is a far better scenario when we the players hear the direct intent from the Dev's. Understanding what they debated, their direction, the decision process, the pro's and con's as they weighted. It fills in the gaps and lends credibility. Even when I don't like a system, if I can appreciate why they created it that way, and see the merit in their decision process: I'm usually ok with that feature.

[nonamesavailable]

I could have easily listened to another 2 hours. Mike and Ian, you guys are the best

[Bichpwner]

Yes, Ion!! That stuff he says about 10 more talent points and deeper trees with every major release is exactly how I was personally hoping they would proceed.

Very pleased, finding a lot of respect for the Dragonflight development direction of WoW

[kernel]

Great interview, thanks for making it happen! So fun to hear Mike and Ion nerd out about minutiae from vanilla, circa 2005. I’m sure they coulda done it for hours.

[MrCeratix]

I can tell from Ion's candor that the new dev environment feels a lot more comfortable and it shows in the game that's getting built. I've been impressed with my time in DF so far, and while Mike says he wants that "I can't wait to see what's next" feeling for the game's plot and setting, I'm like that too now with the game itself, Dragonflight restored a small spark of hope, and I pray they manage to stoke it further as they update the Expansion and beyond

[jdflynn]

I love Ion's willingness to share the 'product' side of the business here - prioritizing the tradeoffs on development work and how to manage that. This is the best interview with a WoW Dev I've personally ever seen.

[LameMule]

I had no idea the interview was so long. That's just awesome. A damn good spread of questions and good on Ion to give you so much time for it.

[Joel_bjornfors]

Ian make so much sense when he talks about what they aim for and accepting responsibility when things didn’t end up as they intended

[kevinmshields]

Ironically, I feel like something akin to order halls for the aspects would have gone over well in Dragonflight. Unlike covenants, or any AP, the aspects are a larger part of wow's history and identity that have resonated with the imaginations of millions of people for years.

I really want my evoker to delve into the bronze dragonflight, and I'm leveling a mage who has a blue theme. Renown is fine, but I'd have been genuinely more motivated to play were I more involved with helping the aspects reacclimate to their homeland and rebuild from their lost powers.

It's the same level of wonder that had me trying new races in Cata to experience their starting areas; new classes in Legion to experience their order halls/powers; and actually making an alliance character (my now main) in BFA to experience the opposite faction's story.

Good interview!

[greenxintet]

seeing vanilla clips reminds me so deeply of specific moments of my childhood, even the temperature and weather of certain days I was playing. The clip of the warrior with the whirlwind axe for example

[jampk]

Would love to see more longform interviews like this from the devs. Very interesting to hear about their perspectives on things without having to sprint through a bunch of questions due to short time limits.

[ninjaman]

The era that seems like it will die before it could achieve anything from the looks of recent moves.