Rob Pardo, Blizzard Entertainment’s Vice President of Game Design and lead designer for World of Warcraft will be keynote speaker at the Austin, Texas event organized by The Game Initiative, the leading producer of conferences for professionals in the computer and video game industry. The Austin Conference will last through September 6-8. Gamespot has an article of Rob Pardo explaining the forumula for World of Warcraft success. Gamasutra also has coverage of the conference. For new Blizzard Community events check our section
Rob Pardo demystifies the Blizzard polish, addresses how a counter-intuitive approach to game design is sometimes the best, and explains the secret of a “healthy donut.
Pardo listed a number of specific trade-offs that World of Warcraft had been forced to make. One was in terms of system requirements, and an artistic style that was not in line with the hyper-realistic trend of games like Crysis, for instnace. “We would rather have lower system requirements to reach a broader market. This means having a stylized art style that is resistant to looking dated” even as hardware becomes more powerful.
“That generates lots of negative press,” Pardo admitted. “Our screenshots are never going to compare to something like Crysis. Crysis-level graphics are easier to market, and developers like to make that kind of art. Plus the press likes it. But ultimately, I think we’re proven that the gameplay is really what matters, and if you have cool stylized art, that’s enough.”
