Shane Dabiri Interview

ComputerAndVideoGames.com has conducted a short interview with Blizzard’s Shane Dabiri, Producer and Project Leader on their upcoming MMORPG World of Warcraft. Here’s a bit of what he had to say:

Why should someone play World of Warcraft as opposed to any other MMORPG?

Dabiri – I won’t use the normal statement and just say “Blizzard!” [laughs]. One of the things we’re really committed to, and you guys are probably sick of hearing this, is ease of gameplay. It’s very easy to get into all of our games; you don’t have to spend one or two hours to work out the interface and figure out what all the hidden commands are. You know that when you buy it you can have fun right off the bat. Secondly, the level of quality we’ve given to all of our games is evident from our past, and we’re hoping to maintain that. We have to make sure we keep that up.

Also, with Warcraft III coming out, and our previous titles Warcraft I and II, there’s a world that’s already established and there’s a good number of people out there who are familiar with it. People who have played Warcraft II will be able to experience places they’ve visited in the RTS, and they’ll be able to go: “Ah, there’s the tower – I remember going in there and killing so-and-so.” Now you get to go inside the tower and explore.

Also, one of the big mistakes that MMORPGs make is to say they’re going to have 15 races and 25 classes in the beginning but then say, oh, we’re only going to have ten, or five. They commit to something initially that they can’t deliver. We just want to commit to things we’re actually implementing.