Blizzard's VP makes TIME's top 100
by Ross Miller 
{ Apr 30th 2006 at 12:58PM }
The most recent issue of
TIME Magazine highlights their picks for the top 100
"men and women whose power, talent, or moral example is transforming the world." Of course, the big-hitters
are on the list: John McCain, George W. Bush, Matt Drudge, and Hugo Chavez. However, one name pops out strikingly in
the category of Artists & Entertainers, of the top 25 chosen for the category: Rob Pardo.Who is Rob Pardo? Well, for 6 million gamers he is the Kronos of World of Warcraft -- the lead designer for the MMO that broke through the barrier to mainstream attention. According to the TIME article "Pardo didn't invent this kind of game ... he merely perfected it." Crediting his team for "generating from scratch history, geography, anthropology and ecology of a fully realized fantasy world spread over two continents," the article quips that if the game gets any more popular, "it may be up for a seat in the U.N."
Congratulations to the entire Blizzard team on receiving the honor, and on garnering some good exposure to the games industry. And a big congratulations to Rob Pardo's spiffy mug shot.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
StefanW @ Apr 30th 2006 1:10PM
World of Warcraft is DEFINITLEY NOT perfect.
Ahms @ Apr 30th 2006 1:39PM
It's a perfect "EQ" game, that took out some flaws it had but moreover kept the archaic style of it's predeccesor. This is what Blizzard usually does- take an existing genre and fine tune it
From an innovative standpoint, it's far, far from perfect. From a "building within the box" look, it is pretty good. IMO the biggest innovations it brought were a better casual game (compared to EQ at least) in addition to a very aesthetically pleasing look and atmopshere
They are giving him *way* more credit than due. They *should* be thanking the creators of the Warcraft universe (like Metzen) for such a fantastic world, instead of the EQ cut/paste boy
Conrad Quilty-Harper @ Apr 30th 2006 1:45PM
"the biggest innovations it brought were a better casual game (compared to EQ at least) in addition to a very aesthetically pleasing look and atmopshere"
And that is why this guy deserves this award! Take the iPod for instance: it wasn't a new product and it didn't bring any new ideas to the table, but for some reason it managed to win 70-80% marketshare in only a couple of years. Why? Apple made it the easiest, most accessible and best looking MP3 player out there.
Bingo!
That's exactly what Blizzard did for the MMO. You've got to realise that before WoW, MMOs were a strictly geek-only, hard learning curve type of game. Blizzard's VP deserves an award for bringing the genre to the mainstream.
Lenbot @ Apr 30th 2006 4:28PM
lol Agree with Number post #1
Ahms @ Apr 30th 2006 6:18PM
#3: I think it was more of the Warcraft/Blizzard label than anything that brought it to the mainstream :) If you're new to MMORPG's, how do you even know what to look for mechanics wise? You go off what you know, and having an established world that is beloved is as good as honey (Star Wars, LOTR, etc. etc...). The brand label :)
They should be thanking the Warcraft Universe itself (or creators of) and Blizzard's past record in their Warcraft/Starcraft/Diablo universes for attracting folks, and *then* a casual pre-end game to keep the interest
Not all MMORPG's were based off EQ btw ;) (AC!)
frank @ Apr 30th 2006 8:11PM
then why did star wars galaxies fail, #5?
jack @ Apr 30th 2006 8:32PM
WoW so far is the most perfect MMORPG so far in my mind. Not that it 'is' perfect because all of us WoW addicts know that Blizzard has screwed up alot! Between Realm Stability and Authentication Crashes... it is safe to say that Blizzard isn't perfect.
Never the less, they have taken the MMO World by storm and have raised the bar to a new high. They have:
- More patches and less expansions
- Celebrate holidays ingame
- Add new dungeons without releasing costly expansions
- Have a story and lore which in written in stone but still moldable if needed.
- Kept it realistic and they are able to keep the attention of their players without introducing something off the wall. (EX: That Lizard Playable Character in EQ.)
As for it's design, he deserves every bit of credit. So, lets say he stole the 'Talent' system from Diablo and that he stole the 'HotKey' bar from EQ and of course, the 'Lore' from Warcraft along with whatever he created up. It takes alot to keep these components together and running. He has done this, yes, with flaw but never the less, he has done it.
Give credit where credit is due.
Jake
stryker2k2@msn.com
silent bob @ Apr 30th 2006 9:25PM
i don't think its a matter of whether or not he deserves it, lets just be happy for the guy. he's definitely shedding some positive light on the video game community
mike @ Apr 30th 2006 10:58PM
iPod was by far the smallest and easiest to use MP3 player.. and of course.. competitors are still trying to catch up with iTunes integration.
But thanks for the predictable iPod analogy.
Don Jose @ May 1st 2006 6:17AM
Well, with Bush, it surely can't be talent or moral example that landed him on the list, so, hey, here's three cheers for absolute(ly perverted) power! give it up for the man who keeps you down! Whoooooo!
Armin @ May 1st 2006 7:04AM
Ehm, strange that he get on the list and people like Noam Chomsky doesn't. The biggest intellectual in the western world.
strange...
Isurus @ May 1st 2006 7:39AM
"Ehm, strange that he get on the list and people like Noam Chomsky doesn't. The biggest intellectual in the western world.
strange..."
As if we don't have enough game related flame wars? Go troll some other website with this political crap. The last thing most of us want to see is an uneducated flame war on socialism versus capitalism on these boards.
...what is with some of you people? Give the guy some credit. There are more haters that post on joystiq than any other blog site I have ever been on. Unless the news is Nintendo related, everyone comes in and starts ripping away. The game isn't "perfect", but nothing is. It has over 6 million subscribers who pay monthly fees though and that is saying something.
Crux @ May 1st 2006 12:42PM
"Ehm, strange that he get on the list and people like Noam Chomsky doesn't. The biggest intellectual in the western world.
strange..." -- Armin
Touche.
But that can be said of anyone else on Time's list. Say, Reese Witherspoon or Ang Lee (and they're in the same artist section as Pardo).
Besides, video game development now has something to brag about. Making it on the holier-than-thou Time's 100 "something."
Armin @ May 1st 2006 1:51PM
12: So now it's war related? Political? No one mentioned those things but you.
It's OK that the Blizzard guy is on the list, no one questions WoW's popularity. It's just that there are people who deserve it a lot more.
I would say speaking up against the injustice in this world is a bit more important than creating a MMORPG.
Bob @ May 1st 2006 2:21PM
Editors of Time Magazine that don't know Doom from Debbie Does Dallas would find WoW 'groundbreaking' because it's the only game they've ever been able to understaand. I'm sorry but just because WoW makes umpteen millions of $$$ and has mindless non-gamers (see 'Editors') that play after putting their kids to bed doesn't make it a flawless game...
ForeShadow @ May 1st 2006 4:29PM
World Server is Down.
Nerf Shamans.
Buckshot @ May 1st 2006 5:03PM
#5 & #6 Galaxies failed due to $ony wanting to dumb it down for non-gamers and make jedi a starting class, stripping away 2 yaers of many peoples lives.
KwadDamyj @ May 3rd 2006 3:39PM
I'm not going to say anything on account that I would flame so many people.
Carl @ May 5th 2006 4:49PM
The list is about people who make an IMPACT, I'd say the impact that WoW has in millions of gamers(and their poor relatives/friends) lives alone makes him worth the spot.
I'd say neglecting Chomsky is utterly stupid as well because like him or not, people listen to him, but i'd say that the number of people who cares about WoW patch 1.11 far outnumbers the number of ppl interested in Chomskys next book.
Get Real @ May 5th 2006 5:37PM
What a joke. This game promotes lazyness and failed exam students, why should people be commended for this? I've had the dis-pleasure of playing this game and managed to reach Level 60 after a painstakingly long time, God knows why I didn't quit. Once you get there, this MMORPG is STILL strictly for the geek types who have the worrying mothers, no jobs and find communication with other human beings in real life akward. It's not even that great... very mediocre graphics, not much in the way of skill (a.k.a your characters ability is defined by how much time you play (2000 hours + if you even want to compete) rather than how much skill you ACTUALLY have and to top it all off its populated by kids who can't speak English! I remember hearing a radio interview with some panicking mom saying her son (about 17 or 18) plays WoW about 15 hours a day, thats insane! He basically flunked everything and is now a miserable failure.
MortisDomini @ May 5th 2006 7:40PM
I don't think you can blame Blizzard (or any other company) for kids or other people not being able to do the things they should.
It's a matter of discipline, I think.
I have a fulltime job, a home, and still play WOW without losing track of what should be done, instead of thinking what could be done.
Chris @ May 6th 2006 3:32PM
#19 Perhaps we should ban football and TV because they distract people from work then eh?
WoW is like anything else, great in moderation. Nor is it only played by 'geeks' with
communication and personal hygiene problems. My Dad plays it and he's 40 something married
with kids and trains people to fly helicopters in the RAF. I play it and i'm a law student
on course for a first class (fingers x) and my girlfriend plays it who rocks. Period. WoW
appeals to young and old, men and women and remains the best MMO, thats why its a success
and thats why the designer deserves recognition. Besides Bono and co got awards flowing out
their ear holes.
Now I run before the lawyer hate mail starts...
Kinestra @ May 16th 2006 9:09AM
'the top 100 "men and women whose power, talent, or moral example is transforming the world." '
Let's all calm down and read this sentence again.
-Does he have power?
Yes. Not all-encompassing power, but quite a lot of heft within the gaming industry.
-Does he have talent?
This one is more open for debate, but I would personally say yes, as without talent in ertain areas of design/marketing he would be unlikely to have made it as far as he has.
-Is he shaping the world?
Well, he's certainly shaping A world. Besides, you need only casually approach google to see that WoW has grabbed far more mainstream attention than any of its competitors, and the result of that is a deeper integration of games and organic world programming in mainstream ulture and technology. It may not be a revolution of geek culture, but WoW's profile has made a dramatic difference to cultural perception, however you look at it.