Warcraft 3 Reforged launched recently to nearly universal backlash. Official forums, reddit, and other social networks erupted in a united ire against the latest remastering from video game juggernaut Blizzard entertainment. This shocking development is hot off the heels of the release of the wildly successful World of Warcraft Classic, their most recent remastering. Fans cite lack of color, broken promises, and a shady clause found within the EULA concerning custom maps as the root of the negative reception.
Many remember trailers and announcements of various elements being very exciting. These included a new and optimized UI, control over unlimited units and remastered cutscenes. One of these scenes, the infamous Culling of Stratholme, was even shown off to the public and was met with glorious fanfare. This scene, however, is not actually in the game. There are reports of a tremendous amount of bugs, glitchy unit animations, and a lack of an online competitive ladder as well.
Along with retaining a paltry maximum of 12 controllable units and no competitive online ladder, there is a shocking amount of other missing features as well. No online clans, no custom campaign lobbies and no button remapping from an in-game menu are just a few of the alarming concerns coming from vocal customers. These come with quite a shocking change to the EULA concerning the creation of custom maps as well. Right from the top of paragraph 1. “Custom games are and shall remain the sole property of Blizzard.” It goes on to clarify that it owns all things you create within its map-making tool. While a predictable clause, it comes as a shock to many hoping to take inspiration from Icefrog, the creator of the wildly popular Defense of the Ancients or “DOTA.”
It is quite has been quite the rocky road for the world-famous development studio as of late. After turning the tables on the infamous Blitzchung Hearthstone scandal with the runaway hit of World of Warcraft Classic, it would seem Blizzard would be in prime position to regain some lost love with this new remastering of another masterpiece. With this latest blunder, however, it spells bad news for the devs already on thin ice. Warcraft 3 Reforged is set to be in the newest stable of esports featured at Blizzcon this year, so it seems they will need to really crank out the patches before the players abandon this game entirely.
