Blizzard's Rob Pardo: Titan team is 100 people strong

In a recent interview, Rob Pardo was asked about the Titan MMO project.

He didn't provide any juicy details but he did say that the team was 100 people strong now and that you shouldn't expect anything info from them soon.

As for me, I think a 100-people team is a bit too small for an MMO. A WoW expansion project has over 150 people, whereas The Old Republic had large number of developers behind it. Now, I have no info whatsoever regarding Guild Wars 2's number of developers, but I am pretty there were many of them, more than a hundred.

Personally, I think part of the problem is that Blizzard is just too picky when it comes to recruiting people.

Part of what problem exactly?

You just mentioned SWTOR.. and a large team.. and look how that game turned out. It basically has no endgame, barren worlds.. so on.. with a record-setting budget. I haven't liked Blizzard lately, but I commend them for vanilla WoW + TBC. I think they know what they're doing with 100 people; let's hope.. It isn't uncharacteristic for dev teams to grow over the course of the development cycle. That number could end up to be 150 or even 200. Right now, their priority is World of Warcraft.Elann2008

1 talented programmer can overshadow dozens of code monkeys. Zubinen

Part of what problem exactly?

timma25

[QUOTE="Zubinen"]1 talented programmer can overshadow dozens of code monkeys. Ravenshout

How do you know that they are not? Not to mention there are pros to having a smaller group. Does this mean the smaller group will do well? not necessarily, but it could.

[QUOTE="timma25"]

Part of what problem exactly?

Ravenshout

That's not necessarily a problem. If a company as big as blizzard has a relatively small team working on something, it's because they choose to have a small team. It's not a problem. And the size of a dev team doesn't correlate directly to the quality of the game. If Blizzard is working on something, and it turns out great, team size doesn't matter. If it turns out crappy, having more people working on it wouldn't have made a difference.

[QUOTE="Ravenshout"]

[QUOTE="timma25"]

Part of what problem exactly?

the_bi99man

That's not necessarily a problem. If a company as big as blizzard has a relatively small team working on something, it's because they choose to have a small team. It's not a problem. And the size of a dev team doesn't correlate directly to the quality of the game. If Blizzard is working on something, and it turns out great, team size doesn't matter. If it turns out crappy, having more people working on it wouldn't have made a difference.

[QUOTE="the_bi99man"]

[QUOTE="Ravenshout"] The problem of having such a small development team after all these years.

Ravenshout

That's not necessarily a problem. If a company as big as blizzard has a relatively small team working on something, it's because they choose to have a small team. It's not a problem. And the size of a dev team doesn't correlate directly to the quality of the game. If Blizzard is working on something, and it turns out great, team size doesn't matter. If it turns out crappy, having more people working on it wouldn't have made a difference.

That's not impossible. Unlikely, perhaps. But not impossible. Braid and Minecraft were both originally developed by a single person. And 100 people... That's more than enough to make an amazing, AAA, high budget game. If they're good, and have enough time.

[QUOTE="Ravenshout"]

[QUOTE="the_bi99man"]

That's not necessarily a problem. If a company as big as blizzard has a relatively small team working on something, it's because they choose to have a small team. It's not a problem. And the size of a dev team doesn't correlate directly to the quality of the game. If Blizzard is working on something, and it turns out great, team size doesn't matter. If it turns out crappy, having more people working on it wouldn't have made a difference.

the_bi99man

That's not impossible. Unlikely, perhaps. But not impossible. Braid and Minecraft were both originally developed by a single person. And 100 people... That's more than enough to make an amazing, AAA, high budget game. If they're good, and have enough time.

1 talented programmer can overshadow dozens of code monkeys. Zubinen

[QUOTE="the_bi99man"]

[QUOTE="Ravenshout"] According to your logic then, a single person can create a great game.

Ravenshout

That's not impossible. Unlikely, perhaps. But not impossible. Braid and Minecraft were both originally developed by a single person. And 100 people... That's more than enough to make an amazing, AAA, high budget game. If they're good, and have enough time.

Kay... sounds like a solid group. Are you still trying to say that 100 people isn't enough to make a quality game?

Doesn't seem small to me. Let's remember that Blizzard is still working on Starcraft 2 and they just released Diablo 3 and Mists of Pandaria. Titan is probably at least 5 years away especially since WoW is still making decent money for Blizzard. They're not going to release a new MMO to compete with WoW as long as it's making money for them, no need to compete with themselves.

[QUOTE="timma25"]

Part of what problem exactly?

Ravenshout

In a recent interview, Rob Pardo was asked about the Titan MMO project.

He didn't provide any juicy details but he did say that the team was 100 people strong now and that you shouldn't expect anything info from them soon.

As for me, I think a 100-people team is a bit too small for an MMO. A WoW expansion project has over 150 people, whereas The Old Republic had large number of developers behind it. Now, I have no info whatsoever regarding Guild Wars 2's number of developers, but I am pretty there were many of them, more than a hundred.

Personally, I think part of the problem is that Blizzard is just too picky when it comes to recruiting people.

Ravenshout

Size of development team=!High quality product.

100 talented programmers with a good engine can outshine 300 code monkeys with a buggy and unfinished engine.

The reason its taking so long is because WoW is still getting expansions and blizzard is not bothering to hire extra people, they will solely migrate MOP's staff across to titan unless there's another xpac in the works.

In a recent interview, Rob Pardo was asked about the Titan MMO project.

He didn't provide any juicy details but he did say that the team was 100 people strong now and that you shouldn't expect anything info from them soon.

As for me, I think a 100-people team is a bit too small for an MMO. A WoW expansion project has over 150 people, whereas The Old Republic had large number of developers behind it. Now, I have no info whatsoever regarding Guild Wars 2's number of developers, but I am pretty there were many of them, more than a hundred.

Personally, I think part of the problem is that Blizzard is just too picky when it comes to recruiting people.

Ravenshout

I dont think you can be too picky when you recruit people. Blizzard has grossed record profits, made well-receives games, and more, for over a decade now.

I think part of the problem is that Blizzard is just too picky when it comes to recruiting people.Ravenshout

I'd be more scared to know Kalgan is on it than knowing the size of the team is too small.

Who gives a **** about some casual MMO trash. I want to hear about StarCraft II.SKaREO

[QUOTE="SKaREO"]Who gives a **** about some casual MMO trash. I want to hear about StarCraft II.Ravenshout

[QUOTE="Ravenshout"]

[QUOTE="SKaREO"]Who gives a **** about some casual MMO trash. I want to hear about StarCraft II.the_ChEeSe_mAn2

[QUOTE="the_bi99man"]

[QUOTE="Ravenshout"] The problem of having such a small development team after all these years.

Ravenshout

That's not necessarily a problem. If a company as big as blizzard has a relatively small team working on something, it's because they choose to have a small team. It's not a problem. And the size of a dev team doesn't correlate directly to the quality of the game. If Blizzard is working on something, and it turns out great, team size doesn't matter. If it turns out crappy, having more people working on it wouldn't have made a difference.