Me, however, being the lover of all things true and fair, feel it would be wrong to withhold such great news from the community! So, we might not be getting Overgrowth, but instead, we will see our beloved Turner and his furry pals appear in the absolutely best game in the world!
Blizzard acquires the Overgrowth license, Phoenix engine, game content and related copyrights
This morning, Mike Morhaime of Blizzard Entertainment® announced that Blizzard have bought the Overgrowth franchise from Wolfire Software, with the intention of incorporating the technology of the Phoenix engine into World of Warcraft®, its subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG).
"We are thrilled to be able to offer our devoted player base the addition of yet more exiting, groundbreaking content into World of Warcraft," says Morhaime, president of Blizzard Entertainment®. "Our intention is to provide our subscribers with a constant stream of surprising changes and unexplored, never-before seen gameplay aspects. We have worked hard to build upon nearly every aspect of World of Warcraft with the Burning Crusade and the Wrath of the Lich King, and it's gratifying to see that players and reviewers are enjoying the new content. The addition of the Phoenix engine will allow us to offer, among other things, new, exciting arena-based pvp, the addition of an anthropomorphic race, and a Furry Monk class to the lands of Azeroth."*
To fit the theme and gameplay mechanics of World of Warcraft, the Phoenix engine will be heavily modified and scaled. In the process, all real-world skill-based aspects and reflex- and precision-related gameplay will be removed, and replaced with the familiar point-and-click interface of World of Warcraft. This is to ensure that players are appropriately rewarded in the struggle to attain higher levels, and to mantain the newbie-friendly and balanced competitive aspects of World of Warcraft.
"No player should ever be made to feel that he is somehow a less proficient player than other players," says Morhaime. "We will work to ensure that in the World of Warcraft, it is not your actual skill or your hand-to-eye coordination that forms the basis of competition, but the time spent online!"
Furthermore, in order to remain true to the original artistic design of the World of Warcraft universe, all Overgrowth-specific units, models, environs and other placeables will be removed from the added content. "Among other things, this helps us ensure that no player can use the surroundings and environmental variations to gain an unfair advantage over other players," Morhaime explains. "We feel that this sort of exploitation of in-game is deeply unfair towards the type of players who favour a more straight-forward, repetetive style of player-versus-player combat. We want all kinds to feel welcome in the lands of Azeroth!"
"All in all, we feel that this move makes sense, both from a corporate, financial perspective, and from the viewpoint of the dedicated gamer. Sure, it might not be as good as another 10 levels, but hey, we'll get there eventually. And, as a World of Warcraft fan, you can look forward to Blizzard acquiring other game franchises in the near future, all to ensure that You, the gamer, will never have to launch another game again!"
--------------------------
* Upon further review by the balancing team of Blizzard's World of Warcraft developers, the addition of another class was shown to be too disruptive to the gameplay experience of new players. It also received a hailstorm of criticism from veteran players, who felt that another class would ruin the carefully maintained class balance of the game, and provide some players with the unfair advantage of a class that was less familiar in pvp to most veterans. Blizzard always aim to satisfy our players, so we decided to put the addition of the Furry Monk class on hold until further notice.
