Blizzard’s Warcraft 3: Reforged apology has kind of been issued, and it’s not going over well with fans who are still angry over the controversy swirling around what was supposed to be an easy and pleasant launch. Warcraft 3: Reforged is meant to be an improved variant of the 2002 RTS classic that played a crucial role in expanding esports while also producing the lore and backbone for World of Warcraft’s greatest heroes and villains, chief among them the downfall of Arthas that plays out over the game’s narrative.

Unfortunately, though the announcement of a remade Warcraft 3 was dreamlike, the release has been much closer to a waking nightmare for Blizzard. The game was immediately lambasted by fans who were struggling with a slew of different graphical issues, bugs, and more, while even those who were enjoying themselves through the campaign lamented the loss of other crucial features like ladder and clan systems. Through it all, Warcraft 3: Reforged broke the wrong kind of records for user review scores and had fans turning their back on the project. For a company that just recently surprised the industry with the sublime launch of WoW Classic, it was an even more curious case of being incapable of following through on the promise of a remastered version of one of the greatest games of all time.

Late yesterday, Warcraft 3: Reforged community manager Kaivax took to the Blizzard forums to finally issue something akin to an apology to players. Consumers have been confused about Blizzard’s stance on the game since the many issues plaguing it have been unaddressed publicly while the game is now set up to be instantly refunded by Blizzard, indicating the developer is well aware of Warcraft 3: Reforged’s flaws. In the post, Kaivax stated that the company was sorry to those who “didn’t have the experience you wanted,” before launching into the team’s long-term plans for the game. The apology outlines several upcoming patch features that will help improve game performance while defending the decision to leave cutscenes as they were. Kainax also had this to say about the online features, comparing the plan for Warcraft 3: Reforged to the one that the company instituted with StarCraft: Remastered:

Predictably, the apology has not gone over well, as forum users have commented on the post criticizing the fact that it outright ignores some people’s campaign concerns, especially those related to custom game-making and Blizzard’s change of policy that now means the company owns all of them. There are others still who believe the post does very little in accepting blame for the situation and instead tries to justify Warcraft 3: Reforged’s problems as worth it in the long run.

“[Leaderboards and clans] and other features will be included in a major patch for Reforged, which will also address the issue for players of the original game. We’ll share release plans as work progresses in the coming weeks - please be assured that the team is hard at work on standing these features up.”

While some of the game’s flaws were known before it launched, the fact that Warcraft 3: Reforged is missing crucial features like ladder and clans - and is retroactively impacting players still using the classic version as a result - is frankly unacceptable. Blizzard apologies have been lacking recently and this one continues the trend, and it will be interesting to see just how many consumers plan to stick with a game that is still fundamentally great after such a mediocre attempt to address the community.

Next: Warcraft 3: Reforged Review - All Work Work, No Play

Source: Blizzard Forums