Lochlin Broatch

E-commerce Swiss Army Knife. Lapsed Musician. Hockey, MTG, Nerd stuff. A Bad Left Wing and even worse Goalie on the weekends.

[Lochlin Broatch @thelocker]

@redoorlemontree Fantasy novels should follow children's books naming conventions from the 60s/70s. Either things. Like "There's a Dragon Eating My Kingdom!" Or "Zarthul assaults a princess" really helps us know when we're getting to the main plot point

[Lochlin Broatch @thelocker]

@AliceBunnyland2 Ohshit I just reread this and now realize you were not part of the interview. Proceed as you were

[Lochlin Broatch @thelocker]

@AliceBunnyland2 It was an interview setting. Turning to have a side conversation in that directly undermines a talking point the interviewee had is either intentionally degrading because you didn't want to hire them or extraordinary lack of social tact. You either meant this or have a skill gap.

[Lochlin Broatch @thelocker]

@memeslich @newbiedm I like this approach!

[Lochlin Broatch @thelocker]

@newbiedm What's a traditional combat? Like are we talking 1st, 2nd 3rd, 3.5 edition? I generally structure my "sessions" in 4 hour blocks and essentially have 3-5 "encounters". Combat can occasionally drag but no more then *good god just get the quest from the sage" can sometimes drag

[Lochlin Broatch @thelocker]

@pop_tartlet @markjaquith You could say it was a Mrs. Delivery

[Lochlin Broatch @thelocker]

@autumnsunflowrs Why are you dating your daughter?

[Lochlin Broatch @thelocker]

@NerseaVT Pizza pops

[Lochlin Broatch @thelocker]

@d_j_l2525 @chevys_abrasive @TicTocTick What the fuck are you doing? I also live in Winnipeg, make that much, and live very comfortably. If 125k isn't enough for you in this city you are living well past your means, it's a you problem.

[Lochlin Broatch @thelocker]

@johncrickett I don't rely on agents, as I hobby code, but it cannot review/tes/anything. This is immediately obvious the first time you get an error, YOU know the cause of the error, and you ask it to review/fix for you without giving it the answer.

[Lochlin Broatch @thelocker]

@tapir_worf Your on the internet. That's the whole explanation.

[Lochlin Broatch @thelocker]

As someone who actually uses AI, I am convinced the only people posting about AI are plants or 19 yearold kids in San Francisco that know about AI the way an average 18 yearold knew about the internet in 2005. They've created an MSN bot and think their hackers.

[Lochlin Broatch @thelocker]

@livingdevops It's a lot like NWO/Illuminati conspiracies. If the agents at the top are the bad actors we say they are, the current system works better for their nefarious plans then "the big bad thing that's coming". Economic disparity and wage slaving the population is pretty air tight.

[Lochlin Broatch @thelocker]

@ThePrimeagen So AI is like every other advancement in computing? My phone is infinitely more powerful then a windows 95 computer but that shit still turns on faster.

[Lochlin Broatch @thelocker]

@Gloomcie @FirebeardYT @Atakez Kind of the point? The point is all of us on classic/Hardcore/etc, DO!

[Lochlin Broatch @thelocker]

@FirebeardYT @Atakez Well said. I haven't touched retail since Cata, but the excessive accessibility/streamlining in Cata took away the "investment"/"earned" feelings from Classic. Id play through every expac if they kept the systems/pacing/structure of Classic-WoTLK

[Firebeard @FirebeardYT]

Speaking as a Classic (and Retail) player, I think this is the part people miss: Blizzard did improve retail. Objectively. Systems are cleaner, classes are smoother, content is more accessible. It’s just that those improvements were aimed at solving problems that Classic players never really thought existed in the first place.

Retail WoW isn’t worse because it’s sloppy or unfinished. It’s worse for us because it removes friction in places where friction was doing important work. Faster leveling, constant rewards, streamlined progression, UI elements telling you exactly where to go and what to do, those things make the game efficient, but they also turn it into something that feels transactional. You log in, you complete tasks, you log out. It’s a checklist, not a place.

And when people talk about nostalgia, I think that word gets used as a dismissal. This isn’t about wanting patch 1.12 talents forever or pretending the game was perfect in 2005. It’s about pace and consequence. In Classic, choices matter because they’re inconvenient to undo. You know the people on your server. You recognize names in trade chat. You walk places. You group up because you need other players, not because a system matched you with strangers and teleported you into a dungeon.

That friction is what creates stories. It’s what makes the world feel real. And over the years, retail WoW has very deliberately stripped that friction away in the name of accessibility, engagement metrics, and retention. From Blizzard’s perspective, that makes sense. From a Classic player’s perspective, it fundamentally changes what the game is.

So when the question is “why don’t these players come back to retail?”, the answer is kind of simple: retail is no longer trying to be the type of game we fell in love with. It’s not a failure of execution, it’s a difference in philosophy. And Classic exists because that older philosophy doesn’t really have a home anywhere else anymore.

[Lochlin Broatch @thelocker]

This lined up with me exactly. WoW-WoTLK all felt like improvements Ona the core game. I was absolutely hyped for a new world and the class combos of Cata, but it came tied to a complete overhaul of the core game system. Absolutely turned me off. Never went past my 10 hour intro

[exQUIZitely 🕹️ @exQUIZitely]

World of Warcraft was the last "modern" game I played. Its 2005 release (in Europe) felt like one of the biggest moments in gaming. I played until the end of Wrath of the Lich King and only dabbled in Cataclysm for a week or two before quitting. It had lost its magic and shifted from fun, immersive, friendly community and guilds to a competitive scene dominated by min-maxing, speed runs, parse hunting, and gearscore requirements - in a word: stress.

What was your journey with Blizzard’s biggest franchise like? Were you there at the very beginning? How long did you last?

Maybe I’m just overly nostalgic or too old now, but the original World of Warcraft felt great. I’m glad I got to experience it back then. Miss my good old mage...

[Lochlin Broatch @thelocker]

@JSRGN2 @yo_jaydee Diablo 1 was unapologetically gruesome/dark especially for it's time because there was still such a culture of "video games are for kids" so going hard was necessary to communicate "yes, adult, this game is for you". Meanwhile WoW was very much a Shepard of "Everyone can game"

[Lochlin Broatch @thelocker]

@yo_jaydee Because Diablo was a game for adults. And let's be honest, they softened the hell out of diablos tone at diablo 3.

[Lochlin Broatch @thelocker]

@BarryReallyCann @Sosowski If you've got the patience, it's helped me figure out architecture. Sure I have to build to break point then tear it down and start over, but it can be hard to visualize everything end to end from step one and being able to quickly reach your blind spot is extremely helpful.