I played my first "Blizzard" game when I was like 10. Lost Vikings on the SNES. After that, I dipped into Warcraft 3, but it'll be 20 years next year that I started World of Warcraft. You guys changed my life. I can honestly say I am who I am because of your artwork.
Man I resonate with that last sentence. I decided to become an artist literally because of Sam's work in the WC3 manual. I flicked through a few pages then immediately bought the collectors edition so i could get the artbook. Poured over that sucker for months drawing all the orcish goodness and then knew that this was the way forth...
Thanks for all your amazing contributions over the years. My first Blizzard game was Warcraft 3 and i remember seeing the box with the huge snarling orc head and thinking how awesome that was. I also used to love flipping through the manual and reading all the lore of the races and admiring Metzens and your art.
Wow its crazy that you invented (with your team) the angel and devil holding the globes for the health and mana interface for Diablo. To this day I think every ARPG uses that aesthetic and art style to some degree with some sort of humanoid holding a globe.
You’re right, Sammy! We had Tracer in Heroes about a month before OW launched. Was really fun collaborating on how to do that well alongside their team.
/salute Sam you are really something special, it's not just that Blizzard gave you the chance back then, it was a give and take. What you brought to the table and the influence you left behind from your human side alone, but also your art and style cannot be put into words, you have my deepest respect. As an old school gamer I look at a lot of games critically and basically I just want the best because in the end we want good games but it's really hard to reconcile these talented passionate people. Many of them are either not complete in the team and you can always tell that one or more areas of the game are suffering because the essence is missing. It is not enough just to have talent and passion, you also need the skills to implement them. Unfortunately, there are very few companies in the world that have achieved this package. And from personal observation from my environment it didn't look any better when I studied programming and game design, there were also people from the fields of audio and graphics, I expected that during my studies I would meet the same passionate people in their respective fields as I did, unfortunately I was taught better that people with heart, talent, passion, competence and discipline are absolutely not a matter of course, even if you study something so specific. I want to thank you for taking the time to share something from your world with us. Your knowledge but also your positive words and impulses. I am happy for every book and video you publish. I wish you a long healthy positive life Sam. Someday when you have white hair we can officially call you Sam the Wise like Gandalf Your sincerely Atakan Demir A.K.D
My first Blizz memory was playing Warcraft 3 at a cyber cafe in 2003/2004~ish. My life has changed in every possible direction thanks to that game. I met friends, best friends, people that now I consider family, I studied and now I'm a full time programmer... Thanks for all your work man. Happy birthday Blizzard!
Hey Sam! Juan Diego from Peru here! I just wanted to say that you were one of my inspiration to do art when I was young. When I saw the art for warcraft 3 and a lot of your drawings I started studying and learning a lot to do stuff like you and the people in Blizzard. Actually, once I send a comic to Blizzard for a contest and I won a poster with your signature, and is one the most valuable things I have now. Some years later, I entered more drawing contests made by Blizzard (with amazing artists) to keep pushing myself. I never win, but I learned a lot and had a lot of fun. Funny thing is that I started working on animacion and videogames since then, and now I'm working for disney and other big companies. My dream is always work something for Blizzard, so I'm still in the way. Finding you on this platform makes me feel I can be with one of my heroes and draw with you, so I'm glad you are here. Thanks for everything you've done for the IPs we love, and thanks for being an inspiration for my younger self! :) I hope one day I can meet you in person! haha
ALTM. ALWAYS LISTEN TO MOM. Great vid, I can never get enough of these retrospective anecdotes, its amazing how a company and team can be so influential and even instrumental in shaping your life to a degree through the games, lore, vibes and community. Raising a big tankard to you Sam for all your work through those years! Shout out to your mom too for making it happen! Also, we need a SOTS reunion vid!🤘🤘
I don't know why but I got goosebumps when u painted the elf lady. I thought it was a Night Elf but the purple hero hue reminded me of Sylvanas in Warcraft 3. Great vid as always
Heroes of the Storm artwork is A-mazing. There were skins and aethetics I wish were in some of those core games you guys did in HotS. As a Blizz fan from War2 Tides I loved it. Been following yalls stuff since the Sons of the Storm site came up when I was a kid.
It's been quite a journey, your art was indispensable in the success and crafting of these IPs. Hard to imagine what blizzard would of been without you
Sam would you be interested in doing a series where you go through the Blizzard games chronologically and talk about them? Like a kind of time capsule. Like when Uncle Samwise opens his old photo album and tells something from the past and history and we listen curiously and learn. I personally would be extremely interested in how people were back then, how the world was perceived, how Blizzard approached development, so that you understand the essence of what the mentality of the world and Blizzard was like and how people approached things at the time with technology and personal know-how? If so, can you also talk about the games that were canceled? There was a strategy game that was canceled I think post apocalypse and later the adventure game of warcraft and starcraft ghost and finally project titan which was supposed to be a kind of diablo destiny if it doesn't cause any legal problems. I would be interested in your opinion as a developer of the time but also from your gamer point of view. Especially the games up to World of Warcraft Vanilla/tbc/wotlk. I just wanted to ask in a friendly way if it is possible.
Thanks for all your seminal work over the years Samwise. Your art meant alot to me growing up (and still does ofcourse). I've spent countless hours looking at it in manuals, magazines, artbooks, ingame (obviously) and on the Sons of the Storm website. I have found memories interacting with you in the comments section on SotS and getting your approval for my first vanilla WoW character's name Drak'zhor (orc shaman). As a Swede I've always loved your Hammerfall art aswell ;)
I want to ask you for a suggestion if one day you can draw the Terran-Protoss Hybrid (Gestalt Zero) from the Gestalt Project of Blizzard novels and comics, interesting story deserves a trailer or an expansion
It was really wonderful listening to your trip down memory lane. When I was a kid I wanted to make art for video games lol. I remember seeing your art when I was first getting into WoW back in 07 (WoW was my first Blizzard game) and it was really cool and then all these years later I only just learned you have a TH-cam channel! Your story was awesome and your art is still amazing! Thanks for sharing! I really wish I could draw Orcs and Draenei as well as you do. They are my favorite WoW races to draw.
Love stories like these from the past. Can you maybe sometime tell the story, if there is one, about how Blizzard got to your DnD character name to be the name for the game, Warcraft.
Quality wasn't there at the end of the game, but in defense it wasn't completely finished. Blizzard still had aspirations at the time and canceled it, partly because other adventure games like grim fartago? had already been released in 3d and better, so they didn't necessarily want to become nr2 or 3. Art style and story were great but in the end you realized something was missing. You can see people playing this game somewhere on youtube now but they show the perfect run but especially when you play it new you have to think a lot and get back and forth because the mood has to be kept like in the classics before from Lucas arts games. The same thing unfortunately happened with starcraft ghost the game itself would be great for a game of the ps2 Xbox era but their bad luck was that the Xbox 360 ps3 era started and for that it was already outdated or not developed yet the game had extreme potential especially because it came from the Robot Arms people.
I loved the hand drawn item graphics in Diablo 1. It made the game feel more magical sci-fi and each item felt unique, especially the rare and high end items. I remember when Diablo 2 came out and it had gone in a totally different direction with more photo realistic scanned-in stuff and it just looked boring to me in comparision, it was not until the mid and end game that the items became interesting to look at.
I played my first "Blizzard" game when I was like 10. Lost Vikings on the SNES. After that, I dipped into Warcraft 3, but it'll be 20 years next year that I started World of Warcraft. You guys changed my life. I can honestly say I am who I am because of your artwork.
Lost Vikings was my first too! But I learned some time after WarCraft 2 that it was made by Blizzard :) Samwise artwork was the best! (still is)
Man I resonate with that last sentence. I decided to become an artist literally because of Sam's work in the WC3 manual. I flicked through a few pages then immediately bought the collectors edition so i could get the artbook. Poured over that sucker for months drawing all the orcish goodness and then knew that this was the way forth...
Thanks for all your amazing contributions over the years.
My first Blizzard game was Warcraft 3 and i remember seeing the box with the huge snarling orc head and thinking how awesome that was. I also used to love flipping through the manual and reading all the lore of the races and admiring Metzens and your art.
Wow its crazy that you invented (with your team) the angel and devil holding the globes for the health and mana interface for Diablo. To this day I think every ARPG uses that aesthetic and art style to some degree with some sort of humanoid holding a globe.
You’re right, Sammy! We had Tracer in Heroes about a month before OW launched. Was really fun collaborating on how to do that well alongside their team.
/salute
Sam you are really something special, it's not just that Blizzard gave you the chance back then, it was a give and take. What you brought to the table and the influence you left behind from your human side alone, but also your art and style cannot be put into words, you have my deepest respect. As an old school gamer I look at a lot of games critically and basically I just want the best because in the end we want good games but it's really hard to reconcile these talented passionate people. Many of them are either not complete in the team and you can always tell that one or more areas of the game are suffering because the essence is missing. It is not enough just to have talent and passion, you also need the skills to implement them. Unfortunately, there are very few companies in the world that have achieved this package. And from personal observation from my environment it didn't look any better when I studied programming and game design, there were also people from the fields of audio and graphics, I expected that during my studies I would meet the same passionate people in their respective fields as I did, unfortunately I was taught better that people with heart, talent, passion, competence and discipline are absolutely not a matter of course, even if you study something so specific.
I want to thank you for taking the time to share something from your world with us. Your knowledge but also your positive words and impulses. I am happy for every book and video you publish. I wish you a long healthy positive life Sam. Someday when you have white hair we can officially call you Sam the Wise like Gandalf
Your sincerely
Atakan Demir A.K.D
My first Blizz memory was playing Warcraft 3 at a cyber cafe in 2003/2004~ish. My life has changed in every possible direction thanks to that game. I met friends, best friends, people that now I consider family, I studied and now I'm a full time programmer...
Thanks for all your work man. Happy birthday Blizzard!
Hey Sam! Juan Diego from Peru here! I just wanted to say that you were one of my inspiration to do art when I was young.
When I saw the art for warcraft 3 and a lot of your drawings I started studying and learning a lot to do stuff like you and the people in Blizzard. Actually, once I send a comic to Blizzard for a contest and I won a poster with your signature, and is one the most valuable things I have now. Some years later, I entered more drawing contests made by Blizzard (with amazing artists) to keep pushing myself. I never win, but I learned a lot and had a lot of fun.
Funny thing is that I started working on animacion and videogames since then, and now I'm working for disney and other big companies. My dream is always work something for Blizzard, so I'm still in the way.
Finding you on this platform makes me feel I can be with one of my heroes and draw with you, so I'm glad you are here. Thanks for everything you've done for the IPs we love, and thanks for being an inspiration for my younger self! :) I hope one day I can meet you in person! haha
ALTM. ALWAYS LISTEN TO MOM. Great vid, I can never get enough of these retrospective anecdotes, its amazing how a company and team can be so influential and even instrumental in shaping your life to a degree through the games, lore, vibes and community. Raising a big tankard to you Sam for all your work through those years! Shout out to your mom too for making it happen! Also, we need a SOTS reunion vid!🤘🤘
I don't know why but I got goosebumps when u painted the elf lady. I thought it was a Night Elf but the purple hero hue reminded me of Sylvanas in Warcraft 3. Great vid as always
I still remember playing starcraft for the first time. Man...the feelings. Only love for these works, only love.
Heroes of the Storm artwork is A-mazing. There were skins and aethetics I wish were in some of those core games you guys did in HotS. As a Blizz fan from War2 Tides I loved it. Been following yalls stuff since the Sons of the Storm site came up when I was a kid.
The work on Starcraft 2 still keeps new people coming to play it. Expansions are needed if one day they want to continue the UED, it would be great.
It's been quite a journey, your art was indispensable in the success and crafting of these IPs. Hard to imagine what blizzard would of been without you
Man, I could watch this stuff for a while. Thanks for ABCing most of my gaming life Samwise.
33 years, insane, I play warcraft since 2010 when Cataclysm released. Was the best experience for me when I was a kid
I spent way too much time playing Diablo while growing up and the art style was a big part of that. Thank you for the stories as well as the artwork.
Sam would you be interested in doing a series where you go through the Blizzard games chronologically and talk about them? Like a kind of time capsule. Like when Uncle Samwise opens his old photo album and tells something from the past and history and we listen curiously and learn. I personally would be extremely interested in how people were back then, how the world was perceived, how Blizzard approached development, so that you understand the essence of what the mentality of the world and Blizzard was like and how people approached things at the time with technology and personal know-how? If so, can you also talk about the games that were canceled? There was a strategy game that was canceled I think post apocalypse and later the adventure game of warcraft and starcraft ghost and finally project titan which was supposed to be a kind of diablo destiny if it doesn't cause any legal problems. I would be interested in your opinion as a developer of the time but also from your gamer point of view. Especially the games up to World of Warcraft Vanilla/tbc/wotlk. I just wanted to ask in a friendly way if it is possible.
Thanks for all your seminal work over the years Samwise. Your art meant alot to me growing up (and still does ofcourse). I've spent countless hours looking at it in manuals, magazines, artbooks, ingame (obviously) and on the Sons of the Storm website. I have found memories interacting with you in the comments section on SotS and getting your approval for my first vanilla WoW character's name Drak'zhor (orc shaman).
As a Swede I've always loved your Hammerfall art aswell ;)
Except you can't use apostrophe (') in your WoW character's name.
Awesome to hear some retropective directly from you, thanks for all the art involved and that you are did not disappear from fans spotlight
I want to ask you for a suggestion if one day you can draw the Terran-Protoss Hybrid (Gestalt Zero) from the Gestalt Project of Blizzard novels and comics, interesting story deserves a trailer or an expansion
It was really wonderful listening to your trip down memory lane. When I was a kid I wanted to make art for video games lol. I remember seeing your art when I was first getting into WoW back in 07 (WoW was my first Blizzard game) and it was really cool and then all these years later I only just learned you have a TH-cam channel!
Your story was awesome and your art is still amazing! Thanks for sharing!
I really wish I could draw Orcs and Draenei as well as you do. They are my favorite WoW races to draw.
I remember that day, but as I drove by, I saw you standing on a corner leaning up against post !
Blackthorne to this day is still in my top 5 GOAT games
Love stories like these from the past. Can you maybe sometime tell the story, if there is one, about how Blizzard got to your DnD character name to be the name for the game, Warcraft.
Dude! Your a LEGEND!
You nailed down Frank Pearce voice, that's for sure.
ABC!
.. ill always remember the real times.
resonant node peaking at around 600hz, 4 minutes in. guessing this is a smaller diaphragm mic, dynamic EQ will solve this
Hey Sam! Cheers! (beer mugs ding)
I cant believe I share my birthday with blizzard, omg
Hey Panda the concept of Lilith came from you ??? We need part two of this saga 🎉🎉🎉🎉
Also, remember all the WIP art from "WarCraft: Adventures". I was stoked about the game, but then it just.. fell off?
Quality wasn't there at the end of the game, but in defense it wasn't completely finished. Blizzard still had aspirations at the time and canceled it, partly because other adventure games like grim fartago? had already been released in 3d and better, so they didn't necessarily want to become nr2 or 3. Art style and story were great but in the end you realized something was missing. You can see people playing this game somewhere on youtube now but they show the perfect run but especially when you play it new you have to think a lot and get back and forth because the mood has to be kept like in the classics before from Lucas arts games. The same thing unfortunately happened with starcraft ghost the game itself would be great for a game of the ps2 Xbox era but their bad luck was that the Xbox 360 ps3 era started and for that it was already outdated or not developed yet the game had extreme potential especially because it came from the Robot Arms people.
@@Atakan_Demir_A.K.D Thanks for the reply! Damn I had forgotten all about Ghost. What a trip down the memory lane!
I loved the hand drawn item graphics in Diablo 1. It made the game feel more magical sci-fi and each item felt unique, especially the rare and high end items. I remember when Diablo 2 came out and it had gone in a totally different direction with more photo realistic scanned-in stuff and it just looked boring to me in comparision, it was not until the mid and end game that the items became interesting to look at.
Miss you Sam! :)
Starcraft Is Amazing!
You are worthy...
good Hydralisk and Protoss
👍
Lost Vikings for Life
🤘
Man I love HotS. Shame they put it on skeleton crew :\