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Diablo creator speaks out...has Blizzard arrogance reached new heights?
Illyssia
Member UncommonPosts: 1,507
Well, as we all know Diablo 3 released this year and did good with box sales, but has had problems with retaining that online player base.
In an interesting new interview Diablo creator David Brevik spoke from the heart:
I have very mixed emotions about it (laughs). On one hand I am sad that people haven’t enjoyed Diablo because it’s a love, a passion, and its obvious people still have a giant love and passion for Diablo and they are speaking out about it because they have such love for it. That makes me feel great.
I am sad because people are outraged and, you know, some of the decision they have made are not the decisions I would make and there have been changes in philosophy and that hasn’t gone over very well. I think in that way I am a little sad.
I am also a little happy, which I hate to say, it shows that the people that were involved in Diablo really did matter, and so I am happy that it has come to light that how talented that group was and how unique and special that group was. I am hoping that, as this happens very often in the industry, you see it with Call of Duty and things like that , when the people leave the game changes and it shows how critical people are in this industry.
Can read the full interview here...
Clearly he thinks that the business suits who run Blizzard now have blown it with Diablo 3.
Do you agree...feel free to post opinions.
Comments
Normally I love to jump in with random opinions, but this (and the reaction it generated) falls under my personal "never step in the middle of a domestic dispute" rule.
The response from Blizzard employee's who did work on D3 where verry unprofessional. http://i.imgur.com/mVhWE.png (NSFW!) Thoes are some of the responces he got. Thoes people are lucky they are not my employees. They wouldnt have a job right now. Personal attacks on someone who gave an opinion in a, shall we say nice? way is not tollerated in most professional companies. Thats why I think its not over. Blizzard may not make games the way they used to but thoes comments are being talked about in the gaming community and it doesnt look good for Blizzard.
Edit: My personal favorite is them trashing him for making hellgate:london. An easy cheapshot response is simply "Yea I made that. And you made D3 with a budget 100x the size I had. Whats your excuse?"
Iviory Tower syndrom, but who can blame them?
After all those people who build their ivory tower are the same who moan and *****.
To bad they can't hear your ***** all up there bathing in money.
The Gamer (as a total not individual) get what they PAY for.
If in 1982 we played with the current mentality, we would have burned down all the pac man games since the red ghost was clearly OP. Instead we just got better at the game.
Exactly.
I personally hate visiting incgamers website due to the obnoxious pop out ads and slow loading. So here's the direct youtube link for anyone interested:
Have to say that I tend to agree in a way. D3 felt pretty soulless and I regret paying a full price tag for it. Fool me once...
Seems to me that Blizzard might turn a turd into gold, but the gameplay they provided on the old days are gone.
No depth inside the game, they become junkfood play and jump into the next shit.
I remember playing their RTS games Warcraft 1 / 2 / 3 man i sometimes did a map totaly over as i wasnt happy the way i builded things xD.
These days its consume it in a few hours and never play again.
Something that you just dint do 1.5 decade ago.
If Blizzard doesnt change then Titan might not be that succesfull as they lost half their fans within 2 game releases.
D3 and MoP namely.
This happens with any original creators. The best games are the most passionate without deep corporate ties. I mean if you think of it this way. A start up company, limited funds but on a very passioante design streak will always make the best games, that's because those at the top of the pyramid are passionate about what they make.
When you add a buyout structure or deep corporate interest, the passionate ones are mid-range employees with privilages. Ultimately, the two tiers or corporate execs above them twist the decisions and MOST of those people don't even game. They only care about what sells. That in particular is why diablo 3 doesn't "feel" like diablo. It feels more like an orc bash fest.
Hellgate London, while it had its issues, was 10x the game that D3 was. D3 lacks a soul, it looks like Diablo, b ut it doesnt hold a candle to D1 or D2.
Very pathetic responses from the developers, perhaps they should learn to take constructive criticism from the people whose legacy they are defiling.
I enjoyed Aion more than I did D3..
The story seemed pretty good at first, but the characters made a mess of it. Voiceovers were shit, sorry, and completely ruined immersion. Boss fights were entirely different from what we saw in the first videos a couple of years back. But above all... The real life AH really ruined everything, imo, and though I had initially decided not to buy the game because of it, nostalgia forced my hand. I'm through with Blizzard. The amount of years it took to made this game... And this is what we get?
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
And I hate to say it, but Torchlight 1 & 2 are much better value and fun (for me). D3 is just not worth $60 for what it is, imo. I personally find it unprofessional to air company business like this. Every company/business has channels for providing criticism and feedback. Using media outlets is typically not the way.
It reminds me of the typical Georgia sports fan. Biggest fan in the world when UGA/Falcons/Hawks/etc... are doing well, biggest critic who knows better when they are not doing well...
Cheers!
MMO Vet since AOL Neverwinter Nights circa 1992. My MMO beat up your MMO. =S
he's been w 3 studios to my knowledge
Flagship, Turbine, Gazillion -- he's been at Gazillion for three years
the ftp Marvel mmo is supposed to be like diablo for gameplay so time will tell
EQ2 fan sites
1) D3 is a fun game and i like it much more than TL.
2) Blizz listens and change/add many things (see 1.04 patch). D3 is a BOX game ... they are developing to make players happy. It is not a MMO ... they don't owe it to anyone to add content (besides pvp which is promised). So far, the reaction to 1.04 (if you read the D3 forums) is pretty positive.
3) Why is it a problem if the game changes design philosophy? Everything changes. It is not like we want gaming to be stale. If you don't like the new direction, don't play it.
seems like Wilson will regret his facebook comment
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-08-21-marvel-heroes-dev-stands-by-diablo-1-and-2-creator-david-brevik-after-diablo-3-designer-says-f-that-loser
As the story developed last night Wilson came in for criticism for his apparent heavy-handed reaction to what was essentially a muted response from Brevik on the controversial Diablo 3.
A number of game developers took to Twitter to share their thoughts. Mark Kern, CEO of Firefall developer Red 5 and former Diablo 2 producer, said: "Gotta say, that Jay Wilson, never having been at Blizzard for D1 and D2 and never having met Dave Brevik, has no place to say what he did.
"Dave Brevik created 2 genre-busting, award winning, world-loved Diablo games. Jay Wilson has done ____ with Diablo 3. Fill in the blanks.
"Blizzard arrogance has reached new heights."
Eurogamer interviewed Brevik at Gamescom, and also asked him about Diablo 3. We will publish his response later today.
We've also asked Blizzard for comment but are yet to receive a response.
EQ2 fan sites
The nurturing arms of Blizzard?
Dave Brevik created two genre-redefining, award winning games that sparked a fanatical fanbase willing to wait twelve years just for the next installment in the series. He is a large part of the reason that Blizzard are who they are today, to say he has never done anything noteworthy is simply ignorant, to say the least.
He nurtured THEM during his time with the company, not the other way around.
Given the state of the gaming industry, the sheer number of high-quality games and the overall culture today as opposed to 10+ years ago when Diablo 2 came out, I suspect that if the Torchlight team had released the same game and called it Diablo 3 and gave it the same level of pre-release hype and marketing that D3 had, then they would have seen a similar amount of bashing of their game. The sheer amount of marketing and hype behind it meant far too many people had far too high an expectation of what to expect. People tend to forget alot of D2's features were patched it at a later date. Also, Brevik himself has created flops in this genre (Hellgate), so there may be a bit of "ivory tower" syndrome as someone else mentioned.
That's not to say Diablo 3 is a fantastic game, but its hardly an awful game. There are things about it I like (skill system), things I dislike (story) and things I despise (RMAH). People tend to blow things way out of proportion when looking to relive nostalgia. For examples, see every thread of this forum about the "glory days" of UO, EQ, AC or even classic WoW.
As an aside, Wilson's remarks were way out of line - private Facebook chat or no. Never burn bridges in the industry, simple as that.
Here here!
I was never a Diablo fan, but then I'm pretty solidly locked into one style of game only. But it's been very harmful to the industry as a whole that they ignore the people who succeeded and march on with their formulas based on other people's thinking. People who never did the success.
The old addage "good people are hard to find". The worst thing you can do is to luck into finding them, then turn them away in favor of statisticians and marketing geniouses trailing the coattails of their success. People who should be promoted are instead pushed out.
Once upon a time....
I just hope future StarCraft II expansions aren't affected with the same display of lackluster creativity and incompleteness. Yes, I still enjoy SC2.