[Column] Diablo 3: Reforging Game & Community with Reaper of Souls

SBFord

Diablo 3 has been both loved and hated by fans for the past eighteen months since release. In a new column, we take a look at what has caused the controversy and how Blizzard is looking to reclaim its fans with the Reaper of Souls expansion. Read on before heading to the comments to chat.

When it’s all said and done, Blizzard will make many, many players very happy with the Reaper of Souls expansion. Will it please all? Certainly and absolutely not. Sometimes haters do have to hate. But by and large, most in the community will be content with and excited about what has been done to Diablo 3, the third in a beloved series of games, none of which, for the record, was perfect at launch.

Read more of Suzie Ford's Diablo 3: Reforging Game & Community with Reaper of Souls.

Abcynth

I was always on the fence with this game.  I spent many an hour with Diablo II in my college days creating a LAN game and going at it for hours.  With the negative criticism from the start, I have steered clear of this game.  Hearing good things about the expansion, but then take it with a grain of salt because of all the other broken things that players are complaining about.  I loved Torchlight II, but never got that gritty feel that I used to get from D2.  I have seen sales for D3 as low as $25 for the holidays, just dont' know if its worth the investment if its only going to frustrate me.  Guess I should wait to see what people think about the expansion and if its really any better.

Terranah

Same as above.  I wanted to just play it as single player and enjoy it but from what I have read they give crappy rewards and the good stuff you have to buy.  I went Torchlight 2 instead.  It's not my favorite game, but I go back to it now and again and it's fun.

Warlyx

Originally posted by Suzie Ford
When it’s all said and done, Blizzard will make many, many players very happy with the Reaper of Souls expansion. Will it please all? Certainly and absolutely not. Sometimes haters do have to hate

I disagree here.....

 

the bomb that will make ppl mad is gonna be the Expansion price ....45$ is my guess....

Lobotomist

Fool me once shame on you , fool me twice shame on me

trancefate

I don't think your quote was a good choice. Many of us did continue to play and pray for a change, for me that was because I was promised PvP at launch. Guess what we still don't even have on the horizon 18 months out?  Glad I cut ties when I did.

 

P.S. To continue to play that game is to encourage Blizzard in their continued destruction of the market through pandering to availability and marketing not gameplay. The RMAH (along with blizzard intentionally tanking the gold auction house internally) was the largest travesty in gaming history, removing it does not rectify the millions the stole.

lostincombatfindings

I think D3 is the only adventure game out there. Much better than Dungeon Siege.

Can you infact belive that? The ONLY and I mean jesus ONLY adventure game out there is D3? I smell a conspiracy theory incoming.

Do you know how many games exists in the world to date? My honest bet is on Gazillion. That includes games on Ipads, Iphones, Gamecube Hell even tabletop games. Yeah Gazillion.

So what gives? Why has no developer dared challenge Blizzard to this date. Does Bioware believe Blizzard are BIg Bad Wolfs? Damn good fight in Karazhan btw. Or that they are included in the Axis of Evil? Does Bethesda believe Blizzard to be Corrupt? (God forbid).

 

So what friggin gives? Blizzard are decent ppl.  Automation did not get created because the creator was Evil. No. Because he was a genius. Geniuses tend to enjoy what they do. Period.

Ender4

The D3 debate can be summed up in one line. They made the game for fans of WoW, not fans of D2. The fans of D2 flipped out about that and the fans of WoW largely liked the game. Just like a lot of D1 fans didn't like D2 because it was made for the RPG crowd and not the dungeon hack crowd (there was tons of hate on D2 when it came out, I know because I was part of it~).

The expansion will sell big. I will not be buying it personally.

Maelzrael

I play D3 without useing the Ah and the game is awesome. However I'm only lvl 45ish on my wizard.. so that could explain my feelings >.>

Briansho

The mice shall click again!

Distopia

[mod edit]

 

 

After reading this post I decided to read the article. Which in turn has me at loss about your reaction.

While she did give Blizz some praise, she also spent a lot of time laying out the many critiques the game has received, as well as areas that were still not addressed.

I'm not quite sure how that correlates to a shill piece. As far as shoving anything down anyone's throat..Come on man, there's nothing being forced on you here.

 

winter

Suzzie if Blizzard is doing a "stellar job" why did it take them 12 years to release a game that's not really any better then most of the games that 4-6 years to release these days? 12 years is a awfully long time to wait for a game that's simply ok. Hell 18 months is a long time to wait just for 1 added class that's just a modified version on a class from 12 years ago, oh and a increase in monster power to go along with a increase in item power, give that a month or 2 and it all just wears off again like new car smell.

 "Stellar" no sorry I'd have to disagree Blizzard and D3 while I like both are not exactly living up to "stellar" expectations 

Asamof

Originally posted by Abcynth
I was always on the fence with this game.  I spent many an hour with Diablo II in my college days creating a LAN game and going at it for hours.  With the negative criticism from the start, I have steered clear of this game.  Hearing good things about the expansion, but then take it with a grain of salt because of all the other broken things that players are complaining about.  I loved Torchlight II, but never got that gritty feel that I used to get from D2.  I have seen sales for D3 as low as $25 for the holidays, just dont' know if its worth the investment if its only going to frustrate me.  Guess I should wait to see what people think about the expansion and if its really any better.

D2 faced tons of negativity and criticism on release as well. Stop basing your decisions on crappy internet opinions.

Yamota

Originally posted by Lobotomist
Fool me once shame on you , fool me twice shame on me

This. I haven't bought a Blizzard game since WoW and I never will.

boxsnd

There's a game called Path of Exile that offers everything a D2 player would dream of. Ladders (with a twist), PvE races and soon PvP tournaments, great character customization, build diversity, itemization, endgame, difficult hardcore mode, F2P but not P2W, much better community than diablo 3 or any other F2P game etc. Also the devs are great, they are very active in the community and release great patches every 2 weeks (new skills, build-enabling uniques etc.) Why should I give 30-40 bucks for an inferior product?

Arskaaa

Just me who find D3 lore shit?

Diablo turned female alien that looks red, thats really messed up.

Diablo in D1 and D2 was iconic badass hell demon what was actually scary.

and Cain was killed by butterfly witch...

so messed up.

Domocus

Great article, definitely summed up the problems with the game and the current critiques. I definitely consider myself one of the few that enjoy the game. While I don't play it often anymore, I've put quite a few hours into the game. These changes will definitely improve the game, and that's really all that matters.

Unknown

Didn't fully cover the issues left unresolved. The complexity is all gone. RoS is restoring some choices, but it will still be simpler than D2. The lore IS messed up seriously - that really can't be fixed. (Cain killed by butterflies? Tyreal is a whiner?)

 

Not buying RoS at release. Doubt I ever will, but time will tell. Currently, I'm playing D2 with the new ladder.

 

> Sometimes haters do have to hate.

 

and fanboys and fangirls have to be fans.

 

 

BearKnight

Impressive considering I was expecting an appologist article for Blizzard's developers. Instead I get a highly accurate list of why Diablo 3 is awful, and why Blizzard messed up so badly.

 

Unless they redesign the game from the ground up to follow Diablo 2 more, which is never going to happen, I'll never touch another Blizzard "SinglePlayer" game again. 

 

They need to learn that:

-"AlwaysOn" DRM is so unpopular it is considered a reason not to buy a product.

-Cartoony artstyle where said AryStyle has never been (ie: the style between Diablo, StarCraft, and Warcraft has always been different) will kill a product pretty hard from its previous incarnations. Let's face it, hardcore fans know that Blizzard was amazing once upon a time because they had three completely different art-style games going on which spoke to a broader audience by hitting three different areas at once. By bleeding WoW ArtStyle into StarCraft and Diablo franchises they ruined them completely. Fool me once Blizzard shame on you, fool me twice...I should stop waiting for a good "Blizzard" game as it's apparent that all the good devs left a long time ago.

kilun

Do people not remember prior to 1.10 and skill synergies how badly the majority of Diablo II played?  Necromancer were nothing more than Curse bots with skeletons and golems as just added lag in the cow level?

How about being nothing more than a Javazon while nearly everything else short of that was useless in the cow level?  Sure Hammerdins, Meterorb worked, but nothing had the sheer killing power there than a Javazon.  Lets not talk about Druids or Assassins prior to 1.10, both pretty much useless for the hardcore levelers in the cow level.

The majority of Diablo II players probably never did anything more than level a character to 99 by either cow or Baal runs.  While trading duped runes.

Regardless of how you played, the first 3 years of the game all got revamped and remade in 2003 with the introduction of 1.10.  I don't like a lot of D3, I can't stand the whole items are the only thing that matters portion of the game, but I think its still the most enjoyable ARPG.  If they could add PoE's timed races and a ladder type thing with that it would be even more enjoyable.

 

kilun

Originally posted by Jeger_Wulf

Didn't fully cover the issues left unresolved. The complexity is all gone. RoS is restoring some choices, but it will still be simpler than D2. The lore IS messed up seriously - that really can't be fixed. (Cain killed by butterflies? Tyreal is a whiner?)

 

Not buying RoS at release. Doubt I ever will, but time will tell. Currently, I'm playing D2 with the new ladder.

 

> Sometimes haters do have to hate.

 

and fanboys and fangirls have to be fans.

 

 

 

Complexity is gone?  From what D2?  So maxing one skill (Javazon for example) and smoking everything going balls to the walls with Lightning Facets etc isn't complexity.  Enough strength and dex for gear and rest Vitality is the majority of players who played D2.

Yes, there are alternative methods people can use, but that's for variation play.  I am not saying I don't want more variation, because I would love it, but to say D2 is complex is not even the case.

To be honest, D3 probably has more variation in skill sets at endgame than D2 ever had.  How many Barbarians did you play?  I can imagine nearly everyone who liked the class played 3 variants: Warcry, Whirlwind, and Frenzy.  How about a Stun/Bash barbarian?  Concentrate?  Leap Attacker?  I can go on. 

Now with that, the items in D2 added loads more functionality allowing cross class skills.  Werebear-Every-other-class as well as aura's allowed many alternative routes to go.  Something that could be easily fixed by adding some kind of cross-class skills.  Maybe specific skills with specific runes attached.

Alumicard

Diablo 3 RoS, changing your endgame area name from Inferno mp10 into Torment 6.  Also, so far the trifecta crit chance,crit dmg and atk speed  got reduced to 2 stats, atk speed and crushing blow. Torment 6 boss got killed with 300k dps and crushing blow in less than 5 min.

It took less than 2 days before the first char was leveld from 1 to 70. Less than a week to beat Torment 6. If 30-50 hours are worth it for you then buy it but dont expect more than that.

edit: I forgot, in D2 you were able to trade freely. In D3 RoS you can not trade the good stuff.

dominia

The foundation for Diablo 3 is wonderful. Great graphics, physics, world and story, and I think Blizzard really hit the mark with the visceral feeling of smashing demons with a hammer, really (really!) hard. The game just feels and plays good.

 

The changes in RoS are progressive and fix many of the problems with the initial release. I really don't see all the needless hate for the expansion when the people who have played it love it.

 

The only complaints seem to be the speed of which you hit the cap at endgame and that is now much more easily fixed than before. Quests+Rifts add much greater possibilities for future end game content than continuous farming.

 

The game is markedly better than at release and is now flat out better than D2.

 

 

 

FlawSGI

Originally posted by Distopia

Originally posted by FlawSGI

Really!?  Another Ford article about the greatness of D3 and how we need to admit that the people at Blizzard are doing a good job? I guess it is time to add an editor to my list of people to ignore. While I can agree with some of her points, maybe she needs to quit trying to shove D3 down our throats and just get over the fact that people out there do not like the game. If I didn't believe the editors of this site were shills before now I really am starting to wonder....

 

 

After reading this post I decided to read the article. Which in turn has me at loss about your reaction.

While she did give Blizz some praise, she also spent a lot of time laying out the many critiques the game has received, as well as areas that were still not addressed.  I read the article in the context that this was the 3rd fluff piece in less than 2 weeks from the same staff member. It opens by stating the greatness of Blizz as the top dog, followed by a history lesson , then continues to point out that despite the outrage Blizzard is super successful. After that we get a bullet point on all of the stuff the expansion is adding that does address complaints made but fails to address others that were listed, and the column is finished up with a sweeping genralization stating that haters gotta hate and how by and large the majority of the community will be content. 

I'm not quite sure how that correlates to a shill piece. As far as shoving anything down anyone's throat..Come on man, there's nothing being forced on you here. It correlates in that it reads like a column that is written as an answer to the backlash from the last 2 collumns and attempts to sell the product to us. I perceived it as being shoved down my throat because she is a staff member and this is the 3rd column on D3 since November 21'st. Just because I am not being forced to read it does not mean it cannot be perceived as being pushed on me since she is a staff member on a site I generally enjoy reading things from and I am sorry if I took notice that it was the same staff member who wrote all of them.

 

 

Solar_Prophet

Originally posted by boxsnd
There's a game called Path of Exile that offers everything a D2 player would dream of. Ladders (with a twist), PvE races and soon PvP tournaments, great character customization, build diversity, itemization, endgame, difficult hardcore mode, F2P but not P2W, much better community than diablo 3 or any other F2P game etc. Also the devs are great, they are very active in the community and release great patches every 2 weeks (new skills, build-enabling uniques etc.) Why should I give 30-40 bucks for an inferior product?

While the game does have ladders & races, it has little to no build diversity. Due to the inflexibility of the skill system, unless you have a ton of time to constantly reroll characters because your particular 'build' sucks at endgame, you follow a template. Period.

While the passive tree certainly looks impressive, most of it is simply attribute increases. There are very few skills available which are 'game changers'. It has a nice veneer of complexity, but once you dive in it's about as shallow as a kiddie pool. GGG could easily cut it down to 1/3 its current size without a problem, except then it would look as shallow and simplistic as it really is. Sorry, but I like actual complexity, not just the appearance of it.

The gem skill system, while interesting at times, is nothing more than a carbon copy of the system from the game Sacred. It can also be very frustrating because on top of looking for desirable stats on gear, you need the correct colored sockets. Having to 'find' skills can be fun when you actually get one, but most of the time it's just irritating.

Not even going to mention the buggy netcode or the desync issues which make hardcore play challenging for all the wrong reasons.

The combat is incredibly clunky, and usually involves spamming a single skill over and over again with little thought for anything but your mana pool.

Don't get me wrong, PoE is a decent game which I do play from time to time, but putting it over D3 is laughable at best. There's a reason it's free, and you get what you pay for.

Oh, and people still don't complain about the fact it uses the same DRM D3 uses. The fact that it's 'free' should not have an effect on whether or not that kind of DRM is acceptable, period. But then again, this isn't a Blizzard game so it's okay, am I right?

FlawSGI

Originally posted by dominia

The foundation for Diablo 3 is wonderful. Great graphics, physics, world and story, and I think Blizzard really hit the mark with the visceral feeling of smashing demons with a hammer, really (really!) hard. The game just feels and plays good.

 

The changes in RoS are progressive and fix many of the problems with the initial release. I really don't see all the needless hate for the expansion when the people who have played it love it.

 

The only complaints seem to be the speed of which you hit the cap at endgame and that is now much more easily fixed than before. Quests+Rifts add much greater possibilities for future end game content than continuous farming.

 

The game is markedly better than at release and is now flat out better than D2.

 

 

 

I can agree with your opinions about what the game did right. There are some of us out there that hope the game turns it around, but for me the expansion is a pass based on the information we have on it now. Most of the added stuff is in fact just fixes for the stuff the developers screwed up the first time. As far as basing my opinions on the information form those that have tried it... well I bought 2 copies because of that and boy was I disappointed so I am a little more careful regarding glowing reviews and fan feedback.