All the PoE or GW talk is funny. D3 is sadly leaps and bounds better than almost every other action rpg out there. It's only competition from a technical standpoint is Marvel Heroes. While it may be even less popular than medieval competitors, it is simply way way better. Always new stuff coming out, always new heroes. The most maintained action rpg if nothing else. I still get bored with it fast, though.
D3 - DansGame. I never liked it. It's not my cup of tea compared to D2 or PoE. I just loved the farming in D2. The grind for runes and the moment you find a set piece you've been looking for for weeks or even months. D3 is way too meh.
Drain, bone projectiles, corpse explosion, curses, sounds exactly like the Necro from L2.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
D3 - DansGame. I never liked it. It's not my cup of tea compared to D2 or PoE. I just loved the farming in D2. The grind for runes and the moment you find a set piece you've been looking for for weeks or even months. D3 is way too meh.
The took complexity and depth out D3 - it's really what Blizzard has been doing in the last 10 years - making all their games simpler and accessible to a larger audience.
Look at Hearthstone - it's MTG-lite, look at D3 the complexity removed, look at WoW - it's been simplified, HoTS - MOBA-lite, Overwatch - FPS lite.
It's what Blizzard does nowdays, they make a super polished product that targets the huge casual playerbase - make it accessible to everyone and that means removing depth and complexity, because masses don't want that.
They're doing what a lot of businesses are doing, cutting down and charging more to increase profits.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
RIP Diablo. So glad I went back to GW2. Blizzard literally is incapable of listening to their fans. WoW Legacy servers, Nope. D2HD/D4, Nope. Blizzard will never get another dollar from me. Until people start speaking with their wallets, bullshit like this will continue to happen. Ill go support developers and publishers that actually give a shit. gg
I never understood the idea that Devs should listen to anyone when it comes to what they want to create, why would people want folks making things they don't want to make? There'd be no passion in it.
its this bizarre and complicated concept that the fans are customers and that you should build products and try to fulfill the wants of the people who buy your products....wait is a simple concept, however it is allowed to be ignored in game development because of asshats and kids proliferate the market who has no self control and who crap out money at any lousy product because they are starved for some decent entertainment.
the ironic part is I am sure you complain about every other type of company in the world but give these a pass. You can have passion but still create something your customers want, some day you will have a spine and be able to resist buying subpar retreads that result in you hoping games every other week.
The thing is fans become fans of Ip's based typically on the first installment. As well as the new installments that follow (unless the magic is lost)... That's because it's the truest form of creative passion, it's not an attempt to pander to vocal demands. Feeling like a slave to the status quo of what's expected, sucks the passion away from creativity. It's rather simple as well.
As for that last part, no; when it comes to creative freedom I feel that way about any person/company. I'd rather see the companies I'm a fan of, working on what they're passionate about (what they want to create) rather than feel they have to please some subset of the audience.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
As for that last part, no; when it comes to creative freedom I feel that way about any person/company. I'd rather see the companies I'm a fan of, working on what they're passionate about (what they want to create) rather than feel they have to please some subset of the audience.
Kinda feels like that's what the D3 developers are doing, isn't it? If they wanted to work on something that was an act of passion instead of trying to please some subset of the audience, I think they'd be working on an all new class rather than a rehash of an old class that's already redundant because there already is a re-imagining of that same class (witch doctor) in the game.
Even in the MMORPG interview, when asked "What is the difference between the witch doctor and the necromancer?", the response the devs gave was a vague "We can make lots of differences!" rather than what or any specific differences there currently were.
At least if I were a developer exercising creative freedom, I'd probably want to work on something more original than a re-do of an old class and a re-do of an old dungeon (Diablo 1 dungeon).
D3 - DansGame. I never liked it. It's not my cup of tea compared to D2 or PoE. I just loved the farming in D2. The grind for runes and the moment you find a set piece you've been looking for for weeks or even months. D3 is way too meh.
The took complexity and depth out D3 - it's really what Blizzard has been doing in the last 10 years - making all their games simpler and accessible to a larger audience.
Look at Hearthstone - it's MTG-lite, look at D3 the complexity removed, look at WoW - it's been simplified, HoTS - MOBA-lite, Overwatch - FPS lite.
It's what Blizzard does nowdays, they make a super polished product that targets the huge casual playerbase - make it accessible to everyone and that means removing depth and complexity, because masses don't want that.
Complexity does not always make a better game. Nor does it at all mean that the people that play that game are "casuals". It's an insulting term to those of us that have spent thousands of hours playing games like D3, WoW, OW, HS and HotS.
Hearthstone has less depth than MTG, I agree with this and in no way dispute it. However, MTG comes out with new card sets every quarter, and the only way to play competitively is to buy a set every quarter because otherwise there is no way to guarantee balance. I have a bookcase filled with card sets that I can no longer use because of this. Basically, just wasted money unless you are playing for fun. While HS does do the same thing, at least its 30 card decks, and you really only master 3-5 decks that you like to play. Much less of an investment in my history.
D3 did somewhat simplify the talent system from D2, but don't pretend there were not optimal builds for each class, or class sets you always needed to be competitive. Making runes that augment the dozens of skills and the ability to switch those skills at will was a necessary improvement. I have 8 abilities I can quick cast instead of 2, which increases my options. How is this a dumbing down? The controls are easier to get used to and the content is not harder than you want it to be, but put the difficulty to expert or master at level 1, and you can get the same feeling.
HotS MOBA-lite. I can only laugh out loud at this as only those of you that have not spent a good amount of time on this game can actually believe this. Last hitting and item builds are not superior skill and strategy systems to what is in place in HotS, not at all. I know this, because I can diamond league and win consistently in almost any MOBA on the market, but HotS actually presents a challenge as each hero requires a significant time sink to get good at, and you need a deep pool since each map and opposing composition and change a hero's viability, much much more than in LoL or DOTA 2.
If you played legion, you would know that simplifying the skills and rotations does not necessarily equate easier gameplay, which is also much more dependent on the game modes in which you play. I main a DH right now, and the necessary skills to stay alive are much more similar to old WoW, there is shit in this game that can and will kill you until you master your class abilities and grind some good gear. Then you have Mythics which are hard as hell at the higher levels.
What exactly makes OW FPS-lite? The fact that you don't have to be a twitch shooter to actually be competitive? What bastards, making it so people with poorer eyesight and reflexes feel like they can actually play an FPS. Even then, I have not found this game easier, as the compositions and strategies involved in picking and playing your heroes is much more impactful than other FPS. What are we comparing to, Battlefield? Fuck Battlefied/Modern Warfare, it's these games that made me leave the FPS genre in the first place, and ruined future games like Battlefront. I get the same feeling from Overwatch that I got from games that made me love this genre in the first place, Unreal Tournament, Quake, Half-Life 2, etc.
The point of the novel is, don't throw terms like "casuals" around, that imply that people that enjoy these games are somehow on a lower level. That we are dumber, or not as sophisticated in our taste in games just because we appreciate and enjoy Blizzard IP's. Being a fanboy is always thrown around as a derogatory term, implying we only like a game BECAUSE Blizzard made it, not for the merits of the game itself. This is simply not true. Most of us like Blizzard games because they consistently make great games that don't disappoint, that rarely fail to meet our expectations. Even when they do, we know they listen and will adapt there development to compensate (i.e. RoS, Legion, HotS). I haven't played one yet since Warcraft 1 that have not been fun and challenging.
Talking about the future of Diablo itself. This is clearly a hold-over tactic. They needed something to reveal on the 20th Anniversary, and whatever they have cooking in the oven is not ready to be talked about yet. As typical with Blizzard, they keep any new game development very hush-hush until they have a solid direction and something to actually show. They rarely get into the wild promises game, which they did with D3 and PvP, to disastrous effect. People to this day slam them for making that promise, and it was obviously something they decided just wasn't something they wanted to put in the game. But if you reveal too much too early, then make a design change, you will never live it down. Lots of companies out there make wild promises and fail to deliver even a portion of those things (cough cough, Eternal Crusade). Blizzard has learned over its storied life cycle, that until you have passed certain checkpoints in game development (i.e. System Analysis department) you don't talk about it, unless you want a press storm to kick your ass.
I am certain next year will be a reveal on a new game, since if it was an expansion, there would likely not be much to hide about it., Plus, they would have saved the Necromancer for that instead of revealing it now. I agree with BIll, it will be another day, but something is coming for all you Diablo fans.
Comments
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
They're doing what a lot of businesses are doing, cutting down and charging more to increase profits.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
As for that last part, no; when it comes to creative freedom I feel that way about any person/company. I'd rather see the companies I'm a fan of, working on what they're passionate about (what they want to create) rather than feel they have to please some subset of the audience.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
Even in the MMORPG interview, when asked "What is the difference between the witch doctor and the necromancer?", the response the devs gave was a vague "We can make lots of differences!" rather than what or any specific differences there currently were.
At least if I were a developer exercising creative freedom, I'd probably want to work on something more original than a re-do of an old class and a re-do of an old dungeon (Diablo 1 dungeon).
Complexity does not always make a better game. Nor does it at all mean that the people that play that game are "casuals". It's an insulting term to those of us that have spent thousands of hours playing games like D3, WoW, OW, HS and HotS.
Hearthstone has less depth than MTG, I agree with this and in no way dispute it. However, MTG comes out with new card sets every quarter, and the only way to play competitively is to buy a set every quarter because otherwise there is no way to guarantee balance. I have a bookcase filled with card sets that I can no longer use because of this. Basically, just wasted money unless you are playing for fun. While HS does do the same thing, at least its 30 card decks, and you really only master 3-5 decks that you like to play. Much less of an investment in my history.
D3 did somewhat simplify the talent system from D2, but don't pretend there were not optimal builds for each class, or class sets you always needed to be competitive. Making runes that augment the dozens of skills and the ability to switch those skills at will was a necessary improvement. I have 8 abilities I can quick cast instead of 2, which increases my options. How is this a dumbing down? The controls are easier to get used to and the content is not harder than you want it to be, but put the difficulty to expert or master at level 1, and you can get the same feeling.
HotS MOBA-lite. I can only laugh out loud at this as only those of you that have not spent a good amount of time on this game can actually believe this. Last hitting and item builds are not superior skill and strategy systems to what is in place in HotS, not at all. I know this, because I can diamond league and win consistently in almost any MOBA on the market, but HotS actually presents a challenge as each hero requires a significant time sink to get good at, and you need a deep pool since each map and opposing composition and change a hero's viability, much much more than in LoL or DOTA 2.
If you played legion, you would know that simplifying the skills and rotations does not necessarily equate easier gameplay, which is also much more dependent on the game modes in which you play. I main a DH right now, and the necessary skills to stay alive are much more similar to old WoW, there is shit in this game that can and will kill you until you master your class abilities and grind some good gear. Then you have Mythics which are hard as hell at the higher levels.
What exactly makes OW FPS-lite? The fact that you don't have to be a twitch shooter to actually be competitive? What bastards, making it so people with poorer eyesight and reflexes feel like they can actually play an FPS. Even then, I have not found this game easier, as the compositions and strategies involved in picking and playing your heroes is much more impactful than other FPS. What are we comparing to, Battlefield? Fuck Battlefied/Modern Warfare, it's these games that made me leave the FPS genre in the first place, and ruined future games like Battlefront. I get the same feeling from Overwatch that I got from games that made me love this genre in the first place, Unreal Tournament, Quake, Half-Life 2, etc.
The point of the novel is, don't throw terms like "casuals" around, that imply that people that enjoy these games are somehow on a lower level. That we are dumber, or not as sophisticated in our taste in games just because we appreciate and enjoy Blizzard IP's. Being a fanboy is always thrown around as a derogatory term, implying we only like a game BECAUSE Blizzard made it, not for the merits of the game itself. This is simply not true. Most of us like Blizzard games because they consistently make great games that don't disappoint, that rarely fail to meet our expectations. Even when they do, we know they listen and will adapt there development to compensate (i.e. RoS, Legion, HotS). I haven't played one yet since Warcraft 1 that have not been fun and challenging.
I am certain next year will be a reveal on a new game, since if it was an expansion, there would likely not be much to hide about it., Plus, they would have saved the Necromancer for that instead of revealing it now. I agree with BIll, it will be another day, but something is coming for all you Diablo fans.