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[Felix Lighter]

With all the talk of improving the game, has there been any talk about adding an RMAH free game type other than hardcore? One that isn't balanced around the ability to buy and sell high level items? I don't have extremely strong feelings about D3 one way or another; I'm just curious. It would seem like a feature that generates the most controversy.

 

[Jinko]

Play Diablo III and then look for the person to blame.

TBF I feel I got my monies worth, could they have done better .. of course, but I think many people are taking this a bit too far.

But then I guess thats what happens when everyone expected so much.

 

[LunaticHigh]

It's not like any of the boss designs in Diablo III are any good. The only thing well designed in the game is the skill system.

Well, I guess Belial is okay.

 

[Lancehead]

This thread saddens me greatly. I know that the Battle.net forums have earned a reputation for rough justice, but I do not believe justice is being served by how people are speaking about Jay’s departure from Diablo III.

Goodness, such a pathetic post.

 

[Loxley]

Aside from the fact that Blizzard's official forums (and, for that matter, almost any official forums) have been a venomous cesspool for years, looking for someone to blame when they don't get exactly what they want is one thing online communities love do.

I genuinely feel bad for the guy, it's rare that anyone has a job where they have a chance to annoy/piss off thousands of people and get immediate feedback from those people indicating as much. Wanting to express your disappointment in the quality of Diablo 3 is one thing, it's an entirely different thing to be calling for some guy's head on a pike for literally no good reason other than you're disappointed with the final product.

 

[jim-jam bongs]

Don't you think a big part of that is related to Blizzard's own output? When you build a huge developer around essentially 3 franchises which get major numbered releases every 5 years or so, it means the people who follow the company the closest are also going to be extremely hardcore and fanatical. It can certainly help you if you continue to give those people exactly what they want and live up to their expectations, but it can also hurt you greatly.

Probably, though I wonder why Valve fans seem more civil in general if that's the case? Then again, I don't hang out on SPUF so they could be just as bad for all I know.

 

[Perkel]

Aside from the fact that Blizzard's official forums (and, for that matter, almost any official forums) have been a venomous cesspool for years, looking for someone to blame when they don't get exactly what they want is one thing online communities love do.

I genuinely feel bad for the guy, it's rare that anyone has a job where they have a chance to annoy/piss off thousands of people and get immediate feedback from those people indicating as much. Wanting to express your disappointment in the quality of Diablo 3 is one thing, it's an entirely different thing to be calling for some guy's head on a pike for literally no good reason other than you're disappointed with the final product.

That's the price of all revolutions.

Probably, though I wonder why Valve fans seem more civil in general if that's the case? Then again, I don't hang out on SPUF so they could be just as bad for all I know.

I don't get why are you calling this community bad. Sure there are some nut people like in every community but generally most of people are normal.

Diablo 3 hate isn't just hate for hate. It is motivated by many factors. Many people on D3 forum created threads not with DIABLO 3 SUCKS death to developers but with complains about game systems etc. I don't see it as any other community. And certainly not Bioware forum quality,

 

[Beast Legacy]

The 'backlash' against Diablo 3 is the single point case study in why no one should ever take 'gamers' on the internet seriously. There were death threats for crying out loud. Because they didn't like a video game. Yea. Be proud of that one 'gamers'.

Every fanatical community has people like that, "gamers" aren't the only ones prone to insane proclamations. Just recently there was a massive backlash against a comic book writer for implementing a big change to Spider-Man and yes that included death threats.

 

[Terra]

The lack of DLC for Diablo really shows that Blizzard skipped out on further support this "game".

 

[Perkel]

The lack of DLC for Diablo really shows that Blizzard skipped out on further support this "game".

Why would they need DLC if they are earning on every item from RMAH ?

 

[V_Arnold]

The lack of DLC for Diablo really shows that Blizzard skipped out on further support this "game".

DLC? The new patch with additional content and balancing is just around the corner, last one came in october. End of august before that.

 

[duckroll]

Probably, though I wonder why Valve fans seem more civil in general if that's the case? Then again, I don't hang out on SPUF so they could be just as bad for all I know.

I made a post before you talking about the difference in approach between Valve and Blizzard in the last half decade. I think that is one very big reason. Valve manages expectations and they have diversified themselves. They are no longer the "Half Life" company. In fact, at this point no one can really predict what they will announce in 2013 - whether it could be new IPs or sequels to any of the numerous and different existing IPs they have created in the last few years.

 

[jim-jam bongs]

That's the price of all revolutions.



I don't get why are you calling this community bad. Sure there are some nut people like in every community but generally most of people are normal.

Diablo 3 hate isn't just hate for hate. It is motivated by many factors. Many people on D3 forum created threads not with DIABLO 3 SUCKS death to developers but with complains about game systems etc. I don't see it as any other community. And certainly not Bioware forum quality,

I played WoW for 6 years, D2 on and off for probably 10. The community for both games was rude and unfriendly as a rule, and pig ignorant and aggressively hostile in more than a few cases. Certainly they're passionate, and they definitely love to give their feedback, but that doesn't change the fact that they are generally seriously unpleasant people who behave in a way which I find objectionable.

I made a post before you talking about the difference in approach between Valve and Blizzard in the last half decade. I think that is one very big reason. Valve manages expectations and they have diversified themselves. They are no longer the "Half Life" company. In fact, at this point no one can really predict what they will announce in 2013 - whether it could be new IPs or sequels to any of the numerous and different existing IPs they have created in the last few years.

Oh, oops! I missed that. Sounds plausible enough.

 

[Lancehead]

Yeah but you're not a developer. Developers shouldn't be using their forums to cry about the injustices inflicted on them by the community.

 

[Zek]

With all the talk of improving the game, has there been any talk about adding an RMAH free game type other than hardcore? One that isn't balanced around the ability to buy and sell high level items? I don't have extremely strong feelings about D3 one way or another; I'm just curious. It would seem like a feature that generates the most controversy.

I think hardly anybody is really bothered by the RMAH these days. It certainly isn't the reason people have been shitting all over Jay Wilson. They are trying to address the AH dependency in 1.0.7 though, without dividing the playerbase.

 

[maniac-kun]

They've burned all their goodwill with me. It's going to take a huge discount and a tonne of good word of mouth for me to ever pick up one of their games again. I have absolutely no interest in WoW or the SCII expansion they are putting out this year. Hell even a god damn F2P game made by a small studio has managed to be more engaging than Diablo 3 for me so far.

Ill buy Heart of the Swarm for the singleplayer.

 

[Wickerbasket]

I played WoW for 6 years, D2 on and off for probably 10. The community for both games was rude and unfriendly as a rule, and pig ignorant and aggressively hostile in more than a few cases. Certainly they're passionate, and they definitely love to give their feedback, but that doesn't change the fact that they are generally seriously unpleasant people who behave in a way which I find objectionable.

I'm sorry you had such bad experiences, I met a ton of great friends through both games. I hope you don't let your bad experiences taint a whole community, especially when those communties consist of millions of different people.

 

[Axispowers]

WATCH IT

Wow I just read the comments on this video. I cannot believe how terrible they are.

 

[Terra]

DLC? The new patch with additional content and balancing is just around the corner, last one came in october. End of august before that.

Ouch...still balancing nine months after release. I can understand it for a game of Skyrims size, that gets continuous expansions...but this?!?

 

[kirblar]

The 'backlash' against Diablo 3 is the single point case study in why no one should ever take 'gamers' on the internet seriously. There were death threats for crying out loud. Because they didn't like a video game. Yea. Be proud of that one 'gamers'.

I take it you haven't noticed that this happens all the time in the real world with other groups of people besides "gamers"?

It's a "people problem", not a "gamer problem."

 

[jim-jam bongs]

I'm sorry you had such bad experiences, I met a ton of great friends through both games. I hope you don't let your bad experiences taint a whole community, especially when those communties consist of millions of different people.

Thankfully Blizzard's other decisions of late have completely turned me off their games so I don't need to be exposed to their fans ever again. After several occasions where I was told that I was a bundle of sticks and that my family would be forcibly penetrated by canines after winning StarCraft 2 1v1 matches I think that's quite a blessing.

 

[duckroll]

Ouch...still balancing nine months after release. I can understand it for a game of Skyrims size, that gets continuous expansions...but this?!?

That's a weird comment. Blizzard games have always had very extensive balance support post-release. Diablo 2 still had balance changes in patches years after release. It's not a negative thing. Balance never ends until support ends.

 

[Perkel]

Ouch...still balancing nine months after release. I can understand it for a game of Skyrims size, that gets continuous expansions...but this?!?

It's more like they are trying to fix it rather than balance it.

 

[Technosteve]

i hope the expansion has better level design and item itemization

 

[duckroll]

i hope the expansion has better level design and item itemization

I just hope its a very different direction from what they did with the base game. In a good way of course. I don't think the level design in Diablo 3 was particularly bad, a lot of the issues I had with the generation of maps had to do with the bullshit elites which could spawn in the worst places making it unfun. Yeah the itemization needs to improve too, but it seems they've already made a lot of progress in recent patches.

I think the best thing about the expansion for Blizzard is that it could be a gateway for a lot of users to return to Diablo 3, and judge it as it is at that point post-release. While they have been making lots of changes in the base game via patches, most people won't see any of those because they've already stopped playing the game.

 

[Skab]

Ouch...still balancing nine months after release. I can understand it for a game of Skyrims size, that gets continuous expansions...but this?!?

All Blizzard games get continuous patching and support after release. I mean, D2 1.13 came out in March of 2010.

I dont see why it's a bad thing that D3 is still getting patches of any sort.

 

[kirblar]

It's more like they are trying to fix it rather than balance it.

They're definitely still in the "fundamental fix" side of things. (Like SFxT->SFxT 2013)

I suspect they'll have to wait till the first X-Pack to really address some of the issues though.

 

[Izayoi]

And reading how SC2 at a big finale with Dustin Bowder and Morhaine sitting there at the peak of the match and connection broke down and people yelling WE WANT LAN!. I know it is kotaku but hey just to give a example why this 'always online drm' is just so bad.

We want LAN!

There look on there faces...priceless!

That picture is fucking amazing. What a reaction, and what a stupid decision in the first place. Blizzard has lost it.

 

[Brazil]

When Blizzard starts listening to the community again, instead of fucking everything up, I'll consider feeling sorry for them for having to deal with haters.

 

[Wickerbasket]

Thankfully Blizzard's other decisions of late have completely turned me off their games so I don't need to be exposed to their fans ever again. After several occasions where I was told that I was a bundle of sticks and that my family would be forcibly penetrated by canines after winning StarCraft 2 1v1 matches I think that's quite a blessing.

Unfortunately most competitive games have people like that. I suggest you avoid those types of game if you can't ignore them. You shouldn't have to, but unless it's a moderated server nothing can really be done except reporting them.

 

[Acidote]

Rob Pardo's statement is infuriating in some details. How can he be asking for feedback with a straight face, when the same feedback has been sent to them endless times for MONTHS, and they just brush it away:

Better itemization.
No damage scaling off weapons.

And the most repeated one and quickest to be shut down from the forums:
Ditch the AHs.

The last one is clearly a business decision that will stay no matter what, even if it runs the game to the ground. As in fact it is doing.

 

[Violet_0]

Blizzard's PR team could ask Bioware for advice

or maybe the other way around, I honestly don't know anymore

 

[Terra]

I dont see why it's a bad thing that D3 is still getting patches of any sort.

Well, imagine the scale of hatred they'd get if they abandoned it so people could tell they did.

 

[buhdeh]

How does any of this justify the monumental bitchfest surrounding the game?

The game itself justifies that.

 

[kirblar]

And the most repeated one and quickest to be shut down from the forums:
Ditch the AHs.

And that's because the RMAH is a solution to a very real problem.

 

[Fullfrontalgamer]

Does anyone think Diablo 3 could mean the end of Blizzard's supremacy? When I think of all my favorite dev houses they all reach a point when they cant reach their own lofty expectations. Maybe Blizzard needs to do something smaller and more innovative and not try to please everyone.

 

[Perkel]

Does anyone think Diablo 3 could mean the end of Blizzard's supremacy? When I think of all my favorite dev houses they all reach a point when they cant reach their own lofty expectations. Maybe Blizzard needs to do something smaller and more innovative and not try to please everyone.

Well when Blizzard was bought by Activision (Merge my ass) it changed. lack of LAN support in SC2 is just direct shareholders vs community thing.

Both parties want different things. People want good game to play, shareholders want money not giving a fuck what community want.

 

[maniac-kun]

Well when Blizzard was bought by Activision (Merge my ass) it changed. lack of LAN support in SC2 is just direct shareholders vs community thing.

Both parties want different things. People want good game to play, shareholders want money not giving a fuck what community want.

Actualy Activision was bought by Vivendi who owned Blizzard.

 

[Perkel]

Actualy Activision was bought by Vivendi who owned Blizzard.

And they merged ?

 

[Rentahamster]

My favorite Diablo III moment is when Me, Shouta, Night, and Krym beat Inferno Diablo 1 week after the game came out.

With special thanks to Hazaro for the assist

(hmm, I could have sworn I could link to achievements on my profile page, but I don't see it. Oh well)


(I can't also seem to find the link where the devs said it would take weeks or months)

 

[Violet_0]

My favorite Diablo III moment is when Me, Shouta, Night, and Krym beat Inferno Diablo 1 week after the game came out.

pff, Inferno Diablo is small-time in compared to act 4 inferno champion mobs

 

[Rentahamster]

pff, Inferno Diablo is small-time compared to act 4 inferno champion mobs

One week after release?

 

[Deadstar]

Here's how you fix D3. You add a mode that is auction house free. Any item you find in this mode cannot be put on the auction house and items bought on the auction house cannot be used either. Then they make the drops better to make the game fun like Diablo II. Give me uniques, set items, etc in each difficulty but scale them accordingly.

 

[Caporale]

I have a lot of sympathy for Jay Wilson because I believe that he was given a basically impossible design task: he had to somehow design a fun game around a real money auction house.

The only way for the RMAH to work was to make it nearly impossible to get good items from monsters and force the use of the RMAH, so he had to design to a fun Diablo game where it's incredibly unlikely to see good drops. Think about how ridiculous of a design challenge that was.

Blizzard forced the RMAH onto this game. It wasn't Wilson's choice. I really don't believe this game can be saved without removing the RMAH. If you look at the stuff he actually did have control over, such as the feel of the gameplay, the visceral combat, and stuff like that, those parts of the game are quite excellent. Diablo 3 actually "feels" better than every other action/RPG out there. The feedback on the Barbarian's attacks, in particular, is fantastic. The only design element of Diablo 3 that I really hate is that there isn't a "no dialog" option that you can choose. In a game like this, where you farm the same stuff perpetually, it's ridiculous that you have to skip through the obnoxious dialog boxes forever. That was a colossal mistake.

Having said all of that, though, I'm still not really sure how Wilson got this job in the first place. He really didn't have the history or background for a game as high-profile and critical as Diablo 3.

 

[Caporale]

Here's how you fix D3. You add a mode that is auction house free. Any item you find in this mode cannot be put on the auction house and items bought on the auction house cannot be used either. Then they make the drops better to make the game fun like Diablo II. Give me uniques, set items, etc in each difficulty but scale them accordingly.

You can't do that, though, because then nobody would play the RMAH mode, and the whole reason Blizzard made this game was to milk people with the RMAH. Like I said in my previous post, it is impossible to make a truly satisfying Diablo sequel with the RMAH. No designer could have saved this game. It was doomed from the get-go.

 

[Nokterian]

Actualy Activision was bought by Vivendi who owned Blizzard.

And Vivendi wants to dump Activision out in to the water there not liking it how bad it goes over there (and it does).

 

[Zeliard]

If only people could blame their own nostalgia, there might be an actual productive Diablo III thread on the internet.

I get that some people didn't get the game they wanted out of D3, but I wish they would objectively sift through what was good/bad about the game that was delivered instead of complaining to high heavens about how it wasn't the game they believed it should have been.

I've seen quite a bit of thorough and detailed arguments of the sort, but as usual, they tend to be greatly overshadowed by the mob.

 

[Won]

Having said all of that, though, I'm still not really sure how Wilson got this job in the first place. He really didn't have the history or background for a game as high-profile and critical as Diablo 3.

Few are, but it seems to be company policy these days to hire people from the outside and put them in charge of their projects.

 

[Celine]

WATCH IT

Lol

 

[la flama blanca]

We all wouldn't exactly know if the merger caused Blizzard to go to shit. What I do know though is that whenever these gaming companies grow in size, they start to get bloated with "gaming industry" professionals that solely focus on market research to determine how a game should be made and marketed. It's whats currently killing the industry, but it's like they would care as they make enough bank to justify what they do.