'Low expectations' for Diablo III couldn't be further from the truth

[Shawn Knight]

A recent post regarding Diablo III has sparked a lot of controversy over the past couple of days concerning expectations that gamers should have about the pending title. The Battle.net forum post by community manager Bashiok suggested that gamers should lower their expectations for Diablo III and even compared the title to a new M. Night Shyamalan movie. A more recent post by community manager Daxxarri (from the mouth of Diablo III game director Jay Wilson) notes that the original post was “obviously sarcastic” and the game is in great shape.

The latter is certainly good news for fans of the series as the original post likely rained on the proverbial parade of many. In the follow-up message, Wilson says that we can expect a launch-date announcement in the near future and that the game is coming along great. Blizzard does in fact want gamers to have high expectations for the title and all Blizzard games which is what pushes the team to make the best gaming experience possible. Furthermore, if Diablo III wasn’t a worthy installment in the series, they wouldn’t release it.

It’s unclear at this point if Bashiok’s original post was simply meant to generate media interest (which it did) as a true sarcastic piece or if he was simply sick and tired of hearing fans inquire about the game. Given the recent departure of senior producer Steve Parker and multiple last-minute changes to the game, either scenario is plausible at this point.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/47557-low-expectations-for-diablo-iii-couldnt-be-further-from-the-truth.html

 

[Prosercunus]

Bashiok has the will of the gods to put up with the Diablo III forums. Some people have the game hyped up so much that no matter the degree of greatness it will never live up to their expectations.

Being in the Beta along with a lot of other people I can say that the game is shaping up great, but even I can't kid myself to think I can realize how the final product will be when the beta is approx 1/3 of act one and on easy/normal mode with lackluster drops.

I am excited myself.

 

[Guest]

I'm usually just the opposite any more. I just go into a game expecting to be disappointed so that way, when it does do well I am pleasantly surprised ;-) <now that was sarcasm to a small degree>

 

[Guest]

What worries me the most about diablo3 is the difficulty. I breezed right through the beta just clicking on monsters with very little strategy at all and didn't die once. You try going through 1-15 in diablo1 and you will see a big difference in challenge and funfactor.

 

[Prosercunus]

Guest said:
What worries me the most about diablo3 is the difficulty. I breezed right through the beta just clicking on monsters with very little strategy at all and didn't die once. You try going through 1-15 in diablo1 and you will see a big difference in challenge and funfactor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=U0F2wPZWdYk

Video aside you do have to take into account you are playing in normal mode, Diablo 2 was never hard in the first 10-12 levels. There are Normal > Nightmare > Hell > Inferno for difficulty modes. On top of that in the beta you are only playing a section of act 1.

I am not worried about difficulty in the slightest.

 

[Guest]

LOL, remember how 3D Realms was obsessed with making Duke Nukem Forever the best game ever and thus delaying it over and over again? Well that turned out to be a total fail. Pretty much the same with Blizzard trying to make Diablo III.

 

[lipe123]

I'd just like to play the game before my 90th birthday - that would be kinda nice.

 

[Guest]

The game is in great shape? The game is garbage. They console'ified it. It's a PC game, it should never go to console. The game is majorly dumbed down in order for console players to play. Face it this type of game requires a mouse and keyboard. Oh well at least there is Path Of Exile and Grim Dawn to look forward to - Torchlight 2 could be good as well.

 

[Guest]

Its going to be amazing.
The only people whining and crying about it are the people who thought they would turn to millionaires using the AH (but wont), or they have never played Diablo 1 or 2 and think its suppose to be like WoW (which its not) and never will be.

Please give me a release date........

 

[Coodu]

If you're going into D3 with money making on your mind, you might as well move to China now

Can't wait for D3, but I'm not frothing at the mouth on the forums daily over it. There's plenty to keep busy with in the mean time.

 

[Guest]

"The game is majorly dumbed down in order for console players to play"

You have new info im guessing cause last I read they are focusing 100% PC, then after that is out and working they are going back to the drawing board to make a console version.

 

[Guest]

Sometimes I wonder whether games that essentially turn into repetitive loot fests are enjoyable or just addictive; I seem to forget that I enjoy great gameplay rather then quite stressfully picking up a crappy piece of armor for the millionth time. I guess tediously shuttling back and forth between a dungeon and a town to sell superfluous gear is becoming somewhat of a paradox.

Suddenly I wake up wanting to play something that is pure gameplay and reminding myself that hoarding stuff in a game has gotten out of control, and that the enjoyment is gone, replaced by some primal urge that might not be a worthy alternative.

 

[Cota]

Theres one point that in the game industry has been forgotten, saying that a game is "good" or crap depends a lot of the interests of the person that its playing it.

For a personal example i put Skyrim, i played Oblivion a lot (whit mods) and when Skyrim came... it was good, but it came to crap in within days (aka its easy, at least for me even in max difficulty) but now that is has mods that tweaks the game itself making it really hard to the point in wich i HAVE TO flee from god like NPC's, now its interesting because i have to really plan what too do.
For some people wont be like that, some people will like to go 2-3 shooting enemies, some will like to "play" whit them and some will enjoy taking NPC's to their house, decapitate them and then hording heads!

Theres no such thing like a good game or bad game (except for those that are really crap, but they are recognized like crap for any one)

 

[Guest]

"Diablo 1 or 2 and think its suppose to be like WoW (which its not) and never will be."
What? You sound like you either know nothing of the new game, or you are the person you're describing. Path Of Exile feels more like the true successor to Diablo 2, definitely more so than Diablo 3. The team developing Diablo 3 are not the same team that created Diablo 2, they are in fact using WoW developers to create Diablo 3. Visually it is immediately noticeable, it has lost it's dark and gloomy dungeon crawling feel that fans loved. They have made almost automated spells and skills.

Diablo 2 was a great game because it was easy to learn but extensively difficult to master. If you want a challenging game that will offer the same type of gameplay but with modern graphics and playability, go for Path Of Exile. I am a beta tester for both D3 and POE, Path Of Exile is a much much better game. Not to mention POE will be free to play but NOT pay to win, unlike D3 which will cost money to buy and then will be pay to win with real money auctions.

I'm very disappointed in Diablo 3, it's too bad Blizzard is money hungry and needs to make the game "console friendly". I do admire how they try to play PC as the fool, telling people they are focusing on PC, while their actions clearly show otherwise.

 

[Kraemepoo]

All I need to enjoy D3 is hardcore mode! Diablo 2 was the only video game to ever give me a true tunnel vision, auditory exclusion, adrenalin rush experience. I don't understand why no other game has made this an option. Sure, I know I could always refuse to respawn or reload, but simply knowing that I can diminishes the fear factor greatly, and in the end I don't have the will to keep myself from doing so.

Hardcore mode enables a thrill-seeker experience, but without any real consequences.

And my thoughts about the beta for those who don't have it: Its exactly as I had hoped, its a sequel to D2, they didn't try to reinvent the wheel. (From the tiny bit the beta shows you) I'd say its much like Skyrim to Oblivion, nothing groundbreaking, just improved.

 

[treetops]

I read on the forums whirlwind has a cool down similar to wow warrior whirlwind. If its true thats really sad. I read most skills have cds forcing you to play your character like wow characters where you do one spell then another while you wait for it to cd and keep rotating between ready spells. The diablo series has never been about that, its been about fly off the handle skill spamfest fast as you can click action, with little to no cool downs on 90%+ spells. I don't even like that they put a cool down on teleporting, sure it gives the sorc a advantage magic finding, good not every class is meant to be the best at everything and that was a corner stone of diablo 2. Yeah that will let people farm items so what thats what people like doing. Diablo 2 was best selling game of all time when it came out, it baffles me why they dont start with diablo 2 type game play and build on it. They twisted it to some kind of wow hyrbid to appeal to their millions of wow subscribers.

4 people per game really pisses me off, in diablo 1 they had 4 people per game, diablo 2 had 8, now were going back to 4? I expected 16+ actually i originally expected a wow size world with diablo 2 type game mechanics\pvp

another gripe the graphics look like well youv seen them isnt this 2012?

 

[Guest]

LOL, remember how 3D Realms was obsessed with making Duke Nukem Forever the best game ever and thus delaying it over and over again? Well that turned out to be a total fail. Pretty much the same with Blizzard trying to make Diablo III.

-- comparing these 2 developers is comparing pebbles and glacier... nuff' said

 

[Guest]

Blizzard does not make bad games. Period.

 

[QuaZulu]

lipe123 said:
I'd just like to play the game before my 90th birthday - that would be kinda nice.

Is that soon ?

 

[Guest]

"Blizzard does not make bad games. Period."
I don't think anyone believes it won't be a successful game. Of course it will. The issue is that it won't be sticking with its roots. It's not going to be what Diablo 2 fans want. It's going to be what WoW and Console players want. A colorful streamlined dummy-proof game. I would even go as far as to say that Diablo 2 fans will still buy Diablo 3 just because of the fact that it is "Diablo 3", they're just going to be severely disappointed and will probably turn to a good game like Path Of Exile.

 

[Guest]

I will probably pick up Torch Light II first. Has a similar interface as Diablo II, which is how most games should be. I tried WOW, but the interface is so lame.

 

[treetops]

since its a blizzard title im hoping there will be a really cool modded server made by users like all those free wow servers and perhaps the public will make a more diablo like d3 modded

 

[Guest]

There was a time, long ago, when I looked forward to the release of Diablo III. Then Blizzard ruined the game with real money auction house etc. and it hasn't even been released yet. Now I play SWTOR and I have absolutely no desire to play a mini-MMO on the side. I don't much care about Diablo III anymore.

 

[RH00D]

Cota said:
Theres one point that in the game industry has been forgotten, saying that a game is "good" or crap depends a lot of the interests of the person that its playing it.

[...]

Theres no such thing like a good game or bad game (except for those that are really crap, but they are recognized like crap for any one)

+10 Internets to you!

This is also why there is no "best" game and why fanboys are always wrong. What is "good" is in the mind of the player. Same thing can be applied to music, movies, etc.

 

[jester376]

Here's an idea, why doesn't everyone quit complaining about the game and deciding they don't want to play it before it ever comes out because of listening to some other troll who wants to complain about it. Play the damn game and then complain if you have a problem with it. It's pretty dumb that most people would let others make a decision for them. Who knows, some of you might actually like it, and if you don't, you still have this thread.