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Blizzard Says It Wasn't Expecting Fans to Be This Angry About Diablo Immortal

68 points by evo_9 8y ago

prolikewh0a 8y ago
It's not like those same complaining fans aren't going to all play it and throw endless money at microtransactions. Remember COD:MW2 protests? https://kotaku.com/5403286/what-modern-warfare-2-boycotters-are-playing https://kotaku.com/5403286/what-modern-warfare-2-boycotters-...
- Goronmon 8y ago
  Less than 20 people playing out of 800 seems to be a pretty effective boycott to me.
  - mcphage 8y ago
    There are two kinds of people in this world: 1) those who can extrapolate from incomplete data
- wand3r 8y ago
  I am not a gamer so I could be wrong but it’s REALLY hard to believe hardcore PC gamers are going to play a reskinned Chinese game on a cell phone and pay microtransactions. It might make money, but not from the people up in arms about this.
  - threatofrain 8y ago
    The blizzard developer quoted in the article stated emphatically that wasn't true, and that similarities owed to adopting successful GUI idioms in other markets; does the gaming community have information to update the story?
    - philipov 8y ago
      "Successful GUI idioms," is that a euphemism for dark patterns to make people spend more money? Anyway, even if they built it from scratch it isn't enough to refute the spirit of it being just a reskin of some other crappy cellphone game. Many, though certainly not all PC gamers are serious about not having their platform choices manipulated by exclusivity deals. It is interpreted as bullying, and we have had plenty of practice sticking to that belief against attempts to coerce people to buy every console. Red Dead Redemption 2 was just released, but even though it looks like an actually good game, it simply doesn't exist for me until it comes to PC.
      - deleted 8y ago
        [deleted]
      - zaphar 8y ago
        Wow, you are harsh. They replicated the control scheme from another game because it was a good control scheme. Sort of like how most PC games all use Q,W,E,S for movement. You don't know what the monetization scheme will be but you are sure it will use dark patterns to drain peoples wallets. You apparently didn't read the article to see what the similar GUI patterns they replicated were but you are certain it's just another pay to win game. Your bias is showing.
        threatofrain 8y ago
        I do feel that the world of mobile games is tarnished in reputation for good reason, and that backlash against mobile games is primarily from parents, because the population they've been targeting has been very young kids. In some ways it also tarnishes the Android and Apple brand, which is why I think Google reacted with multi-accounts device sharing and YouTube kids. I wonder how much mobile gaming revenue is because parents signed in with their credit card and there aren't multiple accounts on iOS, and you can't update a game without the parent signing back in, and Family Sharing has no granularity. I have to think that Apple has walked over every inch of their UX and knows this. On Blizzard, I'm feeling what they mismanaged was the fact that their conference is expensive and anticipated enough to travel to, but what they announced is for a different audience.
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
    - jasonlotito 8y ago
      > The blizzard developer quoted in the article stated emphatically that wasn't true Sure, because it's not just a reskin. They are creating new models, too. When people say "reskin," they sometimes aren't literally talking just about skins. Rather, they are talking about making another game on top of the same basic engine that exists in other games. And considering who Blizzard is partnering with to make this game and the other games they've put out, you can see there point.
- wyldfire 8y ago
  I'm not that familiar -- but isn't it possible that the die hard fans who show up to a convention are more likely to be PCMR/console types who don't like the idea of a watered-down mobile experience? And maybe successful COD example is due to the more casual gamers who wouldn't attend a conference (given that there are many more of them, it doesn't take as much engagement for financial success. )
ThrowawayR2 8y ago
Could've been predicted; there was similar backlash against EA for the mobile game that was themed after the old Command & Conquer RTS series: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018-06-10-as-the-internet-slams-eas-command-and-conquer-mobile-game-the-developers-call-for-a-fair-shake https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018-06-10-as-the-interne...
- swat535 8y ago
  Exactly and then EA caved and started doing damage control on reddit.. https://www.reddit.com/r/commandandconquer/comments/9nbrfm/cc_update_from_ea/?st=JN4YLFFJ&sh=2831010a https://www.reddit.com/r/commandandconquer/comments/9nbrfm/c... I think the bigger issue here is that companies are being greedy and want to use their flagship games as marketing to profit on microtransactions (which are very common) in mobile games. This is what fans are mostly upset about.
pkaye 8y ago
Maybe they can make another "head tilted to the left with mouth open" game. https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/8gt6vs/why_yes_i_do_have_a_refined_taste_in_mobile_games/?st=jo34kxfs&sh=88945949 https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/8gt6vs/why_yes_i_do...
- fileeditview 8y ago
  This made me laugh a lot.. it seems like the icon for Fallout Shelter was changed to look more like the others. They wrote in the patch notes: "Vault-Tec has noticed many overseers prefer game icons with faces screaming to the right. In an effort to raise your enjoyment and thoughtlessly blend in with the crowd, we’ve updated for a limited time. You’re welcome!" (this is from a Reddit comment)
  - Izkata 8y ago
    It's also not the Duel Links icon (at least on Android). Totally difference character and facing straight out instead of to the side, though his mouth is slightly open in a yell.
bdz 8y ago
And Kotaku once again spins the wheel against the players >The explosion of outrage has many on social media discussing the extent to which video game culture enables entitlement. It’s not surprising, after all, that there’s been some pushback on the idea of a mobile Diablo game. What’s shocking here is the sheer amount of molten vitriol that’s pouring in over what seems to be a pretty cut-and-dry situation: A proper new Diablo has been and continues to be in the works, and Diablo Immortal is its own thing that’s not detracting from that. Also, the game itself is fine, if a little too shallow. No harm, no foul—aside from maybe some hurt feelings over unfulfilled expectations. And yet, people have decided that this is the ultimate betrayal, all because a single game isn’t hyper-focused on the diehard PC and console crowd. It’s fine and understandable to be skeptical of a big company, but the reaction here is wildly disproportionate to what Blizzard’s actually done. Or see Mashable https://mashable.com/article/diablo-immortal-hands-on/ https://mashable.com/article/diablo-immortal-hands-on/ Or this https://twitter.com/WillJPowers/status/1058446033724694528 https://twitter.com/WillJPowers/status/1058446033724694528 Gaming journalism is just terrible trash. The fact that these companies are trying to be immune and there are people who get paid to defend them is outrageous. No other medium does that. And people wonder how the hell do they get away with p2w and gambling mechanics in games.
- pcwalton 8y ago
  > And people wonder how the hell do they get away with p2w and gambling mechanics in games. Because that business model is profitable, and entertainment is a business like any other. If you don't like it, you are free not to play it. Besides some potential for gambling addiction (about which state lotteries are a far more important target for your ire if that is your concern), mobile games produce no externalities whatsoever. I continue to be completely mystified with the concept of outrage about video games. If you want to be outraged about corporate behavior, there are a multitude of examples of corporate malfeasance with actual negative externalities, such as the coal industry's contribution to climate change.
  - jakebasile 8y ago
    You're mystified by it because you probably aren't a dedicated gamer. To lots of people, including myself, gaming is a huge part of their identity and lifestyle. It's a hobby like any other such as repairing old cars, painting, craft beer, etc. The "but climate change" is just whataboutism because gaming isn't important to you, so why aren't people paying more attention to what is important to you. edit to clarify: This may sound a little hostile but it isn't intended as such. I'm just explaining that some people really do care about this stuff just as you really care about your own hobbies or pet cause.
d0m 8y ago
Fans aren't angry about the diablo mobile game. They're angry because they were expecting a Diablo4 announcement and blizzard announced a diablo mobile game.. this is very different. IMHO the problem was in the way it was communicated, not with the game itself. It would have been very different if blizzard said: A) We've hired amazing people and we're working super hard on the next big Diablo title on PC, and here's one cool cinematic / picture to show it. B) A *separate* team of amazing devs has achieved the impossible and created a brand new diablo experience on mobile. Instead, they announced to the A) fans they were working on B) instead of A).
- pier25 8y ago
  Exactly. Instead of saying "don't you have phones?" they should have said "We are working on a new Diablo PC title but we aren't ready to talk about it yet". Would have been a very different reaction.
  - gmueckl 8y ago
    But imagine yourself up on stage in front of thousands of people, with 2 or 3 seconds to come up with an answer while you are not allowed to mention any unannounced games. What would you have said? This is hard and many of us would not have done much better than this on the spot. The only "better" answer that I can think of would be a vague, general hint that Blozzard is working on more titles than those that are announced. But that would immediately be interpreted as "Diablo IV confirmed" and blown out of proportion. The gaming community has in recent years developed a culture of latching on to smallest of hints, letting their imagination roam freely to create a kind of groupthink dream of what the project would be. And than they react not only with disappointment, but also with hate, anger and aggression against the developers when these dream bubbles are busted. This lack of moderation in the community is disconcerting and if we don't find efficient ways to dampen that, we will see this get out of hands. Games are made by companies for profit. If they release something that you like, enjoy it. If you don't like it, move on. I don't understand any need to fuel hate to the levels we are seeing repeatedly these days.
    - 8y ago
jasonlotito 8y ago
The game journalists defending Blizzard seem to be missing the issue here. The issue isn't the mobile game. The issue is where it was announced and to which audience. Let me paint a picture. You buy tickets to see Rage Again the Machine perform, and RATM come out, and instead of performing their set, the do a mime act and that's it. They are done. You'd be pissed. Now, let's realize for a second, they performed for you, and they're performance might be something some people are interested in. Just not the audience that paid to see them. So yeah, people are going to be insulted. People don't care that Blizzard is making a mobile game. What they are upset with is that the audience they are presenting to, the fans they are reaching out to that still play Diablo, that were literally present, were completely ignored. Finally, let's not ignore the fact that this is really just a cash grab at a Chinese market. That's fine if that's what they want to do, but it's being driven by that market (this is clear because they are adopting patterns popular in China and not the West). Just don't pretend that another audience is going to cheer for the fact that they are being ignored.
- pier25 8y ago
  Yep. IIRC fans paid $200 tickets and I imagine even some traveled to go to the conf because there was so much hype around a new Diablo game.
- the_duke 8y ago
  No idea why you are downvoted, you are spot on.
teilo 8y ago
To make matters worse, this is not Diablo at all. It is little more than a reskin of NetEase's Crusaders of Light. I'd say the outrage is justified. Blizzard's claims that this thing is built from scratch from the ground up are laughable.
jorblumesea 8y ago
The problem is Blizz didn't have anything else to announce at Blizzcon. So people pay a good amount of money to be there, and the only thing that's announced is an outsourced/reskinned mobile game. Not even a true Blizzard title. So naturally the anger gets directed towards the game. Had they announced anything else with it such as D4 news, D3 dlc, D2 remaster...literally anything else, it would have been fine. Also remember Blizzard is not Blizzard/Activision and many of the old guard has left. Mike Morhaime and Chris Metzen departures were huge. I wonder if the writing is on the wall.
ben_jones 8y ago
The Diablo Immortal announcement was essentially the keynote of an already underwhelming Blizzcon this year. The game itself is just a re-skinning of an existing Chinese market ARPG with Blizzard's IP - Blizzard a company that has been known for axing titles for not meeting its quality standards. The game will be developed by Netease with one Chinese fan quoting "If EA is like a 2 out of 10, Netease is -2859". Of course Blizzard, Diablo, and ARPG mobile games, have a long history so there is more context. For one Blizzcon is something this crowd could compare to WWDC and similar conventions. Tickets start at around $200, with travel, food, lodging, and other expenses pushing the cost of attendance to over $1000 for many people. Keep in mind that unlike WWDC or other conventions your employer will likely not pay for you to go - so its straight out of pocket and people expect to get what they pay for. In addition Blizzard has been pushing "Virtual Tickets" for $50, where most gaming conventions stream for free to users on Twitch or Youtube. It's been over 6 years since Diablo 3, and there was a 12 year wait for that game after Diablo 2. Naturally seeing Diablo as the topic of the keynote, many Diablo fans hoped and prayed it was the Diablo 4 announcement. Finally ARPG mobile games are massive in the Chinese market, with fremium and micro-transaction models that would make candy crush and Pokemon Go blush. With a blatant re-skin it was clearly designed for a starkly different marketing segment then would be present at the keynote at Blizzcon. To force your developers to pitch that game to that crowd is sheer incompetence, yielding what will surly be timeless internet memes such as "you all have phones right" [1], and "this is an April Fools joke right" [2]. [1]: Response to the question if they'd be porting long-requested features present in the mobile game back to the Diablo 3 PC version. [2]: Question asked directly on stage by a brave fan.
- 3rdAccount 8y ago
  6 years since D2? Did you mean D3, or was there a re-make?
leotravis10 8y ago
Related tweetstorm on this, which I agree on: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1058917187061252096.html https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1058917187061252096.html
bad_user 8y ago
Diablo 2 was epic. Diablo 3 is just a shadow of its former self. Even the graphics are arguably worse, which is quite the feat. I can’t be outraged of course. I gave up on Diablo a long time ago. The article briefly mentioned there was some outrage when they announced the console version too. Well, that’s quite understandable, because the game is really shallow, Zynga-style. Diablo was never a RPG with depth of course, the gameplay being basically a mindless point and click, but there was a lot of fun in character development, and there are entire websites devoted to guides for developing your character in Diablo 2 and all of that is gone in Diablo 3. Blizzard somehow managed to completely miss the point of what made Diablo 2 awesome. If they announced a remastered Diablo 2, I’d stay in line for it. Otherwise I don’t see the point of a new Diablo, as I know it will suck. And yes, for diehard fans, I completely understand the outrage.
dqpb 8y ago
I understand wanting something and then being disappointed when you didn't get it. But the anger and lashing out is pathetic. If you really want something, build it yourself. If you can't do it on your own, open source it and build a community. If you can't do that then your just begging to be disappointed. Relying on complete strangers to continually entertain you in exactly the way you want to be entertained, otherwise you'll lash out - it's sick and dystopian.
- dqpb 8y ago
  That said, mobile games do suck.
mustaflex 8y ago
Blizzard kept re-uploading the Diablo Immortal trailer multiple time to prevent massive dislikes on youtube. The video from the battle.net app is at its third version now. They should know better, you can't get away with these kind of shady practices, especially with a fan group that pay attention at what you do.
lousken 8y ago
They completly missed their target audience, I'd guess except for hearthstone 95% of ppl on blizzcon are PC gamers and Diablo fans especially so that was expected. And what was that stupid question at the end about not having phones? Yes ppl do have phones but most of them don't have and don't need gaming capable ones and why would they buy one? Mobile gaming is terrible except for card games and couple of casual trash clicking games. Sure you can use something like gamevice but that'll cost you even more money. And obviously PC gamers expect microtransactions on mobile. So that's why people are angry - they were waiting 5 years and got this.
- erik_seaberg 8y ago
  The PC master race is still upgrading desktops for performance. They're never going to be content with the severe compromises that make a pocket-sized CPU/GPU work at all. From their point of view there are no gaming-capable phones.
  - calyth2018 8y ago
    The kind of gameplay that Diablo is known is probably a bad fit for mobile gaming. D1/D2 has a sizable backstory that sucked people into the hack-and-slash gameplay. The pseudorandom map generation made it very playable. The fact that the game sucked you in and made it hard to stop mashes well with the story. D3 kinda forgot about the backstory and the tone. A mobile phone would simply run out of battery maybe an hour into that kind of game play.
roymurdock 8y ago
i wonder how adoption/reception will be in china. a lot of companies with digital and entertainment products are now having the discussion of how to target the chinese and indian markets given the huge populations and growing middle class. classic blizz games have been mostly NA/European/korean players...wonder if the upcoming full games will try to blend cultural/lore references to target a non Western audience
mariusmg 8y ago
Looks like the Activision part of the company finally took complete control over the Bizzard part...
beerbajay 8y ago
"Fans" feel entitled to something but aren't actually entitled to anything, complain a lot. LOUDLY CRYING FACE

68 points by evo_9 8y ago

It's not like those same complaining fans aren't going to all play it and throw endless money at microtransactions. Remember COD:MW2 protests? https://kotaku.com/5403286/what-modern-warfare-2-boycotters-are-playing https://kotaku.com/5403286/what-modern-warfare-2-boycotters-...

Goronmon 8y ago
Less than 20 people playing out of 800 seems to be a pretty effective boycott to me.
- mcphage 8y ago
  There are two kinds of people in this world: 1) those who can extrapolate from incomplete data
wand3r 8y ago
I am not a gamer so I could be wrong but it’s REALLY hard to believe hardcore PC gamers are going to play a reskinned Chinese game on a cell phone and pay microtransactions. It might make money, but not from the people up in arms about this.
- threatofrain 8y ago
  The blizzard developer quoted in the article stated emphatically that wasn't true, and that similarities owed to adopting successful GUI idioms in other markets; does the gaming community have information to update the story?
  - philipov 8y ago
    "Successful GUI idioms," is that a euphemism for dark patterns to make people spend more money? Anyway, even if they built it from scratch it isn't enough to refute the spirit of it being just a reskin of some other crappy cellphone game. Many, though certainly not all PC gamers are serious about not having their platform choices manipulated by exclusivity deals. It is interpreted as bullying, and we have had plenty of practice sticking to that belief against attempts to coerce people to buy every console. Red Dead Redemption 2 was just released, but even though it looks like an actually good game, it simply doesn't exist for me until it comes to PC.
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
    - zaphar 8y ago
      Wow, you are harsh. They replicated the control scheme from another game because it was a good control scheme. Sort of like how most PC games all use Q,W,E,S for movement. You don't know what the monetization scheme will be but you are sure it will use dark patterns to drain peoples wallets. You apparently didn't read the article to see what the similar GUI patterns they replicated were but you are certain it's just another pay to win game. Your bias is showing.
      - threatofrain 8y ago
        I do feel that the world of mobile games is tarnished in reputation for good reason, and that backlash against mobile games is primarily from parents, because the population they've been targeting has been very young kids. In some ways it also tarnishes the Android and Apple brand, which is why I think Google reacted with multi-accounts device sharing and YouTube kids. I wonder how much mobile gaming revenue is because parents signed in with their credit card and there aren't multiple accounts on iOS, and you can't update a game without the parent signing back in, and Family Sharing has no granularity. I have to think that Apple has walked over every inch of their UX and knows this. On Blizzard, I'm feeling what they mismanaged was the fact that their conference is expensive and anticipated enough to travel to, but what they announced is for a different audience.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - jasonlotito 8y ago
    > The blizzard developer quoted in the article stated emphatically that wasn't true Sure, because it's not just a reskin. They are creating new models, too. When people say "reskin," they sometimes aren't literally talking just about skins. Rather, they are talking about making another game on top of the same basic engine that exists in other games. And considering who Blizzard is partnering with to make this game and the other games they've put out, you can see there point.
wyldfire 8y ago
I'm not that familiar -- but isn't it possible that the die hard fans who show up to a convention are more likely to be PCMR/console types who don't like the idea of a watered-down mobile experience? And maybe successful COD example is due to the more casual gamers who wouldn't attend a conference (given that there are many more of them, it doesn't take as much engagement for financial success. )

ThrowawayR2 8y ago

Could've been predicted; there was similar backlash against EA for the mobile game that was themed after the old Command & Conquer RTS series: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018-06-10-as-the-internet-slams-eas-command-and-conquer-mobile-game-the-developers-call-for-a-fair-shake https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018-06-10-as-the-interne...

swat535 8y ago
Exactly and then EA caved and started doing damage control on reddit.. https://www.reddit.com/r/commandandconquer/comments/9nbrfm/cc_update_from_ea/?st=JN4YLFFJ&sh=2831010a https://www.reddit.com/r/commandandconquer/comments/9nbrfm/c... I think the bigger issue here is that companies are being greedy and want to use their flagship games as marketing to profit on microtransactions (which are very common) in mobile games. This is what fans are mostly upset about.

pkaye 8y ago

Maybe they can make another "head tilted to the left with mouth open" game. https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/8gt6vs/why_yes_i_do_have_a_refined_taste_in_mobile_games/?st=jo34kxfs&sh=88945949 https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/8gt6vs/why_yes_i_do...

fileeditview 8y ago
This made me laugh a lot.. it seems like the icon for Fallout Shelter was changed to look more like the others. They wrote in the patch notes: "Vault-Tec has noticed many overseers prefer game icons with faces screaming to the right. In an effort to raise your enjoyment and thoughtlessly blend in with the crowd, we’ve updated for a limited time. You’re welcome!" (this is from a Reddit comment)
- Izkata 8y ago
  It's also not the Duel Links icon (at least on Android). Totally difference character and facing straight out instead of to the side, though his mouth is slightly open in a yell.

bdz 8y ago

And Kotaku once again spins the wheel against the players >The explosion of outrage has many on social media discussing the extent to which video game culture enables entitlement. It’s not surprising, after all, that there’s been some pushback on the idea of a mobile Diablo game. What’s shocking here is the sheer amount of molten vitriol that’s pouring in over what seems to be a pretty cut-and-dry situation: A proper new Diablo has been and continues to be in the works, and Diablo Immortal is its own thing that’s not detracting from that. Also, the game itself is fine, if a little too shallow. No harm, no foul—aside from maybe some hurt feelings over unfulfilled expectations. And yet, people have decided that this is the ultimate betrayal, all because a single game isn’t hyper-focused on the diehard PC and console crowd. It’s fine and understandable to be skeptical of a big company, but the reaction here is wildly disproportionate to what Blizzard’s actually done. Or see Mashable https://mashable.com/article/diablo-immortal-hands-on/ https://mashable.com/article/diablo-immortal-hands-on/ Or this https://twitter.com/WillJPowers/status/1058446033724694528 https://twitter.com/WillJPowers/status/1058446033724694528 Gaming journalism is just terrible trash. The fact that these companies are trying to be immune and there are people who get paid to defend them is outrageous. No other medium does that. And people wonder how the hell do they get away with p2w and gambling mechanics in games.

pcwalton 8y ago
> And people wonder how the hell do they get away with p2w and gambling mechanics in games. Because that business model is profitable, and entertainment is a business like any other. If you don't like it, you are free not to play it. Besides some potential for gambling addiction (about which state lotteries are a far more important target for your ire if that is your concern), mobile games produce no externalities whatsoever. I continue to be completely mystified with the concept of outrage about video games. If you want to be outraged about corporate behavior, there are a multitude of examples of corporate malfeasance with actual negative externalities, such as the coal industry's contribution to climate change.
- jakebasile 8y ago
  You're mystified by it because you probably aren't a dedicated gamer. To lots of people, including myself, gaming is a huge part of their identity and lifestyle. It's a hobby like any other such as repairing old cars, painting, craft beer, etc. The "but climate change" is just whataboutism because gaming isn't important to you, so why aren't people paying more attention to what is important to you. edit to clarify: This may sound a little hostile but it isn't intended as such. I'm just explaining that some people really do care about this stuff just as you really care about your own hobbies or pet cause.

d0m 8y ago

Fans aren't angry about the diablo mobile game. They're angry because they were expecting a Diablo4 announcement and blizzard announced a diablo mobile game.. this is very different. IMHO the problem was in the way it was communicated, not with the game itself. It would have been very different if blizzard said: A) We've hired amazing people and we're working super hard on the next big Diablo title on PC, and here's one cool cinematic / picture to show it. B) A *separate* team of amazing devs has achieved the impossible and created a brand new diablo experience on mobile. Instead, they announced to the A) fans they were working on B) instead of A).

pier25 8y ago
Exactly. Instead of saying "don't you have phones?" they should have said "We are working on a new Diablo PC title but we aren't ready to talk about it yet". Would have been a very different reaction.
- gmueckl 8y ago
  But imagine yourself up on stage in front of thousands of people, with 2 or 3 seconds to come up with an answer while you are not allowed to mention any unannounced games. What would you have said? This is hard and many of us would not have done much better than this on the spot. The only "better" answer that I can think of would be a vague, general hint that Blozzard is working on more titles than those that are announced. But that would immediately be interpreted as "Diablo IV confirmed" and blown out of proportion. The gaming community has in recent years developed a culture of latching on to smallest of hints, letting their imagination roam freely to create a kind of groupthink dream of what the project would be. And than they react not only with disappointment, but also with hate, anger and aggression against the developers when these dream bubbles are busted. This lack of moderation in the community is disconcerting and if we don't find efficient ways to dampen that, we will see this get out of hands. Games are made by companies for profit. If they release something that you like, enjoy it. If you don't like it, move on. I don't understand any need to fuel hate to the levels we are seeing repeatedly these days.
  - 8y ago

jasonlotito 8y ago

The game journalists defending Blizzard seem to be missing the issue here. The issue isn't the mobile game. The issue is where it was announced and to which audience. Let me paint a picture. You buy tickets to see Rage Again the Machine perform, and RATM come out, and instead of performing their set, the do a mime act and that's it. They are done. You'd be pissed. Now, let's realize for a second, they performed for you, and they're performance might be something some people are interested in. Just not the audience that paid to see them. So yeah, people are going to be insulted. People don't care that Blizzard is making a mobile game. What they are upset with is that the audience they are presenting to, the fans they are reaching out to that still play Diablo, that were literally present, were completely ignored. Finally, let's not ignore the fact that this is really just a cash grab at a Chinese market. That's fine if that's what they want to do, but it's being driven by that market (this is clear because they are adopting patterns popular in China and not the West). Just don't pretend that another audience is going to cheer for the fact that they are being ignored.

pier25 8y ago
Yep. IIRC fans paid $200 tickets and I imagine even some traveled to go to the conf because there was so much hype around a new Diablo game.
the_duke 8y ago
No idea why you are downvoted, you are spot on.

teilo 8y ago

To make matters worse, this is not Diablo at all. It is little more than a reskin of NetEase's Crusaders of Light. I'd say the outrage is justified. Blizzard's claims that this thing is built from scratch from the ground up are laughable.

jorblumesea 8y ago

The problem is Blizz didn't have anything else to announce at Blizzcon. So people pay a good amount of money to be there, and the only thing that's announced is an outsourced/reskinned mobile game. Not even a true Blizzard title. So naturally the anger gets directed towards the game. Had they announced anything else with it such as D4 news, D3 dlc, D2 remaster...literally anything else, it would have been fine. Also remember Blizzard is not Blizzard/Activision and many of the old guard has left. Mike Morhaime and Chris Metzen departures were huge. I wonder if the writing is on the wall.

ben_jones 8y ago

The Diablo Immortal announcement was essentially the keynote of an already underwhelming Blizzcon this year. The game itself is just a re-skinning of an existing Chinese market ARPG with Blizzard's IP - Blizzard a company that has been known for axing titles for not meeting its quality standards. The game will be developed by Netease with one Chinese fan quoting "If EA is like a 2 out of 10, Netease is -2859". Of course Blizzard, Diablo, and ARPG mobile games, have a long history so there is more context. For one Blizzcon is something this crowd could compare to WWDC and similar conventions. Tickets start at around $200, with travel, food, lodging, and other expenses pushing the cost of attendance to over $1000 for many people. Keep in mind that unlike WWDC or other conventions your employer will likely not pay for you to go - so its straight out of pocket and people expect to get what they pay for. In addition Blizzard has been pushing "Virtual Tickets" for $50, where most gaming conventions stream for free to users on Twitch or Youtube. It's been over 6 years since Diablo 3, and there was a 12 year wait for that game after Diablo 2. Naturally seeing Diablo as the topic of the keynote, many Diablo fans hoped and prayed it was the Diablo 4 announcement. Finally ARPG mobile games are massive in the Chinese market, with fremium and micro-transaction models that would make candy crush and Pokemon Go blush. With a blatant re-skin it was clearly designed for a starkly different marketing segment then would be present at the keynote at Blizzcon. To force your developers to pitch that game to that crowd is sheer incompetence, yielding what will surly be timeless internet memes such as "you all have phones right" [1], and "this is an April Fools joke right" [2]. [1]: Response to the question if they'd be porting long-requested features present in the mobile game back to the Diablo 3 PC version. [2]: Question asked directly on stage by a brave fan.

3rdAccount 8y ago
6 years since D2? Did you mean D3, or was there a re-make?

leotravis10 8y ago

Related tweetstorm on this, which I agree on: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1058917187061252096.html https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1058917187061252096.html

bad_user 8y ago

Diablo 2 was epic. Diablo 3 is just a shadow of its former self. Even the graphics are arguably worse, which is quite the feat. I can’t be outraged of course. I gave up on Diablo a long time ago. The article briefly mentioned there was some outrage when they announced the console version too. Well, that’s quite understandable, because the game is really shallow, Zynga-style. Diablo was never a RPG with depth of course, the gameplay being basically a mindless point and click, but there was a lot of fun in character development, and there are entire websites devoted to guides for developing your character in Diablo 2 and all of that is gone in Diablo 3. Blizzard somehow managed to completely miss the point of what made Diablo 2 awesome. If they announced a remastered Diablo 2, I’d stay in line for it. Otherwise I don’t see the point of a new Diablo, as I know it will suck. And yes, for diehard fans, I completely understand the outrage.

dqpb 8y ago

I understand wanting something and then being disappointed when you didn't get it. But the anger and lashing out is pathetic. If you really want something, build it yourself. If you can't do it on your own, open source it and build a community. If you can't do that then your just begging to be disappointed. Relying on complete strangers to continually entertain you in exactly the way you want to be entertained, otherwise you'll lash out - it's sick and dystopian.

dqpb 8y ago
That said, mobile games do suck.

mustaflex 8y ago

Blizzard kept re-uploading the Diablo Immortal trailer multiple time to prevent massive dislikes on youtube. The video from the battle.net app is at its third version now. They should know better, you can't get away with these kind of shady practices, especially with a fan group that pay attention at what you do.

lousken 8y ago

They completly missed their target audience, I'd guess except for hearthstone 95% of ppl on blizzcon are PC gamers and Diablo fans especially so that was expected. And what was that stupid question at the end about not having phones? Yes ppl do have phones but most of them don't have and don't need gaming capable ones and why would they buy one? Mobile gaming is terrible except for card games and couple of casual trash clicking games. Sure you can use something like gamevice but that'll cost you even more money. And obviously PC gamers expect microtransactions on mobile. So that's why people are angry - they were waiting 5 years and got this.

erik_seaberg 8y ago
The PC master race is still upgrading desktops for performance. They're never going to be content with the severe compromises that make a pocket-sized CPU/GPU work at all. From their point of view there are no gaming-capable phones.
- calyth2018 8y ago
  The kind of gameplay that Diablo is known is probably a bad fit for mobile gaming. D1/D2 has a sizable backstory that sucked people into the hack-and-slash gameplay. The pseudorandom map generation made it very playable. The fact that the game sucked you in and made it hard to stop mashes well with the story. D3 kinda forgot about the backstory and the tone. A mobile phone would simply run out of battery maybe an hour into that kind of game play.

roymurdock 8y ago

i wonder how adoption/reception will be in china. a lot of companies with digital and entertainment products are now having the discussion of how to target the chinese and indian markets given the huge populations and growing middle class. classic blizz games have been mostly NA/European/korean players...wonder if the upcoming full games will try to blend cultural/lore references to target a non Western audience

mariusmg 8y ago

Looks like the Activision part of the company finally took complete control over the Bizzard part...

beerbajay 8y ago

"Fans" feel entitled to something but aren't actually entitled to anything, complain a lot. LOUDLY CRYING FACE