02/22/2013 02:57 AMPosted by Hypersonic

The argument is that the console versions has already had an effect on the design of the game some time during development. The decision to make versions for consoles meant that several aspects of the game had to be redesigned so that it can accommodate console gamers and as such, it resulted in the game being "dumbed down".

This particular argument is certainly making its rounds. And, in most cases, it's being used to validate the viewpoints of people who disagree with how Diablo III was designed. While having those disagreements is fine, blaming console for why they even exist is a pretty poor scapegoat.

No, the PC version of Diablo III was not designed for console from the beginning. It was developed for the PC with one major goal in mind: provide players with an awesome hack-and-slash computer game that's both fun and engaging. Whether or not we achieved that goal is certainly up for debate within this community, but it doesn't make it any less real or valid. All the decisions we made when developing Diablo III -- including combat, skills, character controls, user interface, and itemization -- were ones we believed would deliver a great online experience, and the same can be said for the improvements we've made since launch. These decisions were not hindered (i.e. "dumbed down") by the development of a PlayStation version or altered to accommodate it.

For clarity, the PS3 version of Diablo III is based on the PC version and will include many of the same features as the PC game, including content all the way up to patch 1.0.7. From there, it's being tailored specifically for the PlayStation platform and will feature a redesigned control scheme, camera perspective, and UI.

So, while there may be some players who don't like how Diablo III was designed for PC, the PlayStation version of the game was ultimately predicated by the PC experience (not vice-versa). Therefore, if you don't like the skill system, the inclusion of the auction house, or how itemization works, that's fine, but please try to attribute those disagreements to the right place.

02/25/2013 04:22 PMPosted by whoopadeedoo

So you're telling us that at no time was the console taken into consideration during the development of the PC version?

During the development of the PC version, the job and goal of our design team was to create a fun product for the PC. After launch, it's been to support the game in the form of content updates, balancing, and bug fixes. That's their focus.

Beyond that, we actually have an independent team of designers, engineers, artists, and producers that are dedicated to adapting Diablo III to the PlayStation and creating an epic console experience. It's their job to take the PC game and translate it to the PS3, and in a way deal with all the considerations you're talking about. While our console team and PC team do collaborate (and have collaborated in the past), it's always to ensure that we’re staying true to D3 on the PlayStation platform.

02/25/2013 04:23 PMPosted by Sÿlak

Is that belief still held high in the development office?

We believe that many aspects of itemization in Diablo III work great, but that the system isn't perfect and can be improved. Overall, we feel like we've been making the item game better with each new patch, and definitely have plans to continue to that process. Some of the areas we'd like to focus on for the future include making Legendary items more "game changing" while still being powerful enough for players to want to equip them, introducing more meaningful gold sinks, and continuing to provide players with reliable ways to gear up outside of the Auction House.

02/25/2013 04:23 PMPosted by Fayld

I wish I could believe this wasn't just more spin...

I wish you could, too, but it's okay if you don't. :) The intent of my post wasn't to really to change anyone's minds, but just make sure that people have enough information to make informed decisions on their own.

I think you are kinda just beating around the bush.
You still can't be 100% sure that some certain elements of the game are being designed (or redesigned during the game is being made) are taken into account because of a possibility of console port in the future.

Since I wasn't privy to every individual thought the developers were thinking as they implemented specific features for the PC game, it's possible that someone at some point thought about something related to console. (Though it may just have been whether or not they remembered to plug in their PS3 controller that morning.)

Even so, to counter a metaphor with a metaphor, I think a lot of players in this discussion can't see the forest for the trees. The point is that it wasn't on the PC design team to make considerations for console. Their focus has been and continues to be the PC game. It's the job of console team to make considerations for console as they adapt the existing game for the PlayStation.

Where's the character customization that was featured at blizzcon? We are'nt even allowed to ask dev's about, but so glad your working to appease a new fanbase....

The development of Diablo III for PlayStation isn't related to our ongoing support of the PC game. We still want to make improvements to specific areas like itemization and customization:

02/25/2013 05:28 PMPosted by Lylirra

We believe that many aspects of itemization in Diablo III work great, but that the system isn't perfect and can be improved. Overall, we feel like we've been making the item game better with each new patch, and definitely have plans to continue to that process. Some of the areas we'd like to focus on for the future include making Legendary items more "game changing" while still being powerful enough for players to want to equip them, introducing more meaningful gold sinks, and continuing to provide players with reliable ways to gear up outside of the Auction House.

02/25/2013 03:47 PMPosted by Travis Day

I agree, visual customization has a lot of value, people like to differentiate themselves from each other or sometimes just get bored of looking at the same thing all day every day. In fact we agree SO much that we have plans to add this feature in the future.

A whole lot of us did not want a "hack-and-slash" game!

We wanted a D I A B L O game!

But...Diablo is a hack-and-slash game. (As is Diablo II.) :(

Hey Lyr... any chance you might respond the questions I formulated to ya?

Thanks!

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/7979938071?page=19#368 :)

Someone asked some very similar questions to yours!

02/25/2013 11:08 PMPosted by Xaragoth

Even the UI and entire conrol setup lends itself very much to a controller layout, as do the amount of abilities.

Except that both the UI and control scheme are being redeveloped for PlayStation. (Not to mention that console games can support more than 6 input buttons, if that's what a particular design calls for.)

Let's focus the criticisms here, though. It seems your primary concern is that Diablo III was designed and/or has evolved in a way you don't entirely agree with. You're attributing that to the fact we're porting the PC game to the PlayStation. Because a lot of features and systems in Diablo III seem to sync well with console play, you feel this is evidence that the PC game was purposely handicapped for the PlayStation, and is one of the main reasons why we chose not to implement certain design features from Diablo II (i.e. the type of gameplay you prefer).

It's not unreasonable to think that the order of operations for bringing Diablo III to console was a) decide to release Diablo III on console and then b) develop the PC game around that philosophy -- especially if thinking that helps validate your own concerns. In reality, though, the order was a) develop a great game for PC and then b) see if it makes sense to release that game on console.

We've always thought that, out of all our games, the Diablo franchise would translate best to the console platform (heck, even the first Diablo was ported to PlayStation). The gameplay and controls are very straightforward, which lends itself better to consoles than other titles we've released. This is something we've said for many years now.

Play.tm: This game is PC and Mac only at present. Do you have console plans for the future?[/b]

Jay: We don't have any console plans right now. I would say that of all our games... well, Blizzard doesn't view itself as just a PC developer, we think we're a games developer. So if we thought a game was more appropriate for consoles we'd make it, its just that most of the games we've made so far feel better on the PC. However, Diablo is maybe the one exception. I think the control scheme would translate really well to a console, erm, there are many elements that would be easy to pull over... that could work well with direct control. There's not a lot of buttons, so you could fit them on a controller pretty easily. There are some targeting issues that could be troublesome, but nothing that couldn't be overcome. But, we're also used to developing for the PC, so right now we're completely focused on that.

(source)

Though Diablo 3 is currently only confirmed for the PC, Blizzard president Mike Morhaime has once again suggested that the long-awaited action-RPG may end up on consoles as well.

"Every game we have the discussion about which platforms make the most sense," Morhaime stated in an interview at BlizzCon. "As Diablo 3 takes shape, I think we'll do an evaluation."

"I think there is a pretty good argument to be made that that type of game might work very well on consoles," he added. "There might be some technical limitations though that we might need to get past."

Diablo 3 director Jay Wilson also chimed in on the oft-speculated topic, noting that the game's control scheme would work rather well on consoles.

"If we did it, we would want to do a really high quality version--we wouldn't just want to do a port," Wilson said. "We would never make that decision if we thought we had to compromise the overall quality...we could probably do it at any time, we could release the game and then decide we wanted to do a 360 version or a PS3 version."

"We haven't really decided to take the [console] plunge," he continued "We've really come to the conclusion that it's probably the best fit because the control scheme is actually not that incompatible. So if we were to make that decision, Diablo would be the natural choice."

(source)

VG 24/7:I sat in on a recent press conference where Jay Wilson and J Allen Brack were asked why Blizzard games aren't on consoles. The gist of their argument? If Blizzard created a game that was a good fit for consoles, it’d be there in a heartbeat. Obviously, many gamers have responded to this with vehement cries of "Diablo!" Are they right? Or are Diablo’s demons invulnerable to all but the mighty mouse and keyboard?

JB: I think it is suited to consoles. We’re definitely working, obviously, on the PC version. This is something that’s been brought up a lot about Diablo. It’s sort of an ongoing question. And I’m sure we would all love to play it on console, but right now, we’re just focused on what we’ve got in front of us. Who knows what the future holds? It’s hard to say.

CL: We have said in the past that Diablo’s one of the games that really would translate [to consoles] well.

(source)

Ultimately, Diablo III was a game designed for the PC. It has since been released for PC, and we've made several improvements to the PC game since launch. We plan to continue that support (see here and here as examples). From there, we've been working to port the game to the PlayStation, because we feel it would play really well on that platform.

The part I think a lot of players are getting caught up on is that there's a big difference between believing that a PC game can work well on console after some adjustments, and designing a PC game specifically for console. Diablo III is an example of the former. This means that your concerns are with our approach towards designing a PC game in general, and not the fact that the game makes a good candidate for a console port.

02/25/2013 10:58 PMPosted by Moogle

Very disheartening to hear this franchise get boiled down to semantics. These games are so much more than hack-and-slash.

I agree. I never said Diablo, Diablo II, or Diablo III were limited to the hack-and-slash genre. I just clarified that they were, in fact, hack-and-slash games.

02/25/2013 08:43 PMPosted by whoopadeedoo

Lylirra, will you have a beer with me at Blizzcon? Seriously.

Deal, but you're buying. :)