This is no rant just a straight observation. Diablo 3 was announced almost 4 years ago now. The community was ecstatic and people openly embraced Blizzard for it's re-admission of a landmark title. Fast forward 4 or so years and this ecstasy has turned in many sectors to bile and contempt for the long time it has taken for Diablo 3 to ripen.
Now, if it were me, and thank Crom it's not. I would have said nothing, but hindsight is a super hero and a man (according to South Park).What I am trying to say is this, the world has changed since Diablo 2 and the original. Millions more people have access to high speed internet and gaming news is now commonplace. I remember getting all my info from magazines and only recently, last 7-9 years, have I really been using the internet for this content (I lived in South Africa where dial-up was the norm for years.)
Blizzard has done a fantastic and frustrating job of creating a plethora of in depth information for all the world to peruse. The problem I find with this turns to the old adage, too many cooks spoil the broth. We have wiki's and fan sites and conversations with employee's, we hear the gossip, listen to calls, read blogs and delve into the game in the most intricate and critical ways possible. We have become our own worst enemy.
Back in the day they didn't have the massive resources they have now and by and large we still gobbled up whatever they produced.This fanaticism for getting everything perfect was not evident, but, in house I am sure it existed. We have been fattened on this information, and become conceited and compelled to share our frustration with the company. Now, because we matter we have longer delays, more tweaking and fine tuning. Blizzard hears us, all to well I fear and we have become culpable for the delays that have ensued since announcement.
I feel that Blizzard should learn from this and announce releases much closer to launch, say 6 months to a year. Sure we will get delays but non as long winded as this. Also, I think the company should trust it's judgement better and produce a game that has the hallmarks of what we have come to expect but add to it through more ingenious methods of gathering information. Do what they do best and be damned the consequences. I would prefer this instead of the wholesale description of systems and deep community immersion. In other words, I would prefer to be kept in the dark.
The dark cannot become jaded as it has no reference point to become jaded from. So, there are my 10 cents. I believe many will disagree with them and that's A OK. I didn't come here to convince I came here to write my opinion, which in case you're fuming means nothing.
You sir have obtained a +1 internet. Your post was composed with my thoughts exactly. It's undoubtedly a very articulate and honestly could very well be the most intriguing post that I've come across in some time. Beside, ya know, Jay Wilsons recent article and recent changes with patch 13. Which I think is going in the right direction, and baffles me that anyone could actually rage about, instead of putting on their big boy pants and explaining why their opinion sways the way it does. I think some of them need to put 1 or 2 DEPENDS over their heads so the #$%& they're excreting doesn't get all over my monitor. Anyhow, i digress, great post. Thankcyoyvfor your input on everything. Be great to one day slay some demons and destroy el diablo with. Happy slaying. Hoping its actualltly soon™er than later, amiright?
Keep in mind, also, that the wait only seems 'bad' because we are the hardcore fans who follow the game's development on a daily basis.
The average gamer will be more like: "yeah that game's taking a while to come out", but they're not as invested in its development as we are. From our perspective, it may seem like the whole community is turning against Blizzard, but really, it's just a tiny subset of disgruntled people.
It takes a certain kind of character to be passionate enough about the game that they post on fansites in the first place, after all.
You should see the League of Legends forums. It's lose-lose for the developers there. If they don't say anything, the fans whine: "why are you being so quiet??? What happened to transparency on the development process???" And if they give fans insight on stuff during development, then a couple months down the line, fans still complain: "what's taking so long with this thing???"
Yeah, it's always a bit of a juggling act. You're never going to be able to make everyone happy.
I agree with you Rogueelement though I think they announced D3 so long ago because maybe they were as excited about it as they knew we would be.
I'd definitely prefer an announcement closer to completion too though. I found that after a while I lost interest and stopped avidly following the fansites for new info as it began to feel like it just would never be completed.
For me it was a bit like religion; "I'm never going there, and even if what they say is true I won't be there any time soon". The chances of me being hit by a bus and waking up with a copy of the game are slim to nil.
I study a lot (like in a university) and it definitely is a good distraction... but here I am, trying to make constructive posts in the hope of getting my little taste of heaven. What will be tricky is finding time this semester to actually play the game when it's released, I've got a workload you wouldn't believe.
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"For the price of one bullet you can eat 4 hotcakes." - Vash the Stampede.
I wonder what Blizzard has learned or not. For some of us they seem to fall into the same pitfalls over and over again. Namely being forced to give a release date and discuss their development of game systems. I know in my work sometimes its difficult to anticipate all of the pitfalls and hurdles you might encounter before your deliverable is ready for distribution. I'm sure a number of us have been involved in projects that have run past release dates by months or maybe even years. On the one hand it'd be cool to have legions of fans anticipating the release of my next project but on the other hand I can see how it'd get to you when people flame decisions. There are those of us who would rather just be told one day hey Diablo3 is being released tomorrow and never have paid attention to the development cycle.
Maybe they've learned not to discuss game systems until they're finalized. I think it might be easier to announce the rune system in its final form and defend it as opposed to having discussed it previously and given fans the impression it might have been more than it is today. I definetly don't agree with all of the decisions the game development has taken but I'm not privy to all of the information and testing info they have access to. I guess at the end of the day they're openess is both a godsend and their bane to different segments of the Diablo community and it's hard to comment on whether it's been good or bad to the community as a whole. Personally while I'm extremely excited about the release of the game I also have enough going on in my life that makes the wait alot more tolerable. That's not a critism to those who feel they can't wait as years ago when I was alot younger I'm sure I felt the exact same way when waiting for game releases. It's just that I've learned that life is too short to worry about just a video game and just to enjoy the time in between.
Have they learned anything? Umm no, see I know they didn't because they did almost the exact some thing for D2. Granted it was only like 3 years instead of four but yeah. Granted Bill Roper was heading things up and not Jay Wilson but I don't see things changing in the future.
All great posts, I love the fact that all of us differ so greatly on this topic and sadly this is an admission that I maybe to close to the production of Diablo 3. It is true that, if one chose to, step outside the information barrage and obtain information only in dribs and drabs. My point I feel still remains. Diablo 3 was announced too early and has become a bastard son of it's community. People have hacked and slashed their way into deciding it's production outcome more than any game I care to remember and I worry that the most vociferous of these voices get chosen to decide critical factors in it's ripening phase.
This leads to delays and an immense amount of angst. I feel that if I were to choose between knowing and being part of it's shaping and not knowing and not, then I would certainly choose the latter. Blizzard has ball's to have given the information it has and has been cowardly in it's attempt to adhere to all the clamors for change. I want Blizzard to bullock through it's development, take hard lines and release what it feels is a good game. . . . It may not be perfect but, by Crom I'll still love it
Again, I mean to flame no one with these comments, they are but the ramblings of a Diablo fan.
Oh and thanks for the +1 Internets....awesome.
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Now, if it were me, and thank Crom it's not. I would have said nothing, but hindsight is a super hero and a man (according to South Park).What I am trying to say is this, the world has changed since Diablo 2 and the original. Millions more people have access to high speed internet and gaming news is now commonplace. I remember getting all my info from magazines and only recently, last 7-9 years, have I really been using the internet for this content (I lived in South Africa where dial-up was the norm for years.)
Blizzard has done a fantastic and frustrating job of creating a plethora of in depth information for all the world to peruse. The problem I find with this turns to the old adage, too many cooks spoil the broth. We have wiki's and fan sites and conversations with employee's, we hear the gossip, listen to calls, read blogs and delve into the game in the most intricate and critical ways possible. We have become our own worst enemy.
Back in the day they didn't have the massive resources they have now and by and large we still gobbled up whatever they produced.This fanaticism for getting everything perfect was not evident, but, in house I am sure it existed. We have been fattened on this information, and become conceited and compelled to share our frustration with the company. Now, because we matter we have longer delays, more tweaking and fine tuning. Blizzard hears us, all to well I fear and we have become culpable for the delays that have ensued since announcement.
I feel that Blizzard should learn from this and announce releases much closer to launch, say 6 months to a year. Sure we will get delays but non as long winded as this. Also, I think the company should trust it's judgement better and produce a game that has the hallmarks of what we have come to expect but add to it through more ingenious methods of gathering information. Do what they do best and be damned the consequences. I would prefer this instead of the wholesale description of systems and deep community immersion. In other words, I would prefer to be kept in the dark.
The dark cannot become jaded as it has no reference point to become jaded from. So, there are my 10 cents. I believe many will disagree with them and that's A OK. I didn't come here to convince I came here to write my opinion, which in case you're fuming means nothing.
Thanks for the read.
The average gamer will be more like: "yeah that game's taking a while to come out", but they're not as invested in its development as we are. From our perspective, it may seem like the whole community is turning against Blizzard, but really, it's just a tiny subset of disgruntled people.
It takes a certain kind of character to be passionate enough about the game that they post on fansites in the first place, after all.
You should see the League of Legends forums. It's lose-lose for the developers there. If they don't say anything, the fans whine: "why are you being so quiet??? What happened to transparency on the development process???" And if they give fans insight on stuff during development, then a couple months down the line, fans still complain: "what's taking so long with this thing???"
Yeah, it's always a bit of a juggling act. You're never going to be able to make everyone happy.
I'd definitely prefer an announcement closer to completion too though. I found that after a while I lost interest and stopped avidly following the fansites for new info as it began to feel like it just would never be completed.
For me it was a bit like religion; "I'm never going there, and even if what they say is true I won't be there any time soon". The chances of me being hit by a bus and waking up with a copy of the game are slim to nil.
I study a lot (like in a university) and it definitely is a good distraction... but here I am, trying to make constructive posts in the hope of getting my little taste of heaven. What will be tricky is finding time this semester to actually play the game when it's released, I've got a workload you wouldn't believe.
Maybe they've learned not to discuss game systems until they're finalized. I think it might be easier to announce the rune system in its final form and defend it as opposed to having discussed it previously and given fans the impression it might have been more than it is today. I definetly don't agree with all of the decisions the game development has taken but I'm not privy to all of the information and testing info they have access to. I guess at the end of the day they're openess is both a godsend and their bane to different segments of the Diablo community and it's hard to comment on whether it's been good or bad to the community as a whole. Personally while I'm extremely excited about the release of the game I also have enough going on in my life that makes the wait alot more tolerable. That's not a critism to those who feel they can't wait as years ago when I was alot younger I'm sure I felt the exact same way when waiting for game releases. It's just that I've learned that life is too short to worry about just a video game and just to enjoy the time in between.
This leads to delays and an immense amount of angst. I feel that if I were to choose between knowing and being part of it's shaping and not knowing and not, then I would certainly choose the latter. Blizzard has ball's to have given the information it has and has been cowardly in it's attempt to adhere to all the clamors for change. I want Blizzard to bullock through it's development, take hard lines and release what it feels is a good game. . . . It may not be perfect but, by Crom I'll still love it
Again, I mean to flame no one with these comments, they are but the ramblings of a Diablo fan.
Oh and thanks for the +1 Internets....awesome.