They did the same with WoW, they listen to the many, to the casuals that linger around on T3 if not boosted by someone on T6.
Most recently I'm talking about giving non-season players access too all the new legendaries. As a gamer who played alot of D2 and LOD. I can say that it's not enough for most to just race for paragon levels or greater rifts.
They did this before RoS aswell, they don't give us enough goals to strive for.
Speaking for myself as someone who can't play 200 hours each month anymore. The above goals don't speak to me much, sure I wanna get further then my friends in both. But I can do that in normal aswell, they reset the "era's" everytime they reset Season anyway.
I'm missing the season exclusive stuff, I'm still a rather competitive player, and when I get time to play I play to win, and to accomplish as much as I possibly can in little time. I was rank 700+ with a few weeks left on S2 with my barb, that with about 70 hours played on him. Around 120 hours total in all of S2.
I dropped down later cause I didn't have time to farm. Don't even have an ancient Furnace, the nine I got during S2 was shit. Never got an ancient maximus.
I can live with this, I do the most I can with the gear I get, I love this. Do not change this in any matter, unless they allow trading, problem there are gold farmers.
I'm sliding of track. My point is, Blizzard keeps listening to casual that spend time on the forum instead of progressing or thinking how they can improve.
I understand this is how they got 50% of the players now playing WoW to join, and more and more on D3 aswell.
I was happy when RoS was released, I could leave LoD and start playing this instead, still alot of sad things, like the lack of trading for one.. But it was a thousand times better then before RoS.
I'm fearing they are to greedy now, why take away this from season? What do we get? Like 2 new shitty gems?
If they remove the exclusiveness from season it will die, only the most hardcore gamers will keep playing season, no one else will care shit about it. They will divide the community into one large mob and one pool of knights.
If they keep removing the fun from season they have to add something aswell. I would suggest to remove leaderboards from non-season. As it is right now, the difference between non-season and season. Is that roughly every third month one get their heroes reset to the other.
Both sides leaderboards are reset.
Both sides are getting new items.
Maybe I'm just an old goat who longs for the old days of D2:LoD. But there we had a reason to play ladder. What do we have now?
I will maybe try S3, I've been looking forward to it since they announced the changes on Immortal King. But writing this, I'm not sure if I will have the same passion for it when it's release.
Sure I could play non-season then. But that doesn't appeal to me.
What do you guys think? Do any of you agree with me? Why not?
They aren't giving non-season players access to all of the new legendaries, so I'm not really sure what you are complaining about. Season 3 has a solid list of exclusive legendaries. If you are referring to the fact that at the end of EVERY season, they roll over the previous season's legendaries to the normal servers, then that isn't new.
But to respond to your point, as a player who is pretty busy, and doesn't have time to play seasons every patch, I prefer to play normal. It sucks, because I feel that I am gated from the legendaries that I want to use due to seasons, but I inevitably have to wait for 2-3 months after their release in order to get them.
If seasons are this competitive playstyle that you love so much, isn't the competitive part its own reward - seeing how high on the leaderboards you can get isn't enough? If the only reason you are playing seasons is for some exclusive legendaries, that mean's that the design is flawed at a fundamental level. You should be playing competitively for the thrill of being better than everyone else, but it shouldn't be at the expense of other players who paid just as much for the game, but don't have the time to level an entirely new character every couple months, and enjoy trying to maximize their current character.
Whoever said they were only giving new gems this season? I'm pretty sure there is a blue post saying that there will be Season 3 legendaries. Not all the new items coming in 2.2 are going to be season only but there will be items like the other seasons.
Blue post here states that all legendary items are dropping in 2.2 on PTR, but isn't going to be that way on live.
Most recently I'm talking about giving non-season players access too all the new legendaries. As a gamer who played alot of D2 and LOD. I can say that it's not enough for most to just race for paragon levels or greater rifts.
Sure I could play non-season then. But that doesn't appeal to me.
I hear this a lot from season players. Yet, I don't get it. Why does non-season not appeal to you, but at the same time the season-only rewards are not enough for you?
So you don't think the rewards make it worthwhile to play season, but you also don't want to play non-season. Help me out - why do you not like non-season, why do you want to play season?
Season is a game mode that asks players to start over from scratch. Hit the reset button. I hate that. I absolutely despise being forced to start over again and throw away all my progress just because some artificial reset button was pressed. What's the point? And no, it's *not* fun to start over again, I was forced to do this in LoD with all the ladder-only runewords that, for a casual player, made non-ladder worthless.
If you want to start over, play season. If you don't, play non-season. But just because you personally prefer a certain game mode that does not mean that Blizzard needs to screw all those of us over that don't share your opinion and put all the nice and fancy stuff into your game mode. It's like a HC player asking for HC-only items. I never see HC player asking for this, yet they stay in their game mode. What makes season players so unique that they have to have access to all the items and take it away from non-season players?
No, no, no, no, no. I could not disagree more with this thread. Not everyone thinks like you. Diablo is still based on the ARPG genre, and for me an artificial restart has no place here. I payed the same amount of money for the game as you did, so I don't see why you should get significantly more content than me.
I like the op's post but it also hints at some of the problems with posters. This is not LOD, this is also 2015. Marketing and game goals are different now than they were then. This is something we all need to live with and understand as we move to the advanced tech age.
Now what I like from this post was the idea of removing leader-boards (ladders) of greater rifts from non-seasonal. Instead, I think they should think of a new game mode that is exclusive to Non-Seasonal so that you have more of a reason to play each game mode. My idea was having firefights, where you and all 3 of your followers (or 3 other players) are locked into a Hell Rift arena of some sort. Waves keep on pouring out at you and you try to get as far as possible, but you also try to get that far as quick as possible. By doing something like this I feel you open up new avenues of gearing, moving away from strictly the glass cannon theory to every stat being of utmost importance. I also feel that a "Firefight" mode would be fitting for non-seasonal as those characters have more paragon levels opening up more survival and killing options.
I also feel this game mode would lead the dev crew and community to think of a more unique and intricate paragon system. In the end, it is a very raw idea on my part, but something that I think could really be implemented and be very exciting. Loot will be given when you die, and like PVP was intended when you die you do not actually die, so that Hardcore players can enjoy this game mode as well.
That is just one random thought of mine that popped up as I was reading the OP's post. The main goal should be to add more unique and specialized game modes that help players feel like there is a real reason to play both seasonal and non-seasonal. Limiting the difference to a selection of 8-10 drops simply is not enough, and quite frankly, is very lazy by the Dev crew.
Whoever said they were only giving new gems this season? I'm pretty sure there is a blue post saying that there will be Season 3 legendaries. Not all the new items coming in 2.2 are going to be season only but there will be items like the other seasons.
Blue post here states that all legendary items are dropping in 2.2 on PTR, but isn't going to be that way on live.
I agree that the "season only legendaries"-thing should be dropped. They don't incentivize seasonal play and only makes playing non-season more disheartening and unrewarding than it already is.
I only play seasons, but I do so because of the fresh start and the thought of starting on the same premises as everyone else regarding leaderboards. I couldn't care less if the new items were also available to my non-season characters as I see no joy in playing them whatsoever.
As for other means of differentiating the game modes I don't like the idea. Players would, in a greater sense than now, feel forced to choose between this or that because of what they contain - not because of what they themselves want to do.
The only thing that seems fair is what they've added to season 3 with a unique portrait and that banner thingie you can have on your back. Just too bad they're obtainable within the first hours of gameplay by anyone who cares for it and that it's only two items. They don't alter the gameplay in any way and NS characters don't feel let out to the same extent as they do with the season only items.
The main incentive to actualy do seasons isn't the gear you get. Its simply the Leaderboards. 95% of the people playing season do so because of the leaderboards.
If you only wanna play now and then and do not care about leaderboards. Season is not for you.
And with that said. Season shouldn't really need items to get people to play them. Release them for everyone
You also have a few of those. Like myself. Who do not care about the leaderboards. But love the progression from 0 to hero.
The only reason i play season is that i start with nothing and need to work my way up.
If i simply where to go non season when 2.2 hits. Where i have most of the gear already and 700 paragon levels. I would be sick and tired of the game in a week
This is more or less why I play season aswell, but as I wrote in my original post. Only this reason is not enough for me.
Might be just me, but I need something else... It was like when they first launched Paragon, only farming for one thing doesn't do it for me.
I love the reset and also the journey of progression, the fact that I can be able to compete with atleast top 2000 even though I play so little theese days, is also something that saturates (is that the right word?) my ego.
At the same time somehow I like the idea of having gear that you can't bring into normal any other way then playing Season/Ladder and wait 3 or 6 months to get it there. And if you didn't get a gozu roll, you have to do it again.
I understand why the younger gamers who haven't seen as many months can get the feeling of this being exhausting and takes to long. But don't worry, the more years you spend, the faster they will go, and you will soon realise you have over half of your lifetime left.
One of the things I loved with D2:LOD was infact the ladder specific runewords. I played alot of normal at first, cause I didn't know the difference, was young lol.
When I started to get more searious about my gaming, getting more into theorycrafting, minmaxing and such. I began to play some ladder to get the gear I wanted for normal.
The race when a new ladder started and the reset of all your gear, the question if you would get good gear or not, if you would get the drops you wanted at the start or if you had to work for them.
That's was part of what makes this games playable for me.
But as I said, one goal isn't enough for me, I need 2-3, the least.
I've always been against the simplicification (yes I made that up I think) of games.
And as pointed out, I understand why Blizzard are making these changes, these games sell alot more.
It's just sad, and Blizzard are doing it in every game, hence the title.
Take WoW for example, I played since the first Beta. I'm not even gonna go into the vanilla hardcore discussion.
5% of all players ever got to set foot into the old naxxramas at 60. Think it was about 1.5% got to kill 1 boss in there. Like 0.05% I belive it was, or even less, got to clear it.
But they changed that, they made more difficulties, so all could play the dungeons and live the lore.
But they could still do that before, thanks to youtube, and now twitch and alike.
The prestige of wearing full epic and clearing all the raids was gone.
I don't know I just fear Blizzard is gonna ruin D3 for me aswell....
I still got D2 though, glad they are not touching that ...
Well, of course they don't. The moment someone suggests something that might open the game up to being more goal-oriented, the community comes around and shuts it right down.
"Oh, you want them to make the game less about loot? SORRY, NOT INTERESTED!"
So, what's it going to be? Is Diablo 3 a loot game or is it a goal game? Because everyone I've ever talked to has suggested it's 100% a loot game and that's good enough for them. Coincidentally, that's one of the reasons I quit playing D3 -- I'm not interested in farming the same bullshit day after day after day just for a potential tiny increase in stats. Definitely not interested in starting from scratch every few months.
Either way, the community is basically getting exactly what they're asking for on this. If you want to blame anyone for the state of Diablo 3, look at the community.
Blizzard has been making casual games for at least 10 years.
Kinda late to the show, you are.
All bigtime game developers make casual games. There is no profit in catering to the top 5%. The fuck do people expect.
I would study From Software, they are a big time developer that takes your theory and beats it with a kendo stick!!!!!
That being said, it is hard to pull off, and expensive. Diablo 3 at launch was close, but the RMAH ruined its potential, but rather than fixing the issue solely, they needed to rebuild the entire system because they had lost nearly their entire community of players. Hence they listened to the community and gave them what they want in RoS, and now D3 is on the rise again.
What I am curious about is whether they go away from the RoS system and back to their original intentions now that they have a larger player base again.
At today's rate, that's a whooping 38 million euros. That's nothing for a game company (even CCP games, which is a pretty niche game maker, has nearly double the revenue)
Sorry, but if that's your counter-example, it failed miserably.
At today's rate, that's a whooping 38 million euros. That's nothing for a game company (even CCP games, which is a pretty niche game maker, has nearly double the revenue)
Sorry, but if that's your counter-example, it failed miserably.
If you think that is nothing, you clearly have an issue, comparing to THEE top dog to determine success is a complete joke, and in essence, one of the other problems in many of these discussions.
Well, yes you've proven there is a niche for hardcore games that only a tiny slice of gamers will play. Blizzard is very clearly NOT in the business of catering to a small niche.
I don't post much anymore, but I'm going to put my 2 cents in..
First, let's not bring the whole Hardcore/Casual shit into this game. Leave it for the WoW players to debate.
Second, let's use common sense when we look at changes in the game. Common sense tells us that in order for a game to have any longevity, players must have advancement in some fashion through that game. If you are stuck at doing level 20 Grifts for 5 months straight, I doubt you would enjoy the game much. By letting non season players have access to the previous seasons legs, they have a way to obtain new powerful items that will let them reach the next level. It's not about catering to a certain segment of the player base.
Last,you have to understand that the "Hardcore" player today most likely will not be a hardcore player three years from now. People's live are constantly changing and expanding. And any smart gaming company realizes that.
In the end, we are all just people who enjoy the game in different ways and in different amounts. We're all Gamers, and that's enough.
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I see the line in the sand. Time to find out who I am. Looking back to see where I stand. Evolution.
If you think that is nothing, you clearly have an issue, comparing to THEE top dog to determine success is a complete joke, and in essence, one of the other problems in many of these discussions.
Dude, I mentionned CCP Games to you (the guys that make EvE Online) and even them generate more revenue.
There is nothing wrong with being a niche company in itself, only you will remain niche as long as you don't cater to the crowds. Which makes sense - people don't purchase products they don't like.
I won't even mention the fact that the Japanese video games market is worth in the tune of 500 BILLION yen. I think you can divide 5 by 500 yourself, and see what the approximate market share of that amazing company is, even in its own homeland.
If you think that is nothing, you clearly have an issue, comparing to THEE top dog to determine success is a complete joke, and in essence, one of the other problems in many of these discussions.
Dude, I mentionned CCP Games to you (the guys that make EvE Online) and even them generate more revenue.
There is nothing wrong with being a niche company in itself, only you will remain niche as long as you don't cater to the crowds. Which makes sense - people don't purchase products they don't like.
I won't even mention the fact that the Japanese video games market is worth in the tune of 500 BILLION yen. I think you can divide 5 by 500 yourself, and see what the approximate market share of that amazing company is, even in its own homeland.
EvE online is a completely different genre, that is what I meant. You are grabbing A and B and saying they are the same. When in reality, they are not.
When comparing straight up sales intervals of From Software to ALL major competitors, they fall in the middle of the pack. Also, why stick solely to foreign sales? Domestic sales of Dark Souls and Bloodborne have been high as well.
If you think that is nothing, you clearly have an issue, comparing to THEE top dog to determine success is a complete joke, and in essence, one of the other problems in many of these discussions.
Dude, I mentionned CCP Games to you (the guys that make EvE Online) and even them generate more revenue.
There is nothing wrong with being a niche company in itself, only you will remain niche as long as you don't cater to the crowds. Which makes sense - people don't purchase products they don't like.
I won't even mention the fact that the Japanese video games market is worth in the tune of 500 BILLION yen. I think you can divide 5 by 500 yourself, and see what the approximate market share of that amazing company is, even in its own homeland.
EvE online is a completely different genre, that is what I meant. You are grabbing A and B and saying they are the same. When in reality, they are not.
When comparing straight up sales intervals of From Software to ALL major competitors, they fall in the middle of the pack. Also, why stick solely to foreign sales? Domestic sales of Dark Souls and Bloodborne have been high as well.
It is different in gameplay, but not in its market positioning - it is a niche game geared towards a limited community of players. Quite logically that means a very limited revenue.
"Middle of the pack"? They are not in top 25 for sure, and probably not even in top 100. Sure, if you include all the steam-selling companies, they'll be in the middle of the pack, but let's remain serious for a bit.
"Also, why stick solely to foreign sales?" --> I'm not. 5 billion is their global sales volume according to their own website.
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They did the same with WoW, they listen to the many, to the casuals that linger around on T3 if not boosted by someone on T6.
Most recently I'm talking about giving non-season players access too all the new legendaries. As a gamer who played alot of D2 and LOD. I can say that it's not enough for most to just race for paragon levels or greater rifts.
They did this before RoS aswell, they don't give us enough goals to strive for.
Speaking for myself as someone who can't play 200 hours each month anymore. The above goals don't speak to me much, sure I wanna get further then my friends in both. But I can do that in normal aswell, they reset the "era's" everytime they reset Season anyway.
I'm missing the season exclusive stuff, I'm still a rather competitive player, and when I get time to play I play to win, and to accomplish as much as I possibly can in little time. I was rank 700+ with a few weeks left on S2 with my barb, that with about 70 hours played on him. Around 120 hours total in all of S2.
I dropped down later cause I didn't have time to farm. Don't even have an ancient Furnace, the nine I got during S2 was shit. Never got an ancient maximus.
I can live with this, I do the most I can with the gear I get, I love this. Do not change this in any matter, unless they allow trading, problem there are gold farmers.
I'm sliding of track. My point is, Blizzard keeps listening to casual that spend time on the forum instead of progressing or thinking how they can improve.
I understand this is how they got 50% of the players now playing WoW to join, and more and more on D3 aswell.
I was happy when RoS was released, I could leave LoD and start playing this instead, still alot of sad things, like the lack of trading for one.. But it was a thousand times better then before RoS.
I'm fearing they are to greedy now, why take away this from season? What do we get? Like 2 new shitty gems?
If they remove the exclusiveness from season it will die, only the most hardcore gamers will keep playing season, no one else will care shit about it. They will divide the community into one large mob and one pool of knights.
If they keep removing the fun from season they have to add something aswell. I would suggest to remove leaderboards from non-season. As it is right now, the difference between non-season and season. Is that roughly every third month one get their heroes reset to the other.
Both sides leaderboards are reset.
Both sides are getting new items.
Maybe I'm just an old goat who longs for the old days of D2:LoD. But there we had a reason to play ladder. What do we have now?
I will maybe try S3, I've been looking forward to it since they announced the changes on Immortal King. But writing this, I'm not sure if I will have the same passion for it when it's release.
Sure I could play non-season then. But that doesn't appeal to me.
What do you guys think? Do any of you agree with me? Why not?
They aren't giving non-season players access to all of the new legendaries, so I'm not really sure what you are complaining about. Season 3 has a solid list of exclusive legendaries. If you are referring to the fact that at the end of EVERY season, they roll over the previous season's legendaries to the normal servers, then that isn't new.
But to respond to your point, as a player who is pretty busy, and doesn't have time to play seasons every patch, I prefer to play normal. It sucks, because I feel that I am gated from the legendaries that I want to use due to seasons, but I inevitably have to wait for 2-3 months after their release in order to get them.
If seasons are this competitive playstyle that you love so much, isn't the competitive part its own reward - seeing how high on the leaderboards you can get isn't enough? If the only reason you are playing seasons is for some exclusive legendaries, that mean's that the design is flawed at a fundamental level. You should be playing competitively for the thrill of being better than everyone else, but it shouldn't be at the expense of other players who paid just as much for the game, but don't have the time to level an entirely new character every couple months, and enjoy trying to maximize their current character.
Whoever said they were only giving new gems this season? I'm pretty sure there is a blue post saying that there will be Season 3 legendaries. Not all the new items coming in 2.2 are going to be season only but there will be items like the other seasons.
Blue post here states that all legendary items are dropping in 2.2 on PTR, but isn't going to be that way on live.
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/16542805091?page=1#4
I hear this a lot from season players. Yet, I don't get it. Why does non-season not appeal to you, but at the same time the season-only rewards are not enough for you?
So you don't think the rewards make it worthwhile to play season, but you also don't want to play non-season. Help me out - why do you not like non-season, why do you want to play season?
Season is a game mode that asks players to start over from scratch. Hit the reset button. I hate that. I absolutely despise being forced to start over again and throw away all my progress just because some artificial reset button was pressed. What's the point? And no, it's *not* fun to start over again, I was forced to do this in LoD with all the ladder-only runewords that, for a casual player, made non-ladder worthless.
If you want to start over, play season. If you don't, play non-season. But just because you personally prefer a certain game mode that does not mean that Blizzard needs to screw all those of us over that don't share your opinion and put all the nice and fancy stuff into your game mode. It's like a HC player asking for HC-only items. I never see HC player asking for this, yet they stay in their game mode. What makes season players so unique that they have to have access to all the items and take it away from non-season players?
No, no, no, no, no. I could not disagree more with this thread. Not everyone thinks like you. Diablo is still based on the ARPG genre, and for me an artificial restart has no place here. I payed the same amount of money for the game as you did, so I don't see why you should get significantly more content than me.
I like the op's post but it also hints at some of the problems with posters. This is not LOD, this is also 2015. Marketing and game goals are different now than they were then. This is something we all need to live with and understand as we move to the advanced tech age.
Now what I like from this post was the idea of removing leader-boards (ladders) of greater rifts from non-seasonal. Instead, I think they should think of a new game mode that is exclusive to Non-Seasonal so that you have more of a reason to play each game mode. My idea was having firefights, where you and all 3 of your followers (or 3 other players) are locked into a Hell Rift arena of some sort. Waves keep on pouring out at you and you try to get as far as possible, but you also try to get that far as quick as possible. By doing something like this I feel you open up new avenues of gearing, moving away from strictly the glass cannon theory to every stat being of utmost importance. I also feel that a "Firefight" mode would be fitting for non-seasonal as those characters have more paragon levels opening up more survival and killing options.
I also feel this game mode would lead the dev crew and community to think of a more unique and intricate paragon system. In the end, it is a very raw idea on my part, but something that I think could really be implemented and be very exciting. Loot will be given when you die, and like PVP was intended when you die you do not actually die, so that Hardcore players can enjoy this game mode as well.
That is just one random thought of mine that popped up as I was reading the OP's post. The main goal should be to add more unique and specialized game modes that help players feel like there is a real reason to play both seasonal and non-seasonal. Limiting the difference to a selection of 8-10 drops simply is not enough, and quite frankly, is very lazy by the Dev crew.
I'm wondering if the OP is referring to the retroactive set bonus changes.
Casual games sells. 9 to 5 job games do not
Casual games outsell everything else tenfold
Look at cell phone game companies like gameloft. They blow blizzard out of the water. Guess what kind of games they sell.
Casual games
I agree that the "season only legendaries"-thing should be dropped. They don't incentivize seasonal play and only makes playing non-season more disheartening and unrewarding than it already is.
I only play seasons, but I do so because of the fresh start and the thought of starting on the same premises as everyone else regarding leaderboards. I couldn't care less if the new items were also available to my non-season characters as I see no joy in playing them whatsoever.
As for other means of differentiating the game modes I don't like the idea. Players would, in a greater sense than now, feel forced to choose between this or that because of what they contain - not because of what they themselves want to do.
The only thing that seems fair is what they've added to season 3 with a unique portrait and that banner thingie you can have on your back. Just too bad they're obtainable within the first hours of gameplay by anyone who cares for it and that it's only two items. They don't alter the gameplay in any way and NS characters don't feel let out to the same extent as they do with the season only items.
The main incentive to actualy do seasons isn't the gear you get. Its simply the Leaderboards. 95% of the people playing season do so because of the leaderboards.
If you only wanna play now and then and do not care about leaderboards. Season is not for you.
And with that said. Season shouldn't really need items to get people to play them. Release them for everyone
You also have a few of those. Like myself. Who do not care about the leaderboards. But love the progression from 0 to hero.
The only reason i play season is that i start with nothing and need to work my way up.
If i simply where to go non season when 2.2 hits. Where i have most of the gear already and 700 paragon levels. I would be sick and tired of the game in a week
This is more or less why I play season aswell, but as I wrote in my original post. Only this reason is not enough for me.
Might be just me, but I need something else... It was like when they first launched Paragon, only farming for one thing doesn't do it for me.
I love the reset and also the journey of progression, the fact that I can be able to compete with atleast top 2000 even though I play so little theese days, is also something that saturates (is that the right word?) my ego.
At the same time somehow I like the idea of having gear that you can't bring into normal any other way then playing Season/Ladder and wait 3 or 6 months to get it there. And if you didn't get a gozu roll, you have to do it again.
I understand why the younger gamers who haven't seen as many months can get the feeling of this being exhausting and takes to long. But don't worry, the more years you spend, the faster they will go, and you will soon realise you have over half of your lifetime left.
One of the things I loved with D2:LOD was infact the ladder specific runewords. I played alot of normal at first, cause I didn't know the difference, was young lol.
When I started to get more searious about my gaming, getting more into theorycrafting, minmaxing and such. I began to play some ladder to get the gear I wanted for normal.
The race when a new ladder started and the reset of all your gear, the question if you would get good gear or not, if you would get the drops you wanted at the start or if you had to work for them.
That's was part of what makes this games playable for me.
But as I said, one goal isn't enough for me, I need 2-3, the least.
I've always been against the simplicification (yes I made that up I think) of games.
And as pointed out, I understand why Blizzard are making these changes, these games sell alot more.
It's just sad, and Blizzard are doing it in every game, hence the title.
Take WoW for example, I played since the first Beta. I'm not even gonna go into the vanilla hardcore discussion.
5% of all players ever got to set foot into the old naxxramas at 60. Think it was about 1.5% got to kill 1 boss in there. Like 0.05% I belive it was, or even less, got to clear it.
But they changed that, they made more difficulties, so all could play the dungeons and live the lore.
But they could still do that before, thanks to youtube, and now twitch and alike.
The prestige of wearing full epic and clearing all the raids was gone.
I don't know I just fear Blizzard is gonna ruin D3 for me aswell....
I still got D2 though, glad they are not touching that ...
Well, of course they don't. The moment someone suggests something that might open the game up to being more goal-oriented, the community comes around and shuts it right down.
"Oh, you want them to make the game less about loot? SORRY, NOT INTERESTED!"
So, what's it going to be? Is Diablo 3 a loot game or is it a goal game? Because everyone I've ever talked to has suggested it's 100% a loot game and that's good enough for them. Coincidentally, that's one of the reasons I quit playing D3 -- I'm not interested in farming the same bullshit day after day after day just for a potential tiny increase in stats. Definitely not interested in starting from scratch every few months.
Either way, the community is basically getting exactly what they're asking for on this. If you want to blame anyone for the state of Diablo 3, look at the community.
"is gonna get stamped"?
Blizzard has been making casual games for at least 10 years.
Kinda late to the show, you are.
http://eu.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Twoflower-2131/hero/47336841
I would study From Software, they are a big time developer that takes your theory and beats it with a kendo stick!!!!!
That being said, it is hard to pull off, and expensive. Diablo 3 at launch was close, but the RMAH ruined its potential, but rather than fixing the issue solely, they needed to rebuild the entire system because they had lost nearly their entire community of players. Hence they listened to the community and gave them what they want in RoS, and now D3 is on the rise again.
What I am curious about is whether they go away from the RoS system and back to their original intentions now that they have a larger player base again.
Sales volume of that imba (bwahahahahahaha) studio is, in 2014, of 5 billion yen. (http://www.fromsoftware.jp/pc_en/company_about.html)
At today's rate, that's a whooping 38 million euros. That's nothing for a game company (even CCP games, which is a pretty niche game maker, has nearly double the revenue)
Sorry, but if that's your counter-example, it failed miserably.
If you think that is nothing, you clearly have an issue, comparing to THEE top dog to determine success is a complete joke, and in essence, one of the other problems in many of these discussions.
Well, yes you've proven there is a niche for hardcore games that only a tiny slice of gamers will play. Blizzard is very clearly NOT in the business of catering to a small niche.
I don't post much anymore, but I'm going to put my 2 cents in..
First, let's not bring the whole Hardcore/Casual shit into this game. Leave it for the WoW players to debate.
Second, let's use common sense when we look at changes in the game. Common sense tells us that in order for a game to have any longevity, players must have advancement in some fashion through that game. If you are stuck at doing level 20 Grifts for 5 months straight, I doubt you would enjoy the game much. By letting non season players have access to the previous seasons legs, they have a way to obtain new powerful items that will let them reach the next level. It's not about catering to a certain segment of the player base.
Last,you have to understand that the "Hardcore" player today most likely will not be a hardcore player three years from now. People's live are constantly changing and expanding. And any smart gaming company realizes that.
In the end, we are all just people who enjoy the game in different ways and in different amounts. We're all Gamers, and that's enough.
I see the line in the sand. Time to find out who I am. Looking back to see where I stand. Evolution.
Member of the Dfans clan.
BNet Tag: Evolution85#1878
Dude, I mentionned CCP Games to you (the guys that make EvE Online) and even them generate more revenue.
There is nothing wrong with being a niche company in itself, only you will remain niche as long as you don't cater to the crowds. Which makes sense - people don't purchase products they don't like.
I won't even mention the fact that the Japanese video games market is worth in the tune of 500 BILLION yen. I think you can divide 5 by 500 yourself, and see what the approximate market share of that amazing company is, even in its own homeland.
EvE online is a completely different genre, that is what I meant. You are grabbing A and B and saying they are the same. When in reality, they are not.
When comparing straight up sales intervals of From Software to ALL major competitors, they fall in the middle of the pack. Also, why stick solely to foreign sales? Domestic sales of Dark Souls and Bloodborne have been high as well.
It is different in gameplay, but not in its market positioning - it is a niche game geared towards a limited community of players. Quite logically that means a very limited revenue.
"Middle of the pack"? They are not in top 25 for sure, and probably not even in top 100. Sure, if you include all the steam-selling companies, they'll be in the middle of the pack, but let's remain serious for a bit.
"Also, why stick solely to foreign sales?" --> I'm not. 5 billion is their global sales volume according to their own website.