I believe Blizzcon is in October. I think I might even go this year, if only for D3.
D3 is the perfect hype to increase Blizzcon ticket sales.
We know Blizzard always releases info on new and upcoming games at Blizzcon, and if we haven't been getting info from the site it has to be at the convention.
I understand the point of this thread, but I've noticed a couple people talking about how the art direction was influenced by the fans, and the OP brought up a good point.
Where is the proof that they listened to the fans? If they didn't announce anything official regarding fan influence, I'm think they created everything as intended. They "before and after" shots represent the development of the game over time regardless of external input.
I could be wrong, but I, too, would like to see proof.
Blizzard has been pretty cocky about Diablo III, especially when it comes to the art direction.
It's going to be how they envision it..
(it won't be changed because of us whining)
It's going to make them lots and lots of moolah..
(whether we buy it of not) lol
So, just make the best of it.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Watching 240 guys talk trash about cavaliers is like two retards having a slapfight over a sippy cup.
Blizzard Will change it. I'm a part of www.sc2forums.net as well, so I know what SC2 fans (like me) were complaining about. Diablo III will get a change in some way, 100% sure. Blizzard responded to our calls for SC, they will surely answer to calls in Diablo.
Blizzard Will change it. I'm a part of www.sc2forums.net as well, so I know what SC2 fans (like me) were complaining about. Diablo III will get a change in some way, 100% sure. Blizzard responded to our calls for SC, they will surely answer to calls in Diablo.
Sooo... proof that the SC fanbase was a direct influence on Blizzard? If anybody can give me some hardcore, direct evidence I'd love to see it.
there is no proof that the fans actually did anything to help change sc2, olny blizzard will ever know.
Someone should pop the question to them then...
You guys really have me wanting to know.
I don't think they really did.. but like you said, only Blizz knows and I think it's bout time someone asks.
They best they can say is... "No Comment" *grin grin*
You can always tell if people from Blizz are lying.. they all have a tell, so it's not like there's a need for them to tell the truth. lol
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Watching 240 guys talk trash about cavaliers is like two retards having a slapfight over a sippy cup.
and Sandman, are you seriously saying they made it look "gritty and shit", it looked like a childrens playpit before!
The art direction pretty much stayed the same, I doubt blizzard scrapped all their years of concept art on Starcraft, and revamped the entire art direction that quickly. Simply put the art direction didn't change but the final layerings of texturing and polish were piled on for a more gritty feel. One pic just looks like a very graphically improved version of the other.
I expect something similar to happen with Diablo 3. I never once thought that the way Diablo 3 looks now will be the final product, it was just a preview after-all. A little off-topic, but since this thread was posted in the Diablo 3 section i'll go ahead, take a look at this:
Look at how much Diablo 2 has changed from when they first previewed it back in 98'.
There is a divide between who likes and who doesn't like the art direction in the first glimpses of Diablo 3. Blizzard obviously can see it by now.
The end result with Diablo 3 will be a strong balance of very dark, gloomy and gothic dungeons and the brighter more vibrant locations they want to implement. Their years worth of art direction won't be scrapped and thrown in the gutter but the final textures and polish will be added just like in the above pics of star-craft to create a more gritty, polished game.
End result should be no-more division over the art.
Well I for one think this wont happen Blizzards Diablo III team likes the art direction they have ended up with.
They like it because they are a bunch of childish super nerds that don't know any adjective besides "awesome." Without harsh fan feedback, they would make everything look like lego star wars (a game I happen to love).:offtopic:
sorry for the rage, but its how I feel. I don't care if DIII is the greatest game ever, I still wouldn't hang out with any of those guys. (And if they tried to hang out with me, I would make up lame excuses).
Note that in the SC2 art revamp, the only change was to make the texture of the Terran units and buildings look more dirty and gritty. They didn't overhaul the entire game like some people have been asking for in D3. And they don't need to, the only change needed imo, is smaller shoulder pads, and getting rid of that damn miniature lion statue.
It is likely as game development progresses, even without community input, art will change but don't expect an entire overhaul.
Note that in the SC2 art revamp, the only change was to make the texture of the Terran units and buildings look more dirty and gritty. They didn't overhaul the entire game like some people have been asking for in D3. And they don't need to, the only change needed imo, is smaller shoulder pads, and getting rid of that damn miniature lion statue.
It is likely as game development progresses, even without community input, art will change but don't expect an entire overhaul.
Care to give me some of the stuff you're smoking? Seems like it's some strong shit.
The exact point is to change the detail levels into something that's appropriate. That's exactly what they did in SC2 and what we want for D3.
They also changed the textures to a more subdued and realistic theme. However paralleluniverse is correct that these are just texture changes, such an overhaul for D3 would not fix stupidly unrealistic armor or smiling statues etc.
I see, they do seem to have changed some models too, it all does looks rather hopeful. It will certainly be interesting to see where things go. I cant help but wonder that maybe Blizz knew this would happen and probably were going to change it anyway but knew the dodgy graphics would be a fantastic scapegoat to distract from their other changes. Sort of go overboard in one direction and then come back to a happy medium that makes everybody think they have got what they want =p
I mean I have to assume their employees visited these forums from time to time before it was announced and may have been entertained by all the speculation, in which case it would have been hard to miss all the people saying "oh god I hope they dont make it look like WoW".
Actually, as a longtime fan of Starcraft, I've been following all news about Starcraft 2 and can shed a little light on this. First of all, we have gotten numerous assurances from the developers that they check the fansites and forums to get feedback on all the information they regularly release. In fact, it's common knowledge that both Cavez, StarCraft 2’s lead game designer, and Karune, Blizzard’s RTS community manager, visit the battle.net forums and sometimes post there and address issues brought up by the fans.
They DO take suggestions. They also have monthly discussion topics, where they ask the community for contribution and feedback on things that they're trying out.
For those of you worried about the art direction of Diablo III, check this out:
"Chat with Devs: This week I got a chance to talk to Sam Didier, our StarCraft II Art Director, about some of the feedback weve gotten from our most recent monthly discussion. Over the next few weeks we will be trying out a few things on the upcoming screenshots, including a reduced saturation which will increase the realism of the units and environment. This is just a test, so we will see how it goes afterwards, but we look forward to getting everyones feedback."
So the art change in Starcraft was a direct effect of the voicing of opinions by fans. I don't know how the team of Diablo III will operate. Maybe they will follow the same strategy of practically public development that the SC2 devs have and maybe they won't. However, that doesn't mean that they're not listening. Pass the word around, quote and link to this post, make people realize that in order to get the game you want, you're going to have to show what you want. And if anybody tells you that constructive criticism won't change anything, they are wrong.
Oh, whining on the other hand, doesn't work. Someone at the WWI (I think Karune, but I'm not sure) said in response to fans negative reactions about the wings they have added to zerglings that every time he hears someone complain about it, he'll have the team add two more wings!
So there you have it: Blizzard is listening. Do you have anything worthwhile to say?
P.S. I'm curious about the size of the petition against the current design of the game. It seems to me that there isn't such an overwhelming majority of people against it on the forums, nothing on the scale of, say, the Spider-man fans reactions to One More Day. The petition has passed 45000 signatures. Is there anyway there could be foul play? (and why can't I view any of the signatures like I can on many other petitions? All I get is the number of the people who have signed)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
I believe Blizzcon is in October. I think I might even go this year, if only for D3.
D3 is the perfect hype to increase Blizzcon ticket sales.
We know Blizzard always releases info on new and upcoming games at Blizzcon, and if we haven't been getting info from the site it has to be at the convention.
Words I hate in Gaming Culture:
Epic
Hardcore
E-Sports
Where is the proof that they listened to the fans? If they didn't announce anything official regarding fan influence, I'm think they created everything as intended. They "before and after" shots represent the development of the game over time regardless of external input.
I could be wrong, but I, too, would like to see proof.
It's going to be how they envision it..
(it won't be changed because of us whining)
It's going to make them lots and lots of moolah..
(whether we buy it of not) lol
So, just make the best of it.
Sooo... proof that the SC fanbase was a direct influence on Blizzard? If anybody can give me some hardcore, direct evidence I'd love to see it.
Ye, I want to get confirmation that Blizzard actually acts according to the wishes of their fans.
Making Controversial points one post at a time!
Someone should pop the question to them then...
You guys really have me wanting to know.
I don't think they really did.. but like you said, only Blizz knows and I think it's bout time someone asks.
They best they can say is... "No Comment" *grin grin*
You can always tell if people from Blizz are lying.. they all have a tell, so it's not like there's a need for them to tell the truth. lol
The art direction pretty much stayed the same, I doubt blizzard scrapped all their years of concept art on Starcraft, and revamped the entire art direction that quickly. Simply put the art direction didn't change but the final layerings of texturing and polish were piled on for a more gritty feel. One pic just looks like a very graphically improved version of the other.
I expect something similar to happen with Diablo 3. I never once thought that the way Diablo 3 looks now will be the final product, it was just a preview after-all. A little off-topic, but since this thread was posted in the Diablo 3 section i'll go ahead, take a look at this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ol4HAS9EoaE
Look at how much Diablo 2 has changed from when they first previewed it back in 98'.
There is a divide between who likes and who doesn't like the art direction in the first glimpses of Diablo 3. Blizzard obviously can see it by now.
The end result with Diablo 3 will be a strong balance of very dark, gloomy and gothic dungeons and the brighter more vibrant locations they want to implement. Their years worth of art direction won't be scrapped and thrown in the gutter but the final textures and polish will be added just like in the above pics of star-craft to create a more gritty, polished game.
End result should be no-more division over the art.
Everybody wins.
:thumbsup:
They like it because they are a bunch of childish super nerds that don't know any adjective besides "awesome." Without harsh fan feedback, they would make everything look like lego star wars (a game I happen to love).:offtopic:
sorry for the rage, but its how I feel. I don't care if DIII is the greatest game ever, I still wouldn't hang out with any of those guys. (And if they tried to hang out with me, I would make up lame excuses).
It is likely as game development progresses, even without community input, art will change but don't expect an entire overhaul.
Care to give me some of the stuff you're smoking? Seems like it's some strong shit.
The exact point is to change the detail levels into something that's appropriate. That's exactly what they did in SC2 and what we want for D3.
I mean I have to assume their employees visited these forums from time to time before it was announced and may have been entertained by all the speculation, in which case it would have been hard to miss all the people saying "oh god I hope they dont make it look like WoW".
They DO take suggestions. They also have monthly discussion topics, where they ask the community for contribution and feedback on things that they're trying out.
http://www.sc2blog.com/2008/01/21/summarizing-december%e2%80%99s-monthly-discussion-artistic-direction/
For those of you worried about the art direction of Diablo III, check this out:
"Chat with Devs: This week I got a chance to talk to Sam Didier, our StarCraft II Art Director, about some of the feedback weve gotten from our most recent monthly discussion. Over the next few weeks we will be trying out a few things on the upcoming screenshots, including a reduced saturation which will increase the realism of the units and environment. This is just a test, so we will see how it goes afterwards, but we look forward to getting everyones feedback."
source: http://www.sc2blog.com/2008/01/11/qa-25-nomad-buildings-protoss-shields-and-starcraft-2-resolutions/
So the art change in Starcraft was a direct effect of the voicing of opinions by fans. I don't know how the team of Diablo III will operate. Maybe they will follow the same strategy of practically public development that the SC2 devs have and maybe they won't. However, that doesn't mean that they're not listening. Pass the word around, quote and link to this post, make people realize that in order to get the game you want, you're going to have to show what you want. And if anybody tells you that constructive criticism won't change anything, they are wrong.
Oh, whining on the other hand, doesn't work. Someone at the WWI (I think Karune, but I'm not sure) said in response to fans negative reactions about the wings they have added to zerglings that every time he hears someone complain about it, he'll have the team add two more wings!
So there you have it: Blizzard is listening. Do you have anything worthwhile to say?
P.S. I'm curious about the size of the petition against the current design of the game. It seems to me that there isn't such an overwhelming majority of people against it on the forums, nothing on the scale of, say, the Spider-man fans reactions to One More Day. The petition has passed 45000 signatures. Is there anyway there could be foul play? (and why can't I view any of the signatures like I can on many other petitions? All I get is the number of the people who have signed)