Well, it is a little hard to be specific about anything...unannounced...but here is a question that is fairly announcement neutral:
Can we expect some more feedback to the community, be it for D3 or any new project, on a routine basis? Discussing things like skills, gear, meta, and so forth would be greatly improved by regular feedback, a la World of Warcraft. Diablo does not need 6-8 people tweeting and posting everyday as WoW does, but even a few posts a week that lets us know you know we're here would go a long way.
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Well, since you asked:
Before investing time, resources, and cash to a project that is a such a departure from the franchise, I would take the pulse of the community and try to gauge what the Diablo community is looking forward to. Granted, forums can only tell you so much, and don't represent everyone, but it is a start.
Next, I'd try to find out, in as quiet a way as possible, what type of reception the game might receive; note, a new PC/console game, despite the setting in the game's timeline, would not necessarily need this type of scrutiny; if I was on the Blizzard team it would never enter my mind that Diablo fans would not want a new PC/console game. How to achieve this? You can do surveys, polls, deep research. This involves cost as well, but I would imagine a big investment is worth the, well, investment.
So, and if the reactions since yesterday are any barometer, they would have seen that the game, at best, would not be what the part of the Diablo community that engages online is looking for, and at worst would be hated. Now, say they still wanted to go with it AND they have plans to build on the PC aspect of the game with a new entry in the series; how would I introduce it? This is what I think:
I would have revealed the game at a different venue than Blizzcon, maybe Gamescom for example. I would have promoted it more as a companion to the series, and started teasing that "more is coming". I would have marketed it as a way to enlarge the brand to new fans, knowing that the core fans would not have a great reaction to it.
I would not have made Diablo the centerpiece of the opening ceremonies, placing it on the Mythic stage and allocate the first panel of the day to it. Granted, given the other reveals for the other franchises, there isn't much else that was really mindblowing, so maybe that is a little unfair.
So that is my take. I do not work for Blizzard, don't know everything about the business, etc., and I know that armchair criticism carries its own irony, and, I do not want to slam Blizzard for their creative efforts; I just think they chose the wrong direction for the franchise.
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While I must admit that last weeks pump the brakes article has basically eliminated D4 being an announcement next week, I still think something big is in the works. I can't see a "What's Next' for Diablo devoted to how it plays on the Switch. I kind of think we'll get a renewed D2 and/or a D3 Expansion, with a tease about a new game. We find out in 6 days!
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I wonder how many people, as a percentage of all players, this affects; unless it is a large percentage of the active playerbase, there will likely be no action on it.
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They might just be calling that gear an accumulation of the franchise, but, it's a good name
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It'd be a good name, if that's the case.
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Not criticizing your English per se, but 2 questions: Why post in a forum about a Blizzard game in 2018 if you think their games are bad back to 2004? And why place "shit" in the game names? It just makes the post look childish.
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I have been playing WoW since 2006, and let me say, I want almost none of that in a new Diablo game. I like the idea of an open world game, but I don't want a WoW-clone for Diablo. Too many people to keep happy, too many balancing issues, too much gated content. I'll play it, but in a limited way, if it was like that. Part of the fun in Diablo is being really OP in certain spots. It's the loot hunt and character building that makes the game, for me anyway.
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I am not sure if you are aware, but there are leaderboards for single player, 2 player, and 4 player (there might be one for 3 player, but I rarely see a 3 player group, so I am not sure). I play almost exclusively single player, so I have none of these problems, but then, I am not competitive.
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Well, considering the thread of all the Diablo games is the loot hunt, I kind of think that would be a bad choice. That said, I don't think a robust PvP portion of the game would necessarily be a bad thing; I didn't mind that they removed the hostile function of D2 for D3, but I do think if people want it as a part of the game, it should be included. I also think that esports help keep games current and relevant, to an extent.
As for a mobile game...I'd love to play Diablo on my iPad, but I can't imagine it being great to play with just tapping. It is just too limiting. I would love to see a companion app like they made for WoW, where you could craft gear, or maybe trade items. I really hope they bring back trading the right way.
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Those are great ideas, I'd like to see them as well!
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I'm really curious to see what the new game will look like in terms of style. I am not of the mindset that a new game will go backwards to the D2 style of game play and character structure, but one hopes that the team looks really hard at the good aspects of the previous games, the good aspects of similar games, some new fresh ideas, and mixes them together. Personally, what I'd really like to see:
Longer character development, in the sense that I can have stuff that needs to be done on the same character and maintain it, as opposed to the more transitory style of D3 characters, who can essentially be replaced every few months. This means a longer leveling process, rarer legendary items but more reason to hunt them down, a more static skill/trait/talent set, but still having some flavor options....for example, a Whirlwind barb would find it difficult to switch to being any other barb, but can be flexible in how he/she whirlwinds.
D3's QoL: The UI, inventory handling and in game features are excellent in D3, and that is definitely something to build on.
Seasons: While the concept of seasons does not really mesh well with D2 style character structure, I think the competitive spirit seasons engender is really good for the game, and since that has really been the main activity for Diablo the last few years, I'd be shocked if they veered far from that style.
Crafting & Gear; As above, less is more I think. More static items that push you to look for them, a reason to craft gear at all, and the opportunity to reroll items; we've had these as staples and I see no reason not to keep those types of options around.
Story:...no real thoughts on this, other than please, for the love of Tyrael, please no more bosses shouting how puny we are and how invincible they are through an entire act only to drop in 35 seconds. Diablo deserves better than Power Ranger villains, is what I'm saying.
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You can never rule anything out with Blizzard, and, as I learned 6 years ago, getting too hyped for this franchise is an exercise in frustration, but, it sort of defies logic that Diablo would take center stage for just an expansion or DLC.
That said, if the expansion was really far reaching in scope and dynamics, it might be worthy of the slot, and it may just be that there is just so much less to announce for the other games.
But when you have people talking about an animated series and the panel taking the Mythic stage (after no Diablo info at all last year), and all the job postings for an unannounced Diablo project....it really just screams something new.
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That's my thought as well; we should see some type of cinematic plus some gameplay video of whatever they have planned next. And I would not be shocked with an announcement of a D2 remaster as well.
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I think I'd rather see the Diablo gameplay and structure in an MMO graphical setting, a la WoW, than a full blown MMO. I like WoW, but I don't really see the point of remaking Diablo into the same type of game.
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I agree with you. I just hope they have people in place that see a big future for the franchise.