Diablo 3 was a success in numbers of copy sold because of its awesome predecessor?

[Deleted]

Well, you have to understand something about Blizzard game development. They rely on internal testing (mostly between devs and not actual play testers) to get their games into a good enough place for beta release. Once they have a beta release, then they can start collecting data on a larger scale and make changes based on that.

However, they didn't want to ruin the D3 story (since it's such a story driven ARPG) and thus weren't able to do a proper beta test. This is what led to problems with the loot distribution and the RMAH, basically you needed a large number of active players in order to perceive the issues that D3 has, and they couldn't get that until the game went live, without spoiling the story.

In terms of how good the game is at launch? It all depends on what you are looking for in an ARPG. Playing up until level 60 was smooth and really fun. The real problems didn't start until you were trying to progress through Inferno, and the design of the game at that point really shifted in comparison between normal-hell, and inferno.

The procession from normal to hell was really not very gear intensive or overly difficult, so it was a very pleasant experience, leveling, acquiring loot, and just experiencing the story in a more difficult setting. Once you get to inferno, the level of gear needed to progress and the difficulty of the content just hit this steep incline and it really became obvious that gear was super important, yet largely unavailable to most people except through the AH.

The silver lining of D3 and Blizzard, however, is that they really do listen to feedback and do their best to approach game design with a 'we can make it better' attitude. I don't want to get into a huge argument, but there really aren't too many other developers out there who will continuously revisit a game to make tweaks and adjustments that players are asking for. Most of the time with other developers, you get a release and a couple small patches to fix bugs that went live or add content that wasn't finished in time, and it's gtg. It's rare these days for anyone to release a 'perfect' game that is amazing on release and doesn't need any additional work, so it's necessary for most studios to keep working on a title even after launch.

Blizzard is just a company that actually does the work.

Overall, I've gotten two character to 60, completed act 1 inferno, and then taken a break from the game. I tried out act 2 inferno on this latest patch, and it seems like post 60 progression will be easier, but I'm really just looking forward to the pvp from now on. Pve only holds my attention for so long, and pvp is where the replay value lies with this game imo. I don't think the game was over hyped, and despite my lack of interest in the game right now, I do think that it's a great game which stands on it's own merit for design and quality. I think the level of success is justified ESPECIALLY when you compare it to other similar titles within the genre and other games at the same price point.

I don't think it's success has anything to do with D2, since it is a completely different game by a completely different development team, and I think that given enough time, D3 will shine it's own spot on the shelf of gaming history.

Excepts the story was utter crap and I doubt they paid much attention to it.

[Eroginous]

Excepts the story was utter crap and I doubt they paid much attention to it.

I'm sure that you're not the only person who feels that way, but even so, it's still just an opinion and it's completely subjective. I thought the story was great (a little short in the 4th act) even if the main character was a little dry. The cinematography and the flow of the story was good, and it's obvious that they put a lot of work into the story and the rest of the game. Anyone who disagrees is flat out blind and ignorant.

Unfortunately Blizzard always come up with the most uninteresting solutions possible despite the wide range of various opinions.

Well, not all options are feasible without ruining the progress players have already made. It's a delicate process of trial and error to see what works, and the outcome of choices are not always obvious. There is no magic formula and it's foolish to hold Blizzard accountable as if there is, and they just aren't getting it.

[Leonard McCoy]

I'm sure that you're not the only person who feels that way, but even so, it's still just an opinion and it's completely subjective. I thought the story was great (a little short in the 4th act) even if the main character was a little dry. The cinematography and the flow of the story was good, and it's obvious that they put a lot of work into the story and the rest of the game. Anyone who disagrees is flat out blind and ignorant.

Really? So you liked the obvious villains? Obvious foreshadowing? 1 dimensional protagonists? See heres the problem with your statement. It's all more or less opinion for something you clearly know is crap but can't defend. But if someone says they didn't like the cinematogra[hy (which is beautifully rendered but ultimately flat and boring as the rest of story IMO) then they're blind and ignorant. Well I can do that to. If you thought the story was great you are flat out bling and ignorant.

[Deleted]

So you liked the obvious villains?

The Butcher was a nice surprise. Not at all obvious since we killed him in the first one. Belial and Azmodan we knew nothing about. Not obvious. Diablo obvious? In this game? Well, yeah. Leah being Diablo obvious? Yeah, I guess that was leaked, and since we knew beforehand Diablo would be female, Leah was kind of obvious. Still, that was leaked too. I can't truthfully say I saw Adria's deception coming, let alone her being boned by Diablo himself.

Obvious villains? Yeah, hard not to be obvious in the third iteration of the game. First one was fine, nobody knew anything about the game. Second one, you could still bring shit in, since people didn't know. Third one... There's a wiki of the damn thing now.

Obvious foreshadowing?

I honestly can't accept that Leah being Diablo was "obvious" unless you read it beforehand, or knew that Diablo would be female. Then again, it's so easy to say "I saw that coming". Hindsight is 20/20.

1 dimensional protagonists?

The protagonist has only a few lines. It's not like it's even a character, nor that it was even meant to be a very deep character. At least the protagonist speaks, and is not mute.

you clearly know is crap but can't defend

Yeah. How about if he and other people, like me for example, know it's not crap? What then?

[Leonard McCoy]

I honestly can't accept that Leah being Diablo was "obvious" unless you read it beforehand, or knew that Diablo would be female. Then again, it's so easy to say "I saw that coming". Hindsight is 20/20.

Really? You can't accept it? SHE SHOT RED BEAMS OUT OF HER HAND... christ... she says she has power she sometimes can't control. It's the most obvious thing in the universe dude. I didn't read a fucking leak or see a fucking thing about the game and as soon as she mentioned her power I knew. It's sooooooooooooooo obvious. It lacks any subtelty. They as well have popped up a giant sign witn an arrow pointing to her that said HEY LOOK IM DIABLO.

As for not knowing it's crap well then I must be a blind and ignorant for not liking the cinematography in the game. We can play this game all day.


Everything about the games story is piss poor. Metzen wrote it over the course of one weekend and really didn't think any of it through. It is simply the most offensive piece of garbage I have been subjected to. Uwe Bolle couldn't have done it worse.

[Deleted]

D3 got a huge boost in sales not only from D1 and D2 but from most of the WoW/Blizzard community. Many people who had never played a Diablo game bought D3 simply because it was made by Blizzard. I know a few people in that situation.

If you ask me, Diablo 3 is not worth the price on the box, not even close. Consider that Torchlight 2 should be out in about a month, its basically Diablo 3 in a different setting and costs 1/3 the price. Plus TL2 will have offline play.

[vindicatorx]

never played either of the original 2 and still got it, so I would say no.

[xStevooo]

Never played d1 or d2, got d3 and it's a pile of shit, would gladly use it to fuel a dying garden fire.

[Fathme]

I believe so. The hyped was built by the original fans of the games and the immense success Diablo and diablo2?

yep you hit the nail on the head..!!

now lets guess why wow has been so big for so long...oh wait...

[Maruka]

If you changed the name of D3, to say Hellgate:Paris it would be a miserable failure of a game and no one would have bought it at all, so i voted yes.

[BenBos]

D3 got a huge boost in sales not only from D1 and D2 but from most of the WoW/Blizzard community. Many people who had never played a Diablo game bought D3 simply because it was made by Blizzard. I know a few people in that situation.

If you ask me, Diablo 3 is not worth the price on the box, not even close. Consider that Torchlight 2 should be out in about a month, its basically Diablo 3 in a different setting and costs 1/3 the price. Plus TL2 will have offline play.

I am quite sure of what I am going to write now will be true:

"Every copy sold of TL2 will be free publicity to play Diablo 3"

as Tl1 can be played right now, it isn't hard to figure that one out.

[wariofan1]

The game is a good game, there's no denying that. Problem is that we don't usually expect Blizzard to simply make good games, and especially not a Diablo game which has been in production for a decade. We expect Blizzard to blow our socks off, which they didn't do. The cinematics blew me away though, but it's kind of sad being able to say that the cinematics were the best part of the game.

It goes for any sequal that its hype is being build from around it's predecessors, it's only natural that one would expect the sequal to any game to be better, or atleast just as good, seeing that the creators should have learnt from past mistakes and use up-to-date technology to make the most enjoyable game they can, while still holding true to it's roots. Diablo III didn't do that, it was fairly primitive, and it didn't really hold true to the past two games, which is where the problem lies.

Again, it's a good game, but we don't expect good games from Blizzard, we expect phenomenal games.

[Eroginous]

Really? So you liked the obvious villains? Obvious foreshadowing? 1 dimensional protagonists? See heres the problem with your statement. It's all more or less opinion for something you clearly know is crap but can't defend. But if someone says they didn't like the cinematogra[hy (which is beautifully rendered but ultimately flat and boring as the rest of story IMO) then they're blind and ignorant. Well I can do that to. If you thought the story was great you are flat out bling and ignorant.

Again, everything you're saying is subjective. There is no reason for anyone to listen to your view on this subject and instantly incorporate your opinion into theirs, as if the only logical path for anyone is to assume your opinion of this game. So it would be more useful to this discussion if you would dispose of the tired generic criticism.

Is D3 the best story ever written? No, it isn't. Is it complete trash? Not hardly. Somewhere in there is a middle ground that is good enough to engage any interested player for long enough to justify buying the game. Alongside that is the expected loot farming ARPG experience that people have come to expect and appreciate in the Diablo series, coupled with vastly superior graphics engine and game systems.

Like I said earlier, which you refused to read, the problems with the game don't start until you set out to progress through Inferno mode and the AH became your best source for loot. The overall difficulty of Inferno combined with the necessary distribution of specific stats, really makes the loot system and the AH an appalling part of the game. I would have absolutely zero problem beating D3 on inferno like I did up to Inferno, and even enjoy playing the game still, if they would not have stuck to such a pitiful game design once you reach inferno.

The problem is that I have no interest beating my face on the brick wall of a loot pinata in hopes of someday getting the gear which is necessary to progress, nor do I wish to beat my head on monsters all day long until I have enough gold to buy it from the AH (or start paying real life money for said gear). Otherwise, D3 lived up to my expectations and I couldn't have been any happier with it.

Being an angry troll is really no way to go about a discussion.

[braxx]

D2 is still an awesome game, you don't notice the blocky graphics that much. Trying to make some extra dough on the RMAH is what killed D3. It sucked all the fun out of getting drops which is an essential part of the formula. That and online DRM, but I could have lived with the DRM if it was the only issue.

quoted for the truth. Blizzard have its share of the botters economy, i don't have my sequel.

And the sad thing is gameplay designs can be fixed and changed somewhat (except that rmah), but the story and the lore have been butchered beyond repair. Damn this fail of a game makes me sad.

[BenBos]

quoted for the truth. Blizzard have its share of the botters economy, i don't have my sequel.

And the sad thing is gameplay designs can be fixed and changed somewhat (except that rmah), but the story and the lore have been butchered beyond repair. Damn this fail of a game makes me sad.

No one ever played an action hack/slash for the story. No one. Well except if you were 8 and read violent comics like the Man of Steel with a flash light under the blankets.

[Arhiman]

I think it has nothing to do with diablo 2 specifically. Its all in the Blizzard brand. They could sell a square of toilet paper (unused of course, blizz fans are not that bad =) ) for $60 and it would sell a mill, having some people rage over being ripped off, the trailer was misleading. While others defend it's artistic brilliance.

[Nefastus]

No doubt. No way to deny that, its the single reason for it selling well, everyone thought it would be a good game because the other 2 were marvelous. Pity it didnt work that way...

quoted for the truth. Blizzard have its share of the botters economy, i don't have my sequel.

And the sad thing is gameplay designs can be fixed and changed somewhat (except that rmah), but the story and the lore have been butchered beyond repair. Damn this fail of a game makes me sad.

So true. The moment I saw they were making a sequel I thought "how the hell they will come up with a story if they closed it so well in diablo II?". Things that didnt appear in diablo I but were mentioned in the game manual appeared in diablo II, the two games had their story linked very well. No doubt diablo III story ended up being awful.

Also cain again ugh... Really they should have made a new franchise instead of tainting one for good. Glad I didnt buy this crap, at least i dont feel guilty for helping to kill diablo franchise.

[braxx]

No one ever played an action hack/slash for the story. No one. Well except if you were 8 and read violent comics like the Man of Steel with a flash light under the blankets.

Are you for real?
I sure enjoyed the hell out of the d2 story. And i sure know people that stopped playing d3 because of how boring it was, and the story was a part of why it was boring.

[Nefastus]

Are you for real?
I sure enjoyed the hell out of the d2 story. And i sure know people that stopped playing d3 because of how boring it was, and the story was a part of why it was boring.

Don't worry i am sure he is just trolling. Diablo II story was awesome, loved when we fought that fallen angel that was mentioned in diablo 1 book, Izual i think was the name.

[Leonard McCoy]

Again, everything you're saying is subjective. There is no reason for anyone to listen to your view on this subject and instantly incorporate your opinion into theirs, as if the only logical path for anyone is to assume your opinion of this game. So it would be more useful to this discussion if you would dispose of the tired generic criticism.

Is D3 the best story ever written? No, it isn't. Is it complete trash? Not hardly. Somewhere in there is a middle ground that is good enough to engage any interested player for long enough to justify buying the game. Alongside that is the expected loot farming ARPG experience that people have come to expect and appreciate in the Diablo series, coupled with vastly superior graphics engine and game systems.

Like I said earlier, which you refused to read, the problems with the game don't start until you set out to progress through Inferno mode and the AH became your best source for loot. The overall difficulty of Inferno combined with the necessary distribution of specific stats, really makes the loot system and the AH an appalling part of the game. I would have absolutely zero problem beating D3 on inferno like I did up to Inferno, and even enjoy playing the game still, if they would not have stuck to such a pitiful game design once you reach inferno.

The problem is that I have no interest beating my face on the brick wall of a loot pinata in hopes of someday getting the gear which is necessary to progress, nor do I wish to beat my head on monsters all day long until I have enough gold to buy it from the AH (or start paying real life money for said gear). Otherwise, D3 lived up to my expectations and I couldn't have been any happier with it.

Being an angry troll is really no way to go about a discussion.

No your problems with the game don't begin until inferno. Theirs plenty of other issues that take place way before then. Like the overall game itself is simply to short. One play through is like 15-20 hours max. Even during the lvling process I went through long stretches without any upgrades and was effectively buying everything either from vendors or from the AH.

You can dismiss my criticism as generic but it's not. The characters themselves are not only obvious but they're BORING. Nothing about them makes you give a shit about them. Leah is one of the worst written characters in a video game in part because shes so obvious but also because well why do you care about her? Shes whiny and annoying. Shes helpless and useless. Everyone manipulates her. The villains tell you EVERYTHING as well. They're like cheesy bond villains, who have you dangling from a rope and decide to give you all the plans because well it's just fated at this point your going to lose. Except *gasp* you manage to stop them and their foolproof diabolical scheme...

The best about your whole little speech is

There is no reason for anyone to listen to your view on this subject and instantly incorporate your opinion into theirs, as if the only logical path for anyone is to assume your opinion of this game.

That coming from a man who said

Anyone who disagrees is flat out blind and ignorant.

No reason to be angry or call me a troll for that matter just because the game is bad and the story is the worst part of it. Not only does it make you easy to dismiss and ignore, it also makes you a bit of a hypocrit. Let's dispense with the general absolute unchallenged opinions and name calling shall we?