Oh Blizzard, how you have fallen (Diablo Immortal).

[rhorle]

Because diablo is easily one of the my favouite IP's of all time and i want to still be semi optimistic for d4 I guess even though everything points to it being a shit show. Shame on me for having hope still i guess

But wouldn't you enjoyment have started to go away with Diablo 2? As Blizzard didn't do much to crack down on buying power. That large community driven desire is what led to D3 having the RMAH in order to make it safe. Yet you still enjoyed D2 and D3, right? So you could choose to enjoy the free aspect of DI since you don't actually have to spend money to get the classic Diablo experience.

Some how I don't think the franchise matters and is just yet another excuse to keep hating.

[Alroxas]

Why do PC and mobile have to be in their own lanes? Because they sure as shit are gonna be bringing more of these monetization practices into PC games after the success with mobile.

Part of it stems from the audience that each platform is targeting. For instance, mobile game makers want as wide of an audience as possible and they only exist to get that 1% of 1% that will spend money on their game. They know that the majority of the install base won't contribute a dime to their game.

Whereas traditionally, PC games have had some sort of upfront cost (i.e. You buy the game at X) and maybe some form of long tail monetization (i.e. Sub, MTX, expansion packs).

But corporations see the money in mobile gaming market or Games as a Service model so more and more of our modern games are becoming more mobile like in the monetization model.

Halo Infinite - built to be the Halo Franchise for the next decade where various seasons/battle passes/DLC can be added instead of doing the older model (here's Halo 1, then Halo 2, then Halo 3 etc etc).



Honestly, it's a crap-shoot down the line and the only way that's going to change is if the public backlash on GaaS or heavy P2W games is high enough that companies back away from it.

Just look at the current backlash at NFTs for games... Sure it's a buzz word for Venture Capitalists (VCs) but gamers are pretty much NOPE get that shit out of here.

We just need the same kind of vitriol when it comes to P2W for PC games that companies see that the model is incredibly unpopular (at least for Western Markets).

[uuuhname]

Some how I don't think the franchise matters and is just yet another excuse to keep hating.

this is exactly why no one should bother responding to this poster. it's so obvious no matter how valid the criticism they'll just boil it down to "hatin". cuz defending this Gacha garbage for pages and pages (days and days) sure isn't a sign of some sort of unhealthy obsession on their part.

[Alroxas]

I don't get the hate. I love this game, one of the best I've played in years. I just bought the Battlepass, that's it, loving every minute of the rest of the game free. And I'm far over 100 hours in.

If you enjoy the game that's great for you but a lot of people feel that the game is not in an enjoyable state because of the excessive MTX in the game.

But it's F2P, gotta make money somehow? Sure but there's MTX that's purely cosmetic or maybe gives a QoL benefit (more stash space) vs MTX that is predatory and built to make you want to spend more.


And more over to all of that, is that the company that's doing this is Blizzard. Look if it was EA or Tencent doing this MTX shit, we wouldn't care. They've been doing that kind of shit for years and that's fine.

But you're looking a company founded on values (https://blizzard.com/company/about/) that used to mean something. Now it's just meaningless, ABK might as well be another EA for all the in-game and out-of-game shit they've done in the last few years. Moving forward, it's hard to see Blizzard as a good reasonable company instead of a mindless money sucking company which prioritizes profit over the passion/fun that drives players.

[uuuhname]

people defending Gacha games are the Ted Cruz' of the gaming world.

[Elim Garak]

If you enjoy the game that's great for you but a small and very loud number of people feel that the game is not in an enjoyable state because of the excessive MTX in the game.

Fixed for validity.

[Darsyek]

No reason to argue with you since you’re not informed, as your opinion on Poe shows. You can START the game for free. But once you get to the endgame - mapping - you are either buying inventory slots or slowing your progress by dedicating 90% of your time to inventory management.
And no, this is not playing, because you obviously can’t enjoy the game this way.

"You disagree with me, therefore you are uninformed." M'kay. Who are you to decide what can and cannot be enjoyed by others? If you didn't enjoy the game for that reason, that's fine, that's your opinion, but your opinion is not objective fact for everyone else. Get lost with this absolutist, self-entitled mindset.

[MoanaLisa]

Why do PC and mobile have to be in their own lanes? Because they sure as shit are gonna be bringing more of these monetization practices into PC games after the success with mobile.

You should damn well hope that everyone stays in their lanes. Let mobile be what it is. Keep PC games what they are.

[Shiira]

Fixed for validity.

How many posts do you have defending D:I monetization again?

[uuuhname]

How many posts do you have defending D:I monetization again?

the irony of the same 3-5 people defending this PoS and saying everyone else is the minority.

[Battlebeard]

I look at it this way, this is a very fun and enjoyable Diablo adventure. Love the campaign, the scenery, the gameplay, the chill daily chores.

However, you gotta remember, this did NOT start as a Diablo project. This was NOT a Diablo game that turned into a P2W mobile game. This was a P2W Mobile project that turned into a Diablo themed game.

Point is, without P2W this game would never have been made. There is no non-pw2 Diablo Immortal, it cannot and would not exist in that form. It's either P2W Immortal or NO Immortal at all.

So I am happy this was made, cause the good parts are so fantastic!

[Elim Garak]

the irony of the same 3-5 people defending this PoS and saying everyone else is the minority.

At the protest against protesting the majority of protesters were against protesting.

[uuuhname]

this isn't a protest, it's a discussion thread, my LORD. shouldn't surprise me with the guy whose so overly dramatic he thinks people are born because corporations will it like Sheev Palpatine.

[MoanaLisa]

That money trickles down right?

All those whales being exploited means we get even more content and games right?

It doesnt just go to shareholders and top executives pockets in bonuses!!! that would be crazy!

In some games that's true. There's a mobile base-building kill-the-zombie game I play that has a fairly steady stream of new content, new heros, new events, etc. I haven't paid a dime for anything. Someone must be.

Whether or not it's true for D:I remains to be seen. No one will know anything about that for several months if not longer. I imagine some of it will go back to the company and perhaps some of it will be used to further develop the game. But I'm just a person sitting out in the middle of Minnesota. I don't know. I'm comfortable thinking that neither you nor anyone else really knows either.

And it doesn't matter really. There are lots of games. The cloth-tearing breast-beating anguish in these threads suggests there are no alternative games to play. It's drama just for the sake of drama and getting attention.

[Elim Garak]

this isn't a protest

I see, indeed

[Cthulhu 2020]

You should damn well hope that everyone stays in their lanes. Let mobile be what it is. Keep PC games what they are.

I'd be all for this if it meant we didn't get pay to win and microtransactions in our PC games.

But that's too late. So no, nobody is staying in their lanes. There's way too much cross pollination right now, and it's only going to get more integrated with each other.

[Gaidax]

And it doesn't matter really. There are lots of games. The cloth-tearing breast-beating anguish in these threads suggests there are no alternative games to play. It's drama just for the sake of drama and getting attention.

This is a wrong way to look at it, because unless people will do cloth-tearing, breast-breathing anguish and negative noise about it - the companies that pull this out will very well migrate the "best" practices right to the PC and you won't have any soon enough alternative games worth a damn without this bullshit.

In the absolutely same fashion like almost every game worth a damn has DLCs or simple microtransactions in them nowadays.

So, I am glad it does not affect you, but as you noted - you're only one guy out in the middle of Minnesota.

And yes, no decision maker really gives a damn about this MMO-C thread (or MMO-C at all for that matter), so everything written here is useless. But the overall noise in media will eventually seep up and that's what's needed for regulation to occur. This is what's important.


---

Besides cloth-tearing, breast-breathing anguish does work sometimes - remember "sense of pride and accomplishment" Battlefront 2 case?

[Elim Garak]

So, I am glad it does not affect you, but as you noted - you're only one guy out in the middle of Minnesota.

It doesn't affect you (or anybody) either. It's all in your head. You affect yourself with this misplaced anger.

[Delekii]

It doesn't affect you (or anybody) either. It's all in your head. You affect yourself with this misplaced anger.

True or false: If I am competing with other players, I cannot definitively tell whether or not someone else is beating me due to skill or due to paying money.

If your argument is that I shouldn't care, you can go jump off a bridge.

Also: There are (increasingly likely) rumors that DI is so bad that it is being considered for a ban in China. It has definitely been delayed, and the game's Weibo account (ie: Twitter for China) has been banned, due to "violation of related laws and regulations". It is almost certain that the game will not release without changes to its monetization in China; what actually needs to change isn't known though.

There are a mass of sources for this, you can google Diablo Immortal Ban China and see for yourself. This is just one of the first links that came up: https://www.polygon.com/23176668/dia...cial-media-ban

Imagine a game so bad that it gets banned in a country that essentially carries the vampiric mobile market by itself Yeah.. DI is no worse than anything else we have, it's totally cool don't worry guys!

[Elim Garak]

If you are participating in competitions you do not qualify to participate in - it's your problem that you don't like losing.

And in any PvP game you cannot be sure the other player is not cheating.