Blizzard/Activision, how far will they fall?

[mixmastermo]

Do you feel bad?

No, but if I find out you are going to judge me then I won't be able to sleep tonight.

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

I bought played and enjoyed the Diablo 2 remake for about an hour and a half?

Does that make me a bad person?

What happened after the hour and a half?

 

[WhiteMousse]

What happened after the hour and a half?

I made a Necro and I have to admit it's a blast from the past.

If I had to guess he's somewhere in Act II, probably the sandworm caves. Either that or in Act III. I think the massive trek through the jungle is the weakest part of the game.

It is all remedied in Act IV though. Blizz North's vision of Hell was amazing. Perfect hell? I guess?

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

I made a Necro and I have to admit it's a blast from the past.

If I had to guess he's somewhere in Act II, probably the sandworm caves. Either that or in Act III. I think the massive trek through the jungle is the weakest part of the game.

It is all remedied in Act IV though. Blizz North's vision of Hell was amazing. Perfect hell? I guess?

My biggest complaint with Act IV was how damn short it was, which I’ve always chalked up to them just saying “fuck it, just finish it” and trying to rush it out the door at that point. Only three areas with two quests besides killing Diablo, and no NPCs to talk to other than Tyrael and Cain. Iirc you can’t even talk to the two new merchant NPCs in the Pandemonium Fortress. Shame.

And agreed with the wilderness areas of Act III being the weakest.

 

[empsim]

is it wrong that all i care about is Diablo 4 coming out...No, yeah i thought so.

I bought played and enjoyed the Diablo 2 remake for about an hour and a half?

Does that make me a bad person?

I'm also playing Diablo 2 and will buy Diablo 4, but that doesn't mean you have to be a dick about it.

It's still horrible how Activision (and many other companies) treat people.

 

[WhiteMousse]

My biggest complaint with Act IV was how damn short it was, which I’ve always chalked up to them just saying “fuck it, just finish it” and trying to rush it out the door at that point. Only three areas with two quests besides killing Diablo, and no NPCs to talk to other than Tyrael and Cain. Iirc you can’t even talk to the two new merchant NPCs in the Pandemonium Fortress. Shame.

And agreed with the wilderness areas of Act III being the weakest.

Tyrael was a FOOL to trust me!!
You see, it was I who was the game mechanism by which you can reach the second section of this Act!

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

Tyrael was a FOOL to trust me!!
You see, it was I who was the game mechanism by which you can reach the second section of this Act!

Isn’t killing Izual an optional quest? I thought only smashing Mephisto’s soul stone was mandatory for accessing Diablo? Or maybe even that one was optional.

 

[WhiteMousse]

Isn’t killing Izual an optional quest? I thought only smashing Mephisto’s soul stone was mandatory for accessing Diablo? Or maybe even that one was optional.

I don't remember honestly.
What I do remember is that they shoehorned him into Diablo III in the most cringe-inducing fashion. Diablo even says "Look, Tyrael, your old lieutenant!
God I hate Diablo III.

I'm sorry to go off on a tangent here but christ I have to. GOD that pisses me off. That game is absolute crap. All through Act III Azmodan is just constantly texting you to tell you how "My mighty ______'s will desecrate your bones!" You go in and kill the _____'s and then Azmodan texts you AGAIN saying "Oh those weren't even all that powerful, they were useless, really hahahaha!"

Christ after I'd KILLED him I half expected him to pop up again and say "You think you won just because you beat me?!"

They ruined Tyrael. They ruined Diablo. I knew they were going to do some stupid thing where they combine all the evils. Such a lazy, feeble attempt to appear creative, trying to desperately tie it all together to make it look like some deep circle of story-telling.

Blizzard is dead. They don't even Lok-Tar anymore

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

I don't remember honestly.
What I do remember is that they shoehorned him into Diablo III in the most cringe-inducing fashion. Diablo even says "Look, Tyrael, your old lieutenant!
God I hate Diablo III.

I'm sorry to go off on a tangent here but christ I have to. GOD that pisses me off. That game is absolute crap. All through Act III Azmodan is just constantly texting you to tell you how "My mighty ______'s will desecrate your bones!" You go in and kill the _____'s and then Azmodan texts you AGAIN saying "Oh those weren't even all that powerful, they were useless, really hahahaha!"

Christ after I'd KILLED him I half expected him to pop up again and say "You think you won just because you beat me?!"

They ruined Tyrael. They ruined Diablo. I knew they were going to do some stupid thing where they combine all the evils. Such a lazy, feeble attempt to appear creative, trying to desperately tie it all together to make it look like some deep circle of story-telling.

Blizzard is dead. They don't even Lok-Tar anymore

The story retcons of Diablo III drove me fucking crazy. Adria was a bad guy all along? Get fucked!

And too much rehashing old villains you already vanquished in past games: King Leoric, Izual, the Butcher?! Killing the Butcher was literally the first quest of the original Diablo. By boss standards he’s a fucking jobber. Then they go an make him the boss of Act 1 of Diablo III? Get fucked!

 

[WhiteMousse]

The story retcons of Diablo III drove me fucking crazy. Adria was a bad guy all along? Get fucked!

And too much rehashing old villains you already vanquished in past games: King Leoric, Izual, the Butcher?! Killing the Butcher was literally the first quest of the original Diablo. By boss standards he’s a fucking jobber. Then they go an make him the boss of Act 1 of Diablo III? Get fucked!

I almost forgot about that. Get ready because I have another tangent racing towards this thread.

The Butcher. Goddammit. The way he is introduced in Diablo III is a perfect demonstration of how the post TBC Blizzard just didn't understand what makes games good. He busts out of the wall and that stupid butterfly lady literally gives him a gameshow host introduction. She actually SAYS "This is the butcher."

"The Butcher" is not the name of a species. He doesn't wear a fucking name tag saying "Hi, my name is THE BUTCHER." It's not on his office door.
"The butcher" is what the lowly peasants called the nameless dread that was wandering around a couple floors underneath their church building. Even the way I just now articulated it is remarkably more powerful than the way Diablo III sets it up. It's a thing that defies classification- it's not in the dictionary. It's almost indescribable to someone who hasn't seen it, since you know, demons are not exactly a common sight, so it has to be defined in terms of what it does. And what it does is hack people to pieces and hang them up.

This is a seemingly surface level distinction that is in fact profound and crucial to creating a believable world. Having an overweight satyr bust out of the wall coolaid style and say "Hey I'm the butcher remember me?!" does not build a believable world. It takes the player out of the world.

They did this with so many things, including, as you mentioned, the Skeleton King; another severe misfire of what was already established as an ominous, muted, dread-filled encounter.
Even the Angels, just appearing and talking to you in very casual fashion. That's not the way it was in Diablo II. Tyrael is presented as an extreme outlier: one of the members of heaven that is concerned with and empathetic towards the people of Sanctuary. He's one of the lower angels and his majesty is still so brilliant. It gives you a sense of scale and wonder to think what the others might be-- a group you're not allowed to see in a place into which you're not allowed to enter. But no. Imperious is just a reskinned Protoss Templar.

Not to take a dig at the design. Only the way the game is written. The fact of the matter is that the world of Diablo III could have been wonderful if it had been arranged correctly.

God I'm fired up. How did they mess this up so badly

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

I almost forgot about that. Get ready because I have another tangent racing towards this thread.

The Butcher. Goddammit. The way he is introduced in Diablo III is a perfect demonstration of how the post TBC Blizzard just didn't understand what makes games good. He busts out of the wall and that stupid butterfly lady literally gives him a gameshow host introduction. She actually SAYS "This is the butcher."

"The Butcher" is not the name of a species. He doesn't wear a fucking name tag saying "Hi, my name is THE BUTCHER." It's not on his office door.
"The butcher" is what the lowly peasants called the nameless dread that was wandering around a couple floors underneath their church building. Even the way I just now articulated it is remarkably more powerful than the way Diablo III sets it up. It's a thing that defies classification- it's not in the dictionary. It's almost indescribable to someone who hasn't seen it, since you know, demons are not exactly a common sight, so it has to be defined in terms of what it does. And what it does is hack people to pieces and hang them up.

This is a seemingly surface level distinction that is in fact profound and crucial to creating a believable world. Having an overweight satyr bust out of the wall coolaid style and say "Hey I'm the butcher remember me?!" does not build a believable world. It takes the player out of the world.

They did this with so many things, including, as you mentioned, the Skeleton King; another severe misfire of what was already established as an ominous, muted, dread-filled encounter.
Even the Angels, just appearing and talking to you in very casual fashion. That's not the way it was in Diablo II. Tyrael is presented as an extreme outlier: one of the members of heaven that is concerned with and empathetic towards the people of Sanctuary. He's one of the lower angels and his majesty is still so brilliant. It gives you a sense of scale and wonder to think what the others might be-- a group you're not allowed to see in a place into which you're not allowed to enter. But no. Imperious is just a reskinned Protoss Templar.

Not to take a dig at the design. Only the way the game is written. The fact of the matter is that the world of Diablo III could have been wonderful if it had been arranged correctly.

God I'm fired up. How did they mess this up so badly

I felt the Butcher in D1 vs the Butcher in D3 was a good example of how they messed up the atmosphere of the series. In D3 you fight the butcher in some kind of foundry or whatever.

In D1 it looks like a literal butcher shop of horrors

 

[mixmastermo]

I almost forgot about that. Get ready because I have another tangent racing towards this thread.

The Butcher. Goddammit. The way he is introduced in Diablo III is a perfect demonstration of how the post TBC Blizzard just didn't understand what makes games good. He busts out of the wall and that stupid butterfly lady literally gives him a gameshow host introduction. She actually SAYS "This is the butcher."

"The Butcher" is not the name of a species. He doesn't wear a fucking name tag saying "Hi, my name is THE BUTCHER." It's not on his office door.
"The butcher" is what the lowly peasants called the nameless dread that was wandering around a couple floors underneath their church building. Even the way I just now articulated it is remarkably more powerful than the way Diablo III sets it up. It's a thing that defies classification- it's not in the dictionary. It's almost indescribable to someone who hasn't seen it, since you know, demons are not exactly a common sight, so it has to be defined in terms of what it does. And what it does is hack people to pieces and hang them up.

This is a seemingly surface level distinction that is in fact profound and crucial to creating a believable world. Having an overweight satyr bust out of the wall coolaid style and say "Hey I'm the butcher remember me?!" does not build a believable world. It takes the player out of the world.

They did this with so many things, including, as you mentioned, the Skeleton King; another severe misfire of what was already established as an ominous, muted, dread-filled encounter.
Even the Angels, just appearing and talking to you in very casual fashion. That's not the way it was in Diablo II. Tyrael is presented as an extreme outlier: one of the members of heaven that is concerned with and empathetic towards the people of Sanctuary. He's one of the lower angels and his majesty is still so brilliant. It gives you a sense of scale and wonder to think what the others might be-- a group you're not allowed to see in a place into which you're not allowed to enter. But no. Imperious is just a reskinned Protoss Templar.

Not to take a dig at the design. Only the way the game is written. The fact of the matter is that the world of Diablo III could have been wonderful if it had been arranged correctly.

God I'm fired up. How did they mess this up so badly

There's a story in Diablo 3?

Yea.. I only got into the series when it released on PS3/4. I couldn't imagine playing this kind of game with a kb/m so once the console version came out with controller support I was in.



Going through Diablo 2 now and this is all new to me.

Also.. believable.. lol..

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

So I’m playing on PS5 and I have to say not everything translates well to playing on controller. I’m finding it very difficult to effectively use corpse explosion which is one of the necromancer’s bread and butter skills, but without a cursor on the screen to help target the specific corpse I want to blow up I’m instead wasting a lot of mana on blowing up corpses that won’t help me in the fight I’m in.

 

[mixmastermo]

So I’m playing on PS5 and I have to say not everything translates well to playing on controller. I’m finding it very difficult to effectively use corpse explosion which is one of the necromancer’s bread and butter skills, but without a cursor on the screen to help target the specific corpse I want to blow up I’m instead wasting a lot of mana on blowing up corpses that won’t help me in the fight I’m in.

That seems like a huge oversight.. I mean.. why dont they let you use the right analog stick to target the corpse you want to use or something

 

[MeatWagon06]

There's a story in Diablo 3?

Yea.. I only got into the series when it released on PS3/4. I couldn't imagine playing this kind of game with a kb/m so once the console version came out with controller support I was in.



Going through Diablo 2 now and this is all new to me.

Also.. believable.. lol..

Im not a PC gamer, but it’s so much better with KBM setup.

My uncle secretly let me play through Diablo 1&2 on his shitty Gateway Computer that would smoke occasionally haha. My mother wouldn’t buy me dark/evil games as a kid of course. So anytime I was at my Grandparents, my uncle hooked me up playing the good shit.

 

[mixmastermo]

Im not a PC gamer, but it’s so much better with KBM setup.

My uncle secretly let me play through Diablo 1&2 on his shitty Gateway Computer that would smoke occasionally haha. My mother wouldn’t buy me dark/evil games as a kid of course. So anytime I was at my Grandparents, my uncle hooked me up playing the good shit.

HA

My parents were the same way. But as kids.. we always found ways.. didn't we???

 

[asdf122345]

I felt the Butcher in D1 vs the Butcher in D3 was a good example of how they messed up the atmosphere of the series. In D3 you fight the butcher in some kind of foundry or whatever.

In D1 it looks like a literal butcher shop of horrors

D3 was so kiddish and cartoonish. D1 was the good game.

 

[Blayt7hh]

I almost forgot about that. Get ready because I have another tangent racing towards this thread.

The Butcher. Goddammit. The way he is introduced in Diablo III is a perfect demonstration of how the post TBC Blizzard just didn't understand what makes games good. He busts out of the wall and that stupid butterfly lady literally gives him a gameshow host introduction. She actually SAYS "This is the butcher."

"The Butcher" is not the name of a species. He doesn't wear a fucking name tag saying "Hi, my name is THE BUTCHER." It's not on his office door.
"The butcher" is what the lowly peasants called the nameless dread that was wandering around a couple floors underneath their church building. Even the way I just now articulated it is remarkably more powerful than the way Diablo III sets it up. It's a thing that defies classification- it's not in the dictionary. It's almost indescribable to someone who hasn't seen it, since you know, demons are not exactly a common sight, so it has to be defined in terms of what it does. And what it does is hack people to pieces and hang them up.

This is a seemingly surface level distinction that is in fact profound and crucial to creating a believable world. Having an overweight satyr bust out of the wall coolaid style and say "Hey I'm the butcher remember me?!" does not build a believable world. It takes the player out of the world.

They did this with so many things, including, as you mentioned, the Skeleton King; another severe misfire of what was already established as an ominous, muted, dread-filled encounter.
Even the Angels, just appearing and talking to you in very casual fashion. That's not the way it was in Diablo II. Tyrael is presented as an extreme outlier: one of the members of heaven that is concerned with and empathetic towards the people of Sanctuary. He's one of the lower angels and his majesty is still so brilliant. It gives you a sense of scale and wonder to think what the others might be-- a group you're not allowed to see in a place into which you're not allowed to enter. But no. Imperious is just a reskinned Protoss Templar.

Not to take a dig at the design. Only the way the game is written. The fact of the matter is that the world of Diablo III could have been wonderful if it had been arranged correctly.

God I'm fired up. How did they mess this up so badly

I felt the Butcher in D1 vs the Butcher in D3 was a good example of how they messed up the atmosphere of the series. In D3 you fight the butcher in some kind of foundry or whatever.

In D1 it looks like a literal butcher shop of horrors

Definitely agree. The atmosphere was ruined in 3. Hopefully 4 doesn’t go that way. I still remember as a kid being a little freaked out by the Diablo 1 trailer where a crow was eating the eye ball out of a corpse in the ruins of Tristram.

3 was also way to easy. I think I beat the game without dying. In 2 it’s actually intense when you meat a boss - they’re actually dangerous.

There are things I like about 3 more. Quality of life things are big. The inventory says is ridiculous in 2. Also being able to assign more than two abilities is huge- or 1 if you want to be able to attack with your weapon lol.

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

Definitely agree. The atmosphere was ruined in 3. Hopefully 4 doesn’t go that way. I still remember as a kid being a little freaked out by the Diablo 1 trailer where a crow was eating the eye ball out of a corpse in the ruins of Tristram.

3 was also way to easy. I think I beat the game without dying. In 2 it’s actually intense when you meat a boss - they’re actually dangerous.

There are things I like about 3 more. Quality of life things are big. The inventory says is ridiculous in 2. Also being able to assign more than two abilities is huge- or 1 if you want to be able to attack with your weapon lol.

One improvement to D2 Resurrected is that they allow you to hot key like 12 abilities at once, at least on console anyway.

 

[KaNesDeath]

Activision/Blizzard have settled one of their numerous lawsuits for 18m. They still proclaim innocence in the settlement though: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-58720517