This is the weirdly unlearnable realization that's going to hit third party app reddit users in 6 or so weeks. Because Reddit will just truck along unchanged.
I haven't played a Blizzard game or touched anything even close to related to Battle Net in years. I did my part. In 30 years Blizzard will still be there, and I'll have had no impact, but that won't make me regret a thing. It was just some video games that I'll have missed out on. I'm already missing out on video games as is, every single person is, and time will only increase the amount. Blizzard isn't and will never be worth being "the ones" at the top of that mindspace.
I still find the fact somewhat bewildering. The gaming industry is literally the only industry that I can think of that can get away with pissing their customers right in the face with anti-consumer ethics. Somehow noone seems to care here. Other entertainment industries seems to have to be mindful with PR, gaming industry somehow doesnt. No matter how big the scandal, gamers seem to easily forget or just dont care. And I fear its mostly the latter.
Somehow this really surprises me. I'm not sure if I have seen even a single promotional image (except for the cover image on the battle net launcher) but apparently that speaks more of my internet bubble than the games promotional campaign.
But still, Diablo 3 seemed like a much bigger deal. Can anyone speak about how the hype is compared to Diablo 3?
Diablo 3 was following Diablo 2, so there were very high expectations before that.
Diablo IV, has a shown a good amount, and has mostly very positive reviews. It's return to the dark and gritty world of Diablo II. There have been couple of demos, and the game looks and plays great, and most diablo fans are very excited.
One issue the game has, is that it's more of a live service game, so one world, shared by lots of players.
BTW I haven't seen the after-release reviews by normal people, but it has gotten very good rating.
I think the live service aspect is a bit played up though. You can play the game almost entirely solo, and it seems as though the 'peristent world' is more of a mirage than anything else.
Not a big fan of a BP and cash shop in a $70 game though, which is why I haven't purchased.
Why the last ones weren't that great. I own 1-3, only 1 and 2 are worth playing IMHO. I can't wait for the typical broken AAA release lol. The amount of copium is gonna be great.
PS: I do hope I'm wrong, but the game industry kinda blows right now.
it does blow indeed right now. I hope we'll see a change soon but the way things are going it's only going to get worse. Time to invest even more time into indie gaming I guess.
There are exceptions. Nintendo first party games are generally pretty good, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a recent example, and before that there was Metroid Prime remake and Xenoblade Chronicles 3.
Also Final Fantasy XVI just announced that there won't be a day 1 patch, showing their confidence in the game.
Hype on 3 was bigger from what I remember, but the in-game auction house was much more controversial than 4's MTX. Also the dumbing down of skill trees in 3 garnered a lot of hate from fans of 2.
Diablo 1 and 2 were nice, D3 kinda felt like a Diablo theme park, like I never felt challenged. So I didn't get excited about D4, and haven't gotten it. Nothing I've read is really making me rethink that decision.
FWIW I briefly tried it on my Deck yesterday, and yes it runs well. Though I capped the framerate to 45 because the fan was running at full blast and the device was getting hot.
Not surprising when you consider just the name alone. And it probably attracts casual ARPG gamers more than the competiton due to its ease of access.
I've seen a couple of streams and I am unimpressed, to say the least. D3 Reskin basically, thrown in the aspect system to simulate complexity and some mmo elements. Poor build variety when it comes to endgame viability. Same as D3, just prettier. Just doesn't do it for me when PoE and Last Epoch exist.
And I've not even started about not especially cheap MTX in a 70€ game, complete with battlepass and every psychological trick in the book to milk players even more. "Shameful shiat."
Before i left Reddit, I made a post in r/gaming pleading for people not to pre purchase Diablo 4, my inbox was full of hundreds of hateful replies, then shortly after, admins banned my account from all of Reddit.
I got it reinstated a few days later, but moral of the story is that the mass community in general will continue to support this junk, seems hopeless.
Also, deleted all my Reddit accounts yesterday, huzzah!
Isn't it also the most expensive Blizzard game of all-time? Easier to get bigger numbers with lower folks buying even with fewer folks playing. Not saying this is the case. I know I've seen a MASSIVE amount of Twitch streamers playing it.
Looking at the buisnesswire article linked in the twitter:
Fastest selling based on more units sold on all platforms before launch (through June 5, 2023). Sell-through figures based on reporting received from digital partners and Blizzard internal reports.
That seems like an odd way to say this. They had more Presales, ergo it's fastest selling? Ok.