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Blizzard Says It Wasn't Expecting Fans to Be This Angry About Diablo Immortal

kotaku.com

31–40 of 113 posts

Re: Blizzard Says It Wasn't Expecting Fans to Be This Angry About Diablo Immortal

#31
The problem is Blizz didn't have anything else to announce at Blizzcon. So people pay a good amount of money to be there, and the only thing that's announced is an outsourced/reskinned mobile game. Not even a true Blizzard title.

So naturally the anger gets directed towards the game. Had they announced anything else with it such as D4 news, D3 dlc, D2 remaster...literally anything else, it would have been fine.

Also remember Blizzard is not Blizzard/Activision and many of the old guard has left. Mike Morhaime and Chris Metzen departures were huge. I wonder if the writing is on the wall.

Re: Blizzard Says It Wasn't Expecting Fans to Be This Angry About Diablo Immortal

#32
post #12

And Kotaku once again spins the wheel against the players >The explosion of outrage has many on social media discussing the extent to which video game culture enables entitlement. It’s not surprising, after all, that there’s been some pushback on the idea of a mobile Diablo game. What’s shocking here is the sheer amount of molten vitriol that’s pouring in over what seems to be a pretty cut-and-dry situation: A proper…

The vitriol expressed by the gaming press against fans far exceeds the gamers anger. Gamers: "Is this a joke? We don't want mobile Diablo" Game Press: "Gamers are whiny, entitled, toxic babies" You can see it here for yourself: https://i.redd.it/6mgpttba94w11.jpg It's been this way for a long time and was the reason Gamergate became a thing (see "Gamers are Dead"). The worst part is that because the journalists in th…

Saying "You can see it here for yourself" and then posting a single JPG of hand selected screenshots that show your point is not even remotely reasonable evidence of your black and white claim.

Re: Blizzard Says It Wasn't Expecting Fans to Be This Angry About Diablo Immortal

#33
post #12

And Kotaku once again spins the wheel against the players >The explosion of outrage has many on social media discussing the extent to which video game culture enables entitlement. It’s not surprising, after all, that there’s been some pushback on the idea of a mobile Diablo game. What’s shocking here is the sheer amount of molten vitriol that’s pouring in over what seems to be a pretty cut-and-dry situation: A proper…

> And people wonder how the hell do they get away with p2w and gambling mechanics in games. Because that business model is profitable, and entertainment is a business like any other. If you don't like it, you are free not to play it. Besides some potential for gambling addiction (about which state lotteries are a far more important target for your ire if that is your concern), mobile games produce no externalities wh…

[deleted]

Re: Blizzard Says It Wasn't Expecting Fans to Be This Angry About Diablo Immortal

#34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And people wonder how the hell do they get away with p2w and gambling mechanics in games. Because that business model is profitable, and entertainment is a business like any other. If you don't like it, you are free not to play it. Besides some potential for gambling addiction (about which state lotteries are a far more important target for your ire if that is your concern), mobile games produce no externalities wh…

You're mystified by it because you probably aren't a dedicated gamer. To lots of people, including myself, gaming is a huge part of their identity and lifestyle. It's a hobby like any other such as repairing old cars, painting, craft beer, etc. The "but climate change" is just whataboutism because gaming isn't important to you, so why aren't people paying more attention to what is important to you. edit to clarify: T…

As someone who self-exiled from the gaming community, there are also people within the community, including journalists, who beat on the war drums in order to rile up gamers.

For the last ~4 years, everything from game reviews that gamers disagreed with, to character stencils, have been positioned as the worst things to ever happen to gaming. Some in the community liken it to actual discrimination against gamers.

Re: Blizzard Says It Wasn't Expecting Fans to Be This Angry About Diablo Immortal

#35
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The vitriol expressed by the gaming press against fans far exceeds the gamers anger. Gamers: "Is this a joke? We don't want mobile Diablo" Game Press: "Gamers are whiny, entitled, toxic babies" You can see it here for yourself: https://i.redd.it/6mgpttba94w11.jpg It's been this way for a long time and was the reason Gamergate became a thing (see "Gamers are Dead"). The worst part is that because the journalists in th…

Saying "You can see it here for yourself" and then posting a single JPG of hand selected screenshots that show your point is not even remotely reasonable evidence of your black and white claim.

How so? It's literally exactly what I said. Game journalists calling the gamers and people upset about this "toxic", "F* this guy"...

They are definitely not representing the consumer here.

Re: Blizzard Says It Wasn't Expecting Fans to Be This Angry About Diablo Immortal

#36
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am not a gamer so I could be wrong but it’s REALLY hard to believe hardcore PC gamers are going to play a reskinned Chinese game on a cell phone and pay microtransactions. It might make money, but not from the people up in arms about this.

The blizzard developer quoted in the article stated emphatically that wasn't true, and that similarities owed to adopting successful GUI idioms in other markets; does the gaming community have information to update the story?

> The blizzard developer quoted in the article stated emphatically that wasn't true

Sure, because it's not just a reskin. They are creating new models, too. When people say "reskin," they sometimes aren't literally talking just about skins. Rather, they are talking about making another game on top of the same basic engine that exists in other games. And considering who Blizzard is partnering with to make this game and the other games they've put out, you can see there point.

Re: Blizzard Says It Wasn't Expecting Fans to Be This Angry About Diablo Immortal

#37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And people wonder how the hell do they get away with p2w and gambling mechanics in games. Because that business model is profitable, and entertainment is a business like any other. If you don't like it, you are free not to play it. Besides some potential for gambling addiction (about which state lotteries are a far more important target for your ire if that is your concern), mobile games produce no externalities wh…

This is all fine, but I help demystify the problem here. They marketed the new game to a completely detached audience as the highlight of the event. And when real questions came in, like "maybe a PC version comes later?" The reaction is: "You guys not have phones?" [1] I can see people snapping to rage mode. And then the gaming 'media' calls theys guys out as assholes, which really shows how strings are really pulled…

So the complaint is just that Blizzard should have framed their announcement differently? The project is fine, but just don't present it at Blizzcon? That seems so feeble to me, and the sort of criticism you get when fans can't reconcile their displeasure with the understanding that Blizzard is rational to pursue the mobile gaming market this way. As for "You guys not have phones?", that was obviously a bad look, but seeing as it was an off-the-cuff remark in an awkward exchange, I'm not inclined to hold it against the speaker.

Re: Blizzard Says It Wasn't Expecting Fans to Be This Angry About Diablo Immortal

#38
post #12

And Kotaku once again spins the wheel against the players >The explosion of outrage has many on social media discussing the extent to which video game culture enables entitlement. It’s not surprising, after all, that there’s been some pushback on the idea of a mobile Diablo game. What’s shocking here is the sheer amount of molten vitriol that’s pouring in over what seems to be a pretty cut-and-dry situation: A proper…

What injustice has been dealt to the subset of "the players" who are outraged about this?

They paid hundreds of dollars to go to an event that traditionally has had pc announcements. Then without warning the event was changed.

I already used the concert analogy but it’s good. If your rap music concert suddenly switches into techno the audience may be angry without being entitled edgelords. It’s about knowing your audience. And most importantly communicating it.

Re: Blizzard Says It Wasn't Expecting Fans to Be This Angry About Diablo Immortal

#39
post #12

And Kotaku once again spins the wheel against the players >The explosion of outrage has many on social media discussing the extent to which video game culture enables entitlement. It’s not surprising, after all, that there’s been some pushback on the idea of a mobile Diablo game. What’s shocking here is the sheer amount of molten vitriol that’s pouring in over what seems to be a pretty cut-and-dry situation: A proper…

Or...people could chill out and realize it doesn’t matter...like at all.

That would also apply to the company and the media alike

Re: Blizzard Says It Wasn't Expecting Fans to Be This Angry About Diablo Immortal

#40
The Diablo Immortal announcement was essentially the keynote of an already underwhelming Blizzcon this year. The game itself is just a re-skinning of an existing Chinese market ARPG with Blizzard's IP - Blizzard a company that has been known for axing titles for not meeting its quality standards. The game will be developed by Netease with one Chinese fan quoting "If EA is like a 2 out of 10, Netease is -2859".

Of course Blizzard, Diablo, and ARPG mobile games, have a long history so there is more context. For one Blizzcon is something this crowd could compare to WWDC and similar conventions. Tickets start at around $200, with travel, food, lodging, and other expenses pushing the cost of attendance to over $1000 for many people. Keep in mind that unlike WWDC or other conventions your employer will likely not pay for you to go - so its straight out of pocket and people expect to get what they pay for. In addition Blizzard has been pushing "Virtual Tickets" for $50, where most gaming conventions stream for free to users on Twitch or Youtube.

It's been over 6 years since Diablo 3, and there was a 12 year wait for that game after Diablo 2. Naturally seeing Diablo as the topic of the keynote, many Diablo fans hoped and prayed it was the Diablo 4 announcement.

Finally ARPG mobile games are massive in the Chinese market, with fremium and micro-transaction models that would make candy crush and Pokemon Go blush. With a blatant re-skin it was clearly designed for a starkly different marketing segment then would be present at the keynote at Blizzcon. To force your developers to pitch that game to that crowd is sheer incompetence, yielding what will surly be timeless internet memes such as "you all have phones right" [1], and "this is an April Fools joke right" [2].

[1]: Response to the question if they'd be porting long-requested features present in the mobile game back to the Diablo 3 PC version.

[2]: Question asked directly on stage by a brave fan.

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