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How a Diablo expansion led to behind-the-scenes trouble

polygon.com

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Re: How a Diablo expansion led to behind-the-scenes trouble

#31

Post by vertex-four »

Chris_Chambers wrote: post #6
dom96 wrote: post #4

Off topic: the cookie acceptance dialog that polygon uses is broken. It shows a spinner and doesn't disappear. Why does this even need a spinner? I'm seeing similar behaviour on multiple websites now, it's infuriating.

GDPR requires you to “prove” you gained consent by creating a server-side timestamped log of the option each user chooses. But you cannot see my comment because I was hellbanned, so enjoy wondering.

The user is only given one option here, to accept tracking - the website isn’t even trying to be GDPR compliant, apparently they do not foresee having any EU visitors and so have no need to be. As a result, I’m not reading the damn thing.

Re: How a Diablo expansion led to behind-the-scenes trouble

#32

Post by cpeterso »

juskrey wrote: post #12

Can anyone recommend a book on gamedev industry written by actual industry insider, and not a professional writer/journalist like this one?

Not a book, but here are two GDC postmortem talks from people who worked on Diablo 3. There are many interesting GDC talks about game development!

GDC 2013: Shout at the Devil: The Making of Diablo III https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG10e0-JyjY

GDC 2015: Against the Burning Hells: Diablo III's Road to Redemption with Reaper of Souls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bajI1oGPhog

Re: How a Diablo expansion led to behind-the-scenes trouble

#33

Post by secabeen »

juskrey wrote: post #12

Can anyone recommend a book on gamedev industry written by actual industry insider, and not a professional writer/journalist like this one?

You may find that such a book, while interesting, will be a hard read. Writing is a skill, and one crafted by journalists, not necessarily by game development experts.

Re: How a Diablo expansion led to behind-the-scenes trouble

#34

Post by KozmoNau7 »

busterarm wrote: post #21
snvzz wrote: post #5

It's a mystery how Blizzard then went on to release the failure Diablo 3 is.

Really? From my read of the article it seemed like most of the staff at Blizzard was incredibly immature and the kind of folks that bury their heads in the sand while ignoring reality. And just to double down on my unpopular opinion, Diablo 1 was the best game in the franchise.

>“Diablo 1 was the best game in the franchise."

That is a bold statement, but I am inclined to agree. Obviously D2 is bigger, prettier, has more varied classes, more items, more everything. I absolutely adore that game, and I have spend hundreds and hundreds of hours playing it.

But the original... It just has that darker and more grim, less cartoons tone. Plus it came out when I was 10 years old, which obviously influences my opinion a lot.

Re: How a Diablo expansion led to behind-the-scenes trouble

#37

Post by JDShu »

KozmoNau7 wrote: post #34
busterarm wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? From my read of the article it seemed like most of the staff at Blizzard was incredibly immature and the kind of folks that bury their heads in the sand while ignoring reality. And just to double down on my unpopular opinion, Diablo 1 was the best game in the franchise.

>“Diablo 1 was the best game in the franchise." That is a bold statement, but I am inclined to agree. Obviously D2 is bigger, prettier, has more varied classes, more items, more everything. I absolutely adore that game, and I have spend hundreds and hundreds of hours playing it. But the original... It just has that darker and more grim, less cartoons tone. Plus it came out when I was 10 years old, which obviously inf…

for me, D2 is the better game in that it is fun and addictive to play, while D1 is much more atmospheric.

Re: How a Diablo expansion led to behind-the-scenes trouble

#38

Post by polski-g »

vertex-four wrote: post #31
Chris_Chambers wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

GDPR requires you to “prove” you gained consent by creating a server-side timestamped log of the option each user chooses. But you cannot see my comment because I was hellbanned, so enjoy wondering.

The user is only given one option here, to accept tracking - the website isn’t even trying to be GDPR compliant, apparently they do not foresee having any EU visitors and so have no need to be. As a result, I’m not reading the damn thing.

Or a US company isn't going to comply with EU laws because they have no reason to.

Re: How a Diablo expansion led to behind-the-scenes trouble

#39

Post by arkades »

nodamage wrote: post #27
snvzz wrote: post #5

It's a mystery how Blizzard then went on to release the failure Diablo 3 is.

Diablo 3 sold 3.5 million units the first day and 30 million units total as of 2015, so I'm not sure by what metric it would be considered a failure... aside from "I personally didn't like it"?

I think it's hard to find an objective measure, given that there are so many franchise fans that solid sales are basically a given - I wouldn't expect to see the consequences play out until D4.

That said, the fact that they rebuilt the absolute core gameplay loop - loot collection - to incorporate a real-money auction house, and had to roll it back, speaks volumes. Business-people do not abandon a monetization strategy unless it's proving to be costly in unintended ways.

Re: How a Diablo expansion led to behind-the-scenes trouble

#40

Post by arkades »

seattle_spring wrote: post #11
kid0m4n wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Define failure?

Using the name and legacy of a good game to market a different game that is basically nothing like its predecessors in spirit. Diablo 3 is Jar Jar Binks to the original Star Wars trilogy.

They did the same to SC2. It was like the summer interns that wrote the plot had never actually played SC1.

(yes, I'm salty that I played through a huge chunk of a single-player campaign chasing "prophecies" in what had previously been a sci-fi setting, even if it was 50s psionics sci-fi).

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