An Open Letter to ‘Diablo III’ Fanboys
UPDATE: Victory. It’s mine.
Ever since Diablo II was released back in 2000, fans of the dungeon-crawling hack & slash franchise have been asking demanding a new entry in the Diablo franchise. This past week in Paris, France, Blizzard finally gave all of us what we’ve been dying to see: Diablo III. While many people, such as myself, were overjoyed to see that the game wasn’t a MMO, there were some (at least 21,000) who insisted on kicking their little feet like the whiny children that they are.
This is for you, you sad, disgruntled group of sods.
Dear Diablo fanboys,
Could you do all of us a favor and please shut the fuck up? The game hasn’t even been official for a week and already you’re thoroughly convinced that it’s some bright, happy, colorful game where you ride unicorns and hold tea parties with a fair maiden.
I’ve always found you people to be fascinating. Every time Blizzard would hint at something, you people would find ways to twist it in order to make it out to be “ OMFG DIABLO 3 WTF!!1!†Even this year, in the week leading up to the actual announcement you were going so damn overboard with your analysis of every splash image that it just became pathetic. The image on Blizzard’s homepage could have wound up being a Protoss, and there still would’ve been a few of you Diablo fanboys trying to twist it. (The Protoss’ helmet has three spikes. DIABLO 3!!)
So naturally, when an entire community has been frothing at the mouth for nearly a decade, fiending to satisfy this obsession, when the game is finally announced you all go and shit all over it. You see 1/10th of 1% of an incomplete game, and you are all set to storm Blizzard’s offices with torches and pitchforks.
But enough of that – let’s go over this “petition†a few of you managed to throw together.
Before I start I just have to say… you need to select a better spokesman for your movement. It’s hard to take you seriously when you tell the world, “we hope to make Blizzard ear our voicesâ€.
1.) Cartoon’ish art direction, obviously influenced by the Warcraft universe, Diablo isnt Warcraft…
I take this with a grain of salt as earlier in your statement you point out that one of the characteristics of Diablo’s look and feel is a “graphically realistic world with realistic, dirty and muddy texturesâ€. Because muddy textures are something to be proud of, apparently. You bring the issue of darkness up again in your list of demands, saying you want “a darker, gothic, cryptic and creepier environment†which, as most knowledgeable Diablo fans would know, only made up a part of the world. In Diablo II you spend good chunks of time out in the desert sun at Lut Gholein, or the snow-capped mountains of the Northlands in the Lord of Destructoin expansion. Of course, bringing this little fact to light would negate your entire “DIABLO IS TEH DARKNESS AND GOTHIC!†argument.
But okay. I get it. You all want Diablo III to remain in the shadows, where the only colors we see in the world are black, gray, brown and red. In short: You want to play a top-down version of Clive Barker’s Jericho, don’t you? …wait… wait a damn minute… Yes, that’s it – you aren’t Diablo fans at all! You’re a secret society hell bent on the destruction of one of the industry’s most popular franchises! Oh yes, you sons of bitches – I’m onto you…
2.) Outside scenarios with vivid colors, beautiful forests with colorful vegetation, shinny and beautiful waterfalls where even rainbows take place.
Look, I know that being a gamer automatically comes with the stigma of being somebody who doesn’t go out in the sun, but come on! You’ve at least seen pictures of the place your mother calls “outsideâ€, right? I mean… trees are green. Water is blue. Depicting these substances as their natural colors in a video game that, at least, partially takes place in a forest is not a crime. However, if my Paladin has to mow down a horde of Leprechauns, then we can talk about the fucking rainbow.
Allow me to learn you something: When Diablo II first launched, the game itself was actually very bright. It wasn’t until a later patch was released that dropped the brightness levels down, making it much harder to see who was coming at you. So when you triumph Diablo II’s dark environments, you can chalk that up to a patch – not the designer’s original vision.
3.) Cartoon’ish and unrealistic weaponry and armory, over-sized and stylish armors, over-sized weapons, items that look pasted directly from World of Warcraft.
So, now you want bland armor too? Bland environments, bland armor, bland character design… there’s just no pleasing you people, is there?
But I have a question for you all: What’s with the pointless World of Warcraft hate? Is it because it’s an MMO and you are just too “hardcore†for those kinds of shenanigans? I’m sorry to inform you that all these comparisons to Diablo III having a World of Warcraft art style is just wrong. You see, technically World of Warcraft has a Warcraft III art style. But of course, again, this fact is conveniently forgotten. After all, while it may be cool and trendy to bash WoW because it’s an ultra-popular MMO, going after Warcraft III would be akin to e-suicide.
4.) Darker and less colorful landscapes, Tristam never was colorful and beautiful: here’s how it looked in Diablo 1 (before the evil was released across the lands):
Okay, A.) That’s nighttime, dumbass – you know, when things are…dark. B.) You want the game to look as it did in 1998? Personally, I prefer they give Tristram what I call the “GTA IV†treatment: Where they make the environment look like it was created this century while leaving in certain landmarks (I.e. the Church). Blizzard’s playing with 3D now, fanboys – it’s time to evolve.
5.) An independent and renewed artistic direction, not a recycled art direction taken from the Warcraft world, Diablo never was meant to be as cartoon’ish as Warcraft, they shall have independent and distinct styles, this isnt happening in Diablo 3, at first sight it looks like a remake of World of Warcraft, graphically and artistically speaking.
Who the hell are you to say what the Diablo franchise was meant to be? Last I checked,Diablo has been part of the Blizzard stable for a decade, and has had countless numbers of people working on every aspect, from the plot, to the ambiance, to the combat and dialogue. YOU are just some bitchy fanboy who has sand in their vagina because, God forbid, the artists looked at a box of crayons one day and realized “Color. Good!â€
This whole “petition†issue actually leads to a larger issue: After reading through countless forum threads, I’ve come to the conclusion that you senseless fools who’ve already signed said petition, feel some sort of entitlement. You feel as though Diablo III is yours, period. Well, I have a news flash for you: It’s not. Diablo III, just like Diablo and Diablo II before it, belong solely to Blizzard and Blizzard, in fact, owes you nothing. Hell, the fact that they’re pouring resources into making a franchise-faithful Diablo III in the first place is more fan service than most fanboys get.
You know what I hope Blizzard does? I hope they cancel it. I hope they cancel it and just let it sit on a hard drive for another ten years until you silly sons of bitches hop off your high horses and stop acting like you deserve it.
But the worst part about all of this? None of you have any true conviction. When Diablo III is finally released, at least half of you will be in line for midnight launches, and the other half will own it by the end of its first week.
Sincerely,
JW
Now, obviously this doesn’t apply to everybody. If you haven’t signed their goofy ass petition, then we have no problem and I look forward to seeing you on Battle.net in the future.
Blizzard’s Diablo III will be released when it’s damn well ready.
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You good sir are nothing shy of 100% correct.
all i’m asking for is Diablo III
not Diablocraft III
if your going to make a franchise, all of the games should look somewhat similar
how would you feel if 1 half of your favorite cartoon or movie was in hd color and the other in black and white on analog
If half of my fav cartoon was HD, and the other was blk+white, i would take it and love it, because, omfg, THATS WHAT THE FUCKING OWNERS OF THE IP WANTED TO DO!!!!1!! If blizzard wants to put naked kittens in the game, with pistols the size of small trucks, and they are fighting retards from the planet HOLYHORSEBALLS, who fire anemone turds from their nipples, im gonna play it cuz blizzard puts a rediculous amount of attention to ANYTHING they release.
You know… I’d almost want to see that…
It’s not like blizzard is doing us a favour. They are trying to sell us something. It’s hard to pretend the rest of the world is on a high horse when you just spent however long making this ridiculous rant against the fanboys. Honestly I consider those who are just SURE Diablo III will be great because it’s Diablo and Blizzard and they never make mistakes the true fanboys. So far D3 looks like it could be a very good game. But they are definitely taking it in a slightly different direction. For some that’s great for others… not so much.
Diablo may not have had the brightness knocked down until a later patch but I seriously doubt D3 will have “corpse explosion” and all the blood and guts that D2 did. If you pay attention to the artwork in D2 there are a lot of disturbing images. It gives the game a darker feel regardless of the brightness.
In conclusion, NO NKROMANC3R == NO ME!@#1 *kicks feet and whines*
Do you seriously believe that Diablo III will have reduced gore? Did you even watch the game play preview, or were you too busy criticizing Blizzard for the unforgivable sin of putting colour into a game?
In case you didn’t see game play preview, it includes creatures and corpses exploding, enemies being dismembered, and a guy getting his torso bit off. You will not have to worry about Diablo III lacking gore.
Its more like…, You good sir are a hypocrite and a biased son of a bitch
because he “complains and whines” about the complainers and whiners, and he doesnt look at the big picture, which is, while yes there are a ton of fan boy whiners, there are also lots of people with constructive criticism against the art direction, they even included suggestions of what might be better change in the petition.
Also the whole point of the fucking 20 min video was to hear the reactions and thoughts of the fans and improve on what they already have, dipshit.
I do not mind that the trees are green and the sky is light blue and the sun makes out side bright, but it does piss me off when the forgotten TOMBS!! are colorful and look more like gothic cathedrals than tombs!
Also last time I checked, none of the current blizzard staff had any contribution in the making of Diablo I, or II, It was Blizzard North!, and in my opinion they have more right to the title and its sad that we didn’t see what masterpiece they would’ve come up with if they where the ones working on Diablo III, instead of the current team, which in fact is made up of people who worked on WoW, hence the great similarities we see in the 2 games.
Also the weapons, to me they do look like a copy and paste of the WoW weapons, since when did diablo use a Damage per second counter?? since when was the damage on a weapon in a diablo game view anything other than whole numbers?? since when did the weapons in diablo take up only 1 slot (btw this isnt a change I mind, I like this change actually, but its still from WoW, so is the bag system)
Also last time I checked, none of the current blizzard staff had any contribution in the making of Diablo I, or II, It was Blizzard North!, and in my opinion they have more right to the title and its sad that we didn’t see what masterpiece they would’ve come up with if they where the ones working on Diablo III, instead of the current team, which in fact is made up of people who worked on WoW, hence the great similarities we see in the 2 games.
Are you honestly that ignorant? First of all look at the fucking lead desginer of Diablo III, if you at all paid attention to the original Diablo I you would quickly understand the relationship. . . Dip. . .Shit. Oh and your whole Blizzard North speel, where did BNorth go? Flagship and BSouth, What did BSouth become?… C’mon you can do it… exactly the new Blizzard. I am honestly talking to a god Damned retard.
Oh and one more thing… Your whole damage per second counter bitching? How do you think damaged is calculated in-game huh? You think the damage is just thrown into a random number generator with the base and max damaged? One might think, that said one would also be called a dumb shit. Before you start bitching go read up on codings of games, WoW decided they would let all the little kids attempt to understand the reasoning of why their character’s range of damage is 21.7-52.2 This is a new age of gaming it no longer revolves around “My sword’s damaged is 12-42 and that is my damage, and oh i swing very fast with it” It is called screen framing, But i do not want this post to take 10 minutes for people to read because they do not understand the basics of coding and gameplay. Any more stupid posts? give me a hollar at GoFuckYourself@hotmail.com
I’m sorry… but wouldn’t YOU be the fanboy here? You are all for what Blizzard is doing… where as these “fanboys” you speak of are against it.
Sure, they’re doing a great job with d3, but that doesn’t mean we can’t give them constructive criticism.
The petition for an art change is a little much. I agree. But is that what it takes to get a *little* change? Possibly.
replying to the article, btw.
I never played diablo, I think you should shut up along with them.
I do not play the same games as you. Therefore, your opinion is invalid. Good day, sir!
This cracked me up. “Color. Good!” ROFL! And it is good!
I agree with what you have said, it seem with every anticipated game release the “Fanboys” have to make the game development hard on the people making it. They are never happy a new relies of the favorite title even though they are probably going to pirate it any way because there mommy’s wont give them the money for it.
Woo, beautiful, just beautiful…..I think the game looks awesome by the way….*fingers crossed for even more fleshed out awesome battle angels*
What I can’t understand is why don’t these fanboys realise that their monitors have Saturation controls in their display options. Have they not had the simple pleasure of desaturating old colorful games to make em look more REAL when they were kids? Or was that just me?
When I was a kid I was playing as a dinosaur in a Hawaiian t-shirt, shooting ninjas on motorcycles with a plasma rifle.
Realism wasn’t my top priority.
Everyone who agrees with him should sign one or all of these petitions then :
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/d3israd/
http://www.petitiononline.com/DIII/petition.html
http://www.petitiononline.com/d3color/petition.html
Go Blizzard
It’s ironic that you’re calling these people “fanboys” when you’ve got Blizzard’s corporate schlong so far down your throat you can’t talk without a breathing tube.
“Jay and Silent Bob are terrible, one-note jokes that only stoners laugh at. They’re fucking clown shoes. If they were real, I’d beat the shit out of them for being so stupid. I can’t believe Miramax would have anything to do with this shit. I, for one, will be boycotting this movie. Who’s with me?” – B.Buster @ MoviePoopShoot
hey bitch Jay and Silent Bob are greater than your existance so stfu and get a life…..
and to all the diablo fan boys. if you love diablo 2 so much STFU and play it instead ill go out and buy your copy of D3 cause im sure it will rock as hard as d1 did for its time and d2 has for forever.
Umm…
You’re a tool. He directly quoted the movie.
Somebody who claims that “Jay and Silent Bob rock” should know that Paco quoted, word-for-word, a scene from ‘Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back’.
Not the best in the View-Askewniverse, but pretty damn funny nonetheless.
Care to expand, faggot?
Couldn’t agree more with Bernard Corillone, you didn’t even try to objectively look at any of the constructive criticism..
You just tried to make a half-assed attempt at being Maddox and jumping on the ‘no change’ bandwagon for god knows what reason.
People didn’t complain about the musical style did they? It’s perfect… They now just need to make the graphics fit that mood.
If you think neon green lights and rainbows belong to the Diablo franchise, you don’t give two craps about the game and you’d probably play any 3d hack’n’slash given it has the name “Diablo” slapped to it.
Neon green lights? Outside of a few special attacks (which have always been colorful bright and colorful), I’ve yet to see any instances of “neon” anything. As for the rainbow, I’ll refer you to my leprechaun comment.
As for the overall art direction, I refer you to the concept art that has been released.
As for your final comment… yeah, I would. Because I trust Blizzard to make the game fun, while keeping true to Diablo canon.
Has it ever occurred to you that what you saw is a very very very very very small section of the environment?
Actually, I’ve seen plenty of people on Diablo forums complaining about the music… “Too epic…” -.-
Too epic? Well, let’s bust out the banjo and jug and we’ll get us some good ol’ fashioned woodland folk music!
Saying music is “Too Epic” is like saying a game is “Too Fun” Where do these people get off?!
Post a link!
Ever consider that the bright scenes may be there to add contrast?
Sure, D2 is neat, but EVERYTHING is dark and dingy. If you take a dark and dingy world and have a few areas that are clean, unspoiled… pure
Well, those dark and horrible places are, by comparison, MORE dark and horrible.
But where did thinking ever get anyone?
If the area they showed in the preview was “the forgotten cathedrals” or something I wouldn’t mind, as a matter of fact, the atmosphere and environment looked very much like a Gothic cathedral, but it wasn’t, it was the forgotten fucking tombs!! TOMBS GODDAMN IT!!!! tombs aren’t supposed to look like that! not in Diablo, not in any game!!
Yep, you’re right for the most part. I agree with the complaints about the puffy oversized armour, somewhat (it looks a little japanime), but the colour nonsense has gotten out of control. You can set the gamma on your video card, and mute colours if you want. A little bit of fiddling with your settings, and you should be able to get exactly the look you want without Blizzard needing to change a thing. Complaining about colour is a little bit ridiculous.
Speaking of sand in someone’s vagina….
lol! “Dear Diablo fanboys,
Could you do all of us a favor and please shut the fuck up?”
That made my day. Thank you!
James,
You’ve probably forgotten that Diablo ain’t just A game, it’s in its own way a cult. So fans want to get something that would last for a very long time. Blizzard also promised that it would solely listen to fans needs – that’s why they advising, exactly.. not moaning. For the item issue – I’d prefer the old style of storing things in my character’s inventory – it’s a part of the game, if it goes – part of Diablo dies.
And BTW, I signed the petition.. if this game’s for decades – so let it be perfect.
You DO know games evolve and change with time? I know you may not like it ..but sometimes change can be good. I’m also pretty sure they won’t be changing the style of the game, so have fun playing it ..I’m sure you won’t be complaining when it’s in your grubby hands
fuck you cunt. how about you change your nappie
I totally agree with the author of this.
Although I’m a diablo fan I really don’t see how some “fans” can complain about D3 being cartoony, wow’ish or bright and even more from seeing a pre-alpha demo build for 20 minutes or in other words as the author said 1% of the actual game!
hope every one of those jerks you mentioned drooling on the forums about D3 being somewhat, i love the expression, WoWish, read this.
well done, sir.
you said the exact thing that needed to be said.
I think this article was not written too tactfully against naysayers who want a change in the art direction. They have a right to complain. However, there are flaws to many of the complaints.
Calling the graphics cartoonish is an overstatement. Naysayers seem to have some idealistic view of Diablo and Diablo 2. Please, go back and play those games. Remember those Act4 worms that look kinda like zerglings? Remember The Smith and Hephasto the Armorer? Those look pretty cartoony to me. Hell, even compare the graphics to World of Warcraft. Diablo 3 sure as hell looks much more realistic than WoW to me. It’s higher poly-count, more sophisticated lighting, and more detailed texture than WoW.
Oversized and stylish armor and weapons? Items that look like they’re directly pasted from World of Warcraft? That barb on plate kinda looks like he’s wearing IK armor with IK maul and Vampire Gaze to me. Sure it’s stylish and big, I’d want my barb to look buff and awesome instead of normal and mundane.
I’m not going to tell you naysayers that if you want to go back to having a more dark/gothic world devoid of color in what you idealize as “more realistic,” than go back to D2. Afterall, you want Diablo 3 to be good as much as I do. However, you guys need to embrace change and not be stuck with the past. I honestly don’t want the bland and washed-out color scheme of the past games to return.
James Walker, you are a faggot.
here here!
I second that
Thank you man for the great answer to this… silly petition. I personally think that the major of this 26K+ votes are made from people that didn’t even play D1/D2. I am a sort of Artdes. and may said that Art department has done a great Job!!! To all that would like a darker D3: Please tune up your brightness, contrast and light settings on your monitors and shut the fuck up!
i agree to 100% and i also agree with the statement “COLOUR, GOOD”
Hehe, I liked it, and has been annoyed by that petition for a while.
It’s good to see some new graphic-style being introduced. The dark chilly and spooky “ugly” places are there too – INSIDE, IN THE DUNGEONS.
Dude, you’re a fucking faggot. You think calling people who disagree with you “j00″ and not actually making substantive points makes you cool? The epitome of fucking wit, my friend.
There are plenty legitimate reasons to disagree and not agree. I don’t have a problem with people dissenting. Respect that shit, or you’re just another part of lower 10% of Internet mouth-breathers who can’t respond or post original thoughts.
Alot of the people for the original art design are completely retarded. Not because my side is objectively better, I mean, rational people can disagree, but fanboyism and going along with the mob is easy. You have all these sycophants who will laugh at your pathetic, juvenile humor. Going against a crowd, being contrarian, generally requires courage and intelligence to respond to the “common-sense” view and being continually flamed.
Of course, there are plenty of dumbasses on my side as well. I don’t agree with the protestations of “realistic” water effects like rainbows, there is a point where an argument devolves.
But obviously this WANKER, who loves intellectually masturbating himself (unh, what a circle-jerk!), has nothing intelligent to contribute, so I’ll just fight moronic flames with the fire they deserve.
Wow. I think this comment takes the cake. He was making fun of people who say “j00,†not calling people that.
Of course, this from someone who thinks it is an insult to call someone a “fucking faggot.†What was that about being a part of the lower 10%….?
Dude… “j00″ is “l33t sp33k” for “you”, “j00″ son of a bitch.
Oh, indeed? Incidentally, the term “faggot” is “brolic speak” for a flaming Internet homosexual, a cocksucker, or alternatively, an endearing term for one who loves the dick…but I’m sure you knew that already.
I still don’t understand how being gay is an insult. Good job, man, at perpetuating Internet ignorance.
Seriously, what is your guys’ collective obsession with my oral orifice? Do you need a hug, or something? A pat on the back and reassurance that you’re “e-cool”?
Or maybe you’re just not comfortable with your own sexuality and your outward hostility is just some misguided attempt to hit on me. Either way, I’m not interested.
The only one here who needs a hug is you, crying over something like this. You’re crying about a petition, get over it.
I don’t even think blizzard cries as much as you do, what are you trying to do, get a reward or something?
“Hey, maybe if i use my real name, blizzard will contact me and hire me”
Or perhaps as i said in the post below, maybe you’re already a blizzard employee trying to find some love.
<3 D3 Fanboy
Dear Blizzard,
Please give us jobs and lots of money. We’re using our real names on our site and everything. We also have the support of THE D3 Fanboy.
Sincerely,
Allison, James, and Mike
P.S. We were also told there was a reward involved. Do you know anything about this?
Aaanyhow, this letter was nothing more but bullshit.
Writing such an letter defending blizzard with those words and phrases really just made me think that this is a letter which a blizzard employee had to write with a fake name or something.
I’ve signed the petition and i’m glad i did, atleast now when i read this letter, signing that petition seems to have made blizzard and the whole “world” aware that there are people against the WoW graphics beeing implemented in diablo 3.
Anyway, writing such a letter just because someone started a petition to make blizzard aware of a problem, is just…sad, but hey, you seem like a person who likes to write blog and shit, so what could you expect
Actually the saddest shit on this sorry-ass post is your last sentence, where you respond that you don’t feel like the fact that fans “feel some sort of entitlement”.
Of course we fucking feel some entitlement, you fucking dumb wanker. That’s what capitalism is – a mutually acceptable exchange. A simple economic concept would be wanting to lock in future profits – Blizzard accepts some fanbase criticism and suggestions so they can be assured of some future sales from their hard-core fanbase.
YEAH MUTUAL CO-EXCHANGE. SOME SIMPLE SHIT RIGHT THERE.
Look, I know the majority of the Internet likes drinking piss and calling it wine, but me, no sir, I work for my money and I’ll be damned that I purchase less than the highest quality games. If I can help bring it there through constructive criticism, all the damned power to me!
No you’re not tough shit because you use profanity and have a blog. Just another dumb Internet e-thug who likes stroke his e-peen.
hahahhahahha… Billare’s second post tops his first one by the use of the word “e-peen”
Petitiononline.com to ban James Walker from ever talking about Diablo ever again coming soon!
Reminiscent of that fourth-grade thing where you go “I KNOW YOU ARE, BUT WHAT AM I?!”
“Hahahaha…”? No one’s laughing. You knew deep down that was pathetic in grade school and it’s still pathetic now.
I think though, I’m gonna start a petition to stop in all probability nerdy Asian dudes from thinking they are Internet pontificates. Now THAT’s fucking hilarious.
I agree 100% What is up with ppl. I really hope that Blizzard dont listen to those twisted morons. I love the way Diablo III looks. As always Blizzard has hit the bullseye
I’ve liked blizzard games ever since i got a taste of the cinematics (diablo1/2, Warcraft and WoW). If you ask me I think diablo3 looks sweet, physics, modern animations, fast paced. The people bitchin’ about what it looks like prolly have POS PC’s that barely run diablo2. If you think D3 looks like WoW you need to not run all your games at 800×600 and the lowest quality.
Titan Quest was an EXACT replica of Diablo2, and it was a POS game. I’m glad there’s a WoW influenced UI change (bags) it’s familiar and works well. Evolution is not a bad thing.
One thing worse than someone bitching is someone bitching about someone who is bitching, myself included I guess.
You should try to learn how to write a post without relying on curses to make a point.
Players are not saying D3 is their game, of course its Blizzards game. Still, people are free to criticize what it is displayed to them.
You in fact are the image of what that players are complaining, someone who wants everything pretty fluffy and pink. By this I mean, Blizzard showed us the state of the D3 project and everyone should be happy about it and not say anything, unless its a good thing I guess.
It’s my personal opinion that the game as it is has incredible graphics, and I like the colors. That doesn’t make it the right art style for Diablo 3 though. So, although I will like the game if it comes out similar to what it is now, I would rather have, for example, light radius inside Dungeons. Light radius also give you the chance to experiment with equipment that increases and decreases the light around you, which gives a cool effect.
Regards.
Again it still doesn’t occur to these morons that they only seen 1/10th of a 1% of the game. The insist on flaming back with inane replies and straw-man defenses.
Why don’t you dumb fucks wait and see what the other 99.99% of the game is going to look like before you make useless petitions. Yeah like an online petition ever got any results. Don’t bother.
“Why don’t you dumb fucks wait and see what the other 99.99% of the game is going to look like before you make useless petitions. Yeah like an online petition ever got any results. Don’t bother.”
bacause it will then be too late to change anything u dumb fuck.
31000 votes vs. 800 as for now.
and by the way you are all too ignorant to accept that other people have other opinion than you do, and that we have right to form our opinion into petition, no matter if it will change something or not. sftsu nazi mouth
James Walker,
Do us all a favor, and hang yourself from a ceiling fan.
wow you are full of brilliant things to say on the subject matter, arent you, douchebag?
[...] *More discussion on – A letter to Diablo III fanboys [...]
How can one be taken seriously when you misinterpret every little sentence of the petition and write an angry article based on these false assumptions?
You completely overreacted and exaggerated what we meant. You even took the WORST road on Internet based arguments (and threw it as your first argument) which is the “learn some grammar” argument.
You have just invalidated your little article and embarrassed yourself to the gaming world, congratulations!
If this is misinterpretation, I’d really love to read a reply that explains what is really meant by the petition, because to be honest, although I don’t agree with absolutely everything James has said, I don’t think he misunderstood the petition.
I’m gonna agree with the statement people have been making that we have only been shown a little bit of the game, why so quick to jump to arms against Blizzard? I think people fighting against the graphics is a bit over the top. That is of course MY opinion. I also agree with the fact that this is DIABLO, and its suppose to be dark and gothic, but who thought showing people a few nice colorful landscapes would anger people. And the armor is to bulky and flashy? Is that what I’m hearing? Well damn, I know I didn’t enjoy wearing a Shako that made me look like a rotten penis. Or having my armor look dull and exactly like the next guys. Lets here it for being dull and redundant!
I completely agree with your article. I’m just so happy that they even have a new game coming out for Diablo, and I’m excited as hell to see what Blizzard does with the game. Many of these people crying so hard already, in the end, are still going to buy the damn game.
COLOR IS DAMN GOOD mmmm
i agree 100% with this http://www.petitiononline.com/d3art/petition.html
Poor Syntax, poorly written and constant wrong use of the gamer term Fanboy.
I gave you a point for paragraphs.
2/10
They used the artistic talent for WoW and then Simultaniously when they worked on Burning Crusade, Blizzard North was the original talent for Diablo, but this time it was the warcraft team.
As you can see my small sentence defeated your 1 page.
Good game sir.
That is one of if not the most confusing and syntactically poor sentences (while retaining the appearance of something well-formed) I’ve ever read. Care to try again, making sense this time?
fuck u james!!! go play titan quest if u want colours
SomethingAwful seems to be inspired by BingeGamer.net
You Sir, are a moron.
Have you thought of the fact that ½ the gameplay video was inside a dungeon. That translates to below the surface which = DARKNESS! The view on top (on the surface), I couldnt give a rats ass couse D2 had colors there too.
Ass for the statement about “fanboys”, well we are the once that shall pay for the game… right?! So F U. There is a reason Blizzard gives preview, leaks intentional and create stuff for the public… it’s called FEEDBACK! However if you blizzard brownnoses can get over yourself and think for one moment, I am in the belief that even you people can actually see that. If the fans doesnt get what they want, they won’t pay for it!, Blizzard isn’t makeing the game to “Reward” us, they make the game to; guess what?! MAKE MONEY!
Even if Blizzard cancel the game… I couldn’t give a rats ass, couse at the moment, this isn’t Diablo, it’s closer to a
“Non-Pay-to-Play” update for a game in the Warcraft Universe (gonne let you boys and brownnoses figure it out yoursleves).
As fo me personally No, I aint buying the game in the current state its in, I’ll probably download it, and shit in the pirated homemade box with the burned DVD inside and ship it to:
Blizzard Entertainment
P.O. Box 18979
Irvine, CA 92623
With a note stated: This shit wasn’t even worth downloading.
So too conclude: You Sir are a moron.
Just because you throw in some punctuation and capital letters doesn’t convince anyone you are older than 15.
A petition to cut creativity out of a game because you are all a bunch of pissed off prudes? NO NO! NO COLORS IN MY GAMES! ONLY BLACK LIKE MY DEAD HEART!
Its people like you that give the gaming industry a bad name. Stop ruining it for the people that enjoy playing games.
WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH cry some more you little bitch bag.
why is it assumed that diablo3 fans that like darker environments are stupid and we go NO NO COLOR BAD NO COLOR IN MY GAMEZLOLIDUM? wtf is wrong with you people. D3 does look like wow and any fool could see that. Fuck that walker queer he sucks dick for free.
You are so butt hurt you wouldn’t buy the game over some superficiality. Go suck on a cock, you will be the first to blow dick in order to get your fatty hands on it.
Couldn’t… because… as… brown nose… doesn’t (don’t)… making… because… gonna… brown nose… yourselves… for… aren’t…
If you’re going to call somebody a moron, you can at least take the time to proofread. As for your point: Yes you will. You’re all talking tons of trash right now, sounding all tough by saying you’re not going to buy the game. But in the end — yes you will.
Well, there you go again.. taking the most lame “insult” on the web ( “If you’re going to call somebody a moron, you can at least take the time to proofread.” ) Why should I?! My point got across which is the whole point of language…moron… As for your point; Yes like I “buy” all my games then (*irony*)
Btw Last post here ‘couse well your webpage is lousy from inside the code to the outside of your jacket.
Any response well.. THE MORONS GO MARCHING ON! (Don’t think you gonna get the point of that; but as we say in Sweden: “Även en blind höna hittar ibland ett korn”
You are still an idiot for using horrid grammar. Reading your posts makes my head hurt for the sheer quantity of stupidity that emanates from them. You sir, should kill yourself.
Dude. Absolutely nobody cares whether or not your head hurts from reading. Nobody cares about your unfounded claim of regarding this as ’stupidity’, nobody cares about your opinion, you lost that privilege when you stated oh so tongue-in-cheekly that a person should kill themselves… for grammar errors, adding that extra bit of spin by inserting ‘You sir’ before the advice to show that you have a grasp of the ever fresh sarcasm. Fuck off, nobody wants you or your kind spouting this kind of ridiculous spam about nothing as a reply to a valid if somewhat juvenile post. Go away.
On topic, well despite James Walker’s KNOWLEDGE that OP will indeed buy the game and his claim that ‘at least half of you will be in line for midnight launches, and the other half will own it by the end of its first week.’ I put forward the notion that many, many MANY of us petition signers, umm or is that 1337speeking fanboy emo ’sods’ (way to go for an unbiased blog), will not buy the game since we SURPRISINGLY aren’t all the childish and spineless, conviction lacking, socially awkward, colour hating rejects that you are so sure we are. The petition is perfectly civil, unbiased, unwhiney, and makes a good point(the exact opposite of this blog).
You need to leave sensationalism to Oprah, put away your ‘rebel against the rebels’ hats and stop posting things with titles like ‘An Open Letter to Diablo 3 fanboys’ when you mean ‘A expletive filled biased rant for people who think like me’.
Instead, either grow up or go and FUCK yourself while you ponder upon your need to be constantly entertained with new, colourful, happy, ‘interesting’ and, this is brilliant, ‘evolved’ visuals(you ADD twat) and your tendancy to rehash the poorest, most pathetic argument forms ever conceived in what I am beginning to believe is a mass attempt to reduce human intellectualism to slag.
…am I the only one who sees the irony in Mr. Concept’s comment? Let’s get a couple of things out in the open:
1.) The wonderful thing about an opinion piece, as opposed to the hundreds of news stories that are fair and unbiased (as well as the many that, admittedly, are biased against a person or company for being silly), is that I don’t have to be unbiased in my distaste. That’s what opinion pieces are for.
2.) Any credibility is thrown out the window the moment the petitioner (or, by proxy, you, the one who signed it) dares to assume that they know more about a franchise than the company that have been working on the franchise for a decade.
3.) Yes you will.
4.) This is a personal gripe, but when you berate somebody for their “expletive filled biased rant” (which, honestly, I know it is. I wrote it.), you may not want to deflate your own argument by proceeding to tell me to go fuck myself and refer to me as an “ADD twat”.
But I will give you credit — at least you didn’t imply that I suck cock.
You worthless bag of filth.
My only complaint was concerning the overall graphics of the game. Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with the overall scenery that the game possesses. I think it is a breath of fresh air that they are adding rainbows, and stuff of that nature. This actually makes me happy, because now when I get to the “Dark” areas of the game, I can actually feel the dark presence that it possesses. However, my complaint is the color choices that they are using. I think the game is far too bright. During the game play video when the barbarian used his ice imbued axe, I was questioning if that was ice or if that was Jesus trying to blind the monsters with some kind of lighting effect.
I’m just excited for the game, during the brightness down won’t be a problem for me, as long as the game is good!
You jw fucker are really stupid, huh?
Also you are a coward . You have chosen some points of the petition to make fan of, so you can look ‘cool’. Why don’t you show some of the screenshots that have been rendered?
You say the game belongs to blizzard not us. Well OFCOURSE, but in case you haven’t noticed blizzard is a game company who makes games FOR us.
And anyway what the fuck is your problem? this petition exists because some people (quite a lot actually) believe the game should have an overall darker atmosphere like the previous ones. No one forces you to sign it. It is just an opinion. Also no one is forcing blizzard to take it in mind, but because blizzard happens to be a proffessional company they probably care about what most people think. You know the guys who make the game are not gods* (*not sure about that), they might make mistakes and they cannot satisfy everyone. So why do you blindly trust them? Have you got no critic sense?
You also say we haven’t seen one tenth of the game and that we bitch while it still is in production. Well smartass, when do you think is the best time to complain and propose something new? AFTER the game is complete and on sale?
Finally noone (or really few) says the game will be crappy and we don’t wanna buy it because it’s too shiny and shit. We just saw one element of the game, we thought it could be done in a better more fitting way and we said it. That is all.
I agree with dfan, only the hawdcore Diablo fans should be able to voice their opinions. Coward!
i don’t even consider myself a hardcore fan,when i say us i mean every gamer. Anyone should be, and is ,able to express his/her opinion, this is the internet for fuck’s sake. If you want diablo with happy bears and pink unicorns you are free to say so, and even ask for it. I would just disagree. However expressing your opinion is very different from insulting others for doing so. By hey! you can even do that if you want. In that case though, you should expect an appropriate answer.
The problem with this aticle is that it doesn’t stop at insults. The jw fucker says it is wrong to express our opinion because it’s blizzards game , and blizzard knows best. I really can’t understand this pathetic stance. Why not try to achieve something? What are you a fucking sheep?
Personally, I feel it should be up to the developers to decide how a game turns out. It is good to try and get a grasp of what your fanbase likes before making something new with an established franchise……. BUT…. straying from your own vision of how things should be could end up badly.
For example, Zelda: Twilight Princess. It took what all the fans cried about after getting Wind Waker, and tried to correct it. We ended up with a pretty looking game, but linear as all hell. Now people look back and praise what a great game Wind Waker was, when all they did was bitch when it came out.
There is times that having more of the same works out, like Smash Bros Brawl or Grand Theft Auto IV. Still, with Diablo, it has been so long, that what the team is doing with the game should be more than just visual upgrades, people bitched about it way way too quickly before even having more than a few screens and an itty bitty bit of gameplay footage.
PacoDG is right about straying from their vision. It is definitely Blizzard’s intention to make this game more colorful than the past games. It’s ok for fans to dissent on the new art direction and Blizzard is listening, but on this specific subject, they’re sure the art direction is staying as such. The old games were awesome because of the addictive gameplay, not the dated 8-bit color scheme. Dissenters should adapt to this change, and this change is a good thing.
I understand the point you make and there is some logic to it. There is no point in complaining about something completely new , only time can tell wether it is worth it or not. But, i believe with diablo3 ,there is a different case.Because we are not complaining about gameplay issues. We complain about the overall graphics, which seem more shiny than suitable for a dark fantasy game.
And something else. If blizzard or any company makes changes according to the gamers community, that doesn’t mean it is not responsible for the final product. Like the exmple of zelda. Had they made a game as good as wind waker with the graphics of twillight princess , no one would complain.what i am trying to say is that if game developers see that the changes that are proposed will not affect the gameplay and will please a lot of people why not make them? I won’t blame blizzard if the graphics remain the same ( as long as the gameplay is good) i am just asking for the smae great game they are making with a darker environment. We didn’t ask them to make it e.g a first person game.
The internet is supposed to be a forum for disagreements and ideas over game development. In the end Blizzard will probably tell us all to politely fuck off. As long as the game play is as good as it was in the other franchise games, I have no complaints of aesthetically pleasing changes they make. Besides, if it turns out to be too cheery looking of an environment, they have always been good about patching their games to improve it as play goes on. I just hope it doesn’t get ridiculously hacked like Diablo II. Once that started, that killed the fun for me.
“I agree with dfan, only the hawdcore Diablo fans should be able to voice their opinions.”
And that’s why the Nazi’s invaded Poland.
maaaaan, hehe, this article is sooo full of bullcrap ^^
^^
i mean, u can sense this guy sexual frustration from miles away…. XD
PEOPLE ARE NOT OBLIGATED TO LIKE SOMETHING YOU KNOW! If they find something repulsive they can say it….. we are living in democracy for crying out lowd…. allso the bad words and tone you used clearly denotes some kin of frustration… get laid!
amen brother..amen
This letter will piss off approximately twenty thousand people worldwide (after substracting the number of fake signatures, dublicates and people who didn’t understand what they’re putting their name on). But fear not, there’s a good four million more Diablo 2 copy owners who have enough IQ to either disregard all of this or even agree with you and trust Blizzard to create a yet another award winning release.
It’s actually amusing how the same people still fail to see how ridiculous their entire petition is. The art style was probably the most detailed design the developers panel explained at the 2008 Worldwide Invitational, meaning this is something they’ve already considered very carefully without the need of stating the obvious (this game does not look identical to Diablo 2) in the form of an online petition followed by a ridiculous amount of nerdrage. Do you really expect them to give in to your demands? Who the hell do you even think you are to think you’re in any position to make demands considering the game’s early phases of development, all based on an alpha version that’s probably still missing the final touch and additional features – say, the light radius?
Blizzard is a company which makes games. They have very high quality standards. When you paid for Diablo or Diablo II you earned the rights specified in the Terms of Service and End User Lisence Agreement for those titles only, not any sequals. Blizzard does not owe you anything, nor is it obligated to take any feedback into consideration from outside the development team. If you don’t like their product, it’s your choice to refuse from buying it. I’m fairly sure they won’t come to your door forcing the game on you, or even offer it over the phone. “Mailing them crap” or even talking trash about the product is way beyond your rights. There’s a clear line between freedom of speech and slander.
If or when Diablo 3 gets released, it’ll be a great looking game, with a lot of great content and will sell in the millions. I will place a preorder on it as soon as it comes available at the store of my choice and enjoy the experience, while the most stubborn dimwits still sit in their dark corners, staring at their black and white monitors from under their furrowed brows. Hate is for the narrow minded.
You know, there is a great difference between demanding and asking. No one said we have any rights on the game. But we have every right to propose stuff. We don’t think we are mailing them crap, that is your opinion.We don’t want to force anyone. We just hope to help making something great, even greater. And most of us will buy the game. If we weren’t going to buy it there would not be such a petition,cause no one would care.
You say 4million people like the graphics we saw. How do you know that? Did you show the 4 million diablo players the screenshots within the petition? As about the very clear line between freedom of speech and slander, were you a bit brighter, or not so full of anger, you could see how your post tresspasses it. Also since you say you have no rights to the game, why are you offended when someone else talks trash of it? Or are you blizzard’s lawyer, maybe?
Signing the petition doesn’t necesarily mean that we hate blizzard,or that we think the franchise is ruined, though some people make feel like that; well too bad for them.Most of us are very happy to finally have d3, and wηether the graphics change or not is a secondary issue.
Overall i disagree with your post, but your last phrase is true. Hate is for the narrow minded, but what does that make you?
no1 is talking about hate you dumb ass ^^ I for one DO NOT HATE IT.
I just sign the petition so Blizzard can hear us and improve the game…. we are merely giving some feedback and advice to the producers… if they want to listen very good… if they don’t i don’t care. We just point out the things we do not like and that is it. No 1 is forcing no 1. I just with that people that agree the new art direction would give some more explications and come up with better arguments than the gay…..guy (excuse me) that wrote this article… nevertheless, have fun and take care!
i just wish* ^^
i agree with everything you said….
i mean sure, its all colourful and all, but if you’ve seen the gameplay trailer, it’ll be covered in blood from the amount of gore in the game….
you fan boys just want to believe what you want to believe and try to pass opinions off as facts…sighs
[...] Open Letter to
*breaks out the s’more fixings* Mmmm… toasty flame war…
Mmm…save a burnt marshmallow for me
you said exactly what i’ve been thinking about these idiots and their petition.
like anyone actually gives a shit about petitions anyway .. too bad there’s no way to prevent those same idiots from actually playing the game, and even more so prevent them from using battlenet.
If you dont like D3 once it’s released, go back to playing your bland and boring D2.
if you think D2 is boring…. you should get banned from D3 not us and just shut up about the petition… if you think D2 was boring you could never understand what the petition is all about.
Have a nice day! ^^
Starcraft 2 Looks (visual appearance)
“Pleeease Blizzard stay away from WC3 when making SC2! They are compltetly different games. Seperate the two, keep them as defined from each other as possible!”
“I’ve noticed from a lot of the screen shots that the buildings look really “clean”, and I hope that they plan on making them look a little more rustic, or battle like, same with the troops. I don’t think we want them to look perfect, we want them to look real, and real things don’t look shiny and nice, they look used and abused and that’s how things should be in this game.”
Starcraft 2 – Recapturing the Magic Interview
“We’ve retouched up the Terrans – we got a lot of feedback initially that they are very bright and too colorful.. and so we definitely listen to those sort of things.”
I signed the petition. There is nothing wrong with feedback. Either you like the current style or you don’t – you may just as equally express your opinion.
James… shut the fuck up.
Amen to that!
I love how th poster of this article writes a 3 page story on how he likes the colors, but calls every person who doesn’t like it a “retarted fan boy”.
Diablo is realistic game, unlike the wow series. Please tell me where in reality is there a magical blue light radiating from every dark corner?
And if the “fan boys” had their way, the graphics would still be the same quality, and it wouldn’t effect the game, just how you feel when you are playing it.
Dare to reply.
Please tell me in reality where groups of adventurers wearing over-the-top armor fight off demon spawn from hell?
I’ve read a lot of comments on here from a lot of people who don’t agree with my stance of “y’all need to shut the hell up”. While the occasional few have insisted that I am either a Blizzard employee (I wish — it’d probably pay more than this) or that I just plain engage in penis puffing, there have been some rather well informed counter-arguments.
Realism is not one of them, you dumb shit.
As for daring me to reply… what the hell is your problem? I, uh… own this site. I don’t mean that in cool internet terms, either. My name is actually on the deed… so… why dare me? That’d be like daring me to fight you at my dinner table during my family reunion.
But your still wrong. Demons spawning from hell is completely normal. In diablo! Get it? Lets take realism to the world we are actually talking about, Dip Shit.
Otherwise,
you waste time.
actually the more i read this article the more i realise i wated my time, you hardly give any real statements example:
“Because muddy textures are something to be proud of, apparently. You bring the issue of darkness up again in your list of demands, saying you want “a darker, gothic, cryptic and creepier environment†which, as most knowledgeable Diablo fans would know, only made up a part of the world. In Diablo II you spend good chunks of time out in the desert sun at Lut Gholein, or the snow-capped mountains of the Northlands in the Lord of Destructoin expansion. Of course, bringing this little fact to light would negate your entire “DIABLO IS TEH DARKNESS AND GOTHIC!†argument.”
Response: Its not about the amount of “light” in the game, How childish is this?
“So, now you want bland armor too? Bland environments, bland armor, bland character design… there’s just no pleasing you people, is there?”
Response: In all seriousness, do you know anything about graphic design? I think everyone wants a detailed environment, again you are completely wrong. In case you cant understand? That means its not about the detail.
I could smash you all day on your article, and im not even classified as a “fan boy” you speak of. Just an unbiased gamer.
“Who the hell do you even think you are to think you’re in any position to make demands considering the game’s early phases of development, all based on an alpha version that’s probably still missing the final touch and additional features – say, the light radius?”
Who do we think we are? The people who buy their game and pay their bills – thats who.
::lets out a hearty Chortle::
You don’t pay their bills, oh no no no. And havn’t for the past 7 years. No, WoW players pay the Blizzard Bills.
I find it relatively funny that people are crying about a 20 minute segment of gameplay and a few screenshots. The graphics were greatly enhanced, and environmental detail was dramatically increased. The monsters have shadows that greatly define them (I mean you can still count the bones on the skeletons from their shadows), spells mesh with the terrain more clearly (look at the Barbarian doing his Leap, and then look at a Druid [D2] cast a Volcano. It just kind of pops out of the ground and goes away at the same rate – it’s not a smooth transition).
That aside, but there will always be people that scream and bitch about how the game isn’t to what their tastes desire. It’s just like that for WoW. While it sometimes may be safe or prudent to assume something will be bad, or have a quality that you don’t agree with, there’s still plenty of work to be seen and done.
Honestly, if you’re crying about how the game looks already, then the best solution for you (aside from suicide) would be to just not play it. The end. QQ more. I guarantee that 9/10 people that are currently punching puppies and drowning kittens out of spite, are going to be buying the game.
HMMMM.
IMHO if your going to take a game that has gothic inspired architecture light that is on the realistic side of the spectrum(white-offwhite), creepy dungeons that use shadows to instill creepiness, armor that looks realistic and shines like metal, evil scenes of gruesome horror(corpses impaled with spikes, corpses with their guts spread all over the floor) and you are going to make a sequel to the game. Would it really seem that wrong for the people that loved diablo 1 and 2 to expect a sequel that looked reminiscent of the first two games? I’ll be completely honest, I loved the way the game looked at first(although I never did quite agree with the armor). When the original shock of “OMFG THEY ARE ACTUALLY MAKING D3 FINALLY” wore off and I saw the Photoshoped images of how some people feel the game should look. My first thought was. WOW, that is so much more like diablo 2. It fit. I felt that just by changing the ambient light it would set the whole diablo mood so much better. Like unbelievably better. Words can not even express what I felt when I saw the photoshops.
I really do not think they should bother making a diablo 3 with a completely new art direction. It ruins the concept of continuing the series.
Just because a game doesn’t look as vibrant as the rainbow sticker on your bumper that says “I’m a flaming faggot.” Does not mean its a shitty game. I do not think you need to use every color just because its there. Warcraft 3 had its own very distinct art direction. I personally believe that mixing the two is a very bad idea..
You can put the name diablo III on any game you want.. It does not make the game a part of the diablo universe. Its the art direction that makes a game. I personally will not buy this game unless at the very least the graphics/light radius are brought back into the game. The way the game looks currently is epic fail and I would not be surprised if they are showing us footage from the very early alpha stages of the game, before they fired the entire art department for making such a fail of a game. All in all I think it is a giant publicity stunt where they will cause a huge uproar and then be the hero when they “Fix” the problem by listening to what the consumer’s really want.
Don’t bother replying because I do not care what you think. You have already proved that you are very narrow minded and you don’t give two shits about what people think. You label people fan boys just because they want a game that is consistent with the first two.
I bet you use a Macintosh you incompetent bastard.
I’ll start out by saying I have worked for some of the top gaming companies in the world. What blizzard is doing is completely irrational.
I completly agree with your post logan. The art direction needs to stay with the franchise. Art direction is 45% of what makes a great game. Story and gameplay split the other 55%.
People with rational minds like you are what might have a chance of saving this game from its imminent demise. If there is anyone that is clueless and should not be bothered of an oppionion it would be Mr. Walker. He has shown his epic disregard for the art of gaming and is a disgrace to all of humanity.
Keep up the fight and demand what is right.
Good luck in life.
James Walker, your attitude (arrogance, discrediting other’s opinions, ridiculous exaggerations and childish insults) makes me think you have a superiority complex. Seriously, the replies discrediting YOU here are only in appropriate response to your approach.
As for Diablo 3, you need an aesthetic sense to understand what the people who signed the petition(myself included) are talking about. It’s not about it being too bright or colourful, even though so far it’s pretty much eye candy, it’s about the fact that the concept art is in dissonance to the actual modeling, the atmosphere, texturing etc., or rather, these things are in dissonance with the concept art. The concept artists did a fantastic job, but what we saw in game was indeed cartoony. I realize the game is far, far from done, but constructive criticism(especially when it comes from fans) should always be welcome by a company such as Blizzard(unless they have mass superiority complexes too).
In any case, if you want anyone to take you seriously, take the unbiased, objective approach and drop the insults. They’re the mark of the sub-educated. Good day.
Dearest Azarea,
It seems that, while busy trotting around up there on your high horse, yammering on about aesthetics in design and such, the spirit of Mr. Walker’s letter sailed completely over your head. Let me help you out with that. Diablo3, announced one week ago, is very much in the embryonic stages of development. Keeping that in mind, it’s laughable that you and so many others are willing to scribble their names on a hastily drawn up petition, which reads like the brainchild of some drunken idiot whose first language is not English. It begs the questions, Against what are you petitioning? – and – Are you maybe retarded? You’ve seen but the smallest portion of a portion of the entire breadth of a game which has only just been announced and you’re already sure it needs redirection?
James says as much as I just have, and he writes in a prose which I would hardly call the mark of a sub-educated person. Counter to your lofty assessment, I think it entirely possible for an educated person, rightly irked, to use insults when responding to something ridiculous. I highly support this habit. I submit that the more severe mark of a sub-educated simpleton (here’s where you come in) is their willingness to add their signature to such a flimsy and misguided petition as the one under consideration. Furthermore, to then attempt to lecture the author on aesthetics and the role of concept art in the creation of a modern day video game is fucking laughable.
The point is, if you’re going to sign a petition, sign one that makes sense, is based on someting more than a fleeting panic and is at least written well. (”Shinny waterfalls”?) You do have some balls to admit publicly that you signed that trainwreck of a petition though.
I’ll give you that.
Best,
Karl
What is it with you people feeling the need to compete with other people’s opinions, using the lamest means necessary to get there?
“It seems that, while busy trotting around up there on your high horse, yammering on about aesthetics in design and such”
Where does it seem to you that I have used a “high horse” attitude? Is stating an opinion that doesn’t coincide with yours(without lowering myself to your level of approach “OMG YOURE RETARDED STFU”) horrible to you? If so, well, that’s too bad.
“Let me help you out with that. Diablo3, announced one week ago, is very much in the embryonic stages of development.”
Yes, I very much know that, and the general feel of the game has already settled in. If 40k people have noticed something they dislike about the atmosphere, I think they have a right to speak their mind.
“You’ve seen but the smallest portion of a portion of the entire breadth of a game which has only just been announced and you’re already sure it needs redirection?”
No, but I’m sure I dislike the current approach. And the current approach is what matters as the game develops. I’m sure I’ll love the game as it is when it’ll come out, I’m certainly very glad it’s being made, I just wish it provides the best experience when it is all polished up.
And since you don’t have any trouble with it’s current state, why does it offend you that I do? I have a RIGHT to have an opinion, without being offended and assaulted. Not that I care much of your opinion, since you have proved your narrow-mindedness.
“James says as much as I just have, and he writes in a prose which I would hardly call the mark of a sub-educated person.”
Well then, IMO, you’re both lacking understanding and objectivity
. And in all sincerity, I believe Blizzard are big boys and girls, they can handle constructive criticism without you ass-patting them.
“..rightly irked, to use insults when responding to something ridiculous”
Responding? I don’t think the petition addressed him.
“Furthermore, to then attempt to lecture the author on aesthetics and the role of concept art in the creation of a modern day video game is fucking laughable.”
I am not lecturing anyone. Again, presenting an opinion. I’m sure it’s reaaaally hard for you to understand that your views aren’t universal truths.
“The point is, if you’re going to sign a petition, sign one that makes sense”
Why? Because you say so?
Well, dearest Karl, I don’t look forward to your reply, but thanks for taking the time. Hope you calm down and leave the hatred aside. We are all brothers in our love for the series, after all.
Before you get bent out of shape, I edited your post so it said Blizzard instead of Bethesda. That’s why the other comment is gone. Now, to your point.
I’ve heard a few people use the “constructive criticism” argument, and while I certainly do respect constructive criticism unlike some people, I have a hard time finding how implying that “you” (not you, personally) are more knowledgeable of the franchise than the development team is constructive. To me is comes off as pompous presumption.
Something I’m obviously well experienced with.
As for how it looks, I do think it looks fine — for an early build. Obviously as time goes on and the game gets closer to completion (and release *squeal*) the look is going to change a bit, much as StarCraft II’s look has changed (albeit slightly) since it’s announcement.
Don’t worry James, I don’t intend to start insulting/lecturing/proving to you that how I see things is the way you should see things. And thanks for the edit, I zoned out. As for you article, I understand your frustration with people jumping to conclusions on such a small amount of information about the game, first and foremost they should thank the whatever deities rule their universe that the game is being made.
However I don’t think the petition’s intention is to throw things at Blizzard, just nudging so that they might do something about it, if they want to. In the end it’s their call and if anything, this petition, as ridiculous as it is, might actually improve it a bit(just a tiny bit) not hinder it.
“As for how it looks, I do think it looks fine — for an early build.”
It looks fine indeed, and the gameplay is phenomenal, but it could look better
and fanatic fans will do anything to try to make them make things “perfect”, even if it’s not “perfect” in a general sense – and does not apply to everyone’s sense of taste.
Aye, I do understand you, mate. It’s just that the petitioners are frustrated too, and in their(our) enthuse for the game, feel the compelling need to provide as much feedback as possible (EVEN if there’s a pompous presumption of being listened to). It’s Diablo 3 after all!*squeal back*
Glad we could communicate without killing each other
You people bitch and whine it is too colorful the whole goddamned petition was started BECAUSE of the color and the art so all who signed those petitions are moaning and whining about the color it’s not even a finished product yet and the way you whiny bitches are carrying on it may never get finished i’ve been playing Diablo since i got the free demo from CGM (Computer Gaming Monthly) and i just have to say i am very pleased with the current art and mood direction…So stop acting like some self righteous assholes who think they speak for ALL of the Diablo fans out there because you dont.
Oh yeah one more thing you people who cream on yourself at the piece of shit photoshopped images where someone simply dumbed down the color have an option if you have a decent graphics card you can set your color mode i know i can and as for my Diablo 3 it will stay as the artists intended.
I think it’s so funny when people act like we, the all mighty consumer have no say in what is being made. Videogames are MADE FOR US! Do you actually think that the management at Blizzard gives 2 fucks about the art direction as long as they think it will move another 4 million compies of Diablo franchise? If they see that the art is largely recieving a bad reaction from the public, they will change it. To act like these developers are somehow outside the realm of criticism because videogames are an artform is rediculous. Art needs to sell too.
James you just got killed. I am signing the petition. Please stop being such a moron.
Guess what it’s over 4 yrs in development it aint changing so STFU and deal with it.
Starcraft II was 4 years in development when they changed the art due to complains. Think before you type.
I hardly call smoothing a few corners on the unit models “changing” their art direction, you sad, silly sod.
art direction is the visual look and feel of a product. changing how the product is received, if so by pushing a pixel or rendering an entirely new model – whatever needed to be done in order to achieve the right feel of the product – is to revise the art direction.
People wanted a more realistic feel to StarCraft 2 (please make me explain what something “looking real” means because the “what’s reality about it”-comment is simply retarded), people thought it looked too much like cartoons, like toys, and wanted a darker, grittier, rusty Terran.
Blizzard listened to the feedback and decided to revise them.
The edits done to the unit models in StarCraft II were about as significant a change as putting a space between the – and “comment” in your above comment. Yes, by definition it is a change, but unless you actively look for it, you’ll probably not see it.
The point is that the changes in StarCraft II were negligible, whereas the proposed changes in this goofy petition are nothing short of a drastic, almost complete overhaul. That’s where I take issue.
They darkened the textures as well.
Greg how hard could it be? You’re telling me the before and after of the dungeon shot doesn’t improve it?
See this:
http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/7807/itshouldrh5.jpg
Much better atmosphere
I don’t beleive it improves at all…. if I’d walk in such a world I’d quickly woudl go check out my eyes, it gives me a bad yuckie feeling… though if that’s what you want I guess that would fit perfectly
I do see where some of your complaints are coming from i too want a dark evil demonic setting for Diablo3 and the 2nd revised does look good and would be a great example of how they could of gone… however I find it important to point out that the events and resurrgence of Diablo have only just started so the world around where he has been revived or whatever has not begun to change and take on the evil influence that was present in Diablo1 and certain areas of D2..Diablo 1 looked that way after yrs of Diablo’s influence on the realm.
King, I will admit that the first shot looks pretty good. From a purely aesthetic angle, the dungeon shot looks alright. The second shot I’m not so keen on — I think it gives the atmosphere too much of a ‘300′ kind of feel to it, with the background looking like a painting.
I personally think those new shots look sexy enough to fuck.
I understand the language that James is using in his article, it’s straight from what many of the posters here use and specially on the battle.net forum.
What I’ve clearly noticed is that 90 % of you people that are against the graphical style that Blizzard now handles only see themselves as the true/hardcore Diablo fans, and also that all that support Diablo’s choice are aestheticly blinds…
Well for me it seems that this whole discussion has gone out of hand and erupted in an out al ‘war’ between two opposites in the same fanbase. We all got our own opinions when it comes to graphical styles. But I find it quit ignorant that you then think that peopel on the other side of the line are retards or whatever insults you all are spewing around.
In my opinion I believe that this whole situation is long past giving your opinions, it even ended up in troll heaven, I honoustly never seen it go out of hand like this before…
Just to give my final opinion: I agree with James’s views though I wouldn’t use the language he used
, only when you start bitching at me ofcourse 
Don’t get me wrong, I see where those of you who want to keep the art the way it is are coming from, I really do. If the current game they are showing had been announced as something else, I would be excited as hell (moreso than I am right now anyways because it will no doubt still be awesome). I just feel like Diablo 3(so far, because we haven’t seen that much of it.) doesn’t have the same mood or aesthetic as Diablo 1 or 2 did. I will buy and love Diablo 3 reguardless of what happens, I would just prefer the art change to a more tradition gothic look/feel that the other games had, that’s all.
I do udnerstand your point mate, and I for one respect other opinions when that’s based on soemthing, for example your own feeling about past games, that feeling you mentioned I also liked in the past, but I for one am ready to see how they can make Diablo 3 evolve while keepnig it the awsome game it will like us both agree on. but I’m just sick of the bitching of people at each other for no good reason
James Walker my friend, we Armenians have a saying : “Mamad Kunem”. It means fuck your mom.
Come on now, let’s not sink to his level.
oh well according to him rainbows are straight rofl.
Now, I never said that. I merely said that to deny a rainbow’s formation at the base of a waterfall would be to deny science and the “realism” that everyone has been crying for.
If you want realism, you have to take the good with the bad.
Wheres the ‘James Walker is a fat wanker’ petition?
Ask Mike. He was supposed to make one last week.
Greg reply on July 8, 2008:
I do see where some of your complaints are coming from i too want a dark evil demonic setting for Diablo3 and the 2nd revised does look good and would be a great example of how they could of gone… however I find it important to point out that the events and resurrgence of Diablo have only just started so the world around where he has been revived or whatever has not begun to change and take on the evil influence that was present in Diablo1 and certain areas of D2..Diablo 1 looked that way after yrs of Diablo’s influence on the realm.
maybe this is what they have wanted all along, too me it is far more atmospheric and immersive if i can see the change happening around me Diablo 1 was interesting but i never felt drawn in and maybe this is the approach they are trying to accomplish..only time will tell..
I signed the petition just to piss off whiny and hypocritical assholes like yourself, James. Figured I’d let you know that you did manage to sway the opinion of someone with this shitty piece of yours.
Before leaving this forsaken corner of the Internet I humbly suggest that you replace learn with teach before someone points your error out and makes fun out of you for being a grammatically challenged retard. Oops, too late! Being an Internet blowhard sure is tough. Especially so when you’re decidedly average.
A.) On the “Learn Ya Something” phrase — if you’ve spent as much time as I have down south (U.S. Army loves the south. Can’t see why, though.), you pick up on a few of their phrases.
B.) How am I being a, quote, “hypocritical asshole”?
Don’t let them get to you, James, it’s just the same bunch as on the forums that get’s a kick out of flaming people and insulting them
Oh, it’s not buggin’ me. I just… really wanna know.
Well, evidently you just love reading the comments, so simple flaming and bland accusations on someone else’s sexual orientation aside, let’s see of you can make something worth reading, ok?
You went on about how the Diablo 2’s color scheme involved more than three colors, and was therefore not as dark as the fans made it out to be. Conveniently, the scenery was left completely out of the question (how many deserts have you seen with entirely demolished cities, and how many amazon villages are brewing corpse soup nowadays?). The Diablo 1 and 2 have had dark atmospheres, and it would take just one too many cow/Diablo/Baal runs to stop noticing that.
p.s. If your going to comment on this, try to stay away from the classic trolling techniques.
During the timeframe of Diablo II, if my dodgy memory serves me correctly, the world you were exploring was engulfed in evil. Diablo III, however, takes place some 20 years after Diablo was cast back into hell. Naturally, the world is going to look a little more chipper and colorful than before.
Especially considering we saw about 20 minutes of Act I.
On a sidenote: Reading the comments is my least favorite part of the day, but I do so out of respect for all who comment — even the cur who think saying a person puffs the pipe is still clever.
This is the first thing I thought when all this kicked off.
I agree (to a point) the art does look a little different. Then again, Evil has been supressed for the last 20 years. So much so, in fact, that people think Diablo’s reign was a myth. I’m sure as Terror stalks Sanctuary once more they’ll make necessary changes in the environment. That would have a much better impact on the mood and feel of the game than making everything dingy from character creation.
Chernobyl happened in 1986 and it still looks like shit…
the revolution in my country took place 20 years ago and this place still looks like shit…. and the guys in Sanctuary didn’t have comunism on their heads… they had the THREE PRIME EVILS! ^^ hope i made my point.
Take care!
Chernobyl hasn’t been inhabited by more than a handful of people for more than five or six years. Also, unless Diablo sprayed Tristram with nuclear waste…
winner
Most of the people complaining are men, or at least, blokes.
Dont call them fan boys. Fan blokes.
Fan boys is what world of warcraft is, where the majority of players are actualy wondering what pubic hair looks like. Diablo 1 and 2 has an older generation of players.
Your review was funny, but biased and incorrect.
so Fuck yourself, shit stabber
Much applause James Walker, much applause.
hmm I can see why they want to tone down the enigma of random, pretty colours from the game, as it would increase realism if they made up for it with dynamic lighting effects, and just worked on making them look realistic, while the weapons themselves being unrealistic.
But if they wanna tone it down so it looks gothic n emo…. pfft they aint gettin my cash… I’d rather play dragon ball z on ma frikin ps1 with the 2d cartoon cut outs bashing each other like a 5 year old playing action man figures.
if you like DBZ than you should not talk about how D3 should look like… certanly you would like it to be anime or manga shit ^^ sorry, but i really don’t like that stuff…
Have fuN!
Jesus, you fucking monkey.
Just by stating that you’d “rather play dragon ball z on ma frikin ps1 with the 2d cartoon cut outs bashing each other like a 5 year old playing action man figures” means that you are not allowed to buy D3. We wont need your kind, shit muncher. Its people like you who would buy the game, then complain to the ESRB about all the blood. FUCK YOURSELF, I hope you overdose on chocolate moose while you play Dragon BALLS Z as you stuff you fat little face.
The fear of the diablo community is very justified.
You can’t trust game developers nowadays, even if their name is Blizzard. If the game really turns out to be a fairy tale, it would be a big let down.
I disagree with you. You could at least show some effort to understand how diablo fans feel about this and this is no different for any other game. Many companies have proven such fears to be true, and even though Blizzard is none of them, there is no way to guarantee the quality of the game at this state. Hence why the fans get nervous.
You’re leaning yourself just as far out of the windows as the fans themselves.
Let me say that I agree with some of what you are saying. Some, I don’t agree with.
Let’s start with the issue of color. When’s the last time you’ve taken a walk in the woods? Colors are NOT vibrant, except in a few cases. Healthy, large-leafed trees on a sunny day are vibrant. Bark is usually never vibrant. Neither is dirt. Or sand. Or mud. Water? Not blue, except in the Carribean. It’s clear, with the reflection from the sun. On a rainy day, everything is gray. At night, we typically see in–more or less–black and white. Torches emit a dusky, golden glow that would not quite do colors justice.
On to colors on armor? There’s a reason that knights never had too much color, except for ceremonial purposes. Paint is easily scraped off. Your pretty colored armor would look like crap after battling two or three opponents.
There. Colors have been discussed.
Now for weapons. There’s a reason that the weapons in World of Warcraft do not largely exist. It’s because they’d be horribly ineffective in a real battle. All the extra would get in the way, and are likely to trip up the user. I know I’d rather a simple longsword over an oversized greatsword with a peacock’s tail nailed to the pommel and a whale’s rib as a crossguard.
Do you know the amount of strength it would take to swing a comically large axe or sword for minutes on end? There’s a reason that avergage melee duels between people in ancient times happened like this: Attackers would circle each other, then lunge in for 4, maybe 5 strikes, then retreat. Circle each other, go back in for a few strikes, repeat. That stuff was TIRING. Even with hulking steroid muscles, you wouldn’t be able to do what the heroes do in D2.
Another reason huge weapons are ineffective, aside from the strength it takes to swing them? You try swinging a 6-foot sword in a 5-foot wide tunnel. Doesn’t work. Does not work. You wouldn’t even be able to cleave several opponents simultaneously, not even with huge muscles, especially if your opponents got right up in your face. Like, 2 feet away from you.
Ok, well, “Diablo isn’t reality!” That’s all good and well.
But, Diablo is about dark, nitty-gritty locales, situations, battles and enemies. Diablo should scare you, make your heart beat a little faster. Maybe give you a bad dream or two.
It’s hard to be afraid when everything’s cartoonish and vibrantly colorful. If I wanted to play a game where I didn’t feel threatened, I’d play World of Warcraft.
That’s all, folks.
AMEN AND PRAISED BE OUR LORD JEBUS! you sir are right
…. If you realize that Diablo isnt reality, why did you waste 2 paragraphs telling us how battles took place? I’m sorry but in real life I don’t see people casting chain lightning and bringing people back from the dead, or holding two two handed swords and whirl winding through a crowd of people. The fact that you felt the need to inform us on reality has nothing to do with the Diablo series or this topic. AT ALL. Color on armor an issue? Didn’t rattlecage make you look like medieval Barny? Why aren’t we bitching about that! Full sets made you shimmer in Diablo 2 LOD with one of the patches. Lets bitch about that to. Psh Diablo not realistic? Crazy talk.
Granted you made some good points about REALITY. This is a VIDEO GAME. – Your 2 cents just got spit on.
Of course you people have the “right” to petition and want change. Most of you are going about it like crying little school girls. Then again politeness is never in the typical fan boys vocabulary. Ask nicely. Blizzard IS giving you a Diablo 3. I mean besides being stupid not to cash in on it they could just dump the project, like other games in the past.
Meh, I’m just saying that a balance between reality and fantasy should be achieved in order to set the proper feel.
Grinding against mobs of enemies can be fun when you see the bodies flying and sizzling under your cataclysmic onslaught of muscle and firestorms, but the real lip-biting moments happen in boss battles.
Like I touched on the issue on how real one-on-one combats were fought, I think Blizzard should have gone the extra mile to make sure that the boss fights and even fights with low-level enemies were epic, with dodging, parrying, etc.
I don’t get nervous when I know I can just nuke that big group of enemies coming up.
And on the usse of reality…if I lived in a world filled with magic, chances are that it would look different. I wouldn’t even build walls to protect a castle if I could just make a magical barrier, because I would know that some hulking hero could just smash through the stone (D3 trailer). They did a good job of conceiving this in WoW…but…Diablo isn’t world of warcraft.
Glorious! Very well put, and I commend you.
40,000 people have signed the petition
In its first year, Diablo 2 sold 4 million copies
If only 20% of the people mentioned above are aware of Diablo 3, then that means that only 5% of repeat consumers are irked by the art direction.
That’s not very significant, especially considering that this example was biased to make the petition seem more significant.
Blizzard is making Diablo 3 because they want to, because they think it will be awesome, and because they want to make more money. Everyone who signed that petition signed it because they thought it would matter. Everyone who signed that petition believes they deserve a voice in the game’s development. Everyone who thinks that is wrong. Dead wrong.
But wait. “We only want Diablo 3 to remain faithful to the mood and style of its predecessors” (Not an actual quote). There’s a difference between making a game look like that which preceded and making a game look like it evolved from that which preceded. Their choice (based on my own theories) for the more “cartoony” graphics was made for two reasons:
1) That is what they do now.
Honestly, when I watched the gameplay footage, my first thought was “the graphics look similar to World of Warcraft.” Yes, I also believe that they adapted WoW’s graphical style for Diablo. Do I care? No. My second thought was “Well, that’s what they do now; I’m actually not surprised.” Blizzard made World of Warcraft. Blizzard made Diablo. Do you seriously expect there to be entirely different artistic bases for the games? I’m fairly certain the graphic designers that worked on WoW are now working on Diablo 3, so there WILL be similarities between the graphics and if you don’t like it: too bad. Feel free to whine all you want, but don’t argue that Diablo 3 was made for you who title yourself “fans” because the more you kick and scream the more you look like a spoiled baby trying fruitlessly to get their mothers to buy them a chocolate bar that would grant only temporary satisfaction before simultaneously spoiling dinner and leading to a lifestyle of gross obesity. That’s is what your petition is doing.
2) That is what they do now, and it pays the bills.
Do you seriously think that Blizzard is making Diablo 3 ENTIRELY for Diablo 2 fans. No, and shut up. Blizzard also wants to market the series to the people that were too young to play Diablo 2 when it came out, exposing the Diablo franchise to new generation of gamers. So what’s the most sensible way to do this? Its a little saying known as “if it aint’ broke, don’t fix it.” The WoW cartoony graphics, although worthy of criticism, are what their consumers are used to and what Blizzard is used to (now) and it will not matter that the predecessors used dark and gritty graphics. By using their WoW graphics, Diablo 3’s artistic style becomes indicative of their own style. Instead, you (who signed the petition) want to turn Diablo 3 into the mirror of realism that every other game is using, effectively murdering its potential artistic distinction. Warcraft 2 used highly realistic graphics when compared to Warcraft 3 and other games produced at the time. Did the cartoony direction matter? No, it didn’t.
Blizzard’s game developers are not stupid. THEY chose the cartoony direction because THEY thought it was representative of the environment that THEY thought was fitting for the game that THEY were making. In case I wasn’t clear enough, you are not making the game. Therefore, you do not know what is best for the game. Stop acting like you do.
No, I do not know what’s best for the game either. Want to know who does? Blizzard does. So let them make the game. If you think it will suck, don’t buy it. Its simple really.
Blizzard North created Diablo 2. They are not creating Diablo 3. Blizzard is just using Blizzard Norths creation and milking it, but since they are artisticaly inapt, they just resorted to their same art style and techniques from previous, shitter, games. Its not THIER game to butcher, they just own the rights.
HOWEVER, It being Blizzard, They are not stupid. The game LOOKS GOOD. I said it, The gameplay trailer looks good, and I WILL BUY IT. But, I can still safely say that the WoW influence is fucking shit. “Do you seriously think that Blizzard is making Diablo 3 ENTIRELY for Diablo 2 fans.” Well, they said so, but I think the greedy cunts are trying to hook others in with more a accessible apearance. Why do I say greedy? Because they already have millions and millions man, dont fool yourself. They are playing the politicians game, saying the right thing to please all the people, then doing whatever can squeeze the most cash out of the world. I bet you a 100 fucking pounds their working on an expantion ALONG SIDE this game. Seriously, they always do.
I do not disagree with you at all.
God. The author of this article probably has his head stuck in his ass. How immature can people get. Making a petition and ranting about a game is one thing. But taking cheap shots at those guys? Monkeys have more integrity than you do, cheap sir. At least they throw their shit directly, wheras you sir spit your shit from your mouth. Heaven forbid, but I might have thought higher of you if you made a petition for “Not changing the artwork”, and might have gladly signed it. You Mr. Walker /fail.
I’m sorry I forgot to ask Mr. Walker’s age. Maybe he’s just another active 8 year-old who’s low on medication.
Everyone just shut the hell up and wait for the goddamn game to come out…
Or I’ll kill you.
Haha, you’re a moron… ^^
Ok lets just start with this. I like the fact that color is being added. I just don’t like WHERE its being added. The colors added are more or less THROWN into the game, not carefully placed. The game has an appeal to it, a theme, and it feels like they are changing it randomly.
Anyone who has mentioned the following: Beautiful, vibrant, lovely, probabaly hasn’t played diablo.
Another thing you need to take into account, Blizzard North was very important in making the Diablo series, and as we all know, North was shut down. That just leaves normal blizzard, while they had good hit, that doesn’t make them infallible. This is OUR game, blizzard makes them for US. Never forget that. if it wasn’t for our money (and countless koreans) they would still be that little known game company from Irvine California.
Another point I would like to make that hasn’t really been talked about. The lack of Mat Uelman. Without him the music has become a tad epic. While again Epic music is nice and auditorialy pleasing, theres a time and a place. The music from the diablo games previously was drab and at some points plain spooky. Try to remember Tristram’s theme. Now imagine that is replaced with an orcestrial piece that sounds similar with Lord of the Rings. While they SOUND good, sounding good isn’t whats needed. I want to enter a dungeon unsure of my success. If trumpets blare and I am pumped up and feel invincible, thats not how diablo should be played. Remember you are fighting THE FORCES OF HELL, and witnessing things not intended for mortal eyes. You aren’t about to take on the Empire with an band of teddy bears.
Finnally Diablo himself has turned into a Balrog. Hes the lord of TERROR, while it looks cool ( this is a reoccurring theme isn’t it?) its not diablo. He looks like a demon of Khorne rather than the Lord of Terror.
Thats my rant and I’m sticking to it
The diablo series died when blizzard north was disbanded.
This new “thing” they labeled as diablo, is a bastard atrocity, fact that warcraft had sex with diablo 1 and 2.
fucking A
Where’s that anger from? Just a silly insulting reply-complaint about obvious issues. Just give people a chance.
I doubt that Blizzard would take any measures to change it, to the better if not someone said it is not a way it should be. Or on the otherhand it would be better if folks would just buy anything just because it has D3 logo on it?
QFT. This is an open letter. It is made of win and completely right. Kudos to you, James, for getting it exactly right.
Everyone these days is very quick to assume that just because some element included in a game also happens to exist in WoW – that it must have been copied from WoW. Other MMO anti-fanboys complain about this all the time (just search a few forums for “stolen” or “copied” and “World of Warcraft” to get my drift if you disbelieve).
It’s only fair, I guess, that Diablo III gets the same treatment, albeit perhaps from the other side of the fence. Maybe even from the same people.
I’ve been hating on how many games these days take “realistic color” to mean, as you mentioned “shit-colored”. Too many developers have been forgetting the fact that an actual environment isn’t drab brown or gunmetal gray, and I’m glad that Blizzard is going in the direction they are.
I rest easy knowing that a game like D3 will sell millions of copies. 21,000 pissed-off fanboys is a drop in that bucket. Especially when, as you mentioned, in they will take and like whatever Blizzard ends up serving to them anyway once the game releases.
[...] the camera to whatever direction your character is facing. I don’t want to sound like a crazy Diablo fan crying to make a game browner, but lacking the option to just view what you want to view hurts this game [...]
while i agree that people wanting less bright colours should stfu and turn their monitors down I must agree on the warcraft copying. some enemies from warcraft3 have appeared (like the trees in the demo) and it could be dangerous to fall into a warcraft copy. it’s good for blizzard since the concept art, hell even the models are already there, but it could dull down the gameplay.
otherwise game looks great, can’t wait to play it in 2025
[...] *G4 sucks at broadcasting E3. *Too man brown/gray/dark games. *Bungie sucks for making us wait on their announcement. *Netflix idea, best idea ever. Coming [...]
This negative article ignores any sort of objective perception, you simply chose a side and babbled endlessly on bad points. You’re a terrible writer with a closed mind and a serious lack of insight.
You could atleast TRY to see things from multiple perspectives, you only make yourself look ignorant otherwise.
Could not agree more.
Okay. Barbarian, Str 250, with a punch that can bring down the Wall of China. Opponnent: Diablo, Lord of Terror itself, Str 500, resourses unlimited.
Weapons available: Sword, 1d6+str of damage. Axe of All Apocalyptic Utilities, 2134786d100 of fire and ice and eletric and magic and poison and holy and unholy + 2xstr damage.
Guess I’ll use the sword – more realistic, creepy, and give me nightmares. Hey, I don’t want REALLY want to kill Diablo – just give a feeling to the Player. Welcome to reality, Player! Where are you from? Oh, Sanctuary? Never heard of it.
Why even use the axe?
Why not just punch Diablo, or use the Force to repeatedly slam him through walls?
You could also throw stones at him.
Or summon a Boeing 747 to crash-land on the Lord of Terror.
Personally? I’d raise George Carlin from the dead, import him into the World of Sanctuary, and make him slay Diablo with witty japes.
There has to be limits. Who wants a game where you will win all the time? Screw that.
Even though my examples were a bit rediculous, they still raise a good point. What’s more rediculous; using a resurrected George Carlin to laugh Diablo to death, or using the Axe of Apocalyptic utilities to one-hit kill Diablo and suck his remains into a black hole?
If such an item existed, you could probably bet that the World of Sancutary would have been destroyed…because it sounds like that example axe is a portable nuke.
“But Sanctuary is full of magic, and there aren’t limits!” Uh-huh. So…where are the Leprechauns, the centaurs, and the one-eyed purple tentacle beasts who eat trees with their minds? Where are the new lvl 1 adventures running around, casting End of the World?
Limits.
If everybody ran around dual-wielding Axes of Apocalyptic Utilities, everyone would be screwed. Those barbarians who can already punch through the Great Wall of China? What’s to stop them or somebody else with their strength from walking right up to a fortress wall and punching a hole straight through it, leading their army inside for epic LOLs and slaughter?
Magic? Is that supposed to prevent it? I don’t see too much in Sanctuary, aside from weapons, armor, and beasts. We could assume that magic is responsible for this…but the magical field around Kurast was really the only extensive magic we saw in D2. it wasn’t all that prevalent, aside from your character’s equipment.
I wouldn’t screw with Diablo up-and-personal with my bare hands if I could just throw the Axe of Apocalyptic utilities at him from thirty miles away and watch he and his dark realm explode with white-hot light. Why take the hard route when you can just use magic nukes?
So. Do you want to run into Diablo’s lair with your buddies, proceed to taunt the great red terror-machine, and then pimp-slap him for a one-hit-kill? If you do…we don’t have the same taste in games, and I suspect most people differ from you.
Me? I’d rather charge at Diablo, get blown back by a ruinous wall of fire, watch helplessly as a buddy’s head is severed from his neck by Diablo’s razor-sharp jaws, see Diablo get hit in the side of the head with an Epic Icebolt, eat the Sorceress’s soul that cast the ice bolt, and torment me and my remaining friend until we just barely manage to kill him before our characters are purged from his realm by unholy flame.
I want to have some limits to make the game interesting and even slightly believable. Sanctuary doesn;t need to mirror Earth…but it should be constant and at least make sense.
Making apocalyptic magic items appear all over the place yet having the average soldier in Sanctuary barely be able to kill a zombie just doesn’t make too much sense. Neither does Diablo being hidden deep within an unholy maze of ancient masoned walls. If I can just hump my way directly through the walls, feeling secure in my manhood as my hips thrust deeply into blocks of dark marble, why have Diablo even bother with hiding in his labyrinthe?
WHOA WHOA STOP i agree this guy is right i like how it is and we have seen nothing i liked how d1 and d2 were before but i dont care ive played games liked titan quest and loved them ill support blizzard NO MATTER WHAT hey dickheads they dont have to make the game be happy with what your getting and guess what IM A MAJOR DIABLO FANBOY ive played the HELL out of those game so dont be a sterotype and act like its all diablo fanboys hating it and what also makes me mad is 2 things if you went on diablofans.com which im a member of when d3 first got announced EVERY SINGLE DANG THREAD WAS COMPLAINING ABOUT WOW GET OVER IT! And this one guys sig says support blizzard then links to petition and i messaged him saying thats not supporting and he sent back cussing me out saying fuck you yeah it is (obviously a asshole wants a little to much sick nudity and gore) wow thanks you for letting me get that out of my system for a little while phew.
As a Blizzard employee said, I am surprised by the number of people complaining about D3, but I am more surprised about the number of people complaining about people complaining about DIII.
That being said, more colors = good. Pure pigments do exist in a real world. I do say however, that things could be more contrasty – I see a lighter tone than in DII. Although I suppose that is to be expected when the game comes made in this century.
My biggest complaint about D3 is the WoW-like characters, etc. Although the (I’m sure famous by now) WoW table photoshopped into DIII was . . . well, photoshopped . . . To me, it looked as if it belonged there.
Inevitably, there will be arguments for both sides, but one factor that is 100% true in this article will be…
YOU WILL BUY THE GAME.
Although the review is completely biased, I do agree with parts of it, so good job on that.
…chances are that I won’t buy the game. 1) because I need a computer upgrade and 2) because I haven’t seen too much for games this year that really make we want to upgrade my computer so it can appropriately handle these games. This includes DIII. I’m just not convinced that it will be all that great.
Im addition to the visual issues (ok, I admit, graphics DO NOT make a game, they just help with the tone it sets), the gameplay just looks too much like the old Diablos and other games out there.
I could EASILY forgive the graphics if the gameplay looked absolutely stellar and innovative.
Maybe if they made it so you had more control over your character (Blocking, dodging attacks, etc) and made combat feel like combat except just mindless bashing (like, make it take many hits to drop moderate strength enemies and incorporate a lock-on feature to help with dodging and blocking), then I’d buy it.
How aboout giving characters, monsters and bosses “triggers” that activate random powers, such as staying in prolonged combat giving characters the opportunity to activate “Frenzy” which increases their attack speed and strength, but decreases hitpoints? Or, “Juggernaught” which temporarily increases hit points and attack but decreases speed and defense?
A message pops up on screen saying “Juggernaugt”, you hit the space bar to activate it, and your barbarian lets out a war shout, and he starts cleaving away. That would be cool. If you used that in conjunction with something like Whirlwind, your enemies had best just run. Or, if you see a monster who’s “Juggernaughting” you try to stay away.
And how about physical attacks and abilities requiring Stamina? That way, you’dhave to think in combat, aside from keeping track of your Health, deciding which enemy is the highest proprity, and mindlessly bashing away. You’d have to retreat to “catch your breath.” for a few seconds before charging back in.
I mean, c’mon, Blizzard. Give us gameplay we haven’t seen before, not just graphics and a world we’re not used to. I think every game developer can use this advice.
I could sacrifice graphics and even pay a higher price for the game as long as it’s an excellent, challenging game.
My apologies…looks like they’re includig temporary buff elixers, like the Health Orbs. This is cool…but I prefer my suggested style just a little bit more. It would make it so much more satisfying when you’re like “Oh, thank God. I can use Frenzy against this mob. I needed that” when the option power pops up on your screen.
*sighs*
Goddamn it all of you. Why do you even bother complaining? They JUST announced that the game even existed, just to stem rumors and get the train rolling, and as soon as a gameplay demo is released, people go fucking nuts.
It’s not like its going to come out next month or anything and that’s the final stage of development. Hell, its not even beta! I bet they just started development some few years ago, and I think it’ll take more than that to make a game of Blizzard’s caliber.
I’m not going against anyone or anything against the naysayers and the complaints about the game.
Just wait until the game’s at LEAST in beta.
Just turn down the fucking contrast if you want darkness.
your not maddox, so stop trying to be.
i do agree with this though.
[...] *Diablo III Will Not Change Art Direction (JW’s victory) [...]
first i want to state that i didn’t sign the petition and i agree with you for the most part, but dude, seriously, don’t talk about cancellation! i almost fainted when i read it, if they cancel it…well, i don’t know what, but i’ve been waiting this game for so long, so please don’t… as for the guys with the petition, just ignore them, there would always be someone to complain about something.
go away WoW fag.
You call that an open letter?
i guess telling us to shut the fuck up is real open right?
ok go boss your raid team around on WoW.
You do know that an open letter just means that its there for everyone to read it, right…?
And, while I’m posting, I might as well state my stance on this rather trivial issue.
First off, Blizzard does not need to give you D3. Blizzard can do whatever they want with their intellectual property. It is theirs, not yours. That they are making a third Diablo game should be enough.
Secondly, is this really worth fighting over? I mean, we’ve seen a minute portion of what I can only assume will be a much longer than 20 minute game. It’s not the end of the world if a forest has colour. It really isn’t. And, as many times as I’ve watched the gameplay video (four, if you were curious), I seem to remember a lot of blood and gore, possibly more so than the previous Diablo games, unless of course, you can find me a scene where someone gets the top half of their body bitten off.
And my final point, WoW and Diablo are two different things, two completely different intellectual properties. Nevertheless, game studios have a tendency to have a relatively similar artistic styles throughout all of their games. Blizzard has the decency to not go completely with the WoW artistic direction, but they can. That said, the artistic direction in WoW isn’t bad by any means, it’s actually a very well designed game (I would know, I am a game developer).
So, in conclusion, I can only assume you dislike MMORPGs, so I’ll say that be glad they aren’t making World of Diablocraft.
Hmm… i am just glad its coming out.. Is blizz going to take pointers form wow.. Yes. Did wow take some pointers form Diablo II.. Yea they did. Why? Because it worked. Is everyone going to like it?.. No it’s not expected to. Why? Politics.. It’s a simple fact that you just can’t make everyone happy.. It’s even harder to do in a sequel. But what I don’t understand is why is people being so hostile about it. I mean dam its cool to have a difference of opinion but I don’t need it rammed down my throat with a splinterd 2X4.
I for one like how it’s looking. Sure it looks different then Diablo II but so what.. I can’t wait to see what they do with the story line
You know what…I personally love the way the game is looking. It’s only one section of the game and im sure they will have darker more “gloomy” parts of the world. But if they dont, i will buy it anyway beacause it’s made by blizzard and they are calling it Diablo III. I have the utmost confidence the end result will be amazing
[...] It’s always nice to see that someone of Sessler’s stature agrees, and he is correct in the comparisons between the change in Diablo III’s art style and the cartoonish The Lenegd of Zelda: The Wind Waker, but I have to say… I remember hearing these sentiments before… [...]
I could not agree more!
so all you punk ass petition bitches! SHUT THE FUCK UP! YOUR LUCKY ENOUGH FOR IT COMING OUT BUT NOW YOUR COMPLAINING! FUCK YOU! AND IF IS SOOOOO BRIGHT TO YOU, DONT BUY THE GAME! IT WOULD BE BETTER WIHOUT THOSE PETITION BASTARDS ANYWAY! And thank for those people who are against the petition, i salute you.
Look.
I think the reason we’re all reall complaining is this:
Diablo was fresh, and it was fun when it came out.
It is now getting old. Same playstyle, same mechanics.
We want to see something innovative and fun that still retains the feel of the old Diablo games. That’s not an easy task to accomplish, but by God, Blizzard has the manpower and the money to do it — if they really try!
Now, we all have high hopes for this game. Like Starcraft, we’ve been waiting years upon years for a sequel. And, we hope Blizzard does it right.
Now, who’s to say if they do it right?
Well, Blizzard is, but we are, too.
Blizzard designs the games, but we buy them. We buy them, and we either enjoy them, or hate them.
Smart buyers won’t just gleefully hand over $50 or $60 for a game that just doesn’t cut it, and smart players won’t waste their time on a game that doesn’t elicit a “Fuck yeah!” from them.
We hope not only that Blizzard does not fuck up while maing the game, we want them to push themselves to make a game as awesome as the leveling of half a city by a nuclear bomb.
“We want to see something innovative and fun that still retains the feel of the old Diablo games. That’s not an easy task to accomplish, but by God, Blizzard has the manpower and the money to do it — if they really try!”
Yeah, and when Blizzard wants to change how the game plays and functions such as implementing health globes and more dynamic skill usage, it’s met with distaste and revolt. You tell me if it’s rather the willingness of Blizzard’s revisions to Diablo 3 or your own attitude to adapt to said changes.
I was never one of those people who frothed at the mouth and cut off their penis in protest when Blizzard announced the health orbs. I was eager to see how this would change gameplay and make it a fresh look at the old Diablo mechanics.
In fact, scroll up on the page. I posted my blessings (because, as we all know, the world DOES NOT move forward without my blessings…lol) of the new “temporary buff elixers”, which are a variation on the Health Orbs.
I’m an open-minded Diablo fan.
The way I look at it, if you want the gameplay to stay the same as ever, just go back and play Diablo 2. Sure, the Diablo Battlenet community is a shit-stuffed cesspool of putrifying semen due to all the spambots, outside sourcers, etc… but you can always grab a bunch of your friends or like-minded Diablo 2 fans and create private games.
Diablo 3 isn’t gonna stray from its core hack-’n-slash, click-to-kill clusterfuck of an action game. It also isn’t forsaking the skill trees or the attribute buildup that characters rely on…and “teh f@ l00t” is still, according to Blizzard, one of the core components in the game. What makes Diablo Diablo is staying the same. Some of the details are changing.
Hell, “what makes Diablo Diablo”, or the core attributes of the game, is now what makes “generic hack-n’-slash” point-click games what they are. I, for one, am starting to get bored of running into a mob where my survival is dependent on a) how powerful my gear is and b) how fast I can spam my potions.
I like me some change. And yes, I realize that was grammatically incorrect.
oh…by the way, whoever posted before me…I really don’t know what you were trying to say.
So…
a)I congratulate Blizzard for making changes to teir game, because it helps the game industry move along so games get better and better. It’s evolution! Plus, innovation and the willingness to try new things keeps things interested. How would you like it if we were still playing Pong and only Pong?
b)I’m open-minded, love a thrill, and get hard at the idea of a game series get an update to make it more… dare I say… cool?
::braces for impact::
Speak for youself.I personally think it’s the best game ever made and I can’t wait till it comes out.
Diablo rules……….
diablo 3 is gonna fuckin rock who cares wat yall think
Just all pretend for a moment this could actually be a forum with a valid arguement and not some non-sentrical dribble from plebiant neanderthols. Now perhaps you could understand a valid point, just pretend for a moment you are a flea and blizzard is now a one-hundred foot giant and now pretend that is your net worth in money or in life. You should understand your opinion is invalid anyway you cut it, unless you are a member of the board of directors at blizzard, an artistic director (or for that matter any lead development positions) or someone with high standing with blizzard.
You are just a flea and blizzard will continue to grow into something so spectacular that either a) they will be just another corporation bringing out games making a few billion on the side and fooling people who post forum dribble like all of you or b) blizzard will continue to make great games based on past results of popularity and not listening to half-wits who still live at home and have the value of less than flea and continue to lose in life generally, eventually you become some poor fool on the street paying alamony for 17 children because you’ve decided that condoms are for “noobs”.
Eventually you’re 45 years old still trying to afford the basic necissities. Now let me give you all some advice, free advice. Learn to accept the things you cannot change and try to work on your lives instead of living in this fantasy world where you believe that blizzard listens to anyone but people who work within the company. I really don’t care if you get upset, it’s just an internet post, i’m sure it’s not going to send you into a psychotic rage, i’m sure you will continue to be a 45 year old neanderthol. Just go on living your lives stop worrying so much about a game, let blizzard do their work.
O yee of little faith. I want to point out one thing.
Since when did you heir that one of there games was graphically ground braking or revolutionary in any way at all? Blizzard are one of the best games developers out because they know that there making an enjoyable game that will last years and years. I still play both D2 (2000) and WarIII (2002) even tho many others have come and gone. Why? Because they know what there doing? Don’t tell Picasso how to paint or Gordon Ramsey how to cook. Now all we can do is wiat like good little boys and girls till the Daddy gets home!
Sym
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Nearly four months later and I still have no idea what the fuck you’re saying, amigo.
bitches
[...] But none of that matters since I still won [...]
Thats 60,006 “fanboys” that disagree with the WOW-centric art style.
I for one don’t want to deal with 12 year olds on b.net as a colourful/cartoony game will attract the toddlers and wont offend the parents.
They do this to expand the market which is great for the gaming industry getting more money I will admit but not so much for the ADULTS THAT WANT TO PLAY A GAME WITH OTHER GROWNUPS.
As a EX-Wower of two years I do not want Diablo to resemble anything WOW was or is whether its graphic content or the user base.
Azarea,
To answer your questions-
“Where does it seem to you that I have used a “high horse†attitude? Is stating an opinion that doesn’t coincide with yours(without lowering myself to your level of approach “OMG YOURE RETARDED STFUâ€) horrible to you?”
-Where? The entire comment, is where.
-Stating an opinion is not horrible. Is it horrible to you?
“Yes, I very much know that, and the general feel of the game has already settled in.”
-It has? I think there’s too little evidence to make a call. Why not wait a bit and see how it plays out? Why the instant panic? That’s what I don’t get. Anyway, in response to your followup:
“Responding? I don’t think the petition addressed him.”
- You’re absolutely right, the petition wasn’t addressed to him personally.
“I am not lecturing anyone. Again, presenting an opinion. I’m sure it’s reaaaally hard for you to understand that your views aren’t universal truths.”
-You seem to be confused, I don’t take my views to be truths. I just think, in this case, your views and approach are flawed.
“Why? Because you say so?”
-Are you asking me to advise you on the benefits and importance of making sense in writing?
“We are all brothers in our love for the series, after all.”
-Agreed. May we all find peace with the eventual outcome of the game.
Best,
Karl