Poll of the Day > can someone explain the diablo outrage to me

(+) Yeah! (+)

I really wanna understand because diablo just released on swich
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Leading up to blizzcon blizzard make some statements telling fans to anticipate some diablo news this years. At the event they showcased a new diablo mobile game being developed by a different company, no other announcements.
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Outsourced to a mobile developer who are simply making it a clone of one of their other games which is heavy in microtransactions.
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some other info:

blizzard released a trailer which immediately got downvoted to hell

blizzard deleted and re released the trailer, trying to hide the votes, and it was again downvoted to oblivion

since then people have screenshots of the trailer being at 300k+ downvotes, but an hour later it magically changed to 220k

blizzard deleted the top comment on the trailer, which was negative, only to have people start spamming it everywhere in the comments

generally its a shitstorm, and it is hilarious

They teased diablo fans by hinting they were announcing a new title and when they did it was revealed to be a free to play mobile only title developed by a Chinese company that is just re-skinning their own diablo clone game with blizzard assets.

When asked at Blizzcon if it would come to PC they said no and when people started booing the guy on stage snidely replied to the crowd Do you guys not have phones?
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blizzard is in full damage control

somehow managed to get youtube to drop over 100k dislikes on their trailer, as well as deleting over 15k comments themselves

whats odd to me is the fact that their fans are somehow surprised that blizzard is making yet another terrible decision. they have done little else in the last 10 or so years

Mead posted...

When asked at Blizzcon if it would come to PC they said no and when people started booing the guy on stage snidely replied to the crowd Do you guys not have phones?

At the same time... 77% of all Americans have smartphones. Plus take into the fact that everyone who went to Blizcon has to have some amount of money (both for the ticket, plane ride, and time off work).
I see the point, I don't see the bitching.

Link: http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheet/mobile/
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shadowsword87 posted...

Mead posted...

When asked at Blizzcon if it would come to PC they said no and when people started booing the guy on stage snidely replied to the crowd Do you guys not have phones?

At the same time... 77% of all Americans have smartphones. Plus take into the fact that everyone who went to Blizcon has to have some amount of money (both for the ticket, plane ride, and time off work).
I see the point, I don't see the bitching.

Link: http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheet/mobile/

bro,

what system do people play WoW on?
PC

what system do most people play diablo 3 on?
PC

what system did people play warcraft 1-3 and starcraft 1-2 and diablo 1-2 on?
PC

their core player-base is PC gamers. i get their desire to try to appeal to a wider audience, but they are really just going to end up alienating their fans.

additionally they are working with a chinese mobile developer known for making soulless cashgrab games.

i get the outrage, but i do not get the surprise

Noop_Noop posted...

bro,

what system do people play WoW on?
PC

what system do most people play diablo 3 on?
PC

what system did people play warcraft 1-3 and starcraft 1-2 and diablo 1-2 on?
PC

their core player-base is PC gamers. i get their desire to try to appeal to a wider audience, but they are really just going to end up alienating their fans.

additionally they are working with a chinese mobile developer known for making soulless cashgrab games.

i get the outrage, but i do not get the surprise

I get the outrage over the product, not that quote specifically.
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shadowsword87 posted...

Mead posted...

When asked at Blizzcon if it would come to PC they said no and when people started booing the guy on stage snidely replied to the crowd Do you guys not have phones?

At the same time... 77% of all Americans have smartphones. Plus take into the fact that everyone who went to Blizcon has to have some amount of money (both for the ticket, plane ride, and time off work).
I see the point, I don't see the bitching.

Link: http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheet/mobile/

You have to consider the audience though

Blizzard has historically been a PC centric developer. People were already skeptical seeing it was a mobile title but being told it wont even come to their most loyal fans favored platform really drives home the fact that they arent making the game that those fans are itching for

I really dont think theyd be doing things like this if they hadnt been bought by Activision
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shadowsword87 posted...

Noop_Noop posted...

bro,

what system do people play WoW on?
PC

what system do most people play diablo 3 on?
PC

what system did people play warcraft 1-3 and starcraft 1-2 and diablo 1-2 on?
PC

their core player-base is PC gamers. i get their desire to try to appeal to a wider audience, but they are really just going to end up alienating their fans.

additionally they are working with a chinese mobile developer known for making soulless cashgrab games.

i get the outrage, but i do not get the surprise

I get the outrage over the product, not that quote specifically.

the outrage over that quote specifically is that he thinks that is what people's issue was.

its not that they dont have smartphones, its that this is so far from what anyone wanted or expected that its a huge letdown for their fans.

he is so out of touch that in his mind it CANT be the piece of shit game they promised, it has to be that "hurr durr you dont think your phone can run it?"

shit man, with how many android emulators there are out there these days they COULD just load it up on their PCs if they wanted to. they dont want to. they didnt want diablo 2.5 with microtransactions. they wanted diablo 4.

i have 0 interest in blizzard or their games myself, but it is hilarious watching them scramble

Blizzard tells the fan base not to expect diablo 4 at blizzcon

People expect diablo 4 at blizzcon

Blizzard doesnt give it to them

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtSmAwpVHsA" data-time="

look at that fucking like to dislike ratio

look at those fucking comments

blizzard is done

I did enjoy the question asking if this was an out of season April fool's joke though.
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Well tc mobile gaming is trash the fact that they announced a mobile version of a diablo game really irked the fans who actually expected a real diablo game.
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I read it as "can someone explain the dildo outrage to me"

Sorry, if it doesn't involve dildos I'm afraid I can't help.
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Noop_Noop posted...

some other info:

blizzard released a trailer which immediately got downvoted to hell

blizzard deleted and re released the trailer, trying to hide the votes, and it was again downvoted to oblivion

since then people have screenshots of the trailer being at 300k+ downvotes, but an hour later it magically changed to 220k

blizzard deleted the top comment on the trailer, which was negative, only to have people start spamming it everywhere in the comments

generally its a shitstorm, and it is hilarious

blizz loves to hide the valid criticisms
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DeltaBladeX posted...

Outsourced to a mobile developer who are simply making it a clone of one of their other games which is heavy in microtransactions.

https://imgur.com/ZK682Aq
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJy6bJ_RxXg" data-time="
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Noop_Noop posted...

blizzard is done

Nah, they can take a few hits before shit goes south for them. But what I don't get is you would think developers would've realized that fans don't want to see their beloved games turned into cheap mobile cash grab games.
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Noop_Noop posted...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtSmAwpVHsA" data-time="

look at that fucking like to dislike ratio

look at those fucking comments

blizzard is done

I actually really like the trailer. I do think it's a stupid decision to be making Diablo a mobile game.

I'd be happy if instead they just said, "Once a month we'll be releasing a full CGi diablo episode." Cause man do I like the CGi videos that Blizzard makes!
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blizz is nowhere near done. current WoW will be done in a few years unless they end up switching to free and subscription....

but they also plan on making vanilla WoW servers, and for some reasosn tons of people love vanilla WoW alot
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Krazy_Kirby posted...

blizz is nowhere near done. current WoW will be done in a few years unless they end up switching to free and subscription....

but they also plan on making vanilla WoW servers, and for some reasosn tons of people love vanilla WoW alot

Which is weird considering vanilla WoW was pretty awful in a lot of ways. Its mostly just nostalgia I think
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I mean... it's not like Diablo is all that deep or something. Diablo and its clones are already considered some of the most mindless clickfest gaming there is. I don't really like the push for mobile either, but the game they're doing it with does makes at least some sense.
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shadowsword87 posted...

Mead posted...

When asked at Blizzcon if it would come to PC they said no and when people started booing the guy on stage snidely replied to the crowd Do you guys not have phones?

At the same time... 77% of all Americans have smartphones. Plus take into the fact that everyone who went to Blizcon has to have some amount of money (both for the ticket, plane ride, and time off work).
I see the point, I don't see the bitching.

Link: http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheet/mobile/

https://imgur.com/xWI4uRO
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Noop_Noop posted...

blizzard is done

Yeah, just like CoD died when the had the most downvoted video in the history of YouTube.

Seriously I get the anger here...although I thought most of the people who played D3 were already willing to put up with total crap honestly.

I still say they should just make a good portable (Switch/ipads etc) d2 with expansion (and possibly some new content, 2 new classes for instance) they would make freaking bank.
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Prior to Blizzcon, Blizzard released a blog post that all but said, "Guys, it's not going to be Diablo 4. Get off the hype train because it's not running this year."

Many fans somehow still expected Diablo 4 to be announced and were then extremely disappointed that they weren't getting the thing they had implicitly been told they weren't getting.

Others were merely disappointed that the thing they were getting was a thing they irrationally hate.
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announcing a smartphone game at an event just seems lame all things considered
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shadowsword87 posted...

I get the outrage over the product, not that quote specifically.

It's basically being dismissive of the reasons why people are upset, then responding with something that is pretty obviously meant as a smart-ass putdown.

It's the same reason people went ballistic when the Xbox One was going to require always on connectivity, and lots of people upset about it pointed out that there are plenty of places in the world where Internet connectivity was poor, and the official response was "Why would anyone want to live there?".

It generally implies the person being dismissive is either ignorant at best or an asshole at worst.

It's actually something that happens a lot when engineers have total control over design philosophy and marketing, because people who live their lives immersed in digital culture and on the bleeding edge of technology rarely understand or relate to what the average person actually wants, needs, or is capable of running (it's also a common problem with politicians, who spend their entire lives involved in the public sector and generally come from affluent families, and thus have no realistic understanding of what actual human beings living in the private sector have to deal with in their normal lives - which results in laws like shutting down multiple streets in NYC to make bike trails passed by a mayor who literally never drives and owns a private helicopter).

Basically, if you're going to be a dismissive smart ass, you probably shouldn't be the designated face put front and center to try and sell your product to an audience that doesn't want it in the first place. Your job is to convince them why they SHOULD want it, not to be too cool for the room and shit on them because they don't.



FourthDimension posted...

Blizzard tells the fan base not to expect diablo 4 at blizzcon

People expect diablo 4 at blizzcon

Blizzard doesnt give it to them

Blizzard tells the fan base to expect something exciting and Diablo-related at Blizzcon.

Blizzard announces a crap mobile game that literally no one at Blizzcon is going to be excited about.

Blizzard wonders why people are annoyed.

Honestly, I think they would have been fine (or at least much, MUCH better off) if they didn't build up hype in advance, then announce it at a gathering of all the most hard-core fans of the franchise. The target audience for mobile games aren't people going to Blizzcon. Blizzcon is pretty much the last place on Earth they should have announced it, and hyping it in advance of the announcement is pretty much the absolute last thing they should have done. They gained nothing, and lost pretty much everything.

Developers need to figure this stuff out. You'd think they'd learn from reactions to things like Metal Gear Survive and the Command and Conquer mobile game. Bypass marketing to "gamers" entirely and instead narrow-cast your product to the sort of people who actually play mobile games (and drop the tons of microtransaction money you're looking for) and they wouldn't even remotely have the problems they do with this sort of thing.


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AllstarSniper32 posted...

I do think it's a stupid decision to be making Diablo a mobile game.

It's a stupid decision from a gaming perspective. But it's a brilliant decision from a financial and investor perspective.

As much as we hate to admit it, or find it stupid, publishers are learning that there is more money to be made in mobile gaming than they've ever be able to make actually selling "games". All they need to do is make a shiny Skinner Box with a credit card reader and they pretty much double their yearly revenue.

More than 50% of EA's revenue at this point comes from microtransactions. This is pretty much the future for every major publisher. For all the outrage over this, it'll probably still make Blizzard more money than D3 ever did (especially after the real money auction house got disabled).



FourthDimension posted...

Noop_Noop posted...

blizzard is done

Yeah, just like CoD died when the had the most downvoted video in the history of YouTube.

To be fair, it sold like half of what the previous game did, and didn't even remotely meet sales expectations. It wasn't a "failure" by any means, but it really wasn't a "success" by traditional CoD standards either.

And CoD's one saving grace is the fact that the franchise has three different developers working on it, so a lot of CoD gamers will say "Well, I hate this game, but the next one is being made by a different developer, so I'll still give that one a chance." A lot of fans who refused to buy Infinite Warfare basically said things like "Ehh, Infinity Ward dropped the ball, but WWII will be awesome next year. And Treyarch will do way better with Black Ops 4!"

Plus, you know... battle royale! Everyone's favorite game type! GotY!

Realistically, CoD would probably need a string of about 3-4 major failures before the fanbase as a whole started to turn against it for good. Nor does it hurt that CoD fans - much like 2K and EA sports fans - have been so broken down and trained to accept microtransactions and other dickery that their tolerance for BS is much, much higher than a lot of other franchises.


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Blizzard should have been quiet about Diablo before Blizzcon.
Nothing Diablo-related at all on twitter.
Then they should have started with revealing the Diablo game and ended with the Warcraft 3 Remaster.
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why do people keep buying into mobile games and spending hundreds of dollars on in-game currency?
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NightMareBunny posted...

why do people keep buying into mobile games and spending hundreds of dollars on in-game currency?

Because unlike you some people have jobs and can afford to throw a surprising amount of money away on things they enjoy.
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NightMareBunny posted...

why do people keep buying into mobile games and spending hundreds of dollars on in-game currency?

because some people have addictive personalities and corporations prey on that
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Sahuagin posted...

I mean... it's not like Diablo is all that deep or something. Diablo and its clones are already considered some of the most mindless clickfest gaming there is. I don't really like the push for mobile either, but the game they're doing it with does makes at least some sense.

Totally agree.

Diablo is a game that I can see working very well on mobile.
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This shows how out of touch Blizzard is with their customers. Their response to the audience reaction was to ask if they don't have phones. Never mind that mobile and PC have entirely different control schemes. Never mind the monetization that's associated with mobile games. Never mind lore, or customization complexity, or anything else that Diablo fans associate with Diablo and are not associated with the mobile platform. The issue that was foremost on their mind wasn't if people want to play the game, but if people are able to play the game
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blizzard's been out of touch with their longterm fans for years. it's why every franchise but overwatch is in a state of weird fuckery right now. even overwatch is kind of shaky.
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shadowsword87 posted...

At the same time... 77% of all Americans have smartphones.

I think the issue with some fans isn't that they're making a mobile version but rather that is their only announcement at a convention where most of the attendees are probably PC/console gamers. Had they thrown at bone specific to the PC/console gamers, people might not raise as much Hell.
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even just like a title card, or them saying something is in the works for the regular fanbase would have appeased a lot of people.
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helIy posted...

even just like a title card, or them saying something is in the works for the regular fanbase would have appeased a lot of people.

Aye. I would not mind waiting if I knew something was in the works for us PC/console gamers. But that only the mobile market is getting something felt like we were left out in the cold.
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Why you guys no have phones?
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ParanoidObsessive posted...

As much as we hate to admit it, or find it stupid, publishers are learning that there is more money to be made in mobile gaming than they've ever be able to make actually selling "games". All they need to do is make a shiny Skinner Box with a credit card reader and they pretty much double their yearly revenue.

Though these days, the mobile market is so oversaturated with a million different games trying to cash in on how lucrative mobile-style monetization can be that the mobile market itself isn't necessarily the most attractive. Instead, we're seeing the shift to "games as a service" in the AAA market, as publishers take the monetization schemes that have made mobile games so lucrative and toss them into AAA games so they can enjoy some recurring revenue for minimal extra financial investment.

To be fair guys, The Witcher 3.
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