None of the questions asked were even remotely as bad as you are trying to make them out to be.
-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
-
We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.
Blizzard Wasn't Expecting Fans To Be This Angry About Diablo Immortal
- Thread starter dark494
- Start date
None of the questions asked were even remotely as bad as you are trying to make them out to be.
The industry does try to heavily control what devs say about their work ironically. Usually when you see devs speaking out and still employed its been approved. You wont see devs really speak out about their work until they have moved on or left the industry in most cases. I have given a few public talks, and had to get permission to even use footage. I know other places where the talk has to be presented in front of legal reps before its given the greenlight to be presented.
I am a huge fan of telling people to communicate to those making the calls. Even internally, I tell fellow co workers to take their concerns up a level.
For too long everyone has been yelling at each other and not at those responsible. If the company is public, leadership should be publicly named, and using other online resources, it should not be hard to understand the leadership tree for a product.
"is this a late april fools joke" doesnt seem that assholish. Is "you guys have phones dont you" assholish?
Right?
Might as well have said "you guys paid $200 to be here, surely you can afford a good phone?"
The reaction by communities and some journalist is far more toxic and rude than the guy who asked a question by far. That guy asked a question, simple and the point, others have been truly outright insulting and abusive in comparison because how dare someone not applaud or cheer something they didn't like.
All PR is kinda silly if you think about it. A "Diablo 4 for PC" logo would have been silly too, but it likely would have worked.
Or they could have semi-announced the Mobile game a month ago, saying that they were making a mobile Diablo, which they would talk more about at Blizzcon, but were also working on a mainline PC game, that they could not talk about yet. Instead of making it the big Blizzcon announcement.
They would also be better off if they didn't act like the mobile game was made specifically for the Diablo 1-3 crowd.
Be honest about what you are making, manage expectations, and things will likely be be received better.
how else should he have voiced his concern? i feel like if he had been any more polite, he would've just gotten a canned PR response about how "this game is totally tailored to the hardcore diablo fanbase you guys we promise" or somesuch crap. sometimes you gotta be a little rude. game companies encourage and profit from fans building an emotional bond towards their property (i don't know much about diablo, but this is painfully obvious in the ad materials for the new wow expansion); they don't get to cry when said emotions turn sour.
Didn't really think that what I said would be controversial. Well, since games aren't passive like movies or music in example but they need a person controlling it, I think it's important for the person to "feel" the game so to speak. Of course people can make decisions if something interests them by just seeing it, but this shouldn't be confused with it not being to anyone else's interest either. Also, we saw only few minutes of it. Even with passive entertainment like movies, nobody can properly critique it by just a trailer.
And just because game looks shit, or even plays shit if you've played it, doesn't mean it shouldn't exist. Getting pissed because something you aren't interested in gets released shouldn't be a source for anger. If I was to flip my shit for every game not appealing to me, I would be pissed off every day. Even if we want to restrict this just to Blizzard, I'm not mad at them for making Overwatch. I think it's very mediocre game and their resources could be better used elsewhere to please me. I'd rather have them focus on PC and scrap any mobile and console efforts because I have no interest in that and it doesn't cater to me. But they don't do games just for me, they have much bigger audience.
That's what he got now too. Nothing else was gained but people patting him on the back in social medias and the devs on the stage probably got a sour mood. But sure I get your point about those emotional bonds, it's a problem too and often poisons video game discussion. We can see it in platform warring in example.
Contrary to popular belief, people outside of ERA generally don't give much of a shit about how much money different versions of games make
It's not at all; fans at the con conveyed their disapproval in the most classy manner. The response however was a bit arrogant.
You know when you click on a thread and you have no idea why until you take a look around? This is why I clicked on this thread.
Aris is the best.
Not really, that's fully expected and it's why 99% of the current Diablo fans know why Blizzard are doing this. To go whaling. It's an unfortunate part of this industry, the lust for a ridiculous amount of money, no matter what. Even if it means shilling out one of your most iconic IPs to become such a cow.
Announcing your whaling season mobile game at an event like this was just as tone deaf as you can get. Most people attending such events may have no issues with mobile gaming, but they're largely your core Diablo fans who've been playing since Diablo 1. They're not really looking for a "Please pay $200 a month for some magic fairy dust to increase your chances to upgrade this weapon from 0.5% to.... 2.5%".
Will they "accept" it's part of this industry? Probably, what are we going to do, the big boys love whale hunting. But your job in marketing and PR is probably to try and not swing your bosses/shareholders pig feeding frenzy games in the face of those who are primarily still sticking around for your bread and butter entry.
At the very least if you want to show off NetEase Adventures you damn well do it quite quickly, show a trailer and then end on something more substantial, even if it is a teaser. I'm honestly thinking there is that much turmoil internally right now at Blizzard to the name/direction of the next Diablo it simply couldn't be even teased.
and, you know, blizzard getting at least a little embarrassed in public. which was worth it, imo.
You know what I think? Blizzcon tickets next year will be a lot cheaper.
Yes I played it. Did you?
I don't play many mobile games, that's not my life, but it is fun.
"Blizzard" doesn't have such emotions, the people on the stage do. They were embarrased, "Blizzard" just wipes tears with their Loot Box money. It would even be different to throw comment like that out on their forums, not directly to the person who just introduced the game on stage.
I'm not making them out to be anything, I'm saying that asking a dev if the game he just introduced is a joke is dickish behaviour. Asking if the game is coming to PC too wasn't dickish behaviour, it was a proper question where the devs can give a proper answer.
Last edited:
perhaps i worded that incorrectly. what i meant was that the company as a whole was publicly shamed. which is good.
Oh really? You were at Blizzcon? How long did you play it?
The controls are really good. It's just like paladins strike, which I don't love but thought controlled very well. Download that for a second if you want a quick taste
Blizzcon is a 2 day event with multiple presentations, gaming events, panels, meetups, etc. etc. This announcement was 5 minutes of their opening press conference. If you spent thousands on tickets, travel, hotels, etc. just for that then I don't know what to say.
Through the demo twice, wizard and barbarian.so like thirty minutes?
Wait....what? You heard stories? Who told you that, friends or just random people? Gamer gate? like what? I need you to explain it to me because i have no clue what you are talking about. Booing, down voting and a question/comment has got what to do with gamer gate?
People here openly admit to take a day off work to watch press conferences of their preferred hardware manufacter at E3 and engage in the hype afterwards. It's not that hard to understand that some fans would do exactly what you say for a Blizzcon that was promised to be Diablo focused.
the reaction isn't about the existence of the mobile game, nor whether it will be good or not.
you should probably read the conversation. I can tell you probably just reacted to the thread title, but you should read beyond that.
Indeed. And I'm sure he's aware. But people can't miss an opportunity to present themselves as better than someone else.
Part of the issue here was that it was announced at a con that Blizzard themselves hosts, and sells extremely expensive tickets to. Part of the attraction was the ability to be there for the game announcements there and even get to talk to the developers. Having their crowning announcement be: "A new mobile game that ha a 99% chance to be P2W" is a good way to tick people off. It's not as though this was a press release; people traveled, paid, and were physically invested to be in that room, and instead what they got was basically spit. If I had been there in person, I'd have been pretty upset too. (Or at least if I were a Diablo Fan.)
Now, that doesn't mean that people aren't over-reacting, but I think the people in that room had every right to boo. Con's are a form of entertainment just like music festivals.
They explicitly told people to temper their expectations for Diablo related news. It sucks that people whipped themselves up into a hype frenzy and that Blizzard chose this as the "one more thing" announcement of the conference. It doesn't excuse the internet mob that has gotten whipped up over this.
Speaking of knee jerk reactions, look at this one here. People don't have to like a rehashed, reskinned clone of a clone that's out.021
"The season of greed is our first themed season"
YIKES
^
See, even that is cheeky as fuck, but welcome to dissent and ridicule. If it's not harassment or incitement of some sorts, it's part of being in a creative industry. Sometimes the jokes end up being pretty funny and at times I do have to think there are employees in these studios who can even privately laugh at their company getting heat.
They fist hyped the con as Diablo focused, to retract it once the tickets were already sold.
Yes,but only two weeks before the conference. They basically hinted for months and made it sound like year of great diablo.
By that point, you can't just cancel tickets and flights to Blizzcon, so also an bad move on Blizzards part
Sure but that 5 minutes or whatever it took is very small part of the whole event. If they didn't introduce the game there, there would have been no Diablo news at all. If you're going to announce a game around this time and you have your own huge event just around the corner, makes sense to do it there. It's not just for PC gamers anymore, Blizzard has branched out to consoles and mobile too. I know there's people that don't like it, but that's what it is. Hell even Quakecon isn't just for PC gamers anymore.
They released a Future of Diablo video in 8.8 too that mentioned multiple Diablo projects, with a caveat that some of them are still far away. Doesn't need to be a Sherlock to assume that big mainline Diablo game could be the one not coming soon, especially knowing that Blizzard usually doesn't keep haste.
Last edited:
Two week is when they told people to temper expectations, before that.........yeah they didn't do a good job at all. People had tickets, flights, hotels and more done months before. Even then people expected something, be it a spin off, a board game, netflix or something.
A mobile game was the last thing anyone expected or wanted. It was considered a joke notion.
"The season of greed is our first themed season"
YIKES
^
See, even that is cheeky as fuck, but welcome to dissent and ridicule. If it's not harassment or incitement of some sorts, it's part of being in a creative industry. Sometimes the jokes end up being pretty funny and at times I do have to think there are employees in these studios who can even privately laugh at their company getting heat.
Heat isn't what they're getting though. A joke is not toxic. The actual reactions people have to the announcement being exactly what we all unofficially knew it was as of that blog post? Gross to say the least. Yeah a logo of d4 would've stopped the outrage, but that's not blizz and we know it. They're not showing that game until they can say "and you can try it here today" because that's how they announce things. They should be commended for that not really raked over the coals, compared to shit like Bethesda showing a render of a forest with an elder sctolls logo for a game not even actively being worked on at Large
It's LITERALLY what we all expected. It's been an open secret for ages.
Edit: gah sorry for double post. Mobile sucks for more than just gaming
Heh, you wish. Or rather, Blizzard wishes.
I bet one of their major concerns for a potential Diablo 4 game is turning it into GaaS but avoiding dissatisfaction with the monetization model. They had to backpedal hard with the auction house and stuff. They want good Diablo PR, I'm sure and just fell hard on their face with this. People also just assume that this mobile game has to do incredible well but the reality is, while the Blizzard assets and Diablo name are going to help, it's still an outsourced game that looks to be similar to many mobile ARPGs of its type. There's only one Diablo 3 on PC and even most people that prefer PoE and others agree that it's combat fluidity is yet unmatched. This mobile game will have much tougher competition. In addition, it's going to be massacred in the review section thanks to the outrage and apparently, that might not limited to the west, as supposedly even some Chinese forums are full of rage.
I'll not be surprised if this game isn't worth its PR disaster in the end.
Toxic, gross, outrage and "compared to shit like Bethesda" they should be commended?
That reads more like your problem isn't with what is being said, simply that Blizzard are being criticised, so please go back to complaining about Bethesda instead.
Ironically, Bethesda handled a mobile game announcement at a free to watch event better than Blizzard. I believe Blades is internally developed as well, not shilled out to a P2W Chinese developer. But I would still expect it to be a MT mad house.
Did you even read what I said? Because no. Being critical isn't toxic. Being toxic is toxic. And we literally all know d4 is being worked on. If it's not ready to play, they're not going to show it. Nothing here should have surprised anyone
Is that video from the community manager where people are saying that "Blizzard did hype it up until 2 weeks before Blizzcon"? She's making a bunch of vague statements that "we have multiple Diablo projects in the works and Diablo is an important franchise for Blizzard." I think people really wanted Diablo 4 to be announced and projected that into their interpretation of what she said. The statement they made 2 weeks before Blizzcon is pretty close to what she said in the video.
All this talk about Blizz not being about just showing a logo.
Blizzard is also about standing for quality and straight up cancelling things that arent up to standards.
This looks like a poor diablo 3 reskin for an already existing diablo 3 clone.
People arent outraged just by the fact that d4 wasnt announced and that they have to wait for that.
Theyre pissed because blizzard is shitting all over one of the most beloved franchises in gaming history.
Blizzard is also about standing for quality and straight up cancelling things that arent up to standards.
This looks like a poor diablo 3 reskin for an already existing diablo 3 clone.
People arent outraged just by the fact that d4 wasnt announced and that they have to wait for that.
Theyre pissed because blizzard is shitting all over one of the most beloved franchises in gaming history.
The only suggestions of a mobile game were jokes people made from what I saw as the worse possible outcome. I didn't see anyone taking such a thing serious. More of a "Can you imagine if this happened".
You don't need to have something playable to announce it. The Elder Scrolls 6 is not playable.
I suspect the turmoil within Blizzard might be around is the project even Diablo 4, or are they going to rebrand it/restart it again as Diablo. If it is Diablo 4 talk about a bunch of highly paid execs in a boardroom completely shooting themselves in the foot not having a "Diablo4comingsoon.jpg" slide to end this event.
No, it's totally going to go down well ending on what looks like a reskinned gacha mobile game outsourced to a P2W Chinese developer. Nothing could go wrong.
While i strongly disagree with Screier's take on this, i think he is one of the good ones and he has his body of work to prove it.
Occasional disagreements do happen to the best of families though.
This is a bit of a dishonest post. For starters, given the state of the mobile gaming ecosystem, and EA + Blizzards past business models, this is almost certainly going to be a manipulative "pay to win/pay to play faster" deal. By announcing this at the con the way they did, they announced that they wanted to gouge and scam their own fans, personally.
Aside from that, you can often make some reasonable assumptions about a game just by watching or reading about it. I don't need to play Big Riggs to know it's a terrible game. I also can confidently tell you that DMC3 would play horribly on a touch-screen with it's controls as is.
Sure, Activision-Blizzard has schemy monetization models that I won't refute. And I'm absolutely not against people criticizing that whenever we see how the game will be monetized. In fact, I wish there was way more backlash about their current loot boxes than there is. Hopefully this won't take all the attention away from Hots and Overwatch.