When a really big gaming company like Blizzard does an open Beta weekend, most people expect it to go off without a hitch. That wasn't the case. The game was largely unplayable for large periods of time and most of my gaming group played for limited time and weren't too thrilled with the series when playing alone.
Diablo has never been a "GREAT" single-player game. Torchlight, the highly regarded Diablo clone did single-player better and in a more fun way. The Diablo series has always thrived by being a fun loot-fest engaged in with friends. The action needs to be furious, constant, and scaled to a proper level of difficulty.
It says something about the ease of the newest entry in the series that I've never died while playing in the Beta. (NOTE: I've had access to the Beta for over 3 months now and have played through to the Skeleton King multiple times with each of the classes). I'm sure its possible to die, but as someone who considers himself only a moderately okay game player, I wasn't surprised that my more hardcore gaming friends, people who rightly consider themselves good at games, were bored.
I'm hoping the release kicks up the action level and the difficulty. There were still moments of looting goodness and the systems (like crafting) seem well thought out and deep, but there was also the feeling that something was missing. I had loved the little scrolls that conjured a bug/rabbit/snake to undertake the tedious task of running over gold. Those were gone. I had liked the skill progression and unlocks and choices that were presented as you leveled. Those too seemed to be gone. My fear is the constant tinkering by Blizzard on a massive scale during the Beta has somehow made the game less...fun. Listening to the squeaky wheels during development must be a horrible dilemma for a game company. Do we listen to the whiny jerks who will shout loudly about how great our game is or pillory us with all its flaws or do we make our game for ourselves and see how the chips fall?
Here is hoping the Guild Wars 2 beta next weekend is better and more satisfying.
Diablo has never been a "GREAT" single-player game. Torchlight, the highly regarded Diablo clone did single-player better and in a more fun way. The Diablo series has always thrived by being a fun loot-fest engaged in with friends. The action needs to be furious, constant, and scaled to a proper level of difficulty.
It says something about the ease of the newest entry in the series that I've never died while playing in the Beta. (NOTE: I've had access to the Beta for over 3 months now and have played through to the Skeleton King multiple times with each of the classes). I'm sure its possible to die, but as someone who considers himself only a moderately okay game player, I wasn't surprised that my more hardcore gaming friends, people who rightly consider themselves good at games, were bored.
I'm hoping the release kicks up the action level and the difficulty. There were still moments of looting goodness and the systems (like crafting) seem well thought out and deep, but there was also the feeling that something was missing. I had loved the little scrolls that conjured a bug/rabbit/snake to undertake the tedious task of running over gold. Those were gone. I had liked the skill progression and unlocks and choices that were presented as you leveled. Those too seemed to be gone. My fear is the constant tinkering by Blizzard on a massive scale during the Beta has somehow made the game less...fun. Listening to the squeaky wheels during development must be a horrible dilemma for a game company. Do we listen to the whiny jerks who will shout loudly about how great our game is or pillory us with all its flaws or do we make our game for ourselves and see how the chips fall?
Here is hoping the Guild Wars 2 beta next weekend is better and more satisfying.
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ReplyDeleteWow, I can't believe how far off base you are. I'm going to read all your posts from now on just to find out what's what... aka the opposite of what you say!
ReplyDelete