Diablo III's New Game Director Addresses The Minions

[Ferisar]

Good riddance. In his own words... Fuck that loser

I really do not understand this meme in the slightest. When some dipshit insults you publicly, I think you are allowed to privately talk shit about him among colleagues/friends. The only reason it ever became a big deal is because it got public, despite not being intended for the public.

Like, seriously. It's not even worth talking about.

He made it public by insulting the creator of the IP via facebook over some criticism of the execution of the game, of course it's going to to be talked about.

Brevik didn't do a damn thing

Except What Wilson said was to his colleagues who felt insulted after Brevik decided to take the route of "side-ways dickbaggery" in an interview. It was a response to a facebook comment that his team made in RESPONSE to Brevik's comments. It's a very common rule of thumb not to talk shit about other developers. It's just rude and makes you look bad. The biggest reason why Jay Wilson got all of hell's shit flung at him was because people needed am outlet for being pissed at D3, not because he did something unjustified.

I don't defend either side, because both sides acted like ten year olds, however, at least that provides an even context for both parties to be on.

CAPTCHA: mirror
Pretty much captcha, pretty much.

I couldn't disagree more. Blizz South, headed by Jay Wilson, took over the game series that Brevik created with his team.
They could have learned from the mistakes made with D2, which were painstakingly addressed by Brevik and his Blizzard team who turned D2 into a game that people would still be playing ten years later, they didn't. Wilson started out developement with the philosphy that, diablo 2 was a bad game and detailed what he thought was wrong with it.
Wilson's crew then went on to make all the same mistakes of the D2 launch plus some new spectacularly bad ones.

Brevik originally said he was looking forward to seeing D3 and complimented the team on their previous achievements.

Later, post launch, D3 is a terrible game as recognised by many people. Brevik in another intverwiew detailed a few things he would have done differently, understandable given his experiences and the things he learned with D2, which have allowed hime to make far better games Like Torchlight. Nowhere near the scathing that Wilson gave D2. At no point did he call D3 a bad game or say that anything about it was bad, unlike Wilson on D2. Sure it may have been some sideways, may not have.
Wilson and his team, being freakishly hypersensetive, took the whole affair out of proportion. No doubt because of the denial they were in at the piece of shit they produced. Wilson publically stated "fuck that loser".

I cannot agree on any level that both parties were equal. Frankly I'm amazed at the diplomacy of Brevik. He could have described the litany of errors that went into ruining this piss-poor sequal to his game. He didn't. In my mind he would have been justified in directly saying
"oh my god, what have you done? Why would you do that to the loot system? You killed an iconic character with little more than a minion, are you insane? Always online DRM, that is a joke, right? Did you not even begin looking at how D2 was made and the horrible mistakes WE had to rectifiy? Have you even played it?"

Yeah? I remember reading the "fuck that loser" frontline on the D3 website when it occurred. Totally a public announcement. His team felt shitty being insulted in actual public light by Brevik. The fact that they had a couple of facebook public comments about it isn't even close to any kind of "public statement". Like I said, the "public" needed a scapegoat, so they got one.

Wilson never -ever- said Diablo 2 was a bad game. He had some varying opinions on PVP specifically, I'll acknowledge that, but the rest were quite honest in their conviction in game improvement. Naive and wishful at times? Maybe, but straight painting D2 as a shit game? I don't think so.

Don't bring game quality into this. It's not even close to relevant. It's called not being rude for no goddamned reason. I don't give two shits about whose game is better in the dick measuring contest, I just find it painful to read two developers of the same exact game style having a go at one another. It doesn't move anyone forward and creates a buttload of kindling for the public to just crucify one of them.

 

[Michael Collett]

It's not just the AH that ruined D3 though. Its that the items are boring. When the best items are just the same as what you have with bigger numbers then how exciting can be it. I don't feel excited by 'Sick now I do 20k more DPS!' as much as +1 to all skills.

The way to fix the game for me is:
Add a new stat that increases the power of your skills in exciting ways. Things like extra jumps for your chain lightnings, extra zombies, bigger AoE, lower cooldowns - you know, stuff you can actually notice when you play EVEN when you have damage numbers turned off! Imagine how many skills could be made useful if you could increase the amount of projectiles they let out? (Plague toads!) It effects all skills you have equipped and the skills let you know what the effect is. Would take a lot of creative thinking to find effects for each skill - but I'm sure they could come up with it. If the spirit of old diablo is still with Blizzard they could make this awesome.

Then make a new mode:
Diablo 3 Classic Mode (and Classic Hardcore), no AH with increased loot drops. Balance the loot without considering the gamewide economy. I'm not saying they conspire to rig the AH at the moment - they don't. But stuff drops less often in D3 because they designed drop rates with the Ah in mind.

Add items that can be only equipped once you've reached certain paragon levels. Let them be dropped in inferno at high MP or even make them exclusively crafted items.

Then add a game lobby and let you name the games you create Diablo 2 style. Let me name a game 'Trades' and have people walk in to barter, or Whimsy 4 and let people know I'm on my fourth consecutive whimsyshire run and they could get in on some serious farming.

 

[Ferisar]

It's not just the AH that ruined D3 though. Its that the items are boring. When the best items are just the same as what you have with bigger numbers then how exciting can be it. I don't feel excited by 'Sick now I do 20k more DPS!' as much as +1 to all skills.

The way to fix the game for me is:
Add a new stat that increases the power of your skills in exciting ways. Things like extra jumps for your chain lightnings, extra zombies, bigger AoE, lower cooldowns - you know, stuff you can actually notice when you play EVEN when you have damage numbers turned off! Imagine how many skills could be made useful if you could increase the amount of projectiles they let out? (Plague toads!) It effects all skills you have equipped and the skills let you know what the effect is. Would take a lot of creative thinking to find effects for each skill - but I'm sure they could come up with it. If the spirit of old diablo is still with Blizzard they could make this awesome.

Then make a new mode:
Diablo 3 Classic Mode (and Classic Hardcore), no AH with increased loot drops. Balance the loot without considering the gamewide economy. I'm not saying they conspire to rig the AH at the moment - they don't. But stuff drops less often in D3 because they designed drop rates with the Ah in mind.

Add items that can be only equipped once you've reached certain paragon levels. Let them be dropped in inferno at high MP or even make them exclusively crafted items.

Then add a game lobby and let you name the games you create Diablo 2 style. Let me name a game 'Trades' and have people walk in to barter, or Whimsy 4 and let people know I'm on my fourth consecutive whimsyshire run and they could get in on some serious farming.

Just to make a comment, specifically, on the Classic Mode bit:
The creation of additional game types does eventually stress the playerbase. It's a bit of a problem when there's so much spread among people who play the game that finding a game becomes difficult. While I don't think D3 is having that problem quite yet, it might assuming enough of these are created. Gotta keep in mind the already existing divide just based on levels and levels of difficulty AND Hardcore.

I agree fully on the loot bits though. Some things just need to be a little more exciting than they are right now. It's why I don't turn the game on that often. Doing more damage only means so much to me in a world where I can just... I don't know, not bother.

 

[Michael Collett]

Just to make a comment, specifically, on the Classic Mode bit:
The creation of additional game types does eventually stress the playerbase. It's a bit of a problem when there's so much spread among people who play the game that finding a game becomes difficult. While I don't think D3 is having that problem quite yet, it might assuming enough of these are created. Gotta keep in mind the already existing divide just based on levels and levels of difficulty AND Hardcore.

I agree fully on the loot bits though. Some things just need to be a little more exciting than they are right now. It's why I don't turn the game on that often. Doing more damage only means so much to me in a world where I can just... I don't know, not bother.

I agree that splitting the player base can be a problem for those who play a lot of MP. However, I think that if they increased the social tools (or even reverted to the simple D2 system) and we would have infinitely more power to find people we actually want to play with. Most of my MP in D3 has been entering some random game where nobody talks to each-other and may as well be powerful companions you can't gear up or control.

Perhaps if it was a like a League in Path of Exile - new characters that have exclusive gear and higher drops but after 4 months they are merged into the normal game mode. They also have hardcore leagues where dead characters are moved into normal mode. Sure the economy of normal mode becomes tanked - but isn't tanked already?

Or maybe it only applies to your character who receives a unique portrait and bonus drops in return for no AH usage but can still play with normal characters. If someone wants to play with classic characters only you could tick a box when finding a game or creating one.

The levelling scene is always going to be underpopulated until they provide a reason to level new characters. While they have said their will be new lowbie legendaries - that isn't exactly a reason. Don't know how to fix it, doubt they can without adding some kind of customisation you gain by levelling and can't be undone...

 

[tzimize]

Well. The itemization REALLY needs looking at, but there are more.

How about the fact that the skillsystem of D3 was hailed as being the most versatile thing yet? And then the endgame is designed around something as fucking stupid as the nephalem stacks and them dropping if you if you change a skill. Does this invite experimentation and use of different builds? NO.

Would it make the game easier if you could switch? Probably, but who the fuck cares. You can decide your difficulty with monster power anyway. Honestly there are so many stupid and badly implemented ideas in diablo 3 its a disgrace.

And dont get me started on the story............... >.<

 

[Kungfu_Teddybear]

I was with the guy right up until this.

Mosuqueria wants items to drop less frequently, but be more powerful on average.

The items already don't drop enough.

 

[ExtraDebit]

Whatever man, I've had enough of this noise. The problem with diablo 3 isn't just the itemization, the problem is: they're approaching it too much like WoW. One week it's about gearing for speed after patch it's all about resistance, there is no consistency and in constant uncertainty.

 

[Makabriel]

Diablo 3 is one of my favorite go to games when I just want something to play. I've found the joys of public games when it comes to raking in the cash and items. It's quick, it's fun, lots of things die. And it's Diablo. I've played 1 & 2 and all expansions, and I feel it's a fitting continuation of the franchise. The AH is a great supplement for upgrades. A bit, pricey granted, but eventually I'll get there..

*counts down to someone bashing me for liking the game...in 3...2...*

 

[Little Gray]

The only way I see to get rid of the auction house without without dealing with most of the issues that shutting down the auction house's would cause would be to:

A). Raise the % of cash Blizzard takes of transactions to something ridiculous like 85% which would deter people from using it since their ratio of time spent farming to profit made from it would be so low it wouldn't be worth it. This would garner quite a bit of bad press and complaints but it wouldn't be that bad (from a company standpoint, internet shitstorm is guaranteed anyway).

or..

B). Under the hood, increase magic find for all characters(and increase it in a way that people are more likely to find loot for the character they're using) to a point where the auction house is an impractical user choice to get better loot since the time required to upgrade is no longer measured in bloody days. This introduces the issue of people flooding the auction house with all their newly found loot but I think since less people need to look there, sellers would slowly drift from using the service as their stuff isn't needed and even if it were, a flooded auction house makes it harder for your item to be seen amongst many other identical ones.

A) This would do absolutely nothing at all to solve the AH problem. The issue is not people using the cash AH the issue is the wide variety of stats you get on items (has been slightly fixed) and the low drop rates.

B) This is sort of what they need to do. Increasing the drop rates and fixing itemization (which they are doing) is exactly what the game needs. The issue with the AH is that the drop rates on items are so low and the chance of getting all good rolls is so bad it makes them insanely expensive. They need to limit what stats can be rolled on unique items. I should not be getting immortal kings items with intellect on them its just ridiculous.

 

[tardcore]

I think this guy has his heart in it, but he's too vested in the new business model Blizzard is running with to make a serious difference.
In other words, I highly doubt he'll be able to get me back to the game.

Especially when there are alternatives that are more fun and far less expensive, such as Path of Exile, Torchlight 2 and "The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing".

Hit the nail right on the head. Blizzard decided to push a feature a large portion of their fan base didn't want, and even said would end up ruining the game. One year on and guess what, even Blizzard has to admit it did indeed fuck up their game. So while they are still dicking around trying to fix what they shouldn't have broken in the first place, other smaller companies are making way better games.

 

[Ferisar]

I was with the guy right up until this.

Mosuqueria wants items to drop less frequently, but be more powerful on average.

The items already don't drop enough.

I think that lands more in the category of "good items don't drop enough", which is what he wants to address. Meaningful loot over yellows that mean very little. When you get to Inferno, so many worthless yellows AND legendaries drop that it just feels crappy to collect them.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Do we have proof that it was Blizzards fault they were hacked? Because....well a lot of people say that, when in reality they've unwittingly given away their account details or fallen victim to a keylogger. In which case, it's not Blizzards fault, because the "hackers" have your password. I mean if you've got the authenticator, the odds of your account being compromised are pretty slim. And by slim I mean almost non existent.

Considering it was six different people living in five different households within the same three day period, the odds of it all coming from an external keylogger would be nothing short of miraculous. Similar intrusions across different remote network branches within such a short time frame do not occur piecemeal.
It was unquestionably on Blizzard's end.

I spent a weekend cleaning half of those machines looking for a keylogger that didn't actually exist.
Two weeks later, after I'd wrestled with Bnet 2 tech support, they received an email saying the attack was from within and had their accounts rolled back best they could, reactivated, and given a free month of WoW as "compensation".

As for the Authenticator; none of them had it on account of not opting to use the Auction House.
It's a weak excuse anyway since its necessity screams "OUR CORE CLIENT SECURITY IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH". If they need an external authenticator to ensure client safety, they need to provide it as part of the package. That's the price of making their games a service.

Bnet 2.0 has been nothing but a burden to deal with since its introduction and those attacks are exactly why I hate this Always Online bullshit: Even if you don't use the "Make Blizzard Free Money" Auction House your account still has potential value because of the items attached to it so everyone has a target painted on their backs.

For claiming to protect consumers from shady third parties, all they did was exacerbate the problem.
If nothing else, I never once had to deal with this shit in 10 years of Diablo 2.

True there was a small leak a while back, but still, authenticator, and it was hardly "really badly", not compared to say...Sonys leak. Plus Blizzards customer support are generally pretty good, it boils down to "I got compromised" "Ok, we'll roll you back to last Tuesday or whatever."

The support crew kept putting on airs that it wasn't them since they sure as hell weren't going to admit any sort of compromise on their end (and I doubt IT told them about any sort of compromise even if they did know). At the very least, they spoke clear English and were polite about it.

 

[Nurb]

Good riddance. In his own words... Fuck that loser

I really do not understand this meme in the slightest. When some dipshit insults you publicly, I think you are allowed to privately talk shit about him among colleagues/friends. The only reason it ever became a big deal is because it got public, despite not being intended for the public.

Like, seriously. It's not even worth talking about.

He made it public by insulting the creator of the IP via facebook over some criticism of the execution of the game, of course it's going to to be talked about.

Brevik didn't do a damn thing

Except What Wilson said was to his colleagues who felt insulted after Brevik decided to take the route of "side-ways dickbaggery" in an interview. It was a response to a facebook comment that his team made in RESPONSE to Brevik's comments. It's a very common rule of thumb not to talk shit about other developers. It's just rude and makes you look bad. The biggest reason why Jay Wilson got all of hell's shit flung at him was because people needed am outlet for being pissed at D3, not because he did something unjustified.

I don't take either side, because both sides acted like ten year olds, however, at least that provides an even context for both parties to be on.

CAPTCHA: mirror
Pretty much captcha, pretty much.

He made it public by insulting the creator of the IP via facebook over some criticism of the execution of the game, of course it's going to to be talked about.

Brevik didn't do a damn thing

"This game wasn't made how I would've made it (and is therefor shit)" is Criticism now?

Brevik didn't insult anyone or say anything nasty, that's the point. If you read the interview, the creator of the whole thing didn't agree with how they made it, he wasn't being insulting at all and very nice about the whole thing.

" I have very mixed emotions about it (laughs). On one hand I am sad that people haven?t enjoyed Diablo because it?s a love, a passion, and its obvious people still have a giant love and passion for Diablo and they are speaking out about it because they have such love for it. That makes me feel great.

I am sad because people are outraged and, you know, some of the decision they have made are not the decisions I would make and there have been changes in philosophy and that hasn?t gone over very well. I think in that way I am a little sad.

I am also a little happy, which I hate to say, it shows that the people that were involved in Diablo really did matter, and so I am happy that it has come to light that how talented that group was and how unique and special that group was. I am hoping that, as this happens very often in the industry, you see it with Call of Duty and things like that , when the people leave the game changes and it shows how critical people are in this industry.?


Wilson was a dick for responding publicly the way he did and had no place to call him what he did over such a little comment and shows they do wave off the fans' comments if they disregard the creators opinions in such a way. Besides, Diablo 3 did blow it with most fans because of how they executed it.

 

[-Dragmire-]

The only way I see to get rid of the auction house without without dealing with most of the issues that shutting down the auction house's would cause would be to:

A). Raise the % of cash Blizzard takes of transactions to something ridiculous like 85% which would deter people from using it since their ratio of time spent farming to profit made from it would be so low it wouldn't be worth it. This would garner quite a bit of bad press and complaints but it wouldn't be that bad (from a company standpoint, internet shitstorm is guaranteed anyway).

or..

B). Under the hood, increase magic find for all characters(and increase it in a way that people are more likely to find loot for the character they're using) to a point where the auction house is an impractical user choice to get better loot since the time required to upgrade is no longer measured in bloody days. This introduces the issue of people flooding the auction house with all their newly found loot but I think since less people need to look there, sellers would slowly drift from using the service as their stuff isn't needed and even if it were, a flooded auction house makes it harder for your item to be seen amongst many other identical ones.

A) This would do absolutely nothing at all to solve the AH problem. The issue is not people using the cash AH the issue is the wide variety of stats you get on items (has been slightly fixed) and the low drop rates.

B) This is sort of what they need to do. Increasing the drop rates and fixing itemization (which they are doing) is exactly what the game needs. The issue with the AH is that the drop rates on items are so low and the chance of getting all good rolls is so bad it makes them insanely expensive. They need to limit what stats can be rolled on unique items. I should not be getting immortal kings items with intellect on them its just ridiculous.

Right, didn't think that through. My line of thinking was that they could raise the item find to a reasonable level once the auction house was gone then I created a scenario to get rid of the auction house by raising magic find... I was rather tired at the time, shouldn't post when my thoughts aren't clear.