Have we wronged Blizzard in some way?

[goin-mad]

Maybe I'm just ungrateful but Jesus the last update to the Starcraft 2 site was on Valentine's Day and it was for those gimmicky wallpapers! To make matters a little more infuriating: the Diablo 3 site has gotten less attention.

I know it takes a while to make anything in today's high end gaming development cycles but seriously they've had almost 10 years to mull things over.

Admittedly I want the game to live up to the Blizzard standard but they could still update the site every once in a while.

The question I pose is: Am I the only one who is continually disappointed by the lack of new media on the SC2 or DIII web sites? Or have the Escapists moved on to new games to look forward to?

(Seriously, maybe not a release date but at least another Battle Report would be nice).

P.S.
I did a search but didn't find anything relating to this particular subject, if it has been done before apologies all around.

 

[S.H.A.R.P.]

I will wait patiently for Diablo III to come round. Perhaps if we all wait patiently, Blizzard will not rush it (though they usually aren't guilty of that I'm glad to say), and we will have a polished game worthy of our attention when they release it.

Personally I'm not so psyched about Starcraft 2, I only tried the original out for an hour. But the 'normal' RTS games (normal as in not like the Total War series) these days always seem to disappoint me.

 

[obisean]

After the announced SC2 was going to be 3 games of 1 campaign, lookre skinned with new levels, and that D3 was a D2 reskinned with new classes and levels, I lost interest. Notice a trend here?
SC2 I will probably play, some day, after the whole thing is available. Assuming of course the game is not the best thing since sliced bread.
Diablo, I hope they do a good job on, I do love a good dungeon crawler. And will probably play this one UNLESS it gets bad reviews.

IMO, Blizzard isn't the innovator it used to be. They have learned the ways of Nintendo and will make the same game with a different storyline and a new sticker that says $50.

 

[kolompi]

If we wronged Blizzard in any way, that was just payback for all the times they wronged us

 

[Meado]

These gaps between updates always happen. Chill.

 

[bikeninja]

It's blizzard, they tend to spend a LOOOOOOOOOOOONG time on their games. Anyone remember Starcraft Ghost?
And how long did it take them just to come up with ideas fora sequel to starcraft. It seems that unless it's WoW related, it takes the back seat and gets worked on during their coffee breaks.

 

[IsoNeko]

Sorry, but I don't get this fascination with Blizzard at all. I mean they released a few good games ages ago. Then they released a decently balanced MMO, and that's it. They've brought out patches for their game (Which admittedly, shouldn't need to be there had the game been 100% perfect), and a couple of cash-cow expansions.

Why should we expect everything good, when this is all we have to show for it.

 

[phar]

Umm... hate to break it to you but they are always slow to release information, look at patches or anything for WoW. Go read the WoW forums to see how much the average person in the community appreciates them and then you realise why they dont give out much information as the fanboys pick it apart and say it will kill the game.

Sorry, but I don't get this fascination with Blizzard at all. I mean they released a few good games ages ago. Then they released a decently balanced MMO, and that's it. They've brought out patches for their game (Which admittedly, shouldn't need to be there had the game been 100% perfect), and a couple of cash-cow expansions.

Why should we expect everything good, when this is all we have to show for it.

Umm.. because like every game they released has been quite really polished and has had very long term gameplay. Im assuming you dislike Valve as well since they have only released a handful of titles?

 

[Obsessive_Monkey]

Aslong as i'm not dissapointed.. I'm willing to wait a lifetime for SC2, with or without updates.

 

[Cid Silverwing]

I like to think it's the retard playerbase of WoW that has wronged Blizzard, because the developers religiously power up something and then completely destroy something else in order to, in massive inverted commas, 'balance it out'.

 

[Weaver]

And how long did it take them just to come up with ideas fora sequel to starcraft.

what ideas?
Designer: Make it the same put prettier.
Devs (in the voice of an SCV): Roger that!

 

[The Madman]

what ideas?
Designer: Make it the same put prettier.
Devs (in the voice of an SCV): Roger that!

Make it too similar, and we have complaints like this that the developers aren't coming up with anything new.

Make it too different, and we have the fiasco like what happened with Dawn of War 2 where regardless of the actual quality of the game, there will be legions of fanboys declaring it an abomination.

Blizzard sticks to what they know. It's not going to re-invent the industry, but it does guarantee that if you liked the previous games it's pretty much a sure thing you'll like the sequels as well. I can respect Blizzard for that!

 

[Weaver]

what ideas?
Designer: Make it the same put prettier.
Devs (in the voice of an SCV): Roger that!

Make it too similar, and we have complaints like this that the developers aren't coming up with anything new.

Make it too different, and we have the fiasco like what happened with Dawn of War 2 where regardless of the actual quality of the game, there will be legions of fanboys declaring it an abomination.

Blizzard sticks to what they know. It's not going to re-invent the industry, but it does guarantee that if you liked the previous games it's pretty much a sure thing you'll like the sequels as well. I can respect Blizzard for that!

Yeah I didn't really want to fault them but rather just make an SCV joke LOL.
I think what people may notice in my postings is that if I see something funny, like an unintentional pun, no matter how bad, I tend to point it out without even thinking of it's repercussions.

I often just make jokes that come into my head, even though they might be easily misconstrued.

 

[coffin]

If we wronged Blizzard in any way, that was just payback for all the times they wronged us

yes very right how many times has blizzard ended up screwing us over for no reason?

 

[Trance01]

I'm as big a fan of Blizzard as the next guy, however, Blizzard eventually dissapoints at some point in time. Don't get me wrong, their original releases of games are always great. Starcraft was great, the Warcraft rts series was great, Diablo 2 was amazing, and still gets play from me from time to time just for the hell of it. As far as the Warcraft series, I tend to think of it as one game, as the story of warcraft is pretty fluid between every release it almost feels like it's not even a new game, just an addition to the first. Even during those releases we heard about the releases of said games, or at least the development of said games, a rather long time ahead of release. I think Starcraft was first unveiled almost a year before it was even released, same with games like D2 and Warcraft. They always unveil it early for whatever reason, maybe if they just waited to unveil the development of their games untill maybe a few months or so before it was intended to be released they wouldn't feel rushed by anyone. This also gives us the time we need to overhype the games. I will admit that by the time these games were released my expectations were so high that I was inevitably dissapointed with what I got, I enjoyed what I got but I always felt maybe it could have been better, which is where I get my statement that "Blizzard eventually dissapoints". Then again, the phrase "Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder" can be used in this situation as others may have felt they were perfect.

If Wrath Of the Lich King is of any hint to what to expect with D3 and SC2 then be prepared to be extremely dissapointed. WOTLK basically had new landscape and characters but that was about it. All the quests were virtually the same. They added a couple features involving seige vehicles but they really didn't use them as well as I think they could have. Overall the storyline was pretty bland, the content overall was sloppy and extremely rushed. All the tier Equipment is just reskins from tier 3 equipment back in Vanilla WoW as well as the main raid dungeon that came out with the expansion was just one of the big raids back from vanilla WoW with the drops changed for the most part. It was very dissapointing, very boring, and overall just a huge failure in my opinion. Now I just simply don't bother looking at Diablo 3 or Starcraft 2 cause I don't want to overhype for myself. Hopefully they take their time, do it right and make it fun and I'll be there when they get released.

 

[Nazulu]

I keep checking every week to see if the next battle report is in. How long does it take to have a match and chuck it on a website? They could atleast give a release date or something.

 

[Skruff]

While the information would be good, I'm used to waiting at this point when it comes to Blizzard! They always seem to be notoriously stingy when it comes to releasing information on their games. It helps keep the hype going with all of the speculation and guessing that players do.

I'm sure they're storing up some great details (and maybe information on their new MMO) for whatever major tradeshow is next that they're attending... At the absolute latest, I'm sure we'll get shiny new info at BlizzCon (although that's months away)!

 

[slipknot4]

I don't really care, there are so many good games comming out right now we could spen the waiting time with awesome rts games like Red Alert 3 CC, DoW 2 and various other good games.

 

[xenxander]

The more hyped up the media on a long awaited game, the more disappointing it tends to be, or the less people really start to care about it.

Don't think too much on it.

 

[Powerman88]

After the announced SC2 was going to be 3 games of 1 campaign, lookre skinned with new levels, and that D3 was a D2 reskinned with new classes and levels, I lost interest. Notice a trend here?
SC2 I will probably play, some day, after the whole thing is available. Assuming of course the game is not the best thing since sliced bread.
Diablo, I hope they do a good job on, I do love a good dungeon crawler. And will probably play this one UNLESS it gets bad reviews.

IMO, Blizzard isn't the innovator it used to be. They have learned the ways of Nintendo and will make the same game with a different storyline and a new sticker that says $50.

How can you say that? They have never done anything but innovate and if you don't trust my opinion (and you shouldn't) then trust the plain ol' fashioned facts.

Every game Blizzard has released on the PC (From Warcraft:Orcs and Humans, Warcraft 2, Diablo, Starcraft, Diablo 2, Warcraft 3 and all the expansions in between) each game has always stepped up the ante and done something to revolutionize the genre. When it came out in 1994 there was nothing on the market remotely resembling its level of polish and stability. When Warcraft 2 came out it certainly was not a reskin (and I don't think anyone who has ever played any of the sequels which Blizzard DOES love to release can really call any of them a reskin) as it really advanced the gameplay and overall tone of the game. Let we not forget that in the expansion for Warcraft 2 Blizzard introduced the Hero system into RTS's which has become a staple of the genre. Starcraft took the same genre Blizzard helped to invent and gave it a completely different feel then any other RTS that came out. Its not often you see the same developer have two COMPLETELY different, successful games in the same exact genre that feel so different.

When Diablo came out in 1996 it was definitely new, innovative, and a completely different take on the dungeon crawler. There was never a game that featured fully realized, random environments with the co-op gameplay mechanics that were FAR beyond their time. Then Diablo 2 came out, and changed the whole game in terms of introducing an advancement system, an EPIC storyline, and infinite replayability.

Plus every game Blizzard has EVER released has made ungodly amounts of cash. (They did this by selling millions of units worldwide)

Sorry, but I don't get this fascination with Blizzard at all. I mean they released a few good games ages ago. Then they released a decently balanced MMO, and that's it. They've brought out patches for their game (Which admittedly, shouldn't need to be there had the game been 100% perfect), and a couple of cash-cow expansions.

Why should we expect everything good, when this is all we have to show for it.

There is the Beast known as WOW. You can not argue; WOW is WIDELY profitable and brings in BILLIONS a month worldwide. They could bail out the world economy with a year's worth of WOW grosses (I kid of course). It bothers me because I am very over MMO's in general but you can not be mad at a company for wanting to focus a lot on a VERY profitable division. I really wish they would release Diablo 3, and more new IP's, but you can not blame a company for making money. It's what keeps them all in a job.

I like to think it's the retard playerbase of WoW that has wronged Blizzard, because the developers religiously power up something and then completely destroy something else in order to, in massive inverted commas, 'balance it out'.

You can not generalize a whole userbase based on your opinion of the content. Oh wait yea you can but I would like to say that ALL MMO PLAYERS ARE RETARDED! (Once again I kid of course, but not really). Comments like yours further pretentious nerds to attempt to alienate and prevent people from enjoying entertainment (and arguably art, thats another thread).

Make it too similar, and we have complaints like this that the developers aren't coming up with anything new.

Make it too different, and we have the fiasco like what happened with Dawn of War 2 where regardless of the actual quality of the game, there will be legions of fanboys declaring it an abomination.

Blizzard sticks to what they know. It's not going to re-invent the industry, but it does guarantee that if you liked the previous games it's pretty much a sure thing you'll like the sequels as well. I can respect Blizzard for that!

I half agree. Blizzard have reinvented every genre they have ever released a game in. Find me a game that hasn't. If you say WoW, you would be flat out wrong. Anything else they have done has always been the bar of the genre (and template to rip off).

Okay, that ends my verbal fellation of Blizzard.