Diablo 4 announced

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JSt0rm

Lifer
Sep 5, 2000
27,399
3,947
126
I'm glad they went back to a darker tone and I really hope they keep that. The gameplay that I've seen looks really good but I am a little worried that the skill system might be a bit too simplistic. After D3 I think me expectations of what Diablo games are going to be going forward have changed. I feel like I view it almost like I view Marvel movies at this point, they aren't going to be stunningly original works of art but they can still be fun.

At the very least this will keep pushing POE and I look forward to seeing what they do with 4.0.

diablo is def arpg for mass consumption. However, they are introducing a few tweaks to the system that will hopefully keep the end game spicy.
 

JSt0rm

Lifer
Sep 5, 2000
27,399
3,947
126
Well, Path of Exile 2 was announced over the weekend. New engine with updated graphics, looks great and very "dark", coming in 1 year and still free to play.
they also announced a MOBILE game! not as a joke!
by the time D4 comes out, it could already be rendered obsolete in terms of gameplay mechanics.

I really need to try and get into poe.
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
110,515
29,100
146
One of my favorite couples memories and gaming memory.
Sitting on the couch at her apartment, playing Diablo 1 on the PlayStation, big snowstorm outside, her apartment was not insulated or heated well so I bought a small space heater and we just sat on the couch leaning against each other with blankets. Played that game together nearly the entire day.

...actually sounds like a wasted opportunity. :D
 

gerald95

Member
Oct 16, 2019
49
5
36
Well, Path of Exile 2 was announced over the weekend. New engine with updated graphics, looks great and very "dark", coming in 1 year and still free to play.
they also announced a MOBILE game! not as a joke!
by the time D4 comes out, it could already be rendered obsolete in terms of gameplay mechanics.
PoE2 sounds really sick. And if it's going to be f2p like the original game then probably I am quitting my job and saying goodbye to my social life. :)
 

Majes

Golden Member
Apr 8, 2008
1,164
148
106
I got a real kick out of comparing Blizzcon and Exilecon. Blizzard does a great job with their production, particularly with their competitions and trailers. The might have the best production quality out of all gaming companies.

Grinding Gear Games on the other hand is very new to this, and it showed. There was awkwardness, and mistakes aplenty. But at the same time they really catered to their fans. They answered any and every question they were asked. Blizzard would never do that! They heavily involved their community and let it be known that they make changes based on what the fans want. Chris Wilson literally begged the people attending to try their mobile game, then said "we will make this what you need it to be".

And you know what? They will. The speed at which this company produces content is amazing. I doubt it will ever be as polished as Blizzard, but I honestly don't think most people care. The way they set things up Diablo 4 will be competing with a brand new version of Path of Exile that already has an extensive end-game, and allows players to use all of their old stuff. That could very well go poorly for Blizzard.
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
126
Chris Wilson literally begged the people attending to try their mobile game, then said "we will make this what you need it to be".

I'll be honest... I've never understood the hate that people have for mobile games. Sure, companies can put out absolute garbage in the guise of it being a legitimate entry in a franchise. A great example of that would be Nintendo's latest Mario Kart Tour, which has been lambasted as a cash grab, gatcha game. (As a side note, "gatcha game" refers to those capsule machines where you insert some money, and receive a pod with a random toy/item in it.) On the other hand, just because a game is on mobile doesn't imply that it will be bad.

I brought this same remark up with Diablo Immortal in that it's not like some of these genres don't work on mobile, but rather the developers/publishers often muddy the game with awkward design/monetization choices. Gameloft is an interesting demonstration of this as I actually enjoyed playing the first Dungeon Hunter on iOS, which was pretty much just a simple Diablo clone. Was it as good as the Diablo series? Of course not, but it was never supposed to be. It was a fun little mobile time waster that was competent in its own right. Although, Gameloft realized that a premium game just didn't make as much money on mobile, and they ended up releasing later sequels as free-to-play games with arguably poor monetization. (I tried them out and wasn't enthused.)

The biggest thing that I can see about a PoE mobile game is that you've got a developer that appears to care about their fan base, and already has a successful free-to-play game on PC. Although, whether that will translate to a successful free-to-play game on mobile is a different story. In the end, I'll give it a look and give it a shot if it seems compelling.
 

aigomorla

CPU, Cases&Cooling Mod PC Gaming Mod Elite Member
Super Moderator
Sep 28, 2005
20,839
3,174
126
I've never understood the hate that people have for mobile games.

its because most / not all / but most mobile games are designed to prey hardcore on minors, by the overly heavy usage of micro transactions.

We hate it enough on PC, but what we see on PC isn't even 1/10th of what you see on mobile, with time gates on top.

This is why most of us PC gamers abhor mobile games, because we already expect it to be a microtransaction hog posh.

You really cant have a mobile game without microtransactions so we rather not have them period.
 
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GodisanAtheist

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2006
6,719
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its because most / not all / but most mobile games are designed to prey hardcore on minors, by the overly heavy usage of micro transactions.

We hate it enough on PC, but what we see on PC isn't even 1/10th of what you see on mobile, with time gates on top.

This is why most of us PC gamers abhor mobile games, because we already expect it to be a microtransaction hog posh.

You really cant have a mobile game without microtransactions so we rather not have them period.

- This is a big part of it, combined with the fact that hardware specs across the mobile spectrum are so varied that no one wants to really put in the time and money to make something that maybe a fraction of phone users can really run well. If people are confused about their computer specs, good luck getting them to figure all that out with phones.

On top of that you have to really fight through the mountains of trash on the various app stores and the fact that touchscreens just flat out suck for most gaming and you have the perfect recipe for cartoon colored 2d sprite heavily monetized "Angry Guy of Yelling" style games.

Apple has, in a way, really squandered some opportunities to use their walled garden and standardized hardware to go after the mobile gaming market in a big way by marketing their phones as sort of mobile consoles for gamers.
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
126
its because most / not all / but most mobile games are designed to prey hardcore on minors, by the overly heavy usage of micro transactions.

But you hate on it without even giving it a chance. Maybe I'm just optimistic, but if I don't suspect that a company will go down a bad path with their mobile games, then I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. For example, Gameloft isn't going to get that, but I'd be willing to give it to Grinding Gear Games or Blizzard. (And I'm sure I'll hear enough remarks about including the latter in that list.)

Apple has, in a way, really squandered some opportunities to use their walled garden and standardized hardware to go after the mobile gaming market in a big way by marketing their phones as sort of mobile consoles for gamers.

That's what Apple Arcade is supposed to be.
 

DeathReborn

Platinum Member
Oct 11, 2005
2,743
734
136
its because most / not all / but most mobile games are designed to prey hardcore on minors, by the overly heavy usage of micro transactions.

We hate it enough on PC, but what we see on PC isn't even 1/10th of what you see on mobile, with time gates on top.

This is why most of us PC gamers abhor mobile games, because we already expect it to be a microtransaction hog posh.

You really cant have a mobile game without microtransactions so we rather not have them period.

Not to mention that "Diablo" Immortal looks like a reskin of a reskin of Crusaders of Light (plus Endless of God) by Netease, the company Blizzard vehemently claim built the game brand new from scratch... such shortcuts on mobile are common place, as is Blizzard telling porkies about things.

I have tried some of these "Freemium" type games and you quickly get "buy this for big discount" and "day 1 discount" etc then at every stage of the game you get inundated with the feeling that you need to buy their overpriced packs just to catch up/keep up with others. Instead of that I dropped the games completely, "freemium" is a big con and regulators are as usual far behind the greedy developers/publishers.
 

Majes

Golden Member
Apr 8, 2008
1,164
148
106
I'll be honest... I've never understood the hate that people have for mobile games.

Oh, the hate for Diablo Immortal came mainly because fans were hoping for a new installment in the Diablo series, and instead the "huge" Blizzcon announcement was a mobile game. Fans didn't even have to think about the negative connotations associated with mobile games. They were disappointed even before any of that was considered.

It ended up being a perfect example of how disconnected Blizzard is from its fan base.
 

Chromagnus

Senior member
Feb 28, 2017
255
111
86
Oh, the hate for Diablo Immortal came mainly because fans were hoping for a new installment in the Diablo series, and instead the "huge" Blizzcon announcement was a mobile game. Fans didn't even have to think about the negative connotations associated with mobile games. They were disappointed even before any of that was considered.

It ended up being a perfect example of how disconnected Blizzard is from its fan base.

I think this is a lot of it. A lot of people play mobile games but the level of excitement just isn't as high for them. They announced Immortal like it was some ground breaking thing that everyone should be excited about. If they had announced it at the same time as D4 it wouldn't have gotten the same type of hate.
 
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Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
126
Oh, the hate for Diablo Immortal came mainly because fans were hoping for a new installment in the Diablo series, and instead the "huge" Blizzcon announcement was a mobile game. Fans didn't even have to think about the negative connotations associated with mobile games. They were disappointed even before any of that was considered.

It ended up being a perfect example of how disconnected Blizzard is from its fan base.

Except we all knew that Diablo IV was highly likely to be announced later on -- as it turned out, the next year. Would I be annoyed if Diablo Immortal represented a shift in the entire franchise (away from its roots)? Probably, but I knew that it wasn't likely. It's just a mobile game meant to add to Blizzard's portfolio of games, and we'd eventually get the main entry in the franchise. It also helped that we had tales and rumors of turmoil with the Diablo IV development, which let us know that something was in the works, and also likely why we didn't get to see it. Also, prior to that Blizzcon, Blizzard posted a slightly vague article about there being multiple Diablo projects in the works, but also that not all of them would be shown off at Blizzcon '18.

I mean... at least for me, there was plenty to make me not fret at all about Diablo Immortal and the eventual unveiling of Diablo IV. ...and I don't care if Diablo Immortal is a "reskin" with some tweaks, as long as it's fun and doesn't try to monetize me to hell.

Ultimately, I'm just waiting to see what actually ends up coming out. Although, on that note, it seemed fairly far along, so I'm kind of surprised that we haven't seen anything on it yet. But if the game ends up being an overly monetized slog of a game, I'll be glad to lambaste Blizzard over it just as I would give Nintendo flak over Mario Kart Tour.
 

Moonbucks

Junior Member
Sep 14, 2019
7
0
11
Diablo itself might look better as a female character. Diablo 4 trailers looked interesting to watch.