Diablo IV

[Shadenuat]

idk what you mean d2 doesn't get old players back.
at least if you judge by 'dex, people replay this game a lot, new grafix or not.
I don't understand why you believe and want to die on a hill that, for game to be good, it has to be played every day, until you die.

 

[Kjaska]

I don't understand why you believe and want to die on a hill that, for game to be good, it has to be played every day, until you die.

That's not my argument. I'm saying that longevity isn't achieved by solid gameplay alone and also that whether a game is going to be played by anyone is not primarily up to the quality of the gameplay.

 

[Shadenuat]

Yeah but what does it have to do with us i.e codexers?
We are the kind of gaming class whos whole purpose is to find jewels in the rough, show them to the world, and stand for quality of gameplay; primarely.

 

[Kjaska]

We are the kind of gaming class whos whole purpose is to find jewels in the rough

We'll be digging for a while in this particular thread then

 

[BlackAdderBG]

We are the kind of gaming class whos whole purpose is to find jewels in the rough

We'll be digging for a while in this particular thread then

We already had out first jewel though, Star Citizen have a fairer monetization than PoE.

 

[mediocrepoet]

We are the kind of gaming class whos whole purpose is to find jewels in the rough

We'll be digging for a while in this particular thread then

The time honoured Codexian tradition of digging for gems in shit.

 

[Shadenuat]

Yeah, on second glance I definitely should have added /sarcasm tag to what I wrote.
And digging in shit is much more like it too.

 

[SumDrunkGuy]

I like this discussion. Somebody should make an official "only fags an 'tards like PoE" thread. I'd make it myself but... ya know.

 

[mediocrepoet]

I like this discussion. Somebody should make an official "only fags an 'tards like PoE" thread. I'd make it myself but... ya know.

Just put your observations in to the POE thread kicking around here.

 

[Bigg Boss]

I like this discussion. Somebody should make an official "only fags an 'tards like PoE" thread. I'd make it myself but... ya know.

I'm gonna pull the "dude you don't even play rpg's or own a pc" card now lol.

 

[SumDrunkGuy]

I like this discussion. Somebody should make an official "only fags an 'tards like PoE" thread. I'd make it myself but... ya know.

I'm gonna pull the "dude you don't even play rpg's or own a pc" card now lol.

Oh you know I always trump that card Boss bruv.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Not even Blizzard was able to make a good Diablo game after Diablo 1. It's the curse of the series, all its clones and sequels will be bad.

What a coincidence, blizzard didn't make diablo.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Not even Blizzard was able to make a good Diablo game after Diablo 1. It's the curse of the series, all its clones and sequels will be bad.

What a coincidence, blizzard didn't make diablo.

We need a sigh emoji. Or maybe ugh. Oh well.

Even if you were going for technically correct pedantry as usual, Blizzard North was part of Blizzard after acquisition even if all those guys left after D2. Besides, Viata said after D1 and Blizzard North made D1, D2, and LoD. Sure, it was different people on D3 on, but whatever.

 

[SumDrunkGuy]

You all fight amongst yourselves. I'm just gonna sit here and try to remember the magical feelies of playing Diablo 1 for the first time as a kid. That's easily one of my top ten best childhood gaming experiences. I would give anything to forget the adult life and go back there.

 

[SumDrunkGuy]

That opening theme still gits me.

 

[mediocrepoet]

You all fight amongst yourselves. I'm just gonna sit here and try to remember the magical feelies of playing Diablo 1 for the first time as a kid. That's easily one of my top ten best childhood gaming experiences. I would give anything to forget the adult life and go back there.

Here you go, bud.

 

[Sykar]

And D2 resurrected shows that it's not just nostalgia glasses. Original gameplay is just quite solid and holds people without flashy skins, or even bloating game with more and more mechanics.
Good games hold up.

I think D2 is evidence to the contrary. How many people are still playing it after its initial launch? Why even have a complete graphical overhaul, if the good gameplay is what the game is about? Why even pay a full price for a game that you have already played a lot and probably still own? Just for the new graphics.

It was more that this subgenre is fairly saturated

It's funny you say that, because a lot of PoE's success is due to the long drought the genre experienced. In turn, PoE's success motivated smaller developers to try their own foray into the genre and now it feels healthy again.

The bnet channels before the release of D2R were still packed to the brim every single time I had vacation in online Sanctuary. How is its popularity a contrary? D2 is a very good game for its genre. In terms of gameplay and build variety it is leaps and bounds beyond D1. D1 really only has atmosphere being superior but it is not like D2 is lacking atmosphere, it is still good to very good at times, when you go down tombs and other such dungeons.
The main fault was that LoD opened the flood gates for power creep. THAT is the big problem like in most games of that kind, in conjunction with the completely and utterly retarded synergy system, which is why I prefer to play 1.09 as the last relatively balanced though a tad easy version via mods. I still prefer to play LoD version despite the weaknesses because I enjoy melee Assassin and summoner and elemental Druid so much. Some here proclaim that D2 is right out of the gate like endgame PoE. That is nonsense. SSF is god damn nerve wrecking all the way down to Hell Baal and you will be forced countless times to flee and approach cautiously. Hell difficulty with self found gear only is one of the toughest experience still, especially in hardcore ladder.
Considering that now the channels are pretty barren, I can say with confidence that sadly D2R is a success. How much of a success is debatable but a success nonetheless. Still the list of open games are still full in what is now called D2 Legacy. A positive change, or maybe side effect, is that the game is refreshingly free of bots these days. At least the type that aggressively tries to promote shitty items for even shittier cash stores and crappy leveling services.

 

[Lim-Dûl]

I think D2 is evidence to the contrary. How many people are still playing it after its initial launch? Why even have a complete graphical overhaul, if the good gameplay is what the game is about? Why even pay a full price for a game that you have already played a lot and probably still own? Just for the new graphics.

Actually there are many posts on other websites saying how D2R got people into Project Diablo 2. Vanilla LoD wasn't bringing in new people because there was no significant addition to the content for a while. Now that PD2 is adding new content that does not feel out of place compared to the vanilla game (unlike Median XL which feels completely different from vanilla), and doing a ton of long-needed balancing (runewords, dumb skills, unused skills and so on), there are more and more people returning to/picking up the game.

 

[Sykar]

What new content was added to D2R? People still seem to consider farming keys and doing Uber Tristram as the endgame activity.

 

[Kjaska]

The bnet channels before the release of D2R were still packed to the brim

Just to clarify: my point wasn't "nobody plays D2 anymore". It was "there was a large but brief spike of interest for D2 and it was due to a complete graphical overhaul, not due to its inherent game design". If you have numbers that contradict my point, I'll gladly look at them.

 

[Sykar]

Wait, you expect numbers from me, but fail to present any of your own?

 

[Generic-Giant-Spider]

You mean to tell me after 20 years people may have played OTHER games???

 

[Peachcurl]

You mean to tell me after 20 years people may have played OTHER games???

yes, like this one:

 

[Kjaska]

Wait, you expect numbers from me, but fail to present any of your own?

twitch category:

google trends for "diablo":

google trends for "diablo 2 resurrected":

all point to a large but brief spike in interest for D2

 

[mediocrepoet]

Wait, you expect numbers from me, but fail to present any of your own?

5 is a good number. I like 5.

But Kjaska's point shouldn't be overly surprising. Most games follow a similar pattern of large interest and then waning and Diablo 2 is old af and changed nothing about the underlying gameplay (thank God). Despite this generally being a good thing, it's also dated as can be seen in design decisions like not having multiple skills mapped like pretty much everything in the genre that's even somewhat current. I mean, even Titan Quest had that. D2, by contrast has left and right mouse click + your belt slots and then assignable F-keys to change your right mouse click. That's clunky as hell and dated.