Diablo IV

[Reinhardt]

don't remember any act bosses in d3.

well, i don't remember act 1 boss in d4 either. some random flying thingy, i guess?

 

[S.H.O.D.A.N.]

don't remember any act bosses in d3.

You don't remember when that one girl turned into Diablo because reasons?

 

[Reinhardt]

don't remember any act bosses in d3.

You don't remember when that one girl turned into Diablo because reasons?

she became act boss?

 

[v1c70r14]

For crying out loud, you people are falling for one of the oldest game journalist follys in the book, equating game writing with novel writing.

You're right that the two aren't the same but what you are doing instead is calling the production writing. When people say they remember the Butcher's line it's not because it was stellar writing, but because of the voice acting, the surrounding ambience, the level and graphics design. That he comes rushing out from a room full with corpses, that the line was delivered well enough and all else that surrounded that line. You even say so in your post.

Combining music, visuals, text, and gameplay into one coherent package - that's what video game narrative building is all about

Meaning we are not actually talking about writing anymore. Video game writing is comparable to any other writing when it stands by itself, and better prose can improve a game if the surrounding production facilitates that. Diablo did not have good writing but it would not have been improved much by the developers employing a proper wordsmith anyway.

 

[whocares]

I will not eat the bugs. I will not live in a pod. I will not use 2FA.

 

[Zeriel]

Video game writing is comparable to any other writing when it stands by itself, and better prose can improve a game if the surrounding production facilitates that. Diablo did not have good writing but it would not have been improved much by the developers employing a proper wordsmith anyway.

No, no it is not. A writer only has text to work with. A game writer has a plethora of other tools and caveats to consider. Those mentioned above and also the game's pacing and genre. Hell, even the font plays a part (another thing DIV fails at). So for an ARPG like Diablo you have to be as succinct as possible so as not to break up the gameplay loop for too long.

You don't need vivid descriptions when you have visuals. You don't need to build up ephemeral atmosphere when you have a kickass soundtrack getting players in the mood. You need to figure out how to convey your idea in the least amount of words and still have it be impactful.

When instead of all that you try to refine your prose, and you're not one of like 3 people in the industry, you get Pillars of Eternity and we all know how that turned out.

Eh, it all works in synergy. Personally I find even games with "modern" production values and dazzling visuals are better when text is employed in some way. For example if you have an inventory system, an item is FAR more evocative if it has a brief blurb about it than if it is just an image of that item, regardless of how good the image is.

 

[Reinhardt]

Video game writing is comparable to any other writing when it stands by itself, and better prose can improve a game if the surrounding production facilitates that. Diablo did not have good writing but it would not have been improved much by the developers employing a proper wordsmith anyway.

No, no it is not. A writer only has text to work with. A game writer has a plethora of other tools and caveats to consider. Those mentioned above and also the game's pacing and genre. Hell, even the font plays a part (another thing DIV fails at). So for an ARPG like Diablo you have to be as succinct as possible so as not to break up the gameplay loop for too long.

You don't need vivid descriptions when you have visuals. You don't need to build up ephemeral atmosphere when you have a kickass soundtrack getting players in the mood. You need to figure out how to convey your idea in the least amount of words and still have it be impactful.

When instead of all that you try to refine your prose, and you're not one of like 3 people in the industry, you get Pillars of Eternity and we all know how that turned out.

Eh, it all works in synergy. Personally I find even games with "modern" production values and dazzling visuals are better when text is employed in some way. For example if you have an inventory system, an item is FAR more evocative if it has a brief blurb about it than if it is just an image of that item, regardless of how good the image is.

doesn't matter when ring and full plate are same size in your inventory.

 

[Arbiter]

doesn't matter when ring and full plate are same size in your inventory.

Truth be told, this is how it worked in Infinity Engine games too.

 

[ArchAngel]

doesn't matter when ring and full plate are same size in your inventory.

Truth be told, this is how it worked in Infinity Engine games too.

Not the same. It was a technical limitation at that time, they also fixed it by introducing gems bags and such.
Diablo 4 is pure design decision.

 

[Arbiter]

doesn't matter when ring and full plate are same size in your inventory.

Truth be told, this is how it worked in Infinity Engine games too.

Not the same. It was a technical limitation at that time, they also fixed it by introducing gems bags and such.
Diablo 4 is pure design decision.

It wasn't a technical limitation, Diablo 1 with items of different sizes was released 2 years before BG1, the first IE game, and Tetris was released in mid 80s.

 

[Reinhardt]

doesn't matter when ring and full plate are same size in your inventory.

Truth be told, this is how it worked in Infinity Engine games too.

Not the same. It was a technical limitation at that time, they also fixed it by introducing gems bags and such.
Diablo 4 is pure design decision.

It wasn't a technical limitation, Diablo 1 with items of different sizes was released 2 years before BG1, the first IE game, and Tetris was released in mid 80s.

i prefer comparission with m&m, for example. at least it has party and you manage few characters inventories.

 

[mediocrepoet]

doesn't matter when ring and full plate are same size in your inventory.

Truth be told, this is how it worked in Infinity Engine games too.

Not the same. It was a technical limitation at that time, they also fixed it by introducing gems bags and such.
Diablo 4 is pure design decision.

How on Earth could this be a serious statement?

Yeah, back in the late 90s, before computers evolved the ability to display objects of different sizes.

Are you retarded?

 

[ArchAngel]

doesn't matter when ring and full plate are same size in your inventory.

Truth be told, this is how it worked in Infinity Engine games too.

Not the same. It was a technical limitation at that time, they also fixed it by introducing gems bags and such.
Diablo 4 is pure design decision.

It wasn't a technical limitation, Diablo 1 with items of different sizes was released 2 years before BG1, the first IE game, and Tetris was released in mid 80s.

Were D1 and IE games using same engine? And what does tetris have to do with these games?!
Your comparison is terrible

 

[ArchAngel]

doesn't matter when ring and full plate are same size in your inventory.

Truth be told, this is how it worked in Infinity Engine games too.

Not the same. It was a technical limitation at that time, they also fixed it by introducing gems bags and such.
Diablo 4 is pure design decision.

How on Earth could this be a serious statement?

Yeah, back in the late 90s, before computers evolved the ability to display objects of different sizes.

Are you retarded?

You do understand that back in 90s there were no uniform engines that everyone was using?
IE was originally developed for RTS, Diablo was supposed to be TB and so on..
Also the amount of money and manpower that is going into modern AAA games like D4 is not comparable to anything in the past.

They are building Aircraft carriers now when then they were making sailing boats.

 

[Arbiter]

doesn't matter when ring and full plate are same size in your inventory.

Truth be told, this is how it worked in Infinity Engine games too.

Not the same. It was a technical limitation at that time, they also fixed it by introducing gems bags and such.
Diablo 4 is pure design decision.

It wasn't a technical limitation, Diablo 1 with items of different sizes was released 2 years before BG1, the first IE game, and Tetris was released in mid 80s.

Were D1 and IE games using same engine? And what does tetris have to do with these games?!
Your comparison is terrible

"Technical limitation" - implies hardware or software at a given time not capable of doing something.

Baldur's Gate was developed over a period of 3 years, plenty of time to implement an inventory grid with variable size items if developers wanted to.

 

[ArchAngel]

doesn't matter when ring and full plate are same size in your inventory.

Truth be told, this is how it worked in Infinity Engine games too.

Not the same. It was a technical limitation at that time, they also fixed it by introducing gems bags and such.
Diablo 4 is pure design decision.

It wasn't a technical limitation, Diablo 1 with items of different sizes was released 2 years before BG1, the first IE game, and Tetris was released in mid 80s.

Were D1 and IE games using same engine? And what does tetris have to do with these games?!
Your comparison is terrible

"Technical limitation" - implies hardware or software at a given time not capable of doing something.

Baldur's Gate was developed over a period of 3 years, plenty of time to implement an inventory grid with variable size items if developers wanted to.

OK, maybe I used a wrong word. Sure they could have wasted time to implement that but considering they didn't even think of implementing gem bags until BG2 I doubt they had the time or manpower to do it. That is the technical limitation I mean. And D4 team has zero excuse for that, for them that was 100% design decision.

 

[Arbiter]

You do understand that back in 90s there were no uniform engines that everyone was using?
IE was originally developed for RTS, Diablo was supposed to be TB and so on..

One does not need a complete off-the-shelf engine to implement something as simple as an inventory screen.

Also the amount of money and manpower that is going into modern AAA games like D4 is not comparable to anything in the past.

D1 was developed on a small budget and yet it featured an inventory with items of variable size. It even featured procedural generation of levels, something that is missing from big budget D3.

 

[Grotesque]

Who says that Diablo never had good writing, it's a retard






Good or bad, it's way better than purple farts like Tides of Numenera or Pillars of Eternity, squirted out by legends! of the industry

 

[abija]

It even featured procedural generation of levels, something that is missing from big budget D3.

Huh?

 

[Arbiter]

It even featured procedural generation of levels, something that is missing from big budget D3.

Huh?

Bad choice of words, there was some randomization, especially in dungeons, in D3 vanilla, but it was very limited compared to previous installments. Blizzard admitted that before releasing the expansion: https://www.eurogamer.net/random-is-back-in-diablo-3-reaper-of-souls

Game director Josh Mosqueira admitted that the original game's campaign did not sit well with the series' tradition of randomisation, with environments that felt largely similar on subsequent play-throughs.

 

[Jimeh]

Imagine complaining that a Diablo game had bad writing. xD You're really trying too hard to find shit to hate on.

I guess I'm just lucky, probably being a fair bit older than most of you. I still compare games to old shit.

I mean, imagine sitting down with a friend at the NES. It's like 1990 or something.

"Wanna play consecutive turns multiplayer Super Mario?"
"Ehhhhhh..."
"I've got Super Mario 3? That's pretty good...?"
"Ehhhhh..."
"How about some Duck Hunt?!"
"pfffftpffpfpfpffff..."
"Well, actually, I've got this game with simultaneous multiplayer we could have a look at called DIABLO 4...

MIND = BLOWN

 

[mediocrepoet]

How on Earth could this be a serious statement?

Yeah, back in the late 90s, before computers evolved the ability to display objects of different sizes.

Are you retarded?

You do understand that back in 90s there were no uniform engines that everyone was using?
IE was originally developed for RTS, Diablo was supposed to be TB and so on..
Also the amount of money and manpower that is going into modern AAA games like D4 is not comparable to anything in the past.

They are building Aircraft carriers now when then they were making sailing boats.

In the future you can save yourself some time by simply answering, "Yes."

 

[Kjaska]

 

[Great Deceiver]

Apparently Blizzard has been unable to replicate the ability to cancel the backswing of an attack and not have it affect base attack speed, an arcane knowledge from Warcraft 3, 21 years ago.

 

[ELEXmakesMeHard]

Ok, Reddit did something good for once.