Why doesn't blizzard treat Diablo 3 as a serious game?

as in serious I mean why dont they go all out? why do they think WOW graphics are good enough? ALL MMO's ive ever played use those cartoon kind of graphics, but diablo isnt an MMO diablo 3 is a normal game where they should max out the graphics. The graphics in diablo 1 and diablo 2 were kind of like nightmare after christmas type of graphics except more realistic, i think theyre going the wrong way dude

you are right. it also kind of seems like there taking to long also, mabye they should get a bigger team or sumthin. Unless they can make a crap load of content that will last a long,long time, then i will not be satisfied because it has taken 3 years.

What does the graphics have to see with this? I think you missed Warcraft 3 if you think the graphics are ''like WoW''.

Seriously, this always been the artstyle of blizzard since the switch from 2D to 3D... Im pretty damn sure they use this so called style because you can make good looking games that will be handled by a large variety of computers (which is another trademark of Blizzard).

The graphics in diablo 1 and diablo 2 were kind of like nightmare after christmas type of graphics except more realistic.

qwertyu

uh huh. Yeah.

To be honest, I share the exact same opinion as you, but most people here totally disagree with us. They have full faith in Blizzard making a great game with amazing gameplay mechanics. But what they dont fail to realize is that the art style Blizzard is pushing forward for this game is the problem. Diablo 1 and 2 were great games and one of the reasons why I kept coming back to it was the creepy atmosphere, IMO the creepy and dark atmosphere coupled with the amazing music (Matt Uelmen ftw) is what truly made the game for me. I tried playing Titan Quest, a totally amazing game that beats Diablo in many aspects but there was something missing, and I'm sure you all know what im about to say. The creepy atmosphere, albeit TQ has a totally different setting, its gameplay was just to reminiscent of Diablo that I just wanted that dark and cold setting to come back and haunt me yet again. I totally remember those days as a child when I first started playing the original Diablo, I was scared out of my mind! It was just to dark and had a mysterious vibe, and I loved every minute of it. I'm impressed that Blizzard is taking the risk of giving Diablo a fresh new look, but its just not needed. A game with more realistic graphics (im not saying crysis, im saying something that atleast decently resembles the lifestyle in the middle ages, with a slight hint of fantasy) and a more realistic approach would have been better. Even though Diablo is all about magic and demons, I just dont feel the art style, even though its a REALLY smart decision on Blizzard's part.

The graphics look wicked, you're high on crack

I never found the graphics of D1 or 2 to be the strong point of the games - so the graphic style of D3 means little to me

Personally, I prefer artistic direction over technical direction. Its one of the reasons I prefer TF2 over many other multiplayer games that have those wonderful, "realistic" shades and hues of grays and browns. Blizzard says to have gone over at least a couple of art styles before choosing the one they are using now, saying that the grays and browns made it look rather dull & difficult to differenciate between enemy types and keep up with the action compared to the green and blue tints. But hey, we all have our opinions. And yes, I have %100 faith in Blizzard as its the only company I've come across that hasnt made a single mediocre game (imo). And it doesn't looks like WoW. If the graphics actually looked like WoW .... I don't know. Its not cartoony, its just vibrant.

To be honest, I share the exact same opinion as you, but most people here totally disagree with us. They have full faith in Blizzard making a great game with amazing gameplay mechanics. But what they dont fail to realize is that the art style Blizzard is pushing forward for this game is the problem. Diablo 1 and 2 were great games and one of the reasons why I kept coming back to it was the creepy atmosphere, IMO the creepy and dark atmosphere coupled with the amazing music (Matt Uelmen ftw) is what truly made the game for me. I tried playing Titan Quest, a totally amazing game that beats Diablo in many aspects but there was something missing, and I'm sure you all know what im about to say. The creepy atmosphere, albeit TQ has a totally different setting, its gameplay was just to reminiscent of Diablo that I just wanted that dark and cold setting to come back and haunt me yet again. I totally remember those days as a child when I first started playing the original Diablo, I was scared out of my mind! It was just to dark and had a mysterious vibe, and I loved every minute of it. I'm impressed that Blizzard is taking the risk of giving Diablo a fresh new look, but its just not needed. A game with more realistic graphics (im not saying crysis, im saying something that atleast decently resembles the lifestyle in the middle ages, with a slight hint of fantasy) and a more realistic approach would have been better. Even though Diablo is all about magic and demons, I just dont feel the art style, even though its a REALLY smart decision on Blizzard's part.

DODGE_THIS_YO

yeah, I agree completely, the music and the graphics were TOTALLY different than anything ever made at that time, remember back on diablo 1, seeing the BUTCHER and the SKELETON king, those were scary, now in 3d who gives a damn, its just some halloween toyqwertyu

Except Diablo 2 was about as bright as a mardi gras celebration. Did you forgot the entire act 2 of Diablo and the neon bright desert? Or the screenshot i posted that looked like christmas. Diablo 2's a pretty bright game overall especially once the effects start going on.

Theres a reason that games like WOW and the Sims are ridiculously popular, beyond just the gameplay. Nearly anyone with a computer can play them...

[QUOTE="qwertyu"] yeah, I agree completely, the music and the graphics were TOTALLY different than anything ever made at that time, remember back on diablo 1, seeing the BUTCHER and the SKELETON king, those were scary, now in 3d who gives a damn, its just some halloween toyXaosII

Except Diablo 2 was about as bright as a mardi gras celebration. Did you forgot the entire act 2 of Diablo and the neon bright desert? Or the screenshot i posted that looked like christmas. Diablo 2's a pretty bright game overall especially once the effects start going on.

[QUOTE="qwertyu"] yeah, I agree completely, the music and the graphics were TOTALLY different than anything ever made at that time, remember back on diablo 1, seeing the BUTCHER and the SKELETON king, those were scary, now in 3d who gives a damn, its just some halloween toyXaosII

Except Diablo 2 was about as bright as a mardi gras celebration. Did you forgot the entire act 2 of Diablo and the neon bright desert? Or the screenshot i posted that looked like christmas. Diablo 2's a pretty bright game overall especially once the effects start going on.

The graphics look wicked, you're high on crack

weirjf

Diablo 3 looks awesome.... it has colour but nothing like WoW....what do you want it to look like, FEAR?FelipeInside

I think it looks more like a painting rather than wow..it looks beautiful...if you watch gameplay videos such as http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNPGWjx3Y0c it looks great and unlike wow

[QUOTE="XaosII"]

[QUOTE="qwertyu"] yeah, I agree completely, the music and the graphics were TOTALLY different than anything ever made at that time, remember back on diablo 1, seeing the BUTCHER and the SKELETON king, those were scary, now in 3d who gives a damn, its just some halloween toyGodLovesDead

Except Diablo 2 was about as bright as a mardi gras celebration. Did you forgot the entire act 2 of Diablo and the neon bright desert? Or the screenshot i posted that looked like christmas. Diablo 2's a pretty bright game overall especially once the effects start going on.

I personally think that we should play the game and then see if it still has the diablo type feel of the past..haters may be surprised and possibly people who like it as of now too

[QUOTE="XaosII"]

[QUOTE="qwertyu"] yeah, I agree completely, the music and the graphics were TOTALLY different than anything ever made at that time, remember back on diablo 1, seeing the BUTCHER and the SKELETON king, those were scary, now in 3d who gives a damn, its just some halloween toyGodLovesDead

Except Diablo 2 was about as bright as a mardi gras celebration. Did you forgot the entire act 2 of Diablo and the neon bright desert? Or the screenshot i posted that looked like christmas. Diablo 2's a pretty bright game overall especially once the effects start going on.

Diablo 3 looks awesome.... it has colour but nothing like WoW....what do you want it to look like, FEAR?FelipeInside

[QUOTE="FelipeInside"]Diablo 3 looks awesome.... it has colour but nothing like WoW....what do you want it to look like, FEAR?naval

Both have colour and both are in 3D?.....so basically all games that have colour and are in 3D are WoW......okay then......FelipeInside

You know, as ridiculous as it may seem, people always somehow find a way to relate every games to WoW like it was bad or something. Im pretty sure he was sarcastic however.

As i said in first post, it always been the 3d style of blizzard, which is exactly this way because it cattles to low performance computers, it's a technical wonder with a specific touch of artistic prowess. People are often quick to judge or complain but have no idea how 3d graphics are truly achieved and what the limitations are, you have to take in consideration many factors.

Also low requirements = bigger audience which is required when you spend as much time in development as Blizzard if you want to keep going. They could go for realistic graphics sure but they would have to sacrifice either the quality of the graphics artistically wise or cut off a part of the audience they intended to attain aka: low performance computer users.

Why don't you treat it as a serious game? have you played it yet, do you really know it won't feel like Diablo?

Blizzard does what Blizard does best, phenomenal art style with very good gameplay, lots of items and weapon variations and detailed character costumization (skills-stats, not looks). Even tho probably some of you are WoW haters, it's undoubtedly one of the best games in the world when it comes to art style the gameplay is pretty good to, but it's world, atmosphere, sounds (which ahem, in Diablo 3 are the same as Diablo 2 >_> stop whining and I'm not talking only about the sounds and songs that are taken from Diablo 2), is what makes WoW so good.

I never found the graphics of D1 or 2 to be the strong point of the games - so the graphic style of D3 means little to me

Fandangle

Relevant to the topic:

http://www.bingegamer.net/2008/an-open-letter-to-diablo-iii-fanboys/

http://www.somethingawful.com/d/news/diablo-hate-internet.php

Here's some names:

Lead designer Jay Wilson - who previously worked at Relic on Dawn of War and Company of Heroes, Lead world designer Leonard Boyarsky - previously a creator of the Fallout series at Interplay .

Does that ring a bell?

Relevant to the topic:

http://www.bingegamer.net/2008/an-open-letter-to-diablo-iii-fanboys/

http://www.somethingawful.com/d/news/diablo-hate-internet.php

Here's some names:

Lead designer Jay Wilson - who previously worked at Relic on Dawn of War and Company of Heroes, Lead world designer Leonard Boyarsky - previously a creator of the Fallout series at Interplay .

Does that ring a bell?

Baranga

That's the point?:|

[QUOTE="naval"][QUOTE="FelipeInside"]Diablo 3 looks awesome.... it has colour but nothing like WoW....what do you want it to look like, FEAR?FelipeInside

Many of you probably played Diablo when you were little kids, that's why you found the game creepy/scary. Same for me, I played Diablo when I was 12 and it was mildly disturbing. But now at 25, after playing a million horror games and watching a billion horror movies, the scenery just seem dull and no longer creepy to me.

Also, muted and dark colors don't automatically make a game creepy. Ever heard of Sanitarium? That game was quite vibrant and still managed to be one of the creepiest games I have ever played. Colors alone don't make the mood/atmosphere. The content and the way it's presented play a much larger part. So wait until you play the game before you judge its atmosphere.

Im lpaying D2 every week now and let me say, graphics are not what Diablo is known for. It's all about the badass armor and showing off and going in a party abd having a fun time. I don't mind "WoW" graphics along as it is still Diablo I love.

The graphics look wicked, you're high on crack

weirjf

as in serious I mean why dont they go all out? why do they think WOW graphics are good enough? ALL MMO's ive ever played use those cartoon kind of graphics, but diablo isnt an MMO diablo 3 is a normal game where they should max out the graphics. The graphics in diablo 1 and diablo 2 were kind of like nightmare after christmas type of graphics except more realistic, i think theyre going the wrong way dude

qwertyu

They have said multiple times a lot of the things are being taken by placeholder textures. Placeholder means its temporary. Diablo 3 will be a good game no doubt and the graphics department will surely maintain the mood of the game. One of the main reasons I played Diablo 2 was because of how great everything comes together and I must say that Diablo 3 looks better then Diablo II. I have tried every Diablo clone under the sun and nothing tops the king, 2000 hours in Diablo II will do that for you. Blizzard isn't a company who simply sells out and their track record proves that, until they screw up I have no reason to worry.

And what does the OP consider a serious game?

ALL MMO's ive ever played use those cartoon kind of graphics, but diablo isnt an MMO diablo 3 is a normal game where they should max out the graphics.

qwertyu

So a serious game to you means maxing out the graphics for the time? Here's the thing about games that max out graphics, as soon as the graphics are obsolete they don't look good anymore, games with stylized graphics and good art direction look appealing even if the visuals are outdated. Maxing out graphics also limits your audience to those with high end setups, good looking visuals as opposed to advanced looking visuals will get you the bigger audience.

Like Diablo 2; Diablo 3 will be expected to last, stylized graphics will keep its visuals endurable longer than maxing out ultra high end and realistic visuals today.

The graphics dont look bad in D3. Its the Art direction that looks bad.

The teams behind D1/2 had a very dark/realist looking art direction, (aka the town in D1 vs the huge lord of the rings style places in D3) that made the atmosphere of the game hit home way more than the "fantasy" setting of the new game.

The whole game of D1 you were underneath a Church. It was very dark, simple, and creepy as hell.

D3 you are looking a sweeping (pretty) visuals of landscapes and oil paintings. Its a way different art direction.

To be honest, I share the exact same opinion as you, but most people here totally disagree with us. They have full faith in Blizzard making a great game with amazing gameplay mechanics. But what they dont fail to realize is that the art style Blizzard is pushing forward for this game is the problem. Diablo 1 and 2 were great games and one of the reasons why I kept coming back to it was the creepy atmosphere, IMO the creepy and dark atmosphere coupled with the amazing music (Matt Uelmen ftw) is what truly made the game for me. I tried playing Titan Quest, a totally amazing game that beats Diablo in many aspects but there was something missing, and I'm sure you all know what im about to say. The creepy atmosphere, albeit TQ has a totally different setting, its gameplay was just to reminiscent of Diablo that I just wanted that dark and cold setting to come back and haunt me yet again. I totally remember those days as a child when I first started playing the original Diablo, I was scared out of my mind! It was just to dark and had a mysterious vibe, and I loved every minute of it. I'm impressed that Blizzard is taking the risk of giving Diablo a fresh new look, but its just not needed. A game with more realistic graphics (im not saying crysis, im saying something that atleast decently resembles the lifestyle in the middle ages, with a slight hint of fantasy) and a more realistic approach would have been better. Even though Diablo is all about magic and demons, I just dont feel the art style, even though its a REALLY smart decision on Blizzard's part.

DODGE_THIS_YO

I don't like the new icons in DIII. They are replacing the high detailed renders from D II for a hand made draws. Look at the gems icons or at the armor and weapons icons: aside from the resolution, the ones from DII are much detailed and better.

I also heavily disagree with some gameplay decisions, as to cut the max population from 8 to 5, making team duels impossible. Once you reach god tier status in PvM, PvP is the main reason to keep playing, and I was expecting a upgrade in the max players, not a cut.

Whatever, I expect that they don't put a healer class in the game. It would be "horriful".

1. I agree completely that Diablo 3 should receive more focus than another crappy WoW expansion.

2. It has nothing, I repeat nothing, to do with graphics, that's a strange argument in general...

3. The answer to the question "Why doesn't Blizzard take Diablo 3 seriously" is very, very, very, very simple. Diablo 3 is intended to be exactly like Diablo 2 in the fact that it will be a free to play game. That means the only profit they will glean from the game is the sale of it, and whatever expansions it might have later on down the line.

Let's say that the game sells 4 million copies, which is the latest figure given for world-wide Diablo 2 sales.

4,000,000 x $50.00 = $200,000,000. Yeah, a good chunk of change.

BUT.

Let's say all of the current WoW users (currently estimated at 11 million) will buy the new expansion pack, which 99% of them will.

12,000,000 x $40.00 = $480,000,000. Over twice the immediate capital, not to mention the STILL recurring subscription fees:

12,000,000 x $13.00/mo x 12mo = 1,872,000,000 per year.

There's your answer.

The graphics look wicked, you're high on crack

weirjf

The graphics look wicked, you're high on crack

weirjf

as in serious I mean why dont they go all out? why do they think WOW graphics are good enough? ALL MMO's ive ever played use those cartoon kind of graphics, but diablo isnt an MMO diablo 3 is a normal game where they should max out the graphics. The graphics in diablo 1 and diablo 2 were kind of like nightmare after christmas type of graphics except more realistic, i think theyre going the wrong way dude

qwertyu

They are taking it seriously. Just because they are not making the graphics to YOUR liking doesn't mean a thing.

[QUOTE="DODGE_THIS_YO"]

To be honest, I share the exact same opinion as you, but most people here totally disagree with us. They have full faith in Blizzard making a great game with amazing gameplay mechanics. But what they dont fail to realize is that the art style Blizzard is pushing forward for this game is the problem. Diablo 1 and 2 were great games and one of the reasons why I kept coming back to it was the creepy atmosphere, IMO the creepy and dark atmosphere coupled with the amazing music (Matt Uelmen ftw) is what truly made the game for me. I tried playing Titan Quest, a totally amazing game that beats Diablo in many aspects but there was something missing, and I'm sure you all know what im about to say. The creepy atmosphere, albeit TQ has a totally different setting, its gameplay was just to reminiscent of Diablo that I just wanted that dark and cold setting to come back and haunt me yet again. I totally remember those days as a child when I first started playing the original Diablo, I was scared out of my mind! It was just to dark and had a mysterious vibe, and I loved every minute of it. I'm impressed that Blizzard is taking the risk of giving Diablo a fresh new look, but its just not needed. A game with more realistic graphics (im not saying crysis, im saying something that atleast decently resembles the lifestyle in the middle ages, with a slight hint of fantasy) and a more realistic approach would have been better. Even though Diablo is all about magic and demons, I just dont feel the art style, even though its a REALLY smart decision on Blizzard's part.

hpstp

Indeed. How about we wait to see what it turns out to look like after the game is released whether then speculating on the trivial amount of gameplay videos and screenshots out there at the moment? When the game is out I am all for debating whether or not the graphics and art direction is not where it should be. But at the moment there just isnt enough information to draw a conclusion.

Nevertheless, even if the art direction isn't as well done I still plan on buying this game. The social aspect and co-op is half the fun IMO.

Honestly I think the game looks fine. Could it be more "evil" looking? Perhaps. Does it really matter? Not really to me. Give me a solid game. I mean it's not like the game has Hello Kitty graphics. And the graphics still look a lot better than WoW despite having some similarities in art direction.