Show us a gamer who’s not excited about Diablo 3, and we’ll show you a liar. Diablo 2 was the master of hack’n slash, the mother of World of Warcraft (WoW), and the devourer of too many hours of our free time. With a sequel on the way and Blizzard’s massive weight behind it, Diablo 3 is set to reaffirm Blizzard’s dominance in the non-MMOG world. But make no mistake: Blizzard won’t simply put out a sequel to Diablo 2 and leave it at that, because its reputation is on the line. With all eyes on Blizzard’s next product, Starcraft II will have to not only meet the expectations of Starcraft fanboys across the globe, but the rabid media who expects another WoW (pun intended).
With Starcraft II, Blizzard promises episodic content that will allow them to iteratively focus on one faction’s story at a time. So long as the core multiplayer experience is available upon episode one’s release, multiplayer activity will only get better as new units and strategies become available alongside the second and third episode. By the time the full game is in player’s hands, Starcraft II will offer a story-line of epic proportions, which will undoubtedly set the stage for the product we earlier mused would be announced in lieu of a simple Starcraft sequel: an RTS MMOG akin to EVE Online.
Another Diablo sequel, in the meantime, isn’t compelling enough to warrant Blizzard’s golden name. It’d be like Nintendo deciding to follow the success of the Wii with a new Game & Watch title. Blizzard needs to keep their name strong by doing more than just “more of the same”, such that they can hold the gaming world over until their next MMOG. In July, we commented on what Blizzard could do to elevate Diablo III to a level well beyond Diablo 2, in line with the success of a game like Guild Wars. Our suggestions are appropriate given our more recent musings on Blizzard’s potential for funding the PVE leveling game and the PvP/raiding end-game separately. In short, Diablo III offers precisely this opportunity.
To explain what we mean, consider that the Diablo franchise is built on the idea of small-group play. Everything in the Diablo games can be soloed, but the content is generally more fun with a couple friends alongside you. No one would presume to suggest that the dungeon-crawling experience would be more fun with 25 people, however. While Diablo 2 was built around the four-player experience, there’s no reason Diablo 3 couldn’t up the ante and make the ideal experience a five-person team slug-fest akin to typical WoW instances. Blizzard already has a successful DikuMUD formula with WoW, so they can easily push it into the Diablo framework, as long as soloing is still a possibility.
As with previous Diablo games, the more people who join, the harder a dungeon gets, and that may mean utilizing typical DikuMUD teamwork in these larger settings, complete with tanking, healing, and DPS. In other words, Diablo 3 could become the ideal WoW-like PvE game, without the pesky end-game many MMORPGs are known for. The repetition in Diablo 3 would be much like that of the previous Diablo games: the same game with better gear and harder-to-kill enemies. Only, the strategy of the game changes based on the number of players, as one-man games are basic hack’n slash ventures, while adding people to a game results in more DikuMUD strategies. The best part: no need for Blizzard to spend time and money on an in-depth raiding game, or PvP. (Not that WoW’s PVP is in-depth.) That means more focus and time spent on making the best possible dungeon-crawler but still being able to tag MMOG aficionados.
We once believed that Blizzard could come up with an amazing MMOG by doing little more than scaling the Diablo franchise. We’ve come full circle again, because pulling out the fluff from WoW and going back to simpler graphics gives us Diablo with MMOG elements. Add in an easy grouping mechanism via Battle.Net, and maybe even a Guild Wars-like system where avatars can congregate in town to barter and create items, and it’s easy to see where Diablo 3 can find massive success, not only meeting the legacy expectations for a Diablo sequel, but also putting the competition in its place. If anyone can do this, it’s Blizzard, assuming they haven’t become the lazy fat cats that they lately seem.
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Nice opening there.
I’m not excited for Diablo 3, and I’m not a liar.
I see what the game is for what it truly is; Blizzard trying to dip into an old cash cow. Not only are the majority of classes not returning, there are even less classes than before. Blizzard hasn’t even bothered to put into any effort in telling us where the Assassins and their temples have gone, or the Amazons and their jungles, or why the necromancer is now a pathetic blend of caster and summoner.
I’m so disappointed with the news and information about this game, I wont even take the time to -PIRATE- it.
That’s how unexcited I am.
And quite obviously, a very honest person.