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Blizzcon 2018 - 'Do you guys not have phones?'

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    #31
    Originally posted by Asura View Post
    ...to announce a product that those people don't want, and in truth, would prefer not to exist.
    I think the mobile games is a slight red herring, in that Diablo existing on mobile isn't in itself the problem, but rather how Blizzard went about it, have outsourced it (effectively) and continued to not bring anything major Diablo content to gaming specific platforms (i.e. what their fans have been asking for). Also their response since are tone deaf. I think if Blizzard apologies and simply announce some of what Diablo stuff they are working on it will go a long way.

    Personally I think Diablo on mobile is cool, and I would love it if I could take my Diablo characters on the move. I like that Hearthstone is multiplatform and love stuff like Fortnite where you can play on anything. It's the future. That said this feels like outsourcing to a f2p that specialises in aggressive, manipulative freemium p2w games, rather than taking advantage of the mobile platform.

    Originally posted by wakka View Post
    For me, it's this sense that some people seem to have that they have been personally wronged and abused by this announcement that, for me, is going too far.

    I get that Blizzard have built a passionate fanbase, but to say that Diablo is a 'sensitive subject' because we haven't had a game for five years and is just - well, it's very odd to me.
    I don't think this is too different from how people feel about Half Life 3 or anything else that's popular. You're going to get people that love it and it's very easy to express that emotion. It happens in all areas. Just look at the reactions when they announce the next James Bond or Marvel superhero or something. I agreed I would never take it that far but it's fairly understandable.

    But then I don't see being critical of Blizzard as defining people's lives, or meaning they spend all day thinking about it. It's annoying as you say, and you move on. Or least most people will.

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      #32
      Fan reactions can often be obscene but I can only assume that charging people £35 to view online what is effectively an E3 presentation is what has invited the trouble to what would have otherwise only been seen as a disappointment. I can completely buy that the fee may represent good value for the digital content it provides for fans of their games but for some that fee will be seen as being primarily about seeing the announcements itself and it only takes a few angry users to change Blizzcon to BlizzCon

      Whichever way I look at it, ticketing the show for people not physically there just seems ludicrous so it's not hard to see people clinging on to hyped reveals more than they otherwise would then being upset when it turned out the studio was going to come up light. It's ropey ground but they should have put more thought into it given how many other studios foster their fanbases.

      Valve can get away with a disappointing reveal though but mostly because anyone enthralled by them at this point deserves the disappointment. I struggle to think of much Valve has ever done to deserve the level of obsession some give them when they quite blatantly are an outright business focused business who couldn't give much of a s--- about games or their fanbase.

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        #33
        Originally posted by Superman Falls View Post
        Valve can get away with a disappointing reveal though but mostly because anyone enthralled by them at this point deserves the disappointment. I struggle to think of much Valve has ever done to deserve the level of obsession some give them when they quite blatantly are an outright business focused business who couldn't give much of a s--- about games or their fanbase.
        I tend to think their management structure is just too chaotic for them to achieve much, and they're only still afloat because they are making more money than god due to a few very good decisions years ago.

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          #34
          Like Apple

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            #35
            Originally posted by Superman Falls View Post
            Like Apple
            For different reasons, though. Apple are suffering from a lack of vision. Valve have too much vision but not the will.

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              #36
              Originally posted by Superman Falls View Post
              Fan reactions can often be obscene but I can only assume that charging people £35 to view online what is effectively an E3 presentation is what has invited the trouble to what would have otherwise only been seen as a disappointment.
              The opening presentation is free to anyone and was streamed on Twitch, Youtube etc. I haven't read anywhere about anyone wanting a refund on either attending in person or the Virtual Ticket because of the opening presentation (although I'm sure they are out there). The criticism of Blizzard would have happened anyway.

              Originally posted by Asura View Post
              For different reasons, though. Apple are suffering from a lack of vision. Valve have too much vision but not the will.
              Also Valve has little to no shareholder pressure, like Apple do. They can sit there are be run inefficiently unlike a public company.

              Originally posted by Superman Falls View Post
              Valve can get away with a disappointing reveal though but mostly because anyone enthralled by them at this point deserves the disappointment. I struggle to think of much Valve has ever done to deserve the level of obsession some give them when they quite blatantly are an outright business focused business who couldn't give much of a s--- about games or their fanbase.
              Valve was a powerhouse between their initial release in '98 and c. The Orange Box in 2008. There turned out some absolute classics in: HL 1 & 2, Team Fortress Classic, Counter Strike, Portal and L4D. Obviously after that they saw the emerging trends and went 100% focused on Online and f2p business models. They left all the gamers that had grown up with their rich story based games behind.
              Last edited by Digfox; 06-11-2018, 17:01.

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                #37
                If the opening presentation was free then that's fair enough, it frames things much more on the fanbase being overly critical of Blizzard in terms of the extent some go.

                With Valve, it's hard one. It's a high quality run but the Half Life games aside I struggle to give them benefit of the doubt entirely for their output. Counter-Strike, Team Fortress, Left4Dead, Portal, Dota2 all came from outside sources. Outside of Half Life Valve has always been more of a very selective but very good at talent spotting publisher. They have the internal skill but are happier to once in a blue moon pluck up an external mod project and fund it to a more polished state. I feel like that's why they can't get to third games, by the time a franchise gets there the original team has likely moved on and it's solely on Valve to do the work and they can't be bothered. Steam plays perfectly into their real mindset as a business. As such it feels like Valve doesn't just see fans solely as consumers, but their software history feels like they feel more at home cashing in on fan projects than making their own software too. I never get the impression they care about Half-Life in the slightest. Or that they could care less about their fans. Or even that they care that much about Steam beyond the freedom and financial gains it gives them.

                That's perfectly fine, they're a business and making money is the name of the game and they've done amazingly well at succeeding at it. I just increasingly find it odd with them that anyone could look at them and think they give a damn about their games fans.

                Blizzard has been much more hand in hand though so it's much easier to see how fans could get burnt but you'd hope anyone would have a healthy dose of cynicism about themselves given Activision is also involved.

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                  #38
                  Originally posted by Superman Falls View Post
                  With Valve, it's hard one. It's a high quality run but the Half Life games aside I struggle to give them benefit of the doubt entirely for their output. Counter-Strike, Team Fortress, Left4Dead, Portal, Dota2 all came from outside sources.
                  Actually a lot of those games were developed in-house even if they were based off mods or talent brought under their wings. They still had to develop the games. I think they care about their customers but with games like Dota 2 and CS:GO - their target audience has changed.

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                    #39
                    Also Portal was developed separately from valve in an indie studio, then bought out by valve and ecorporated into the half life universe. So didn’t even originate from in house.

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                      #40

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                        #41
                        I noticed late last night there was a further interview from Blizzcon posted over at Reddit - then in turn ResetEra.

                        Blizzard: "We have many of our best developers now working on new mobile titles across all our IP's"
                        Discussion in 'Video Games'




                        Now whether is a PR statement i.e. not as prioritised as they say), more mobile titles in addition to their existing titles or an actual prioritisation towards mobile games is up for debate. Or at least needs further clarification.

                        That said I do wonder what their resources are on because WoW Classic taking so long for what it is, a Warcraft 3 remaster, Diablo Mobile essentially outsourced (even if they pretend otherwise) and maintenance of existing games (Hearthstone, HOTS, Overwatch etc.) shouldn't be taking up that many of their resources.

                        Maybe a WoW expansion and/or team on transitioning to f2p
                        Diablo 4
                        Diablo 2 remaster
                        But what else?

                        Also as an aside: How to handle entitled gamers when announcing a mobile game - Blizzard isn't the first games giant to have to manage its fans when moving to smartphones (GI.biz)

                        But are you really entitled because you criticise a company's actions? Getting angry at the fans due to the stupid actions of an absolute minority seems like a wrong overreaction to me. Which is what a few of these journalists have been doing.
                        Last edited by Digfox; 08-11-2018, 11:16.

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                          #42
                          Seems that all those entitled shareholders are pulling their money



                          Bliizzard stocks did start to recover, then yesterday they announced that they're doubling down on mobile games - can you guess around what time that announcement happened?

                          It'll likely recover again and if the unwashed microtransaction loving mobile gamers decide they want Blizzard skins, now might be the time to pick up some stocks.

                          And yes, you are absolutely entitled to criticise a company because of their actions; if people didn't do this, you'd have pay to win Battlefront 2 and an always online Xbox One that wouldn't play used games.
                          Last edited by MartyG; 09-11-2018, 07:01.

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                            #43
                            Originally posted by MartyG View Post
                            Seems that all those entitled shareholders are pulling their money



                            Bliizzard stocks did start to recover, then yesterday they announced that they're doubling down on mobile games - can you guess around what time that announcement happened?

                            It'll likely recover again and if the unwashed microtransaction loving mobile gamers decide they want Blizzard skins, now might be the time to pick up some stocks.

                            And yes, you are absolutely entitled to criticise a company because of their actions; if people didn't do this, you'd have pay to win Battlefront 2 and an always online Xbox One that wouldn't play used games.
                            Will someone PLEASE think of the shareholders!

                            So one on the first things in that vid they talk about is autoplay. WHAT THE ACTUAL Blizzard.

                            All sounds like total S**T, mobile mobile mobile. They can shove mobile phone games up their arses.
                            Last edited by fishbowlhead; 09-11-2018, 08:27.

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                              #44
                              Originally posted by MartyG View Post
                              Seems that all those entitled shareholders are pulling their money
                              Yea, although it sounds like there was an Activision Blizzard earnings call where 3rd qtr revenue is every so slightly under target which may have effected trading in the last 24-48 hrs as well: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...engagement-dip

                              Activision Blizzard today reported earnings for its fiscal third quarter (three months ended September 30), showing net income up 38% to $260 million, even as its revenue and engagement numbers receded. Total revenues were down almost 7% to $1.51 billion, while bookings were off nearly 13% year-over-year to $1.66 billion.

                              One culprit for the drop was a tough comparison from the previous year's third quarter, which featured the launch of Destiny 2. While the company didn't specify that as a factor in its results, it could be seen clearly in the company's console revenues, which had dropped 34% year-over-year to $347 million. Mobile and ancillary revenues were also down 11% to $523 million, partly offset by a 21% growth in PC revenues to $482 million.
                              Last edited by Digfox; 09-11-2018, 09:20.

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                                #45
                                I'm sure some of you might have read this, but Jason Schreier at Kotaku has published a fairly long article looking in detail at Blizzard and Diablo.

                                I've no doubt some of it is true because the second expac being cancelled for Diablo 3 bares out given how much content suddenly appeared during the 2.xx patches after Reaper of Souls, i.e. the Barbarian home location etc. (indeed there was a lot of speculation at the time this was the case).

                                With recent news Blizzard have withdrawn their staff profit sharing scheme it does feel like times are a changing at that Studio. From the outside they always appeared to have had the luxury to make games at their own pace as they want, although often delivering instant classics.

                                The Past, Present, And Future Of Diablo

                                Also in answer to my earlier question not only are they probably working on WoW stuff (expac etc.) and D4, but these mobile games referenced in the article. I suspect that may not just be because Blizzard 'love' mobile gaming but also a pragmatic solution to getting money making content out faster particularly if they are under more pressure to do so. Excluding Diablo Mobile really being for the Asian markets.

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