Also, people like supporting the underdog (indie developers) and hate the rulers (large game corps) because its human nature, and its also the hip thing to do nowadays.
Large game companies often have many talented minds and create wonderfully innovative games. For instance, people like to point out the failures of Dragon Age 2, but they forget how great Dragon Age was. They like to remember large companies failing to make a good game, but they forget how many awesome ones they made because it doesn't fit their narrow view of the world.
For instance, yeah some indie games are good, but I can find 10 terrible ones for every good one.
Me? I just play good games. I realize that I like some developers more because of their style (Blizzard, CDProjekt, Bethesda, Bioware) but I also know that companies lose their touch. I like to play the games before I make an opinion though. I suggest you all do the same.
After the recent news about Torchlight II's features, such as:
-COMPLETELY Randomized Dungeons
-Offline Play
-No Real Money AH
-Retails for $20
-LAN
AND
-FULLY MODDABLE
It's almost blindingly obvious how MUCH the Torchlight developers truly care for their fanbase. Unfortunately for me I can't get into Torchlight because of it's kindergarten style graphics so i won't be playing it, but overall it seems like they ACTUALLY give a damn about continueing their own product & growing their fanbase.
Yet, Blizzard on the other hand WILL have the following "features" for their Diablo III release:
-NO LAN PLAY
-RETAILS FOR $50-60 (betting on $60)
-NOT MODDABLE
-ONLINE PLAY ONLY (single player was removed)
-REAL $$ Auction Houses
-Dungeons that are NOT random (e.g: each area has MAYBE 2-3 different varients, that is NOT random).
-An inventory & item system taken directly from WoW
So, YEA.....totally depressed now, because the Diablo franchise has been shat all over :'(
I think it's important to note that Blizzard is essentially part of a publicly traded company . They are required to maximize profits for their investors.
So if you look at yoru 401k or IRA you will find that the companies that make up your portfolio are all trying to maximize 'your' investements.
Just a thought.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
After the recent news about Torchlight II's features, such as:
-COMPLETELY Randomized Dungeons
-Offline Play
-No Real Money AH
-Retails for $20
-LAN
AND
-FULLY MODDABLE
It's almost blindingly obvious how MUCH the Torchlight developers truly care for their fanbase. Unfortunately for me I can't get into Torchlight because of it's kindergarten style graphics so i won't be playing it, but overall it seems like they ACTUALLY give a damn about continueing their own product & growing their fanbase.
Yet, Blizzard on the other hand WILL have the following "features" for their Diablo III release:
-NO LAN PLAY
-RETAILS FOR $50-60 (betting on $60)
-NOT MODDABLE
-ONLINE PLAY ONLY (single player was removed)
-REAL $$ Auction Houses
-Dungeons that are NOT random (e.g: each area has MAYBE 2-3 different varients, that is NOT random).
-An inventory & item system taken directly from WoW
So, YEA.....totally depressed now, because the Diablo franchise has been shat all over :'(
I think it's important to note that Blizzard is essentially part of a publicly traded company . They are require to maximize profits for their investors.
So if you look at yoru 401k or IRA you will find that the companies that make up your portfolio are all trying to maximize 'your' investements.
Just a thought.
If companies like Activision-Blizzard really wanted to maximize profits for their investors, they wouldn't be giving out $15 million annual bonuses to Kotick and Morhaime.
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what
it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience
because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in
the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you
playing an MMORPG?"
You WILL buy Diablo 3 because I understand the psychology of nerds. And I WILL extract every dollar from you with lightning speed and ruthless efficiency.
After playing Torchlight I will pass on torchlight 2 until I can get it for 5 bucks or less on steam. I guess I will have to suffer with the greedy Blizzard and Diablo 3.
On a more series note I can't wait for them to take my money. The sooner the better in my books.
If companies like Activision-Blizzard really wanted to maximize profits for their investors, they wouldn't be giving out $15 million annual bonuses to Kotick and Morhaime.
Considering the corporation wouldn't even exist without them I'd say they're worth it. It's a drop in the bucket compared to what they have made for their investors.
As an Investor I'd still rather see most of that money going back into the company, or compensating the employees actually doing the brunt of the work. A lot of Execs and CEOs are paid well over what they actually deserve, and that money is leeched from investors, employees, and customers.
-An inventory & item system taken directly from WoW
While Blizzard seems to disappoint me on D3 with just about every recent announcement, (RM AH grrrr) and I am not necessarily disagreeing with you on the rest of your points, it is worth noting that the inventory and items system was not so much taken from WoW as much as WoW originally took it from D2. That WoW was based largely off of Warcraft is painfully obvious but we seem to forget that it was also, to a lesser extent, also based off of Diablo. Not in terms of lore, but certainly several concepts and mechanics. Red health, blue mana, red potion, blue potion, gems in items, skill tree/talent tree, limited slot, no weight inventory. Stupid easy to play... well that might be an opinion, but you get the point. That D3 would borrow back in these and other areas of mechanics is just not surprising.
But a Real Money Auction House? For as long as I have been waiting for D3, that might just end it for me.
Online only? To me thats a great thing to hear! This is 2011, everyone has the internet... And by everyone I mean 99% of computer owners.
In my opinion, all games should be online multiplayer. I find single player games depressing and lonely. Online play encourages socializing, community, and teamwork... Single player games have none of those.
The future of gaming is online and multiplayer.
As for the other features, real money AH, YOU MAKE MONEY! How can you complain? Obviously blizzard will need a way to make money for there servers. But this way makes it so the player AND blizzard makes money. This is genius.
After playing Torchlight I will pass on torchlight 2. I guess I will have to suffer with the greedy Blizzard and Diablo 3.
On a more series note I can't wait for them to take my money. The sooner the better in my books. :P
Might I ask what it was about Torchlight that put you off of the series?
I'm genuinely curious because aside from the atmosphere being a bit more colorful and light hearted, it plays pretty much the exact same as Diablo.
I found it very limited and repetitive. From what I read Torchlight 2 fixes these issues but I will wait for a steam sale to buy it for 5 bucks or less.
After the recent news about Torchlight II's features, such as:
-COMPLETELY Randomized Dungeons
-Offline Play
-No Real Money AH
-Retails for $20
-LAN
AND
-FULLY MODDABLE
It's almost blindingly obvious how MUCH the Torchlight developers truly care for their fanbase. Unfortunately for me I can't get into Torchlight because of it's kindergarten style graphics so i won't be playing it, but overall it seems like they ACTUALLY give a damn about continueing their own product & growing their fanbase.
Yet, Blizzard on the other hand WILL have the following "features" for their Diablo III release:
-NO LAN PLAY
-RETAILS FOR $50-60 (betting on $60)
-NOT MODDABLE
-ONLINE PLAY ONLY (single player was removed)
-REAL $$ Auction Houses
-Dungeons that are NOT random (e.g: each area has MAYBE 2-3 different varients, that is NOT random).
-An inventory & item system taken directly from WoW
So, YEA.....totally depressed now, because the Diablo franchise has been shat all over :'(
I think it's important to note that Blizzard is essentially part of a publicly traded company . They are require to maximize profits for their investors.
So if you look at yoru 401k or IRA you will find that the companies that make up your portfolio are all trying to maximize 'your' investements.
Just a thought.
If companies like Activision-Blizzard really wanted to maximize profits for their investors, they wouldn't be giving out $15 million annual bonuses to Kotick and Morhaime.
That's not how it works.
They are offered a contract and they have to make certain company benchmarks depending on what goals for growth the company establishes as well as how much profit they need to make. For instance, they may or may not make their quarterly/yearly sales but they can maintain aggressive growth.
If they can bring in x amount of dollars and maintain growth then they are rewarded for it. Of course this depends on their contract as well. Essentially if they make money for their investors they get bonuses.
These companies are not clubs, they are businesses.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
After playing Torchlight I will pass on torchlight 2. I guess I will have to suffer with the greedy Blizzard and Diablo 3.
On a more series note I can't wait for them to take my money. The sooner the better in my books. :P
Might I ask what it was about Torchlight that put you off of the series?
I'm genuinely curious because aside from the atmosphere being a bit more colorful and light hearted, it plays pretty much the exact same as Diablo.
The dungeons were just recycled along with the mobs. I mean after awhile you get tired of crawling around in a cave or catacomb. TL world was much like D1.
The difference is D1 had more immersion and better story IMHO. Anyone remember the Butcher?
After playing Torchlight I will pass on torchlight 2. I guess I will have to suffer with the greedy Blizzard and Diablo 3.
On a more series note I can't wait for them to take my money. The sooner the better in my books. :P
Might I ask what it was about Torchlight that put you off of the series?
I'm genuinely curious because aside from the atmosphere being a bit more colorful and light hearted, it plays pretty much the exact same as Diablo.
The dungeons were just recycled along with the mobs. I mean after awhile you get tired of crawling around in a cave or catacomb. TL world was much like D1.
Fair enough, I felt the same way about the first Torchlight. Torchlight 2 however, is expanding beyond that with overworld play across several regions with dungons scattered throughout, exactly how Diablo 2 was expanded over the first Diablo game.
So While TL1 was like the first Diablo, TL2 is like the second Diablo. Personally I think that's a great improvement.
After the recent news about Torchlight II's features, such as:
-COMPLETELY Randomized Dungeons
-Offline Play
-No Real Money AH
-Retails for $20
-LAN
AND
-FULLY MODDABLE
It's almost blindingly obvious how MUCH the Torchlight developers truly care for their fanbase. Unfortunately for me I can't get into Torchlight because of it's kindergarten style graphics so i won't be playing it, but overall it seems like they ACTUALLY give a damn about continueing their own product & growing their fanbase.
Yet, Blizzard on the other hand WILL have the following "features" for their Diablo III release:
-NO LAN PLAY
-RETAILS FOR $50-60 (betting on $60)
-NOT MODDABLE
-ONLINE PLAY ONLY (single player was removed)
-REAL $$ Auction Houses
-Dungeons that are NOT random (e.g: each area has MAYBE 2-3 different varients, that is NOT random).
-An inventory & item system taken directly from WoW
So, YEA.....totally depressed now, because the Diablo franchise has been shat all over :'(
I think it's important to note that Blizzard is essentially part of a publicly traded company . They are require to maximize profits for their investors.
So if you look at yoru 401k or IRA you will find that the companies that make up your portfolio are all trying to maximize 'your' investements.
Just a thought.
If companies like Activision-Blizzard really wanted to maximize profits for their investors, they wouldn't be giving out $15 million annual bonuses to Kotick and Morhaime.
That's not how it works.
They are offered a contract and they have to make certain company benchmarks depending on what goals for growth the company establishes as well as how much profit they need to make. For instance, they may or may not make their quarterly/yearly sales but they can maintain aggressive growth.
If they can bring in x amount of dollars and maintain growth then they are rewarded for it. Of course this depends on their contract as well. Essentially if they make money for their investors they get bonuses.
These companies are not clubs, they are businesses.
LOL these days you can lose multi billions and still get a nice fat bonus. In the old days you would get fired or go to jail for fraud.
Alot of these corporations, not nessecarilly speaking about Blizzard here are clubs
Online only? To me thats a great thing to hear! This is 2011, everyone has the internet... And by everyone I mean 99% of computer owners.
In my opinion, all games should be online multiplayer. I find single player games depressing and lonely. Online play encourages socializing, community, and teamwork... Single player games have none of those.
The future of gaming is online and multiplayer.
As for the other features, real money AH, YOU MAKE MONEY! How can you complain? Obviously blizzard will need a way to make money for there servers. But this way makes it so the player AND blizzard makes money. This is genius.
Just what makes you think that we're all so keen on playing with *you*? Your multiplayer fetish is not universally shared.
How often did I play D2 multiplayer... hmmm, I don't think I did even once. I wasn't one of the big competitive ladder guys. Heck, MMOs are barely multiplayer while you are leveling. Also, what do you do when your internet goes out? Me, I don't even have a TV plugged in, nothing worth watching, so "watch tv" is not an option. I do a lot of reading already so when I want to do something other than read with my free time it is usually computer based. I don't want every program on my computer to need to be online. Also having a game to play on a disconnected laptop is kinda nice from time to time.
More options rather than less, make a lot of customers happy. Technofascism, not so much.
look at diablo 2, compare that list with diablo 3 taking into account that everyone and their mother has internet (doesnt mean you have to play with other people)
Basically your definition of greed is retailing a triple A game at the normal price verses an Indie game at 20, yes torchlight is very similar but alot of features in D3 that are not in Torchlight2, and i think the other main word in this arguement would end up being POLISH
My definition of greed is DESTROYING your product for a few extra bucks.
Diablo 2 has more features than Diablo 3 has, simply because they want more MONEY from diablo 3. The removal of offline play is somehow connected with piracy, but pirates will ALWAYS find a way around anti-piracy measures. Meaning that only people who legitimately purchase diablo 3 will be hurt by this, and NOT the pirates.
Blizzard have, indeed, fallen VERY far since Diablo II.
Actually, Diablo I and II had a massive problem w/ hacking and item duping. The only way to get rid of that it to do what blizzard is doing. Pirating has very little to do with it, as you so aptly pointed out.
After the recent news about Torchlight II's features, such as:
-COMPLETELY Randomized Dungeons
-Offline Play
-No Real Money AH
-Retails for $20
-LAN
AND
-FULLY MODDABLE
It's almost blindingly obvious how MUCH the Torchlight developers truly care for their fanbase. Unfortunately for me I can't get into Torchlight because of it's kindergarten style graphics so i won't be playing it, but overall it seems like they ACTUALLY give a damn about continueing their own product & growing their fanbase.
Yet, Blizzard on the other hand WILL have the following "features" for their Diablo III release:
-NO LAN PLAY
-RETAILS FOR $50-60 (betting on $60)
-NOT MODDABLE
-ONLINE PLAY ONLY (single player was removed)
-REAL $$ Auction Houses
-Dungeons that are NOT random (e.g: each area has MAYBE 2-3 different varients, that is NOT random).
-An inventory & item system taken directly from WoW
So, YEA.....totally depressed now, because the Diablo franchise has been shat all over :'(
I think it's important to note that Blizzard is essentially part of a publicly traded company . They are require to maximize profits for their investors.
So if you look at yoru 401k or IRA you will find that the companies that make up your portfolio are all trying to maximize 'your' investements.
Just a thought.
If companies like Activision-Blizzard really wanted to maximize profits for their investors, they wouldn't be giving out $15 million annual bonuses to Kotick and Morhaime.
That's not how it works.
They are offered a contract and they have to make certain company benchmarks depending on what goals for growth the company establishes as well as how much profit they need to make. For instance, they may or may not make their quarterly/yearly sales but they can maintain aggressive growth.
If they can bring in x amount of dollars and maintain growth then they are rewarded for it. Of course this depends on their contract as well. Essentially if they make money for their investors they get bonuses.
These companies are not clubs, they are businesses.
LOL these days you can lose multi billions and still get a nice fat bonus.
Alot of these corporations, not nessecarilly speaking about Blizzard here are clubs
Exactly, the criteria for bonuses are so skewed and corrupt it's ridiculous.
For example Transocean, the company that was contracted to operate the oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico that blew up, killing 11 workers and spilling countless barrels worth of oil into the ocean, later gave it's execs large annual bonuses for having a record year in safety in the same year.
Think about that for a bit...
And yeah, I'm not trying to imply corporations are clubs or that they and their execs aren't trying to make money. Rather that the execs are taking far more than their fair share from the customers, and their own shareholders and employees.
10 character slots is reasonable. How many are even going to fill up all of them?
The amount of characters is not what makes it unreasonable! How about naming one other single player RPG game that has a character limit to it (that didn't suck monkeys), and then we can talk about how reasonable it is for a single player game. The fact that you can make this comment with a straight face is amusing!
Hey EA you hear what gamers just said now you just need to make a game that you can only make 5 then blizzard will have to escalate it to 3 then you will have to do it 1. Then you can eventual make games where people can only play it once then if they want to replay it they will have to buy another copy. I am rooting for you guys make it happen, gamers won’t care how many of them actually play a game more than once anyway. /sarcasm off
Oh boy! someone woke up on wrong side of bed this morning. And yes i am saying it with a very straight face. I didn't use even more than 3 slots for Diablo 2 so even if i wasn't aware of the limit no way i was going to fill up all 10.
I think I was over ten in less than a month and no, eight of them weren't mules. Some of my friends only had two or three, but I like to experiment -- a lot. So I suppose the limit is fine for you but tough luck for me, right? I don't see any legitimate reason to put a cap on something like this, other than to be arbitrary. This is not the mark of a developer with the enjoyment of their player's foremost in their minds. That's not how I used to see Blizzard, but today's studio is not the one that was responsible for a gem like D2. Their priorities seem to be quite different and the decisions they've been making reflect it.
It's a shame we don't all derive enjoyment from things in just the exact same way you do so that you wouldn't be subject to our complaints. Maybe I could also somehow be happy with just three character slots, just like you. Right now though, that just boggles my mind.
After playing Torchlight I will pass on torchlight 2. I guess I will have to suffer with the greedy Blizzard and Diablo 3.
On a more series note I can't wait for them to take my money. The sooner the better in my books. :P
Might I ask what it was about Torchlight that put you off of the series?
I'm genuinely curious because aside from the atmosphere being a bit more colorful and light hearted, it plays pretty much the exact same as Diablo.
The dungeons were just recycled along with the mobs. I mean after awhile you get tired of crawling around in a cave or catacomb. TL world was much like D1.
Fair enough, I felt the same way about the first Torchlight. Torchlight 2 however, is expanding beyond that with overworld play across several regions with dungons scattered throughout, exactly how Diablo 2 was expanded over the first Diablo game.
So While TL1 was like the first Diablo, TL2 is like the second Diablo. Personally I think that's a great improvement.
That is the thing though, D2 was done over 10 years so why mimic something already done. That is why i'm looking forward more to D3 than TL2.. D3 is a different concept set in the same world. Gotta keep it new..
How is Diablo 3 any different from Diablo 2 though? From all I see, the only additions to the game an an ingame AH, and the fact that you can only play online. Everything else in the game looks to be a rehash of Diablo 2.
So why is it wrong for Torchlight 2 to mimic Diablo 2, yet perfectly okay for Diablo 3? Keep in mind that Blizzard has had five times longer to work on Diablo 3 than the developers of Torchlight have had for TL2.
After the recent news about Torchlight II's features, such as:
-COMPLETELY Randomized Dungeons
-Offline Play
-No Real Money AH
-Retails for $20
-LAN
AND
-FULLY MODDABLE
It's almost blindingly obvious how MUCH the Torchlight developers truly care for their fanbase. Unfortunately for me I can't get into Torchlight because of it's kindergarten style graphics so i won't be playing it, but overall it seems like they ACTUALLY give a damn about continueing their own product & growing their fanbase.
Yet, Blizzard on the other hand WILL have the following "features" for their Diablo III release:
-NO LAN PLAY
-RETAILS FOR $50-60 (betting on $60)
-NOT MODDABLE
-ONLINE PLAY ONLY (single player was removed)
-REAL $$ Auction Houses
-Dungeons that are NOT random (e.g: each area has MAYBE 2-3 different varients, that is NOT random).
-An inventory & item system taken directly from WoW
So, YEA.....totally depressed now, because the Diablo franchise has been shat all over :'(
I think it's important to note that Blizzard is essentially part of a publicly traded company . They are require to maximize profits for their investors.
So if you look at yoru 401k or IRA you will find that the companies that make up your portfolio are all trying to maximize 'your' investements.
Just a thought.
If companies like Activision-Blizzard really wanted to maximize profits for their investors, they wouldn't be giving out $15 million annual bonuses to Kotick and Morhaime.
That's not how it works.
They are offered a contract and they have to make certain company benchmarks depending on what goals for growth the company establishes as well as how much profit they need to make. For instance, they may or may not make their quarterly/yearly sales but they can maintain aggressive growth.
If they can bring in x amount of dollars and maintain growth then they are rewarded for it. Of course this depends on their contract as well. Essentially if they make money for their investors they get bonuses.
These companies are not clubs, they are businesses.
LOL these days you can lose multi billions and still get a nice fat bonus.
Alot of these corporations, not nessecarilly speaking about Blizzard here are clubs
As I said, it depends on their contracts.
They are hired to do x job but they could have something in their contract that certain bonuses still need to be paid regardless of performance. However, if they fail to perform over a period of time then they can be removed by the board. They could also have stipulations in their contracts for what is essentially referred to as a "golden parachute".
Look this is just the way it works. if it sounds too good to be true then by all means, work your way up to one of these positions.
If you don't like how it works then dont' work for large companies or don't support companies you dont' like. Their allegiance is always going to be to their stock holders.
I've worked for several large companies and in the end they were always working for the financial health of the organization. It wasn't a club with their customers though they did whatever they could to help their customers.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
Comments
People hate success.
Also, people like supporting the underdog (indie developers) and hate the rulers (large game corps) because its human nature, and its also the hip thing to do nowadays.
Large game companies often have many talented minds and create wonderfully innovative games. For instance, people like to point out the failures of Dragon Age 2, but they forget how great Dragon Age was. They like to remember large companies failing to make a good game, but they forget how many awesome ones they made because it doesn't fit their narrow view of the world.
For instance, yeah some indie games are good, but I can find 10 terrible ones for every good one.
Me? I just play good games. I realize that I like some developers more because of their style (Blizzard, CDProjekt, Bethesda, Bioware) but I also know that companies lose their touch. I like to play the games before I make an opinion though. I suggest you all do the same.
A company is putting out a game for profit. Very sinister. Where are all those cheritable MMO developers at.
I self identify as a monkey.
I think it's important to note that Blizzard is essentially part of a publicly traded company . They are required to maximize profits for their investors.
So if you look at yoru 401k or IRA you will find that the companies that make up your portfolio are all trying to maximize 'your' investements.
Just a thought.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
And maximizing profits for your invester's usually means hosing you customers and or tax payer's for more money.
"Be water my friend" - Bruce Lee
If companies like Activision-Blizzard really wanted to maximize profits for their investors, they wouldn't be giving out $15 million annual bonuses to Kotick and Morhaime.
Is the lack of something now a feature?
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
You WILL buy Diablo 3 because I understand the psychology of nerds. And I WILL extract every dollar from you with lightning speed and ruthless efficiency.
Next speaker in 5 minutes, George Lucas...
TRUST THE COMPUTER! THE COMPUTER IS YOUR FRIEND!
Stay Alert! Trust No One! Keep Your Laser Handy!
Yellow Clearance Black Box Blues!
After playing Torchlight I will pass on torchlight 2 until I can get it for 5 bucks or less on steam. I guess I will have to suffer with the greedy Blizzard and Diablo 3.
On a more series note I can't wait for them to take my money. The sooner the better in my books.
As an Investor I'd still rather see most of that money going back into the company, or compensating the employees actually doing the brunt of the work. A lot of Execs and CEOs are paid well over what they actually deserve, and that money is leeched from investors, employees, and customers.
Might I ask what it was about Torchlight that put you off of the series?
I'm genuinely curious because aside from the atmosphere being a bit more colorful and light hearted, it plays pretty much the exact same as Diablo.
<-- Will be playing (as will the OP)
I can't believe I wasted my time reading the OP
While Blizzard seems to disappoint me on D3 with just about every recent announcement, (RM AH grrrr) and I am not necessarily disagreeing with you on the rest of your points, it is worth noting that the inventory and items system was not so much taken from WoW as much as WoW originally took it from D2. That WoW was based largely off of Warcraft is painfully obvious but we seem to forget that it was also, to a lesser extent, also based off of Diablo. Not in terms of lore, but certainly several concepts and mechanics. Red health, blue mana, red potion, blue potion, gems in items, skill tree/talent tree, limited slot, no weight inventory. Stupid easy to play... well that might be an opinion, but you get the point. That D3 would borrow back in these and other areas of mechanics is just not surprising.
But a Real Money Auction House? For as long as I have been waiting for D3, that might just end it for me.
All die, so die well.
Just what makes you think that we're all so keen on playing with *you*? Your multiplayer fetish is not universally shared.
I found it very limited and repetitive. From what I read Torchlight 2 fixes these issues but I will wait for a steam sale to buy it for 5 bucks or less.
That's not how it works.
They are offered a contract and they have to make certain company benchmarks depending on what goals for growth the company establishes as well as how much profit they need to make. For instance, they may or may not make their quarterly/yearly sales but they can maintain aggressive growth.
If they can bring in x amount of dollars and maintain growth then they are rewarded for it. Of course this depends on their contract as well. Essentially if they make money for their investors they get bonuses.
These companies are not clubs, they are businesses.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
The difference is D1 had more immersion and better story IMHO. Anyone remember the Butcher?
Fair enough, I felt the same way about the first Torchlight. Torchlight 2 however, is expanding beyond that with overworld play across several regions with dungons scattered throughout, exactly how Diablo 2 was expanded over the first Diablo game.
So While TL1 was like the first Diablo, TL2 is like the second Diablo. Personally I think that's a great improvement.
LOL these days you can lose multi billions and still get a nice fat bonus. In the old days you would get fired or go to jail for fraud.
Alot of these corporations, not nessecarilly speaking about Blizzard here are clubs
"Be water my friend" - Bruce Lee
You should get your facts right. Who told ya that Diablo 3 doesn't have singleplayer ?
Singleplayer wasn't removed. You can of course play on your own ( but have to be online ).
How often did I play D2 multiplayer... hmmm, I don't think I did even once. I wasn't one of the big competitive ladder guys. Heck, MMOs are barely multiplayer while you are leveling. Also, what do you do when your internet goes out? Me, I don't even have a TV plugged in, nothing worth watching, so "watch tv" is not an option. I do a lot of reading already so when I want to do something other than read with my free time it is usually computer based. I don't want every program on my computer to need to be online. Also having a game to play on a disconnected laptop is kinda nice from time to time.
More options rather than less, make a lot of customers happy. Technofascism, not so much.
All die, so die well.
Actually, Diablo I and II had a massive problem w/ hacking and item duping. The only way to get rid of that it to do what blizzard is doing. Pirating has very little to do with it, as you so aptly pointed out.
Exactly, the criteria for bonuses are so skewed and corrupt it's ridiculous.
For example Transocean, the company that was contracted to operate the oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico that blew up, killing 11 workers and spilling countless barrels worth of oil into the ocean, later gave it's execs large annual bonuses for having a record year in safety in the same year.
Think about that for a bit...
And yeah, I'm not trying to imply corporations are clubs or that they and their execs aren't trying to make money. Rather that the execs are taking far more than their fair share from the customers, and their own shareholders and employees.
I think I was over ten in less than a month and no, eight of them weren't mules. Some of my friends only had two or three, but I like to experiment -- a lot. So I suppose the limit is fine for you but tough luck for me, right? I don't see any legitimate reason to put a cap on something like this, other than to be arbitrary. This is not the mark of a developer with the enjoyment of their player's foremost in their minds. That's not how I used to see Blizzard, but today's studio is not the one that was responsible for a gem like D2. Their priorities seem to be quite different and the decisions they've been making reflect it.
It's a shame we don't all derive enjoyment from things in just the exact same way you do so that you wouldn't be subject to our complaints. Maybe I could also somehow be happy with just three character slots, just like you. Right now though, that just boggles my mind.
How is Diablo 3 any different from Diablo 2 though? From all I see, the only additions to the game an an ingame AH, and the fact that you can only play online. Everything else in the game looks to be a rehash of Diablo 2.
So why is it wrong for Torchlight 2 to mimic Diablo 2, yet perfectly okay for Diablo 3? Keep in mind that Blizzard has had five times longer to work on Diablo 3 than the developers of Torchlight have had for TL2.
As I said, it depends on their contracts.
They are hired to do x job but they could have something in their contract that certain bonuses still need to be paid regardless of performance. However, if they fail to perform over a period of time then they can be removed by the board. They could also have stipulations in their contracts for what is essentially referred to as a "golden parachute".
Look this is just the way it works. if it sounds too good to be true then by all means, work your way up to one of these positions.
If you don't like how it works then dont' work for large companies or don't support companies you dont' like. Their allegiance is always going to be to their stock holders.
I've worked for several large companies and in the end they were always working for the financial health of the organization. It wasn't a club with their customers though they did whatever they could to help their customers.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo