Blizzard tells gamers to lower expectations for Diablo 3

[CptStern]

A Blizzard community manager has told gamers to lower their expectations for the upcoming Diablo III hack and slash RPG, a surprising comment that might cause some fans of the Diablo series considerable concern.

“On a more serious note, I too worry that we won't be able to meet the expectations people have built up for themselves,” wrote community manager Bashiok. “Part of my job is managing people's expectations, so... eh... stop it. Stop thinking about how awesome this game could be. Just imagine it's a new M. Night Shyamalan movie. Sure Sixth Sense was amazing and Unbreakable had it's moments, but this right here is the sequel to The Village ... or The Happening ... or Signs ... or any of the movies besides the two I first mentioned. So just like, lower those expectations, but still definitely buy the game please, and everything will be just fine. K?”

lol, so Diablo 3 is like a Shyamalan movie? and not even one of the good ones but the really bad ones?

http://vr-zone.com/articles/blizzard-tells-gamers-to-lower-expectations-for-diablo-iii/14997.html

 

[taviow]

But if it's like a sequel to The Village, then it's going to be absolutely terrible! D:

I haven't seen the others he mentioned though.

 

[Remus]

I like both The Village and Signs... haters gonna hate etc.

 

[Yorick]

I understand that given how long ago Diablo 2 was, and how popular it was, it's definitely makes sense to ask fans to lower their expectations, and enjoy the game for what it is, rather than what they think it should be (10 years later etc). But comparing your game to some truly awful films is not a good way to get that reaction. I'm willing to bet that he just lost Blizzard a few thousand dollars worth of sales, because anyone who was iffy about this in the first place is surely not going to buy it now.

 

[Mogi67]

diablo is/was overrated in the first place

 

[ray_MAN]

I hope no one takes this seriously... If you read the whole post, he's obviously kidding.

 

[Yorick]

You're overrated.

 

[Yuri]

what the hell is a community manager? since they aren't even named, it doesn't seem like it matters what this person seems to think

 

[Lobster]

what the hell is a community manager? since they aren't even named, it doesn't seem like it matters what this person seems to think

It varies from company to company. But often its just a glorified ban hammer and/or press release parrot. I certainly wouldn't class it as a direct Blizzard quote. The guy is probably being sarcastic though.. or wetting himself over the inevitable forum chaos that comes with any sequel to a classic series.

I mean seriously, Blizzard could release a massive steaming turd or the best game ever conceived, and the angry nerd response will be the same in both cases. Its just impossible to please an entrenched fanbase completely. Trying to give them a sense of objectivity or calm, is like trying to tell a fat kid to stop thinking about cake.

 

[Yorick]

what the hell is a community manager? since they aren't even named, it doesn't seem like it matters what this person seems to think

He is named as Bashiok. And he basically just runs the Blizzard Facebook / Twitter and, as Lobster said, does press release stuff.

He's also a complete knob.

 

[ray_MAN]

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/4079872821#1

Jay Wilson wanted to share a message with the Diablo III community:

Some of you might have seen some headlines or a certain (obviously sarcastic) blue post that implies that we're unsteady about where Diablo III stands, and that you should temper your expectations when it comes to the next installment in the Diablo series.

Let me be clear: Nothing could be further from the truth.

As those of you in the beta have seen, the game is in good shape. Actually, I should say that the beta version of the game is in good shape. The latest full build we've been testing here in the office is in great shape.

We get a lot of sympathy from the other teams because of the long hours of crunch our design team is putting in, but the secret is that playing through the game as we do final tuning, bug fixes, and optimizations is a real joy. We always know a Blizzard game is almost ready when we have to ask members of the team to stop playing so they can get their work done. That’s definitely been the case around here.

We think you're going to love Diablo III when it's released, and speaking of release plans, you can seriously expect a launch-date announcement from us in the near future. See, I didn’t say “soon,” so I’m not taunting you. You’ll know as soon as I know for sure the exact date.

And by the way, we want you to have high expectations for Diablo III and all Blizzard games. That’s what pushes us to try to make the best gaming experiences we possibly can. If Diablo III wasn’t a worthy next installment in the Diablo series, we wouldn’t release it. That’s the way we do it. That’s the way we’ve always done it.

As I’ve said many times in the recent past, we think Diablo III is coming along great and we can’t wait for you to get your hands on it. We’re doing all we can to ensure you have one hell of a time once you step foot in Sanctuary…

Also, I think Diablo is much more comparable to the Evil Dead series personally, and those just kept getting better. OK, I know a lot of you prefer Evil Dead 2 to Army of Darkness, but come on, Bruce Campbell fights a squad of little Bruce Campbells! Priceless. =)

/thread

 

[morgs]

It's highly unlikely that D3 will match the expectations that have been building for so many years anyway, but you don't want to see something like that from a blizzard rep.

 

[Naph]

Fired.
Destroyed.

 

[Dog--]

They speak the truth. I don't know about the analogies because I only watched Unbreakable which was okay, and Signs which I liked. But people seem to think this will be the be-all-end-all of games. It won't, it will probably be good and fun to play, but not if you think it'll be the best game ever made. It'll be like Starcraft 2 was to Starcraft. Not as good, but still damn fun.

Also look at Duke Nukem Forever. Shit sucked.

 

[Eejit]

Don't expect it to be any better than Torchlight 2 because that's just absurd.