Why do people like Diablo?
- Thread starter Lycanthrope
- Start date
Lycanthrope
New member
For me it has something to do with gaining new items, skills and leveling up. Something about that fills an odd cathartic need. Mindlessly clicking and looting endlessly. Strange, I know. I am almost convinced thar be subliminal messaging in them thar games!
I love obsessing over which builds to use and the items I will need. Executing it is also pretty fun. For these games, I spend inordinate amounts of time looking and fussing over builds. All of that I enjoy.
Sadly, there has not been a good RPG in this line since Titan Quest (which I am currently playing). Everything else has been "streamlined", and lacks variety and depth of choice. Seriously, a good Action / HacknSlash RPG should be HARD. Getting through Diablo II on its hardest difficulty can be rough, especially if you solo.
Anyways, I won't lie, Diablo III has me worried with its lack of control of things such as your stats. Never mind how it visually looks. All of it is pointing at something I almost do not want to consider...
You've always been a slightly odd individual
(Nothing bad meant by that)See, even as a non-fan (did I just coin a new term?) of the series, I have to say that D3 looks and feels vastly different to its predecessors. I honestly wonder how the gameplay will be. Maybe it's just me but I feel Dungeon Siege 3 will be a much better game. Hack-and-slash with choice and consequence? Gimme! Something to make the grind worthwhile
You've just hit the nail on the head with this post. The story (what little there is) is interesting, I'll give you that but "story" is hardly the first thing that comes to mind when I think "Diablo."
I'm not a hack-and-slash fan either although I occasionally dabble to see what the fuss is. I laughed my ass off yesterday when I read someone saying that The Witcher sucked because it was (get this) "a Diablo clone." My jaw hit the floor in astonishment, I shit you not.
tehNihilist
New member
You've always been a slightly odd individual
Haha, no offense taken, in fact I take from that the opposite! I am a unique (lopsided) snowflake!
Back on topic:
Gamers tastes have changed (I would have said "evolved", but I don't always agree with that sentiment), and so, developers need to adapt to those gamers. The hack-and-slash RPG is no different.
If Diablo III is to truly succeed, then it will need to offer something fresh, or possible instead aim it at this generations lowest common denominator of gamers (make of that what you will).
One thing people need to consider though, is that Diablo II LOD is still highly discussed to this day. It is usually in top 10 lists on general gaming forums that I have seen. So there is merit there even if one cannot see it.
Lycanthrope
New member
Completely agreed, however, as you go on to say:
It's also still very much played, there's still a significant modding community for it. I've even tried one of the most popular ones (don't ask me, I've long since forgotten what it was called). The culmination of my experiences? All of it is lost on me
I would wholeheartedly agree but for the fact that I don't think the fans want it any "different" they just want it continued. As you say, you're concerned with the stats not being customisable--that's a change that either may or may not come back to bite them in the arse. Dare I say many will even go forth and buy Diablo because it's "cool" or because it's "Blizzard" and not so much because it's anything new or perhaps even improved.
StarCraft is a series I see having a long and fruitful life. The Diablo IP? I think that in its current iteration it's pretty stale :/
But that's just my opinion. The thing is, though I have doubts about finding any pleasure in this IP I will probably buy it one day just probably not at release depending entirely on how positive or negative the reviews will be.
czc
Thread Killer Mk VIII
When last did you play Diablo? I remember picking up StarCraft every so often over the years and enjoying it each time so StarCraft 2 was an easy decision. I've played Diablo 2 about a year ago and nearly fell asleep with the repetition
A very long time ago.
Jabberwocky
New member
I wasn`t all impressed with D2 when I first played it, until I started playing it online. Now keep going back to D2 every few years.
I think what I like about it is the planning that goes into developing your character skills, and seeing if it works in hell.
I think what I like about it is the planning that goes into developing your character skills, and seeing if it works in hell.
Damienalexi
New member
I remember it was the dark and addictive aspect of the game. Just a simple idea it was, turned into a cult following
Solitude
Mr. Nice Guy
Nice topic Ly. Here's why I enjoy hack & slash action RPG's of which Diablo II LoD is the best:
1. The addictiveness of getting better gear through random item drops. I'm not a gambler but I assume this is what makes gambling fun: Getting the big prize! Picking up that rare or unique. There's just nothing quite like it. It's a feeling of achievement for hard work every now and then.
2. The flow. I make my characters run fast and I make them hit hard. Then I run and go smack things. A constant flow of gratification. Smack, item drops, pick up, inventory full, see what I've got, sell stuff, when enough money gamble for better items and repeat. Diablo's story may be good but that's not why I'm playing.
3. E-Peen My character is better than yours. Just look at this sword! I rather went for this skill, look how it's paying off!
4. Solidity This one is Diablo specific. When you hit something it feels like you are hitting something solid. So many games miss this fact. The solid thud. Ah Diablo, no other game has pulled this off as well as you.
5. Both hardcore and casual Hack & Slash games can be enjoyed as casual or hardcore games. Fancy half an hour of running around and killing things? You can do that. Want to go kill difficult bosses? You can do that too. Want to play a character that dies permanently? It's there.
And so forth.
It's addictive. It's like gambling. You can play it as you want to.
Me wants Diablo III!
1. The addictiveness of getting better gear through random item drops. I'm not a gambler but I assume this is what makes gambling fun: Getting the big prize! Picking up that rare or unique. There's just nothing quite like it. It's a feeling of achievement for hard work every now and then.
2. The flow. I make my characters run fast and I make them hit hard. Then I run and go smack things. A constant flow of gratification. Smack, item drops, pick up, inventory full, see what I've got, sell stuff, when enough money gamble for better items and repeat. Diablo's story may be good but that's not why I'm playing.
3. E-Peen My character is better than yours. Just look at this sword! I rather went for this skill, look how it's paying off!
4. Solidity This one is Diablo specific. When you hit something it feels like you are hitting something solid. So many games miss this fact. The solid thud. Ah Diablo, no other game has pulled this off as well as you.
5. Both hardcore and casual Hack & Slash games can be enjoyed as casual or hardcore games. Fancy half an hour of running around and killing things? You can do that. Want to go kill difficult bosses? You can do that too. Want to play a character that dies permanently? It's there.
And so forth.
It's addictive. It's like gambling. You can play it as you want to.Me wants Diablo III!
I got a demo of the first diablo somewhere back in 1996 off a cover CD on PCZone or one of those mags. I started exploring the dungeons under Tristram and encountered The Butcher. Anyone who's played diablo1 knows this guy, and to be honest, it was the scariest and most exhilarating gaming experience....
I really got into the story, and after enough CTF and quake duelling to make me puke at LANS, a bunch of us would fire up D1 and play co-op. Friendly fire turned on in close quarters = much screaming and laughter. This kinda set the tone for me and the diablo series, and D2 was more of the same, really. Most fun I had was LAN-ing it with mates and the prospect of hooking up with those same friends on battle.net and playing D3 now that we've all scattered to other parts of the world, is very appealing.
I've played a lot of WoW, and to be honest I got tired of the elitist pricks I started meeting in the last months before I quit for good, so I can't say I'm looking forward to joining random D3 matches and playing with strangers, but with friends and solo, yes please!
What else appeals to me, the fact that there are tons of character variants, I enjoy trying out weird builds and seeing if I can solo the entire game with weird weapon combinations and so on. Again, this follows on from playing WoW for so long, where boss loot tables are fixed, there's nothing cooler than killing some random runt in Diablo and having a unique item drop off it.
I guess it also goes back to my gaming origins, and that I have a soft spot for anything Diablo. I don't think the combat is particularly complex and I certainly don't find the dialog immersive or believable, but I guess that's the nature of a hack 'n slash. I also like using huge abilities to decimate legions of demons, makes me feel super powerful, and I like that
I really got into the story, and after enough CTF and quake duelling to make me puke at LANS, a bunch of us would fire up D1 and play co-op. Friendly fire turned on in close quarters = much screaming and laughter. This kinda set the tone for me and the diablo series, and D2 was more of the same, really. Most fun I had was LAN-ing it with mates and the prospect of hooking up with those same friends on battle.net and playing D3 now that we've all scattered to other parts of the world, is very appealing.
I've played a lot of WoW, and to be honest I got tired of the elitist pricks I started meeting in the last months before I quit for good, so I can't say I'm looking forward to joining random D3 matches and playing with strangers, but with friends and solo, yes please!
What else appeals to me, the fact that there are tons of character variants, I enjoy trying out weird builds and seeing if I can solo the entire game with weird weapon combinations and so on. Again, this follows on from playing WoW for so long, where boss loot tables are fixed, there's nothing cooler than killing some random runt in Diablo and having a unique item drop off it.
I guess it also goes back to my gaming origins, and that I have a soft spot for anything Diablo. I don't think the combat is particularly complex and I certainly don't find the dialog immersive or believable, but I guess that's the nature of a hack 'n slash. I also like using huge abilities to decimate legions of demons, makes me feel super powerful, and I like that
Grimspoon
The Hoff
Diablo 2 was epic. I cant even guess how many hours I put into it.
For me the appeal was firstly leveling and gaining more abilities, as well as discovering different areas and then the obvious one of finding sweet loot.
Co op was also awesome. Probably still one of my all time favorites.
For me the appeal was firstly leveling and gaining more abilities, as well as discovering different areas and then the obvious one of finding sweet loot.
Co op was also awesome. Probably still one of my all time favorites.
AcidRaZor
New member
WoW (if that is an MMO / RPG you refer to having a culminated effect on choices you make and not a monotonous grind like Diablo), in the end is exactly just a grind for better gear (you call it Raids, I believe) so that you could fight better monsters to get better gear to fight better monsters to get better gear. There's a handful of people who actually follow the storyline, but if you did (and you're one of the handful) wouldn't you want to stop after you down Darkwing Duck (or whatever the end boss with Cataclysm is now)? No, you'd want to go on because you need better gear... *shrug*
Diablo appeals to a lot of people who wants instant action with less monotonous grind work (if you never grind in WoW for items to make a different item or have better reputation or whatever, you haven't really played the game). It has a very involved storyline a lot of us follow (unlike WoW which I never really followed, not even from the Warcraft 1 days) and as Nightwing pointed out, one of the first scary pieces of work to come out with "amazing" graphics and a nice involved story line
I think it was at that point Blizzard thought about making an MMO... and with the new Battle.NET I can just imagine how much awesome fun it would be playing D3
Same story here
Diablo appeals to a lot of people who wants instant action with less monotonous grind work (if you never grind in WoW for items to make a different item or have better reputation or whatever, you haven't really played the game). It has a very involved storyline a lot of us follow (unlike WoW which I never really followed, not even from the Warcraft 1 days) and as Nightwing pointed out, one of the first scary pieces of work to come out with "amazing" graphics and a nice involved story line
I think it was at that point Blizzard thought about making an MMO... and with the new Battle.NET I can just imagine how much awesome fun it would be playing D3
I got a demo of the first diablo somewhere back in 1996 off a cover CD on PCZone or one of those mags. I started exploring the dungeons under Tristram and encountered The Butcher. Anyone who's played diablo1 knows this guy, and to be honest, it was the scariest and most exhilarating gaming experience....
I really got into the story, and after enough CTF and quake duelling to make me puke at LANS, a bunch of us would fire up D1 and play co-op. Friendly fire turned on in close quarters = much screaming and laughter. This kinda set the tone for me and the diablo series, and D2 was more of the same, really. Most fun I had was LAN-ing it with mates and the prospect of hooking up with those same friends on battle.net and playing D3 now that we've all scattered to other parts of the world, is very appealing.
I've played a lot of WoW, and to be honest I got tired of the elitist pricks I started meeting in the last months before I quit for good, so I can't say I'm looking forward to joining random D3 matches and playing with strangers, but with friends and solo, yes please!
What else appeals to me, the fact that there are tons of character variants, I enjoy trying out weird builds and seeing if I can solo the entire game with weird weapon combinations and so on. Again, this follows on from playing WoW for so long, where boss loot tables are fixed, there's nothing cooler than killing some random runt in Diablo and having a unique item drop off it.
I guess it also goes back to my gaming origins, and that I have a soft spot for anything Diablo. I don't think the combat is particularly complex and I certainly don't find the dialog immersive or believable, but I guess that's the nature of a hack 'n slash. I also like using huge abilities to decimate legions of demons, makes me feel super powerful, and I like that
Same story here
firefly137
New member
like with all RPG's... its that search for the ultimate items... and doing it with your friends....fun times... but its over now.... i got a feeling D3 is gonna be a let down.. due to no lan... lan is dying... WHY....
like with all RPG's... its that search for the ultimate items... and doing it with your friends....fun times... but its over now.... i got a feeling D3 is gonna be a let down.. due to no lan... lan is dying... WHY....
Agreed, it's sad that they will not support LAN but I guess with battle.net they can control things, the legality of your copy, make more money off you with DLC etc. I wonder how much of that is down to the shareholders/activision/kotick's policy, the Blizzard we loved is steadily being assimilated by the activision borg.
Got to say I rarely finish games, but Diablo 2 I finished it the same weekend I got it (through the night sessions) !! Brilliant experience AND I finished it probably 8 more times with some coorperative action. Even talking about it makes me feel like getting some barbarian action on !! I think it is probably the item drops that makes it most exciting...don't know but the whole package is enticing; try it NOW before D3 arrives (okay, so you probably got some time, so don't rush)
AcidRaZor
New member
True, but you have to consider that most of the modern world is connected to the internet. Their target market isn't 3rd-world countries. And yes, unfortunately we're still classified as 3rd world.
If you take a look at how things have evolved (in Asia/Europe/America) in the last 10 years you'd realize that for them playing the game connected to the internet is normal. Sure LAN is a big part of it, but they're running an Achievement system which proves to be popular (for some) and to me, having 1 battle.net account with all my games on there (and all my friends spread across their universe on there as well) is cool.
AFAIK, you can still "LAN". You'd need an internet connection to connect to battle.NET, but the connection would be local if you and 5 buddies decide to play (and all of them is in the borders of SA or the same LAN)
I *REALLY* do not mind paying for Blizzard games...
You're right, it would take more effort but my friends and I could still sit in the same room and drink beer, screaming like maniacs when an extra strong, fanaticism moon lord boss pack comse steaming down the ancients way and decimates us in 0.3 seconds. I think that aspect is what I will miss about LAN, but I guess with skype or vent it would pretty much be similar
I do like the new battle.net, when I was still playing WoW I could happily chat to my buddies playing SC2, or even wow friends on other servers, and that IS cool.
I can't shake the feeling that we're being forced to do it though, it's like we're being led by the nose, and I don't like that. I've had enough of Blizzard leading me by the nose when it comes to WoW and their incessant changes and tweaks to class balance.
Perhaps I'm being cynical but it feels like there's an ulterior motive. I also had a frustrating experience with SC2, one Wed morning after I pulled a work all-nighter, I just wanted to let off steam, WoW servers in maintenance so I fired up SC2, had not logged in for a month, oops sorry, you can't play in offline SP mode because you haven't logged in to authenticate your copy (which is legit) for a month, and since our servers are down for maintenance, sucks to be you.
Yeah that was an isolated incident, but it reminded me of the corporate culture that now pervades. I also don't mind paying for blizz titles, but I'm kinda pissed off at how they're going about it.
firefly137
New member
i think lan and online has its pro's and cons... but i miss a good lan... i sold my pc a few moths ago...but before that there was not really anything to lan... except dota(and other warcaft maps) cod 5 zombies... that was it... its really sad that everyone has to have a internet connection to play... sigh! i would like a fast internet connection and want my friends to have it aswell but not all can do that... there is just less cost involve in a lan at the end of the day... and that is what makes a lan...