After All This Time

This blog has been neglected for too long. It's been more than two months since Diablo III's release, and i'm ready to spill my guts on what has probably been Blizzards worst game release since..well, maybe ever?

As could be guessed from my last post, a large part of my last two months has been filled with Diablo III. At first I was taken away with the game, the gameplay was fun! As a matter of fact, even while most people were bashing this game for various reasons, I stood by the fact that I thought it was a great game. Recently however, a sour taste has crept into my mouth, and my desire to log on has all but been destroyed.

What took so long?

One of the first disappointing things that struck me was, this game is short! Normal took no time at all to complete and was (forgive me for using this expression) a faceroll. Act four was the worst of it all, it took maybe 30 - 45 minutes to complete, and in my opinion was only considered separate from act three because they knew people wouldn't accept only three acts. 

Looking back, my opinion began to shift with this game after a poster in the forums linked to a video of the first video ever release for D3. I began to watch recalling the Saturday morning when I woke up to the announcement, I was so excited! However I quickly noticed something... Diablo III looked like a better game  three years ago. The graphics and animations were more crisp, and the action more intense. What happened in three years that development seemed to move backwards?  

Inferno

Inferno was the highly regarded, end game content for Diablo III. According to Blizzard, inferno might take years to complete because of its difficulty. It took people less than a week. Inferno isn't difficult, its cheap, and cheap is not fun. I have not completed inferno, and don't really care if I ever do. At this point, the best gear in the game can drop from monsters in the first act, so there is not enough reward to warrant the frustration of progressing through inferno any longer. 

The RMAH

The real money auction house was a feature that I was excited about, and for me was the best part about Diablo III. While you wont replace any decent playing full time job, you can make money on the RMAH if you know what you are doing. Playing a video game and making money have never mixed for me, and it was amazing when I made enough money to pay off the initial $60 investment. Most of the items that I sold for $ were worth more than I dreamed. It took many hours of researching market values, but if you are smart, you can do very well on the gold and $ AH.

Beyond Diablo III though, I really think this is a wonderful turning point. Blizzard is making money hand over fist with the fees that they charge per auction. I wouldn't be surprised at all if we see more games in the future adopting features that allow the players to trade real currency. Professional gaming may not be only a dream in the near future. 

Patch 1.03

This patch was the worst patch I have ever had to endure for any game. Blizzard has always been known to nerf things into the ground from time to time, but when they cut my characters main stat in half I couldn't believe it. My character had a lot of increased attack speed, it was fun, and also powerful. After the patch, my damage per second went from 55k to 30k thanks to increased attack speed being cut in half on all items. A weapon that I had just spent all my gold on was now useless. To add to that, items were not dropping out of breakable items like pots anymore, and the thing that made it worth killing bosses(they were guaranteed to drop two rares) was also removed. The feeling of disgust never quite went away after this one.

The Camel's Back is Broken 

Player Pharaoh #1832 is a scumbag, the worst kind of human being. I woke up early the other morning and decided to post some auctions. This player was selling 56 of an item I had been collecting (Fiery Brimstones) for a cheap price. I should have suspected something, but I guess I was still half asleep. He joins my game, and puts 56 of the item into the trade window. I put the money in, check to see that he is still trading me 56, and accept the trade. Trade is complete and I only receive 1 of the item. Is it a glitch or a hack? I don't know, but I figure Blizzard may have something to say about it. 

After various attempts to contact customer support about the issue, can you guess the response I received? It was my fault, I should have been more careful. The worst part was, the responses I did get were automated, copy paste templates of pre-written messages for people with this issue. To this day Pharaoh#1832 is still online and probably scamming people, but Blizzard has better things to do than worry about people ruining the game for their honest,  loyal fans. 

This incident has tarnished my opinion of Blizzard, and has also killed my desire to log into Diablo III. This company had earned such high esteem in my eyes that I would have probably bought any game they released, but no more.  Diablo III is an average game at best. Blizzard should move into the movie business, it seems like they spent more time on this games beautiful cinematics than everything else.