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Rules of Engagement, Lesson #1 -- Say Nothing
August 10th 2000, 03:55 CEST by andy Diablo II and The Patch That People Hate. What's going on? You want to be kept informed, I know you do. You've got questions that you want to ask, and baby you know I want to get those answers for you! And I nearly managed it too... But you see, Blizzard is one of those game companies that still insists on locking its developers away in a dark room and putting a load of PR people out front to defend them against the perceived evils of journalism. And so, it is my sad news to report that despite the best efforts of your friends at the Planet o' Crap, we've been defeated by the lovely Ms Debra Osborne of Havas Interactive, Blizzard's parent company. For the curious, it went like this...
And that, my friends, is where the curtain closes. Apparently the questions were passed on to the QA team as promised, answered, handed back to Debra, and then, for some unexplained reason, she was asked not to send them to me yet. Will she send them? Did she ever intend to send them? Were they ever answered? Did she even pass them on to the QA team in the first place? Believe whatever makes you happy, folks! |
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Topic: Rules of Engagement, Lesson #1 -- Say Nothing
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All I have to say is Blizzard doesn't really care for the community for diablo, only about money. They got a million seller (the fastest one for the PC Market) and now they are fucking things up. <I><B></B></I><I></I><I></I> |
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<b>#1</b> "err head" wrote... <QUOTE> Will she send them? Did she ever intend to send them? Were they ever answered? Did she even pass them on to the QA team in the first place?</QUOTE> While I can't answer that question, believe it or not this is how PR actually works. Right now Blizzard is probably fielding hundreds of interview requests a day, and rather than individually answer every single question in every e-mail, they're probably readying an official statement that *should* cover most major points. And rather than rush that statement and make a bad situation worse or put out hundreds of conflicting messages, they're probably figuring out what exactly to do; maybe they're even working on and testing a patch that will undo what they did, or change the balance in some other way. Now they could say something like, "We're preparing a patch that will address problems," but then there would be 100 e-mails a day asking "when is the patch going to be made available?" Oh, and just as an aside, Debra Osborne is not Blizzard's regular PR person (though she may be an assistant). Susan Wooley usually handles all Blizzard media requests, but she's out on maternity leave. --- "My life is a patio of fun."<I><B></B></I><I></I><I></I> |
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<b>#12</b> "BloodKnight" wrote... <QUOTE> All I have to say is Blizzard doesn't really care for the community for diablo, only about money. They got a million seller (the fastest one for the PC Market) and now they are fucking things up. </QUOTE> Um, they cared enough to create a pretty good game that people seem to like. Beyond that, they don't really need to do anything; they choose to. They tried to address what appeared (to them, and others I've spoken with) an imbalance in the game. And maybe they screwed up. But to say they don't care for the community is absurd. Maybe they could have handled things differently, but who's ever had a perfect public record? They're playing on a HUGE stage right now, and they're stumbling a bit... --- "My life is a patio of fun."<I><B></B></I><I></I><I></I> |
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I don't understand what yall are so upset about.. Ok, well I understand Andy's point about the PR stuff, but not about the fact that Blizzard doesn't really care. Blizzard patching diablo and making it a BETTER game and showing that they are dedicated to their player base as a whole (not just the ones with the loudest voices) show that they really do care. They are not "fucking things up", they are trying to keep Diablo2 a game that will stay fun and competitive. You must know that playing Diablo2 over the realms is going to be playing in a dynamic enviorment. More changes will be made. Why play on Realm if you cant accept this.. I also don't understand why people whined this exact same way over Everquest.. I had got a Necro to 48, so i played it quite a bit.. Verant continued to add content, balance classes, and change the world around the entire time i played. I never ever saw this as a bad thing, even though they nerfed the necromancer class signficantly while i was a player. Tweaking the classes is not a bad thing. Thats one of the joys of an online game like Diablo or Everquest, with enough dedication by the developing company you can be certain they will continue to make the game more enjoyable by having all classes balanced. -ilian -- Rewolf Software |
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<quote>Will she send them? Did she ever intend to send them? Were they ever answered? Did she even pass them on to the QA team in the first place?</quote> I can honestly tell you that you're lucky to even get that far Andy. Blizzard's PR people are among the busiest people in the world. It took me like a month to arrange a visit down to blizzard; it's not like they're blowing you off, just that the ball rolls really slowly when it's made out of the stuff of suns. [translation - blizzard is a big f'in company with a lot of red tape.] |
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<b>#13</b>, Steve Bauman: <QUOTE> Oh, and just as an aside, Debra Osborne is not Blizzard's regular PR person (though she may be an assistant). Susan Wooley usually handles all Blizzard media requests, but she's out on maternity leave. </QUOTE> Yep, I got Debra's address from Susan's autoresponder. You may well be right about the other stuff. But the way I see it, I asked Blizzard about the issues that are being raised by Diablo II players, and so far Blizzard hasn't done anything to address those concerns. <i>Why</i> they haven't done anything probably isn't of much concern to the players, and thus it isn't of much concern to me either. |
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<b>#6</b> "George Broussard" wrote... <QUOTE> God I hate PR people almost as much as marketing weenies. </QUOTE> I usually have more luck going through PR people than getting some developers to answer questions or do much of anything; screenshot requests will go unanswered for days (hey, my deadlines are real; we can't publish a magazine "when it's done", heh heh), e-mails go unanswered... you get a PR person to crack the whip and stuff gets done. A lot of developers don't seem to know our publication (which is probably our fault), but the PR people do. I have to say, though, that you and Scott at 3D Realms are by far the most approachable folks in the industry, and have always quickly answered any and all questions. --- "My life is a patio of fun."<I><B></B></I><I></I><I></I> |
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<b>Steve Bauman</b> (#14): <QUOTE>Um, they cared enough to create a pretty good game that people seem to like. Beyond that, they don't really need to do anything; they choose to. They tried to address what appeared (to them, and others I've spoken with) an imbalance in the game. And maybe they screwed up. But to say they don't care for the community is absurd. Maybe they could have handled things differently, but who's ever had a perfect public record? They're playing on a HUGE stage right now, and they're stumbling a bit... </QUOTE> Well first, I am going to say this. Diablo 2 is a heart stab to the RPG genre. Diablo 2, is not really nothing new, just new classes. I played it, went to act 4, and uninstalled it. The wilderness, the character system, all bad. It was pretty damn good at first, because you wanted to see whats new, but repeative monsters, and very predictable (probably nt spelled right) storyline, made me want to free up 1.5 GB. I admit that Blizzard is a good company, but a lot of people bought into the hype, and now they are screwing things up and being rude (shown here by andy). Diablo 2 is like a whore, once you play a lot, it gets old fast. <I><B></B></I><I></I><I></I> |
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<b>ilian</b> (#15): <QUOTE>Blizzard patching diablo and making it a BETTER game and showing that they are dedicated to their player base as a whole </QUOTE> If it didn't sell well, they wouldn't support. Example is Blood 2. Thats how the market works, if it doesn't sell, the game doesn't get support. We seen this practiced numerous times <I><B></B></I><I></I><I></I> |
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<b>#17</b> "Andy" wrote... <QUOTE> You may well be right about the other stuff. But the way I see it, I asked Blizzard about the issues that are being raised by Diablo II players, and so far Blizzard hasn't done anything to address those concerns. <I>Why</I> they haven't done anything probably isn't of much concern to the players, and thus it isn't of much concern to me either. </QUOTE> I agree, but not all questions can be answered in an hour, or in a day. But With the Internet, we expect everything RIGHT NOW. And when it doesn't (hey, maybe the person was on vacation for a day, or called in sick), we suspect ulterior motives. And with anything as high-profile as Diablo II, you can guarantee that there's a process for all outbound media statements. Two days may seem like an eternity (though it doesn't to me; sheesh, if you're unhappy don't play the game until they address the problem...), but c'mon... we have NO idea how many media requests they're receiving right now. And by the way, my phone call to Blizzard from a week ago hasn't been returned. (My call had nothing to do with this issue.) Once this has blown over, I'll call back. Amazing! --- "My life is a patio of fun."<I><B></B></I><I></I><I></I> |
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<quote>I have to say, though, that you and Scott at 3D Realms are by far the most approachable folks in the industry, and have always quickly answered any and all questions. </quote> Do I smell a Computer Games Magazine exclusive for DNF? ;) |
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<b>#19</b> "BloodKnight" wrote... <QUOTE> Well first, I am going to say this. Diablo 2 is a heart stab to the RPG genre. Diablo 2, is not really nothing new, just new classes. I played it, went to act 4, and uninstalled it. The wilderness, the character system, all bad. It was pretty damn good at first, because you wanted to see whats new, but repeative monsters, and very predictable (probably nt spelled right) storyline, made me want to free up 1.5 GB. I admit that Blizzard is a good company, but a lot of people bought into the hype, and now they are screwing things up and being rude (shown here by andy). Diablo 2 is like a whore, once you play a lot, it gets old fast. </QUOTE> OK, but so what? You don't like the game. So why are you upset about the patch if you uninstalled the game? And I don't consider this behavior being rude. Being rude would be, "I'm sorry, but Planetcrap doesn't have the sort of numbers we consider worth our time to answer your questions." If you notice, no one is getting answers; I'm guessing they're readying an official statement. Just be patient, people. Sheesh. Andy, when did you send your questions? I mean, we're talking about two days without the questions answered, right? --- "My life is a patio of fun."<I><B></B></I><I></I><I></I> |
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<b>#22</b> "Apache" wrote... <QUOTE> Do I smell a Computer Games Magazine exclusive for DNF? ;) </QUOTE> Hey now! But now that you mention it... But it's true; whenever I do an industry article, I always e-mail Scott Miller and he always answers my questions promptly (and usually with some great quotes). --- "My life is a patio of fun."<I><B></B></I><I></I><I></I> |
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<b>#21</b>, Steve Bauman: <QUOTE> I agree, but not all questions can be answered in an hour, or in a day. </QUOTE> She says they've already been answered -- that's what is weird. <b>#23</b>, Steve Bauman: <QUOTE> Andy, when did you send your questions? I mean, we're talking about two days without the questions answered, right? </QUOTE> Something like that. A little more than two days, my time, but I'm not sure if Debra would have been in the office at the time I sent them. |
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<b>Steve Bauman</b> (#23): <QUOTE>And I don't consider this behavior being rude. Being rude would be, "I'm sorry, but Planetcrap doesn't have the sort of numbers we consider worth our time to answer your questions." If you notice, no one is getting answers; I'm guessing they're readying an official statement. Just be patient, people. Sheesh. </QUOTE> Well asking for your name again, if you are some how famous and own a popular site, is a bit rude. Thats like saying to Bill Gates "You are again? What did you want?" But they might be making an official statement, who knows. I think Blizzard has its own head into its ass this time, making a patch that lowers skills that players put a month of work to put on, and also battle.net being all screwed up. Also hacked characters, which I shocked they haven't fixed yet. Oh and the reason why I am pissed off about a patch is because of the developers (Blizzard) are biting the hands off that feed them (community) If right now ID software decided to make the rocket launcher have lower damage, would you think the Q3A community be pissed off right now? <I><B></B></I><I></I><I></I> |
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<b>#26</b> "BloodKnight" wrote... <QUOTE> If right now ID software decided to make the rocket launcher have lower damage, would you think the Q3A community be pissed off right now? </QUOTE> Sure, then they'd get over it and move on with their lives. Maybe they'd even learn to play the game differently, which would add value to the game because it would make it feel new. --- "My life is a patio of fun."<I><B></B></I><I></I><I></I> |
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<b>Steve Bauman</b> (#27): <QUOTE>Sure, then they'd get over it and move on with their lives. Maybe they'd even learn to play the game differently, which would add value to the game because it would make it feel new. </QUOTE> This is like changing the rules in soccer, where you have to 2 goals to get a point. Its 'weaker', more pain the ass, and doesn't enhance the fun in a 'sport' <I><B></B></I><I></I><I></I> |
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<b>#25</b> "Andy" wrote... <QUOTE> She says they've already been answered -- that's what is weird. </quote> Which says to me they're waiting for the official statement before going public with anything. Which I think is smart; rather than answer hundreds of individual questions, they can incorporate them all into a single statement. And that decision may have been made after she said they were answered. <quote>Something like that. A little more than two days, my time, but I'm not sure if Debra would have been in the office at the time I sent them. </QUOTE> Well, it often takes a lot longer than two days to get questions answered. --- "My life is a patio of fun."<I><B></B></I><I></I><I></I> |
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<b>#28</b> "BloodKnight" wrote... <QUOTE> This is like changing the rules in soccer, where you have to 2 goals to get a point. Its 'weaker', more pain the ass, and doesn't enhance the fun in a 'sport' </QUOTE> Um, hmm, your example would affect every player. This patch, as I understand it, does not. And there are plenty of people that disagree with you (like the people in our office). It's just they're not screaming as loudly as those "wronged" by the changed. --- "My life is a patio of fun."<I><B></B></I><I></I><I></I> |
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I gotta agree with Steve here. If someone at a large company gets back to you in two days, you're in heaven. I cover health care for the paper I work for, talking to hospitals, HMOs and doctors all day and if they call me back more than two hours before deadline, I'm giddy. Ironically (or perhaps not so ironically), HMO and hospital executives are usually more accessible than doctors because the PR people are there telling them, "Yes, you have to talk to the press." Of course, doctors also can't talke becasue they are busy as hell, but that's another story entirely. I've liked most of the PR folks I met. Most simply help me hook up with the right person to get the info I need. |
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<b>Steve Bauman</b> (#30): <QUOTE>Um, hmm, your example would affect every player. This patch, as I understand it, does not. </QUOTE> Ummm..use your head, skills are lowered, therefore, weaker! Where does skill apply? To a character in diablo. Who controls the character? The player. What happened to the skills? They have been weaker then before, and this affects every character/player that worked their asses off. People wouldn't be complaining if this didn't 'affect every player' <I><B></B></I><I></I><I></I> |
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't #12 be a contradiction? A company has to make money, so it's understandable that profits are the highest priority. But if profits are the highest priority, caring for your customers has to be the 2nd priority, pissing them off wouldn't be very good for business. |
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<b>Show Time</b> (#33): <QUOTE>pissing them off wouldn't be very good for business</QUOTE> I let the patch and the blizzard forums speak for themselves <I><B></B></I><I></I><I></I> |
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Damn time to sleep, there will be probably over 50 or 100 posts when I wake up <I><B></B></I><I></I><I></I> |
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i have an old Diablo action figure i bought for $2.99 on clearance at EB. Was i a Diablo fan? nope, but the lil' Knight guy looked pretty cool, and i figured he'd make a good addition to the mass of crap above my computer. Is he still there? nope, he's been replaced by a Major Maxim figure and now sits atop a mass of boxes on another bookshelf. i bought Diablo 2 for $39.95 at the same EB. Was i a Diablo fan? nope, but i figured i'd install it and it would provide some vague sense of entertainment for a while. Is it still there? nope...two sets of reference drivers, a few blue screens and a re-format later, and it's gone from my HD. the little Knight provides a fitting guardian to the 'dead elephant graveyard' of PC games he stands atop... ^M^ |
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<b>#32</b> "BloodKnight" wrote... <QUOTE> Ummm..use your head, skills are lowered, therefore, weaker! Where does skill apply? To a character in diablo. Who controls the character? The player. What happened to the skills? They have been weaker then before, and this affects every character/player that worked their asses off. People wouldn't be complaining if this didn't 'affect every player' </QUOTE> I'm not a big Diablo player, but I was under the impression that the lowered skills only affected certain characters in the game, hence only players using those characters are affected. And if you really think everyone is pissed off... well, it's a certain number of extremely vocal people. If they've sold a million copies of the game, it ain't a million people. It's probably not even 100,000 people. It may not even be 10,000 people. What is it, 10%? 1%? .1%? --- "My life is a patio of fun."<I><B></B></I><I></I><I></I> |
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<b>#30</b> "Steve Bauman" wrote... <QUOTE>Um, hmm, your example would affect every player. This patch, as I understand it, does not. </QUOTE> Sports league constantly change rules to stop unbalanced or unfair play. Here's a few off the top of my head for American football. 1) In the final two minutes of a half, a team may not gain yardage after regaining their own fumble--The Stabler rule who fumbled into the end zone where his teammate recovered for a game winning touchdown. 2) They instituted some rules on the no-huddle offense. Seems a team was tearing up its opponents by just running it constantly. You can still do it, but the officials can call a halt to it under certain conditions. 3) Instant Reply rules. They're still experimenting with it, I think each team is now given a handful of challenges, which they can use as they see fit. If they blow them all early in the game, it can come back to haunt them later on. So, it happens in the real world, so get over yourself :) I... AM BAYTOR!!!!<I><B></B></I><I></I><I></I> |
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<b>#37</b>, Steve Bauman: <QUOTE> And if you really think everyone is pissed off... well, it's a certain number of extremely vocal people. If they've sold a million copies of the game, it ain't a million people. It's probably not even 100,000 people. It may not even be 10,000 people. What is it, 10%? 1%? .1%? </QUOTE> Ah, now hang on a minute ya crafty scamp! ;-) You can't judge public opinion based on the size of a survey. You have to judge it based on the responses <i>within</i> that survey. That's still not a very scientific way of doing it, but it's better. Let's set out some <b>hypothetical</b> figures: There are a million Diablo II players. On the web, 1,000 of those players are complaining about the latest patch. You're using those figures to conclude that 0.1% of Diablo II are annoyed, and therefore 99.9% don't care. You should actually look at this way, again hypothetically: There are a million Diablo II players. There are 10,000 of them who regularly use the web, posting to message boards etc. 1,000 of them are complaining. Therefore, you can conclude that 10% of players who use the web do care, and 90% don't. You can't make any assumption about what the other 990,000 players think. -- There was a good example of this kind of statistical distortion recently, after the murder of a young girl here in the UK. A newspaper, the News Of The World, ran a very emotive campaign to reveal the names and locations of known paedophiles. Then they ran an opinion poll, asking their readers to vote on whether a register of paedophiles should be available to the public. 97% of people who took part in the poll said yes. The paper claimed that this meant 97% of the British public wanted the law to be changed. HUGELY inaccurate! The only accurate conclusion they could draw is that 97% of NOTW readers who took part in the poll wanted the law to be changed, and 3% didn't. The readers of a particular newspaper will generally be a distinct subset of society, so to claim that a newspaper poll is indicative of national feeling is wrong. |
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<b>Steve Bauman</b> (#18): <QUOTE>I have to say, though, that you and Scott at 3D Realms are by far the most approachable folks in the industry, and have always quickly answered any and all questions. </QUOTE> Well, in all honesty, it doesn't take all that long to type, "No comment". ;) -- Warren Marshall - Professional Nuisance<I><B></B></I><I></I><I></I> |
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<b>#39</b> "Andy" wrote... <QUOTE> You're using those figures to conclude that 0.1% of Diablo II are annoyed, and therefore 99.9% don't care. </quote> Or they don't care enough to rant on a message board. But message board traffic is usually dominated by a handful of posters to write most of the messages and tend to distort the message or make it appear there is consensus when there is none. --- "My life is a patio of fun."<I><B></B></I><I></I><I></I> |
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<b>#41</b>, Steve Bauman: <QUOTE> Or they don't care enough to rant on a message board. </QUOTE> Or they don't know about the board in the first place. |
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I read about 20 posts and I'm just jumping down here and I'm gonna say something about PR dudes. Why do you all dislike them so much? I talk to Dan Miller at Lith all the time, and he's a really cool guy. I asked him for screenshots for a very small website, and he said he will probably send a few over. And this is when he has just come back from a vacation, with 200+ emails to answer and over a week to catch up on. Developers is understandably different. When you're working 12+ hours a day so that you can get a game out on time, I don't think that screenshot requests, or e-mail in general is very high on their priority list when they've got to get a game out. So, cut the developers and Dan Miller (if not any other PR guys) some slack.<I><B></B></I><I></I><I></I> |
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<b>#42</b> "Andy" wrote... <QUOTE> Or they don't know about the board in the first place. </QUOTE> Or they don't even notice the changes because they're not that hardcore. --- "My life is a patio of fun."<I><B></B></I><I></I><I></I> |
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<b>Steve Bauman wrote in post #44:</b> <quote>Or they don't even notice the changes because they're not that hardcore. </quote> And if you ask me, that's the majority. -- Dethstryk Damage Gaming |
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ATTENTION! - if you like cliffyb go vote here http://www.somethingawful.com/jeffk/fpssurvivar/index.htm so he wins! remember click cliffybs name and then click the vote button or cliffyb will loose. |
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Sorry to say, but those changes Blizzard made were well-founded and 100% justified. As a paladin, it pisses me off to see the barbarian so over-balanced with the whirlwind attack; it's <b>much</b> stronger than my 'zeal' ability. Not to mention the barbarian can wield duel weapons, including two handed weapons in each hand. To quote one of my favorite movies "Your days of finger-banging Mary-Jane Rotten Crotch through her purty pink panties are over!" If you don't like it, leave it. |
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<b>#47</b> "Apache" wrote... <QUOTE>To quote one of my favorite movies "Your days of finger-banging Mary-Jane Rotten Crotch through her purty pink panties are over!" </QUOTE> I've heard that but I can't remember the film, was it in Home Alone?<I><B></B></I><I></I><I></I> |
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#47 they ruined my necromancer im suing for mental distrrbance and time wasting and mental damage and theyve ruined my life. |
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<b>#47</b>, Apache: But surely Blizzard should at least <b>engage</b> their customers? Blizzard have done something that has made many people feel unhappy, annoyed, and downright betrayed, and so far the only thing they've done is stick some poor PR woman out front to say "<i>move along please, nothing to see here</i>". They should say something. Soon. It's the right thing to do. |
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<quote>I've heard that but I can't remember the film, was it in Home Alone? </quote> Damn you Hulka! It's "Full Metal Jacket"! |
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<b>#50</b> "Andy" wrote... <QUOTE> They should say something. Soon. It's the right thing to do. </QUOTE> Absolutely, but people are crucifying them for not saying it RIGHT NOW. It's amazing how impatient we've become as a society over the past few years... even in the other topic, you sent a message to Fox and TWO WHOLE DAYS have passed without a response. Wow. And to think I'm used to having responses measured in weeks... --- "My life is a patio of fun."<I><B></B></I><I></I><I></I> |
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<b>#52</b>, Steve Bauman: <QUOTE> <B><A href="spy-internal:Load/126#50">#50</A></B> "Andy" wrote... Absolutely, but people are crucifying them for not saying it RIGHT NOW. </QUOTE> Well, it *has* been nearly a week now, hasn't it? Since the patch came out and the fuss started, I mean. <QUOTE> It's amazing how impatient we've become as a society over the past few years... even in the other topic, you sent a message to Fox and TWO WHOLE DAYS have passed without a response. Wow. And to think I'm used to having responses measured in weeks... </QUOTE> In this case, I don't think it's a society thing, so much. I'm just used to getting responses quickly. I don't think I've ever had to wait more than 24 hours for a legitimate (IMO) response from any company, and when I do get a response after that time, it's always a no comment. So nowadays I (usually) give them 48 hours, which I think is reasonable. Are you suggesting I wait one, two, three weeks for a response? Okay, maybe that's your opinion, but guess what -- that's the end of PlanetCrap and 90% of other gaming sites, because (cliché time!) there's no such thing as a fortnight in the news. (Could you hear Tea Leone saying that? Well <i>could you?!</i>) |
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<quote>Sorry to say, but those changes Blizzard made were well-founded and 100% justified. As a paladin, it pisses me off to see the barbarian so over-balanced with the whirlwind attack; it's much stronger than my 'zeal' ability. Not to mention the barbarian can wield duel weapons, including two handed weapons in each hand.</quote> They are makign the same dumbassed mistakes Verant did though, and I know they played Everquest so I can't fathom how they didn't learn from Verant's mistakes. People don't want to feel *weaker* even if it is in the best interest of the game. We as game players want to feel stronger. It's our goal to get stronger. When you take something away you really piss off game players (this is something that most single player games get right just out of habit). If you messed up in your design and someone is too strong, raise up the abilities of the weaker classes to compensate. Nobody is going to complain if they are given a benefit except maybe that Barbarian who can't out kill a Paladin anymore. And if someone complains like that they are going to be shut down quickly by almost everybody for being an idiot. It's a problem I see in deathmatch games as well. The developer sees that their ultra fun to use, but slightly over powering mega weapon is all people use. Instead of figuring out how to make the other weapons more fun to use, they instead opt for the knee jerk reaction of making the ultra weapon weaker and thus far less fun to use. It *really* frustrates me to see developers make the mistake of taking away from their audience. It is their fault the corpse explosion and whirlwhind skills were too strong, not the players and the player should not be punished. The players who are playing the underpowered classes should instead be rewarded by being raised up a notch. Now, will it make it that much easier for those people to play the game? Sure, but it was already that easy for the barbarian and it isn't that big of an issue, so don't worry about it. At the very worst the company can simply up the difficulty of the monsters just an itty bitty fraction. It's insulting that the players are punished for Blizzard's mistakes. Charlie Wiederhold |
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Egads. I'm really out of practice with my typing skills. |
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<b>Charlie Wiederhold</b> (#54): <QUOTE>They are makign the same dumbassed mistakes Verant did though, and I know they played Everquest so I can't fathom how they didn't learn from Verant's mistakes. People don't want to feel *weaker* even if it is in the best interest of the game. We as game players want to feel stronger. It's our goal to get stronger. When you take something away you really piss off game players (this is something that most single player games get right just out of habit). </QUOTE> Wow. That was really well said Charlie. I never thought of it that way before ... why take away from some people ... give to everyone else. That way you get to rebalance the game, and everyone is happy. Like you said, who would bitch about getting MORE strength? Neat ... (no that's not sarcastic, I'm serious dammit! :) -- Warren Marshall - Professional Nuisance<I><B></B></I><I></I><I></I> |
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Post <b>#25</b> by Andy: <QUOTE><i> She says they've already been answered -- that's what is weird. </i></QUOTE> She probably asked her boss if it's OK to send some info to Andy, after she got the answers... And he said "THAT Andy? From PC? Are you out of your mind? No way. Pretend we are all dead." Just for the record, Blizzard never answered my emails about some technical things in D2. I'm not surprised much but other companies, like id, usually respond within a week. I understand they get million pieces of hate/love mail now each day, but could not they filter out everything which contains "YOU SUCK" and "I LOVE"? This would leave them with reasonable sub-hundred emails per day, imho. Or hire a dedicated mail reading/forwarding person.<I><B></B></I><I></I><I></I> |
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Post <b>#56</b> by Warren Marshall: <QUOTE><i> Wow. That was really well said Charlie. I never thought of it that way before ... why take away from some people ... give to everyone else. That way you get to rebalance the game, and everyone is happy. Like you said, who would bitch about getting MORE strength? Neat ... </i></QUOTE> See, Blizzard said back in Diablo2 pre-release days "it would be possible to go past level 50 but it would be very, very hard". They had this vision, that past level 50 it would take players months and months to go up. So their ladder would not max out for few years before Baal1 or Diablo3. Seeing as they screwed up and everyone who wants to rush for experience is at level 80+, I doubt they would want to raise other classes in power. They are doing what looks like quick hacks to cut the experience gain for powerfull/high level characters. I think when people would start reaching level 90+ in a month or two they would release another "balancing patch", with even more ridiculous experience cuts. Obviously, the skills which allow to kill monsters in hell/hell would have to be weakened too. If they would remove the character level cap, and if they would be releasing addons with more powerfull monsters periodically (Mlvl 100+), then they would be able to balance the game by raising other classes to normal level. Instead they are doing an addon which would have two more character classes. They decided to rebalance classes already, how much worse would it be with addition of another 2?<I><B></B></I><I></I><I></I> |
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<QUOTE> Andy, when did you send your questions? I mean, we're talking about two days without the questions answered, right? Something like that. A little more than two days, my time, but I'm not sure if Debra would have been in the office at the time I sent them. </QUOTE> I was in contact with Blizzard about this and that before the game was released, and two days for a response was the norm. I'd guess three or four days might be the norm now, especially with Susan Wooley out with a baby now. |
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<QUOTE> Just for the record, Blizzard never answered my emails about some technical things in D2. I'm not surprised much but other companies, like id, usually respond within a week. I understand they get million pieces of hate/love mail now each day, but could not they filter out everything which contains "YOU SUCK" and "I LOVE"? This would leave them with reasonable sub-hundred emails per day, imho. Or hire a dedicated mail reading/forwarding person. </QUOTE> Take a look at the volume their bnet boards do each day, and then multiply that by the number of people too shy to post on a board and the number of people with specific, detailed questions. I wouldn't be surprised if Blizzard is getting 10,000 emails a day. Heck, if 5% of the installed base is emailing, that might be 50,000 email a day. |
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Of course Blizzard had to tone down the necro and barbarian. <A HREF="http://www.voodooextreme.com/apache/shots/blah/top.jpg">Barbarians and Necros comprise the top 28 players in the world on battle.net</a> Are people who play barbarians and necros simply 'better'? Is this some freak coincidence? Ummm, no? |
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Topic: Rules of Engagement, Lesson #1 -- Say Nothing
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