Then... something happened.
The developers silently closed the door behind them and the news and updates followed them, leaving the forums empty day after day. Coincidentally, that happened the same day Blizzard officially announced that -whooppsss- “Soon” Was Too Soon and Diablo III would have never seen the light in 2011. Instead, the new target became "early 2012". We moved from the era of "soon" to the age of "soon was too soon" and slowly crawled to the Renaissance: "early 2012". In terms of precision Blizzard surely set a a new record.
Now the question is: what happened to Blizzard's communication-skill and interaction with fans?
The official blah blah answer is very simple and lackluster at the same time: the game is not ready for 2011, because to deliver it by the end of the year... Blizzard wouldn't meet their super-awesome-unbelievable quality standards (that are supposed to be a trademark of the company). I agree with them: a game that does not meet the required standards must be delayed, at all costs.
I just don't understand how on earth Blizzard discovered those missing standards... 3 months before the end of the (supposed) release date.
To be fair, Blizzard never-ever stated that Diablo 3 would have been released this year... and at the same time, developers decided to flood the forums with amazing stuff: Classes Database, Skill Calculator, Items Database, daily (detailed) infos, Closed Beta and much more. After years of silence/vapor... we suddenly found ourselves swarmed by juicy news, videos, screenshots and real data. Every little bit of information was leading fans to the most obvious of the conclusions: the game is almost ready.
I'm a little worried about this concept of "readiness", though. If Diablo III is "almost" ready and Blizzard tried everything to release the game this year... how could one month change everything? If not one, two maybe? What? Three? Four? Yes, indeed. If the game is not ready by December, it wont be ready one month later, no way.
My personal opinion is that Blizzard decided to wait. The game IS ready, saved some "last minute" stuff, but they want to skip a very hot period (between 2011 and 2012) which will see a new World of Warcraft huge patch (4.3), Star Wars The Old Republic, Skyrim and Battlefield 3.
Releasing the game in the middle of the action would cause some serious troubles to the sales. I am sure everyone will be happy to spend 60$ for Diablo 3, don't get me wrong, but if players are busy with other big (and good) titles... they will wait a bit. Wrong timing = bad idea.
That's all. If the game wasn't really "done" by now, 2-3 months wouldn't make the difference. On the other side, if the game is NOT done, don't even think to see it in "early" 2012, no way. I could see some cosmetic and balancing stuff, yes, but nothing else. The rune system, the demon hunter class, the beta bugs... they showed us that Blizzard can fix them in no time. So -technically speaking- I don't believe they are waiting for some real "quality" improvement.
The only thing I am complaining about is... reading the official forums became boring and totally uninteresting. People waiting for a (non-existent?) beta, angry
We don't have a clue about Diablo III but... be happy. Foo Fighters will be at Blizzcon...
Meh.
Pretty good point there. I doubt Blizzard cares about some of that competition, but they definitely would care about competing with themselves, and WoW is absolutely a bigger money machine right now than D3 (considering D3 is currently bringing in zero money).
ReplyDeleteAnother possibility is that the beta is revealing more problems than expected, with bugs, balance problems, etc. Just a thought.
Diablo III purchase (60$) would be like losing 4 months of WoW subscription (15$/month). Maybe people would come back to WoW, at some point... but it would hurt, yes.
ReplyDeleteAbout the beta problems... well, if a few dozens of "friends and family" testers were able to reveal critical flaws 3 months before the (theoretical) release, let me say we're fuc... doomed.
I think you're wrong. 3 months while not a real long time, could easily make or break any game including diablo 3. Sure I agree the game is mostly there, but that last few bits of rework/polish is *very* important. So I do think that was the prime motivator.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I'm sure the scheduling had something to do with it, but I highly doubt they would delay it just based on timing, otherwise they would have had guidance 2-3 months ago or more.
Face it, other than TOR each of the games you listed have release schedules that are effectively set in granite. And TOR was rumored to be delayed until Feb/Mar 2012 when D3's announcement was made.
What amazes me is how Blizzard -all of a sudden- realized that the game was not meeting the required standards. They had (almost) everything up and running: forums, online tool and beta. Everything was flashing in big letters "we are almost there guys!".
ReplyDeleteThat's why I feel that "marketing stuff" -a forbidden area for developers- had a major impact in this story.
The complete lack of news (on the forums) is something that really makes no sense. We spent weeks enjoying amazing stuff... and now we just stare at a troll-powered forum. That's a huge step back, in terms of communication quality.
I really hope they will give us a release date during Blizzcon.
Another possible reason could be the Real Money Auction House and gambling stuff. I guess some countries will give troubles to that tool.
ReplyDeleteBut do you really think they'll give a release date at Blizzcon? It's still too soon.
ReplyDeleteIf they don't give out some better numbers by the end of October... that means the game is still far, far away.
ReplyDeleteI think the devs are just working their butts off right now finishing this game, and thus spend less time hanging around on the forums. Also there's a Blizzcon coming up, and most things about the beta has pretty much been said already. They will say something when it's needed, like when they are rolling out a new beta patch or something. I don't buy the theory about Blizzard delaying an already finished game just to avoid a hot period. Otherwise they would have told us a long time ago that it won't come out in 2011.
ReplyDelete> Otherwise they would have told us a
ReplyDelete> long time ago that it won't come
> out in 2011.
That can be true, yes. But how can Blizzard realize the product is NOT ready yet... just 2-3 months before the supposed release date?
Another question: how's that they decided to unveil the full items/classes/skills database and then suddenly realize that "these are just placeholders"... and few days later hurry adding some "THIS DATA IS NOT FOR REAL!" alert everywhere?
I don't know, really. I can't believe they did not (almost) finish the game and they just wait to "polish" it enough.
I cant find an email to contact you but i really liked this post and shared it with my 10,000 facebook fans I'm sure they will like it as well.
ReplyDeleteNO one said it wscoming out in 2011....The release date was "Hoping for early 2012" but we MOIGHT Make it at the end of december
ReplyDeleteKind of weird how everyone assumed that since a closed beta came out, the release was only months away. A beta test is an opportunity to test a multitude of things that an in-house test can't find, and with a company like Blizzard, you can bet your @$$ that those problems will be dealt with to the most finite detail.
ReplyDeleteAs for the assertion that "2-3 months isn't enough time to change anything", you clearly aren't involved in the video game industry. 2-3 months is an eternity.
Bottom line: A beta period means that the game is being tested, not that its release is imminent. Blizz never gave a release date. Everything was conjecture on the part of the fans, just like the "reasons" behind the "push back" to early 2012. My personal theory is that 80% of the developers went into a simultaneous, inexplicable coma.
One major theory could be the that the stall in South Korea over the auction house caused Blizzard to take a step back and try to rework the system and implement back into the game so that they could hit that huge market. Also the patch update for WoW also could have made them decided to hold off. I'm pretty livid but also somewhat relieved that are polishing so I can get the game I've been dying to play for 10+ years. BUT if I don't see it before March of next year, I'm sending Blizzard my foot in a box to kick them in the rear. Yes painful for me, but that's the plan.
ReplyDelete@My Diablo 3 News
ReplyDeleteFeel free to contact me at loque@loquenahak.net
@kayla
It's true Blizzard did not confirm D3 for 2011, that's why I wrote "To be fair, Blizzard never-ever stated that Diablo 3 would have been released this year".
@Anonymous #1
2-3 months is not an "eternity" in my opinion. I don't work in the videogames industry but I'm involved in the IT/programming area.