Is Diablo III Blizzards next Game after WOW?

[apandapion]

That addictiveness is what Blizzard would do well to replicate. To keep people playing, it's the "I have to run Meph one more time..." or the "I need to kill Baal one more time for that Windforce...", type of obessive compulsive, addiction inducing gameplay elements that give Blizzard big sales. They make the most money by making the most addictive game they possibly can. In Diablo 2, it was so addictive that some users bought 2, 3, 4 or more copies (I bought TWO, four all together, two D2 and Expansions) to maximize gameplay.

Just because that's the most vocal aspect of the Diablo 2 community doesn't mean that it's where the money is at. For most people I know, Diablo 2 got a lot of attention for a month or three, then became a lan party classic "someone be a paladin! not it!", then faded into nothing. I get a lot of "you still play that?" in most places if I bring it up.

For every one "i can't wait for the new ladder season so i can be the first to score the phat loot in hell diff", there's about a thousand people who bought it, installed it, played through each act (maybe swapping characters a few times), uninstalled it, and moved on to the next big thing.