Diablo 3 is fundamentally broken

[Occhidiangela]

I've been thinking about this lately and I still don't think D3 is fundamentally broken, despite all the issues. I think what's really broken is the idea the devs bring to the game. When players find something that the devs didn't forsee (some combination of either gear or skills or what-have-you), Blizzard seems to automatically react with ways to prevent it, ways to stop the players from playing how they want to. If you continually try to force people to play in a way that they don't enjoy, yes, they'll leave and/or complain loudly. I think that's really what the big problem is with this game. They're trying to hard to force people into one type of playstyle rather than letting folks find what they enjoy to do.

If you are right, then the design motif of Blizzard South (who are all that remains of Blizzard, since Buzzard/Condor departed to create Flagship Studios) is the antithesis of .... Fun Is Where You Find It.

That formula, FIWYFT (pronounced Fie-Wift?) is what made D I and D II so replayable and for me a great value. Starcraft is likewise very replayable, and I suppose WoW is, even though I lost interest in that game early on. (Not the game's fault, it just didn't "click" for me).

I have not researched the Real Dough Auction House details enough to understand if Blizzard gets a cut of each transaction. IMO they should as Intellectual Property owner of Diablo III (sort of like royalties on an oil well, as I see it). It if is one percent, or half a percent, or a quarter of a percent override on each transaction, it seems fair as they run the servers upon which this marketplace operates.

If "replayable" isn't a feature of this game as part of the business model, then I'd venture to guess that it's staying power, and micro revenue stream if they get a cut, will shrivel. Granted, units sold is a fine number to date, as befits a fun game. (Which it is).

Fun Is Where You Find It. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.