Yet another D3 discussion

[Jeunemaitre]

I'm honored that some of the big guns have sounded off in the discussion. Seems like most of us have a sense of dread for the next Blizzard project more than a sense of anticipation. Maybe it's deserved, maybe not, but I agree with Pete's point about the inclusion of a more intensive sense of role playing in a future Diablo product.

It seems like we're afraid of what will happen if they take another stab at one of the established realms, and deliver just more of the same, but from a business stand-point, it's sold so far, why change it? If they think they can get away with it for the majority of the existing audience, and pull in some group of new gamers (the young ones who are begging to spend their allowances), then that's the product they'll make and sell. It seems like a standard scenario of "now what?" I always think of the helpless three inch tall Coyote, just recovering from squeezing through a drain pipe who finally lays hands on the Roadrunner. The glorious goal is finally achieved, the chase is done; but as his sign says: "Now what?!?" Has Blizzard come to the point in their three game worlds where they literally don't know what to do next?

Like Jarulf, my interest isn't peaked by the mass-multi applications, I don't have the time to spend nurturing my position in a persistent world when I already have much more important things to be worried about in my persistent office and persistent home. However, those young-folks I mentioned a minute ago would probably be more than wiling to spend their afternoons and week-ends to maintain their position on the mass-multi map.

Maybe it's just like everything else: it always seems easy and amazing when your on the fringe of the system. The system just seems to work. Things get organized without trouble, you show up, things work out well. Then as you get more involved, and take responsibility for the operation of the system, you realize what was going on while you weren't around. You begin to see all the work that went into the operation of the system, and rather than just working, it starts to become work. I know somebody out there who's older and wiser than me will come along and say that the problem with youth in this country is that the are unwilling to persevere when they become responsible, and the tasks they are assigned stop being straight-forward and easy. I know I've now left the realm of Diablo, but that's what an OT forum is for, isn't it? :P

I guess to wrap up, the issue for those of us who've been playing along in the three Blizzard realms is: as we now see the work that gets done on the two campuses, we're afraid of what will happen now that they've realized that reclaiming the enthusiasm generated in the past will be hugely difficult. We're waiting with baited breath to see whether they give up and turn out more of the same, or if they make the effort to revolutionize their products. Has Blizzard's run come to an end?

edit: mmm sp