Fans react to Diablo Immortal like disrespectful edgelords at BlizzCon 2018's Q&A
BlizzCon 2018 attendees are reacting to Diablo's new mobile game announcement very poorly with blatantly disrespectful questions at the developer session.
Blizzard announced a ton of things today at the BlizzCon 2018 Opening Ceremony, and fans were pretty jazzed until the final reveal of the event. A new Diablo game was announced, but not Diablo 4 and not for PC. This is definitely disappointing for a lot of Blizzard's core fanbase as most of them play games on their computers and may describe themselves as card-carrying members of that good old PC Master Race, but mobile games are here to stay and Blizzard has seen some serious success on iOS and Android with Hearthstone. The new Diablo Immortal mobile game may not have been what fans were expecting, but the response by fans during the question and answer session is rude and uncalled for. Here's one clip of a particularly stupid question asked to a Blizzard developer.
My god, the savagery. The absolute savagery. #diabloimmortal #Diablo #diablo @LaymenGaming pic.twitter.com/Jvt4XzswzS
— Skill Up reviewing #RDR2 (@SkillUpYT) November 2, 2018
"Is this an out of season April Fool's joke?" asked the BlizzCon 2018 attendee. Apparently not releasing Diablo 4 or a PC Diablo game is a license to troll a Blizzard developer directly to his face. Diablo's Wyatt Cheng was already somewhat nervous during the announcement of Diablo Immortal, but this kind of behavior at a developer Q&A is really inappropriate, but wait there's more.
A large amount of boos rained down from the crowd when Wyatt confirmed that Diablo Immortal will be a mobile-only game releasing on App Store and Google Play. "Do you guys not have phones?" asked developers in response to the poor reaction from fans in attendance. It is unfortunate to see this poor of a response to the Diablo Immortal reveal, and even if you don't like mobile games, there is a better way to behave at a developer Q&A. There are probably some people in attendance who won't get to ask a better question because of the time taken up by these clearly annoyed fans.
It is fine to be disappointed by today's announcment of a mobile Diablo game, but Shacknews believes that mobile gamers count too. We acquired Modojo several years ago and will continue to report on mobile games and apps because people are interested in them. Mobile gaming is booming overseas in Asia and has seen pockets of success here in the U.S. Clearly, Blizzard sees an opportunity in this market. We can only hope that they will eventually release Diablo 4 and all of this whining can end, but until then, maybe think twice before posting something overwhelmingly negative about a game that some people have been working very hard to announce. You don't want to be like these guys at BlizzCon 2018.
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replyAsif Khan posted a new article, Fans react to Diablo Immortal like disrespectful edgelords at BlizzCon 2018's Q&A
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We don’t see eye to eye on everything, CrustaR.
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I mainly included the second clip to show the devs’ response.
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Yeah, they shouldn’t have ended on it.
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Just a waste of a question and the dev’s time. Having stood in line at these things waiting to ask a question, it is annoying to see what is essentially a shitpost be asked as a question.
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Obviously ;)
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Isn't the possibility to respond directly to devs part of the appeal of these events? They paid for it. These devs are indirectly making money from these attendees. His point was clear. Everyone knew what he meant and that it represented the feelings of many diablo fans. It's OK for devs to hear criticism. I'm all for civil discourse, I just don't think this was out of line just because it was cynical.
For the record, I don't care much about diablo and I don't mind that they're making this game. This article just seems weird and unnecessary. There are much better battles to have with the same end goal. -
You mean like the 'mega fans' who have blown thousands of dollars to go to blizzcon, and then are insulted for booing a garbage move by blizzard. These are the people who are "cash cows" or "whales" for blizzard, they got that because of Blizzard's own actions PO'd them off. This was a further PO move by Blizzard after Jay Wilson insulted and attacked the fan base, told people they don't need a FoV slider, you're going to post with your real name AND LIKE IT!. The entire state of AAA gaming right now is like a repeat of GM/Ford/Chrysler back in the 1970's and of big-box stores in the late 90's, where they pulled a "consumers will buy what we tell them to buy and they'll like it." Companies have gotten so large, and are not listening to anyone but the loud screeching minority/marketing/trend analysis. And when they are listening their entire response is "Are we out of touch? No it's the fans/consumers who are out of touch."
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Diablo on mobile seems logical to me. People have long called D3 a loot box simulator/gambling simulator, and D3 has always had a casual gameplay feel. The outrage is stupid.
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It's not that they're making it. It's that they made it seem like they're not making anything else, which I'm sure isn't the case. They fucked this announcement up pretty properly.
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Just playing devils advocate, but imagine spending all that money to fly out to blizzcon just to have them announce an uninspired looking mobile game. I would rather have no announcement and have them spend more time showing off other things.
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Sure, but why stick around for a developer Q&A if you are upset? What does that accomplish?
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This post typifies gamer entitlement. Mike Morhaime didn’t hold a gun to anyone’s head and make them spend money and time to attend a con. Blizzard hosts panels, contests, and the opportunity to interact with people who make games. That amounts to an incredible amount of transparency and accessibility.
Attendees aren’t owed anything except a safe and comfortable environment. Anyone even remotely sympathetic toward nerds enraged because they didn’t get what they wanted should re-evaluate their life goals and priorities.
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It was given the big reveal spot. And they misjudged the crowd, Blizzcon are all hardcore fans.
What they couldn't control was the leaks about Diablo 2 remastered. So everyone was expecting that and got a mobile game instead.
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OMG GUISE I MUST PLAY MY LOOT CLICKER ON SLI TITAN V'S BECAUSE I AM SO HARDCORE.
I feel like these people are feeling attacked because Blizzard rightfully put this game in its place-
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Not necessarily out of place, but there are definitely a lot of crossover between the game’s mechanics and traditional mobile stuff. Nintendo is doing this right now to great effect.
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IDGI. They literally posted last week tempering everyone’s expectations about this https://twitter.com/diablo/status/1052681916414132224?s=21
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Then put Diablo on the mythic stage after the opening ceremonies, where generally the "biggest" Blizzcon announcement goes, with no other hints to other things being worked on in the Diablo world they haven't already been cancelled, delayed, or announced (Switch). And what closed out the opening ceremony...Diablo...mobile. Still hard to get?
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hahaha, I agree 100000%
I played this thing on PS4 and my conclusion was I didn't want to break my controller by pressing X six thousand times. There's not really anything to this game other than occasionally moving and smashing X a bunch of times. Seems perfect for mobile.
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Welcome!
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It's a special someone who uses friend to be unfriendly.
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"Top 10 rants disguised as news!"
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rant: 1. to speak, write or shout in a loud, uncontrolled, or angry way, often saying confused or silly things: 2. a long, angry, and confused speech
editorial: an article in a newspaper or other periodical or on a website presenting the opinion of the publisher, writer, or editor
There’s substantial opportunity for overlap between the two. Neither definition precludes the other, in fact, so that any given editorial might also be a rant.
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"There are probably some people in attendance who won't get to ask a better question because of the time taken up by these clearly annoyed fans. "
No one asks good questions at these things -
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Yup. That was also ridiculous. I am just happy Valve is making a game.
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it's what they are acting like. hardcore gaming internet communities are intolerable.
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Russian agents, they’re dividing us all
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Business is gonna Business. Financially I understand why for the mobile since it's stupid not to if you can make the game play work. Personally I don't mobile game at all. My inner Blizzard fanboy is currently flaccid. In POE I trust.
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It's been six and a half years.
Diablo 3's launch was disappointing and even before then it was criticized for not being closer to Diablo 1 and 2. It's story sucked, hell, Deckard was killed by a minor new boss off-screen, it felt like a cash grab with the RMAH and it took a long time for the game to get to a more fun point. I still feel like the game was pretty fun then. It's more fun now and I do play seasons ever now and then, but there's not arguing it could use more and needed more. RoS was welcome, but really minor. The seasons have been minor. So have the new season themes. The game has effectively been on life support for years.
Diablo rarely has anything of substance at a Blizzcon for six years. It gets a comic series announced, which gets cancelled without much info given, a Diablo art book is announced then delayed with no announcement. Hell, even RoS was delayed for months after fans were underwhelmed.
So when Blizzard decided to start hiring for new Diablo projects, and then thanking the fans and teasing stuff at this year's Blizzcon (for a change) https://twitter.com/Diablo/status/1027193169094430720
Fans got excited.
Diablo 4? Remastered D1 or D2? New class similar to RoS? New DLC?
Then Blizz shut down the hype train in website post. But wait! Diablo is actually getting some attention on the main stage right after the opening ceremony!? That has to be something good.
You know what loyal Diablo fans don't want? A fucking mobile game.
You know, the platform that is incredibly notorious for bleeding wallets and time-gating? Mobile games.
It also just happens, that it looks and plays like a reskin of one of that company's other games, which they based off Diablo in the first place, contracting with Blizz for a decade.
So yeah. I'm upset. I feel like I've got good reason to be. Especially after the bullshit reactions WoW devs have had towards BFA. I'm happy someone was there to boo them at their PR event for me and give them shit. This isn't what loyal fans over decades wanted, and Blizz's reaction has been incredibly poor. Reminds me of their responses before and during BFA too. The same bullshit is and has been done by EA. C&C mobile, anyone?
TLDR: Boo-fucking-hoo. It was ten seconds of uncomfortable devs and some booing later on. If Blizzcon is really "for the fans", then they either don't know their fans, or it's truly "for the PR". They deserve the booing.-
I feel the same way but gave up on blizzard long ago.
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Grow up? For being passionate about a game series on a game site's forum? And being disappointed with where that series currently is and how the owner is handling it?
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Jesus Christ man, condescending much? Because people have opinion about the theme of this fucking site they are behaving childish? I think we have an “edgelord” right here!
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Oh I could go through the whole thread if you prefer, it goes on.
I actually think this needs to be a massive failure in order for Bethesda to get a kick in the arse and hopefully change engines.
And this was about a beta, right?-
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"Lol."
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Man this post did not cack old time. At all.
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I like how people are giving you a hard time for liking something too much. Pathetic.
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On a video game site's forum, no less.
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Maybe it's just not ready to be shown?
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Who cares? A public company has no feelings to hurt, and this is no developer passion project. They're working a job at the direction of a CEO who is pursuing a casual foreign market at the direction of a board and in the interest of shareholders. The system is essentially inhuman and a little gasping sarcasm from a fan at a fan convention is perfectly fair, if a little sad because his reason for being there has passed away.
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I love this post. I'm so glad I didn't go to Blizzcon as I wouldn't want to be associated with the crowd this year. Here's a list of things that are fine and ok:
- Not being excited about Diablo Immortal
- Bitching on the internet that you don't want a mobile game, etc etc
- Complain that the Opening Ceremonies in general was a letdown this year
FWIW, I more or less share those opinions (I'll install the game b/c "why not," but I'm not particularly excited about it or anything Blizzard is currently working on other than WC3R.)
Here's what's not ok:
- Taking it out on Wyatt in person, to his face. He's a human being at work doing his job. Who raised you? Grow up.-
It's a PR event for Blizzard. You think they're upset at him personally or attacking him personally like he's the one that made the game or those decisions? He is face of that project right now and the face of Blizzard for it. It's his job to take that heat. They're mad at the company they just paid a ton of money to travel for and support. I'm sure they'd be happy to boo at the execs if they had the balls to announce it themselves, or even at the intern if they tossed them to the wolves instead.
Why doesn't the shack bitch and moan like this when EA gets booed at E3? Or Microsoft? Shit, tons of these comments are just giving them the thumbs up because it will boost their stocks and shareholders because it's a mobile game.
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I honestly don't know if I need to be respectful of massive corporations to begin with.
I get that there are people behind these decisions and presentations but they also accepted these roles.
Maybe this guy's question was cynical and shitty but shouldn't a company investing millions in marketing and research have known this reaction was coming? I mean none of us are surprised by the reaction no matter how much we lament it.
I could see how this could be labelled as 'victim blaming' but these guys aren't victims. They just had a bad day at the office. -
The fans who shelled out for the event felt entitled to let the devs know how they felt. Doesn't that happen at sporting events all the time? I mean, yeah it's tacky, but that's how hardcore fans react. Cracking Blizz fanboys for booing and heckling a mobile Diablo game announcement is like cracking on your fellow Cleveland Browns fans for booing the team going 0-16 last season.
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That's a piss poor comparison, although I do agree with "they felt entitled."
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Won't anyone please think of the billion dollar corporations ;^(
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oh the humanity!!! the fans didnt respond appropriately to their shitty cash grab woe is me
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Gonna chime in here. I think the biggest issue is that it's not really a Blizzard game. It a third party studio known for heavy micro transaction games. In fact this game was re skinned to fit the Diablo universe, based on trailer and old gameplay videos. I'm not encouraging this type of attitude ; however it's not unearned, sure it's petty, but Blizzard clearly did not develop this game internally, they slapped a Diablo skin on a already mostly completed mobile game from a outsoured studio. I have no horse in this race, however I can see why fans are pretty upset. I'm gonna try it tomorrow and let you know what l think.
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I'm a fan of the Kung Fu Panda 3 skin myself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRCKuX42G04
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No, this is about being disrespectful towards two designers who got a directive from above to make a phone game. There is a way to be critical without being an asshole or publicly belittling people who spend their careers trying to entertain.
Its common decency 101 and I’m so surprised I keep seeing this defense come up. Criticism isn’t entitlement but this attitude most certainly is.-
Multiple arguments can be made out of this. It is true that the reaction is not well articulated and hostile. No further arguments need to be made on this case since it is evident.
It is IMO also the case that the product is likely not well measured and wrongfully imposed on an undeserving audience (both on location and total).-
It was the wrong time and place. Say “we’re doing something else that’s years away but here’s something we like that more people can play in the meantime” in the middle of the keynote, not cap it off that way. Or announce it at PAX or some other event, Hearthstone was a PAX reveal, etc.
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That is false.
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Were there any questions on alternate controller support? Due to my fucked up thumb I can't play most of these games since the digitizer reads it is 2 fingers quite often. And I am not a huge fan of touch based action controls anyways since then my hands will block most of the screen.
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Between comments like this, the guy at the conference being an ass (there are ways to be critical and polite to a person who represent the company line) and Asif being a clickbait edgelord himself in the article there are no winners in this thread.
There are like two people capable to write a worthwhile piece on this site and unfortunately Asif is not one of them, he seems to excel at informal on camera interviews. On this note I recall an interview with him and a Motorola/htc representative some shit about "needing a win" or something.
Between some articles being clickbait missing the point of the news they are reportin or reading like advertising I get the impression that shack would do well with a proper editor/direction. The front page sometimes reads like a blog with some loose op piece not worth anyone's time.
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http://www.shacknews.com/chatty?id=38033992
Wow, so condescending. /s
“Don’t be a dick” shouldn’t be a difficult rule to follow. There are a million ways to be critical without dressing someone down so publicly, but its fine because the guy asking the question got his own I guess.-
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Boos may be what they need, shitty belittling with pointed comments on stage is unnecessary.
I think execution of the messaging was the problem. Make clear they’re working on something big but that a small part of the team is making this with Netease in the meantime and stick it in the middle of the keynote instead of the end. Its 20/20 hindsight but seriously tempering expectations that are inherent given its placement in a keynote at a PC gamer filled show couldn’t have hurt.-
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Presenting it at another event would have been ideal. Super Mario Run wasn’t announced at E3, it was at an iPhone event, you know? Even Hearthstone was revealed at PAX.
20/20 hindsight makes geniuses of us all through. Its sucks for them that they were so lost in the reeds that they placed the announcement where they did in the keynote with the verbal setup that they gave.-
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Call it out for being a reskin then. Again, there’s a way to do this that doesn’t come off as being shitty to wait staff or someone in customer service.
Blizzard obviously fucked up the execution, but a reaction being expected doesn’t make it excusable. Its shitty behavior either way-
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It seems like one either way. I don’t care about callouts directed at me, I don’t delete them (or anything directed at me) and I try to respond in good faith. Saying “it was a nukable post but its ok because you posted already and I didn’t see it” is strange though given that it is a callout either way. It would certainly come off as a nukable passive-aggressive callout if I’d seen it in any other thread.
I don’t care about the rest of the content either way, like I said I’ll always respond in good faith. That bit of rules justification is strange though. I’d have just owned the post. :)-
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they kept deleting comments and then reuploaded the video and linked an unlisted one in the battle.net launcher after it got 100k dislikes lol
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Shacknews made the Reddit reaction jpg! https://i.imgur.com/CF4GBYG.jpg
Although lol at the guy saying that people who don't like mobile games also hate women.-
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Wait, this just keeps getting funnier.
-So they announce a cell phone game as their final announcement at BlizzCon. That's funny enough in and of itself and goddamn I bet there's some highly pissed off dorks.
-Some dorks publicly ask "WTF?!", devs panic
-Internet starts to lose it's mind because the some dorks get mad about the Diablo cell phone game.
So, you have people getting mad that people are getting mad..about a cell phone game.
This shit's almost too funny. It's like no one thought how this might play out and it's an utter train wreck.
To the butthurt dorks: it's game, man. Lighten up
To the Blizzard people: You knew how polarizing this would be. Someone thought they could push ahead and people would accept it without complaining. Better luck next announcement!
To the people complaining about the people complaining: These dorks have every right to bitch as much and as hard and as stupidly as they want. Publicly, right ot the developers faces. Because it was announced at the developers trade show/"convention". That these dorks paid to get into. If Blizzard wants to put themselves on the firing line with a Q&A after that announcement, that's on them. The customer's always right, but the customer is often always an asshole, too.
TLDR: what a wonderful day to be alive.-
Next year people will cosplay as Smart Phones at BlizzCon
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Is this worse than if they had announced Diablo Battle Royale?
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That's a good point. It's like RMAH all over again.
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Further proof that “gamers” are the worst people.
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Quick, get the article about that ready.
The news about the news about the news!]b
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/7175X69c9PL._SY355_.jpg -
Half those posts are complaining about attacks on a "certain gender", or talking about sexuality. Neither of which have anything to with this issue, nor was mentioned (in the Shacknews article at least).
I mean, sure, take your outrage cues from GamerGaters if you want, but be aware that's what you're doing.
* In this case I am not singling you out, Perturbation; I mean anyone using that reddit post as proof of something.
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Wow what a condescending, rude article. I’m disappointed Shacknews.
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I'd have to agree to disagree that instead of showing up without hat-in-hand to applaud their stroke of genius, when you and a non-negligible portion of the fan base are anything but agreeable with their announcement that it is simply 'disrespectful' to make that known and a 'waste of time' to make that known. Yes, a particular decorum should be kept in mind when using your platform for criticisms, but they should not be outright withheld and are no less valid simply because you disagree. Using a platform that's available to you, that you spent money on, to directly address concerns and criticisms rather than render a pat on the back is specifically what it is there for. You may be hype, everyone wont be and vice versa.
Personally, I have zero interest in a mobile game, I've yet to see a single one that peaks my interest. I don't play a mobile game for fun; I do it because it's what is available out of convenience while travelling etc. I don't expect everyone to share that same mindset, but it's one that I'm far from being independent on. The majority of people I game with feel pretty similarly. To reiterate; we're only going to be gaming on something other than our console(s) / PC if there's a pretty specific reason, and it has considerably less to do with a product pulling attention elsewhere.
To, also, respond to a criticism or inquiry with snark of," Do you even have a phone? " That comes off tone-deff. There are blunders here on both sides. To denigrate and ostracize a group of people here because they disagree with a line of thinking, or you may not like HOW they presented their opinions regardless of potential validity seems equally heinous as being the individual as they are presented here. A lot of these articles and their fan bases seem to treat the non-agreeable fans the same way they're saying these devs shouldn't have been treated, and the irony of that is strikingly palpable.
A final note, while yes it could bring mobile gamers (however small or large that group of people may be) into the Blizzard fold -- to expect a base of individuals who predominantly / historically play on the PC / Console for these titles to be equally excited at the mention of a platform they may not intend to use or even be interested in seems notably naive too. -
You shouldn't be surprised that they got booed. Why would the diablo community be interested in a mobile game? This doesn't appeal to the community that they have established at all. Your main announcement to an audience that mostly consists of PC players should not be focused on a mobile game. That is asking for backlash. This happened with Command and Conquer and now it happened here. They are trying to appeal to people that are outside of their main fanbase and made that their main announcement. Just an awful idea for an announcement. They should have had several other announcements followed up by this not just this game.
It's like me walking into a Playstation convention and announcing an upcoming game that is exclusive to xbox. It's a horrible idea and is asking for backlash. -
It's not about Diablo going on mobile platform that made people so angry. It's about the type of mobile game they presented and slapped the Diablo brand on top of. It is a boring, typical chinese mobile game, exactly the type of mobile game that has given mobile gaming such a bad rap in the first place. Of course people are disappointed.
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