Diablo 3 developers having a hissy fit :-)

[Zepp]

David Brevik's interview is quite polite and he doesn't go into excessive bashing. He was asked for his opinion and he gave one. He was quite specific about things he doesn't like, mentioning random level generation, items, and auction house. What did he get in response ?

- Steven Parker: twisting his words to make a bigger fuss. David didn't even use the word "suck".
- Andrew Silvernail: elementary logic failure, and not giving credit for Diablo1 and Diablo2. He also conveniently omits that Diablo 3 sold so well because of Diablo 2 hype.
- Jay Wilson: a rude personal attack
- Jill Harrington: again, a personal attack against a site that is independent from Blizzard, where Blizzard moderators can't delete critical threads. And she backs up the rude reaction of Jay Wilson.
- Eric Bachour: see Andrew Silvernail

Why bother addressing what David said if you can just insult him ? And why just him, when he was praising the whole Blizzard North team and not taking the credit himself ? Reading comprehension issues ? Also note the interviewer even provoked him to talk about perceived Jay Wilson's ineptitude, but David didn't take the bait.

QFT and people try to defend Jay Wilson saying that Brevik was "insulting" him and his team. Meh.

[Subatomic]

There's a German proverb that fits perfectly here: 'Getroffene Hunde bellen', literally something like 'struck dogs bark'. If they didn't know his criticisms were valid, they wouldn't react in such an exaggerated way.
I don't hate Diablo 3, I even liked it quite a bit, but Blizzard can't deny they royally fucked up long term progression and the loot system and are now trying to fix it (tommorrow's patch seems to be a step in that direction), but there's still much work to do and they've lost a lot of goodwill, so their reaction seems downright bizarre.

[b0rsuk]

I just decided to take a peek at the topic to see what it was all about and I'm not really surprised. These guys have made the biggest selling PC game of all time, their ego is so inflated they can barely fit their house. I'm guessing that to them Brevik feels like an old grumpy man or a sore loser (Diablo 3 versus Hellgate: London's flop).

Blizzard employees failed at reading comprehension and the unfortunate effect is they also distracted others from the point David Brevik was making. DB wasn't praising his efforts alone - in fact, the only related thing he says about himself is that he'd do things differently. Rather, he says that Blizzard North team had a lot of experience, it was unique and very special. Blizzard guys on FB forgot to insult the rest of the people mentioned.

Who else worked at Flagship Studios ? Max Schaefer and Erich Schaefer, those losers working on Torchlight 2. The game received a lot of praise in Beta, and I think it's going to be a big success. If it wasn't for the hype behind Blizzard, Torchlight 2 would probably sell better. Torchlight 2 will make Blizzard look bad. Their success will support the words of David Brevik that Blizzard North was indeed special and people matter.

It's all fairly pathetic and I expected some sort of flamebait from the article when I saw the comments, but honestly? I don't even see the schadenfreude others mentioned. This is entirely a piece about an ex-Blizzard developer giving his thoughts on a game honestly and with no ill intention. Chances are he would've made the better game, too.

That's the point - the interview is quite civil, the criticism restrained and David didn't even mention Jay Wilson despite having been specifically asked about him. The civilized criticism couldn't be accepted by Blizzard.

If that's how they respect an opinion of someone who co-founded Blizzard North and is in D3's "Very Special Thanks" section, try to imagine what they think about players. Terms like "whiny kids", "entitled brats" are probably in common use internally at Blizzard. A while ago I wondered if Blizzard is claiming that Diablo 2 wasn't as dark as we remembered out of cynism, or because they delude themselves. Now we know it's the latter. Blizzard Irvine truly believe they're making a good, improved Diablo. They didn't cut features and complexity because of Bobby Kotick, but because that's what their best vision of Diablo is.

[eRa]

So, patch 1.0.4 is looking good!

[Drayk]

There is a good piece on this on Forbes.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertco...reator-online/

[DzX]

I know it's kind of hypocritical given I commented on this when it was first posted, but the fact this has blown up into a great controversy is just proof of how immature the gaming community at large can be. Nobody should care this much about the reactionary comments of people they have never met regarding another person they have never met just because that person was part of a team that made a game they like over a decade ago...

[Drake Sigar]

*Shrugs* makes perfect sense to me. When one of the key figures behind the Diablo franchise is repeating criticisms that the gaming community have had since Diablo 3's rocky release, and Diablo 3's developers respond venomously, it makes people think

If that's how they respect an opinion of someone who co-founded Blizzard North and is in D3's "Very Special Thanks" section, try to imagine what they think about players. Terms like "whiny kids", "entitled brats" are probably in common use internally at Blizzard.

That. After all, a lot of players had the same opinion.

[ado]

People love going through other people's dirty laundry. If we had true celebreties in the gaming industry, you'd find shit about them in gossip magazines like you do when prominent Actors and Musicians are concerned.

I think there already is a few people that you could call celebrities, and in the future MORE will become just that because there's simply a FUCKTON of people who are really interested in this medium and the people who make these games.

[b0rsuk]

Fortunately, not everyone at Blizzard is an asshat:

- He doesn't say anything bad. 'Different people' would have made the game 'differently'. No ****. Why is this being viewed as so negative?

I agree with you both. But he never said we made a bad game. Just a different one than what he would have made. I worked on the game for 5 years and I would not be offended (or surprised) if one of the original D1 or D2 artists said we did not 'understand' the artistic direction of the franchise. We made drastic changes to many aspects of the game, so its inevitable that some will love it and other will hate it. This happens every time a new team works on an old franchise.

[Hypernetic]

I know it's kind of hypocritical given I commented on this when it was first posted, but the fact this has blown up into a great controversy is just proof of how immature the gaming community at large can be. Nobody should care this much about the reactionary comments of people they have never met regarding another person they have never met just because that person was part of a team that made a game they like over a decade ago...

The controversy isn't because Jay Wilson said "fuck that loser" to David Brevik it's because...

If that's how they respect an opinion of someone who co-founded Blizzard North and is in D3's "Very Special Thanks" section, try to imagine what they think about players.

Brevik's thoughts pretty much echo the general consensus of the Diablo community in regards to D3. Dismissing Brevik's thoughts with a "fuck that loser" is insulting to the community who respect Brevik and share his views on D3.

[Bankrotas]

Fuck it, Hellgate:London was a great game for me and even greater idea for interesting antidemon game. Sadly not very well executed, but I would play it again, if it had more meaty combat.

[DzX]

The controversy isn't because Jay Wilson said "fuck that loser" to David Brevik

Reddit posts would suggest otherwise.

Dismissing Brevik's thoughts with a "fuck that loser" is insulting to the community who respect Brevik and share his views on D3.

There're many reasons he could have made that statement; being angry at the very public calling out of his game by another in the industry for example. There's no indication his comment was made specifically regarding the comments made [about D3] and judging from comments on other forums this attempt to justify the reaction of the gaming community doesn't match the reality of their anger.

It still doesn't justify this level of reaction, it's not as though this would be the first time people see Blizzard mock its 'hardcore' fans attempts to drag a product [that they can choose to buy or not - which is why the level of anger is inane] toward a direction they'd prefer - such as the joke Diablo 3 logo with rainbows and unicorns after fans complained about the graphics style.

[Hypernetic]

Reddit posts would suggest otherwise.



There're many reasons he could have made that statement; being angry at the very public calling out of his game by another in the industry for example. There's no indication his comment was made specifically regarding the comments made [about D3] and judging from comments on other forums this attempt to justify the reaction of the gaming community doesn't match the reality of their anger.

Because this is just another in a long line of "fuck yous" from Blizzard to the rest of the world, such as "Aren't you thankful" and "People who think D2 was fun are remembering wrong".

It adds up, people already didn't like Jay Wilson, this was just fuel on the fire.

[DzX]

Because this is just another in a long line of "fuck yous" from Blizzard to the rest of the world, such as "Aren't you thankful" and "People who think D2 was fun are remembering wrong".

It adds up, people already didn't like Jay Wilson, this was just fuel on the fire.

Then...don't buy their games I guess. All this whining and complaining over Facebook comments and art styles of games you're not forced to buy isn't any more mature or respectable because the community is doing it to rage at a company they don't like the public face or direction of...

[gundato]

DzX: Just give up. The devs could have said "We agree, you are a very smart man. Please let us marinate your prostate in saliva" and people would still be angry. This has almost nothing to do with what was said and is really just an excuse for people to bash Blizzard for not doing what they want.

[Drake Sigar]

Then...don't buy their games I guess. All this whining and complaining over Facebook comments and art styles of games you're not forced to buy isn't any more mature or respectable because the community is doing it to rage at a company they don't like the public face or direction of...

Jim Sterling disagrees.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/vide...g-Tantrums-Win

[DzX]

Jim Sterling disagrees.

Jim Sterling is also everything wrong with games journalism [but that's a debate for another time - I'm not going to watch that video]. You honestly believe this kind of behavior is going to make the developers respect gamers? Earlier it was claimed that was the reason for this reaction, because Blizzard don't listen to and likely actively insult gamers...no idea why after this reaction...?

[Nalano]

I don't really have much to add except Hypernetic pretty much has this thread on lockdown.

Jim Sterling is also everything wrong with games journalism [but that's a debate for another time - I'm not going to watch that video]. You honestly believe this kind of behavior is going to make the developers respect gamers? Earlier it was claimed that was the reason for this reaction, because Blizzard don't listen to and likely actively insult gamers...no idea why after this reaction...?

Respect gamers? Dude. What makes you think the big corps respect gamers? We're wallets with mouths to them. And if they had their way, our mouths would be sewn shut.

Jim Sterling's bombastic, but he's right more often than not.

[Hypernetic]

Then...don't buy their games I guess. All this whining and complaining over Facebook comments and art styles of games you're not forced to buy isn't any more mature or respectable because the community is doing it to rage at a company they don't like the public face or direction of...

This has nothing to do with anything in this thread. People already bought D3 and were upset when they found out what it actually was. D3 has been the tipping point for Blizzard, prior to it's release the public view of the company was much different.

Will I consider more thoughtfully any purchases I make in the future? You bet, but that has nothing to do with this particular topic.

Anyway, your whole point is basically "if you don't like it leave" which has pretty much never solved anything throughout history.

If I don't like the direction my country is heading in should I move to Canada or should I try to fix things here? Am I wrong for trying to fix things? Wrong for DISCUSSING what I think it is wrong? Wrong for getting angry about it? The D3/Jay Wilson thing is the same thing, albeit on a much smaller scale.

[DzX]

Respect gamers? Dude. What makes you think the big corps respect gamers? We're wallets with mouths to them. And if they had their way, our mouths would be sewn shut.

...

Because this is just another in a long line of "fuck yous" from Blizzard to the rest of the world

The controversy isn't because Jay Wilson said "fuck that loser" to David Brevik it's because...

If that's how they respect an opinion of someone who co-founded Blizzard North and is in D3's "Very Special Thanks" section, try to imagine what they think about players.

According to Hypernetic, whom you claim to agree with [I assume], this entire debate is about the lack of respect developers show gamers and their opinions...

I'm not sure where you got the idea I'm claiming they do respect gamers though, only that this kind of behavior is the wrong way to go about gaining the respect those complaining appear to crave.