[animlboogy]

It seems like ever since WoW, we haven't seen anything particularly revolutionary from Blizzard. Obviously Diablo 3 leaps to mind, but it goes for the WoW expansions and Starcraft 2 as well. It's like their games have entered that Counterstrike phase where iterations are all that is wanted or needed.

For someone like me who always played these games casually and with friends, SC2 and D3 have been huge disappointments. They're both amazing games in terms of polish, and they're really easy to transition right into doing more complex things in both; the UI design is unmatched. Yet they're essentially -- to my admittedly untrained eye -- iterations on their prequels. SC2 is a refined SC1. D3 is D2 made simultaneously simpler and more complex.

What they aren't is anything on the level of change we saw in the Warcraft franchise, where 1, 2, and 3 are all fairly different games, especially 3. And Diablo 1 and 2 were incredibly different in terms of scope.

It's disappointing to see a Blizzard that doesn't thrust a genre into uncharted territory as they once did. They clearly know more than I do about what's exciting to gamers going by D3's sales, though. So does this say more about Blizzard, or the current marketplace?

[UnluckyKate]

Change too much : outcry
Same but better graphics : outcry

Choose your side

[zlatko]

That's going into Titan.

[Lyphen]

Yes, Diablo 3 does need WASD control. Especially since melee range is all over the place, you can barely dodge and your character's placement doesn't really need fine-tuning anyway.

[animlboogy]

That's going into Titan.

God, I hope so.

[bigmit3737]

I don't really want too much change with my sequels.
If you want to innovate make a branch off title in the series.

I'm happy with D3 in that it's a 2012 Diablo 2.
Maybe I will expect a little more innovation in their expansions.

[NaturalHigh]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Well guess what Blizzard, some of your shit is broke, you probably need to fix it.

[24FrameDaVinci]

Diablo 3 should have been an FPS loot game like Borderlands.

With cel shaded graphics.

And grunge rock.

And robots.

[stuminus3]

It's like their games have entered that Counterstrike phase where iterations are all that is wanted or needed.

You pretty much answered your own question there.

Blizzard are what they are today because in the late 1990s/early 2000s they were in the very right place at the very right time with the very right products. That's a hard thing to deliberately replicate. It's a pretty common issue across the board with companies that have a large and enthusiastic fanbase, IMO. Everyone wants them to recreate that lightning bolt, but nobody wants them to stray too far from what they loved in the first place.

[RomanticHeroX]

Diablo 3 is an enormous shift away from what they did in 2. They rejected the skill trees and stat distribution that virtually every other game in the genre has selected in favor of a system that encourages experimentation and adapting your approach for a variety of situations. I think it works brilliantly, but whether or not you agree it's effective you still have to recognize it as a fundamental shift in character customization.

[LiK]

Give me Warcraft 4.

[Pai Pai Master]

When you only get one game in a series every 10 years, it's hard to not want something familiar.

I'm very hypocritical on this subject - I can't stand the year-after-year Call of Duty-type rehashes but when it comes to developers like Blizzard and Valve I really just want more of what they're already doing.

Valve is a little different since they're pumping out way more projects and have diversified far beyond being the Half Life studio, but I think if Titan really is a unique new IP from Blizzard than they really don't need to start working on a vastly different Starcraft 3 or Diablo 3.

I will gladly take Warcraft 4 as a modern update to Warcraft 3. I'm sure millions of other people would love that as well.

[jett]

In the end it seems Blizzard was the perfect partner for Activision.

[Raide]

Everything Blizzard do has its own style. D1, D2 and D3 are all very different despite keeping the core mechanics and feel similar. The Warcraft RTS games also did the same. WoW had Expansion packs that added more complex mechanics and gameplay options. Starcraft is probably the only title they did that is very similar.

Watching what happens with Titan will be very interesting, especially with it being a new IP.

[Mindlog]

I don't mind a conservative approach on some games and more 'open' to others. Blizzard has a great system with their RTS offerings. Warcraft is their experimental property and Starcraft is decidedly more dedicated to refinement.

In theory.

[J0dy77]

I do agree, especially with Starcraft 2, but that doesn't mean they're still not great games and people arent completely hooked and happy with the product. Blizzard is making games that will continue fan passion and be profitable for the company. It's not worth it for them to take huge risks and alienate their hardcore fans that are instant dollar signs every time they release a game.

[NaturalHigh]

Give me Warcraft 4.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=476104

You can put that in here.

[To Far Away Times]

Blizzard is pretty much the western Nintendo, and that's the position that almost every other studio wants to be in.

[jett]

Blizzard is pretty much the western Nintendo, and that's the position that almost every other studio wants to be in.

how

[darkpaladinmfc]

SC2 and D3 are very different to their predecessors. I do want to see a new non-MMO Blizzard IP though.

[thetrin]

I don't know how you could say that. They've only released two games since WoW.

1) Starcraft 2 is beholden to a huge professional gaming league, so it's a pretty dangerous prospect to change the game drastically.

2) People on Battle.net complain that D3 is too little like D2. In fact, most people complaining about Diablo 3 think the game is too different.

[msv]

You don't want the same type of game, you want something different. Then why are you complaining about a sequel? Complain that the game you want isn't getting made.

If you don't like this iteration, it's because of the changes, because if it were the same, you would like it all the same. If you wouldn't, and it were the same, then you don't like D2. So what is it?

[zoukka]

Their games most definitely aren't swinging with the latest fads in the industry, that's for sure.

[To Far Away Times]

how

Huge fan base built from the ground up in the early days of gaming, consistently high quality and sales, careful reiterations of successful franchises, doesn't devalue it's brands with yearly sequels, ect...

[PinkCrayon]

They gave the fans what they wanted.

[Rollo Tomasi]

Bobby Kotick