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[Tschumi]

A comment, a comment, my kingdom for a comment...​

Forgive the convoluted title, I don't want to include games like Lost Vikings, or you know whatever Blackthorn was, you all know what games I really want to guage appeal on. If you would like to post "I've another, more hipster title to tout" go ahead and take that poll option <3. I'm really sorry but unless someone asks me to I'll keep Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm out of the poll. If you want me to believe you actually prefer WC1 to WC2 or 3 I'll add the poll option, but really.

I've done this for Assassin's Creed and Supergiant Games, I'm going to try and do the same for Blizzard. I think I'll make a series of these things exploring the body of work of various developers. For the sake of poll brevity I'll use collective titles for games with a lot of expansions - war3, Diablo 3, SC2, so on - and invite y'all to specify which expansions you might like most should you wish to.

One exception being WoW, I was tempted to say Vanilla; TBC; WotLK; then Post-Cata for the rest but I guess people who actually played that dross (jk ;P) might take umbrage with that.

This should be an interesting poll, I'm thinking Starcraft and Warcraft 3 might dominate, maybe WoW in a collective sense... Diablo 2 should be close but somehow I'm not so sure.

ps. If you hate Blizz now and want to leave a message to that effect, feel free, but let's try not to flame each other, eh?

pps. I'm not going to split hairs about Activision, do so yourself if you want in the comments. In my opinion Blizzard has fallen, D4 might redeem them but I'm not optimistic. That's besides the point of this thread.

If you vote, go ahead and tell us why This is a social thread.

Blind votes, locked votes, public votes, muhaha.

 

[Moonjt9]

I voted for The Burning Crusade because it was the best era of WoW where it seemed like everything clicked like they wanted it to.

if I could vote multiple times I’d throw Diablo 1 and 2 up there. All time classics for sure. Nothing quite comes close to the first time you stumble on the butcher in Diablo 1!

 

[Tschumi]

I voted for The Burning Crusade because it was the best era of WoW where it seemed like everything clicked like they wanted it to.

if I could vote multiple times I’d throw Diablo 1 and 2 up there. All time classics for sure. Nothing quite comes close to the first time you stumble on the butcher in Diablo 1!

Thank you, champion, for making a comment.

I loved TBC too, I prefer vanilla because I got so much joy out of subsequent blizzlike private servers, but TBC was utterly fantastic. I loved the raids, the leveling, the zones (except Zanga which stretched on for ages), the flying mounts, exploration... You're right it's probably the best iteration. They started making it too easy in WotLK and that's why I didn't play retail beyond that expack.

I put Warcraft 3 + Expansions, I could easily have put Vanilla WoW for the above reasons, but War3 was so magical - and it's the reason WoW existed in the way it did, anyway. I'm not ashamed to say I have a torrented War3 on my external SSD so I'll always have it, rather than being force fed that Reforged malarkey...

The world of War3 was so lush and amazing, I genuinely struggle to decide if I prefer it or Age of Empires 2 as my all-time favourite RTS, so I have to content myself with saying they're the best at what they do.

 

[Robb]

StarCraft for me, WoW or Diablo never really managed to capture me in the same way.

I’d also say Hearthstone (at least early on , it’s not as great today), I played that for quite a while.

 

[Huevos de Oro]

It's gotta be Starcraft for me. The first one. I had played Warcraft before, and also Age of Empires, but SC hit me like a ton of bricks, it had everything. A cool story, incredible characters, varied missions, great looking graphics, all those small details like the units getting annoyed when you clicked on them several times, an amazing online component.

It's hard for me to point out a single memory of this game. Getting surprised alone late at night with the story twists. Pulling all nighters with friends doing LAN parties at the joint of a guy who owned a cyber cafe. Bonding with total strangers over a particularly hard win or loss online. I couldn't stop talking about the game during the time I played it and it was a long-ass time. I don't remember liking a game that much before or ever since, I miss those times.

 

[TwiztidElf]

Too hard to select one.
Starcraft / Starcraft 2 / WoW Vanilla / Warcraft 3 / Overwatch.
Great memories. Sad to see Blizzards zombie corpse shambling around now.

 

[Tschumi]

Too hard to select one.
Starcraft / Starcraft 2 / WoW Vanilla / Warcraft 3 / Overwatch.
Great memories. Sad to see Blizzards zombie corpse shambling around now.

there's a blizzlike vanilla wow private server opening up at the end of this month, look up kronos wow... it's their 4th server, i was on all 3 before it, great times, highly recommended

 

[Huevos de Oro]

Wait a minute, wait a minute. There's a typo in my game's name! The only one out of that long-ass list! I'm pouring my heart out here and I get this?

I demand reparations!

 

[Tschumi]

Wait a minute, wait a minute. There's a typo in my game's name! The only one out of that long-ass list! I'm pouring my heart out here and I get this?

I demand reparations!

0_0 egads you're right

fml

smh

wtf

well consider it a badge of honour one can hardly type straight when one's head is full of visions of glory on distant planets and heads popping in cinematics

 

[TsimpleD]

Starcraft 2, I am forever in love with that game, protoss for life!

 

[YukiOnna]

Brood War and Wrath of the Lich King were the height of Blizzard for me.

Hell, I still play SC to this day, lol.

 

[captainraincoat]

im gonna go with Vanilla WoW...the game was approachable for casuals and you were not hand held for everything
its also where you had some of the most fun in dungeons trying to beat them with funny group make ups like 5 Rogue LBRS ...or mage bombs

Burning Crusade would be number 2

 

[tmlDan]

I picked Vanilla WoW, that game was absolutely astonishing. My first character was a dwarf and I swear I was in awe when I walked up to the gates of Ironforge and walked in - it was surreal.

I miss that blizzard magic, it fizzled away into nothingness.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

I picked D3. I dont play RTS or MMO.

I liked D3's super smooth play, QoL features and leveling up. Graphics were too bright a cartoony, but had a great time. D2 would be second.

 

[Tschumi]

I picked D3. I dont play RTS or MMO.

I liked D3's super smooth play, QoL features and leveling up. Graphics were too bright a cartoony, but had a great time. D2 would be second.

I loved d3 too but as a single player kinda Diablo fan the last few acts flew by and i don't remember any of them, except maybe the starting town in the final expansion and maybe heaven at some point .. which again was disappointingly easy

 

[Lanrutcon]

I can objectively, and without any bias whatsoever, say that D2 was Blizzard's best offering ever. I can prove it with math. Also, my uncle works at Nintendo.

 

[CuNi]

I was torn between WoW Cata/ WoW WotLK and OW. I finally picked OW because I am fundamentally a comp and FPS player. But it was a close call. Have very fond memories of Cata/WotLK.
Hurts to see what WoW became afterwards.

 

[ZywyPL]

SC+BW easily. Although WC3+TFT is my very close second most favorite RTS of all times as well. D1&2 were great as well. I miss the old Blizzard for real

 

[Con-Z-epT]

Diablo 2 for me.

Played Warcraft and Starcraft like a mad man in my youth but nothing resonated with me like Diablo 2.

Never played WoW or Overwatch.

 

[ZehDon]

Blizzard peaked with Diablo II: LOD back in 2001. Before WoW and a love of reoccurring revenue streams, Blizzard defined the genres they operated in, and that's no more true than with Diablo II: Lord of Destruction. It took a nearly perfect sequel and made it better still, and showed the world how ARPGs were done. Two decades later, D2 is still considered the gold standard for ARPGs, and LOD is among the very best expansions packs.

Pitty that it all went to hell (no pun intended) for Blizzard.

 

[Nico_D]

The Lost Vikings.

Sorry. But really.

But if that's not a correct answer, then Diablo 2 + Lord of Destruction. Also, I think Warcraft 2 was better than Warcraft 3.

 

[Lanrutcon]

Blizzard peaked with Diablo II: LOD back in 2001. Before WoW and a love of reoccurring revenue streams, Blizzard defined the genres they operated in, and that's no more true than with Diablo II: Lord of Destruction. It took a nearly perfect sequel and made it better still, and showed the world how ARPGs were done. Two decades later, D2 is still considered the gold standard for ARPGs, and LOD is among the very best expansions packs.

Pitty that it all went to hell (no pun intended) for Blizzard.

That's what people forgot: when Blizzard stepped into a genre, they redefined it. Diablo, Starcraft, Warcraft...they owned those spaces and everyone competing had to try and keep up. They were industry leaders at their prime.

 

[Kittehkraken]

Rock N Roll Racing.

 

[DavidGzz]

How silly, it's obviously D2, especially now. Perfection(I'm playing offline lol).

 

[Tschumi]

That's what people forgot: when Blizzard stepped into a genre, they redefined it. Diablo, Starcraft, Warcraft...they owned those spaces and everyone competing had to try and keep up. They were industry leaders at their prime.

right? like the rockstar of RTSs, solid gold confirmed

 

[Flintty]

TBC was special for me. I joined a guild and despite most of them no longer playing we’re still friends today and still chat daily in the WhatsApp group chat. Even went to the former GMs wedding when she married in 2012. Lifelong friends because of a stupid game.

Diablo 3 is also high on my list. I never played the first two so I don’t have a comparison or view as to how terrible it apparently is but the hours I’ve put into that game are insane.

I still play Wow, even though the devs are fucking numpties and lack and imagination with game systems.

 

[Griffon]

It's a pretty damn impressive portfolio, hard to pick just one.

On a personal level, maybe the final choice would be Overwatch, in terms of raw gameplay it is a monster of a game.

While WoW and Diablo have some respectable concurrence with other excellent MMOs and Action WRPG in the same vein (like PoE and FF14), Overwatch doesn't have a single contender that can scratch the same itch as well as it does.

It's a shame they let the momentum die. It should have had more than twice the amount of characters and maps by now.
It felt like it was made by a skeleton crew after the initial release. They fucked that up big time.


Yeah I don't know... on the other hand WoW vanilla was legendary and had plenty to offer. So I guess I'd pick that one in the end.

 

[Tschumi]

TBC was special for me. I joined a guild and despite most of them no longer playing we’re still friends today and still chat daily in the WhatsApp group chat. Even went to the former GMs wedding when she married in 2012. Lifelong friends because of a stupid game.

Diablo 3 is also high on my list. I never played the first two so I don’t have a comparison or view as to how terrible it apparently is but the hours I’ve put into that game are insane.

I still play Wow, even though the devs are fucking numpties and lack and imagination with game systems.

there's a blizzlike vanilla wow server coming out at the end of this month ^_^ look up 'kronos wow'... not TBC, you missed the train on that one a pretty good TBC server just finished up, but yeah it'll be old school

 

[Flintty]

there's a blizzlike vanilla wow server coming out at the end of this month ^_^ look up 'kronos wow'... not TBC, you missed the train on that one a pretty good TBC server just finished up, but yeah it'll be old school

Thanks, I’ll check it out

 

[Lanrutcon]

While WoW and Diablo have some respectable concurrence with other excellent MMOs and Action WRPG in the same vein (like PoE and FF14), Overwatch doesn't have a single contender that can scratch the same itch as well as it does.

Naw. Overwatch didn't even last half a decade at the top. Diablo 2 reigned for at least twice that time, literally defining the genre. Everything that stepped into the ring with it stole as much as they could from it.

And World of Warcraft? It completely dominated for over a decade and a half with multiple, high budget contenders from talented studios trying to surpass it. The term "WoW killer" became a long standing joke as everything failed to reach WoW numbers. We can discuss its eventual fall from grace all we like, but there's no denying it achieved a level of success that no other subscription MMO has matched yet. FFXIV might be riding high right now, but it has years of popularity, hundreds of millions in revenue and several levels of cultural impact to catch up to before it surpasses what WoW achieved. Oh, and a South Park episode.

 

[AV]

Before TBC Classic I would probably have said TBC.

Playing it again in 2021 with the goggles off it's just not as good as Vanilla or Wrath and Vanilla sucked in its own ways too. Voted for Wrath. I think there's a good reason it's where subs peaked and why there (was) so many Wrath privates.

 

[Holdfing]

WotLK. In Cata I truly "got" the game, but over all WotLK was the better expansion.
I'm having a lot of fun with D2R, and slowly progressing on Vashj and Kael'thas in Classic.

 

[killatopak]

D2 easily.

 

[Shubh_C63]

This is basically a fight between Diablo 2 and WarCraft 3.
I doubt neogaf have many WoW players.

 

[killatopak]

Oh, and a South Park episode.

FF14 is big enough in Japan to have it’s own live action movie.

I wouldn’t doubt one of the reasons is because of the FF brand and that it’s Japan made as well. Just that culturally, it had made it’s mark as well. Just not in the same country.

I agree on all your other points.

 

[ReBurn]

I only ever played wow vanilla and it took over my life and I had to quit. I hated how it consumed me. I never cared for Diablo.

I should post a gif I guess.

 

[Vagswarm]

The original Diablo probably isn't their best game (although it sure felt like it at the time), but it's the one I have the most fond memories of. It was my first PC game, online game, and western ARPG. And it was right when I got my first PC and got into the internet. That's a lot for any game to go against. Played it online for at least a few years which is rare. It is still my 3rd favorite game of all time for those reasons.

Otherwise Starcraft 2 and its expansions (including the Nova missions) felt like the most complete games, where everything was near perfect. Really had no complaints regarding the singleplayer campaigns and was quite impressed by just how good they were. This was years after they came out.

 

[JohnSpartanLee]

Although 100% of my spare time currently goes to Diablo II Resurrected nothing beats Vanilla WoW in my opinion.
When I'm done with D2R I'll resub to WoW Classic.

 

[Warnen]

List made me realize I don’t like there games much…

 

[SEGA_2012]

Rock and Roll Racing.

 

[Fake]

Warcraft 3 was by far the best work Blizzard did in generations.

 

[Rickyiez]

Starcraft + Brood War here. I suck at RTS but it's still possibly the best game ever made. The campaign is perfection.

Perhaps it's nostalgia tinted but I don't mind keeping it like that

 

[Desless1]

Diablo 2, but that series has been stuck with me since youth and LAN Diablo parties as a kid. Oh such good times.

 

[Griffon]

Naw. Overwatch didn't even last half a decade at the top. Diablo 2 reigned for at least twice that time, literally defining the genre. Everything that stepped into the ring with it stole as much as they could from it.

And World of Warcraft? It completely dominated for over a decade and a half with multiple, high budget contenders from talented studios trying to surpass it. The term "WoW killer" became a long standing joke as everything failed to reach WoW numbers. We can discuss its eventual fall from grace all we like, but there's no denying it achieved a level of success that no other subscription MMO has matched yet. FFXIV might be riding high right now, but it has years of popularity, hundreds of millions in revenue and several levels of cultural impact to catch up to before it surpasses what WoW achieved. Oh, and a South Park episode.

I guess you're right, there's a huge time gap. *Now* I see some contenders for WoW and Diablo, but that's after decades of utter dominance.

And yeah, Overwatch didn't live nearly as long due to the uncharacteristicly poor dev support (likely because Blizzard was already on the way down the gutter). Shame, wasted potential.

 

[balt1kr1s]

Diablo 2 + Expansion, you could make a long list why this game is so amazing, but what comes first to my mind is ATMOSPHERE - rarely beatable by anyone up to this day.

Also, I have started playing Resurrected yesterday because my mate could not stop talking about it for last two weeks and its holding so well after those 20 years, all that gameplay which respects your intelligence, unbelieveable!

Its 20 years old! and still so gooood!!!

 

[Vagswarm]

Warcraft 3 was by far the best work Blizzard did in generations.

It's probably my favorite one as far as story and characters go. The heroes were also kickass.

Warcraft 2 was pretty incredible in its day as well. Used to play it on Microsoft's Zone service, before Battle.Net existed. Bloodlust was lethal.

 

[Fake]

It's probably my favorite one as far as story and characters go. The heroes were also kickass.

The revolutionary way of exploring a strategy game. Putting heroes to defeat creep and level up. Usually, Age of Empires you don't get much reason to leave your confort zone, but Warcraft 3 really inovate making heroes.

 

[The Cockatrice]

Warcraft 3 + exp

 

[Tschumi]

The revolutionary way of exploring a strategy game. Putting heroes to defeat creep and level up. Usually, Age of Empires you don't get much reason to leave your confort zone, but Warcraft 3 really inovate making heroes.

Spot on. I used to try and make maps in aoe2 with that because i was so into the scripted events in the campaigns.. i didn't realise it at the time but there's a reason i found every hidden nook, even the ones you had to cut trees down to reach, super quickly lol... I just ate it up.

Jesus, just thinking about it makes me want to dump weeks into another playthrough then roll horde in Vanilla WoW

 

[Vagswarm]

The revolutionary way of exploring a strategy game. Putting heroes to defeat creep and level up. Usually, Age of Empires you don't get much reason to leave your confort zone, but Warcraft 3 really inovate making heroes.

Their system was great for sure, but heroes were first introduced in Warlords Battlecry. They went for more roleplaying elements, which is what Warcraft 3 was originally going to be.