FWIW I worked at Blizzard for a long time and can affirm that this was the basis of the decision-making to hold the release of the original Diablo until after the 1996 holiday (so the origin of the philosophy in question at least goes back to then, if not farther as detailed in the linked article). It was actually driven by our head of marketing, who encouraged the developers and company president to take more time with the game and get it right rather than rushing it out in time for the holiday demand. He said “No one will remember whether a game was on time; they’ll only remember it if it’s great, so let’s just focus on the game and not worry about an arbitrary schedule” or something like that. That marketing guy’s recommendation turned out to be the right decision, and it formed the basis of Blizzard’s ongoing philosophy for many years to come. It’s also listed in the company values, as part of the basis for “Commit to Quality.”

@Blue As much as I wish free-to-play was cancelled, I'm thinking there's some kind of typo in the opening line for this one.

Nice, picking this one up. Looks like just the Max Payne vibe I've been looking for.

@Blue It would be awesome to go back in time to 2004, but I'm guessing the headline and first sentence should say "2K24" and not "2K4."

HorrorScope wrote on Aug 3, 2023, 10:34:
I'll be co-oping this. This will be the first $60 game I bought since Skyrim.

+1

Hey Blue, just noting that the game title in the headline should be Ancient Enemy, not Ancient Alchemy.

Holy cow that's a lot of money raised for a lot of charities in one year. Good on Humble on maintaining their commitment even as they've grown and evolved over the years.

ChatGTP wrote on Apr 5, 2023, 11:29:

HelpMeee wrote on Apr 5, 2023, 11:21:

The Half Elf wrote on Apr 5, 2023, 10:30:
Remember when games use to be about the gameplay?

Yeah, it's so much better now that they're about great gameplay and they give more people an opportunity to feel included. Progress!

Not necessarily. While it is true that feeling included often involves a sense of recognition and validation of one's identity, it is possible to feel included without necessarily representing one's own identity in a specific way. For example, one might feel included in a community or social group based on shared values or interests, regardless of whether their identity is explicitly represented within that group.

Which is the beauty of the words "an opportunity"—it's about adding a new way for someone to feel included, and not necessarily about establishing something that didn't exist in other ways before. So sure, while it's possible that all kinds of people might have found ways to feel included previously; this character is a good thing because it adds to the list of ways for people to feel included while also delivering what looks like an awesome gameplay experience that seems consistent with the vision for the game from the beginning.

The Half Elf wrote on Apr 5, 2023, 10:30:
Remember when games use to be about the gameplay?

Yeah, it's so much better now that they're about great gameplay and they give more people an opportunity to feel included. Progress!

Bill Borre wrote on Mar 27, 2023, 19:55:
Where Prophecy of the Shadow and Veil of Darkness?

Thanks for mentioning these—sent me down a research rabbit hole learning about them and other similar games from the time. I was very into the Gold Box games but never realized there were a number of non-D&D isometric games from SSI and contemporaries.

Not to split hairs, but the guy is Activision Blizzard's COO, not Blizzard Entertainment's

theglaze wrote on Aug 10, 2022, 09:28:

Midnight wrote on Aug 10, 2022, 04:02:
Overwatch may have popularised lootboxes, but its implementation has always been the best possible example. Lootbox content is 100% cosmetic, and lootboxes are regularly earned simply by playing the game. Lootboxes also contain a currency that you can use to purchase specific cosmetics that you want, and any duplicates that come out of the lootboxes are also converted to this currency.
I've never had trouble getting all the cosmetics I want in Overwatch, and I've never bought a lootbox.
The only money I spent on Overwatch post-launch was for the Mercy Pink Skin that raised over $10 million for breast cancer research.

qft

I agree. It's a shame that so many people who had this perspective didn't lend their voice in support of Blizzard's approach when so much public discourse and so many news outlets cemented Blizzard as somehow the poster child for the lootbox controversy, as though they were the worst offender -- all simply because they were the most visible and prominent company using lootboxes and their approach was the most popular.

Never played Apex Legends but am looking forward to this. Character and art design and gameplay concepts all seem cool, and Respawn has a good track record for excellent shooter mechanics. At least until Overwatch 2 PvE comes out.

I was a fan as a kid—black outfit, black mask (like the Lone Ranger), and sword skills; what’s not to like? I didn’t like that modern renditions (e.g., Antonio Banderas) made the character campy. Always liked it better when the character took himself and his cause seriously, like in the older TV shows.

Tipsy McStagger wrote on Jun 1, 2022, 13:29:
I'd really like it if no one bought this. But unfortunately, gamers are fucking dumb.

Good thing it's free, so technically, no one will buy it! I'm personally looking forward to playing through a new Diablo story with crunchy progression and love that I don't have to pay a penny for the full story, character classes, etc., but to each their own I guess.

Sell-through is actually a legit number (units sold to people). It's sell-in (units sold to stores to hopefully sell to people) that's the bullshit marketing speak.

Fion wrote on Nov 10, 2013, 17:20:
I don't want that personally because the people who made those great games are largely long gone from Blizz. I wouldn't trust the current group of them to recreate the magic of the original 3 Warcraft games.

Who are you referring to? Chris Metzen? Mike Morhaime? Samwise Didier? Bob Fitch? Joeyray Hall? Frank Pearce? Brian Fitzgerald? Justin Thavirat? Brian Sousa? Micky Neilson? Roman Kenney? Dave Berggren? Glenn Stafford? Matt Samia? Nick Carpenter? Trevor Jacobs? Collin Murray? In the credits for their recent games, those guys and more are all still there. There are like 5 people from the War2 credits that I've heard of who are no longer there.