Spend $10 million (or whatever) on a remaster, sell it to a million people for $40 bucks each, walk away with $30,000,000 cash. Keeps the shareholders in milk in cookies 
Not quite, they’ll be still having costs with that game in long term because they need to keep the (now updated) servers going on.
But yes, they’ll be making a load of cash with that game. No doubt about it. I already know 5 people who instantly preordered it just for the fact that it exists alone.
That’ll be offset by new people buying the game for the $40. I would assume upkeep is negligible.
I stay away from streamers and other “e-celebrities” on principle, so I totally agree with that. That said, I didn’t even watch anything about this year’s blizzcon, the hype train died with D3 “loot 2.0” upgrade.
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That is not a thing with Blizzard. Most of them know how to be queued up as early as possible and run things on a pretty fast connection which does not hurt.
Yes, Friends, Family, Media/websites/Influencers do get invites to Alphas and Betas - depending on space. They account for <10% of the overall population once the waves are done. So that is true many get in. The bulk are still basic random folks.
I don’t know him, however I watched his interview and agree with you.
Agreed on this too.
If you watch the Blizzard staff who stand up there and present - MOST of them are not good public performance speakers who provide entertainment. They seem uncomfortable, scripted, and stiff. Even when they have good things to say, the don’t deliver it well. The streamers are very used to interacting with an audience, good at public speaking, etc. I honestly find them easier to listen to. Blizzard does not tend to select the more extreme controversial folks for interviews so you are not likely to have to deal with someone too terrible.
We loved partnering with MrLlamaSC. Beyond being a great guy, he’s very informed on all things related to Diablo II, but more importantly, he’s authentic in his representation of the community he lives within.
The Deep Dive Panel for Diablo II: Resurrected was fantastic because he genuinely had the context and knowledge to geek out with the developers. We wanted our viewers to experience that panel vicariously through him, a true fan just as passionate about this game we all cherish.
I hope that insight assists in understanding our approach.
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While his passion is obvious, I believe he plays the game in a very niche way, and I would encourage having maybe another D2 personally, maybe someone who plays the game in a different way co host, to contrast views.
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I enjoyed his questions and stuff. I’m really excited to see the game when it comes out.
The other top youtube and twitch diablo 2 content creators are mainly speedrunners and the other main diablo content creators like Rhykker mainly follow d3 and aren’t necessarily that knowledgeable about d2. Sure their are others who are knowledgeable and play in different ways, hell I personally know more about the subject than any should after playing for 20 years, but you can’t just grab someone off the forums and throw them in a broadcast. You need someone well spoken who can handle themselves well enough on camera. So honestly streamers and content creators are the only choice and among them mrllama was clearly the best choice they had. I think they did the right thing.
Asking for subs along with the rest is how these ones make their money. They have their sponsors to plug as well. All part of how they earn a living, or make some extra cash.
Yeah, I can’t think of a more popular streamer for Diablo 2, but like I said, he plays the game in a very, very niche way. I might have seen if I could grab one of the creators of Path of Diablo, or MedianXL, or PD2 to co-host.
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Totally agreed, Lina. I’m an old school gamer. I get why they do it, because they want to seem like they’re in touch with the gaming community. To me though, watching a streamer is a bit reminiscent of watching your older brother play the game, and hogging it, having a great time and rubbing it in your face, while you sat back wanting your turn to play. Most of the ones I’ve run into make me cringe to watch because it seems like they’re more interested in hawking their channel (and revenue stream) than anything else.
I’m sympathetic to Blizzard wanting to involve the community and needing to find someone polished enough to speak in front of a camera and not panic. Most of us would freeze up or fumble with stage fright. I’ve spent 20 years practicing public speaking and my hands still shake when I speak to a large audience. I get why they do it. I don’t like it, but I’m not sure I have a better solution for the problem they’re trying to solve.
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Totally not on subject but still…
I am surprisingly the opposite. I dislike speaking in small settings if I don’t know people but larger groups (50+… max I have done is 200) I don’t mind at all. I somewhat just have a “switch” that goes on and can easily just talk about the subject I am discussing because I can’t really focus on any one person.
IDK… just odd and I felt like commenting, heh
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I understand, I guess I just don’t agree with it. I’ve done public speaking before in my company (along with my director) and I thought Mrllamasc was bad. I already mentioned I am not a fan of streamers / YT asking for donations and funds before people can even see if they like the content (it’s a scummy practice) and I’ll stand by it. I get it, I’m the only one on here that thinks that, but I have my values and I’ll stick by them.
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I don’t watch a ton of streams or youtube, but I have never had to subscribe or donate to watch. I agree that would be scummy. All the Twitch streams I have watched are free to see and decide if you like the person and their content or not.
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@Hooley
Thanks for the reply but sorry I don’t agree with him being a great person. Someone great wouldn’t be asking for handouts the second his streams or videos start, instead of letting the viewer decide if the persons production and work is worth their money and time. It’s a gross tactic and Blizzard should be ashamed of promoting that kind of behavior.
There are plenty of other people that have a diverse knowledge about Diablo 2, with core values and on the level streams and Youtube channels that don’t pull the wool over users eyes. Sorry but this won’t convince me, and I still stand by my piece.
@MissCheetah:
Yeah there are plenty of quality creators that don’t do it, but I know in particular when I was interested in seeing Mrllamasc’s content (Youtube videos and stream), in some of them he would ask people for Patreon donations and subs immediately before actually give a new user the chance to see if that would be worth doing. I think it’s just crappy. I know he isn’t the only one and not saying he is; but was just surprised they were okay with this.
Thank you for your response!
Hmm I dont mind people asking for subbing or donations. Sometimes it’s their only income so never bother me. Even if it is not I dont mind.
As for the interview, I think it’s a good thing to have serious streamers asking questions since they usualy ask questions fellow gamers would also ask. While professional interviewers(besides love hearing themselves talk) would try to get silly info or annoy the gamemaker for their lack of knowledge…
I think he did good … 
@Aspirine
Yeah I get that, it’s why I said that I’m sure I’m in the super minority on it. But I am strongly against popular streamers and Youtubers asking for donations and subs before people can even see if they like it. To me it reeks of just asking for money and putting it before your own creative work so it can speak for itself. Not everyone does this but I’m just shocked people are okay with that practice. It’s like me going to a car dealership, and as soon as I enter the door they hand me the contract to sign before I even look at if I want to purchase a vehicle from them.
Then, you know, just watch the stream before deciding if you wanna donate or not? Again, there are a series of reasons why it’s necessary to ask for subs at the start and at the finish of a video or livestream, which many people have pointed out before. No one is forcing you to do so, however. The content is 100% free to watch.
Okay I tried to be overly polite about it before, so I’ll just be more clear:
I am NOT going to give any creator the time of day, if I immediately go into one of their videos, and in the first 5 seconds or so, they ask for donations, Patreon money, subs and funds. I think it’s a gross tactic, and it spits in the face of your own content not being able to carry your image. If you want to ask for all that after folks can enjoy what you made, absolutely. But first impressions are everything, and when I clicked on his videos and stream recordings in the past, it’s the first thing that I saw, and I was already turned off.
I am NOT saying that people have to share my ideals, but I am doing this out of principle, and it’s how I live. Like before when I mentioned the example, it’s like going into a car dealership and them shoving a contract in your hand before even looking around to decide if you want a automobile from them. Absolutely ridiculous.
I don’t care what the algorithms say, there are plenty of popular people on Twitch and Youtube who don’t do this. Sorry but the community management won’t convince me it’s not a scummy thing to do.