Maybe this is an unpopular opinion, but I really can’t stand the pop culture references in D3. Halcyon amulet, Hammer Jammers. The dye remover has “it’s what plants crave!” in the description. The list goes on. I definitely see how these are meant to get a chuckle, or are a nod to something else (Like Thunderfury Blessed Blade and WoW)
I just think it’s out of place, stupid, and I hope D4 attempts to have a darker, more immersive experience rather than breaking it with these dumb little nods to things outside of the Diablo universe.
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I hate to say this, but it is unlikely Blizzard is going to remove all the fun. They have put pop culture references in all their games since the beginning. I don’t really expect that to change. You won’t find them in the deepest darkest dungeon, but they WILL be in the game most likely.
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It does seem like D3 ratcheted them up quite a bit compared to D2 though. Most of the D2 references, to my recollection, were just vanity items (items referring to Blizzard employees), rather than pop culture references.
The dirk called a “diggler” is a pop culture reference from D2. I love the dark, immersion from D1 and D2, but having something that occasionally breaks that up is fine in my opinion.
D2 did have a few, D3 has a lot, just like with anything else, finding a good balance is what they need to strive for.
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It is usually some of both. Scroll down to the Names and Shout Outs for some of them in D2. Diablo II Easter Eggs - Diablo Wiki
Blizz just likes to have fun with some of it. WoW and probably Hearthstone are the ones with a TON of references. In those you can assume that everything is a reference to something, even if you don’t get it. The exception there is the main storyline of course. They don’t muck with that.
EDIT - reading the D2 info, they had a lot of staff and fan community name references in there. Rather cool, actually. I did not realize D2 had player/fan names in it too. Most were website creators/maintainers - we did not have game streams back then so that was the main means of fan creativity.
I guess some people are just not happy unless they have something to complain about.
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DIABLO 1,2,3,… is an unique franchise, that should be a platform to refer to real evil and good(!)
any ‘fun’ features is misplaced.
-but…like i stated before: the goblins can stay.
Thanks. Filtering out the vanity references, these are the other references in D2:
- Creeping Feature
- Frozenstein
- Aldur’s Watchtower
- Blade of Ali Baba
- Heaven’s Brethren
- Messerschmidt’s Reaver
- Tancred’s Battlegear
- The Diggler
So that’s 8 monsters and items (or item sets). I don’t have the interest to comb through it for D3, but I suspect it is much more in D3.
On a very long list of desires for another iteration of Diablo, this would be close to dead last.
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Alert! Multiple curmudgeons detected.
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Here I am, a being of pure energy, teleporting through the akashic memories of a dead cosmic dragon fighting the Lords of Hell with black holes and arcane meteors and…
BAM! The Flavor of Time destroys my suspension of disbelief!
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Your comment really ruined the immersion I was having in the forums today.
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Sorry about that - my bad…
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“Pop culture”… Yeah… So dark an immersive. cough
I have to agree with the OP though. It’s too far an inbetween for D2 while for D3 it’s like a stream of unwanted references left and right hitting you, just like the rainbow level.
When someone asks someone else to check their “Hammer pants” or “DJ amulet”, things go out of immersion so quickly. Because at the first glance I can not tell if I’m in a cheesy “we’re gamers hurhur cake is a lie” dialogue or someone genuinely asking a question.
If I’m playing your game it’s because I wanna forget about the real world out there and forget about my own chores in real life for a moment.
If developers want references, I’m okay with references on a more personal level. For example; I find elite name generator for remarkable community members hilarious and also effective way to reach for the crowd. Do that. Please.
Love me some Dirk Diggler.
But when every other monster in D3 is named after Diablo employees or Youtube streamers it makes the game just silly.
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I know about the items from WoW and D2 and the Elite names after some streamers/youtubers/staff members but the rest I had no idea about.
I guess I must be really out of touch with references or something.
‘I’m not from the US tho’
Don’t feel bad, I am totally naïve about most of them, so I’m not bothered by them. I think the next iteration of the Diablo series would be nice to get greater immersion though. But from excellent game design and story-telling. A few humorous items as Easter eggs won’t hurt anything.
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Agreed. It’s just when the game gets a bit over-saturated with them at the expense of its own atmosphere and lore.
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As long as d4 is dark and griity i don’t care much for item names.
- note to blizzard, dark does not mean turn down the lighting.
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I get your point, Aspirine but who always lights the torches in these dungeons we slink around in? Making me take a torch into a labyrinth that has not seen humans for decades is immersive and creepy with the right sound effects. But I digress, I do like the RPG aspects more than the Action part.
Watching a torchlight dance lighting off the walls and the shadows it creates is what I play for.
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