That trailer seems to make the player out to be an evil, rather than someone rising up to fight the evil that is plaguing the land. Usually, a Diablo trailer would be about characterizing Diablo and his forces as evil, and the player as needing to confront and defeat that evil.
But in the D4 Rogue trailer, the Rogue and the priest she interacts with seem to embrace and revel in practicing evil.
“I assure you father, the heavens didn’t send me”
So, is evil supposed to be not the enemy in Diablo IV, if the player is also an agent of evil? How can a force of evil defeat evil?
And why does the priest keep a locker of severed ears? Isn’t that the kind of portrayal the game normally saves for the forces of evil? So, are the players fighting evil, or fighting with evil?
I think this doesn’t make sense and is contradictory to what Diablo is about. How can there be a story of fighting evil when the player-character here is boastful about being evil themselves? That character’s actions would then only feed Diablo.
Is this a sign that Blizzard, or what’s left of them, aren’t in-touch with the basics of what the Diablo series is about?
Not at all. The rogue is perfect. She is complicated. She is scarred. She has learned to survive and that means compromises - sometimes questionable ones. Very few characters are lawful good. She is more chaotic neutral. Sometimes it takes some evil to fight evil.
It would be a very boring story if all the Diablo chars were shiny glowing beacons of good.
Diablo 4 is still very much about fighting agains the forces of evil. However the setting of the world in Diablo 4 is that the world of Sanctuary is in disarray, and is left in a chaotic state. Just from the main website you have the passages:
“Chaos threatens to consume Sanctuary as evil and impiety continue to spread. Depraved demons and corrupted wildlife roam the land unchecked, as terrified townsfolk huddle in dark corners trying to survive one more day.”
and
“As darkness returns to Sanctuary, a brave few dare to face this threat. But what fate awaits them in a land forsaken by hope, valor, wisdom, and justice?”
The world is currently bleaked and ruinous, with corruption, violence, and betrayal seeping in, and no one survives that unscathed and/or untainted, this includes our heroes. Imo, the Rogue trailer does an amazing job showcasing the horrendous state of the world, and I look forward to seeing more of this darkness.
Indeed. From my recollection of AD&D, only Paladins are required to be Lawful Good, and they become fallen (to a warrior class) if they carry out too many misdeeds. Heck, I remember in Eye of the Beholder, if you had a paladin in the party and you looted graves for gear in a starter area, the paladin would leave, never to rejoin the party.
Indeed, Paladins are usually Lawful Good. Diablo and Diablo 2 were born out of the pencil and paper tabletop RPGs.
I kind of love that those are currently popular and that people who were not born yet are getting to learn the complexities of that style character creation. It helps give so much insight into the early games like D2. Many choices in gameplay mechanics came directly from the D&D style games.
I am looking forward to watching the Diablo Critical Role adventure today, speaking of RPGs.
Who said that all player-characters should be shiny glowing beacons of good? Are D1 and D2 characters squeaky-clean and shiny paragons of virtue?
When an argument depends on reframing someone-else’s and pigeonholing it, then it probably isn’t a very good argument. The same goes for when an argument depends on framing the options as polar extremes.
The trailing is showing the Rogue as not simply being complex, but as revelling in not being good but a proud “sinner”, mocking the morals of the priest’s church - and the priest acknowledges that she’s mocking “our light”. She expresses that the church’s god wouldn’t save her, and says “I assure you father, the heavens didn’t send me”.
That’s not being neutral, that’s her choosing to identify as evil.
To me, this suggests that Blizzard didn’t really think about what they’re doing with this character, and how it fits into what the Diablo series is.
Diablo Barbarians, Necromancers, and Assassins are not your shiny heroes. It looks like Diablo 4 character creator allows you to make different types characters, both good and shady.
Attacking other ‘heroes’ has been a thing since Diablo 1.
Diablo Barbarians, Necromancers, and Assassins are not your shiny heroes. It looks like Diablo 4 character creator allows you to make different types characters, both good and shady.
The Barbarians, Necromancer, and Assassins also don’t boast that they live by evil.
do you consider the boys being “evil”?
they murder, they steal, for good
admitting your crimes is actually making you more lawful than companies like apple who just place suicide nets on their buildings
That’s not the impression I’ve ever gotten from the franchise. Player characters come from all different scales of morality but are united because demonic evil is magnitudes worse than the evil of man.
Diablo isn’t either. It’s Diablo. Why are you repeating pointless strawman arguments? It suggests that there isn’t a appreciable logical basis to the position you are advocating for.
