They do want input, all kinds of input! However, my point is that some of the very big decisions are made, and have been made by Blizz for many years.
Things I think are set in stone at this point:
-Online only
-No full open trading. Trading will have some sort of limits.
-Biz model is game purchase with MTX being limited to cosmetics
-Five classes at launch, Sorc, Barb, Druid and ??
-PK won’t be an aspect of PvP. It will be willing participants.
I think a LOT of the rest is an ongoing project.
-Skill trees
-Synergies between skills
-Power gains and rates
-Respec abilities? Costs?
-Gear affixes
-Mobs and mob affixes, resistances
-Crafting system
-Item modifications like enchants or augments
-Seasons and how they work in D4
-Rune system
-Other systems like charms or something we might want?
-Dungeons and map randomization
-PvP balance and implementation
-Char customization for body features as well as armor dyes/transmog
I see so much passion in many threads, but it is frustrating to see people beating their heads against the wall on the things that are 99.9% unlikely to change. There are SO many great topics that players CAN have input on. Why not spend more energy there? Unless of course, none of those matter if you can’t get one of the ones Blizz is not budging on.
I watched everything multiple times and they seemed very uncertain how trading would play out with higher-end items. There’s definitely room for input in my opinion. It seems like its up for discussion and not at all set in stone but I guess it’s just my opinion.
To be honest, i don’t care about open trading, I’m fine with limited trading, but we the community should be made in those “big decisions.” Just like grinding gear game succeeds at.
I think the problem is that blizzard is overly formal. Look up 2005 blizzcon compared to now. Jeff had no problem calling the community a bunch of liars and making fun of them. This needs a come back.
I don’t care about free trade, limited trading is okay with me personally.
But these choices need to be the community and blizzard. Because who knows, maybe the community has some insight or helpful knowledge.
But also just talking to us about the bot problem is helpful to. Let us see more in which were struggling and we can offer our input.
We need each other. If grinding gears games can do it. Blizzard should be able to do it.
But to tell players that open trading isn’t going to be a thing because 20,000 players out of 2 million engage in a crime isn’t going to sit well.
I have very mixed feelings on this one. Yes, I want them to be more open about what they are doing. I hate that bots impact the leaderboards and discourage honest players. I want to at least see some evidence of action against botters!
On the other hand, I get why they don’t discuss the security measures they are working on or the lawsuits against bot makers - until the hammer drops. It only gives the bot makers a way to evade and adapt. Of course, some are outside the reach of US law anyway
I think you really really really underestimate both the player base, and the number of people who engage in nefarious activities.
Third party sites usually operate outside the reach of US law. They are criminal organizations, not just a few kids in a basement.
-They use phishing, malware, and virus software to compromise real player accounts. Real players who are very upset about that.
-Game company spends real money in man hours to have CS assist and at least recover access to the account, if not the lost items.
-Server resources used by bots and the impact that can have on real players - lag, etc.
-Ongoing costs for a team to deal with security issues
-Legal team costs to go after them
-Financial compromise by giving third party sites info (yes people do that). For some reason the players don’t blame themselves though. They associate it with the game.
-Game balance around trade. Gear curve is set to prevent everyone from gearing too fast. Setting in game drop rates is easy to control. Outside systems like trade muck with that. We saw how bad that was in D3 Vanilla. This makes players very angry, esp when they want to find loot.
Someone else making a few bucks off a game is not that big a deal, even if it is illegal to profit off IP you don’t own. It is all the negative impacts on real players, and the costs to the company to combat and fix that. In the end they just limit things.
I honestly think you overestimate the amount of players that do shady things. I don’t think any normal rational adult will bot in a game that isn’t boring. I also don’t think that same person would go to a website to purchase digital goods.
Buying BiS items in a RPG ruins the experience and makes your purchase pointless.
As for power curve it should be done with a majorities of players being able to see the end game content and be able to help with someone that’s full BiS gear that’s only a percent or so stronger. Instead of a system like D3 where no gear matters when leveling and only level 70 legendaries matter. If you get a BiS legendary item while leveling it should be good the entire game.
I did that on purpose. For me, I’m aware of how tough it can be but the average consumer does not understand. But these are the conversations that need to happen so the consumer knows the context because most of them don’t think like developers or are aware of the problems. (This also doesn’t mean players can’t have better insights.)
These are the conversations that will go a long way, like you told me about the steak temperature. You need to educate the consumer and through that is having a casual conversations about these things.
I’m not asking for 100% transparency. Just some where we can daily, non aggressive conversations but that road is very hard for Blizzard right now, it’s very hostile for you guys right now. But it is partly blizzard’s fault and some of the community.
But it’s never going to get back to a stable relationship with Blizzard making all these decisions behind close doors. Just talk to is.
Cheetah, it’s literallly your job to communicate with the community and I understand that you have orders above you to keep a tight lip on some issues… but it doesn’t mean you can’t sit here and talk to us about the bot and stolen credit cards.
This, not so much true. I have spent a ton of time (many years now) in D3 and WoW helping folks who are compromised, and paying close attention to the ban waves. The amount of people doing it is fairly large. Large enough to have a major impact on other players, and therefore on CS support - as well as game reputation. Nobody likes to play against botters/cheaters.
I have a small advantage in that I have spent a lot of time with the Blizzard CS team and on the TS/CS forums. I suppose that makes me a bit more aware than average?
Most likely, yes. I’m working on a more formal post with an actual deadline, but that takes a little back and forth communication with the appropriate teams + localization to execute.
We’ve been monitoring web traffic, and most of the most popularly searched topics have already been migrated or recreated on this forum, but folks should definitely still go save anything they treasure if they haven’t done so already.
I’m definitely glad I got MissCheetah’s cosmetics guide done then. It’d have been much more of a pain for her (and anyone working on it) if the old post info had disappeared before the new stuff was done.
I need to clarify. MVPs are regular players. We just get green text. Mine is green because I am a Tech and Customer support MVP, as well as WoW Community MVP, and was a D3 Community MVP. That comes from just helping players find info, explaining things, linking to news, etc. Oh, and managing not to get myself suspended by being too snarky!
We can have our own opinions and speak our minds as MVPs. We just can’t violate the forum code of conduct.
Getting paid would be nice though, as would having access to meetings and info. I have to make due with what I see in Blue posts for the most part. Exception is when I talk to the TS/CS folks on Discord.
Edit - full disclosure, yes I have been to Blizz twice and spent a fair amount of time with the CS team, D3 team, and WoW team. It was really awesome and I am so thankful for the tours, time, and insight. Also, yes, I am under an NDA, but there is nothing sexy I am keeping from folks. It sometimes means I know 4 hours before a patch that it is happening or something. heh.
Ah, i didn’t know. My fault - but yes. You should be getting paid.
Imagine how the community would act and how excited they would be if someone like Free got hired by Blizzard. Everyone seems to respect him and his ideas.
This would really go a long way with bettering the community.
And you as well. Times have changed, social media has changed, and why is a indie studio like grinding gears games doing a better job than Blizzard?
But even if you’re not hired, you are put in a position of some influence.
MissCheetah’s in a position of perceived influence. She has no actual influence. And it’s the very reason she strives to be as neutral as she can when posting here. That’s why she doesn’t hurl insults like a lot of other players do.
That does happen sometimes. Blizz has hired a fair number of folks who were theory crafters, wrote blogs, made guides, did podcasts/videos, etc. Even when they don’t hire them, they have a group they call “Influencers” who they reach out and talk to about things and even invite onto campus for discussions. It is not something a lot of folks are aware that Blizz does, but yeah, they do. Kind of like focus groups.
Can we pretty please keep the thread to Diablo related stuff. RL politics only derails things even worse.
See this is what I am talking about, you even admit this.
They just need to talk to us more in general. I had no idea that even happened and it’s a shame because once again.
There’s a huge disconnect where blizzard is doing these focus groups, but nobody even knows.
