Blizzard Wants You To Scale Back Your Expectations Of Diablo III
Admit it, you’re pretty excited about Diablo III. It’s been more than a decade since the last game came out. Hell, I bet some of you even played it on a Windows 95 machine. With all the advances we’ve made in PC gaming in the last 12 years, you know that you’re really excited. Well, according to Blizzard, you shouldn’t be.
No, it’s not that the game is terrible. It’s that they’re concerned about the amount of hype surrounding the game. And frankly, they have a reason to be. Diablo II was a great game with an online multiplayer functionality that’s still fun, even after all of this time. It’s hard to follow up a game like that, and I have plenty of faith in Blizzard. They’re just wanting you to be more realistic about your expectations. Community Manager Bashiok said this on the official Diablo III forums:
I too worry that we won’t be able to meet the expectations people have built up for themselves. Part of my job is managing people’s expectations, so… eh… stop it. Stop thinking about how awesome this game could be. Just imagine it’s a new M. Night Shyamalan movie. Sure Sixth Sense was amazing and Unbreakable had it’s moments, but this right here is the sequel to The Village … or The Happening … or Signs … or any of the movies besides the two I first mentioned. So just like, lower those expectations, but still definitely buy the game please, and everything will be just fine. K?
I have to say, I like the cut of this guy’s jib. He’s honest, and he has a sense of humor about his job. I don’t think there’s any question as to whether this will be a good game. The problem is that when you get too hyped about something, it becomes hard for anything to meet those expectations.
