The Success of D3

[Catchafire]

Will the success of D3 pave the way for other companies to try their hands at isometric fantasy style action RPGs? I for one hope so, but what do you think? When you look into the horizon, there aren't many D3 styled games coming out. There is however a slew of FPS horror and WWII that seem to come out every other month.

I'm hoping that EA will invest in developing NOX 2 or a new Titan Quest game (oh, I just remembered Mythos). The genre can definitely use a few alternatives to D3.

[Mysterio]

Well I think there will be one or two hack and slash games after Diablo III is out, but wont be as popular or as perfect as Diablo. Theres no chance for titan quest 2 as Iron Lore is out of business and closed.

[Gigashadow]

There will be plenty more Diablo clones, sure, I don't really care for them. Some of them were OK, but I still find myself playing Diablo II instead of TQ or DL or whatever, despite the fact that I already spent tons of time on Diablo II already... the only Diablo clone I truly enjoyed and finished properly was Alien Shooter II, but it was ridiculously SHORT.

TQ2 would be nice if they did something to the gameplay mechanic. TQ was probably the best Diablo clone made so far. Iron Lore may be gone but there's still someone holding the rights to TQ.

Nox_is_not_a_clone. Nox 2 is not going to happen, the game never got popular enough because it got overshadowed by DII + Westwood sorta died. Besides, Nox is such a clear-cut finished product that there is virtually nothing to add to it besides graphics, better mult support, and maybe balancing... I just don't imagine what they could possibly do to it. Give Wizard Slow Time? I am afraid if they make Nox II it would get worse.

[Catchafire]

I wish that this genre could be as popular as the FPS genre. There's a new Call of Duty/WWII/QUAKE style game every month it seems! Why can't another company be just as successful at making a Diablo styled game like Blizz???

[Gigashadow]

I wish that this genre could be as popular as the FPS genre. There's a new Call of Duty/WWII/QUAKE style game every month it seems!
Why can't another company be just as successful at making a Diablo styled game like Blizz???Because Blizz stole the market? lol

Look at how DII players think when they get a new Hack&Slash game:
"I am getting this because I am sorta tired of DII so now I need a bit of a variation..."
They don't look at new games as new games, they look at them as a part of Diablo... I mean if people call Nox a Diablo clone... what can I say?

Besides, how varied are FPS games these days, really? When was the last fantasy FPS, 1998? When was the last time you could look at an FPS and say "wow, this is new". All we have right now is rippoffs on top of rippoffs. The sci-fi FPS use the same weapons WWII games do... with the exclusion of, perhaps, HL, and even so not really. WWII and redundant sci-fi is all we really have these days, with newer and newer graphics. FPS sucks these days.

[stillman]

I agree about the rip-offs on top of rip-offs. It's happening everywhere, even in the movies. In recent years we have: Godzilla, King Kong, Hulk, numerous others I can't think of right now but the point is: all of these movies already existed, then some corporate punks go and squeeze every last possible buck out of the ideas by remaking them. On radio these days, I hear nothing but crappy cover after crappy cover.

I don't settle for that bs. I refuse to play diablo clones because I expect to get nothing but ripped off ideas that make the company who made it look like panzies. Imo, everything sucks these days because no one has the guts to put out some fresh new original ideas; they just steal ideas and pretend were all idiots who won't know or w/e. Idk, maybe there are some good new ideas out there, but I sure don't bother looking into it due to low expectations and disgust. That's my rant for now.

[Gigashadow]

I totally agree with everything you said, Stillman. I feel the same way... the people with real ideas are totally ignored, because sequels and clones pay a lot better...

[Lyrs]

Most games start at a recognizable, standard point and build from there, that's the clone part. However, each game has its different quirks, attractions, and failures. Most people don't care for "clones" because they don't have to and they can take them for granted.

[Sylvanite]

To answer the OP, I think Diablo 3's success will lead to at least a slight rebirth in the ARPG market. I play DnD, so I know that 4th edition was designed with video game adaptation in mind. You will see games using that rule system come out, and with the success they had with the Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance games, I would say we will get another shot at something like that. Those games were actually mad fun too. I'm really holding out hope for some DnD inspired ARPG games.

TQ was pretty awesome, although it had some killer flaws that hold it back for the long run. If someone bought the rights, a sequel there would do well, especially after Diablo 3 brings all the WoW fans over into the ARPG market :thumbup:

[konfeta]

Until other companies learn to provide a multiplayer service on par with bnet, they will never reach this series's success.

[Gigashadow]

That requires more money than other companies can afford, and I, personally, don't give a damn about multiplayer. Oblivion has no multiplayer at all yet it got out, I'm sure it's not a multiplayer problem, it's a recognition problem. People don't recognize games different from DII...

[Sylvanite]

Until other companies learn to provide a multiplayer service on par with bnet, they will never reach this series's success.


I wouldn't put it past Sony or Microsoft to get it together for console. They have pretty decent multiplayer setups.

[konfeta]

It's both. Battle.net gave D2 a lot longer life than it would have. A good multiplayer can add 3 amazing dimensions for game that a lot of people love:

1. Trade
2. Easy Co-Op play
3. PvP

Brand recognition? Well that, and there were enough poor Diablo clones and Diablo "killers" (L-O-L) that miserably failed and put a lot people off this genre forever (that is, until D3 comes out).

Then again, I hear Sacred sold really well.

[Gigashadow]

Sacred was called a Diablo killer, lol. Made me laugh really hard.

[visom]

I wouldn't really try to count on it. D1 and D2 was a HUGE hit that time but I can never really find much isometric view.

If anything, other games are more likely to copy the runes (changes your skill properties) and such.

[Catchafire]

I personally love the isometric view. Just something about looking down on your characters that I love. It adds a certain sweet feeling.

[MooCQ]

Diablo is another evolving "rip-off," of what came before it, albeit the most popular.

[Gigashadow]

Please tell me what exactly is Diablo a rippoff of, I want to play that game.

[Apocalypse]

I wish that this genre could be as popular as the FPS genre. There's a new Call of Duty/WWII/QUAKE style game every month it seems! Why can't another company be just as successful at making a Diablo styled game like Blizz???


what i want to see is more FPS rpg's. i am a big fan of open world type of games, stalker for instance, so i would love to see more companies dig into this. problem is most FPS players only care about mp

[valheru1337]

Please tell me what exactly is Diablo a rippoff of, I want to play that game.

http://www.thangorodrim.net/

Diablo 1 was pretty much a graphical adaption of Moria/Angband with an identical concept (it was even turn-based initially).

[visom]

There's nothing wrong with one game basing off of another, as long as that game is an improvement.

I've seen a ton of Korean games using names and skills from D2.
One of the most popular Korean game ever uses the following from D2:

-zakarum temple, and made a boss named Zakum that looks like a temple.
-chain lightning
-sir lothar (ok that's from WC)
-hellslayer(?)
-doombringer(?)
and the list goes on

[Apocalypse]

agreed, clones get a bad name. imo i love diablo and games that play like diablo so i say, the more the better

[Starving_Poet]

That requires more money than other companies can afford, and I, personally, don't give a damn about multiplayer. Oblivion has no multiplayer at all yet it got out, I'm sure it's not a multiplayer problem, it's a recognition problem. People don't recognize games different from DII...

It's neither - it's a quality control problem.

I can only name 2 games that came out in the last year that didn't need to be patched before being stable / generally playable.

[konfeta]

LOL?

Diablo 2's release was anything *BUT* a shining example of quality control.

[Gigashadow]

And DII's support right now is a joke.http://www.thangorodrim.net/

Diablo 1 was pretty much a graphical adaption of Moria/Angband with an identical concept (it was even turn-based initially).The fact that DI is real time is what sets it apart from such games. That, and a free-going character control system (you see your char from top, you can control where exactly he goes in a blurred movement area), which ASCII games can't have, again. DI represents the evolutionary threshold from primitive unrealistic games to realistic ones. DI may have cloned a few games, but I'd go and bet on something like Arena rather than an ASCII game...

Also, look at that game's world. Stolen from Tolkien. Diablo's world? It's own.

[MooCQ]

Please tell me what exactly is Diablo a rippoff of, I want to play that game.


Like I said, Diablo is a rip of everything that came before it, as it always has, an evolution, of ideas, slowly "improving" on what came before it. I don't see anything wrong with that either, its a process. Yes, some of the "rips" are more blatant than others.. Most of Diablo's success is because it made online play easy enough for the masses. You look back at MUDS, those were limited to geeks, etc. I'm not going to do the work for you, the easiest bet is to go look in bargain bins, though it's probably harder to find DOS based games thesedays, let alone figure out how to run them on xp.

DI represents the evolutionary threshold from primitive unrealistic games to realistic ones. The fact that DI is real time is what sets it apart from such games. That, and a free-going character control system (you see your char from top, you can control where exactly he goes in a blurred movement area
No way. You've got your timeline off, you're missing a whole generation games... that were not ascii like, and were definitely realistic...

[konfeta]

Tentacled Angels FTW!

[Gigashadow]

MooCQ,you are not getting my point.

By rippoff I mean when a game copies another game in its entirety, using the most intricate things without deformation into something of its own. E.g., stealing a storyline completely, or stealing all gameplay mechanics of one game into the next.

Stealing bits and pieces of various random games is not something I consider a rippoff. That's evolution.

Diablo's success is based primarily on real-time simplified RPG concept... online wasn't anywhere near as popular as it is now, and tons of games had it, like the old NWN.

[MooCQ]

I guess there are different ways of viewing "ripping," whether it's a complete rip, a 50% rip.. 25% here, 25% there... The amount of mix/match, it get's complicated. It's just the fact, whenever I play Diablo, I see such striking similarities to some of my all time favorite pre-diablo games, and I know exactly where they got the ideas!

[konfeta]

You know, people occasionally come up with the same idea independently.

LE GASP!

Still, you can't describe certain things as "ripping off". That phrase has negative, almost criminal connotations to it. Adapting and/or changing ideas you saw elsewhere is basically the basis for 99% (made up but basically close to reality statistic) of the creative processes out there.

[visom]

Got to agree with konfeta, even if you have a group of game developers and isolate them on a remote island with no contact to the outside world, it is still very likely that any ideas they come up with will probably overlap with another.