Diablo 3 Expansion Announced: Reaper of Souls 137
Today at Gamescom in Germany, Blizzard announced the first expansion to Diablo III, titled Reaper of Souls. The story will follow a fallen archangel called Mathael who has returned as the Angel of Death. The level cap will increase to 70, and the expansion will bring a new playable class to the game called the Crusader, whom they described as a "natural walking tank." Reaper of Souls will also bring vast improvements to the loot system; in addition to having a better chance to find good, useful gear for the character you're playing, the items themselves are getting an overhaul to make for more interesting gameplay. Instead of being simply loaded down with combat stats, legendary items will include unique ways to modify how your character functions. They're also implementing something the community has been asking for since shortly after the game came out: randomized dungeons. Further, the Paragon leveling system, put in place after launch as a way to provide character progression after reaching the level cap, will be made account-wide, rather than on a per-character basis. A new profession NPC has been added as well: the Mystic, which lets players reroll one of the stats on a powerful item. As you might expect, Blizzard did not mention a release date. The Reaper of Souls opening cinematic is available on YouTube, as is a brief gameplay video.
Don't expect high sales (Score:4, Insightful)
Gamer don't normally allow themselves to be disappointed twice.
Expect high sales (Score:5, Insightful)
Gamers are stupid. Blizzard has been on a downturn for a while but people will still line up in droves for this. If you need any further proof, look at Call of Duty. Exact same engine, almost indentical gameplay, loaded to the brim with shitty DLC that's made irrelevant by next year's installment and it STILL sells 10 - 15 million units.
Look how long it's taken for people to abandon EA. It's been years since they were considered the worst company ever and they are just now starting to feel that wrath. If Blizzard and their brands fall, it will happen at a slow and steady pace.
Offline Single Player? (Score:5, Insightful)
Any word on offline single player? No offline single player, no sale.
No need for an expansion, Blizzard (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Don't expect high sales (Score:4, Insightful)
Wow, you're a sour person aren't you? Is it really something for you to see others fail? Is that what it takes to make you feel good? Wow. Just wow.
He expected Heart of the Swarm to be a good game and well received by his friends, making him regret his decision not to buy it. He's happy that his friends' opinions seem to confirm that he made the right decision in not buying the game. I don't see anything "sour" in that.
Re:Don't expect high sales (Score:2, Insightful)
Wrong. Gamers don't normally hold grudges.
If the game's good, the message will spread "omg they fixed it" and people will flock (back) to it.
If it's not, ah well. Some will still play it, just like how some people still play farmville or candy crush saga (and pay for it too)
Holding grudges (to a dev, to a company, to a publisher, to a platform, etc) is a thing for nerds (so I don't expect this comment to be well received here)
Wonk wonk wonk... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Offline Single Player? (Score:4, Insightful)
Exactly how often are you in front of your gaming PC without internet access? Serious question.
That's not the point at all. I refuse to buy a game that can be taken away from me at any point with no recourse. I still play 30 year old games on my Tandy, and I hope to be around to play games from today 30 years from now.
I object to disposible culture in the strongest possible terms. If this practice becomes acceptable, future generations will be unable to benefit from their cultural heritage. What if the works of Shakespeare and Bach were dependent on a third party service that disappeared 10 years after release?