Diablo II: Lord of Destruction

Blazemonger writes "There's a story from IGN on Yahoo! talking about Blizzard recruiting for the upcoming expansion beta test. " I just filled out my form - have you? And I'd just like to reiterate my willingness to beta-test. Blizzard. I'm willing. So's CowboyNeal.

Comments

Timezones - Read the FAQ

[Kris Warkentin]

The main purpose of the public beta is to stress test their servers. Therefore they want people in more or less the same timezone so that they will mostly come on during the same general window.

*sing* I'm a karma whore and I'm okay....
I work all night and I post all day

Would have been great in 1998

[Markvs]

The problem remains, though, that D2 is simply behind the times. I played D2 and was, well, bored. The game's graphics and interface is dated, and even the storyline is kind of dull.

There's only so much you can do with a "click mouse until you kill it" game. Yes, it is better in multiplayer mode, and yes there are lots of improvements over D1, but it took so long to come out that it just can't compare to other games, such as Unreal. Heck, even Acheron's Call is close, and it has a much bigger (and more interesting) scope and multiplayer functionality.

Just my $0.02.

Re:Would have been great in 1998

[FortKnox]

I'm just going to post to the parent to support it.
I agree with the idea behind what you are saying. But graphics aren't what makes this game dull. Heck, I still play systemshock2 religiously (if you haven't played it yet, go grab youself a copy! Its only like $9.99, and it is more than worth it!). The reason the game is dull is because its just go around and kill stuff. Yeah... collect armor and gain levels... but is this really that interesting? Where's the strategy? There is very little.
Lets look at counterstrike. It was extremely popular, because it required more than just 13373 FR4GG1NG SK1LLZ. It required thought and strategy. Then, just before version 1.0, they decided to make it more like a quake game and make it easier to frag and required less thought. What happened? It died... quickly.
Lets look at Tribes (and the new Tribes2). Sold out instantly. Why? Because this game *requires* teamwork and strategy. Time and time again, I could round up a band of 6 guys that weren't good at fragging, but knew how to work together, and annilate a team of 8 deulers (excellent one-on-one'ers) that wouldn't work together.
D2, also, makes the person that takes too much time (plays all day for about 6 months), and makes him a god that can't be beat. This is a cheap way to keep players. It makes you want to play more and more so that you are unbeatable. Then when a newbie comes along they are crushed.
I think games should reward the person with the best strategy. That way you learn strategies the more you play, and they better you will be.
Would you rather play a game where you have to spend months of 24-7 playing to be the best, or days of thinking to be better, and always have a challenge? If you answered the former, then you'll be in for a great wakeup when you have to work all day.

Rant

[chabotc]

I'm sorry but i have to include this rant in the discussion.

WHY do game publishers hate europe? Every time a beta cycle is started, you have to be located in the US of A (and sometimes canada) to be able to apply. Do these people think we can download? We don't buy games? (asia + europe buys more games combined then the US).

It so pisses me off to see all these US centric game companies, as if we dont make up a large percentage of their profits.

I gues it's not bad enough we get the games weeks behind the US, we can't apply for beta programs either. Is this some f**king 3rd word country or something?!

Sorry had to do that .. man US based companies can piss me off :)

-- Chris Chabot
"I dont suffer from insanity, i enjoy every minute of it!"

Wrong

[GoofyBoy]

>The problem remains, though, that D2 is simply behind the times.

Diablo2 sold over a million copies. There are 50K players over 3 contenets playing. Behind the times? A good game doesn't have to be bleeding edge.

>but it took so long to come out that it just can't compare to other games, such as Unreal.

Unreal and Diablo2 are two totally different genres of games and you can't compare.

>Heck, even Acheron's Call is close, and it has a much bigger (and more interesting) scope and multiplayer functionality.

But you have to pay $10/month for Asheron's Call. Thats totally different.

Diablo Beta Testing

[Necroman]

Most people (me, myself, and I) are fans of Blizzard, and enjoy their games. And I think it is great that Blizzard does beta testings for their games, even if it is for them to stress test their servers, it opens it up to the public before it actually goes gold.

Here is the problem I have with it. I beta tests Diablo 2 before its release. It spoils your enjoyment of the game. It's great and being able to play a game before anyone else, but when you play a game that is well (I think) for online play, and you are playing with suck a limited crowd in a beta, you will get burned out. As I did, when playing D2 beta, I played it so much, that when it came out, and I got a the final release of the game, I was already burned out. There was no enjoyment really left.

Well, so I regestered for beta testing again, shoot me. I just love being able to say, "Ya, I am a beta tester, eat it!".

Its not what it is, its something else.

Re:Whoo hoo!

[UltraBot2K1]

Yeah, what kind of a two-bit company would only release a software title for one OS? I don't know who the hell Blizzard thinks they are, but it's high time they stop alienating the dozens of customers who use Linux. Imagine all the money they're losing by only releasing a product that works with 95% of the world's computers. Those silly software designers!