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Fans to Blizzard: Diablo III looks lame

Chad Sapieha, July 3, 2008 at 8:41 AM EST

Blizzard's fans are expressing their disappointment with the art direction of the upcoming game Diablo III, the production of which was announced last weekend via a couple of videos and a small collection of screenshots.

According to the Petition for Renewed Artistic Direction for Diablo III, “there's a significant number of players that don't agree with the current art style of the game,” which, the petition  goes on to claim, is “cartoonish” and “obviously influenced by the World of Warcraft universe.” Those who sign are declaring that they would like to see the game's look and feel retooled before it is released to bring it in line with the Diablo aesthetic established in previous games. To that end, they have come up with a list of eight demands for visual revamps, most of which seem to centre around making the game's environments "less colourful." 

In just a few days an astounding 24,000 people have visited and signed this digital document, nearly as many as have signed the now famous ruinediphone petition, which had a couple of days head start.

However, more shocking to me than the number of people who have added their voices to this cause is the fact that these fans actually feel they have grounds to lobby the artistic direction of a piece of privately funded entertainment still under development. Aside from the fact that game designers have free license to explore whatever creative paths strike their fancy, Diablo III is still months—perhaps even years—from completion. I can't help but think of these complainers as being akin to the James Bond fans who criticized the casting of Daniel Craig in Casino Royale while the movie was in production based solely on his hair colour (and who later had to eat their words when the film received nearly universal critical acclaim).

Greg Vederman, a one-time editor of PC Gamer Magazine and now business development manager with HP's gaming unit, seems to be equally flabbergasted by the audaciousness of these fans. In fact, he has created his own petition in response. Raises and Praises for the Diablo III Development Team is an open letter of support to the game's designers in light of fans' impudence.

“It must really suck for you,” reads the petition, “having toiled in secret for years on a franchise you no doubt adore just as much as us, to hear immediately following the announcement of the new game, not ‘Thanks guys, you rock!', but rather the sound of thousands of mice clicking the submit button on an online petition demanding you de-turd the game.”

Well said, Mr. Vederman. You have my signature. That makes 20. Now we just need 20 or 30 thousand more...

  1. William Dziambor from Bromont, Canada writes: Just so you know, the petition is at 24 minus 1, since Chad signed it 2 times =P.
  2. Chad Sapieha from Toronto, Canada writes: I knew I was going to get called on that :p. The browser refresh button was the culprit. Though it is interesting to know how easy it is to add an exra signature or two to these petitions...
  3. Steven Patterson from Canada writes: Every game gets a herd of bleating backseat drivers these days, thanks to the pervasiveness and perceived anonymity of the Internet... and the enabling power of the Dunning-Kreuger effect. Blizzard should just acknowledge this with, "sorry you don't like it", and keep on keepin' on.

    The sad fact is that most of the bleaters will still buy the game no matter what Blizzard does (or doesn't) with the petition. What they won't buy, however, is a game whose cost has been jacked up another $10-20 retail by having to scrap all those existing art assets, create new ones to replace them, and hold the game while that's happening.

    -- Steve
  4. William Dziambor from Bromont, Canada writes: "I can't help but think of these complainers as being akin to the James Bond fans who criticized the casting of Daniel Craig in Casino Royale while the movie was in production based solely on his hair colour (and who later had to eat their words when the film received nearly universal critical acclaim). "

    In my own opinion I still don't think that Daniel Craig fits the role of James Bond, even tough the film received great reviews. Since I was young the character of James Bond was always represented as a british-styled, dark brown hair, not too muscled, but enough that he doesn't look like a wimp. As such, Daniel Craig looked more to me like a perfect picture of the "Aryan race", blond hair, blue eyes and a tough physique. But all of this is my own personal opinion on the image, but I agree that he played the part really well.
  5. Bill Needle from Canada writes: Diablo I and II: loved em. This one looks good too. What's the crying about?
  6. Kenji Uchimura from Minneapolis, United States writes: @ Chad: You're acting as if the fans that don't like the art direction completely despise the entire game, which is far from reality, (barring extreme comments like omg I'm not buying this ----!) Online communities are the future of the gaming industry and developers who interact with those communities get praise. Only a completely selfish company would not want any feedback from possible consumers, be it good or bad criticism. I understand there are obvious things like the camera angles are prettymuch set in stone for games (D3 and Fallout 3) that can make people start forum wars, but for real feedback, why not give your opinions while the developers are still working on the core of the game?
  7. Howard Young from Canada writes: Personally, I like the way the game looks. Before people go ape !@#$ on the people complaining. Gaming companies have a history of obtaining input from the gaming community. Blizzard is not different, in fact, I think Blizzard has been the type of company that has had very close ties with its customers. When you are in the business of soliciting feedback, ocassionally, there will be negative feedback.

    The Blizzard gaming community if very large and close knit, so it's not surprising that they've responded in such a organized and vocal way.
  8. Howard Young from Canada writes: I understand the viewpoint of the artist who is creating a piece of creative work, however, if commercial success is one of your top priorities, telling your fans/customers/followers to keep quiet is silly and dangerous.
  9. Ravi Singh from Oakville, Canada writes: 24 000 signatures...18 Million copies sold, can some one help me figure out what percentage that works out to?? because it looks like less then 1 percent that is complaining...
  10. scamp the from Canada writes:
    I find it hard to agree with people who are complaining about people complaining about diablo 3.

    Blizzard as a private company is going to do what it wants to do. Yet, these fans have seen some previews and have voiced their concerns. What is the issue here? I say wonderful for the fans and the company. It's not like they're suing the company or seeking legislation :P

    I mean what if Ford decide to redo the mustang as a minivan :P It does ruin it.

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