Diablo 2: Remastered... 2020 Release Scheduled... What are Your Thoughts?

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Exile009 wrote:

You wanna know what really hurts gaming, far far more than 'cancel culture'? Hype culture. The power of marketing. Irrational consumption. Slavish brand loyalty. It takes away money from development in favor of marketing and props up so many bad products. Cancel culture doesn't typically destroy good games, unless they're really small.

Pretty much. Unless they're small. Like, oh, any Indy studio's first game ever.

The truth is that the entities that Jim Sterling would refer to as the AAA gaming industry don't have to choose between hype culture and cancel culture, as if partaking in one meaningfully excludes one from the other. No, they dual-wield that shit: hype culture in the right hand, cancel culture in the left.

But go on, keep arguing about which hand has the higher DPS.

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ScrotieMcB wrote:

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Exile009 wrote:

You wanna know what really hurts gaming, far far more than 'cancel culture'? Hype culture. The power of marketing. Irrational consumption. Slavish brand loyalty. It takes away money from development in favor of marketing and props up so many bad products. Cancel culture doesn't typically destroy good games, unless they're really small.

Pretty much. Unless they're small. Like, oh, any Indy studio's first game ever.

The truth is that the entities that Jim Sterling would refer to as the AAA gaming industry don't have to choose between hype culture and cancel culture, as if partaking in one meaningfully excludes one from the other. No, they dual-wield that shit: hype culture in the right hand, cancel culture in the left.

But go on, keep arguing about which hand has the higher DPS.

And on the flipside, consumers don't have to choose one or the other either. They could, you know, go with neither. After all, I wasn't defending cancel culture there. I'd pointed out that what he was referring to as 'cancel culture' in my post was nothing of the sort (as it pertained only to the value of the product rather than some extraneous issue), and then I pointed out how hype culture was itself also corrosive. As a consumer, you could, you know, just not indulge in either. Judge games only for their value as entertainment (i.e. no cancel culture) and don't allow yourself to be swept up by all the marketing, branding and Day 1/pre-release bs in favor of buying things only after critically evaluating them (i.e. no hype culture). I don't need to argue about which has the higher DPS, as I dislike both.

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Exile009 wrote:

Judge games only for their value as entertainment (i.e. no cancel culture) and don't allow yourself to be swept up by all the marketing, branding and Day 1/pre-release bs in favor of buying things only after critically evaluating them (i.e. no hype culture). I don't need to argue about which has the higher DPS, as I dislike both.

Well I think we mostly agree then.

Even with Final Fantasy 7 Remake — a game I was legit hyped about — I didn't pre-order. In hindsight I feel like maybe it was the one time I really should have (Carbuncle materia! Goddamnit) but I dutifully waited for reviews and independent video footage, because as a rule hype culture disgusts me. Or at least it has ever since Diablo III, when I got my first strong hit of it.

Molasses edit: Thing is though, indie games aren't much different. Kickstarter and its many clones make hype culture standard for any small studio. SquareEnix's pre-order bonus isn't significantly different from Larian's stretch goal. If hype culture is a weapon, then a game developer not utilizing hype culture is like taking a knife to a gunfight. It's principled to the point of self-sacrifice.

In contrast, cancel culture is not quite as ubiquitous. I think it's unfortunately being on track to become that way, because it can be a form of reverse-psychology hype culture. If mainstream media covers a movie, or a book, or an e-celeb in a particularly negative way, there's a chance that "alternative" media is going to cover it in a positive light; there's also a chance those alternative media outlets will refuse to cover them, deigning them unworthy of attention. Phoenix's Joker movie notably received a very beneficial faux cancel culture treatment, starting with "movie for incels" coverage, baiting pre-release buzz from the likes of Paul Joseph Watson, and ending in Academy Awards, and that incident serves as proof the marketing hype can be disguised quite handily as woke outrage.

It's when the big names in the supposedly alternative media, the FOX Newses and the Breitbarts and the Drudge Reports, refuse to circle the wagons and instead remain silent, that the mainstream hit pieces have real bite to them. And far too many rely on those big names in alt media to tell them what the mainstream is actually saying — they haven't the curiosity to check for themselves. And those audiences are trained by repitition to assume any entertainment is degeneracy unless specifically green-lit by such media outlets, products of "Hollyweird" not suitable for consideration. As alt media YouTuber Mark Dice would say, he watches the MSM so you don't have to. How convenient.

Oh, and it's not like the right wing didn't basically invent American cancel culture. Anyone remember what was said about Marilyn Manson after Columbine?

So I'm probably just as skeptical about the spectre of "cancel culture" as you are, and as our Sith friend doesn't seem to be. I do think mainstream media uses it to bury independent voices, but that includes a fair number of mainstream outlets that pose as alternative media; they're not outside the mainstream, they're simply inverted in partisanship. "Offer poison as food, and poison as antidote." Where by poison I mean corporatist propaganda meant to drive you towards mindless consumerism.

I got D3 at release. I played for less than an hour and couldn't stand the cartoon characters and quit. I found PoE and played PoE instead. Was I sorry that I bought D3? Not really. Gaming is a relatively cheap hobby even if I occasionally "waste" some money on games that don't turn out like I hoped.

Epilogue Years later, after the horrible labyrinth was released and PoE was eventually tuned around ascendancy points, I picked up D3 again. After a few hours playing D3, I got used to the cartoon atmosphere and had some fun playing D3. I got bored with it after a few months and switched to Grim Dawn, which I think is much better than D3.

My thoughts on Diablo 2 Remastered?

Honestly, couldn´t care less about it, whatsoever. I have already played Diablo 2. And that´s it.

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Turtledove wrote:

I got D3 at release. I played for less than an hour and couldn't stand the cartoon characters and quit. I found PoE and played PoE instead. Was I sorry that I bought D3? Not really. Gaming is a relatively cheap hobby even if I occasionally "waste" some money on games that don't turn out like I hoped.

Epilogue Years later, after the horrible labyrinth was released and PoE was eventually tuned around ascendancy points, I picked up D3 again. After a few hours playing D3, I got used to the cartoon atmosphere and had some fun playing D3. I got bored with it after a few months and switched to Grim Dawn, which I think is much better than D3.

Diablo 3 is a victim of the community expressing complete opposite desire´s.

People wanted progression after maximum level, then we got paragon level´s which are now disliked by the community.
People wanted relavant legendary´s, now we have overpowered set-item´s.
People wanted Element based build´s, now we only have pure element build´s. Yada Yada Yada.

Same Case for Path of Exile.
People wanted Classes, now we have stupid Ascendancy Classes.
People want alternativ gameplay, now we have all this off gameplay crap.
People want new content every ass long, then it turn´s out mediocre.
Yada Yada Yada.

People can just fu.. themself.
Diablo 2 charm´s are a bullshit feature.
Diablo 2 rune´s are bullshit.
Diablo 2 skilltree is bullshit.

I can´t just express how lidl i care about remaster´s.