Blizzard’s latest fantasy violence simulator, Diablo 3, has problems. The biggest facing Blizzard is that the game is built to support a real money auction house and was secured against the interests of the players just for this reason. Too bad there’s no reason for players to stay in the game long enough to make use of that auction house. The game wears thin, quickly, and many players are dropping out after finishing the game once. Compare that to Diablo 2, which is still on store shelves and has thousands of players online any given day. To save Diablo 3, Blizzard must install an endgame, a reason to keep playing. Here are a few suggestions. IGN has the story.
People still play Diablo 2 to this very day because the game is about more than just bashing monsters. After a while, the monsters become a medium, not the message. They’re a resource, mined for gear and loot. The gear and loot is the real game because it can be used to shape and change a character. Building and rebuilding your characters is the real game of Diablo 2. Sadly, Diablo 3’s own simplified character system has nothing to compare.
If Blizzard wants Diablo 3 to survive, they must make character creation and building into a game of its own. Oh, and also put cute and silly outfits into loot drops. Works for Team Fortress, it’ll work for Diablo.
Funny hats?