The best review is from yourself, the so called professional reviews are just used as marketing aswell. Professional reviews are not that neutral either, and they dont include the rating of business model. I think it is good that consumer punish in public ratings if they are not satisfied, either with the game content or the distribution modell/business concept. 

how is diablo 3 not like diablo 2, excluding graphics the gameplay is identitical to diablo 2. it's still an item hunting game, so how is it not the same?

Originally posted by jusomdude

I don't get why people are saying this isn't a Diablo game... it plays like a diablo game, it feels like one, it looks like one.

A duck is a duck, as they say.

 

Not having the same developers has very little to do with it. The current developers have played the diablo games, and they know them, they just decided to change a few things... and for the better I might add.

dude no matter what people are gonna bash it..here there and every other site..blizz worked on it so its 2nd nature and cannon fodder for blizz haters to bash any title they release..i hate wow too for my own reasons..but im not gonna exile a title just cuz its made by blizz..imo what alot of people hate to hear is that no matter how you look at it or twist it ...blizz is the most successful mmorpg maker on the planet...so everyone has grown to hate it and grown to hate anything releated to it

Originally posted by dubyahite
OMG the servers are down again 0/10 review on metacritic time for me.

Not sure why people keep using this as a defence. It's completely warranted since you can't play your single-player game because of it. People have every right to rage.

I was on here for reviews yesterday, since I was considering picking it up. However, this fact alone makes me stay away. I will not support always-online DRM. Especially with servers this bad. This is one of the biggest complaints. I think a lot of the people that bought this game were not like me, and did research, but saw the name and grabbed it immediately. This game sold because of good marketing/IP but will fail because of the model.

Originally posted by Fadedbomb

Just wanted to point this out after someone in another thread stated Metacritic wasn't a reliable source:

 

http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/diablo  [8.3]

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http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/diablo-ii  [8.5]

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http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/diablo-iii  [3.6]

 

Pretty much my thoughts entirely.

 

Oh, and just for a bit of reference for those of you looking for stronger data =):

 

http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/dragon-age-ii  [4.2]

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http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/dead-island  [6.8]

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http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/mass-effect-3  [3.9]

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http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/mass-effect-2  [8.5]

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http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/mass-effect  [8.4]

 

 

I'm having a hard time finding one "User Rating" I don't disagree with other than Dead Island that I believe should have been a 5.8 instead of a 6.8, but that's because I'm a BIT more critical about zombie based games than others in its genre ;)!

 

 

Don't worry about any of this If YOU enjoy the game at the end of the day. However, just realize that after everything is said and done Diablo 3 was not the game it should have been. For the fans :|....

There's a psychological thing called confirmation bias, one of the big errors and blind spots in the human psyche. This is where people consciously and unconsciously will always look for confirmation of their beliefs, tastes, ways of life etc in external sources.

So when they find external opinion that mirror their own, they start to automatically think 'oh, I agree with it, so that source must be right! Or reliable and trustworthy' and so on.

I think that's what's really playing a role here.

As for metacritic, I kinda question the scores there, because it's way too easy to get manipulated around. But, that's just my scepsis talking. From an objective point of view though, I question that the ratings are representative for the actual quality nor the success or attraction to the player population.

Examples I can think of: the 2 last MW games got very low user ratings. Yet if it sucked that hugely, the vast group of players that played the second to last one would have almost completely gone when the last MW game appeared. Yet the last MW game made 1 billion dollar revenues within 3 weeks. Eh? Even when people apparently 'en masse' thought MW2 sucked donkey balls? Apparently a huge contingent wasn't persuaded or represented by Metacritic's user ratings.

Another example I find ME2 and ME3. Sorry, but to really believe that the difference between those 2 games is the difference from 3.9 to 8.5... if people believe that I think I can also sell them that Hitler and Charles Manson were actually saints and that aliens have already conquered the planet in secret.

I'm starting to think the average age on these forums is actually quite low, or people haven't been schooled or trained in objective and critical analysis (which btw isn't the same as complaining or ranting about everything)

Maybe people came into this game with the wrong expectation.  I played D2 when it came out and thought it was a great game.  However, I tried a few other hack n slash diablo style games within the last year and found them to be mind numbingly boring.  Could it be that it's been so long that people's tastes have changed for this type of shallow immersionless (new word!) type of game.  For me I discovered MMO's just after playing D2 at release and never looked back. Hack n slash games just don't cut it anymore. 

I think that it's likely less about how bad D3 is and more that many people have had their tastes change in 12 years and didn't realize it until they played D3.

Originally posted by Mardukk

Maybe people came into this game with the wrong expectation.  I played D2 when it came out and thought it was a great game.  However, I tried a few other hack n slash diablo style games within the last year and found them to be mind numbingly boring.  Could it be that it's been so long that people's tastes have changed for this type of shallow immersionless (new word!) type of game.  For me I discovered MMO's just after playing D2 at release and never looked back. Hack n slash games just don't cut it anymore. 

 

I think that it's likely less about how bad D3 is and more that many people have had their tastes change in 12 years and didn't realize it until they played D3.

^this

alot has changed in 12 years.

Originally posted by zymurgeist

Originally posted by Tardcore

Originally posted by zymurgeist

Originally posted by Tardcore

Originally posted by jusomdude

Originally posted by DarkPony

Originally posted by jusomdude

No, just no, the rating is due to nerd ragers who couldn't log in at midnight at launch.

That's probably a part of it but not the only reason I expect: there's also a lot of disgruntled D2 vets commenting on how this is not the game that they were looking forward to for over a decade.

Ok, so there are some who are nerd raging that diablo 3 ins't diablo 2.

Pretty much. When a company decides to corpse rape a long time established IP instead of moving into new territory they have to expect this kind of behavior. In other words if they don't want vetran fans bitching about how this game doesn't stack up against its predecessors, instead of judging it by its own merrits, they shouldn't have named it Diablo 3.

To me releasing a third installment of a game series twelve years on, after the majority of the people that made the earlier games great have f*cked off elsewhere, isn't a sequel. Its just a vain attempt to retain market place relevence.

In my not so humble opinion, D3 as its own game is just fine for a clicky walky dungeon crawler. (Not fine enough for me to shell out my own dosh to the frankenstein's monster that is modern day Blizzard mind you. But I will still play it a bit on one of my house mates accounts.) As a Diablo sequel however I find it to be the redheaded step-child of the Diablo legacy. Just one of those siblings doomed to hear "Why can't you be more like your older brother Ralph" for eternity.

 Time and again it's happened that if you don't change things you get excoriated for not bringing anythng new or crucified for not staying true to a game's roots if you changing the littlest thing. Often at the same time for the same sequel. Is it any wonder developers don't listen to us?

And I don't disagree with your point, damned if you do, damned if you don't. However, maybe these juggernaught companies could try creating N E W games for a change. Instead of just dragging out, dusting off, and tarting up their old doddering whores, time and time again. Maybe then all the horse sh*t we just mentioned would go away. Or at least bring in some fresh horse sh*t for us to wade through in shinny new big boots.

 Unfortunately our buying patterns don't reflect this. Sequels have always been the safer more profitable route. Hence we get Witcher 2, a very good and sucessful sequel, instead of something completely different from CD Projekt RED. An independent and innovative studio. Entirely new projects are almost always financially riskier.

And is this because sequels really are the safer bet or is it just that buyers aren't given much of a choice when it comes to N E W games. And I'm talking from long established studios, not new fly-by-night ones with shoestring budgets and uncertain futures.

I'm sure the statistics on people who still shave with straight razors are pretty high in the injury per user percentage when compared to safety razors, but only because there are so fewer of them.

Or we could use the film industry for an example. Are people queueing up in droves to see these lukewarm rehashed and hollow films this crap factory produces because they love them? Or is it they just want to watch something but only have these poor quality films to choose from?

Diablo 3 is an enjoyable, too bad you people are going to miss out on it, because you listen to other people instead of playing it.

It's what I did :(

However, I since got a guest key from a buddy, and now am buying it.....I've played both Diablo, and Diablo 2, and enjoyed both....I listened to too much bad press, and almost missed out on a rather good game....I think it's just sad a few people just go on rants, and tirades over rather trivial things such as DRM, not  having Dark and Gritty graphics (actually it's plenty dark for me, I think the old Diablo games are like that due to engine limitations).

Anyways, I'm going to enjoy my Diablo 3, you guys enjoy life being angry over nothing.....

Originally posted by Mardukk

Maybe people came into this game with the wrong expectation.  I played D2 when it came out and thought it was a great game.  However, I tried a few other hack n slash diablo style games within the last year and found them to be mind numbingly boring.  Could it be that it's been so long that people's tastes have changed for this type of shallow immersionless (new word!) type of game.  For me I discovered MMO's just after playing D2 at release and never looked back. Hack n slash games just don't cut it anymore. 

 

I think that it's likely less about how bad D3 is and more that many people have had their tastes change in 12 years and didn't realize it until they played D3.

Iam sure a part of the players would find Diablo II gameplay boring these days, which was a success in its days. And you are right, time did change, players did change, marketing & business concepts did change.

Originally posted by Rhianni32

The only thing I realize is that at the end of the day some people need to have their personal choices confirmed by others. For those of us that have moved on from our high school years we realize we can enjoy what we want without worry about if its cool  or not.

Amen. My personal choice in videogames is not going to be the same as many other people. For instance, I seem to be one of the few people who didn't like Torchlight at all, and I could really care less about Torchlight 2. It doesn't make the game bad, it's just a matter of personal opinion.

Critic reviews can be somewhat helpful at times, but folks who base their entire decision making process on the opinions of strangers really need to learn to value their own minds more.

I can honestly say that I am enjoying the hell out of D3. At the same time, I wasn't under some illusion that the game would ever be anything more than Hack n Slash and not a repackaged D2.

If some people are upset that you have to be online to play a single player game, so be it. It's worth it to me to know that the shit that happened in D2 with duping is over.

As for the game itself, I have 12 or so friends RL friends on my battle.net friend list who all came from a childhood of D2 and they have nothing but good things to say about Diablo 3. My only gripe is that it's pretty easy on Normal and I wish I could have started at a slightly harder difficulty, but in the end it gave me a chance to familiarize a few of my friends who have never even played video games but wanted to try this.

Not everyone is going to be satisfied with the game, especially people who skip all of the story to get to the end, but then again those people are never satisfied with anything. I personally think the story is pretty amazing, and the cutscenes are rewards unlike anything I've seen in a video game to date.

Originally posted by TheFirst109

If some people are upset that you have to be online to play a single player game, so be it. It's worth it to me to know that the shit that happened in D2 with duping is over.

DRM will do what DRM always does. Piss off the legitimate customers by giving them an inferior product. Pirates always find a way around these things - what one man makes another can dismantle.

Remember how it works with DvD's. The pirates are already halfway through the film while the rest of us are still waiting for the unskippable threats and trailers for next years trash to be over and done with.

Originally posted by korat102

Originally posted by TheFirst109

If some people are upset that you have to be online to play a single player game, so be it. It's worth it to me to know that the shit that happened in D2 with duping is over.

DRM will do what DRM always does. Piss off the legitimate customers by giving them an inferior product. Pirates always find a way around these things - what one man makes another can dismantle.

Remember how it works with DvD's. The pirates are already halfway through the film while the rest of us are still waiting for the unskippable threats and trailers for next years trash to be over and done with.

What the hell are you talking about? I'm not talking about DRM, I'm talking about duping in game items lol. PSO and D2 were plagued by it, at least now that the game requires you to be on battlenet it won't happen.

Never used Metacritic, why do people rely on others for reviews, review the game for yourself i say :P

Wow ppl are going to incredible lengths to make a 3.6 rating a good thing....or make all kinds of silly excuses or twists of "logic". I dont get it. If you enjoy the game, why care so much? SWtor started out on 3.1 I think and its now 5.7 something, which does feel relatively fair. I'm sure D3 will pan out at around 6 (coz like someone already said, ppl happy with the game are too busy enjoying it atm), which is also fair imo considering so many ppl have the same issues with it (already listed in this thread, if you dont read threads why even bother?) and are quite disappointed. To some its a 9 or 10, which is perfectly fine! To others its a 2 or 3. Get over it already.

Originally posted by ormstunga

Wow ppl are going to incredible lengths to make a 3.6 rating a good thing....or make all kinds of silly excuses or twists of "logic".

You call what are actually facts, excuses, and then put logic in quotes.  The irony is thick.

I'd say it's at least an 8/10. Depending on its lasting appeal it could be a 9. The 87 metacritic rating is pretty much around where it should be.

Maybe a 3.6 is a bit too low of a score, but surely Diablo 3 doesn't deserve more than 6.

It is a massive disappointment IMO

I owned Diablo 1 and played Diablo 2 for ages and loved them.

But Diablo 3 just doesn't cut it in 2012.............sorry Blizzard

I would not use Metacritic, They have alot of games under rated which should not be.

Most of the games they have on low review I have tried and there not as bad as they make it sound and or near what review score they gave it. ( Again just my opinion)