Relik wrote: ↑

5 years ago

I barely have time to play Classic and soon I'll have to fit Reforged and Diablo 4 into the schedule.

I doubt Diablo 4 will be a "problem" anytime soon :D

Considering they were close to announcing stuff at last years blizzcon development may be further than many expect. But even then a release within the next 12 months seems incredibly unlikely, even though they may not rule out a 2020 release yet. My personal prediction would be around summer 2021.

Sikeo wrote: ↑

5 years ago

g0bledyg00k wrote: ↑

5 years ago

I kinda don't wanna buy their virtual ticket, but I also don't wanna miss the inevitable shitshow

All the good bits will be all over the internet anyway, save your money.

I never understood the virtual ticket personally, you are paying $$$ to get information that will be readily available literally hours later elsewhere for free. If you aren't going to be there to experience it, save your money.

This is because Blizzard is good at knowing what generates cash for them; ingame items.
Mounts, pets, titles, achievement points, etc.
I won't be surprised if the majority of the people who buy a virtual ticket, just want to get the ingame items.
Because, as you said, info will be available within minutes...

If they announce a remaster of D2 I’m going to make another forum like this for it

Telvaine wrote: ↑

5 years ago

Mfw blizz is actively courting controversy in order to lower their market value so that Activision drops the label in order to maintain profitability, and the formerly enslaved now freed blizzard entertainment can now get back to producing quality games instead of churning out profit generating garbage...

Wouldn't it be grand if life were a fairy tale?

i never understood whats the appeal of blizzcon - yeah i like their games and looked forward to the news, but spend money to take part, or even buy a virtual ticket (lol) give them money so they can tell me what they gonna sell me next? that just does not feel right. i lack fanboyism it seems and i am not willing to BUY tickets for a ride on the "hypetrain" which in all likelyhood derails even before it takes off - based on blizzards past actions and "strategies"

Justbe wrote: ↑

5 years ago

Telvaine wrote: ↑

5 years ago

Mfw blizz is actively courting controversy in order to lower their market value so that Activision drops the label in order to maintain profitability, and the formerly enslaved now freed blizzard entertainment can now get back to producing quality games instead of churning out profit generating garbage...

Wouldn't it be grand if life were a fairy tale?

Yes, it would. Don't ruin my fantasy.

beaty wrote: ↑

5 years ago

i never understood whats the appeal of blizzcon - yeah i like their games and looked forward to the news, but spend money to take part, or even buy a virtual ticket (lol) give them money so they can tell me what they gonna sell me next? that just does not feel right. i lack fanboyism it seems and i am not willing to BUY tickets for a ride on the "hypetrain" which in all likelyhood derails even before it takes off - based on blizzards past actions and "strategies"

I agree with you on everything you said.

I also remember blizz stating that blizzcon is all about the fans, a celebration of the fans, and that running blizzcon actually results in a net loss of money for them.

Yea... I feel like that's bullshit blizzard.

Telvaine wrote: ↑

5 years ago

lower their market value so that Activision drops the label in order to maintain profitability

Pleeeeeease!

teebling wrote: ↑

5 years ago

If they announce a remaster of D2 I’m going to make another forum like this for it

Let's meet up and make babies sometime Teebs.

Justbe wrote: ↑

5 years ago

I also remember blizz stating that blizzcon is all about the fans, a celebration of the fans, and that running blizzcon actually results in a net loss of money for them.

Yea... I feel like that's bullshit blizzard.

I have no idea what Blizzard is charging for tickets, how many tickets are being sold, but I do have experience running and setting up booths in trade shows. I do product marketing in the computer hardware field, and have been to countless dozens of trade shows in large convention centers over the past 12 or so years. They cost so much money to run it's unbelievable.

One year my booth at a supercomputing show I had a 20'x20' booth right next to the warehouse, and the labor cost to move about 700lbs worth of display material (server hardware, in boxes, on two pallets) was something like $7,000. And I saw where my pallets were housed in the warehouse. It was about 50' away from my booth. We were charged ~$x,000 (it's been a few years so I don't remember the exact figure but it was a mid 4-digit bill...) to move the damn thing 50' with a pallet jack. Not only is the labor cost unbelievably expensive, so is the cost of booth construction and equipment. To rent a single bar stool for 3 days cost around $250 to $400. A small leather couch was a ~~$1,500 rental. It would have been cheaper to buy new furniture and throw them in a dumpster afterwards then it would have cost to rent the furniture for the booth. But given transportation costs, contracted labor rates, us being contractually barred from doing certain types of labor ourselves... I think our typical budget just for a single 20'x20' booth at a large convention center in a large trade show is around $25,000 to $50,000. I don't handle the budget myself and don't remember exact numbers, but these are rough ballpark numbers from peaking at enough expense reports.

The fees related to just constructing and operating a booth itself is insane. I have no idea what the cost is to rent a large convention center is, but it's going to be astronomical.

Since these cost numbers are related to the convention centers and their contracted labor rates, it's not specific to my field in high performance computing and applies to all these big shows. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Blizz is basically breaking even or writing the whole show off as a marketing expense. These kinds of things aren't really profit centers. If they're making any profit at all after paying the bills for running the show then it's not big enough to make a dent in their P&L sheets. This is the type of thing a company runs at either break even or a minor loss as an advertising campaign to increase sales revenue on their primary product, in this case their games. Kind of like how a company will spend millions of dollars on superbowl ads - they spend the money up front in their marketing budget in order to make that money back + some in increased sales revenue. I believe them if Blizz says they're not really running Blizzcon at a profit. Running these kinds of events easily cost millions of dollars. Ticket sales help offset this, but I can see them not completely covering the price tag to run the thing.

Justbe wrote: ↑

5 years ago

a celebration of the fans

And a celebration of their fan's purchasing power

I mean Blizzcon wouldn't exist if people didn't want to go. Blizzcon started as a celebration of their games and their community, and when it started Blizzard was an awesome company. Made amazing games and was on top of the game industry.

However, I understand if people who haven't followed Blizzard look at it with cynicism now. Blizzard is a shadow of their former selves, perhaps the Activision influence is finally taking over. Their games lately are mediocre and retail WoW is at an all time low. It's a shame. Blizzard is the definition of "Die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the bad guy".

And people are fed up with it too. I feel like Blizzcon isn't what it used to be, and the devs are getting boo'd and chewed out at their own event. It must suck for their morale.

beaty wrote: ↑

5 years ago

i never understood whats the appeal of blizzcon - yeah i like their games and looked forward to the news, but spend money to take part, or even buy a virtual ticket (lol) give them money so they can tell me what they gonna sell me next? that just does not feel right. i lack fanboyism it seems and i am not willing to BUY tickets for a ride on the "hypetrain" which in all likelyhood derails even before it takes off - based on blizzards past actions and "strategies"

I wouldn't buy a virtual ticket because the whole point would to be there in person. I've tried to go to Blizzcon before but can never get a ticket, lol. The draw for me would be that it's a chance to get away from the boring industry trade shows that I'm usually obligated to attend and go to one for fun for once. And to go with friends and just get lost in the franchises for a couple of days just shooting the shit. Seems like a fun atmosphere to be in.

teebling wrote: ↑

5 years ago

If they announce a remaster of D2 I’m going to make another forum like this for it

I'd be all over that forum immediately. Pls make. Pls Blizzard re-make D2, pls teebs make diablo.chat.

Pippina wrote: ↑

5 years ago

teebling wrote: ↑

5 years ago

If they announce a remaster of D2 I’m going to make another forum like this for it

I'd be all over that forum immediately. Pls make. Pls Blizzard re-make D2, pls teebs make diablo.chat.

I’d try and get chat.gem or gem.chat or something like that :)

teebling wrote: ↑

5 years ago

I’d try and get chat.gem or gem.chat or something like that :)

We've got a true hero of Sanctuary among us folks...

teebling wrote: ↑

5 years ago

If they announce a remaster of D2 I’m going to make another forum like this for it

teebling wrote: ↑

5 years ago

Pippina wrote: ↑

5 years ago

teebling wrote: ↑

5 years ago

If they announce a remaster of D2 I’m going to make another forum like this for it

I'd be all over that forum immediately. Pls make. Pls Blizzard re-make D2, pls teebs make diablo.chat.

I’d try and get chat.gem or gem.chat or something like that :)

Tristram.chat
Sanctuary.chat
Both available :D

Gallow wrote: ↑

5 years ago

Tristram.chat

Best name yet

Oh boy, no D2 remastered, no tristram.chat

Yeah, no D2 it seems :/

Rip diablo. Rip baal. Rio mephisto.

teebling wrote: ↑

5 years ago

Oh boy, no D2 remastered, no tristram.chat

It'll come. They're churning out remasters in the background to fill gaps in other content. No sense in announcing D2 and D4 at the same time. We'll see it announced next year :)

Besides I'm going to be busy with classic for a long time to come. I really don't want to have to split my time between classic and D2 right now. I'd rather see D2 come later after I get my fill of classic in a few years.

Holy shit D4 looks shit.

I want D2, I want runewords N shit!

Erik wrote: ↑

5 years ago

Holy shit D4 looks shit.

I want D2, I want runewords N shit!

I think it looks good, just looks like a much darker D3.

Unpopular opinion maybe but I liked D3.