Diablo 3 - Editorial @ PCGamesN

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According to a new article on PCGamesN Diablo III was going to have branching storylines, but Blizzard focus on multiplayer made it impossible.

Suddenly, it makes sense. Why, in the early days of Diablo III, did Blizzard hire Leonard Boyarsky - one of the originators of the Fallout series, and later lead developer on Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines - to head up story on a linear action RPG?Here’s why: an early version of Diablo III had a branching narrative, and a sliding moral scale that opened up new player choices. But it was not to be.

Players would have had branching conversation choices - and a ‘corruption’ system would have seen players gain access to different conversation options as their characters fell from grace.

In the end, though, Boyarsky and his colleagues told a linear story that was easily skippable for the portion of Diablo’s playerbase who were solely interested in loot.

“I think eventually we came down too hard on the side of the players who didn’t really want a lot to do with the story,” said Boyarsky. “And that was very problematic because our story started out as something a lot more complex than we could probably tell in the context of what we were doing.

“And instead of us realising that soon enough and really stripping that down, we continued to try to tell that story.”
More information.
 
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Wow. This would have been a game I wanted to play. Shame.
 
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Diablo 3 with 2.0 is turning out to be a massive improvement. I'm having tons of fun - so far.
 
This series has been the prime example for anyone who wanted to say that games without any story and any social interaction would sell.

The series sold too good, cynically saying.

At the same way the profits from this series arose, the amount of really story-telling RPGs declined in the past.
 
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The game has plenty of story. Sometimes, it's not a bad thing to know what you're talking about :)
 
I have played D2 + LOD enough toi see not as much story there to keep my interest. It was as thin to me as Icewind Dale.
That's why I didn't even bother with D3.

Adventure Gamers have higher standards in storytelling, I fear.
 
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I have played D2 + LOD enough toi see not as much story there to keep my interest. It was as thin to me as Icewind Dale.
That's why I didn't even bother with D3.

Adventure Gamers have higher standards in storytelling, I fear.

So, you mean that games without a story YOU like and social interaction will sell well?

That's fine :)

But there's no need to claim there's no story when that's utterly false.
 
So, you mean that games without a story YOU like and social interaction will sell well?

That's fine :)

But there's no need to claim there's no story when that's utterly false.

There is a story and its in fact decently done, but very much in the background. I'm not sure the story is actually much more sparse from those in very old classic rpgs like the Bard's Tale, though of course its mostly told with movies and cut scenes. However, if we compare Diablo (I, II, or III) to other RPGs of their time, then the story is very sparse. Actually for me Diablo follows more in the line of the classic action game Gauntlet than it does in the RPGs of its time. Gauntlet was a tremedously popular arcade game, and had more of a following than the RPGs of the time. I just think this sort of game appeals to people who otherwise have no interest in rpgs, per say.
 
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I really wish more people studied literature… we have to distinguish between story presentation and the story itself. D3 has great story presentation, meaning it wraps the story very well into the gameplay.

D3's story itself, I mean its literary quality, is miserable. The story is absolutely full of coincidences, contrivances, contradictions, and other horrible plot devices.

Oh, and much of the dialogue is so very poorly written ("the power of the fallen star awakened me"). I realize I may look like a snobbish professor here, but I do lament the fact that so few people remember to discern between how a story is presented and the actual merit of the story itself. (ME2 and ME3 had the same issue: wonderful presentation but very poor literary stories.)

PS: D3 Patch 2.0 is SO good. DArtagnan is right that D3 has been reinvigorated, believe it or not.
 
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Agreed about the D3 patch. I've been waiting probably nine months, holding off playing. It's a much better game now, at least from the few hours I've put in.

Am I the only one that has a hard time following the storyline?
 
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Agreed about the D3 patch. I've been waiting probably nine months, holding off playing. It's a much better game now, at least from the few hours I've put in.

Am I the only one that has a hard time following the storyline?

I'm purposefully not playing much D3 even after patch 2.0 because it still is lacking content. The expansion is set to really make D3 a great game with the new Act V plus Adventure mode (disables the story, YES!).

The new Paragon system is fantastic, the new drop system is fantastic, the player hit detection is fixed, the rebalanced skills actually make all my wizard skills viable, I could go on. D3X is set to be a truly good game.

Yesterday I sold ALL my gear because I want to totally purge myself of the AH. So my character is now pure, entirely self-found again. Goodbye AH, how I hate you...even though you made me a fair bit of money.

PS: do not attempt to understand the D3 story, seriously. I like to think it was written by a 5 year old, and frankly for a 5 year old's writing the D3 story is pretty good.
 
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PS: do not attempt to understand the D3 story, seriously. I like to think it was written by a 5 year old, and frankly for a 5 year old's writing the D3 story is pretty good.

Ah, you are lacking DArt's deep understanding of a 5 year old's psyche to truly appreciate D3 story… :sneaky:
 
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I'm going to disregard the exaggeration of how bad the Diablo 3 story is and repeat my point about it actually having a story, regardless of how "adult" you think you might be by not liking it :)

That said, I do find it very amusing that people start lecturing about what story presentation means versus what a good story means - considering I haven't said a single word about whether or not I like the Diablo 3 story.
 
Is Diablo still a Bond villain w/ the patch? "No, no, you will never find me through the red portal, down the hallway, and second door on the left!"
 
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Nah, they changed Diablo into Moriarty - and the player into Sherlock Holmes.

Ok, so there's not much fighting, action or loot anymore - but you do spend a lot of time searching for clues that point you towards the enemy, because Blizzard felt the game should be a subtle detective story where mobs don't clutter the playfield like in those annoying hack and slash games that are so popular.

Good on you Bliz!
 
I had some good laughs when playing D3 and experiencing its so-called story. Like some bosses taunting my character while he's facerolling mobs. It made them pathetic and weak when they are supposed to be terrifying demons! I recall shitting my pants in D1 and D2, practically avoiding bosses as long as I could. The whole atmosphere was uneasy. The Butcher scared me to death. Duriel and Mephisto were obscure and scary. Diablo was tough and aggressive.

Of course, we were younger by a dozen years or so, but I'm quite positive D3's story wouldn't have the same effect or atmosphere that its predecessors.

But the article explains everything in this regard, and it's sad to see what D3 could have been, even if the new Loot 2.0 is reportedly pretty great.
 
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I'm going to disregard the exaggeration of how bad the Diablo 3 story ...

That said, I do find it very amusing that people start lecturing about what story presentation means versus what a good story means.
I wasn't directing my comment at you about story versus presentation, so don't worry about it.

Is Diablo still a Bond villain w/ the patch? "No, no, you will never find me through the red portal, down the hallway, and second door on the left!"

Well said! Yes...D3's writers...now there's a job...write horrible dialogue and terrible plot contrivances...and somehow think you wrote a good story. YOU CANNOT ESCAPE YOUR OWN DELUSIONS.
 
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I wasn't directing my comment at you about story versus presentation, so don't worry about it.

There's a difference between being amused and worried.

If you weren't directing it at me, then please explain who the people are who can't distinguish between presentation and story.

This:

I really wish more people studied literature… we have to distinguish between story presentation and the story itself. D3 has great story presentation, meaning it wraps the story very well into the gameplay.

Who are these people you're talking about?

Who said anything about Diablo 3 having a great story?
 
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