that man :
I like Diablo III, and I'm looking forward to the new expansion, loot 2.0, etc. I'm sorry to see the Auction House go. All I ever read about is how much the game sucks. I get the feeling that some people doth protest too much, methinks. I grow suspicious, like they're selling something.
Some of the comments I read about the game are filled with so much RAGE, it's scary; like the author of the comment actually would do harm to the developers if they could. It makes me feel sorry for the developers. So much of the feedback out there is negative.
I produce content, and like most people in the production business, I emotionally invest myself in my product, so virulently negative criticism really hurts. I can tell that a lot of time was spent on playability optimization in Diablo III. And the artistic detail really stands out in some places (bloated corpse and basket of heads animation/sound effects are disgustingly realistic; I love it). There are some things in the game I would change if it were my product. But it isn't, and as a content producer, I can accept that as a difference in taste, or as a side effect of producing content as a business (if you spend the time to make it perfect, you've spent too much time).
One thing is for sure, if my clients were as caustically negative as the large number of critics Diablo III has, I would fire them, and they would not be my clients anymore.
I am a game developer myself, and the reason for the passion behind Diablo III hate, is how great Diablo II was. They took a winning formula, and instead of tweaking the strongest points of the game that were so well loved by all who played it...they rewrote it to more closely align with their blockbuster MMO. Which, apparently not many D2 fans actually played (I know none of my friends I played D2 with play it for sure, and I tried it, hated it, and unsub'ed after a week).
The issue with the entire thing is, not only did they butcher the game, but the cash auction house was a blatant money grab. The people who are around since Diablo, through D2 and it's expansion, didn't want any of that garbage. The beta testers even so much as told Blizzard openly in the beta forums about what they would like to see changed.
Blizzard didn't listen. When you make a product for people who pay for it, you should listen to them. Look at Mech Warrior Online for an example of this. People don't even have to pay to play it, and some of the design decisions that were made after community feedback, that went counter to the direction that was felt best by the community, have been met with hostility.
As a game developer, I love the games I work on as much, or more, as anyone. However, I also realize that the game is ultimately a product being used by consumers who pay to play it, in some way, with their disposable income. So, I take what they have to say with a great deal of weight; as opposed to trying to cram what someone else thinks is best down their throats. You can't please everyone ever, and you most certainly won't please someone every time; however, if you can please mostly everybody, most of the time, then you're doing better than most.
EDIT: The era of "this is what you get, so deal with it" is mostly over. More and more games are going to more open development formats. This benefits the consumer and developer, as you can ensure your product will target the core audience and cater to them (making them happy), and also ensure your game is well received and successful.
Additionally..."firing" your clients doesn't make you any money. Then you just have the game that
you love, and your clients, whom you fired, are not paying for your product and hate it. That makes your business unsuccessful, and unpopular (see: Blizzard post D3).
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