Oh boy it's too early to write. I woke up at 5:30 and got my outdoor plats watered, I made coffee and now I'm sitting here at 6:20. It's a lovely morning though, 65 and clear and we're set for the high 90's this afternoon. Luckily it's been relatively mild as the beginning of summer goes and I feel like I've had time to acclimate to the heat. So far that's meant the afternoons have been filled with games because there isn't much else going on.
Okay, that's enough boring weather talk from me. Let's see what I've managed to cobble together for parroting from the internet.
Do you not have PC's? You all have PC's, right? Diablo Immortal is on PC now and it's still the train wreck it was on mobile, full of loot boxes and microtransactions. So many transactions in fact, that in order to fully spec out a character just by paying your way to victory would cost you six figures. And by just playing and grinding your way there it could take upwards of a decade. Full disclosure, it's probably fine as an ARPG. I've heard the game play is more or less the same as it's predecessors even if the total game length is quite a bit shorter. I've read headlines with the message of how Diablo Immortal is too good to be free to play. There's even talk of at least one major streamer loving the microtransactions because it allows him to spend his money how he wants to spend it. I realize this is a free to play title but I really hate the free to play model being so clearly scaled for pay to win. Of course you can definitely play without spending money but it's virtually impossible to gear your character up without spending money of the gold, gems and loot boxes that increase drop rates and rarity bonuses.
In Diablo, and most ARPG's of it's kind, it's all about the chase for gear and the satisfaction of seeing some unique items drop. If you're stuck behind a pay wall though, just out of reach of those precious uniques, then where's the fun? Where's the satisfaction? There's no fun in spending over a hundred grand on a free to play game. And you know what bothers me beyond this? I'll probably play Diablo 4, as much as I don't want to give Blizzard money. Not convinced, yourself? Game Rant has a couple interesting articles here and here that show some of the blatant BS you'll run across in Diablo Immortal and gives a look at the popular streamer who has just gorged himself on the Kool-Aid. James Stephanie Sterling also does a bit of an in-depth dive into why it's a bigger problem than people may even realize. I love the Diablo universe, and I want to play Diablo 4 despite the lasting garbage fire that's burning in Blizzard's offices. However I have this horrible feeling that Diablo Immortal on PC is sort of a test to see if Diablo fans will respond to the pay to win model positively enough just in case it's worth shoving it all up in Diablo 4. Pure speculation of course, but if that happens then I won't play it. I'll say this - I used to not care about microtransactions and DRM and all that stuff. Who cares if someone buys an item they want? Who cares if I have to be online all the time? I still get to play. I still have my own choices. But I was naive then. I started paying real attention to it after I played Diablo 3, in fact. As it came out I went into it with a cheery attitude and oblivious to the fact the DRM was slowing everything down. That the auction house where players could buy and sell items they found for real world currency was just a way to justify false rarity and fill Blizzard's pockets. And it's only gotten worse. Rocket League was the last game I played that has that locked until you buy a key loot box model. I don't know if it still does, and I've heard lots about how Diablo 3 is actually quite good now since the first major expansion was released. I haven't even tried to pick it back up though.
Okay, that's enough out of me. I hope you're all having a wonderful weekend, even if you might be playing Diablo Immortal.
What are we playing?
Yoda: Got friends coming in from out of town so will be playing more board games than video games most likely. Doesn't mean I still won't sneak in some of the usual wow and Dota late at night though :P
AJ: Alien: Isolation just dropped onto GOG so I may have to give that another go. I also recently picked up Shining in the Darkness and Space Harrier for the Genesis and 32X respectively, so probably those as well.
Greywolfe: 100%'d chicory. so now i'm just painting the map super slowly. other than that. more enchanter and i'll be starting in on final fantasy 5. :) - plus, i'm doodling around with wizard's crown, a very old 80's ssi game. it's...clunky.
Scroo: V Rising mostly. I don't support the early access model usually but V is feeling very close to complete and is quite good. Maneater is free on Epic and it's cheesey, crazy fun with a goofy narration and some really awesome environments. So I'll be swimming around as a mutant shark eating everything in the ocean too.