MeinMMO-Demon Cortyn wants to enjoy Blizzard again. But Diablo Immortal and also WoW Dragonflight make it difficult right now.
At MeinMMO, we have extensively discussed Blizzard over the past years. From failed game releases and broken promises with Warcraft: Reforged, to the big sexism scandal and its consequences, or unpleasant incidents like the Blitzchung scandal surrounding Hearthstone.
Those who know me, know that Blizzard has played a big role in my life for a long time. Not only because I write extensively about their games, but also because I have played them for many years and I have many friends and acquaintances because of that, whom I would never have met otherwise.
I have also been shaken by the scandals, but I want to forgive Blizzard. On one hand, because I believe that many developers at Blizzard have nothing to do with the scandals, and on the other hand quite selfishly, because I like World of Warcraft and I am looking forward to Overwatch 2.
Diablo Immortal is so evil that Blizzard itself seems corrupted
But then Diablo Immortal came. I must first say: Actually, I am not that interested in Diablo. I have only played Diablo III sporadically and Diablo II many years ago only because it was being played in my friend circle – it was never my favored game. Also, Diablo Immortal was actually just “meh” to me – or so I thought.
While there are many players defending Diablo Immortal, praising the gameplay or emphasizing that you can have fun without spending money – I simply cannot ignore the game. I have watched countless analyses of the game systems and monetization, whether from colleagues at GameStar or analysts like Josh Strife Hayes on YouTube, and during this I have developed a very clear and also rather drastic opinion:
Diablo Immortal is not only the purest money grab, but it actually entices players to spend money. The amounts of in-game currency you receive for a purchase are set up exactly so that you always have just “too little” after each purchase and thus look at the next package.
If I can spend 20 euros to multiply my loot by a hundred in 4-5 minutes of gameplay, if important upgrade features are completely hidden behind monetary investment and people can seriously spend over 50,000 euros in the game, then this “game” is above all: greedy, exploitative, and coldly designed to lure in the weakest, who are susceptible to gambling.
In my opinion, this is the big stain on Blizzard’s record in recent years. A kind of online casino, hidden behind pretty gameplay. And no matter which game I want to think about at Blizzard, whether it’s WoW, Hearthstone, or Overwatch – the thought keeps creeping in: Look how unscrupulously they have monetized Diablo Immortal. They would go that far.
But Diablo Immortal has not only impacted me, but also my environment. More and more friends and acquaintances have developed a skeptical attitude towards Blizzard solely due to Diablo Immortal. While some have merely shrugged off all the scandals of recent years, the shamelessly exploitative model of Diablo Immortal has achieved more. Some don’t want to spend money on Blizzard games at all anymore, as if they could send a signal against Diablo Immortal.
And I understand that.
WoW Dragonflight: Release date known, but no beta yet – why?
When a new WoW expansion is up for pre-order, I usually have already pre-ordered it even before the trailer showcasing the rewards of the Collector’s Edition has even rolled. This time, that is not the case and I believe this is the first time in over a decade.
This is due not only to Diablo Immortal but also to the fact that the release date for Dragonflight feels wrong. The relatively sudden announcement that Dragonflight will be released in 2022 surprised me. For a brief moment, I was pleased, surprised, and imagined spending “between the years” on the Dragon Isles.
But the anticipation did not last long, as my second thought was: “Please not, this is way too early.” I am skeptical, very skeptical.
There can certainly be debates about the features of Shadowlands. I liked most of them. But some things needed much more time. Especially more time to implement feedback from the beta.
Throughout Shadowlands, we learned through developer interviews that the Covid pandemic caused more issues than initially admitted. Work progressed more slowly and schedules were delayed. Patches took longer and longer.
And against this backdrop, I have concerns. Because Blizzard is currently dragging out the lost time. And that means a good portion of the originally planned time for Dragonflight has gone into old patches of Shadowlands.
I can’t imagine that the developers of World of Warcraft have “just magically” caught up on 6 months of development time in recent months. After the relatively poor presentation of Dragonflight, in which there was hardly any gameplay to see, I simply don’t believe that there is enough time to release a well-rounded, complete expansion by the end of the year that not only meets Blizzard’s own once-high standards but can also incorporate community feedback.
Especially if it turns out that one of the few major features – like the talents, dragon riding, or the new professions – does not come across well and requires a major rework, the 6-month time frame is already tight. And the beta has not even started yet.
Sure, Dragonflight will have fewer major features and therefore might need less time. However, Dragonflight also wants to rebuild the foundation of World of Warcraft, bring back talent trees, and completely overhaul crafting. I would prefer the developers to take an extra 3 to 6 months and plan conservatively, keeping in mind that they might need to scrap something larger after all.
But even now, the schedule seems so tight that the developers will hardly have time for comprehensive feature feedback. Because I can hardly imagine that Dragonflight will be “just simply” delayed, after they already did that with Shadowlands and Warcraft: Reforged, and the legal rights of pre-order customers are likely to improve rather than worsen in most countries.
I look forward to the changes with Dragonflight, which sound consistently good. I want to believe the developers that they have learned from the mistakes of Shadowlands and at least from a feature standpoint, this seems to be true so far. But then I see the early release date and immediately wonder: Have you really learned? Are you really taking feedback from the community into account? Do you even have the time for that? Or are we just rushing headlong into a game that will only be what it was meant to be in Patch 10.1 and 10.2? Is it really wise to set a release date before the general public has had a chance to check out the beta?
I really want to like Blizzard again. I really do. I want to log into WoW again and especially think of a good game in which I enjoy spending time with friends. I do not want to think that Dragonflight is for some reason significantly more expensive than previous expansions and that Diablo Immortal with its endless cash options keeps popping up in my Battle.net launcher.
I really want to like you again, Blizzard. But why are you resisting that?
