The streamer Quintin “Quin69” Crawford is one of the leading action RPG specialists on Twitch. He is known for his insane runs in Path of Exile and Diablo 3. In a new Twitch stream, he reads a blog post from Blizzard about Diablo 4 and can’t believe what Blizzard says about the monetization of Diablo 4: One can “earn things for free” – this is something the New Zealander can’t handle.
What is the absurd statement that Quin69 is upset about? Blizzard released a new quarterly update on Diablo 4 on August 18 (via blizzard). The blog post makes it clear that the developers want to explicitly distance themselves from the payment system of Diablo Immortal.
Blizzard’s mobile game was criticized for being “pay-to-win”: One can spend money to advance in the game.
Some Blizzard fans feared that Blizzard might also come up with such heretical ideas in the “real Diablo”, in Diablo 4 – although Benedict Grothaus, a writer at MeinMMO, thinks it’s a great idea if Diablo 4 takes some lessons from Immortal.
In the post about Diablo 4, this passage can now be found:
The pass grants players a variety of free rewards that they can earn just by playing.
Blizzard
In English: “Through the pass players can earn a variety of rewards for free, just by playing.”
In the trailer we show you 2 classes from Diablo 4:
So you tell me: I can play the game I bought?
Why does this statement upset Quin69 so much? Quin69 is really upset about the wording that one can “earn things for free.” The fact that Blizzard emphasizes such a commonality in a game apparently frustrates him.
Moreover, “for free” is also nonsense because Diablo 4 will be a full-price title.
The Twitch streamer yells:
“For free … just for playing …. THIS IS A FUCKING COMPUTER GAME that I BOUGHT. What the hell are you talking about? So you tell me I can play the game I bought.”
Quin69
According to the New Zealander, this shows how crazy and sick gaming has become in 2022.
And Quin69 should know, he has spent 15,000 € in Diablo Immortal and then deleted his character.
More than 100,000 people have now seen Quin69’s outburst in the Twitch clip:
This is what it’s about: Knowing how harsh Blizzard was criticized for Diablo Immortal, it’s understandable that they emphasize: In the seasonal pass, there are premium contents, but also contents that can be earned for free.
From the perspective of Quin69 and many other gamers, it is completely absurd to emphasize such an absolute commonality as a bonus. Because one has always been able to earn things in games that one has bought.
Thus, it shines through: Gaming in 2022 is already so commercialized that the normality, as it has been for decades, is now seen as an advantage that must be highlighted separately.
We have already dealt with the influence Diablo Immortal could have on Diablo 4 on MeinMMO:
What impact does the success of Diablo Immortal have on Diablo 4 and the future of Blizzard?
