In 2004, there was a new game that launched. Everyone was familiar with the franchise. During the beta, it was very popular. So I decided to give it a shot. I was lukewarm about it as I had never tried that type of game before. My expectation was more like ‘It may be great, but it likely won’t be my cat’s meow.’ The demand was a tsunami that overwhelmed the company. Server issues were a constant problem. People were raging on the forums. The game was like digital crack and the server being down was like denying it to these people making some explosive reactions.
This game was World of Warcraft. And the demand just kept growing and growing after those first few days.
Diablo 3 is giving me a deja vu of those events. “Why are you writing this?” a snotty reader might ask. “You said you were going on vacation. What gives? Neh neh neh.” The server is down so I might as well write this.
After WoW’s launch, Mike Morhaime swore to never have another issue like that when a Blizzard game launched. Sure enough, Starcraft 2’s launch was smooth. And didn’t Diablo 3 have a stress test just to make sure this type of thing wouldn’t happen?
Why is Diablo 3 having server issues? Why is Francis mad? Is the issue with the servers or something else? My guess is something else.
I believe Blizzard was actually prepared and things would have gone smoothly (as they went smoothly at 2 AM in American time). I suspect the demand was vaster and larger than Blizzard ever anticipated. The Collector Edition boxes are very scare now for Diablo 3 than for Starcraft 2 or WoW’s expansions which indicates huge demand. Amazon issued a report saying that Diablo 3 was the most pre-ordered PC game it has ever had. This is very impressive considering that millions of WoW players are getting Diablo 3 free with the Annual Pass (the Annual Pass players would not be counted in Amazon’s pre-orders).
I’ve only played the game for half a dozen hours (before the servers would kaput). I haven’t even completed Act 1 (I know, I know. If I was Korean, I’d have finished the game by now). I don’t know how the quality of the game will be in further acts or in the increased difficulties. That said, I’m very impressed with the game and its length of content. I thought the Skeleton King was near the end of Act 1 and… nope. Everything feels so polished. Everything is so much fun. Except the servers naturally.
I haven’t had this much fun with a game since Super Mario Brothers 5 came out in 2009. This has a ‘Mother of Killer-App’ feeling to it.
I am so unhappy with the state of things in gaming that I am relieved to find a fun game. But I must not be confident. I haven’t scratched the surface with the game, and we know how sometimes the game can fall apart as you go through it. Or it can be like fast food which tastes great going down… but not so good after you eat it.
Diablo 3 could be an explosive growth game for Blizzard on the likes of Warcraft 2 or World of Warcraft. If that is true, the following question is how will it affect the Diablo 3 clones that are coming out now. Will it destroy them or will people’s appetite for more boost the sales of those games?
Excuse me while I resume cursing Blizzard’s servers with the rest of my gaming brethren.