FFS Blizzactivision

[Defenestra]

I get it. You have a new expansion coming. Well, the second third of a game you released a couple years ago(I acknowledge that the first third was pretty freaking big, and am not cross about that). Buying the top banner, bottom popup bullshit banner (with, I note, a nearly invisible close button), side panels *and* running your trailer before damn near every video (though I imagine The Escapist doesn't mind the money) is kind of nuts.

I know it's coming out. Any one of those options would do that. I already want to play it.

But I'm not going to buy it first day, or preorder it. Activision burned through what goodwill Blizzard had accumulated, and when I found out that one had to be connected to the net and reach Activision servers to play the single-player of Diablo 3, I bought Torchlight 2 instead.

You now need to prove you've got the goods and are willing to deliver them in a way that is not insulting to your paying customers before I will part with my cash, Blizzactivision.

Your move.

 

[SomeLameStuff]

I'd go with Blizzvision myself.

Also, as you can see, I have absolutely no clue what you're talking about, besides the fact you're being extremely whiny.

All hail the Pub Club Master Race!

 

[Dryk]

Probably be better to direct your ire to The Escapist... though maybe not I'm not sure how their ads work

I'd go with Blizzvision myself.

I prefer ActiBlizzon

 

[General Twinkletoes]

Yeah, that's the point of ads. Even if you already know about it, they want to shove it in your face at every opportunity, and the fact that you've noticed it so much you've made a thread about it (and told other people in the process) means the ad has done its job. Maybe you won't buy it because of the advertising, but a lot more people will.

 

[Defenestra]

I'd buy it if I trusted Activision, but the ads wouldn't be necessary. Alright, all of the adds would not be necessary. The sidebars are plenty visible, maybe the occasional trailer. As it stands, though, Activision is becoming synomymous with a form of DRM that I find incredibly insulting and that, for a time, locked off many of my games from me, as my lair at the time lacked a wired net link for my most game-capable machine.

I'll see how it looks after launch, though.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

I agree with the not bothering to buy Heart of the Swarm due to some of the reasons you stated OP but I don't get the complaints about the ads for I have not seen any.

All I get are some NZ Telecom ads on occasion above the header of the page.

 

[R.Nevermore]

Yeah the ads are annoying... Especially the popups. But griping at the company you hate is hypocritical as hell, as haters often are. There was the same thing with mass effect 3, skyrim and the eve online expansion.

 

[R.Nevermore]

I I already want to play it.

But I'm not going to buy it first day, or preorder it.

YES! FINALLY!

Please, more people need to realise that. The problem right now is that many seem to be incapable of pattern recognition. There are very few cases where always on resulted in a 'smooth' (relative) start (I can think only of WotLK and Cataclysm expansions but this is WoW). The consumers need to send the message that they don't want to put up with that crap. And how you do it? Don't buy it day 1 / first week. Because when the sales in this time are low the executives might get the idea that if they want to pull something like that off they need the hardware to back it up.

Right now they simply don't see the need into investing in such hardware. Because people preorder, because people buy day 1. Because it is easier and less costly to do damage control then just have the additional hardware / software required for the pressure on day 1.

I am going to buy the SC2 expansion. But not this week. Maybe not even this month.

Yet the sc2 WoL release was smooth as milk.

 

[VanQ]

I I already want to play it.

But I'm not going to buy it first day, or preorder it.

YES! FINALLY!

Please, more people need to realise that. The problem right now is that many seem to be incapable of pattern recognition. There are very few cases where always on resulted in a 'smooth' (relative) start (I can think only of WotLK and Cataclysm expansions but this is WoW). The consumers need to send the message that they don't want to put up with that crap. And how you do it? Don't buy it day 1 / first week. Because when the sales in this time are low the executives might get the idea that if they want to pull something like that off they need the hardware to back it up.

Right now they simply don't see the need into investing in such hardware. Because people preorder, because people buy day 1. Because it is easier and less costly to do damage control then just have the additional hardware / software required for the pressure on day 1.

I am going to buy the SC2 expansion. But not this week. Maybe not even this month.

That or they just assume that their hardware is good enough for the first week when no one buys it then act all surprised when the servers crap their dacks and explode into a ball of flames in the second or third week. The solution is to not buy the game at all but people won't realize this.

Honestly, shame on Jim for suggesting this, because it's a short term answer to a problem that will cause many more issues in the future. And people are gonna think this is the one true solution just because Jim said so.

By the way, I love Jim's work. I just think that he's not always right.

 

[wizzy555]

While my good will towards blizzard is somewhat diminished it's not so low that I'm going deny them money for a perfectly good game (which unless something has drastically gone wrong "heart of the swarm" should be).

It is unlikely to have the same problems as Diablo 3 because it is less server dependent - for single player it just needs to login and count achievements rather than process the whole game there.

 

[teebeeohh]

well yes, the ads are annoying but i will still get it since i don't mind having to be always online in principle and the main reason to get sc2 is MP anyway and i am pretty sure you can play the campaign offline.

and also, the reason D3 sucked so much was because game mechanics were changed around the stupid auction house and i don't see something like that in sc2.
and i am still getting it day one, because i will not play the MP till i finish the campaign and by the time i am done with that the whole thing will have smoothed out.

 

[TT Kairen]

Don't worry about all that. I literally paid and downloaded it two hours before launch and was able to login and play the campaign at 12:01 ON THE DOT. They didn't botch it. At all.

 

[Zenode]

Activision/Blizzard have bought the ad space on the website. Yes the Escapist said yes to them purchasing it, but some people (like me) totally forgot it was coming out today. So for the hardcore gamers who never forget a release date, it seems overkill but for others its just a nudge towards "hey, hey you there, see this game, GET IT"

It's how advertising works, you may not like it, but thats the way it is.

 

[Aussie502]

I I already want to play it.

But I'm not going to buy it first day, or preorder it.

YES! FINALLY!

Please, more people need to realise that. The problem right now is that many seem to be incapable of pattern recognition. There are very few cases where always on resulted in a 'smooth' (relative) start (I can think only of WotLK and Cataclysm expansions but this is WoW). The consumers need to send the message that they don't want to put up with that crap. And how you do it? Don't buy it day 1 / first week. Because when the sales in this time are low the executives might get the idea that if they want to pull something like that off they need the hardware to back it up.

Right now they simply don't see the need into investing in such hardware. Because people preorder, because people buy day 1. Because it is easier and less costly to do damage control then just have the additional hardware / software required for the pressure on day 1.

I am going to buy the SC2 expansion. But not this week. Maybe not even this month.

Unfortunately for you, the Heart of the Swarm launch was completely seamless. As soon as the clock hit midnight, the servers went up and there was really no issues whatsoever. Blizzard learned a lot from their past WoW expansions and especially D3. They staggered the launch depending on which time zone you lived in, but even the NA launch was completely fine.

 

[Something Amyss]

Yeah, that's the point of ads. Even if you already know about it, they want to shove it in your face at every opportunity, and the fact that you've noticed it so much you've made a thread about it (and told other people in the process) means the ad has done its job. Maybe you won't buy it because of the advertising, but a lot more people will.

I find this level of exposure to be more a barrier to my purchase than a boon.

Maybe I'm not normal, nut annoying me is a bad way to get me to support your product.

Okay, no 'maybe' about it.

 

[R.Nevermore]

I I already want to play it.

But I'm not going to buy it first day, or preorder it.

YES! FINALLY!

Please, more people need to realise that. The problem right now is that many seem to be incapable of pattern recognition. There are very few cases where always on resulted in a 'smooth' (relative) start (I can think only of WotLK and Cataclysm expansions but this is WoW). The consumers need to send the message that they don't want to put up with that crap. And how you do it? Don't buy it day 1 / first week. Because when the sales in this time are low the executives might get the idea that if they want to pull something like that off they need the hardware to back it up.

Right now they simply don't see the need into investing in such hardware. Because people preorder, because people buy day 1. Because it is easier and less costly to do damage control then just have the additional hardware / software required for the pressure on day 1.

I am going to buy the SC2 expansion. But not this week. Maybe not even this month.

Unfortunately for you, the Heart of the Swarm launch was completely seamless. As soon as the clock hit midnight, the servers went up and there was really no issues whatsoever. Blizzard learned a lot from their past WoW expansions and especially D3. They staggered the launch depending on which time zone you lived in, but even the NA launch was completely fine.

Somewhere, blizzard execs are sniggering, pointing and laughing at EA.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Somewhere, blizzard execs are sniggering, pointing and laughing at EA.

Are they doing it from the balcony of their glass house? It hasn't been that long since Error 37.

It's nice that HOTS has launched smoothly, but this is the expansion to an aging game. If it hadn't launched smoothly that would have been pretty shocking.