Revenge of the Metacritics: Diablo III Getting Review-Bombed

[inkheart_artist]

Is it really review bombing when people are giving zeros to a game they bought but couldn't play because of a publishers failure? Reviews get docked all the time for buggy games. The way I see it, if they should get docked for the experience being marred by bugs then a zero is a justified score if they are completely unplayable. Its not a matter of entitlement, its a matter of getting what you paid for.

If you bought a phone and you couldn't connect to the providers network because of some failing in the phone or the providers service it doesn't matter how great the features on the phone are because you can't use them. It wouldn't be entitlement to want your money back and consider the experience poor.

 

[Laughing Man]

Oh my god they are review bombing it at Metacritic.... cause everyone buys products based on Metacri.... oh no wait a minute I've never bought anything based on a Metacritic score.

The game is annoying, multiplayer lag in a single player game is frankly unforgiveable. The concept that the lag is there because Blizzard wants to make a butt load of cash off the auction house and couldn't be bothered implementing a proper singleplayer item vs multiplayer item tagging system means that any low scores are well deserved but seriously if you are gonna review bomb it then do it the right way and not this way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsqUZkmO-zk

 

[Lim3]

"Question: does this finally prove that gaming culture has a certain measure of entitlement issues, or is it merely the righteous indignation of customers and fans scorned?"

Of course we're elitist. There's no way playing farmville makes you a gamer!

 

[Adultism]

I played the game, it was pretty awesome and anyone who says otherwise is entitled to their opinion. Honestly I'll probably play this until the new Persona games come out.

I have found no glitches on release, my buddies and I are having a ton of fun playing it. It took my friend 17 hours to beat the story so its pretty big. Currently playing Demon Hunter and its pretty fun. From what I've seen of my friends Monk is really OP and I have not seen a single person play Witch Doctor lol.

I have not seen ANYTHING that has been a negative point towards the game. From what I'm getting its perfect. Except the crafting system


DAAMMMNNNN YOU CRAFTING SYSTEM :'(

I should add that ALL the negative reviews are from, not issues with the games, but with Blizard policy of always online. They are kicking up a fuss over nothing.
"Oh I can't play my game whenever I want. If my power goes out I can't play Diablo."

When did we get so serious about a HOBBY.

 

[Nopenahnuhuh]

So this is happening already. [http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/diablo-iii]

In short, within the first few hours of its launch, D3 has already accumulated half the amount of negative "reviews" which Mass Effect 3 has garnered in total at this juncture.
Currently, it's user score is a measly 3.3.

Speaking as someone who doesn't have the game, I'm curious to know whether those who have actually played it would say this reaction is warranted; server issues, DRM and auction house aside?

Question: does this finally prove that gaming culture has a certain measure of entitlement issues, or is it merely the righteous indignation of customers and fans scorned?

Review bombing, as effective as inciting a no shower strike to lower gas prices.

 

[Vigormortis]

Its to try out the real money ah which is quite new to the gami industry never heard of it before so this was an attempt at trying an innovative thng. Also you do have the option of not buying it.

No it's not. Several games have already implemented this sort of thing LONG before Diablo 3. Hell, Team Fortress 2 has something similar in the Mann Co. Store and the Steam Inventory.

The difference here being that Blizzard takes a cut of the real money exchanged on their RMAH. Most other services don't.

So, if anything, the only thing the Diablo 3 RMAH is "innovating" is finding new ways to rip off customers.

(made more egregious by the fact that Blizzard can control exactly how rare an item is by simply "adjusting" the in-game drop rate)

 

[Savo]

The hilarious thing is I saw this coming a mile away. I listened to my best friend rave about how Diablo 3 would be the best thing ever and saw all the people on the internet creaming their pants over the release. I just thought "First day it will be meta-critic bombed to hell by people screaming about simplification". I was mostly right, I didn't think there'd be this much debate over the DRM though.

I do think that there most likely is some truth to what they are saying, but anyone giving it a zero and crying about Blizzard betraying them is probably not worth listening to.

So many games get meta-critic bombed these days... I've almost stopped using their user reviews for popular games due to that reason.

 

[Right Hook]

I tend to take this as an overreaction but as I type this I can hear people in the other room bitching about how Diablo 3 just screwed them over in some way, haha.

 

[Ushiromiya Battler]

No it's not. There's no real argument here, you're just simply wrong.

If there's a single player function, and the levels are designed around single players, it's a single player game. That makes always-online inexcusable.

Funny thing Diablo 3 isnt any of that though. Diablo 3 is a multiplayer game that was designed to be a multiplayer game. You can deny it, well you can but you would have to be a complete moron to do so.

Except it's not though. It's a single player game. single. player. As in, designed to be played by one person, with the option of more people coming in.

I really don't know how I can make this any simpler for you.

Wow, Das Boot is right, you are completely ignoring the fact that it is a multiplayer game with a singleplayer option...
I'll spell it out for you: It. Has. A. Option. In. The. Settings. Where. You. Click. A. Box. Stopping. People. From. Joining. You.
An. OPTION.

Sheesh, thick as a brick indeed.
The other Diablo games though, were singleplayer games with multiplayer options.
This game is not, saying otherwise is simply stupid.
I look forward to your reply by the way, will be interesting to see what kind of bullshit you'll sput this time.

 

[miketehmage]

Hey look servers were down for a while and we don't like the DRM. Let's downvote the game.

Yes we are aware that neither of those factors have anything to do with the game.

Cheers bye.



Idiots.

 

[Ieyke]

As someone who beat the game, the servers aren't down THAT much, that game is a beautifully updated successor to D2, and anyone saying otherwise is pretty much just a whiny noob.

 

[axlryder]

It's just a bunch of whiny cunts who are unfairly reviewing a game because of a poor release. They reflect badly on the community and make us look like a bunch of children. IMO

 

[GenericAmerican]

Well I had someone buy me the game as a gift, so I can't really give two shits about anything it does. The 5 minutes I played was fun.

 

[Mundus33]

step 1. hear that its going to be online only/read box which states need for internet
step 2. decide whether you care or not
step 3. if not then enjoy/ if so don't buy it and play something else

does it need to be any more complex than this?

 

[Loonyyy]

Sorry for chopping up your posts, it helps my brain to think good. I don't want you to take it as condescending.

Just play the game online.

I don't want to or can't, for different reasons at different times. I'll list some if you want me to, but I think I would just be listing things you already know.

It's an online game, not a single-player game.

Only in the sense that it has DRM which requires a permanent connection. In every other sense it is a single player game as well as a coop game, like many games of it's type.

Well actually it is an online game. All the items and enemies are handled server-side.

Newsflash: People are whiny bitches. The servers are working fine now after the maintenance, it's not like every online game in the past 5 years hasn't had day one server issues. The RMAH isn't going to be the ruination of society. Always online DRM isn't an issue unless you are a pirate or you live in the boondocks and your internet sucks, in which case you probably have bigger problems, like trying to get out of the boondocks.

I have never pirated a game, nor do I intend to. I also don't live in the boondocks, and a lack of acceptable access to high speed internet service isn't my reason for not wanting to be shackled by ludicrous DRM.

Well, since I've come back around to my first point, I'll list one reason I might not like always-online DRM. Maybe my router is on one side of the house and my room is on the other. Do I need a better reason than that? I feel like I shouldn't have to explain why I want to play offline singleplayer.

And if I did live in the boondocks with little or no internet access, I think that would be more than enough reason to complain about this obnoxious requirement. I get that it doesn't effect or bother you, but I don't understand why you are so dismissive of those who don't like it, whatever their reasons. Even to the point of telling them to just deal if they literally cannot play the game at all.

This is going to sound callous, but I used to live in a place that had crappy internet, and one of the key reasons that I moved was because I wanted a better internet connection. I don't think that the DRM is bad.

In fact, you know what? I like always-on DRM.

I like it.

I pay for my games. It infuriates me that others don't. The DRM in Diablo 3 is an effective way to stop others from gaming the system. And I like that. If I can't get it for free, neither should anyone else. If there is some collateral damage there, so be it.

Also, I will admit there is a sense of schadenfreude from seeing people whine on the internet.

Always on DRM doesn't mean what you think it does. It's not effective. Assassins Creed 2 had it. It was emulated, and cracked. In fact, it's extremely unlikely that you could make a piece of successful always on DRM, and any failed attempt makes that version less valuable than the pirated one.

Now, I've got reasonably good net, but my Assassins Creed 2 crashes every hour or so, thanks to failed server checks. Which is unacceptable. Which doesn't affect pirates.

I think people should actually understand how pirated copies of games work before praising DRM.

 

[Lovely Mixture]

step 1. hear that its going to be online only/read box which states need for internet
step 2. decide whether you care or not
step 3. if not then enjoy/ if so don't buy it and play something else

does it need to be any more complex than this?

Slightly more complex. In addition to your points, Blizzard made dumb promises they couldn't keep and people want them held accountable and they also wanted an excuse to talk about the DRM because the discussion died down quickly after it was first announced.

 

[Hawkeye21]

Well, I looked through those reviews, and most of them say the same exact things with same exact phrases, just mixed up a bit. Bot attack, anyone?

On the subject of D3 I have this to say: I love it. Was playing for 16 hours straight yesterday through nightmare difficulty with 2 random guys. I can't even remember when was the last time I played ANY game for more than 6 hours straight.

And I have to admit, I was sceptic about D3 when I heard about skill and stat changes. BUT, after reaching level 50 it all made sense. If this was diablo 2, i would be stuck using 2-3 skills i've put points in, whereas now in D3 i can choose between about 50 to suit any role I chose (tanking in a party and playing solo are VERY different in Nightmare... doubly so for Hell). Not all of them seem usefull to me, but others compliment my playstyle greatly.

Now, I know there are some problems with the game, such as connection issues and lags, balance issues and lack of PVP. I am at the moment quite unhappy with loot drops on higher difficulties,hopefull they will fix that. Diablo 2 came out what, 12 years ago? Last patch came in 2009 I believe. Its Blizzard after all)

About this whole online-only thing: it's 2012, if you don't have internet then you live in a cave in Zimbabweh. I live in a crappy town in the middle of Russia (yeah, bears on unicicles) and i can afford 15mbit/s connection. If online-only is a deal-breaker for you - simply don't buy the game.

 

[zombieshark6666]

I think it's sad that the zeroes will probably be deleted even though people have a right to be angry about not being able to play a single-player game offline. They warned about this before release! I don't care, people should be able to use whatever they purchased.

They haven't deleted the unfair and/or paid-for-by-EA and/or BF3-fanboy-bitching-against-a-good-game zeros from the rating of MW3 yet... Why should they start deleting legitimate zeros from ratings now?

I was thinking about Dragon Age 2, the "pinnacle of role-playing games with well-designed mechanics and excellent story-telling, [...] what videogames are meant to be."

 

[zombieshark6666]

It's just a bunch of whiny cunts who are unfairly reviewing a game because of a poor release. They reflect badly on the community and make us look like a bunch of children. IMO

Children don't disagree with bad practices or unnecessary technical problems, they just enjoy the gaems and eat pogos.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

I support taking actual action against DRM, etc. but while I think the scores are unfair as scores for the whole game, they're user scores - no-one gets to tell you what your criteria are, that's just the score you give. If servers and DRM are all that matter to a lot of people, why shouldn't a game get a pitiful user score?