Social Listening and Blizzard Entertainment
I have always enjoyed watching friends play video games but rarely found ones that I wanted to play myself. When I found Diablo, it was as a game that I was interested in watching an ex-boyfriend play and something I thought he might enjoy. Boy, was I mistaken, the game wasn’t his type of gameplay, but it somehow drew me in and had me playing for hours at a time both as a single player and online. Time moved on just like I did with that relationship, and I met a guy who had more in common with me than just my love of sci-fi and Pokémon Go, we bonded together over playing the game Diablo 3 and would play and talk for hours together. When I heard that Blizzard Entertainment was developing a new game (Diablo 4) I knew it was going to be another game we got to bond together over, this time as husband and wife.
Blizzard Entertainment is known for building communities and taking the gaming experience to the next level, on their website you can get a sense of who they are, under WHAT WE STAND FOR it states, “Dedicated to creating the most epic entertainment experiences… ever.”
One thing Blizzard did when developing Diablo 4 was to listen to what fans of the Diablo game franchise were demanding and listen to what they missed between Diablo 2 and Diablo 3. Blizzard spent years talking about the game, building excitement with limited information drops, and allowing Beta test weekends for those that pre-ordered the game. Youtubers spent the months leading up to the release delving into what Blizzard is offering, from gameplay, characters, and seasonal gameplay. One of the YouTube influencers, known online as Rhykker, even had the opportunity to have an interview with the Diablo 4 game director and Diablo 4 general manager prior to the game release, bringing more hype to his followers for the game.
Blizzard brought Diablo to the next level through connecting the regions from previous games in an overworld open map, an integrated in world lobby instead of exiting into a gaming lobby, more customization ability for characters and their skills, and breaking into cross platform gaming. Diablo 4 may be new and was well hyped, but it doesn’t keep the players from roasting it online just one month after its release. Reviews of new game patches and the soon to be released season appear to be mostly negative ranging from disappointment to people outright stating they are uninstalling the game.
The response to the first season of Diablo 4 comes with mixed reviews.
So far there has been no response given from Diablo or Blizzard Entertainment over the negative reviews on the patch notes or the criticism over how quickly they are rolling out the First season after releasing the game. In turn though, Diablo hasn’t responded to the positive comments either, apart from their responding to X-box which honestly feels worse since they took the time out for a big platform instead of the players which are the heart of the community and the game.
Any response from the developers could make a difference in the community, from them saying “We hear you and are working on something for future seasons” or even “While we appreciate the input, we are focusing on making this game as epic as possible which sometimes may require unpopular alterations to gameplay and character abilities”. With Diablo 4 being such a new game, it feels like there is less responsiveness than expected from their social media teams. Instead we are left with content showcasing Fan Art.
If you are interseted in more on what Diablo 4 is doing in regards to the patch and the First Season "Season of the Malignant", Rhykker has extensively covered both including a response from the developers. The following video is long at 27 minutes but offers some insight into the "Why".
Blizzard Entertainment is known for building communities and taking the gaming experience to the next level, on their website you can get a sense of who they are, under WHAT WE STAND FOR it states, “Dedicated to creating the most epic entertainment experiences… ever.”
One thing Blizzard did when developing Diablo 4 was to listen to what fans of the Diablo game franchise were demanding and listen to what they missed between Diablo 2 and Diablo 3. Blizzard spent years talking about the game, building excitement with limited information drops, and allowing Beta test weekends for those that pre-ordered the game. Youtubers spent the months leading up to the release delving into what Blizzard is offering, from gameplay, characters, and seasonal gameplay. One of the YouTube influencers, known online as Rhykker, even had the opportunity to have an interview with the Diablo 4 game director and Diablo 4 general manager prior to the game release, bringing more hype to his followers for the game.
Blizzard brought Diablo to the next level through connecting the regions from previous games in an overworld open map, an integrated in world lobby instead of exiting into a gaming lobby, more customization ability for characters and their skills, and breaking into cross platform gaming. Diablo 4 may be new and was well hyped, but it doesn’t keep the players from roasting it online just one month after its release. Reviews of new game patches and the soon to be released season appear to be mostly negative ranging from disappointment to people outright stating they are uninstalling the game.
The response to the first season of Diablo 4 comes with mixed reviews.
So far there has been no response given from Diablo or Blizzard Entertainment over the negative reviews on the patch notes or the criticism over how quickly they are rolling out the First season after releasing the game. In turn though, Diablo hasn’t responded to the positive comments either, apart from their responding to X-box which honestly feels worse since they took the time out for a big platform instead of the players which are the heart of the community and the game.
Any response from the developers could make a difference in the community, from them saying “We hear you and are working on something for future seasons” or even “While we appreciate the input, we are focusing on making this game as epic as possible which sometimes may require unpopular alterations to gameplay and character abilities”. With Diablo 4 being such a new game, it feels like there is less responsiveness than expected from their social media teams. Instead we are left with content showcasing Fan Art.
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