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'Diablo 3' fools gamers with little content

Photo Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
Photo Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment

Photo Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment

On Aug. 21, the newest patch for Blizzard Entertainment's "Diablo 3" went live: Version 1.04. This came about in the wake of the game's director, Jay Wilson, admitting that the game actually didn't have enough content to keep players playing, even after reaching level 60.

The number of players in the game has dwindled in recent months, as players are finding the driving goal of discovering more loot less and less satisfying after the game is complete.

The new patch has changed the drop rates of legendary items, as well as implementing what is called the “Paragon System,” which adds essentially another 100 levels to gain after level 60 as a means of bolstering post-game content. Wilson has stated on the Blizzard Entertainment website that he is incredibly proud of the game, but he agrees with a lot of player complaints about the lack of a reason to keep playing after level 60, and hopes to address it.

The lack of post-end game content isn't just a problem for Diablo. Earlier this year the much hyped "Star Wars: The Old Republic" came out to widespread critical praise and 1.7 million subscribers. However, since it's release, subscribership to the game has tanked, and EA is now changing the game from charging a fee of $15 dollars a month, to a free-to-play business model, just to retain users and hopefully bring subscriber numbers back up.

What keeps players playing games? This is a question that has been in the game industry since it's inception. Released last fall, "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim," is a game where the amount of content in the game kept players playing for hundreds of hours — even after the relatively short main quest was complete. The game had an infinite number of side quests to partake in, people to meet, places to discover and dragons to kill.  Not only that, but Bethesda's constant additions of downloadable content, like Dawnguard and the just-announced Hearthfire, make the already large amount of content in the game absolutely staggering.

When the games are compared, "Diablo 3" assumes that players will keep playing after level 60 simply to find better items, whereas Skyrim keeps players playing because the game has actual quests to complete.

In short, Diablo tries to keep players with intangible goals while Skyrim keeps players with actual gameplay. Developers need to realize for a game to keep players playing, games need to have actual content in the game, like more quests and places to explore.

That's not to say that every game strives to hold onto its players after the game is complete. This summer's release "Lollipop Chainsaw" was exactly what it was promised to be — a hack-and-slash zombie killing game that oozed style, but was entirely linear. The game also made no illusions about the length: After the game was over, it was done. There were score-leader boards included, and unlockable skins for the main character, but aside from that there was nothing to keep people playing the game after its release, and that was completely acceptable.

The game sold a respectable 700,000 copies and gained critical praise. It will live on in “used game” bins at GameStop until the end of time. Gamers will pick it up years from now out of sheer curiosity or nostalgia. But the game made money and accomplished what it set out to.

But for games like The Old Republic and Diablo — where the success of the game depends on whether people are still playing — keeping players entertained after the main game is beaten is of the utmost importance.

One of the positives — or possibly negatives — of gaming in the 21st century is DLC and content patches. Blizzard Games realizes that Diablo is lacking in a distinctive post game, and taking steps like the new 1.04 content patch is certainly working toward rectifying the situation. Whether the patch is enough to bring players back to the game or keep players playing is still up in the air.

 

Reach the reporter at brian.bishop96@gmail.com


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