GOOD NEWS! EA’s future games will all feature microtransactions!

[Rub'Rum]

Pretty much SiLL. I come from the same sort of place as you on that. I was in a Diablo 1 guild...

I did play D3 for quite a few hours, a number of hours which isn't bad in modern game terms, but there was something missing this whole time. One of the big things is that in these hours I got zero excitement from item drops; I found not a single unique item on my own, I had to buy a couple in the auction (NOT using real money, thank god they had the decency to put a game-gold auction house too, but inflation makes it almost unusable for me). The hours I put in the game are slim compared to the years I played D1 and D2.

Also the art style was indeed a huge letdown, and the story and stupid villains constantly talking to you are ridiculous.

 

[Disgustipated]

Got that one backwards. Obsidian makes some fine games, but historically they haven't been big on the "innovation" meter. Their primary modus operandi was to buy rights to make a sequel to a successful RPG by some other company, then try to refine and improve on the original a little bit and add a new story. See: KOTR2, NWN2, Fallout: New Vegas, Dungeon Siege 3. Exceptions: Alpha Protocol, some games not yet released.

You are right in that they don't design new game engines, but it was Obsidian I believe that came up with the companion influence system in KOTOR 2 and NWN 2 (which Bioware put into Dragon Age). NWN2 had a couple innovations which found it's way into Dragon Age.

 

[civvver]

Magazine reviewers rate off reviewer versions of the games, like special beta servers etc. It's like being one of 100 people allowed into a special tour of disney world, exclaiming this place is amazing! then everyone else has to wait 3 hours in line to ride snow white and it sucks. Same thing here, nearly all 1 star reviews on any game have to do with technical issues, either server or bugs. Even civ5 reviews got better after patches. Also the critics often don't play the games long enough imo.