Basically Blizzard posted a job opening for someone, that may modernize classic games. Diablo, StarCraft and WarCraft were mentioned, and since StarCraft have already being remastered, that leaves us with D2 and WC3...
Now, personal opinion time...
I don't really care about WarCraft 3. I care about Diablo 2, because it's in my Top10 greatest games ever made ever.
Knowing Diablo 3 I am seriously worried. Knowing the SC remaster, that is basically just visual upgrade I am even more worried. D2 can do with some minor mechanical upgrades, but we will see...
I am worried...
How about you?
Why do i have the feeling they will be the same just with always online functionality...
Its probably activision wanting cash. D2 and W3 are pretty good on their own.
Can we just make our own games and tell the companies to all fuck off?
Indie gaming has been a thing for a while... And it's WAY harder, than it looks...
I haven't played D2 all that much, but I think reworking some mechanics is not as big a deal there.
With SC it wasn't really possible the way they wanted it to do. As far as I understand SC original and remaster are both compatible in online and competitive play. Reworking mechanics on one end just doesn't really work there. My guess is that WC3 (maybe WC2 too?) will be the same, since WC3 multiplayer is still quite active, and they don't want to divide playbases between original and remaster.
For me this is actually a good thing. Means people that need some graphics to find it compelling can still play with people that like the nostalgia (and I admit I'm one of the former, I really like WC3 but always dropped out of it because I couldn't bear the graphics long term, D2 the same).
Since D2 isn't really competitive on the other hand, mechanic reworks should theoretically be possible. Then again people with original and remaster couldn't do coop either.
@FaunCB Blizzard absorbed Activision, not the other way round. And noone is forcing you to buy the remaster, if it's like the SC remaster the exact opposite is the case. Even if a friend wants the play the remaster you may be able to play with him with the original game. And that's quite nice frankly.
Then why is Blizzard Entertainment a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard and traded under the symbol ATVI?
The merger took place higher up the totem pole. It wasn't Blizzard Entertainment that absorbed Activision, it was their parent company, Vivendi, that merged with Activision after acquiring a majority share.
So that does put Activision technically OVER, not under or alongside, Blizzard Entertainment in the merger.
I'm too lazy to look for that Ron Paul gif so just imagine that this post is a "IT'S HAPPENING" gif.
Guys, guys... It's pointless to argue...
A few years ago blizzard basically said "we bought the majority of our shares back from Activision, so they no longer own us" or something very similar.
As far as I know, Activision used to own blizzard, but they don't anymore. At least not as much as before. Now blizzard do all evil things on their own, not forced by anyone.
This is why I have boycotting them for the last... Well, since WOW Cataclysm came out. I played some pay to win hearthstone. And I am boycotting them again.
The brainwashed fanboys can keep them afloat. I find their games mind-numbingly bad as of late. I am exclusively single player guy, so lacking single player in their last 10 trillion games makes me even more worried about D2. D2 was the last Blizzard game I can honestly say I loved. Currently there are more games I dislike from Blizzard, than ones I like.
Diablo 2 is in need of a little tune up with some better resolution options. Warcraft III is basically fine, but I fear it will face the same Bnet always online feature like SC2. I already own all of their old games in CD and digital form, so if they want to give it out for free like they apparently are for the Starcraft remaster, then cool. However I am in the same boat of not buying anymore products from Blizzard and a few other old developers because of their current way of functioning. I stopped playing WoW when Cataclysm came out, I bought the expansion and gave it a try, but they had already changed so much of it to focus on the track towards very casual gameplay.
They've done a pretty good job with SC 1 remake so I'm not really concerned about Diablo 2 and WC3. I think they're just trying to make a quick buck on nostalgia. And they know better than to fuck with the core of what made those games so popular. And in the event that they do fuck it up, well, nobody is forcing us to buy.
Remastering old games is just run out of idea's resell the old games to new young people who have never seen them.
Imo that's not necessarily a bad thing. Especially for really old titles like D2 or W3. They are classics that people should play, but even if younger players do show interest in old games (not everyone likes the retro vibe from clunky graphics and mechanics), it can be tricky getting old games to run on current platforms (maybe not necessarily W3 and D2, but there are other old remastered games too). And not everyone is experienced in setting up and running a VM or whatever.
You have a point I poured hours into warcraft 1 through 3 many many hours. I get sad at how new games just pure suck and why can't we make new nice things ?
It's a bit like total annihilation. Epic game and so many hour into it.
Then came supreme command and forged alliance and more epic fun and play.
Supreme commander 2 comes out and it it a pile of poo.
Planetary Annihilation is a good game. It still has a playerbase and tooooons of mods.