Diablo III: A Cautionary Tale | 12 Years of Development Hell

[@Indigo_Gaming]

Diablo III changed _so much_ since its announcement, that documenting its many twists and turns in a presentable way took hundreds of hours of research, editing, upscaling and restoration. *Consider supporting my work on Patreon or SubscribeStar:* www.patreon.com/IndigoGaming | www.subscribestar.com/indigogaming

[@mbe102]

Thanks for this dude. Always love your videos, but its an especially enjoyable experience on a crappy, boring Sunday.

[@volf3r505]

Diablo IV is Diablo 3 : Regurgitated - NO LESSONS have been learned. Same mantra of POWER coming from ITEMS and character skills.

[@Indigo_Gaming]

@@mbe102 Hope your Sunday was a little less crappy. Thanks for watching!

[@docbones213]

This was a real trip down memory lane. Thanks.

[@Kabodanki]

disney charm lol

[@Dylanm94]

"We wanted to see what we loved about diablo 1 and 2 so we went back to play those games. In our memory (the memories that loved Diablo 1 and 2) it was very colorless but we spotted some color in the old games so we said fuck it and went all out on color"

[@Indigo_Gaming]

You're not wrong, that's basically what they said. 😄

[@senormarston]

such a stupid mindset; of course, it wasn't because of that, I'm pretty sure Blizzard demanded a more colorful design in order to appeal to that WoW sweet player count so they invented that idiotic story

[@dublinduster]

@@senormarston They were giving away D3 for free if you bought WoW 1-year subscription afaik, you are correct about their desire to appeal to WoW players

[@mattb6646]

No they just copied it from wow

[@Nav0nod]

​@@dublinduster totally forgot about this lol

[@TheGodfather101]

"They saw D2 as something to be corrected instead of something to be perfected." Well said.

[@rafe9852]

And it's happening again with D4, they really want to distance themselves from D3 that they didn't take the many good things and features from it. Sure D3 launch was a disaster, but over the years it redeemed itself, with my only complaint being the endless paragons and outrageous numbers, but aside from that it has all of the elements of what makes an great arpg. D4 definitely nails the graphics, atmosphere and story 100%, but when you get to the endgame I honestly prefer D3 over D4. I hope that will change in the future.

[@ShadowFri3nd]

"and i took that personally" *Chris Wilson*

[@Lubet0TheGreat]

@@rafe9852 Cmon man, in D3 they copy+pasted so many stuff from D3, the game plays almost the same, but on the other hand I don't see a single think from D2 except the name,

[@JustBill82]

​​@@rafe9852lizzard is such a different company, and my expectations were so low that I am happy with diablo iv. Diablo IV at least attempted to bring back some of the spirit of the cathedral. They are not the same people anymore so I will take what I am given, even if it is a B- (in a D+ world).

[@Netopeer]

@@rafe9852 really weird when the 11 year old live service game has more content than the 1 week old live service games. makes you think

[@AlexJay95]

I had no idea diablo 3 went through such a development hell. The whole cycle sounds like overthinking hell instead of just making a game that’s fun

[@Indigo_Gaming]

Yeah, the amount of iteration and indecision is paralyzing. Even after about 5 years of work from Blizzard North was completely scrapped, years of back and forth probably resulted in thousands of man-hours lost. A waste of talented individuals' time.

[@dr17719]

They always want to top D2 but really just make a fun game (D1) and keep in mind that you should respect your players’ time by insuring you get out of their way.

[@I-HAVE-A-BOMB]

Monetization hell is a more apt description. Meta for max profit.

[@KyokujiFGC]

Funny thing is now it sounds like exactly the same thing happened with Diablo 4.

[@RegularFlyGuy]

The game ended up being fun. Just not fun for people looking for a D2 sequel. If that game was a spin off series of Diablo i dont think people wouldve hated it as much.

[@GamePlayMetal]

"People's memories of D2 were way different than the reality of D2" Bitch please, I still play D2R to this day. And I remember very well my first character getting annihilated by Duriel in normal difficulty

[@powdercowboy90]

Totally. What an asshole. Us dumb dumb game fans couldn't possibly remember a game we played for countless hours. And still play for countless hours. How could we remember that? Bottom line is that diablo 3 Is like a color explosion orgasm at all times....but with d2 it was something really special. You could actually tell what your enemies looked like

[@Dandyphonic]

If people played Project Diablo 2, they would also see how an amazing game could become perfect. They missed the mark with D2R when I see how much cooler PD2 was in terms of balance, build diversity, runewords, end game, etc.

[@DarkepyonX]

​@@Dandyphonic PD2 is soso , it doesn't feel diablo it feels like a modded diablo clone and why so many people aren't playing it , has cool ideas but is just modern wants on a game that was fine as is .

[@TheIdiotNamedJoe]

Lmao I remember that too. I remember constantly town portaling to restock on mana potions. That and constant save scumming were the only way I beat him with my paladin

[@danielhale1]

Two words are very important for effective design: Fail Faster. You need to get core systems figured out really well, and locked in, before you start investing heavy into content. Play your game with playtesters with the ugliest art you can find and make sure your game is fun to play and does what you want. Iterate as you need throughout this process -- do the hard design work early. Run into failures and resolve them as soon as possible. You could still pivot later, but you really don't want to. Failing later is much more expensive, even lethal, than failing fast and early.

[@Indigo_Gaming]

I flipped my lid when they completely redesigned the entire skill system and attribute system a few months out from release. Setting yourself up for major problems that you don't have time to solve.

[@SpecShadow]

sounds like something from old times (early 2000 and before) and something from GGG these days? don't see this as possiblity

[@Dyllon2012]

One of my favorite games is Immortality Idle which is a glorified spreadsheet.

[@lopiklop]

KZbin comment :"Just make better games, duh"

[@woodwyrm]

As Shigeru Miyamoto tells us: "A Delayed Game Is Eventually Good, But a Bad Game Is Bad Forever"

[@MitzyPep]

I feel like one of the worst things a game can do design-wise is to discourage or even disallow the player from making mistakes. Not only can it reduce uniqueness between games, but it also takes away from a lot of the fun of these games, as making mistakes and retrying and figuring out the solution is oftentimes the best part of a game for me.

[@Indigo_Gaming]

Forcing the "optimal" path both discourages experimentation and removes any sense of accomplishment for finding that path. I agree!

[@Sombody123]

It's like the devs are trying to pre-emptively play significant portions of the game for the player... the things that require choice and engaging thinking.

[@cursedex80]

It all depends. Diablo III's auto allocation of points is just trash, but also the game probably shouldn't be allowing mistakes at minute 10 that will have a big impact on hour 200 either. Diablo II allowed 3 free full resets, which is a good way to go at not giving you unlimited retries while also allowing you to put a point on something "to see what happens" without that permanently crippling you until you shell out money, or adapt to an endgame rare gear drop that radically changes how you'll play. A lot of the hardcore fans of these games tend to often forget that not everyone spends 16 hour a day playing it. Heck, with the launch of 4, it seems like even the hardcore are starting to feel their time being disrespected.

[@AmazingPotatoFarmer]

Path of Exile did the exact opposite of Diablo 3. Hundreds of choices across the huge passive skill tree, the possible gear and skill gems, ascendancies and more, with so many ways you can customise or fuck up your build. The whole process of trying something new or weird with builds, trying out skill and gear interactions, and all the rest led to me spending near 2000 hours in the game, as opposed to my one-and-done playthrough of D3 when I was gifted it on PS4. My hope for now is that PoE 2 will be what I wanted from D3 and D4.

[@CADPgamer]

It's definitely a balancing act when designing. In Last Epoch for example, the only decision you're locked into is your class and mastery. Passive points can be respect if you have the gold, and you can remove skill points from skills in their skill trees, but you have to relevel them by gaining exp so that you regain your skill point, or even despecialize old skills to respecialize into new ones, but they only start at a certain level, but it's not as grueling because your skills gain more exp as a catch-up mechanic.

[@lovecraftcat]

I'm like 6 minutes into this vid and yeah, boy oh boy let's antagonize our fans by mocking them. Truly, Blizz are ahead of their time, this wouldn't become popular until years later.

[@Indigo_Gaming]

I never understood that attitude. If any other company did that, you would be boycotted. I have no idea how Blizzard management was okay with mocking fans to a point of making T-shirts, Powerpoints and even easter eggs just to tick them off.

[@jd89]

​@@Indigo_Gaming Considering the reveals about Blizzards company culture, I have no trouble seeing why management behaves the way they did.

[@tau2213]

To be fair, I'd call the stuff we see there as mostly just some playful ribbing, rather than modern trends where a PR mouthpiece tells me to not buy the game if I don't like something.

[@goonboyx]

@@Indigo_Gaming lol that shit was so tame u guys are such babies

[@lovecraftcat]

Didn't expect a reply from Indigo, but the appearance of blizzard internet drone force (BIDF) is 100% guaranteed if the comment doesn't get buried. Of course all would be forgiven if the game was good, but it wasn't.

[@snowballandpals]

Can we take a moment to appreciate that we're in a golden age of independently created gaming documentaries?

[@Nah_Bohdi]

And great indy games too! AAA means great visuals and empty mechanics and 8-bit means blocky but deep gameplay...like way way deep, Dwarf Fortress or Caves of Qud, just goes forever.

[@heyitsfp]

An era of newfound independence for sure

[@miinyoo]

This is super true. I don't give "mainstream" any of my time or attention. Haven't for two decades now. The good media is underneath the radar, on low budgets made by people who actually care across all genres and storytelling. I love science and the in depth stories I want to dive into are nowhere to be found but in the underground.

[@sellingacoerwa8318]

you mean clickbait youtube videos about whatever the hot game of the month is? I don't think I'll insert my nose up assholes over youtube by the numbers content personally, the fact that people got mad about Diablo 3's art style has been talked to death. Throwing online tantrums about every video game that comes out is a hobby in itself for some people, that really has nothing substantial to do with people whp play games as a hobby. It's it's own own thing and some lame ass shit imo Here's a hot take: Stop fucking pre ordering games and dont buy the shit if you don't like it or you think it's to woke or whatever. Put your actions where your mouth is, I'm doing it with Alan Wake 2

[@biglollol]

Not a fan of the AI voices though.

[@thrazamund7062]

Would you consider making a deep dive documentary on Diablo 1-2, Warcraft 1-2? I’ve watched countless documentaries on the subject but none of them explain the magick that was going on at Blizzard in those early years. So many devs(including David Brevik) say the true genius at Blizzard was Allen Adham but no documentaries really say what he did. I would love for you to shine a light on this golden age of gaming which is still shrouded in mist.

[@Indigo_Gaming]

That sounds like an interesting topic! I can't promise anything at the moment, as I already have another big video in production, but it would really be a matter of finding reliable sources and visuals I can use to demonstrate everything. It's very, very difficult to make a video with no source material to show or visualize.

[@thrazamund7062]

@@Indigo_Gaming I'm a big fan of your videos and the passion, detail and care you put into them. I understand the difficulty as I've searched deeply on the subject and found so little. Most of the info is probably in old gaming magazines and not in interviews or talks. How did they come up with the art style for Warcraft? The spritework for Warcraft 2 is amazing. Why were the sound effects/voice acting so far above most other games? The soundtrack for Warcraft 2 is amazing and doesn't sound like anything else at the time. How? Who? Influences? All of these questions could be directed at Diablo 1 as well. No one really has any answers. If anyone could find answers I bet you can.

[@h3lol]

@@thrazamund7062 Warhammer and Lotr tolkien heavy influences for wacraft

[@JustGrowingUp84]

This explained so many things I didn't understand! Special mention goes to using a Diablo-style narrator to read quotes from the devs, and conclusions, it's brilliant and I love it!

[@arislanbekkosnazarov9644]

"You think you do, but you don’t," will never stop being iconic

[@Indigo_Gaming]

Him stuttering while delivering that zinger is absolutely legendary.

[@jamesmckenna5453]

That right there, is the core reason D3 failed. Blizzard was so certain they knew what their fans wanted they made one of the chief mistakes any company can make: declaring you know better than the customer, making a supply while expecting a demand.

[@hansbansor5170]

@@jamesmckenna5453 "Declaring you know better than the customer" Art works differently than fabricating tables for sale. Usually an artist doesnt involve fans in composing their songs and writing their books. If a writer wants to kill off a character the fans love, a writer shouldnt pull back just because 'there is demand'. - Thats basicly how you get all those unkillable marvel heroes or stuff like "somehow, emperor palpatine returned".

[@antonioazevedo9166]

@@jamesmckenna5453the company used to have a logo “by gamers for gamers”. It seems they dont have any gamers developing now, so they dont know anymore what they players expect

[@verybigbrain1]

@@hansbansor5170 The difference between games and most other art is the much deeper interactivity that means you need to take your consumers needs into account a lot more.

[@RutabagaSwe]

It's quite ironic to listen to the "you think you want it, but you really don't" quote today. Even though i think that is often true, that fans don't really know what they want until they get it, in this case it was clearly Blizzard who had no idea of what either they or the fans wanted.

[@Indigo_Gaming]

Yeah that quote will go down in history, mostly because of badly he was proven wrong. Millions enjoyed WoW Classic.

[@limitedhangoutlive]

That quote is mostly true for pretty much anything related to product development. People don’t know what they want until you show them. Hell, who knew everyone would want an iPhone. I don’t think that was the issue though. The problem was Blizzard became out of touch from the trailblazers they were and out of touch with the games and even GENRES they literally created. Seems they are still suffering from this more worried about rainbow logos, body type 2 and replacing women with fruit.

[@OhSnapItsBatman]

@@Indigo_Gamingmooo

[@rossmcgarry7651]

You all have phones,right?

[@honeybadger6275]

@@limitedhangoutlive Nah at this point, the people working for most game studios are marxists and are more interested in using their platform to push a political agenda than making a good video game.

[@HeirofAzaran]

I love watching retrospectives on Diablo, but every one I watch seems to gloss over the development at the start of three, so this is a real pleasure!

[@Indigo_Gaming]

A big inspiration for this video was the fact that almost nobody talked about the development of the game. Seemed like a great niche to fill!

[@HeirofAzaran]

@@Indigo_Gaming I had been thinking the same thing! I wanted to do a retrospective on the series myself, and dig up as much information as I could to fill that exact niche. Thank you for providing all of this! I think you did a better job than I could, but when I do make my own I will credit you as one of the sources I draw from. Glad to be a subscriber and I look forward to everything you do after this!

[@brennanwn]

@@Indigo_Gaming You did a fantastic job

[@Indigo_Gaming]

@@HeirofAzaran I provided a 13 page list of sources (in my video description) for articles, videos and footage. Some of the footage I got from reuploads of uploads, so it's hard to source, but most of it is out there if you look long enough!

[@Indigo_Gaming]

Thank you all for staying a while and listening...

[@MichaelPohoreski]

Author of a popular "D2 Cheat Sheet" here. This an _amazing_ documentary. THANK-YOU for chronicling this. I've added a link from my Cheat Sheet.

[@icedogg111]

Diablo 3 was the first and last game I pre-ordered.

[@hieioni3354]

Yep. Never pre-order a modern game because it will turn out either unfinished or woke as hell.

[@Indigo_Gaming]

@icedogg111 A painful lesson, but an important one.

[@hieioni3354]

@@Indigo_Gaming Agreed. Sometimes we need to have a painful lesson to realize the truth.

[@Grogeous_Maximus]

@@hieioni3354 Preordering results in a game becoming woke?

[@hieioni3354]

@@Grogeous_Maximus Don't be a smartass. You know what I meant.

[@xdevantx5870]

I'll tell you what went wrong. I listened to an interview with Jay Wilson. Everything he loved about Diablo 2 were IMO the worst aspects of the game. Everything he hated about Diablo 2 were in my experience exactly what made the game so enticing and kept me coming back night after night.

[@NinjaSushi2]

Lol

[@Minilogu3]

Lol

[@boon1580]

the dev that they put in charge were not gamer and these ppl simply dont understand what comprise a good game. so we get d3, nice cgi, piss poor game play.

[@Dead_Goat]

Yup instead of an rpg with in-depth character building you get a pick your hero action game.

[@trompell0]

D3 is way more enjoyable than Diablo 2. After the expansion the game was fine. Yall played it in like 2013 and are judging it on that lol.

[@zorroknowsbetter]

This video is one of the most well researched, well written, well voice acted, and well paced gaming videos period. The amount of care you guys put into this video is fantastic, you deserve a million more views. Videos like these is EXACTLY what this medium needs more of. Keep it up! Well done 👍.

[@paid14]

Voice acted? That's AI, buddy. Creator should have used his actual voice for them parts.

[@mathismohr1356]

Diablo 3: Promise PVP, never deliver Overwatch 2: Promise PVE, never deliver Conclusion: Never buy Blizzard products on promises. Buy when its there. Or better yet: Shove Blizzard in the same bin EA is in, and be happy.

[@Indigo_Gaming]

That's an important lesson to learn: if it's not already in the game, it may never be.

[@jjstraka1982]

Diablo 3 has more official PvP than Diablo 2, considering the later literally has NONE.

[@mathismohr1356]

@@jjstraka1982 Someone never collected ears...

[@jjstraka1982]

@Mathis Mohr it was a toggle to fight in town, and the ears were literally useless. It was an entirely player-made mode which certain people (you apparently) think everyone was engaging in when in fact it was a niche of a niche that 90% of people who played didn't give a shit about. So if you want to argue that ear drops are more PvP content than a dedicated brawling area that (surprise!!) no one ever participated in, you can, but you would be wrong. Here is a spoiler for you: There is now an entire PvP zone in Diablo IV, and almost no one will participate in that either. You will be able to farm Red Dust to your heart's content. Why?? Because Diablo is not a PvP game. It never has been, and never will be, no matter how much a vocal minority tries to rewrite history and shoehorn it into being important. Blizzard has literally ONE franchise that is strictly PvE focused, while everything else revolves around multi-player. But the PvP crowd just couldn't handle that. The Diablo 3 PvP scene didn't fail because of a lack of ability to participate. It failed because no one cares.

[@SuperHns]

Which is Sad, the Old Blizzard was a near perfect company but Activision ruined it

[@creative-ark]

Being a huge Diablo fan, I was eagerly anticipating Diablo 3 for years before its launch. I followed all of the news, greedily consuming all content related to the changing systems. When it finally launched, I had booked a week off from work and couldn't log in for the first 3 days. When I finally got a chance to play, to say that I was disappointed was an understatement. Diablo 3 managed to completely subvert everything I had loved about the Diablo - the art style, the customization, the combat. It was a totally different experience than what I was expecting. It was the first time I had felt real betrayal; I remember Jay's attitude towards the community leading up to its release - the contempt he seemed to have for the fans of the games was palpable. I thought I had purged a lot of these memories from my mind. I made peace with Diablo 3 many years ago and accepted what it was. A flawed game. To be fair, it was impossible for it to live up to the fans expectations - at least I thought this, until Diablo 4. Playing Diablo 4, it just confirmed to me that they could have faithfully evolved the Diablo formula while still creating something new - something the fans would have loved. But Jay and his team chose not to. We will never know why. Watching this video brought all those dark days back with full force. Thank you for the deep dive, as a huge fan of Diablo, who grew up playing the Diablo series, I definitely feel vindicated in my feelings towards Diablo 3. The signs for its betrayal to fans were there right from the beginning, even if us fans didn't want to see it.

[@hmr1122]

D4 is even less D2 than D3.

[@Gimmemi]

I can see why you’d enjoy Diablo 4 especially if you made peace wit 3’s changes. But 4 is the same as 3 if not slightly better so it just feels like Stockholm syndrome to me. Not that we actually enjoy the game. Just we enjoy what previously captivated our minds in a lesser and more predatory form. Like we’ve been conditioned. So I still don’t enjoy 4, it feels like an abusive girlfriend cooking dinner and giving compliments for a week after years of pain. Something to enjoy sure, but not real love and freedom.

[@DressySeagull]

I don't understand why this happens so much with beloved IPs these days. You're selling a product to the consumer, not the developer/producer. If the consumer doesn't like it, you failed to market the product to your own audience, it's not the audience's fault. Pure arrogance.

[@marcusgarcia5089]

Yup. Same here. Luckily, I found Path of Exile, and it was free to play, and I got the Diablo 3 experience with that and have been playinh it since.

[@pierreo33]

​@@hmr1122Dumbest comment of the year.

[@ChairmanMeow1]

Losing Uelman for the music was a massive massive loss. Music is arguably the best quality of them all from D2.

[@recordatron]

It often seems prior to a lot of these divisive releases like D3 and many of the Western designed Silent Hill games there seems to be this insistance that certain design elements "just don't work anymore" and that "players will find this irritating and it needs to change" without really citing how they came to those conclusions besides trust me bro and their own preferences and then it more often that not absolutely was not what their audience wanted. It's kind of uncanny really how it always seems to have the same sort of thought process going on behind these releases.

[@lubaylumumba2409]

Same thing goes for splinter cel.Gone is the slow frame by frame control of Sam Fisher instead we get a fast-paced shooter more in line with a John Wick adaptation

[@ToyokaX]

Yea, I really felt that Jay Wilson specifically tried really hard to change/remove things that didn't need to be changed and overthought systems that should have remained simple (the town portal scrolls being one of those).

[@mondzi]

Very good point. I think their reasoning/motivation is targeting the biggest audience possible which then leads (with not deeply understanding what made previous games beloved) to loss of identity.

[@noobatgames3321]

​@@lubaylumumba2409 bro I remember one of those games it was fun

[@herrpez]

WoW Classic is probably the biggest example to date. "You think you do [want it], but you don't" -> turns into the biggest revenue source. Odd... people knowing they want something, despite being told they don't. Edit: That was in the video just minutes after I wrote the comment. Typical! 😆

[@brianhedley5139]

Many could not forgive the lame way Deckard Cain was put out of the game. the last of the Horadric order. The main character who had came through all the Diablo games was wiped out in a lame way. His death was pitiful and put a lot of people off in the game regardless of what happened from there. It was screw the previous Diablo players all you know follow the new story and screw your muliple years of loyalty.

[@SkyFly19853]

I totally agree.

[@unreasonableJameson]

D3 was definetly aggresive towards it's predecesors and everything about them. Wilson is easy to blame because of his clear contempt for the franchise but I think the real culprit is the person that chose him for the job. He clearly saw D2 as something broken or badly made, he maybe even actively disliked it. Another thing that points the blame to something above WIlson is the fact that many (bad) changes that D3 made to the franchise are being continued.

[@RobVespa]

Definitely a Cayde-6 situation (Ha)...

[@imillnotsick420]

Idk shit about the story but I was playing diablo 4 earlier and they were talking about this one dude in the story being a haradrim.

[@BeeLightning]

@@imillnotsick420 Deckard was the last of the original Horadrim being the descendant of one its founders while Lorath was in the second order that founded by Tyrael after Diablo died in D3

[@naev0]

This video is art. The nostalgia is unbelievable. I remember reading some of Bashiok's insane posts on the forums as he told us what systems were changing.

[@Indigo_Gaming]

The one post I saw that cracked me up, was when he tried to de-hype the fans, so they would lower their expectations. 😄

[@JayJayYUP]

@@Indigo_Gaming Was wondering if you remember the infamous "aren't you thankful" ordeal? I'm surprised buffoons like that have a place in any company let alone a company the size of Blizzard.

[@Fingolfin3423]

Lifelong Blizzard game player here, starting back with Warcraft 1 back in 1995-1996 when I was 11-12 years old. I feel a lot of emotions when I watch this video, even just 19 minutes into it. I feel frustration, annoyance, bewilderment, disappointment, and even anger. To realize what Diablo 3 could have been, but failed to become, all because of failed leadership and bad people at the helm. I didn't realize they falsely represented Diablo 3 so much in that early footage. There was a lot of misrepresentation going on. Referring back to the old footage pulls out the necessary receipts to hold these people and their failures accountable. The old saying is "don't fix what isn't broken." Boy does that ring true. Those new people who came in to replace the Blizzard North team wanted to reinvent the wheel. There are countless examples, with perhaps the largest one being the rejection of runes and runewords. Another huge failure is the removal of a trading economy. The scrapping of charms is another, along with the removal of skill point distribution and skill trees, as well as the removal of ability key slots. The list goes on and on. It just seems like they didn't know what to do, and they ended up cutting things in the end. The leadership of Diablo 3 completely failed, such as with Jay Wilson. He clearly had no feel for what Diablo was. He seemed to be looking at too many other games and coming up with too many of his own theories. He comes across very poorly. It's amazing how if you have the wrong people at the top, the entire thing fails, regardless of how good your other employees are. Wyatt Chang was another flop. Whoever selected people like Jay and Wyatt clearly didn't understand Diablo, either. Disastrous selections for leadership. There are many times in this video where the D3 team used the rationale of "We need to keep a brisk pace," or something along those lines, as justification for removing things, such as the identification of loot process. This shows a fundamental misunderstanding of how Diablo loot works, though. The real-money auction house was a complete disaster. I forgot about Jay Wilson attacking David Brevik. That was ugly. That tells you everything you need to know about the failure of Diablo 3. Jay didn't like David, and because of that, he wanted to reinvent the wheel and Diablo 3 into his own image. The problem is that he wasn't good enough to do it. In the statements made by Jay shortly after the 1:40:00 mark, he's just making crap up. He's wrong about everything he says there. It amazes me how they hired Jay as the game director, but yet he had no experience in RPGs. That's just mind-boggling. The quote at the end is exceptional. To quote Indigo, "By Blizzard's actions, Diablo fans seemed to have gotten a greater vindication than they could have ever hoped for. The cautionary tale of Diablo 3 is one all of us should remember. As the go-to example of how creators, behind closed doors with the best intentions and seemingly boundless resources, can get carried away, making a sequel that forgot the legacy that made it possible in the first place."

[@mrtoothless]

All three of those things you mentioned are awful and were right to be rejected.

[@waveplay3978]

I basically agree with what you say. The creative team didn't actually understand what made D2 so beloved. After all, they weren't the actual people behind the originals and I doubt if they actually really played D2 enthusiastically themselves. But I can empathize with the creative conundrums they had to battle with. Their hearts were in the right place. They were willing to critically analyze their designs, leading to many revisions over the years. As the video shows, for example with skill trees and synergies. They felt that to get to a skill A, having to invest points into a required skill B just to unlock it and then not use skill B is objectively a waste of points. So it seems like something to be "corrected". Their design intention was fundamentally in the right place (giving them the benefit of the doubt there) but their conclusions really led to a game that was so different from the originals that it alienated the fan base. It doesn't help that at the time in the late 2000s, quality of life and accessibility were the altars of worship for much of the industry. Only with the backlash of indie games and Souls games that made a point of being challenging did things balance out. Somebody once said that stupidity can be defined as prioritizing the wrong things.

[@evangraveley7625]

Im struggling to play d4 ive been playing since d1 just like you

[@One.Zero.One101]

Diablo 3 and Assassin's Creed 3 are the reasons I stopped believing in PR statements and cinematic trailers during development. It's also the reason I stopped pre-ordering. The most important factor for me is the state of the game on Day 1 Release. I just wait a month and let everyone else be the beta testers.

[@evangraveley7625]

Update im level 43 now, my laptop is slow

[@PXAbstraction]

You've truly outdone yourself this time. Between the incredible amount of well-researched information and the production values, this is definitely your best work to date. Well done!

[@Indigo_Gaming]

This was supposed to be my quick, stopgap video. Haha. Thank you, glad you enjoyed so much.

[@PXAbstraction]

@@Indigo_Gaming Both of the voice actors reading quotes sounded very familiar. Are they actually like, those people?

[@Indigo_Gaming]

They are impersonations of the narrator in Diablo 1 and 2, and Deckard Cain. Not the actual actors.

[@breadtoucher]

@@PXAbstraction That is impersonator of Paul Eiding - and you got the voice stuck in your head probably from MGS2/3 (Colonel Roy Campbell).

[@PXAbstraction]

@@Indigo_Gaming Wow, they did an awesome job.

[@lachemoilcul]

I don't play diablo or even any of the Bilzzard games, but I really like those kinds of more 'meta' documentaries that focus on providing context for a specific event (be it a game launch, a console failure etc.) Your voice and tone are really suited to horror/thriller podcasts or meta I think. I always get a spooky feeling when you speak with a mysterious sort of music in the background lol I hope to see more of these meta documentaries from you, although I can't imagine how long they take you to produce... Hats off to you for this brilliant video!

[@prince-solomon]

You set the gold standard in video game documentaries. Outstanding job!!!

[@Empowerless]

Even though I thought I followed Diablo 3's development between 2008 and 2012 closely there were many things I either missed or forgot. Thanks for the awesome video!

[@Indigo_Gaming]

I heard about some of the changes/missing features, but in researching this topic I found many more I had no idea existed. It's quite the rabbit hole to put this all together in a timeline.

[@zhanfang7039]

I never really like D3 but until watching this video I didn't really know why. Very thorough and insightful review!

[@armorvil]

I like how his last sentence also applies to Final Fantasy XVI

[@syzzle342]

@@armorvil Except FF16 is actually a good game.

[@kylemenos]

Same oul story with enteainment these days. Cast a net that is spread too wide and you catch no fish.

[@Kromatt]

Neither did i , i loved Diablo 2 , but with 3, i only beat the Skeleton King on Normal and didn't feel like playing . There just was something missinh in it .

[@LameIkon]

I must say Indigo: brilliant. Thank you for the knowledge you provided here. It shows how developers need to listen to all the feedback they get from the players. Just in terms of the difficulty of Inferno, they think it is hard enough yet four days later it is already done. I distinctly remember Josh Sawyer, when developing Pillars of Eternity, had gotten feedback that they should make a difficulty level that was much harder. They didn't, because he thought no one would ever complete it. But you should never underestimate the hardcore players, that will do anything to prove how they can overcome the impossible. He though wrongly and has since taken it into consideration when developing. The argument of "we do not want people to make spreadsheets to play our game" is ridicules. When I first played Diablo 2 I never used any spreadsheets or loot tables. Never got past Nightmare, but I didn't care for that. When I returned some years ago, I really started to appreciate the fact that you could make large spreadsheets. The itemisation, the runes, the skill combinations, gear combinations etc. It did not take away anything from the first time I played it, It only added to the experience. To this day I do not understand half the things in Diablo 2. So much depth for small things. Diablo 3 on the other hand, numbers just need to be bigger and match your characters damage attribute.

[@grocksauce7422]

Brother… the chills I just received… AGAIN, from that dude walking out and playing those first couple chords of Tristram music. No other game has ever ignited the fire of wonder inside me quite like that did, WoW was a close second, but ya… the Tristram strummage

[@Indigo_Gaming]

It was a perfect way to drum up hype for the game. For all their faults, Blizzard knew how to reach their fans back in the day

[@cherub3624]

I mean, honestly the audacity to try and use the Tristram theme to market what really isn't even Diablo was low.

[@coachmcguirk8277]

​@@cherub3624Using music from your game series to market a sequel to said game was LOW? I know D3 was terrible, but that's a ridiculous thing to say. The D3 devs wanted to make a good "diablo game", they just failed to do so because of the many reasons explained throughout this video. At the end of the day it was an entirely different team than the original, who all had their own biases and ideas of what Diablo is. Not to mention the fact that this music was used in an announcement before the game even launched, in other words the game was still constantly changing - for better or for worse. "Don't use the iconic Tristram music in the announcement presentation just in case the game sucks".

[@Ana_Ng]

just a quick note on the early parts of the video: blizzard entertainment didn't come up with diablo 1 and 2. they provided valuable input to the developers, but diablo 1 really was david brevik's project. condor had already decided to make diablo when they got bought and renamed to blizzard north, and its 3 leaders (brevik and a couple of schaefers) maintained autonomy. diablo might be known as a blizzard game, but blizzard north was blizzard only in name. (note: some of the blizzard north employees _are_ still at blizzard, but as far as i can tell it's mostly people who joined just before blizzard north shut down, e.g. wyatt cheng who joined in 2003) (yes, that wyatt cheng)

[@ComratZeUbermensch]

the D3 devs seem to talk about most things D2 did like it was bad, weird

[@Indigo_Gaming]

Yeah, it's a very odd viewpoint to have, considering the massive amount of hype surrounding the game was solely based on how much people loved Diablo 1 & 2.

[@chaoscarl8414]

Well... It did have it's problems, especially around the skilltree. But in trying to fix that, they made everything much much worse.

[@harris2898]

​@@chaoscarl8414 such as?

[@lminithgarn9624]

​​@@djchristian82If anyone wants to create something new they should start by creating their own IP and see how that goes. Everyone is tired of people picking someone else's masterpieces (in many cases without even liking it) and thinking they know best without releasing anything of their own and utterly fail. I knew during D3 development that it would be bad... this video just explained all the hubris involved.

[@thetrashcanman7537]

@@lminithgarn9624everyone is tired” but no one even agreed with you 🤡 😂 I think what everyone is tired of is people telling the truth about their mid games and clowns like you getting depressed about it

[@MisogynyMan]

Quality documentary. I never even knew exactly how bad things were until now, and also I didn't know they improved and changed that much. That's quite amazing how much the game changed after launch. This gives me hope that perhaps 7 years after launch, Diablo 5 will be great!

[@Indigo_Gaming]

7 years is...optimistic, haha. Took them 12 between D2 and D3, and 11 years between D3 and D4...

[@MisogynyMan]

@@Indigo_Gaming Yes but I mean, D5 might be good 7 years after its launched, whenever that is :D I will see a good Diablo game again before I grow old and pass on! Hopefully.

[@cb2291]

He clearly didn't like the game to say the dark color scheme needed to go, should've been fired early

[@wilsonhsi8818]

Thanks!

[@Indigo_Gaming]

Thanks so much for the support. I hope you're enjoying the cyberpunk documentary series.

[@zerofux1055]

I don’t think there is any other documentary-style content creator as high end as indigo. Just like your cyberpunk series, this AAA quality👍 great video

[@Indigo_Gaming]

I appreciate it, but you should definitely check out Ahoy, GVMERS, Raycevick, and Strafefox, if you want more really high-quality docus.

[@zerofux1055]

I will, thanks for all your content and to all your collaborators for these great documentaries 👍

[@connor4444]

Dude, production quality on this is mind blowing. The transition from the live guitar to the remix and intro was so smooth , I just gave it my phone number.

[@Indigo_Gaming]

Thanks! Not many people will detect how many layers of audio and camera cuts were needed to make that intro. I'm glad it's enjoyable!

[@connor4444]

@@Indigo_Gaming I bet! 10/10 in my book

[@captainthrall]

Listening to all of the announcements and comments in retrospect makes me realize we should have known D3 was going to be bad. "Yeah, we can't create a light radius in a 3D environment." "Skill and talent synergies aren't needed in Diablo 3." "It's uh really hard to design random level generation, so we didn't do it." "Oops, we removed the pvp we've been promising for 12 years." "We decided not to actually finish the game."

[@BobbyOxygen]

The level of research and production polish of your videos is top tier. How are you not at a million subs yet?

[@Indigo_Gaming]

It's been a slow 7-year grind. My videos take a lot of time to put together, and I don't make weekly or monthly videos about one topic or one style of coverage like many other creators do. Hopefully one day I'll make it, but KZbin recommendations can be a fickle beast.

[@NinjaSushi2]

Because a lot of people don't have the patience to sit through an entire hour documentary let alone two hours. We live in the age of instantaneous gratification and sitting down for an hour or an hour-and-a-half educating yourself on a subject is not instantly gratifying.

[@mediumvillain]

Yeah, this is actually really impressive for the depth of research behind it

[@Supercohboy]

At about 26:40 in, I just wanted to say that it's so interesting to watch the devs take 3 steps forward and 2 steps back with every major feature change, what an incredible and valuable retrospective this already is. Edit: 59:59 OH NOOO, WHYYY! What a shame, they should've diversified the hell out of the "strike team" that was put together, but this feels like a Producer-interference decision in itself to make sure that "gaim maik monee".

[@Indigo_Gaming]

Yeah I looked through the careers of every strike team member, and I believe all but one or two were WoW vets. Now bear in mind, Blizzard was primarily focused on WoW at the time, aside from their Starcraft II team, and skeleton crews supporting their other games, so it makes sense that most people would have hand their hands on World of Warcraft at one point or another.

[@DimaShinder]

I rarely sit through 2 hours of anything, hell of a documentary, great work

[@Indigo_Gaming]

Glad to hear! Thanks for watching.

[@BuzzaB77]

Pun intended? 🤔

[@Joancodony]

Kinda revealing in which Diablo III took an almost confrontational approach to its fanbase, and failed spectacularly. Also the phrases "open it to wider audiences" or "to not exclude people" just meaning widespread simplification and flanderization of most content, which understandably makes it fail with it's already faithful fanbase. Somehow this tactic is still being applied nowadays and studios don't seem to be getting a hint.

[@theunfazed7109]

That's because they know that gamers will complain, but still buy it anyways. They still make their money no matter how angry fans get.

[@keystarr]

Whenever I see you upload, I get a rush of dopamine - you are literally one of two channels I love that much. This documentary is a masterpiece of hard work and dedication. The style, the narrative are so enjoyable to watch, and given that the content is a valuable real life lesson.. pure gold in a video format :) When I tried Diablo 3 for the first time, I felt most of the mentioned points, it was literally a gut punch how much of what made the original two games great was removed. Health potion management, skill system, grim aesthetics, default difficulty level.. you've put my feelings better than I could, with all things new the 3rd quickly led to "desensitized boredom". I've quit the game for a long time, later to return and actually enjoy it with an expansion, but that's a whole another story) Thank you, Indigo! I hope you a had blast making this :) And may you be inspired to create more.

[@Indigo_Gaming]

I had to rush pretty fast to get this out before D4's release (not necessary, but my own personal deadline), but I'm glad people are enjoying it! I know Diablo III is a bit like flogging a dead horse at this point, but I didn't see anyone go in-depth into its development like this. And I always like to fill in a niche with my videos, that haven't been fully covered already.

[@JB-gj8pu]

Blizzard acted really trashy when they mocked fans who criticized the art style. The fans are the lifeblood of every creative industry. It doesn't matter if the fans are right or wrong. They're the entire reason creative types get a paycheck and deserve respect and acknowledgement.

[@almalone3282]

Its what happens when the sales team has more influence than the product team. The ego gets to their heads and completely forget if not hate the customer.

[@KingZion187]

Preach brother!!

[@halbouma6720]

Yes, that basically set the tone for the whole project. "We haven't done any ARPGs, but we'll go out of our way to attack our fan base over our design choices" . Never do that. But Jay Wilson kept attacking fans and Dave Brevik which is why nobody was sad to see him go. Also, while Jay was talking about how much iteration they did for years trying to make D3 be a good game, this process only works if you're able to identify what's working and what isn't. Yet despite all these iterations, they always missed the rune skill system was never going to work with the 4300 possible items. Their iteration process was broken and was never going to produce a good game.

[@carlsberg-gs6rl]

I remember all the highs and lows that came with the announcement of D3. Was super pumped at first thinking it was gonna come out soon as D2 came out in 2000. I even had a friend who bought a top of the line gaming laptop in anticipation...then nothing. By the time it came out, my friend had to upgrade his PC again and everyone the majority of people I knew, including myself just rage quit over how bad everything was. I would play the game years later when it came out on Switch.

[@benrobinson375]

I was a Diablo fan but didn't play Diablo III until 2016. Perhaps that was a good thing.

[@Lillfot]

What an excellent video! And those read-ins with the scrolling text are sooo damn slick!

[@Indigo_Gaming]

Thanks! Been playing a bit of Diablo 1 recently, and tried to recreate that look.

[@Skyforger23]

@@Indigo_Gaming We took heed and bared witness to the truth that lies herein.

[@chrissidoku4779]

Is this some AI tool to recreate the D1 narratator voice? Incredible!

[@AnonymNobody]

It Sounds like Paul Eiding aka Colonel Roy Campell Metal Gear Solid Voice Actor

[@BomimoDK]

@@chrissidoku4779 It's unethical

[@Zyantastic]

Diablo 3 was my entry to the series. As someone who had no prior knowledge or experience of the other games I found Diablo 3 very enjoyable, easy to get into and super addictive. I will never be able to understand why people hate on it so much, simply because i dont have that knowledge and experience from previous games. And while i always felt D3 was a perfectly fun game to me, i do feel compassion and empathy for those who felt annoyed/frustrated/betrayed/anything else. Even more so after watching this documentary. I only started to play in 2016, so long after many of these changes mentioned.

[@Indigo_Gaming]

Fair enough, and to each their own. I'd rather people enjoy games than not enjoy them! It can be very frustrating to fans of something to see a sequel that changes so much about it. It's like piggybacking on one brand in order to sell it to another audience.

[@Zyantastic]

@@Indigo_Gaming aye, this is very true. I cant hate on it as I personally enjoyed it, but I absolutely can see why people who have played previous Diabolo games would come to hate it or despise d3! Generally speaking it is pretty sad to see whats become of Blizzard 😞

[@shadowsnake3867]

D3 was good game but if you played the previous games you would be disappointed. It's like playing a from software game then changed into a Mario or Zelda game setting it's too bright. They just feel different as you are supposed to be in the hellish setting and scary with the unknown dungeon filled with despair. The new setting doesn't really have that I feel like I was button mashing without fear as very little scary encounters.

[@tylertheleper8468]

I'm going to be completely honest with you. I played D1 and D2 years ago and enjoyed them ok. Years later, D3 had already been out and it was a joke as far as I knew. I bought the D2 Resurrected pack that also included D3. I got it only because it was on sale and only intended to play 2. It was as OK as I remembered. I played 3 just to see how bad it was... and it immediately grabbed me and did not let go. The gameplay was so much fun, and though I much preferred the darker art style of the first 2 titles, I loved the graphics and atmosphere. D3 is just a FUN arpg. I love ALL of the classes and learning how each of them played. I loved the difficulty, as you can make the game as challenging as you wanted. I liked the story (yes, the previous games were superior in this area) and I wanted to keep pushing forward. I love the fact that whatever character you play, they each have their own personality and actually communicate with all of the npcs. I just loved the game. It does not deserve the hate in the least bit to me. D4 has brought back the darker style, but along with it (gonna go ahead and say it) BORING gameplay. I can't last 30 mins with D1 and D2, and it looks to me that D4 will be the same. I'm sticking with 3 because I enjoy how much work and talent went into it. It may have been a chaotic mess of a production, but in the end, I feel like the people's pushing for the game to be insanely enjoyable succeeded.

[@shadowsnake3867]

@@tylertheleper8468 well if you only played few hours or minutes of it and didn't really push for it then I get why you didn't like it. D1 and D2 are the best as they give the classic vibe of crpgs and how unforgiving the game can be. It's the same as souls borne feeling when you managed to overcome it. It gives you that euphoria. D3 is very vibrant and very easy unless you go on later stages or specific areas. It doesn't have the thrill and atmosphere of being in despair. The dnd players even enjoyed the old ones as they do have these hidden or complex mechanics in it. D3 are for casual players it feels fun at first and then it becomes boring because you don't feel that fear on advancing like venturing to hell and somehow make it alive. The original had those. The resurrection are a mess and they made it a little easier and vibrant a little bit. With the mess of D3 it gave attention back to the crpgs like pillars of eternity, divinity and now baldur's Gate series. D3 is a button mashing and skill or spell spamming mess it never felt that too challenging and rewarding. Diablo is an example of the assassins creed change. You change the original creators to a new one they lose their identity. I am glad you enjoyed D3 but it's not a diablo game. It feels more like world of warcraft or league of legends.

[@subzer0pl]

The first announcements mega-hyped me. And what came out is not worth talking about.

[@excaligaming2435]

history repeats itself right now. although I remember the hype for D3 was way bigger, even though we had much less social media channels at that time. quite amazing and goes to show that blizzard did indeed tank alot of their credibility and proficiency over the years.

[@zenithquasar9623]

Tbh, D4 is one of the safest and most boring games I have ever played. Boring as in what it has done with the genre, the core gameplay loop is often fun enough. But everytime I play, I grieve over what it could have been. I had the same feeling with D3. But D3 at least had a vision and accomplished that vision and kind of brought in a specific type of gameplay style to ARPGs that didn't have it back then. Just as D1 and 2 were kind of revolutionary for what they had accomplished. I have been disappointed by D3 from day 1, sure, but now in the hindsight, I understand at least they tried doing something. D4 is just so meh when you think of the resources Blizzard has. You look at a game like the Last Epoch, you look at the character progression systems in that game and how laughable D4 becomes. And in many ways, D4 repeates the formula of D3 be it in the enemy design, tilesets, or skills! Nothing that gets you really excited. I like the story and the aesthetics that feels a bit more in line with the D2 days, but even in that area it misses the mark because of its always online MMO nature of it.

[@subzer0pl]

​@@zenithquasar9623Yes, I agree. 4 is safe and boring. I have much more fun with Last Epoch (a very accessible game, but not primitive) and Path of Exile (for hardcore fans of the genre). Since the closure of Blizzard North, Diablo series has lost its charm for me. These WoW developers don't seem to fully understand the hack and slash genre. I think they are moving more and more in the direction of MMOs and it doesn't hit my taste at all. They either have weak ideas or copy everything from previous installments.

[@Leonhart_93]

People act disappointed now many years after the fact, but I still remember to this day, tons of people played it like crazy when it came out.

[@drake9634]

@@Leonhart_93 of course, it was one of the most anticipated games of the decade, people were gonna play it whether it was shid or not

[@Syaniiti]

I was going to go to sleep but turns out I'll stay a while and listen.

[@Indigo_Gaming]

Deckard was wrong. People DO stay and listen!

[@Syaniiti]

@@Indigo_Gaming Ended up getting to sleep at 4 in the morning. Worth it.

[@TempGuest7]

D3 was the last game I ever pre-ordered. It has saved me from making bad purchasing decisions ever since so for that it was good, everything else however was listed in your great video!

[@Indigo_Gaming]

Even giants can fall. I've made the mistake of buying into a game early because of the pedigree of its developers, but executives change, designers come and go, and past success never truly guarantees future success.

[@Tarranium]

Amazing quality documentary! It's insanely depressing to see how a lot of the most basic of basic mistakes you could do in game design, were done at Blizzard even at this time this badly. Diablo 3 as a whole is a terrifying example from the past of what would become the norm in the future and our present.

[@nickz7919]

THANK YOU for this video! I remember when D3 was released I talked to friends about how much shit they cut or changed and how it was nothing like on Blizzcon, they just didn't understand me. You did a fantastic job on showing just how much the game changed during development. Great video!

[@ianrotten4453]

I'm glad I only played this particular game as a casual. There's a reason why I wait years before buy or playing a "new" release. I'm happy to wait until a game is finished.

[@matthewlacroix5985]

The legend returns with a timely masterpiece

[@Indigo_Gaming]

(barely) timely. Haha. Was crunching the past two months to get this out before D4's release. Technically succeeded. 😅

[@matthewlacroix5985]

@@Indigo_Gaming The time you spend researching and analyzing these topics on video games is very much appreciated. Hopefully you didn't lose TOO much sleep over getting this out lol. Worth the wait every time though and thanks again for your efforts! :)

[@Dendelin007]

I thought to watch for couple of minutes only but stayed for the whole thing in one go. Superbly done and for someone like me, who actually played diablo 3 for the very first time this year also very interesting as I had no idea the game changed that much in its post launch development. I still had a lot of fun with Diablo 3 and its expansion, spent like 70 hours in it, totally worth it. What a magnificent video. Enjoyed and subbed. Thank you very much for this!

[@Indigo_Gaming]

You're welcome, and thanks for watching! It was a wild ride making it.

[@paulmc9472]

I recall how bad the loot drops were at start, it basically forced you to use the auction house because the drops were much lower than your character.D4 still doesnt have much end game content beyond uber lilith or T100 dungeons. IT was a shame they didnt look at something like the raid systems in ESO that actually used to require a group of decent players to take on the bosses.

[@LordMazafeff]

JWilson really hated how wrong his vision was didn't he.

[@mondzi]

Incredibly deep and detailed analysis/documentary on D3. You've pointed out every single thing where D3 diverged not only from D2, but from the ARPG genre. Can't praise you enough for this, finally someone who understands this topic thoroughly. Hat's off sir :) I was looking forward for D4, but when I played the beta it was clear to me they recycled 90% of the systems from D3. That killed it for me. After few hours I was sadly done with D4.

[@kaelinvictus6039]

And now 10 years after Diablo 3 Activision-Blizzard still does not understand their own series 😂

[@jordanschlansky4093]

Ah Diablo 3, I remember that game. It was the beginning to the end of my admiration for Blizzard games.

[@reallycool]

I'm ready to begin this journey

[@Indigo_Gaming]

Are you, though? 👹

[@bravefastrabbit770]

@@Indigo_Gaming The fools who allow themselves to be robbed of $70-100 will come back crawling in 2-4w.

[@charlessmith5465]

"Stay awhile and listen." 🧙‍♂️

[@erichorton1440]

I too was turned off by the art design. That was the biggest issue I had. I didn't know the devs trolled us for it. That's sad. No only do they not take our idea's into consideration, they mocked us.

[@Indigo_Gaming]

Yeah, I can't think of a time where being actively adversarial to your community ever helps you in the long run.

[@shadowsnake3867]

They should have taken the criticism of the fans as constructive criticism. You are already struggling on recreating that magic of the previous games why not listen to fans who are willing to give you the ideas for free. They did the opposite they had to force their ideas causing more backlash.

[@kphizzle9569]

It's been said a lot but the quality of your content is superb, the colabs, music, your smooth and professional voice. Just a cut above ❤

[@Indigo_Gaming]

I really appreciate that, thanks!

[@KEKW-lc4xi]

This is like a professionally done documentary movie :O

[@Indigo_Gaming]

Appreciate that. Thank you.

[@FrenchPirate83]

@indigo_Gaming How did you get the voice actors for Deckard Cain and D1's narrator to record D3's developers soundbites? Amazing!

[@MALICEM12]

This and Duke Nukem: Forever are tragic tales

[@Indigo_Gaming]

I did consider turning "A Cautionary Tale" into a series at some point. I'd need to find other titles that have a lot of coverage, like D3, though. It's tough to do a video without any visual assets to work with.

[@Squidward558]

​@@Indigo_Gaming Halo 2 would be a great one. It didn't turn out bad but the vision and the reality were worlds apart.

[@DumbArse]

​@@Indigo_Gaming Spore could be a good one as well

[@233Hicks]

@@Indigo_Gaming Mass Effect. I still remember looking forward each day to the next screw up bioware did with Mass Effect 3 and how they were going to further dig themselves into a hole with a similar hubris as with Diablo 3 and Blizzard. Then it was just waiting for the vultures to descend on Andromeda.

[@A_Simple_Neurose]

@@Indigo_Gaming Feels like you'd have a ton of material to work with. Scorn, MGSV+the shitty zombie game they made, Spore, Fable, No Man's Sky (though to be fair this one's been covered to death), Victoria 3. There's probably others too but these come to mind.

[@einharjar]

good observation on the sound aspects man. And im glad, its back in D4. I just love the satisfying sound of pulverize crushing the ground and enemies.

[@Indigo_Gaming]

Thanks. I tried to be objective as possible with that, and not just state a subjective opinion. I could imagine some sound designer working long hours trying to get all the noise in Diablo 3 under manageble levels, but missing the impact and low-end which made combat more enjoyable.

[@Damo20]

How did you get the Deckard and narrator voices from Diablo 2 for the sections reading the quotes? Is it through an AI? I thought that was a really cool touch in an excellent documentary

[@RandomAmer]

Wow this video was incredibly thorough and a real nostalgia trip for someone who followed diablo's 3 development throughout the years. Amazing video!

[@iknownothing-m8c]

Seems like they made the wrong decision at almost every point.

[@Indigo_Gaming]

They definitely took some wrong turns, and overthought things that had already had a reasonable solution. Really shows you the kind of spiraling out of control that can happen when you're working on a project for too long without decisive direction.

[@RoscoeWasHere]

"We didn't want players to build a character the way they wanted to, so we took away the option to make your character interesting in the slightest"

[@LameIkon]

Some of the time they also, just didn't think it through at all! Like the rune system for every skill. They wanted a system with 5 different colours and 7 different levels for them on top. That is 35 different ways to modify a skill. If you were to give every of the 5 classes just 5 skills it equates to 875 different modifications. How did no one see there sheer number of combinations this system provided? It was my first thought when Indigo said it. Good idea on paper, can make every character fell unique, then they prototyping it. Why was such a system not thought through before that? I can think of many ways you could have taken what they already had and changed it. Such that it wouldn't have been easier to implement. They could have cut the different levels for the runes, or make some skills and colours not combinable. But no they scraped it all.

[@trabuco9]

And yet, it still sold millions.

[@iknownothing-m8c]

@@trabuco9 because people assumed it couldn't be THAT bad considering how awesome it's predecessors had been.

[@showmetheway2]

What a video! Incredibly researched. D3 really broke me. This was something I'd needed to see for many years.

[@Indigo_Gaming]

Glad you enjoyed. I know it's not a fully satisfying adventure, but I hadn't seen too many people cover the lengthy and twisted development cycle this game went through, or remembered all the ideas/promises that never came to fruition.

[@factionguy]

a video game broke you? dramatic much? lmao

[@showmetheway2]

@@factionguy Sit down boys and girls, today's class is on hyperbole.

[@tntori5079]

I'm kinda with you. Playing D4 with my boyfriend who never played 1 or 2 at all, while I grew up playing the original. This was a great way to better showcase the issues that a newcomer to the series might not be aware of.

[@factionguy]

@@showmetheway2 emotional instability being masked as hyperbole

[@TheWingusDingus]

What a great video. I watched this mostly because it's made by you as Diablo isn't a franchise close to my heart but there are definitely some universal things that I can sympathize with in regards to Diablo fans. I really hate it when a developer or lead makes the decision that I/we will not like something that was a part of previous games in a franchise. That somehow the past, good experiences we've had with a franchise can't/won't translate to a game released in "current year." As if fans haven't been replaying these games over the years. The hubris of "you think you want that, but you don't" is what turned me away from Blizzard products, and frankly it's a sentiment that echoes from other development studios/publishers with long running franchises who usually say it with a less egotistical tone. I know what I want, especially from a franchise I regularly enjoy, or used to, and I don't need a condescending developer telling me otherwise.

[@FretboardToAsh]

Production is through the roof, well done.

[@Indigo_Gaming]

Much appreciated. Thanks for watching!

[@lopiklop]

Same with Diabolo 3

Excellent work! A must watch for any Diablo or Blizzard fans. The ending specifically, should be mandatory to watch for any aspiring (or current) game director.

[@Indigo_Gaming]

I appreciate the high praise! I know I get into a lot of negative, but I used a lot of other people's perspectives as arguments, and framed it as a way to learn from mistakes. Hopefully that came through.

[@bigbassjonz]

Thanks for putting this together. There's so much I had forgotten. Never realized the scream map assets were at one time the pvp arenas.

[@BioKek]

I watched all of this. In a time where seemingly no movie can hold my attention this never failed to do so. One of the best videos I've ever seen. Good job!

[@Indigo_Gaming]

Very happy to hear! I put a lot of time in editing, to make sure nothing on-screen is stagnant, irrelevant, or motionless for too long, which helps keep the pacing and interest going. Glad to hear it was worth the effort!

[@Dolbecftw]

yeah right haha

[@Philipseymorebutts]

In a time where your attention span is crap because you do not read books and spend too much time swiping thru crap content nonstop. Now here comes your reply saying you read 3 books last week and you dont even own an iphone……

[@BioKek]

@@Philipseymorebutts Nah all I read is A song of Ice and Fire... don't particularly enjoy reading because I lack imagination but I do like scrolling through crap content 🤷‍♀. Why you trying to argue, I don't care what you think about me lol

[@nikolatasev4948]

Great video. Giving D2R to a competent studio to remaster was the best decision Blizzard made in perhaps a decade. I play it from time to time. A lot of things D3 tried to do sound great. Quality of life improvements - great. Separate inventory for charms, option to sell chaff without returning to town, dialogs instead of monologs - there's a lot to like. But then again, the good ideas are dropped or implemented bad, and a lot of bad ideas are added. It's great to sell people more power, but when the scaling is insane there can be no meaningful PvP - the person 2 levels ahead will steamroll the other one.

[@Indigo_Gaming]

Level scaling is really odd. I'm noticing that under leveled characters in Diablo 4 parties tend to do very well because it's hard to estimate how much they need to be buffed. I could see that happening in Diablo PvP, because you're not only scaling the character, but their gear too.

[@RavenThePlayer]

Separate inventory for charms just makes it another bit of gear. Pointless. Might as well make extra amulet slots or something, which is effectively what they did. Stupid decision. I stand by that.

[@PassivesAbseits]

"more profitable" and "appealing to a wider audience"... the death of every good game. At least if that is your starting point and not your final polish.

[@Takkcinema]

This was a true blast from the past. Thanks for putting this all together. It's wild to remember how far this game changed over time. They just kept distilling and simplifying the game until it really had nothing left. RoS was more Gauntlet Legends than Diablo. A fun game, but not really the same thing. Masterful essay, kudos!

[@Indigo_Gaming]

Thanks so much for the support. Glad you enjoyed the ride.

[@pastilance1]

Awesome video! Or should I call it a documentary. Cudos for all the hard work put into it. I really enjoyed this.

[@Indigo_Gaming]

So glad you enjoyed! Thanks for the support, it means a lot.

[@argoniantuncboyacyan1780]

Thanks for rekindling my hatred for Diablo 3.

[@Nav0nod]

And they still went ahead and made 4 and we still bought it.

[@unacomn]

Damn. That is a hell of a lot of work. Congratulations, you've made another great video.

[@Indigo_Gaming]

Thanks man. It was a lot more work than I thought it would be. So much coverage, content and footage to wade through.

[@HeyBlondieGamer]

What an incredible romp through Diablo 3's history! I forgot much of the pre-release features and changes, it was virtually impossible to keep track of it all at the time. Well done in collating and presenting this work, my friend. Top shelf, as always.

[@Indigo_Gaming]

Thanks very much, man. Happy to see a friendly face here! 🇦🇺

[@Eckylis]

Thank you for this fantastic video, Indigo. A great watch. A lot of the footage from 2008 I had totally forgotten about ... wow. I can't believe how much of this game changed *constantly* during development. You should do one on Starcraft II someday.

[@Indigo_Gaming]

It's wild how much changed even since the announcement. I wouldn't mind doing more "A Cautionary Tale" videos one day. Diablo III has the benefit of being so publicly promoted, explained and demonstrated pre-release. We don't get that too often.

[@TheAstran1]

As per usual very well documented, very well produced and very well presented.

[@nerdhunt]

I don't understand how they thought they were correcting anything when the fact is in D2 each hero had about 30 unique abilities each (although some overlap, like some passives, but mostly unique) in D3 each hero had 6 actives and 3 passives...any one hero in D2 had half D3's entire ability pool, and we're talking ONE hero. You can't cut each class at the knees and than further cut off the arms and say you've done anything but ruin the fucking thing.

[@adamwhite3347]

Great work 👏 just playing D3 for the first time and this is fascinating.

[@batrider2985]

This was one of the most informative videos I've seen on D3. I had fallen in love with gaming with Diablo, but when D2 came out, it changed my life. I waited long years for D3, and when it arrived, I was so disappointed I didn't play Blizzard games for many years. This offered so much clarity around the development. D2R was a godsend to me, and so far I've been enjoying D4. For D4, it's clear they learned from many of these lessons, although you can see a lot of the D3 philosophy showing up as well.

[@NinjaSushi2]

I haven't played D2 Resurrected but I hear good things. I bought it along with Diablo 3 Reaper Souls recently and Diablo 4 and now my computer crapped so I have a lot of catching up to do soon.

[@amberbaum4079]

As someone who loves Diablo 2, the Median XL mod for Diablo II is a thing of sheer beauty. It has Qol support as well as native wide-screen support. It's no surprising that the core mod author was asked by game studios to design items for them. Every time I crave for some Diablo this mod is my go to. The mod has also the best, most comprehensive user friendly documentation that isn't eye cancer and annoying to use.

[@zarombiste9158]

1:13:23 there is so strong wow influence, Barb looks almost like orc chieftains from wow

[@Indigo_Gaming]

Apparently Barbarians were the only returning class from Diablo because that was Jay Wilson's favorite class. Make of that what you will.

[@Sangheilitat117]

I love the quote from Jay shown at 8:01 - "A game like DOOM would not cut it today." My man absolutely did NOT see the resurgence of boomer shooters coming. Dusk, Ultrakill, Hrot, Boltgun, the list goes on of games - just like DOOM - cutting it today. It kind of goes to show the dangers of thinking that everyone else thinks what you think.

[@Indigo_Gaming]

I didn't even notice that part. Another hot take that aged poorly!

[@starryeyes5860]

watching this between D4 sessions and just want so say that how this man has only 189k subs is actually insane. The production quality on this video alone is astounding, not taking into account all his other videos. Hands down the most comprehensive and entertaining video on the entirety of youtube about the development of D3. Absolute banger sir, subbed.

[@Indigo_Gaming]

Thanks for the high praise! I hope you're enjoying D4.

[@Blisterdude123]

With the benefit of hindsight now, I can at least say I like Diablo 3 more than Diablo 4. At least it was a videogame. Diablo 4 is just a shallow live service framework designed around an incredibly rich, deep, and multi-faceted cash shop. And Diablo 4 only exists until Blizzard decide Diablo 4 doesn't exist. That '4' at the end is gonna look real silly when they shut down access to it, since it's online only, to shill you 'Diablo 5'. But as we've seen with Overwatch 1/1.5, Blizzard f ucking hate their customers, and don't care what we think. Shut up and take it, paypigs, pay up your dues.

[@chasehunt4415]

@@Blisterdude123gross😂 i literally get a puke feeling whenever i see d3. D4 has kept me busy for a bit before hopping back into d2 a couple seasons later. One way to verify my comment just look at how little anyone plsys d3 now a days with d2r releasing and d4.

[@khorneflakes2175]

@@Blisterdude123 Hindsight of like 5 days after release ? You may have been able to log for a few hours if we were talking about D3, your opinion is clearly of low value given the negative bias it displays. D3 at launch was a shitshow, no loot, no conexion, buying items with IRL money,... it became a palatable game after years of work, D4 on release absolutely crushes D3 on release and even D3 after 2 years of update, it's not even in the same realm as game and every number proves it, all the haters are such small voices blaring about how they're bored after playing the game 300 hrs in two weeks... It will be the most popular ARPG for years to come it's a shame you are already so buthurt about this game.

[@Blisterdude123]

@@khorneflakes2175 Delusional. How can a game Blizzard will just switch off one day and delete from history have a legacy? This will be forgotten when Blizzy decides it's time for Diablo 5(4.1).

[@LMan8787]

I remember Diablo III being the first time I was truly disappointed beyond belief with a video game. They.. changed.. EVERYTHING! I tried to embrace the changes by trying a couple different characters in the early levels, but was incredibly wary. I finally made it through Act 1 with a Barb and when Cain died, I quit. I found Diablo at 12 years old and played Diablo II to death. Diablo III was not a Diablo game, it was World of Warcraft with a Diablo skin. Diablo IV is proof of Blizzard's transition into EA territory, and being absorbed into Microsoft is the final nail. And it's depressing, because I don't want a PoE experience; I want a Diablo experience. I guess I'll continue with Diablo II Resurrected for now.. Thanks for this video and in-depth history, it adds much needed perspective.

[@LeenpSun]

Good documentary. Thanks. It takes back some of the memories back 10 years ago. It’s true. We are fighting for the echo of Diablo II. And that’s the ultimate challenge 🎉

[@JuliusCaesar103]

What an insane development. Awesome video, for someone who doesn't care about Diablo this was riveting from start to finish. My heart goes out to the developers, whether or not the end product was to people's liking, you cannot deny their poured their heart and soul into the project.

[@showmetheway2]

No, they didn't. They knew they were desecrating what they were asked to build on. They slammed the OG creators publicly on social media and laughed at them after D3's release. Even through the interviews you can see constantly them taking small jibes at D2's vision. In a way they killed the genre . Path of Exile exists but it has become too complex .

[@lminithgarn9624]

What? "you cannot deny they poured their heart and soul on the project"... you can't do anything but!!! What a trollish thing to say. You don't "put your heart on a project" by ignoring, discarding and making fun of the previous devs that made a product most people love. This is the hubris we're witnessing everywhere now. Ofc I'm not saying everyone was like this, in fact by the interviews when saying some devs left the room when some big changes were being made was clear some devs actually cared. The problem was that the decision makers didn't. Later listening "I never did skilltrees before" is this a joke? It sure as hell didn't refrain you from insulting other devs and fans. How can people like this be decision makers on one of the biggest sequels on video games? Personally I believe the issue starts with HR, imagine getting people that never played/read/liked the product you're making a sequel for. Or the roles were picked by favours?

[@drugastronamedalu]

1:53:32 that didn't age well ;] Great documentary sir! Can't wait for a Diablo IV: A Cautionary Tale!

[@Indigo_Gaming]

The fact remains that the D4 team *TRIED* to address nearly every complaint about Diablo III. I never claimed the game was perfect, but I was pointing out that Blizzard tried to undo the mess that was D3 at launch.

[@stuka80]

@@Indigo_Gaming the crazy thing is, alot of D4's game features are copied from D3 rather than D2, especially the mediocre itemization. Why would anyone in their right mind base a redemption game off the one that failed hardest?

[@NeonValleys]

​@@Indigo_GamingI've gotta disagree here, like the commenter above me pointed out, d4 took nearly every que from d3 not d2 or d1. The only thing they seemed sure about taking from d2 was making the game darker in tone. The character of progression, stats gear skills itemization all of it is nearly directly copied from d3 or inspired by it. I knew the game would be deemed a failure by most d2 fans as soon as I heard them say they would never consider trying to implement anything like d2s itemization ever again, going so far as to literally say the famous "you think you do but you don't" they are a clown company, living in a circus tent, beeping their noses and spraying eachother with flower water. They aren't a serious game developer.

[@NeonValleys]

​@@Indigo_GamingI also wanted to say, I believe you got caught up in the same exact hype train that surrounded d3s development, all the talk about going back to their roots, respecting the history of the franchise yada yada, it happens constantly with blizzard they say one thing while deliberately and very publicly doing the exact opposite yet every one believes them and even gaslights themselves and copes as hard as they can to preserve their sense of judgment.

[@Magistrate17]

They actually changed some monsters in D3 before release in reaction, but only after being lambasted. I'm particularly remembering that big exploding guy.

[@Indigo_Gaming]

I like the exploding guy, but you'd think a grotesque demon-zombie with tentacles in his guts would be just a bit more creepy or gross. I think the bland texturing and washed out look of most monsters doesn't really give you that feeling of disgust like Duriel, Coldworm the Burrower, or the putrid defilers did in D2.

[@powdercowboy90]

Im replaying diablo 3 now after the daiblo 2 remaster.....and the first thing I instantly notice....I cant quite put my finger on it....but I can't tell what any of the enemies even are. I have no idea what I'm looking at unless the enemy is large....and there is so much crazy spell casting happening on screen that I can't focus on anything....I lose my character constantly...also it's way to damn EASY. Through the first act I haven't been in danger of dying one single time....whereas in diablo 2 you are teetering on the edge of dying all the time

[@Irrefromhell]

inferno difficulty was very hard in the beginning, thats just a fact xD even if some people completed the game in 4 days. Without buying stuff at the auction house it felt like a brick wall getting to inferno

[@jasakoff]

Let me just say, that in a world filled with 10s shorts I watched this 2h long video with only one break to make some food. Interesting, perfectly made, many thanks for this summary.

[@Indigo_Gaming]

From the bottom of the heart of this 7-year KZbin vet, thank you. My content doesn't lend well to Shorts, and so I'm going to continue to evolve my content that makes for the most enjoyable/insightful experience, regardless of how much Google wants to make another TikTok.