This post has not been edited by the GamesBeat staff. Opinions by GamesBeat community writers do not necessarily reflect those of the staff.
We asked, and like an end-of-act boss dropping rare loot, you delivered.
Our intrepid Bitmob community writers took on the task of writing about Diablo III in our latest Bitmob Wants You challenge. And they came through in a big way — many of these articles have already hit the front page of Bitmob (and GamesBeat, too!). We list all the entries below.
Thanks to everyone who participated!
Diablo III: It's diabolically good
By William Schink
"I have played 20 minutes of Diablo II, and disliked all of those minutes," William writes. But after playing Diablo III, he started singing a different tune. Read on for his review. (And go Team Monk!)
In defense of Diablo III's skill system
By Lachlan Knibb
One criticism series fans have leveled at Diablo III is that its character building lacks the permanence of previous games. Lachlan argues that the current, more fluid system is superior because of the difference between "perceived choice" and "actual choice." Interesting take.
Hit the jump for more articles.
Shining a Torchlight on Diablo III's Starter Edition
By Tristan Damen
Tristan took the free Starter Edition of Diablo III for a test drive, and he found that it reminded him too much of another game he didn't love: Runic Games' Torchlight. This type of game just isn't for him, he says. Do you feel the same?
How Activision killed Diablo
By Rik Joanmiquel
Rik argues that the changes in Diablo III that deviate from series customs are due to publisher interference from Activision. He claims Diablo III will only make money because of Diablo II's popularity…but another sequel would not have the same success.
What we can learn from Diablo III, and an open letter to Blizzard
By Ryan Juel
On the night of Diablo III's launch, Ryan writes, "millions of Blizzard's fans effectively coordinated a Distributed Denial of Service attack on the Blizzard authentication server, without even making it an attack." He says Blizzard should have known better what to expect in terms of traffic. (But then we wouldn't have had all that fun with Error 37!)
Diablo III shows us how digital-rights management damages gaming
By Sean Bassinger
On a similar note, Sean describes how Blizzard's decision to require an always-online connection to play Diablo III, even in single-player, is a bad idea. "Enough publishers don't realize this yet," he writes, "but heavily enforced DRM implementations will cost them greater amounts of money over time."
Blizzard should learn from its own games
By Mark T. Whitney
"Diablo III feels like an old shoe that’s been polished," Mark says. "It’s comfortable and clean but still a bit smelly." The reason for the stink? Just as Sean pointed out above, it's the online requirements. Mark argues that Blizzard should have known, from its own experience hosting games like StarCraft II, how much stress to expect. Good points.