by Magistrate - 6 years ago     show comments

Community manager Brandy “Dayntee” Camel led a group discussion with Diablo III personalities CJ “Rhykker” Miozzi, Anthony “Bigdaddyden” Evans, Kristen “Lynxaria” Addison, and BlizzPro contributor and Westmarch Workshop co-host Stephen “Leviathan” Stewart.

FIND THESE COMMUNITY CREATORS ONLINE!

Leviathan: @LeviathanD3, twitch.tv/leviathan111

Rhykker: @Rhykker, twitch.tv/Rhykker, YouTube

Bigdaddyden: @Bigdaddyden, twitch.tv/bigdaddyden, YouTube

Lynxaria: @Lynxaria, twitch.tv/lynxaria

Diablo Community Discussion

Question: What was your first Diablo game?

Bigdaddyden: The original on PC, on a very small screen.

Leviathan: Diablo II, right before Lord of Destruction came out. It was an exciting time–I spent my summer killing cows.

Rhykker: Originally, a shareware CD of the original Diablo. My dad introduced my to video gaming, and that’s how we bonded. But he had to use cheat codes, so he installed a trainer to make weapons to kill everything. Diablo II was what really got me into the series.

Lynxaria: I used to play Diablo II all night. My mom would get up for work in the morning, and I had to run to bed to pretend to sleep. Then I’d wake back up and keep playing. Gotta get that loot.

Dayntee: Diablo II was my first, as well. A friend in high school had a mom that got me into the game because she discovered I was into tabletop RPGs. She handed a 14-year-old a copy of Diablo II (laughs). Diablo III I was there opening day, but I didn’t start this community thing until Reaper of Souls was announced.

Question: What is it about Diablo that makes you want to create content?

Bigdaddyden: It’s the fun factor. The community of Diablo as a whole makes making content worth it when that one person comes and comments on something. It’s a dream to do it day in and out.

Leviathan: I love the education part of it. When I have an idea or build in my head and get it out to you guys, it’s rewarding to see people say they had a ton of fun. Like, when someone says, I didn’t think to play the Crusader that way using Condemn–I love that education aspect of it.

Dayntee: Remember when people went bananas over your Zookeeper Crusader build?

Lynxaria: Yeah, it’s the community that’s at the heart of it. Being able to play a game you love and share it with others is a passion. There’s nothing better than killing demons with your friends and then sharing that passion with everyone else. It’s the best thing ever.

Rhykker: Making content about things I’m passionate about is rewarding. When I started out, I was making YouTube videos about DnD. I made some for Diablo I, but when Reaper of Souls came out, I was doing research on the game, anyway, and figured I’d share that with everyone else on my channel. Most of my best friends have bonded with me over Diablo III in some way. Community helps fuel that passion.

Question: Diablo has this way of making memories. What is your “one” Diablo memory that you want to share?

Bigdaddyden: My first Starmetal Kukri drop. I had been farming it for 12 hours a day for five months, and it finally dropped–I just freaked out. There was this race between streamers to see who would get it first.

Dayntee: Yeah, I remember seeing that scrolling through my Twitter feed when it happened.

Leviathan: As a competitive player, it’s chasing those rank ones and trying to get as high as I can on the Greater Rift Board and Conquest. When Season 3 launched, I decided to do a 24-hour stream, stay up all night, and get all the Conquest done. Everyone said I was crazy, and I accepted that (laughs). I got the kill 350 enemies and a Cursed Chest–a flood of purple (whispers) telling me they can’t believe I did it.

Lynxaria: Being able to do a Greater Rift that was absolutely awful. Worst map, worst type, worst Guardian I could imagine. I wondered how I’ll make this happen, and then you clear it and it’s the biggest accomplishment. It’s cool when you get it with only a second left, or the timer just shows all zeroes (laughs).

Rhykker: My favorite memories revolve around shared experiences and bonding. One example: when Reaper just launched, my cousin and I both ran Demon Hunters with slightly different builds–there wasn’t a consensus on what was best yet. It was a good memory with my cousin, just a great time.

Dayntee: As a cop-out, for me, it’s this moment here.. Getting to share these moments with you guys makes community management worth it. It’s why I do community management–hearing these stories and moments is what it’s all about. We’re here to foster these moments and keep the community growing, and you guys are an integral part of that.

Leviathan: Even when we’re not in the game, we have to step up and talk about the game. It gives life to it–you can play the game all day long, but at the end of the day you’re making friends and that defines more than what you do in the four corners of the game.

Question: What is your favorite class? It doesn’t have to be from Diablo III.

Bigdaddyden: Witch Doctor.

Rhykker: I liked with Wizard with Archon form you had to keep killing to stay in the form. When Reaper launched, Demon Hunter was originally my main thing, and I always come back. Witch Doctor was my favorite at one point, but I always come back to Demon Hunter.

Leviathan: Crusader. When Reaper dropped, I was getting ready with Neinball. We were playing Demon Hunter, vaulting around the maps. Then I took a break from Demon Hunter for Crusader. Maybe a year and a half later I got back to Demon Hunter, but Crusader has just been amazing. I love to see how it evolved. Since it came out after the main game with an expansion, it had to have sets and stuff added to it, letting its playstyle really evolve as it aged.

Lynxaria: Same as Leviathan. Crusader forever. I love everything about it. As soon as I saw it announced for Reaper, I said, this is amazing. As soon as I played it, it was everything I ever wanted and more. I can’t go back to anything else. I’ll try other classes if there’s an interesting build, though.

Dayntee: I almost want to pull a Wyatt and say all are my favorite (laughs). I think I have the most hours played on Barbarian. It’s the oldest character on my account, I rolled it day one. The name comes from my tabletop barbarian. I’ve spent a ton of time on Crusader and Wizard, but I always come back to Barbarian. There’s always that one you resonate with and keep going back to.

Question: If you were a Treasure Goblin, what type would you be?

Lynxaria: Rainbow Goblin! It was the best one before everyone decided to murder it for access to the Cosmic Wings. I tell my friends if they’re in my party and they see it, they can’t kill it. It’s taboo. Everyone wants the wings, though. I don’t have them yet.

Leviathan: Blood Thief. Weird reason: he has a deal with Kadala. All those blood shards you get go to Kadala. But how does the Blood Thief get them? I’m telling you there’s lore there.

Bigdaddyden: A new Goblin, a little, fat one, and you hit it and it bounces around the screen, dropping mats.

Rhykker: I’m going to say Gem Hoarder only because it has “hoarder” in the name and I’m a notorious hoarder (laughs).

Dayntee: Well, my WoW paladin is made to look like Kadala, that’s even his name. People roll up and say, why don’t you give me good loot? There’s Diablo fans everywhere.

Leviathan: Hope you’re not on a PvP server!

Dayntee: No, definitely not. That’s an intentional choice.

Question: If you could create a legendary, what would it do and why?

Bigdaddyden: I love pets, so I would like a legendary with a pet mechanic for all classes. If you’re playing Witch Doctor, your pets can combine into one and ram around the screen, or one could jump up on a Zombie Dog and run around slashing.

Leviathan: An offhand that matches the Horadric hamburger. We need some fries or (Bigdaddyden suggest a beer) or a beer, yeah, or something like that. You can turn it into Tyrael and get bounty mats.

Lynxaria: Some flail that works with Blessed Hammers, but instead of hammers, it makes hamsters. I think that would be the best thing ever. A little silly, but there’s the cluck guy that shoots out chickens, so why not hamsters flying around you. Blessed Hamsters. Make it happen.

Rhykker: Buzzkilling time here with the non-hilarious answer. I like things that add diversity, so it has to work with any class. We usually do rings for that, but we have a lot of rings. One area this could work is some kind of legendary gem for a weapon socket. It would have to be strong enough to compete with the crit damage loss. Ideally something more interesting than this, but let’s say attack speed. At 25,, it unlocks a flat attack speed buff that would have to be dialed until it’s good enough to compete with the crit loss. Later levels could add, like, run speed, making it great for speed runs. If you’re running a generator build, attack speed is great for you. Just some things that add more variety and diversity of playstyle.

Question: You know we’re exploring what’s next for the Diablo franchise. Hypothetically speaking–and we have nothing to share yet–what are you guys speculating is in the works?

Rhykker: Last year, Frank Pearce made a powerful statement pledging loyalty to Diablo, and that it has a future. That meant a lot to me. Combined with the job postings quickly going up and down for Diablo, there’s no doubt in my mind that something is coming. I don’t know what it will be, but I’m excited to find out.

Leviathan: So, I like where Destiny 2 is going, and we could learn a lot from how ARPGs are going, and not necessarily make the next best Diablo ARPG, but weave in some MMO elements. Like an 8-member party strike. But stay true to the core of the franchise.

Bigdaddyden: Yeah, it would be cool to see some kind of raid mode. Like, with Challenge Rifts, but some how sort of an end game raid mode with increased party size, traditional MMO roles like healer and DPS, harder bosses, etc. Some sort of esports thing eventually, like a higher competitive tier with no Paragon grind–everyone has a flat Paragon level to compete together without 12 hours of grinding every day.

Lynxaria: It’s easy to speculate, but it’s hard to do at the same time. We all know what we want from Diablo, itself, and envisioning a new project is challenging. Echoing what Rhykker said, we know something will happen eventually. I can’t even imagine, but I know it will be amazing.

Dayntee: The team is as much a part of the community as you guys are and you do have a huge impact on the things we create day to day, as well as the passion we put back into the game. It’s a cyclical relationship, and there’s a lot of love on the team. Necromancer was literally a labor of love–this could have been a drunk bar conversation, like, hey, let’s put the Necro in the game. We knew it was something we and you guys wanted, and we made it happen.

Leviathan: You even see it with the development of 2.6.1, with the back and forth. It’s very clear. If you’re looking for it, you can find it.

Dayntee: We’ve been evolving with how we interact with the community and how we can improve. Reach out to me–we are just people working on this passion project. It’s our job, but it’s also our passion. You don’t come to Blizzard without passion.