Color My World

I don't really understand how something as minor as the Diablo III color scheme became a big deal, but it definitely did.

The argument apparently goes like this: Diablo is a sinister and moody game befitting darkness and shadows, and what Blizzard has offered as a concept appears to have been created with a Lite Brite. Angry fans cried havoc and let slip the hyperbole laden posts of war, their delicate sensibilities offended by errant blues and tawdry greens that were either the afflictions of Disney addled minds or some kind of intentional malfeasance levied against sour faced gamers. It was the sort of haphazard complaint--thousands of internet gamers passing the time by role playing as a gothic interior decorator with a My Chemical Romance fetish--that I was sure would blow over in a half hour once everyone spotted some shiny piece of metal in a corner and decided to complain about its crass reflectiveness.

Though this all smacked of the cliché cynicism that haunts most things that become too popular too quickly on the web, I imagined it would be a sour but brief brouhaha, like passing a dead skunk on the highway. Tragically, I was wrong.

“It’s too colorful,” came the cry of malcontents with too much time on their hands.

Perhaps I’m all alone on my Incredible Shrinking Island of Sensible Priorities, the greenhouse gases vented from angry gamers raising the roiling seas around me, but this seems like a positively stupid thing to get up in arms about.

It’s like complaining that your Ferarri’s rear view mirror is the wrong shape. It’s like getting worked up that your girlfriend, Kate Beckinsale, has a heart-shaped mole on the small of her back. It’s like complaining that your sudden super-power ability to fly messes up your hair.

And yet, numbers that could adequately populate a substantial Midwestern town have gathered the requisite self-righteousness to sign online petitions demanding that Blizzard dig into the brown and dusty palette we’ve enjoyed in such classics as the FPS hit Dingy Warehouse Shootout and the classic RPG Look, There’s A Sewer! Let’s Explore It!

Like many of you, I was surprised and annoyed to discover that every time I went outside trees would stubbornly display their annoying green leaves under a blue sky no matter how sour my mood. This inconvenient world which is awash in reds, greens and blues, the impending threat of singing birds and twittering chipmunks omnipresent every time I take out the garbage, is completely destroying my well cultivated sense of ennui.

“You’re ruining the _atmosphere_,” I want to shout at the chlorophyll swollen flora.

So, gamers have taken matters into their own hands and worked with that bastion of class and cultural value, MTV, to offer Blizzard — long criticized for having poor art direction — some suggestions. These fan made concepts include comparisons of, and I’m not kidding, Necromancers Choice vs Wow gayness, as well as How it Looks Like vs How it Should Look Like.

The question at this point, for me at least, is not how can we take what these barely literate buffoons think and employ it in Diablo III, but why is Blizzard Designer Jay Wilson, who clearly has an actual paying job, being asked to expend valuable time and life-giving breath to legitimize such nonsense. A good follow up might also be where he keeps the mind-bending rage that must come on the heels of being exposed to such lunacy and how big a key he needs to lock it up.

It would be possible, I suppose, to look at this as gratifying. After all, people are clearly so irrationally invested in the Diablo universe, that they are willing to rail until their lungs burst and their eyes bulge wildly from their head about how much blue a dank dungeon should have. Frankly, I find the whole controversy terminally silly, a waste of time so magnificent that one could lose significant faith in the mental capacity of gamers just thinking about those 50,000 digitally pointless signatures.

I see this kind of controversy, a vast and offensive perversion of that word, and truly I find myself certain that the internet has jumped the shark, or the rainbow as the case may be.

Comments

You have to admit, the colors are gay.

*smirk* j/k. I find it very amusing that people care about things like the colors. WoW has hurt many young introverts with it's bright colors and happy killing ways, poor Blizzard just hates them!

I remain eternally flabbergasted by this entire debate.

Look, There’s A Sewer! Let’s Explore It! wasn't nearly as good as its sequel Hey Let's Visit the Same Sewer Again But With More Light Bloom and Water Reflections

There is always the gamma slider for those shadow-starved purists.

That was like the first thing I always did in old school Diablo. Except I cranked the gamma up.

Sports gamers have been putting up with this for years. I'll see wishlists on some forums, and just want to cry.

Wesley snipes is ....Terminally Silly. It'll be over by next week. Don't worry. The internet hasnt jumped the shark...as a whole. The complainers were born shark jumped, and we don't need to follow them over the cartilaginous fishy.

I like to think he's responding because he cares about his fans. Sure they may be terminally stupid, but at least trying to explain it to them is treating them with respect and maybe will even get a few to change their minds.

Plus it makes the fans look all the more immature in comparison.

This whole business makes me think of the movie "Mother" from back when Albert Brooks wasa still funny.

Debbie Reynolds, the titular mother, was getting a new television. She was worried that the screen was displaying a disproportionate amount of green. The delivery guy was patiently explaining to her that it was fine, but she wouldn't believe him. She flipped the channel to a soccer match, clasped her hands to her face and said

Oh, it's too green!

At this point, the delivery guy made up a story about how the green level will go down when the tubes warm up, and the tvs in the store are turned on hours before the customers get there so the picture is perfect.

Maybe Jay Wilson can take this approach. "It only looks teh ghey because you're sitting too far from your monitor. Get really, really close and the problem will solve itself."

NOTE: This would have been the first post if my internet didn't suck, so I don't address any previous comments here.

OK, I have to agree that complaining about "too much color" is pretty ridiculous, but I don't think there's any reason to begrudge these people their opinions. When talking about a game that's still in production, there's not much to discuss beyond what you hope they will do, or hope they won't do. Usually it's a little more substantial, maybe about themes or gameplay ideas - but it's not really all that different.

I think a lot of the anger directed at these guys is not about what they think about color palettes, but the fact that many of them, in typical internet fashion, express their opinions in immature, obnoxious ways (see "WoW Gayness"). If that's why people dislike them, they should make that the thrust of their argument. That's legitimate. Insulting these people for liking what they like is fairly immature itself.

I didn't sign the petition, because I don't presume to know better than Blizzard, but I have my own problems with the art style. Namely, that it looks far too much like WoW. I don't care if they make Diablo III look like Halo, Wind Waker, or Lego Star Wars, I just harbor an irrational (or, somewhat irrational) hatred for World of Warcraft and feel like it and any influence it's had on the industry need to be wiped off the Earth.

So, yeah. I'm workin' on that.

Cramps wrote:

Wesley snipes is ....Terminally Silly. It'll be over by next week. Don't worry. The internet hasnt jumped the shark...as a whole. The complainers were born shark jumped, and we don't need to follow them over the cartilaginous fishy.

I think you misunderstand - this petition went up MINUTES after the gameplay video went online. That was WEEKS ago.

Also, if your name is a reference to the band, you're cool.

HaciendaSquish wrote:
Cramps wrote:

Wesley snipes is ....Terminally Silly. It'll be over by next week. Don't worry. The internet hasnt jumped the shark...as a whole. The complainers were born shark jumped, and we don't need to follow them over the cartilaginous fishy.

I think you misunderstand - this petition went up MINUTES after the gameplay video went online. That was WEEKS ago.

Also, if your name is a reference to the band, you're cool.

I do understand that the petition went up weeks ago-- but I think it only really gained enough momentum to overcome its weight instupidity this past week or so. I put forth, that this will die out soon, now that its reached a peak. When the next set of media is released some similar fiasco will ensue. And frankly, 50,000 wheels isn't that much of a number (considering the size of the net), its just how god damn squeaky they are that gets people to look.

Also, when the sun goes down and moon comes up, I turn into a teenage goo goo muck.

I am pretty flabbergasted, too. But I seem to remember more color in Diablo II than these guys do. I remember a lot of green in the jungle scenes. A lot of yellow in the desert. A lot of red and orange in the lava/Hell stages. And a lot of blue in the magic effects. The only washed out colors I remember were the early stages around town, which looked like a cloudy Seattle day after a forest fire. But after that, it brightened up.

Elysium wrote:

...your girlfriend, Kate Beckinsale, has a heart-shaped mole on the small of her back.

Don't I wish!

Also, good article. This whole thing is patently absurd. Given Blizzard's track record in producing games that are positively devoured on release, both by critics and the unwashed masses, it seems utterly pointless at this juncture to complain, especially about something this trivial. To be honest, I would have expected more explosive debate on the new Witchdoctor class, but that seems to be quite muted.

I think Blizzard, as of late, is trying to be more and more open with it's audience. They even started the Blizzcast, giving insight to how they work.

The fact of Jay Wilson stepping up and explaining why they decided about D3's colour palette not only emphasizes that, but demonstrates that Blizzard isn't deaf to the world. Basically they said "hey, we recognize that it is important enough to cause such a big fuss, but no, we have to do this *because*... ". Giving a reason shows maturity.

This is one of the reasons I appreciate Blizzard so much. I mean, come on, Diablo 1 is the most atmospheric of the 3. The world is bleak, and feels a lot darker than Diablo 2. I say this because, even today, when I load up Diablo 1 I get creeped out. The music, the sounds, and art direction all contribute to that. In Diablo 2 I get excited, but not creeped out at all.

And I believe in Diablo 3 I'll be awed, but again, not tense or anything like in the first.

You really can't blame the fans for loving too much. True, they can be somewhat idiotic and noisy, but Blizzard shouldn't (and didn't) ignore them. That speaks volumes of Blizzard's dedication not only to their work, but to those that will enjoy it.

I think they did well. +1

HaciendaSquish wrote:

I think a lot of the anger directed at these guys is not about what they think about color palettes, but the fact that many of them, in typical internet fashion, express their opinions in immature, obnoxious ways (see "WoW Gayness"). If that's why people dislike them, they should make that the thrust of their argument. That's legitimate. Insulting these people for liking what they like is fairly immature itself.

It seems fairly ridiculous, to me, that one would watch the DIII sizzle teaser and walk away focused on the graphics. The environmental interaction and character brutality is just awesome. And lets not forget the geysers of blood. I wholeheartedly agree that they're obnoxious, but they've also got bad taste. Momgamer pulled a Penny Arcade quote for her article "Innovation is Not a Bad Word" that's pretty apt here (i.e. "it's not innovation unless it involves a second texture pass"). All these guys did were run some cruddy photoshop filters on a scene, a still picture mind you, without any forethought as to how it would animate, and they called it brilliance.
Really though, this quote from the MTV article Elysium linked says it all:
"My favorite [criticism] is the one that analyzed the light refraction angle, and told us why from that angle seeing a rainbow would actually be impossible. Oh yeah, and it was upside down because the colors were reversed."
That is so the prototypical, aspergers game shut-in there. Seriously? You took the time to analyze a background element to that degree? That's insultingly pedantic.
I'm inclined to say that the PA guys nailed it.

One could look at it this way, however: The griping over coloring has taken away the legion-cry of "well you didn't really change the combat/game from DI/DII!"

I just harbor an irrational (or, somewhat irrational) hatred for World of Warcraft and feel like it and any influence it's had on the industry need to be wiped off the Earth.

I don't get the hate on WoW. It was one of those MMOs that actualy committed itself to an art style, and did so on a philosophy that their graphics would be accessible to a variety of lower-end computers. They took a big gamble on the simplified, cartoony style, if you remember, because most games of the type were either generic Sword and Fantasy or generic Sci-Fi.

...your girlfriend, Kate Beckinsale, has a heart-shaped mole on the small of her back.

It's actually more round than 'heart-shaped'.

A righteous smackdown.

It also conveniently ignores the fact that the fan-submitted photoshops really do look a hell of a lot better.

Would it work when animated? I don't know. But I do know that glowing blue stone looks silly.

Spaz wrote:
I just harbor an irrational (or, somewhat irrational) hatred for World of Warcraft and feel like it and any influence it's had on the industry need to be wiped off the Earth.

I don't get the hate on WoW. It was one of those MMOs that actualy committed itself to an art style, and did so on a philosophy that their graphics would be accessible to a variety of lower-end computers. They took a big gamble on the simplified, cartoony style, if you remember, because most games of the type were either generic Sword and Fantasy or generic Sci-Fi.

I should clarify that I have no problem with WoW's art style, I have a problem with the gameplay and business model and community. I just associate the art style with the things I really hate now.

oMonarca wrote:

This is one of the reasons I appreciate Blizzard so much. I mean, come on, Diablo 1 is the most atmospheric of the 3. The world is bleak, and feels a lot darker than Diablo 2. I say this because, even today, when I load up Diablo 1 I get creeped out. The music, the sounds, and art direction all contribute to that. In Diablo 2 I get excited, but not creeped out at all.

I thought the atmosphere in Diablo I was boring. Really, that's what the fans seem to want.

These fans clearly didn't play the same Diablo and Diablo II that I did. I remember Diablo having a whole bunch of colors with dramatic palate changes every few levels, and Act II of Diablo II took place in a bright sunny freekin' desert, didn't it? Don't get me started about the neon colored enemies. These fans must have played something else entirely.

"errant blues and tawdry greens"

Tawdry. Greens. Elysium, you can't go up from there, you peaked early. Thank you.

Also, it does show responsive and responsible CS to address this as Blizz has. But I posit, will anyone NOT buy the game due to the color palate being too bright? Kudos to the gamma slider comment - lets take that a bit further, I would wager all current vid cards have color controls that would allow you to tool this to more to your liking. Then save as 'My tears they are blood from my eyes' or 'These wounds, they cannot heal' and swap to it before D3.

- Need a better save as... name, suggestions?

wickbroke wrote:

- Need a better save as... name, suggestions?

How about "Tawdry greens, begone"

The latest development seems to be that Blizzard is seeking a new Art Director. I doubt this will lead to any changes in art direction but I bet it wouldn't have made any headlines if it wasn't for all this hubbub about the "wow gayness".

... I want to shout at the chlorophyll swollen flora.

Love it!

Please permit me to quote my own sig...

Dr._J wrote:

Screw the speed of light, fan-boy rage is my new gold standard for measuring velocity.

Color pallet, design choices, etc, should always be debatable, but it is in these cases were debate and discussion are abandoned in favor of mob hysterics, things just spiral downward to heaven-knows-what.

Elysium wrote:

digitally pointless

That would make a great tagline. "Web 2.0: Digitally Pointless!"

I think the reds-and-greys rabble need to get some Katamari in their lives. None can resist the Royal Rainbow!

Ugh. Did he just puke a rainbow on me?

Malor wrote:

It also conveniently ignores the fact that the fan-submitted photoshops really do look a hell of a lot better.

for the most part, I agree. a few of the photoshopped ones were TOO desaturated and dark, particularly the outdoor scenes. the main difference I liked was the increase in contrast and sharpness seen in the photoshopped screens. if D3 ends up being "too colorful," I can fix that with my monitor controls if I want.

my ideal art style would be a middle ground between the original screens and the p'shopped screens. tone down the colors (saturation) of the environment a bit (especially the blueish-greenish glow on all the stone), so it doesn't look like DiabloCraft, and turn up the sharpness and contrast.

having said that, it's not THAT big of a deal to me. I have not, and will not sign that useless petition. all in all, these are small gripes IMO, especially considering how little of the game's different environments we've seen at this point.

LupusUmbrus wrote:

Color pallet, design choices, etc, should always be debatable, but it is in these cases were debate and discussion are abandoned in favor of mob hysterics, things just spiral downward to heaven-knows-what.

I agree wholeheartedly. I just feel that the people on the "get over it" side of things aren't really debating, they're just insulting. I guess the "gayness group" is, too, but they're not attacking Blizzard for what they think, but what they're doing.

Doing with their own IP, I should point out.

That underwear sounds cold. And heavy.

The real question for D3 is whether it will bring back the spawned install you can do for a friend. I doubt it but that was a much better feature than what the world looked like.
Of course it won't based both on size of the game, Bnet integration for the cheat-free realms and the fact that all the WoW employees wear underwear made out of woven gold and platinum.

I'm still going to buy it first day to help make them make more underwear because while the gameplay is simple (click here to move or kill, right click to cast) the fact that blizz does things like the cube (runes, jewels, stones and crackpipes) along with those previously mentioned cheat free realms is boon to the gametype.

I think people forget that a rainbow is a naturally occurring thing, caused by sunlight passing through precipitation creating a color spectrum, not something a Leprechaun shot out of a pot o' gold. Also, this game takes place years later from the others, the evil is gone (or so it seems) so things will be not as... dead.

See, the problem is that the people so pissed about this new color scheme obviously don't often go outside and see real nature. The only thing they have to go on is video games, which tend to have a darker scheme in general and the only time they see bright colors and plants are in happy games and such, so the reaction of these basement dwellers is to be expected and isn't really all that surprising...

When I first saw the trailer I though "oh, sh*t" and immediately thought about quitting the internet for a few months to keep out of the sure to come arguments and flaming. I changed my mind though when I remembered mah sexy pron and stayed on. Naturally I came across many of these 'arguments', which usually just consist of some 'diehard Diablo fan' who probably found out about the game a year ago, played it, and vigorously masturbated to the amazon class (that being there first experience with 'wimenz') and thought that people would think them to be more 'hardcore' if they started spaming words like 'gay, WoW, and spectrum' which I assume they don't really know the meaning of and are just doing this to feel cool. Then, of course, you have the people who actually know what they're talking about and provide reasonable arguments for how upset they are about the change, I don't mind THESE people and value they're opinion, really, they're just gamers like us thinking one of they're favorite games is going to be ruined, and I respect the anger that comes.

Really, it's a matter of opinion, there will be the "OMG guys it's fine STFU" people, the "OMFG TOO BRIGHTS IT HURTS MAH EYES!!!", and of course the "lol wats diable" people, but, there will always be the intelligent people who can think before complaining or counter-complaining to renew my faith in the good old interwebs.

Edit: Jesus, that got a bit long