Editorializing

Offered for your consideration, two different headlines about the same story.

Start with this headline from the normally quite sober WCCFTech:

Microsoft Promises, Microsoft Delivers! Windows Installation Time Reduced to 30 Minutes

compare it to Gizmodo UK's headline about the same announcement:

Windows Has a Plan to Make Its Update System a Little Less Garbage

and marvel at the power of editorial direction. The same phenomenon can be seen at work in the articles themselves.

Confirmed: Diablo is dying, and Blizzard is out of ideas [UPDATES below the fold]

Was it just this morning that I was writing about how broken Diablo III still is, and how desperately Blizzard has been trying to appeal to the nostalgia of Diablo II fans to breathe life back into their moribund franchise? I think it was:

Of all the recent BlizzCon Diablo rumours, this is the one that I believe, simply because it's exactly the kind of desperate, pandering bullshit that Blizzard have been doing for years, trying to convince Diablo II fans to come back to Diablo III (and buy its expansion pack) in spite of the fact that D3 is simply an inferior game, in spite of its gloss and polish.

Well, wait no longer, Diablo fans, because the pandering is real.

From polygon:

Diablo 3 players will get access to a brand new character, the oft-requested Necromancer, as an update to the Reaper of Souls expansion next year.

Blizzard showed off a trailer for the Necromancer during its BlizzCon 2016 Opening Ceremony Friday. Blizzard co-founder Frank Pearce said its addition was something fans had been asking for since Diablo 3’s launch in 2012.

The new Necromancer, Pearce said, is inspired by Diablo 2’s version of the character, and "takes advantage of everything Diablo 3 has to offer."

No details yet on exactly what the hell a "character pack" is -- my guess is paid-for DLC, because the players who've been begging for Blizzard to add Necromancers to D3 for years will obviously be stupid enough to stump up some green for that shit. I'll tell you what a "character pack" isn't, though. It isn't an expansion pack, or a sequel, or prequel, or even an HD remake of D2. 

The class itself will be shit, too -- even if it takes advantage of everything D3 has to offer, D3 is such a shallow, hollow shell of a game that "everything" amounts to more of the same boring skill system, broken itemization, and mind-numbing gameplay that have sent D2 fans fleeing en masse.

So... Blizzard have now delivered basically nothing for their Diablo fan base for a third straight BlizzCon, and on the 20th Anniversary, no less, except for one new class that should be added to the game for free but which will probably cost $20. Diablo fans have every right to be disappointed, and so far, it looks like quite a few of them are.

Did I mention that Path of Exile is running an all-weekend race event? And has a huge content patch coming in the next 2 weeks? With the beta for their even huger 3.0 content patch coming on the heels of that? And that PoE is completely free? No wonder the Father of Diablo calls it the ARPG that's actually pushing the genre to new heights.

GG, Blizzard. GG.

Damn, that's some faint praise

Damning with faint praise, i.e. saying apparently complimentary things which are so marginally positive as to add up to no compliment at all, or even serve as thinly-veiled criticism, has become something of a lost art in today's hype-fuelled Internet culture. Everything seems to be either "The Best" or "The Worst" lately, with positions in the middle being left largely vacant.

Perhaps that's partly why I found this piece, from Reuters via Fortune, so oddly satisfying:

Microsoft Just Added This Free Creative Update to Windows 10

Gamers might be pleased.

Microsoft on Wednesday announced a free update to its Windows operating system that lets users take photos and edit content in three dimensions, in a bid to raise excitement for its declining computing business.

Ouch.

Other favourite recent headlines include this one, from Stuff:

Microsoft’s finally done something cool with Windows 10

Windows 10 announcements haven’t traditionally made tech fans drool with desire in the past, but Microsoft has managed to tease our saliva glands into action with its latest Windows 10 Creator’s Update announcement.

although that may say more about the terrible year that Microsoft's just had, rather than anything in particular about their event yesterday. Microsoft has hyped their "success" with Windows 10 to a ridiculous extent, but the truth is clearly otherwise, as demonstrated by pieces like this one, from Business Insider:

For Microsoft Windows, it's do or die

Microsoft is set to unveil a bunch of new hardware on Wednesday, with the star attraction likely to be a new Surface PC to compete with Apple's all-in-one iMac.

Microsoft is billing this event as the future of Windows 10. That's not surprising: The reason Microsoft got into the Surface business in the first place was to push Windows forward into a touchscreen future, whether PC manufacturers wanted it or not.
But we're fast approaching a moment in time where Microsoft is going to have to do more than introduce new kinds of PCs if it wants Windows, first introduced in 1985, to stay relevant for the next three decades.

The PC industry is shrinking and Windows is increasingly irrelevant in a mobile world ruled by Apple's iOS and Google's Android. Even worse, Microsoft's own attempts to break into the smartphone realm have landed with a resounding "thud," exacerbating the slow decline of the Windows business (fortunately for Microsoft, its cloud and productivity businesses are exploding, propelling the company's stock to new highs).

It's gotten to the point where some, like Infoworld Editor-in-Chief Eric Knorr, have openly wondered whether it would be best if Microsoft put Windows out to pasture now, rather than let it bleed out slowly over the next few years as the world passes it on by.

Don't believe me yet? How about this piece, from Computerworld:

Windows: When no growth is an improvement

Revenue from OS flat in Q3, but evaporation of phone business again drags More Personal Computing group under

Microsoft yesterday said that revenue in the September quarter for the More Personal Computing group was down 2%, the second consecutive quarter of year-over-year declines and the fifth contraction in the last six quarters.

Windows revenue, which accounts for the bulk of More Personal Computing's (MPC) total, was flat. But that was an improvement over the prior quarter, when sales of the operating system were down 4%.

It's reached a point where the actual stuff being announced by Microsoft has become almost secondary; Microsoft has made such a mess of their core business, missing the boat on mobile completely while annoying or alienating desktop and laptop users, trying and failing to push its newest OS onto so many PCs that its previous failures could be forgotten. Make no mistake, there is actual announced stuff in most of the articles I've linked to (all of which are worth a read, BTW, so please do click through and give them some love), it's just that none of it feels all that hype-worthy.

I'm still looking through the list of actually announced things from yesterday, but so far it all looks like stuff I have no interest in:

• the $3000 (and up!) all-in-one Studio Surface (which, Gizmodo be damned, absolutely isn't going to kill PCs as we know them, any more than tablets killed PCs as we know them, for reasons I've already gone into at length); 
• the Surface Dial, a gimmicky interface thingy which only users of $3000 (and up!) Studio Surface all-in-ones will even be slightly interested in; 
• a bunch of 3D creative apps (which might be useful for creators that aren't already using other tools for that, but won't mean much to those that are already creating in 3D because there are other tools for that); 
• a bunch of VR and AR hardware, and more HoloLens stuff (which also won't mean much, either, for reasons I've already gone into at length); 
• the Beam game-streaming app, which totally isn't going to supplant any of the tools that Twitch streamers are already using; 
• the ability for gamers to make their own tournaments for Windows 10 apps, which means nothing when Steam is the #1 platform for games distribution; 
• better audio support, which is nice but why wasn't it already in there? 

So... yeah. Lots of sound and fury, signifying nothing, which none of which even begins to win back the trust and goodwill of Windows users that Microsoft has spent the last year squandering.

Yes, the Studio Surface is very pretty, but at $3000 for the bare-bones version, and $5000 for something which can actually match the gaming performance of my 3-year-old rig, I won't be buying one. The prospect of $300 VR headsets for PC (made by third parties, details TBD, i.e. vaporware) will mean nothing if they don't solve VR's other problems first. The ability to paint in 3D is neat, but with so many other options out there, it's not exactly a "killer app" for Windows 10. It's nice that they're finally fixing Windows 10's audio support, but why is that newsworthy? Why is any of this newsworthy?

No wonder the coverage is full of "faint praise."

OK, this is more what I was expecting

Just when I was wondering if people might be starting to bring their VR expectations back in line with reality...

From Kotaku:

STAT | $11.2 billion - The amount people will spend on all VR in 2020, according to a forecast by IHS Markit.

STAT | $30 billion - The amount people will spend on all VR in 2020, according to a forecast by Superdata.

STAT | $50 billion - The amount people will spend on VR hardware alone in 2021, according to a forecast by Juniper Research.

QUOTE | “The number one problem facing the VR industry right now is the lack of high quality, highly replayable VR content.” - First Contact Entertainment president Hess Barber lays out the biggest problem his VR studio will focus on solving.

I especially love the way the escalating VR hype "stats" are immediately followed by the cold-water-in-the-face, you-don't-have-anything-to-sell-yet quote. Whose ass were those numbers pulled from, anyway? How can valid methodology forecast both $11B and $30B for the same metric?

Kudos to Hess Barber, for the way, for being the 2nd person I've seen quoted actually recognizing the single biggest problem that VR faces. Of course, the article in which he delivers this bit of wisdom is the same article in which it's announced that his new VR studio just landed $5M in investments, but whatever. Baby steps. At least we know where some of Blizzard's decamping veterans went to.

‘Diablo 4’ Release Date: Major Announcement at BlizzCon 2016!!!!

Or... not. Because Blizzard haven't announced anything at all, yet.

I've been seeing articles like this one, from GameNGuide, popping up every few days for a few weeks now:

‘Diablo 4’ Release Date, News & Update: Major Announcement at BlizzCon 2016; New Game Or Expansion Coming?

BlizzCon is set to happen on Nov. 4 and 5, 2016 in Anaheim, California, and fans are already excited for big news. Blizzard Entertainment previously shared that they have a huge announcement to make, which many believe involves "Diablo 4," among others.

iTechPost reported that "Diablo 4" fans were dismayed when Blizzard did not have any fresh details about the franchise at Gamescom in August 2016. Many thought that the game company may have saved big news and updates for their own major event - BlizzCon 2016. The "Diablo" official Twitter account stated that they have something great to reveal in 2016.

Some "Diablo" fans speculated that Blizzard may be preparing an enhanced version of "Diablo II" or "StarCraft." There are rumors that Blizzard might remake either of the two hit titles to suit current platforms. Others opined that the game creator might feature a prequel, sequel reboot or expansion for "Diablo III." Others shared that there might be a mobile "Diablo" game. The rest are hoping that the company will introduce "Diablo IV" soon.

In another iTechPost report, there has yet to be a suitable replacement for "Diablo" game director Josh Mosquiera. Blizzard is reportedly looking for more staff members to work on the "Diablo 4." There are talks that senior designer Wyatt Chang might replace George Musketeer as game director, although he will continue some of the work already commenced. Even if "Diablo 4" is already in the works, it will take a while to complete, so an announcement about a "Diablo II" remake or "Diablo 3" expansion seems more likely to arrive at BlizzCon 2016.

For those counting, these are the actual facts in this excerpt:

1. BlizzCon is indeed set to happen on Nov. 4th and 5th;
2. there are indeed many rumours and much speculation flying around Diablo fan sites, forums, and Reddit about what Blizzard might announce at BlizzCon about Diablo, if anything; and
3. iTechPost has indeed posted multiple articles filled with those rumours and speculations.

That's it. Speculation aside, Blizzard haven't announced who the next game director of Diablo will be; George Musketeer was never actually announced as Diablo's game director by Blizzard, and there's no evidence that he was replaced as such, by Wyatt Cheng or anyone else. All the older "Diablo team" job listings have vanished, and new ones have been posted, suggesting that some folks were hired and that they're hiring more, but right now, that's all we know for sure.

No Man's "Lie" might legally qualify as one

The recent launch of No Man's Sky on PC has been serving as a cautionary example of hype culture run amok. The "No Man's Lie" pun has been eliciting groans from some, and outrage from others, as debate has raged on whether Hello Games actually lied to customers about the game features that were in development, or just fell short of achieving everything they were trying to build.

For the record, I've been in the "lie" camp ever since it turned out that players couldn't encounter each other in game, even if they were standing at the same spot, at the same time, on the same planet, while talking to each other to help find that spot in the first place. There's a difference between a game where player interaction, and even PVP, is astronomically unlikely but still possible, and a game in which players can't interact with each other at all because that functionality wasn't ever in the game.

Laws vary between jurisdictions, but where I live, that would be a pretty clear example of advertising a game using features which not only weren't in the final build, but which weren't in any earlier build, either. Add to that the fact that Sean Murray and Hello Games have gone completely dark since this scam was discovered, and that a modder recreated the game as a Doom mod in less than month, and one is certainly justified in thinking that some hard questions really should be asked about where all that Kickstarter money went.

Well, if you're been waiting in breathless anticipation for Hello Games to get their comeuppance over No Man's Sky and its advertising campaign, then wait no longer, because the U.K.-based Advertising Standards Authority is apparently on exactly the same page.

From Polygon:

No Man's Sky’s promotional material has come under fire since launch, and it’s now the subject of an ongoing investigation. The U.K.-based Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) confirmed to Polygon that it’s received "several complaints about No Man’s Sky’s advertising," which angry customers have criticized as misleading.

Full court press

After weeks of horrible PR surrounding their strong-arm GWX tactics, Microsoft seem to have weathered the storm and are now bringing the hardest sell they can to bear on remaining non-Win10 users. Pro-Redmond outlets are flooding the 'net with articles urging users to switch, even if they only switch to Win10 so that they can switch back, reminding us over and over again that time is running out, and that it will cost us later if we don't switch now.

Don't believe the hype. If you're running Windows 7, and you're happy with it, then you don't need to switch to Windows 10, and here's why:

Invisible pet fence will corral your VR experience

I wonder if anyone else thought of wireless pet fences when they saw this bit of kit at E3.

From Gizmodo:

It’s fun watching people wearing an Oculus Rift or HTC Vive run into walls, trip over furniture, or smash into other obstacles while playing a VR game. But it’s not as fun when you’re the one accidentally breaking your own TV, so Nyko has come up with a solution that makes it safer to explore a VR world while you’re inside the real one.

The VR Guardian system is made up of four wireless positional sensors that you arrange around a space, in any shape as large as 20x20 feet, to define a safe area where you’re free to move and flail your arms without hitting anything. To let you know when you’re getting close to the invisible fence the sensors create, a wristband worn on each arm will start to vibrate letting you know to back off, without distracting you from your VR experience.

There are just so many problems that VR has to solve before it can really become a thing, and this is just one of them: how do you navigate a virtual space? Oculus "solved" this by giving users an XBox One gamepad, tacitly admitting that you can't actually do anything in Oculus VR that you can't do without it (although it sure will look pretty). HTC Vive went with a "room scale" solution, limiting players to a 5½ x 6½ foot space, which may be why Space Pirate Trainer is the most popular early offering for the Vive: a two-fisted, guns akimbo, VR version of what amounts to Duck Hunt (sure is pretty, though).