So, I was reading an interesting post on DiabloFans about difficulty levels. Basically, the "tl;dr" version is that based on various interviews, Beta gameplay, and Blizzard quotes about the four D3 difficulty levels, it seems that the game will be very easy to play and that players won't hit the expected level of difficulty until sometime in Hell mode (e.g. Hell is the new Normal.)

I thought it was a delightful and thought provoking article. He had citations and sources, it was speculation of course since the game's not out yet, but it does rather raise some interesting theories, thoughts and concerns.

Normally, I just skip everything on Diablofans because it's the exact same article posted on every other gaming forum, blog, and fan site. They only post official announcements, official videos, changes to FAQs, official posts about class changes, website changes, Blue posts, etc.

However, this one stood out because he took pieces from many different interviews, and put them together into one cohesive idea. The author, Magistrate, provided reasons, proof, and sources for his concerns.

But unfortunately something happened:

I apologize for any undue amount of negativity that this post conveys. I highly value your feedback and will do my best to improve my approach to writing content that you read in the future. No, no one asked me to say this. I say this because I care about the community that's been gathering here since 2006. When you're not happy, I'm not happy.

-Magistrate :)

Geeez.. what did those MONSTERS do to him?

He was voted down to hell, the readers got really angry, he received hate mail and threats, and he needed to issue a public apology to the community.

I didn't see any negativity at all in his post. But apparently when you question decisions or talk about concerns on upcoming class changes, you're a hateful, raging, conspiracy nut who despises Blizzard and all of their games.

Does any of that sound right to you? He strayed into forbidden territory ("Dude.. you should have just copied-and-pasted the latest blue post about icon colors being changed.") so they ripped him apart. I hate these toxic environments.

But, you know.. there was something about the website that I found very strange that could explain the "Don't Think, Don't Question" attitude. I was getting quite a headache looking at the website, so I put on some "special 1980's style sunglasses" that I had found back in an old abandoned church next to a shantytown in LA. Suddenly, it all made sense.

Here's what the webpage looked like before the sunglasses:

And, here's what it looked like after the sunglasses:


So yeah, it makes a lot of sense now. Now, I always thought that the difficulty levels were going to be pretty easy too. Except until you hit maybe the middle of Hell and then the Inferno difficulty. The reason for having such a harsh difficulty wall in place is because it forces players to upgrade their equipment.. and that equipment can only be found on the Real Money Auction House. Blizzard pushes players to a certain point where they hit a wall, and in order to get past the wall, Blizzard pushes them into the RMAH where only the best gear can be found. That's what I would do if I was a standard marketing and financial staff member. :)