"Hey, we're working on the game you want. In the mean time here's another game for different users."
"Noooooo! I've been betrayed! This is the ultimate insult!!!!"
And as much as people don't want to admit it, gamergate was the same thing.
I've spent a lot of time gaming in my past, but there's something unhealthy floating around here. If you saw this own behavior in your own son or daughter you'd recognize it instantly.
And now to take this one step too far, to where I'll get negative responses: It's almost as if the hundreds of hours spent in online cultures where flaming vitriol is spewed at the smallest slight has developed a subculture where (obviously not all) but a significant group of people can't handle when things slightly deviate from their wants.
It's funny, but I'm reminded of Willy Wonka's factory tour.
You know what pc gamers don't like? Pay2win. And any business model that usually runs on mobile that is not buy once (or monthly subscription), because in any other situation, the game is focused on pulling more money for you.
That’s why people feel betrayed by a mobile game. They created their average customer to be of a specific niche, then they create something that is completely out of that niche. What's your expectation there? Did you ever try to show a ballet instead of a soccer game at the stadium? I bet the problem would be much worse.
And to be fair, I don't care at all (and I stopped being a Blizzard fan long long time ago), I just find ridiculous that people can't understand why the fans are angry.
They created the fans, then created a game that is completely against their fanbase.
The largest, from what I gather.
Speaking as a non-fan, it was an egregious mistake to announce it at a conference geared toward hardcore Diablo consumers. This is conspicuously glossed over in social media commentary: had they announced it online in business-as-usual fashion no one would care. Instead we're directed to shame fans about not collectively giving a fuck about mediocre cash grabs.
It's a shame watching the quite literal rage that has come about from a company announcing a product decision that wasn't the one that some portion, however large, of the community wanted. Assuming Kotaku is correct and there is still a new Diablo separate from this in the works, then it's a societal disgrace to watch grown adults raging out over a mobile game being announced ESPECIALLY in the context of the game that they actually want is ALSO in the works.
I find it odd that you demand some sort of standard from the game journalism community but find no need to expect a reasonable standard from the gamer community.