Diablo 2

Blizzard games are often distinct from one another -- you're not going to confuse Hearthstone with StarCraft, for example -- but they are not conceived and executed in vacuum, and there is influence between each.

Keep in mind that Diablo 4 is not only not out yet, it's not even remotely out yet -- at present it's a 10 minute or so demo available only at BlizzCon.

One title conspicuously absent from this year's opening ceremonies, and indeed from the entire BlizzCon schedule, was Diablo Immortal. Announced as the key new product at BlizzCon 2018, the mobile title attracted a broadly negative reaction from a community that had been first told to get hype but then promptly to rein it in.

Objectively speaking, there are better action RPGs than Diablo 2.

I have never really been able to get back into Diablo 2.

What is the lifespan of a game?

Diablo Immortal and the rumored Pokemon Go-style Warcraft game were not Blizzard's first attempts at taking their biggest series to mobile platforms.

Last week, we talked about the 20-year gap between Diablo 2 and Diablo 3 and how Diablo Immortal is going to live in that gap, starting five years after the destruction of the Worldstone.

If you played Diablo 2 and its expansion, Lord of Destruction, then you saw the end of the established world order with the destruction of the Worldstone.

With BlizzCon coming up, I have two very contrary ideas in mind.