Diablo III Message Board older than one year ago

Not unlike the hardworking parent who regrettably has to break the news to their adoring children that this year, with so many important things going on at work, they won't be able to take the kids to Disneyland like they'd done every year prior, Blizzard today tried to very gently break it to the company's most enthusiastic fans that no, there won't be a BlizzCon in 2012.

The reason? It's apparently as simple as there just being too much stuff going on with the company these days. In addition to the (eventual) releases of Diablo III, the World of Warcraft expansion Mists of Pandaria, and Starcraft II expansion Heart of the Swarm in 2012, the company also announced that it plans to hold a competitive gaming event it calls the 2012 Battle.net World Championship, an event that it describes as "a major global eSports event featuring some of the best pro-gaming competition in the world" that will feature competition in both Starcraft II (naturally) and World of Warcraft's Arena battles. That event will take place somewhere in the rather large continent of Asia in 2012. For those taking bets on where, put me down for a sawbuck on South Korea.

Amusingly, most of Blizzard's announcement focused on the Battle.net World Championship and the many, many titles Blizzard plans to release this year, as if to try and soften the blow to any die-hard fans who were eagerly anticipating the opportunity to finally have that ridiculous Pandaren costume they've been trotting around for the last few years really mean something. It's like the aforementioned parent trying to salve the wounds of their heartbroken brood by telling them they'll get a couple of extra presents once their birthday rolls around, and maybe they'll take them to a baseball game one of these days...in Asia.

Blizzard plans to release more info on both the Battle.net World Championships and the 2013 rendition of BlizzCon "in the months ahead."

“The game’s done, just release it already! Gentlemen: prepare the Onager!” That’s my impression of the angry mod outside Blizzard’s studios, waiting for news of a Diablo 3 release. They want it, but like a monkey gripping a tree in a hurricane, Blizzard are holding tightly onto the beta. They still have a lot to change. A lot. According to game director Jay Wilson’s ‘System Changes’ post on the Diablo 3 site: “We trust in our ability to put out a great game, but we’re not quite there yet.”(more…)

A thought-provoking little story, I think. Diablo III’s auction house will allow real-money trading (RMT) for items found in the game world. The fact that you can trade in items and then “cash out” and make money (minus Blizzard’s cut, of course) caused the game to clash with South Korea’s anti-gambling laws. Blizzard have resubmitted the game for approval with this feature removed and it has been accepted. (This page proves it, apparently.) The thought this issue raises, however, is how much this will change the psychological experience for Korean players. If they can’t get $$$ for epic loot, what does that mean for their response to acquiring it? Will the game be less exciting for them? Or do they get a “cleaner” experience, because it doesn’t have that connotation of cash, and of the world outside the game?

If you’re a registered World of Warcraft player, and are willing to commit to a 12 month contract to the game, you can get Diablo III for free. In one of the more confusing offers I’ve seen, Blizzard seem to be rewarding ongoing loyalty to WoW players, rather than actually trying to get new customers, as this is an offer open only to those who have a registered WoW account on or before the 18th October 2011. If that’s you, and you’re willing to add twelve months to your sub, then not only do you get Diablo III whenever it happens to release, but access to the beta for Mists Of Pandaria (still can’t believe that’s really a thing) and a new walkie/flying mount, Tyrael’s Charger.

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Today is not Thursday, April 26th and this is the not-news.

Diablo III will not be released in February this year, despite assorted internet-wide reports to the contrary. Retailers do not know a date for the hacky-slashy game’s release, according to Blizzard’s community manager, and will not know one until the entire world knows one, via press release. So any news you might read claiming the game will be released on Feb 1 or February 3 is not news. That’s not the same as not-news, of course.

Today’s not-headlines in summary, then: we still do not know the release date for Diablo III.

In other not news today, I have not yet drunk a cup of tea or eaten any breakfast, Skyrim 2 has not been announced and the British economy is not showing any signs of meaningful economy.

And still no Diablo III on my hard-drive! It’s close though, so close we can smell it. It smells of 200 developers having sat in the same office for five years. Mmm, unmistakable. Anyway, there are interviews with Jay Wilson and Chris Metzen (as well as an “extended retrospective”) on Blizzard’s 15th anniversary site, and Wilson says that Blizzard are “almost done” with the third game. So that’s exciting. I would like to be “almost starting” to play it, now please.

More importantly, why was the first Diablo released on December 31st 2006? That seems like an odd release date. Whatever, it was still fifteen years ago, and whether or not you appreciate Diablo’s dungeon-crawler mechanics, it’s hard to deny the influence it has had on the past decade-point-five years of PC games. Also, if you are me, it makes you feel old. Formidably old, like a crotchety old wizard, or something. Ok.

Yes, there’s also a Diablo III cinematic from Blizzard. Not all that interesting, I suppose, but it’s super stylish, so you’ll probably want to take a look, below.(more…)

In the past, multiplayer in the Diablo games was a dicey proposition thanks to the constant threat of griefing from seemingly friendly players who could turn hostile at any moment. By contrast, Diablo III’s player-versus-player gameplay will be predominantly focused in the separate arena, where teams of four can do battle with each other. Due to the sheer number of skills, runes, and random gear, the development team at Blizzard isn’t even going to attempt to balance this mode for e-sports, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a nice addition to the main story mode of the game.

While PVP was revealed at BlizzCon 2010, this year’s showing was a little different. The basic setup was the same: four against four in a small arena, with health orbs placed at strategic locations. The playable BlizzCon demo was using pre-built characters loaded out with some great gear and a specific set of skills, but thankfully, in the final version of the game you’ll be able to bring in your own campaign characters. There will be matchmaking and some form of ranking with its own progression system, but that doesn’t appear to be linked to earning gold, experience, or items that you can bring back into your campaign.

What was different, however, was the ruleset for the game. Last year, matches were a series of games with no respawns. It was last team standing, and those that died were forced to spectate. This year, respawns were enabled and victory went to the team with the most kills at the end of our playtime. It's not clear if both modes will be available in the final game.

As the skill system in Diablo III has been changed from Diablo II--where each skill is unlocked as you level up--the limitation is now placed on the amount of skills you can equip at once. Because of this, the game and by extension its PVP multiplayer feel closer to Guild Wars than Diablo II or even World of Warcraft. You’re free to set up your loadout prior to joining a match, but once you’re in, you cannot swap your skills and runes.

This year’s outing was a bit more hectic than the previous demo, because teams didn’t spawn together and players could respawn at any time in various places around the arena. This resulted in a confusing experience where it was hard to ever really stop and take stock of the situation. Instead, it forced me to sort of always be running around and hunting for respawning enemies. Again, it's not known if these specific rules will be in place in the final game, or what kind of options you'll have for setting match specifics before you jump in.

The toughest part about previewing a game mode like this is that most of the enjoyment in a game like Diablo comes from building your own character and learning it thoroughly as you progress through the game. I had a lot of fun, but it was hard to jump right into high-level PVP without hours and hours of learning the ropes through the campaign.