Looking Forward to Diablo 3, Anyone?

[Scryer]

I guess I couldn't have started a more obvious thread, but it's really what I'm looking forward to, that and this game. I can't wait to play both, compare contrast, maybe say I told you so... ha!

Just kidding, anyways, I do wish the best of luck to Crate, and I will be supporting their game as much as I can.

Really the purpose of this thread is to see if you are looking forward to Diablo 3, and what you think about the changes they are making to the game's structure.

Obviously we can't discuss every topic, that's probably best left for the Diablo 3 forums on Blizzard's Battle.net site. However, your thoughts are welcomed.

I like just about everything I've seen from the game so far, and really don't have any complaints. The developer's have thought of just about everything when it comes to how to compensate for some of the new game-play mechanics.

[deimos]

Having spent endless hours on Diablo 2, i'm certain it is going to be awesome. No doubt. Then again, having spent endless hours on Titan Quest and still going strong, i have no doubts about Grim Dawn either. ;)

The screenshots of D3 just drop my jaw every time. To me, a game doesn't need to be all about full anti-aliasing etc fancy effects which i don't even know half of, it's the GAME itself that matters. Nice visuals are a good bonus but it doesn't need to get much better looking than Titan Quest was/is and Diablo 3 sure looks good enough to me, too.

[yerkyerk]

I'm not really looking forward to Diablo 3; mostly because it's starting to suffer from DNF syndrome. It's been in development for quite some time, years before the announcement; and we only had one notable update since they announced it 2,5 years ago. And minor updates haven't been given either for a long time now as well.

I'm guessing it will come out some day and if it does it'll be awesome (unlike DNF), but it's really too vague for me..

[Scryer]

Well, there are small updates that come out sporadically, like this one posted 13 hours ago -

- A big push on armor sets in the milestone before the break, which included a new female wizard unarmored look.

From Twitter.

I think they are taking so long because they feel that they really have to get it right, beause Diablo 3 will have to last another 10 years or longer.

[deimos]

DNF? It's either my lack of education or... or my lack of education?

[FlawleZ]

Well, I would say most if not all would be looking forward to Diablo III. I know I am. However, it seems as each passing day goes by, my interest dwindles a little more.

Blizzard has really shown its true colors over the last few years with its relentless efforts on WoW. Love it or Hate it, that's irrelevant. What it CLEARLY shows is that Blizzard's PRIMARY interest is revenue in which WoW clearly is the meat, potato, appetizer, and dessert. Blizzard continually prolongs the release of a FAR more globalized and legendary title (Starcraft 2), and now have continued on that path with Diablo III. The visuals are good enough, but nowhere near impressive. In fact, they don't even seem as good as TQ from the videos and screenshots posted.

I don't mean to bash or hate on Blizzard or Diablo III particularly. I moreso wanted to express my rants towards a company that tends to sit on its laurels for a LONG time instead of delivering what their fan base has been asking for years. Afterall, they are who got them to this point in the first place.

[Kluga]

I was looking forward to it heaps when it was first released, but my interest has dwindled the longer time has gone on with so little news. It'll still most likely be a great game and I will definitely pick it up when it comes out. That said I'm probably looking forward to GD just as much (if not more)

[deimos]

I don't mean to bash or hate on Blizzard or Diablo III particularly. I moreso wanted to express my rants towards a company that tends to sit on its laurels for a LONG time instead of delivering what their fan base has been asking for years. Afterall, they are who got them to this point in the first place.

While that's seemingly the case, they do care for the fan base. Who else supports a game as old as Diablo 2? No company can ever do *everything* the fan base wants. There's a fine line in between.

[Scryer]

I think what makes Blizzard a great company is that they don't release a game until it's finished, it has the quality stamp of approval, and not many companies can do that, but the fact that Blizzard doesn't have to do is a true testament to what they believe in as a company. Blizzard could release some half-hashed game and get a ton of revenue if they wanted, but they really don't want to ruin the Blizzard name over a bad game. Blizzard is just lucky enough to actually be able to do that with their games.

I like that about them.

[FlawleZ]

While that's seemingly the case, they do care for the fan base. Who else supports a game as old as Diablo 2? No company can ever do *everything* the fan base wants. There's a fine line in between.

Battle.Net went down hill long ago. So their support for Diablo II has been lacking in recent time to say the least. Their recent patch release holds some merit, yes. However, at this point in time the question they should ask themselves is "Should we spend time, money, effort, and resources on a game that's over 10 years old? Considering we've been funding a dedicated team to develop the sequel to said game for several years already and are STILL a long ways off from release. Is it then smart to spend resources on something of the past?

[deimos]

Battle.Net went down hill long ago. So their support for Diablo II has been lacking in recent time to say the least. Their recent patch release holds some merit, yes. However, at this point in time the question they should ask themselves is "Should we spend time, money, effort, and resources on a game that's over 10 years old? Considering we've been funding a dedicated team to develop the sequel to said game for several years already and are STILL a long ways off from release. Is it then smart to spend resources on something of the past?

True... although i don't believe dumping support for Diablo 2 would speed up D3 much, if at all. They want it done good, which is exactly the way to go.

Gothic 3 anyone? Retail was utterly useless. Fans fixed it to become playable enough. There are examples all over the plate, i don't really even care what Blizzard does when they're quiet. I *know* whatever they put out is going to be good, at the very least good quality if not to my taste (like WoW, i'm not going to even go there ;) )

[FlawleZ]

True... although i don't believe dumping support for Diablo 2 would speed up D3 much, if at all. They want it done good, which is exactly the way to go.

Gothic 3 anyone? Retail was utterly useless. Fans fixed it to become playable enough. There are examples all over the plate, i don't really even care what Blizzard does when they're quiet. I *know* whatever they put out is going to be good, at the very least good quality if not to my taste (like WoW, i'm not going to even go there ;) )

Can I use that as a sig quote? Speak Engrish? :rolleyes::p


And WoW would maybe catch a bit more attention from me if it didn't look like a game from 10 years ago. Gothic 3 did look interesting though. I admittedly haven't played it yet though.

[deimos]

Can I use that as a sig quote? Speak Engrish? :rolleyes::p


And WoW would maybe catch a bit more attention from me if it didn't look like a game from 10 years ago.

Sorry for the bad spelling. How is that relevant? I'm not english nor american but i guess i'm engrish. :)

[FlawleZ]

Sorry for the bad spelling. How is that relevant? I'm not english nor american but i guess i'm engrish. :)

LoL

It's not relevant, I'm giving you a hard time. Hence the comment about WoW and Gothic 3. :D

[deimos]

LoL

It's not relevant, I'm giving you a hard time. Hence the comment about WoW and Gothic 3. :D

I don't mind having a hard time. :) You should try Gothic 3, but only with the latest Community Patch, version 1.72 or 1.73 i think. It's a worthwhile adventure at least for one playthrough. And a LONG one at that.

[FlawleZ]

I don't mind having a hard time. :) You should try Gothic 3, but only with the latest Community Patch, version 1.72 or 1.73 i think. It's a worthwhile adventure at least for one playthrough. And a LONG one at that.

Thanks for the recommendation! I trust your opinion so I'll definitely take a closer look and check it out.

[AXidenT]

I don't care what others say; I'm hyped up for D3, even if it's released after I die. :P

[deimos]

Thanks for the recommendation! I trust your opinion so I'll definitely take a closer look and check it out.

If/when you do, give it a little time. Just like Gothic 2, it wasn't a game that sucked me in right from the first battle. Of course my opinion might be a little biased because Gothic 2 eventually ended up as one of my all-time favorites of that genre. ;)

[yerkyerk]

I think what makes Blizzard a great company is that they don't release a game until it's finished, it has the quality stamp of approval, and not many companies can do that, but the fact that Blizzard doesn't have to do is a true testament to what they believe in as a company. Blizzard could release some half-hashed game and get a ton of revenue if they wanted, but they really don't want to ruin the Blizzard name over a bad game. Blizzard is just lucky enough to actually be able to do that with their games.

I like that about them.

That's pretty much the most standard reply there is regarding Blizzard. They take their time because they want it done well. But what about the tons of bugs that plague D2 and still haven't been patched out (bugs that were there since the beginning) - it's an old game, but let's not forget Blizzard still makes a lot of money of it.
And what with D2 patch 1.13, which was supposed to be a huge content patch released within 2-3 months - which turned out to be a very minor patch with some random balancing which took them more than a half year after their deadline to complete.

Meh, D3 will be good, no doubt. It may take a long, long while though - and it'll be no doubt over-anticipated, leading to much too high expectations.

[MadWasp]

"Diablo has a prolonged twilight but we have a Grim Dawn"

This is our sentence.

[jameswhite1979]

I was massively and visiting the sites on a regular basis but over time I am starting to get bored and now reading more that it will be pushed back more and more for other projects is not helping my interest. I think at this stage I will not follow the progress any more and just wait for the release. That all being said I do expect it to be a good game from what I have seen and read.

[Renevent]

I'm sure Diablo 3 will be awesome...probably regain the ARPG crown as well (which TQ currently holds :p ). Lot of the mechanics sounds really interesting, especially things like skill runes. I am a bit disappointed by some things though...I can't believe they are not doing CGI cutscenes anymore and instead are using in game engine cutscenes.

They don't look bad by any stretch of the imagination...they just don't look half as impressive as D2 CGI. And considering the amount of dough Blizzard has, I really think it's a very cheap move.

[Scryer]

I'm pretty sure that they will have super-awesome cut scenes, at least that's what they said at the last Blizzcon...

The in-game asset one of the Monk was simply thrown together, they said that there will be much more detail when playing the game, at least at the end of each act.

[Chameleon]

I am...but I duno if I'll be alive to see it.:o

[Renevent]

I'm pretty sure that they will have super-awesome cut scenes, at least that's what they said at the last Blizzcon...

The in-game asset one of the Monk was simply thrown together, they said that there will be much more detail when playing the game, at least at the end of each act.

I'm sure they will be cool, but it's already confirmed they will be rendered using the in game engine.

[TheRani]

From what I've seen so far, Diablo 3 will be sufficiently pretty for my taste, and I also like that I will finally be able to play a male or female version of any class, rather than being limited to one character model per class. That always got on my nerves. I'm quite looking forward to Diablo 3. What I like about the Diablo games is that they take so long to make them that by the time they're done, it's not hard to run them on the computer you already own. When I bought TQ, I also had to run out and buy a new graphics card to run it. I never had to do that for either Diablo game.

[OblivioN]

I am looking forward to Diablo 3, but the more closely I watch it's development, the more it looks like they are actively removing features that made Diablo what it was.

In fact, the five classes and isometric view are really the only returning features. Sure, there are some incredibly minor things that will be pretty similar, but so much of what made the game enjoyable is being removed.

It seems no two classes will be able to use the same weapon as how can one weapon have modifiers for five different 'energy' type systems? With each class having a completely different setup for the use of its skills, it looks like armor being viable for two different classes will also be difficult to implement, if implemented at all. Will we see armor that increases fury build up and mana regeneration rates? We'll see I suppose.

I never got on board the graphic direction bashing and I won't now. The game looks nice, if a little dated. I'm okay with that. What worries me more than anything is that through eliminating stat customization and traits that are shared across all classes, you are reducing what is essentially a large pool of incredible options for your character. This is something Grim Dawn is avoiding and I think it's great. I guess what it really looks like is that they are taking the RPG out of Action RPG.

That being said, I have faith in Blizzard to create a great game, I just don't know if it's deserving of the Diablo name. Nothing to do but wait and bide my time until it's release.

[Scryer]

There are many things about Diablo 3 that will make it unique, literally a 1 of a kind type of game that other developer's can't really re-create right now while Diablo 3 is still in production, however, I can say that the direction that Diablo 3 is going will create a much more immersive world and much more fun game-play.

The co-op alone will make the game an ultra-success. Beyond that, they are catering to many different play styles and creating a game that is fun to play with others, not just fun to play every once in a while by yourself.

Diablo 2 had many many glaring flaws, mostly due to the technical limitations of the day. If you'll notice just one of them, cooperative play is hard to find in Diablo 2, this is mainly due to how loot drops work, but that will change in Diablo 3. Each class in Diablo 3 will by definition be unique and feel very much like you are playing a class that is different from all the others. That will keep players interested 5 times over.

Beyond that even, there are skill runes and other ways to customize your character that have not even been announced, but you can expect big things yet to come.

[k4llu5]

I don't think DIII will have the impact that DII had. There are more ARPG's on the market today then there were when DII came, and some good ones at that. I agree with Yerk in that there isn't much info out there, and it has been in development for far to long...

[Inwards]

Every time they announce a new D3 feature, it makes me want the game less:

- No health potions
- No stat customization
- No quick weapon swapping
- Removal of quick teleportation
- No LAN play

I've stopped paying attention for a while now and probably won't check back in until it ships.

[OblivioN]

Every time they announce a new D3 feature, it makes me want the game less:

- No health potions
- No stat customization
- No quick weapon swapping
- Removal of quick teleportation
- No LAN play

I've stopped paying attention for a while now and probably won't check back in until it ships.

I understand how you feel, but I believe you have to go into the game expecting it to be what it is and not to be Diablo 2.

[Scryer]

Every time they announce a new D3 feature, it makes me want the game less:

- No health potions
- No stat customization
- No quick weapon swapping
- Removal of quick teleportation
- No LAN play

I've stopped paying attention for a while now and probably won't check back in until it ships.

There will be health potions. There will be Way points that allow for quick teleportation.

[zidders]

The game itself sounds really cool, I like the way they're trying new things, and i'm not really bothered by the new art direction...as much as I love dark & gritty, I think the stuff i've seen so far looks awesome.


The only drawback I see is the multiplayer side of things. I don't like the idea of no LAN support...apparently this is supposed to be to prevent people from hacking the servers...really silly if that's true, if people are going to try and hack it, they're going to hack it. All taking LAN away will do is just give them one more reason to self-justify what they're doing.

Still...really can't wait to see the game, just hope when it comes out, it's fun to play.

[yerkyerk]

Hack the servers? Haven't heard that excuse before.
Meh, the ongoing, very annoying trend to remove LAN features from games has probably only to do with giving pirates another reason to buy the game.

I find it quite interesting that they're changing the game mechanics. I'm convinced it'll be a good game. But it just takes too long to hear anything from those guys. I've started suspecting the project's been put on hold because of the lack of updates.

[zidders]

One of the reasons I'm more looking forward to Grim Dawn and the Torchlight MMO is the dev's from Runic and the folks from Crate. Basically, they've been awesome, and kept in touch with the people who enjoy the games they've made enough to actually join up on a forum and become part of a community.

BLizzard? Most of the time, I don't really see much communication, and tbh, some of the communication I've seen from the mouthpieces over on the blizzard forum are, shall we say, less than respectfull sounding.

I think that it's just an unfortunate side effect of what happens when a game company actually manages to be successfull. Sometimes it can't be helped when a little corporate mentality trickles down to the people who represent the company to those in the community.

[k4llu5]

I agree with you on that. The Torchlight dev's are all over the forums and it has this homey felling to it, as does this forum with Crate.

[Roros]

Dungeon crawlers and arpg's are a quirky genre, as it's probably my favourite ones but at the same time there are so few big budget titles for it. Diablo 3 is the only upcoming exception I can think of, so even if it might go for a more broad appeal, I'm sure it will be a huge and polished game that I'll have heaps of fun with.

I'm actually positive towards the removal of potions in favor of the globules, depending on how it will work in the end. While I'm a huge Diablo2 fan, one of the things I feel is innately broken with it are rejuvenation potions and how easy it is to have your belt full of them, and how mana potions make the Energy attribute completely useless. I had a level 65 hardcore sorceress who I never put a single point of energy into.

I'm pretty sure the reason it's taking so long is simply because blizzard has virtually unlimited funds and no publishers giving them deadlines. They can practically reiterate it as much as they want, as they already have with the visual style in both Starcraft2 and D3.

[jamesL]

There will be health potions. There will be Way points that allow for quick teleportation.

I'm pretty sure he's referring to the teleportation skill that the D2 sorceress has

I think in D3 they're adding a timer so you can't just teleport, teleport, teleport

now you have to wait in between teleports
and I don't think there are potions; I thought they only had health globes

[yerkyerk]

I think they reintroduced health potions; but limited them so you could only use one per area or so. Might make them pretty interesting..
I'm glad with a bunch of the new mechanics; I think they may take some time getting used to, but will work better than the old mechanics used in D2.

[Scryer]

To anyone confused about health globes and health potions in Diablo 3 this is what they are introducing.

- Health Globes will be a new essential piece of the Diablo game-play experience, they will give the player a feeling of strategy and immersion that will be vastly improved over all other iterations of the Diablo series.

- Health potions still exist in Diablo 3! I don't know who said they didn't exist, but they will still be a part of your game-play. However, Health potions will now have a cool-down on them and not be sold to players anymore. This is to make health orbs the way of the future for Diablo 3.

- Buff Potions will be re-introduced into the Diablo series, and be totally awesome to use in strategic and mind bending ways.

These are just some improvements.

Also individual loot will be absolutely awesome!

[k4llu5]

I'm really not paying too much attention to DIII at this point, reason being is that for one we are dealing with Blizz and we all know how they can't seem to make up there minds as things change pretty much up until the final buzzer. Secondly its apparent that this game won't make it out this year, or sadly possibly not even next year. I'm guessing about X-Mas next year at the earliest. There is just too much time in between to get excited bout anything DIII will possibly bring to the genre, or how it will implement it.

[shawnmck]

Of course I am looking forward to Diablo 3. It was my most anticipated game, until now.
Now I am really looking forward to both Diablo 3 & Grim Dawn.

But D3 looks really good. Everthing from the art direction, enemy monsters, bosses, environments, characters, etc...everything looks really good.

I fail to believe that only one ARPG can do well. If gamers can buy multiple shooters & FPS games, then they can do the same with ARPGS as well. I know I do (it is my favorite genre).

[Coridan]

I'm sure DIII will be great. Being an ex-WoW player, and now pretty much hating it, it's tough for me to get super excited about anything Blizzard is working on, but I'm sure I'll pick it up the day it comes out regardless. From the looks of it, though, it definitely seems to have a completely different feel from D2.

I just pray they bring back the necromancer class.. not as excited about the witchdoctor.

[Renevent]

To anyone confused about health globes and health potions in Diablo 3 this is what they are introducing.

- Health Globes will be a new essential piece of the Diablo game-play experience, they will give the player a feeling of strategy and immersion that will be vastly improved over all other iterations of the Diablo series.

- Health potions still exist in Diablo 3! I don't know who said they didn't exist, but they will still be a part of your game-play. However, Health potions will now have a cool-down on them and not be sold to players anymore. This is to make health orbs the way of the future for Diablo 3.

- Buff Potions will be re-introduced into the Diablo series, and be totally awesome to use in strategic and mind bending ways.

These are just some improvements.

Also individual loot will be absolutely awesome!

All three are not improvements in my eyes. Well, maybe making potions more rare is cool...but the others stink.

I've experienced health orbs in other games and it stinks. And buff potions sound just like scrolls and are equally as useless and unexciting. The more I hear about D3, the more it's loosing some of it's appeal and sounding like an action game or something.

No happy about saying that either...I am as big Diablo fan as they come.

[4987354987]

Well the game design in d3 has somthing "magical" no matter how part of the d3 community wines about everything. Of course I'm waiting for it. But right now it seems too far in the future :/

[Renevent]

I will still be purchasing the game, and I am sure it will be awesome. But honestly, I think some of the new design decisions suck arse.

On the other hand some are pretty awesome...almost revolutionary. The skill rune system sounds amazing.

[4987354987]

Well so far I am okay with all the decisions they made at Blizzard there. That's just my taste. Anyway I doubt they will have such a wonderfull loot system like TQIT. The Monster Infriquents are worth everything.

[Malpheas]

LOL potions with cool downs, sh'yeah, that'll work (Blizz to IL: Nice timers, YOINK).

I don't care either way about health orbs, but if they are luck based... then meh. As long as they have some sort of natural regen in the game; I'll be good. It'll be fun.

Oh and as for Buff potions: LMAO BrotherLaz beat Blizz there first, and it didn't take a new engine (Diablo II engine). YES, They are a fgreat idea - provided they are not sold from vendors. (Or at least the really cool ones, I could stand some health regen buff pot being sold).

Actually... Scryer, if you like the Diablo series, you have to check out BrotherLaz's mod. MedianXL 1.f9 I think is the version at this point. It's freakin' good. MedianXL (http://modsbylaz.hugelaser.com/) is the link.

Cheers,

Malph

[k4llu5]

For some reason health globes makes me think its gonna be a console game...

[Renevent]

Well that's the way Too Human is...and if anybody else has played that game it can be very frustrating having health regen tied to luck of a drop.

A lot of the changes feel like they are toning it down for a more mass market appeal. Not necessarily a bad thing I guess, but hopefully it doesn't go too far.

[k4llu5]

Kinda like that Baldur's Gate console game?...

[Renevent]

That game is actually pretty fun :p

It's no Diablo/TQ, but for a console ARPG it's alright lol...but yeah...get your point. Who knows what Blizzard will do at this point. Personally I think it's still aimed primarily at the PC crowd.

[k4llu5]

True there... just like they put the old D2 waypoint system back in, perhaps health globes will be dropped in favor of something else. I can picture things changing on a weekly basis in the Blizz offices. No wonder it takes an eternity for their games to come out.

[gvblake22]

I'm looking forward to it. My girlfriend wants to get a PS3 just to play it. I'm still trying to convince her to stick with the PC, so we'll see how that goes. Either way, we'll probably be playing it eventually.

[GeneralDodanna]

I think Blizzard game's ease of use on systems is more a purposeful low requirement to make it easier to release to the masses (without breaking everyone's back for upgrades like Crysis did... lol... tho I imagine D3 and SC2 may have their fair share of eyecandy for those with upper systems...) *hopes for DX11 compatibility* >.> <.<

Im more looking forward to SC2 as the editor this time will be strong enough to make most types of games... At Blizzcon they showed a puzzle game, 3rd person action, and top down "up scrolling" aerial shooters that 3 of their developers tossed together with the engine... (and since there will be a map marketplace where they also keep an eye out for maps cloning already published maps..... oh yeah you will be able to make money on the Map Marketplace too....)

[Kaets]

I was interested in Diablo 3, when they announced the game last year. But they are giving us too few informations about the game. And the few bits they published weren´t good ones. For example the available player slots in multiplayer. I believe they said something about four slots. I mean TQ still had six slots.
Oh not to forget that there will be no LANs anymore.
But what is bugging me the most is that there will be no modding. This somewhat kills the game because someday you will have played trough the game and witnessed everything. I hope Blizzard will update the game like they are doing it with WoW, but with the development time they have... Aww I can´t imagine waiting for the rest of my life for new content instead of making it myself. Even some skin changes would be enough for me.
So, Grim Dawn does interest me more than Diablo. D3 just can go away :p

[yerkyerk]

*hopes for DX11 compatibility*
Some while ago now, I read D3 was not gonna have DX10 elements in it, but that they were going with DX9.

[Ajantis]

DNF? It's either my lack of education or... or my lack of education?
Duke Nukem Forever. Game 12 or so years in the making now, currently it is mired by a legal dispute between the makers and the producers. Personally, I dont think it will ever eventuate...although if it should it will probably be suffering from outdated engine issues.

[Ajantis]

That game is actually pretty fun :p

It's no Diablo/TQ, but for a console ARPG it's alright lol...but yeah...get your point. Who knows what Blizzard will do at this point. Personally I think it's still aimed primarily at the PC crowd.
Diablo 1 on Playstation wasnt bad, it worked pretty well gameplay wise.

[TheRani]

Hmm.. I just noticed that they finally decided what the female monk will look like. Pretty cool. I hope the 5th class is going to be some kinda ranger/rogue type.

[Starkrun]

I don't think D3 parallels to DNF in anyway. For one, why would Blizz push 2 IP releases when Starcraft 2 just went to beta... I feel that next year at least Diablo 3 will come, like late 2011. SC2 had the same type of media release May'ish of 07 (if mt date stamps are right still)... look how long it took to get any more info... Diablo 3 is a back burner game... there focus is SC2 which is there cash cow right now next to WOW. They also have there MMO there making as well.

Its not that im not looking forward to Diablo 3... i just know how Blizz is, they promise the moon, fail at delivering but even though they failed they give you a game that feels so right, so perfect you forget about the moon. therefore im good on waiting, because i know they "WILL" deliver unlike 3D Realms and DNF.

I'm still waiting patiently for DNF... that's why a few years is nothing to me, I've been waiting for over 10 years and everything pails in comparison.

[zidders]

Sorry man, but the Duke Nukem series was always a bit overrated, IMO. I mean, it was cool but it was never as good a game as people seem to make it out to be. I think it's more the hype surrounding it and the reputation it got on the internet as vaporware that got it this mystique that seems to surround it.

Even if it's a great game, it's still never going to live up to the incredible hype that people seem to have built up for it.

Then again, i'd love to be proved wrong, as I really did enjoy the games that DID come out.

[Betrayer]

I'm pretty pumped for Diablo 3.

Diablo 2 may be my favorite game ever, but there were a LOT of things that could've been done better. It was good for the time, but a lot of the features are just ridiculous by today's expectations.

All the changes they've announced for Diablo 3 are positives in my eyes. They've literally fixed point by point every little frustrating inefficient thing I didn't like about Diablo 2 (health pot dependence, arbitrary stat points, fighting over loot in mp, mana swigging, the list goes on) . I am gonna be in Diablo bliss.



And at risk of sounding like a fanboy, the game in motion and in videos is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. I don't mean beautiful as in unicorns and rainbows, I mean beautiful as in sheer artistic prowess. The Diablo 3 team has some of the worlds greatest artists, there's no doubt in my mind.

The one thing that gives me pause is the in-engine cut scenes. Those character models and environments were clearly not meant to be seen so close. It seems like it will kill the mood, imo.

But man, the game is gonna be mind blowing I think.

[yerkyerk]

Myeah, I'd agree that the changes announced sound pretty good. It's still the big question if they actually manage to pull it off in practice. I'm at least glad they're not making a carbon copy, but try to be far more innovative than any of the many D2 clones have been, without crossing the borders of the genre.

But the lack of updates; it's horrible. They've waited for what? More than half a year between their last meaningless update and now to bring an update of how the female barbarian looks like?! And they already designed the female barb before they first announced the game years back?! And even then the female barb looks rather crappy and ugly when compared to her concept art..
The lack of (significant) updates from such a huge IP is nothing short from disapppointing.

Hopefully once Starcraft 2 is released they'll pick up on D3..
But than there's SC2 support, patches, as well as Cataclysm, so it's a bit doubtful...

[Starkrun]

if they cant even pump out the 1.13 patch because a zone in wow needed a looking into then i have little faith D3 will come this year or updates will come quickly..

But anyone remember the "librarian" class with 4-5 videos, full history, art, prelim drawings, and about 20 screen shots. It was a fully relaised class with battle animations and they "had" to have coded all that by hand and made it work... ALL for a damn April fools joke.

Im really wondering if they are not further along then they are saying and its all a red herring. bashok did say they scraped the barbarian and remade the class form the ground up due to the other classes out classing the barbarian.

They are perfectionists, and maybe it';ll pay off. Then again they promised a multiplayer live game lobby, auction house and PVP arena with random gen monsters with Diablo 2 as well... in fact a lot of the scripting and code is still there for it to this day.

thankfully there is Median XL (http://modsbylaz.hugelaser.com/) and i can live in happiness untill Grim Dawn drops.

[Betrayer]

If you follow them on Twitter they give incremental updates on every little thing, and you can pretty much tell exactly how far they are in the game.

[yerkyerk]

How far are they in the game than?

[Chameleon]

See for yourself.

http://twitter.com/Diablo

http://twitter.com/diablonews

[Starkrun]

# It's a dark and stormy night here in Irvine, which is setting the mood for some dark and stormy Diablo III development. http://cot.ag/9lWsv7 5:48 PM Feb 9th from CoTweet

LMAO: are there clouds rainbow puffs and does it rain carebear stare powers? Oh there coding the dreaded My Little Pony monsters attacking the PC with love puffs and hug attacks!

edit: Ok so that was harsh, ive made peace with the new art style, im just going to play it in the dark with my brightness down lol, and if it is a Direct X game then i bet we can mod the shaders and see what kinda fun we can make... who knows i DO love Torchlight a lot and it is basically a poor mans Diablo 3. And looking at the screenshots they look so similar its almost silly. Im going to be all Diablo'd out before it even hits the shelves.

I have faith they will use more then dungeon depth and triggers to create a world. And hey they have another class to build and then 2 more after that to satisfy the fans.... i just hope they don't go DLC retarded and make proper expansions on disk... D2 and LOD were perfect, likewise TQ and IT were the perfect complement.

[Void(null)]

I quite like the world and art design for D3. The Exteriors look watercolored, and not in that cheap low texture way that WoW and Torchlight do. And the Interiors are sharp and have a great deal of mood to them.

The only problem I have with the aesthetics of D3 is the armor/character models. The characters look less like Diablo and more like WoW threw up on something.

[digitalforce]

I cannot wait for another quality Blizzard game (Sorry, RTS'/Starcraft II does NOT get me excited) but I have a few hesitations:

1 - With Blizzard's track record, I honestly don't see Diablo 3 coming til 2012 at the earliest. Insanity.

2 - That 3d in game model of the female Barbian is looking more and more like WoW. While that is fine artisically, I am gonna be ticked if Diablo 3 final looks more like WoW and Torchlight than Diablo 2/Titan Quest. I am getting tired of the cartoony looks while sacrificing techincal details.

[shawnmck]

I personally think that if Blizzard wasn't so heavily focused on WoW (because it's their cash-cow), then we would probably have had D3 this year.

I know they have more then one team at work, but C-mon....it's been nearly 10 years.

[Starkrun]

They have scrapped and recreated the game 3 times total, and finally have enough going to drop 4 classes and have 2 acts created as of now (info from blizzcons)... i think its moving well, there could be many red herrings out there and possibly all the acts are done and its all testing... The Barbarian alone has gone though 4 versions...

I mean its been 3 months testing the 1.13 patch for Diablo 2 as a time example. And the patch is crap, there is nothing beyond base code changes that are happening. So, do you really expect to see this game before 2012?

That's why we were blessed by Crate, Grim Dawn will be our salvation :D

[Renevent]

Yeah 1.13 patch is less than impressive. But D3 will doubt be a great game and most of us are surely looking forward to it.

I have a feeling we will all have plenty of time to enjoy Grim Dawn well before D3 is released :p

[heron]

They have scrapped and recreated the game 3 times total, and finally have enough going to drop 4 classes and have 2 acts created as of now (info from blizzcons)... i think its moving well, there could be many red herrings out there and possibly all the acts are done and its all testing... The Barbarian alone has gone though 4 versions...

I mean its been 3 months testing the 1.13 patch for Diablo 2 as a time example. And the patch is crap, there is nothing beyond base code changes that are happening. So, do you really expect to see this game before 2012?

That's why we were blessed by Crate, Grim Dawn will be our salvation :D

I thought they had another team working on the diablo2 1.13 patch?
At any rate, Blizzard take their sweet ass time and put out quality games unlike EA which release a console to pc port sequel every year.

I think blizzard is the one of the only company that dishes out pc exclusives.

[Renevent]

Blizzard games are not all exclusives. Both Diablo and Starcraft made their way onto consoles. And I'd imagine if the technology was there, World of Warcraft would be there as well.

[Malpheas]

Oo, just a heads up Blizzard did Vikings! for SNES. (Little known fact?)

[Renevent]

Oh yeah, Lost Vikings too :p

Even lesser known, is that a developer named Silicon and Synapse made a game called Rock and Roll Racing...that developer eventually became Blizzard.

[Malpheas]

LOL I liked that game, too! (Which was also on the SNES)

It even had voice overs!

[digitalforce]

I love Blizzard's games but I have to say, I think their development antics are pretty bad. I have been spoiled with Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and Uncharted 2. AMAZINGLY polished and complete games.. only 2.5 years apart. Diablo 3, we don't even have a time frame. Could be 2011. Could be 2013. Just seems their dev schedules are insane.

[Renevent]

I love Blizzard's games but I have to say, I think their development antics are pretty bad. I have been spoiled with Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and Uncharted 2. AMAZINGLY polished and complete games.. only 2.5 years apart. Diablo 3, we don't even have a time frame. Could be 2011. Could be 2013. Just seems their dev schedules are insane.

It is frustrating...I guess Blizzard is just very methodical and careful.

[MadWasp]

I thought they had another team working on the diablo2 1.13 patch?
At any rate, Blizzard take their sweet ass time and put out quality games unlike EA which release a console to pc port sequel every year.

I think blizzard is the one of the only company that dishes out pc exclusives.

Crate Entertainment is also a pc exclusive :)

[heron]

Crate Entertainment is also a pc exclusive :)

So was TQ ;)

[Scryer]

Well, Blizzard has separate teams for each other their current unreleased tittles and I believe a single legacy team for their older tittles like Diablo 2, Starcraft and the Warcraft series.

So right now Blizzard has at least 5 teams of developers - Legacy, Starcraft 2, Diablo 3, World of Warcraft, and the Unannounced MMO - all have their individual teams, I even think there's another team for the new Battle.net.

They are all essentially independent of each other, but probably find time to help each other out if it's possible. The point is - the delay of one game will not generally cascade into the delay of another game, because each team is self-sufficient.

That's what I know about the development teams at least.

[digitalforce]

I understand they take time crafting and polishing games but it is just crazy on the actual length of time of release. Oh well, plenty to play until Diablo 3 finally comes out :)

[Scryer]

Decided to refresh this thread, there are new armor models out for the Diablo 3 Classes.

Female Witch Doctor

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=454869556640&set=a.213243671640.137416.157102206640

Male Wizard

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=455336316640&set=a.213243671640.137416.157102206640

Female Barbarian

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=452805791640&set=a.213243671640.137416.157102206640

Female Wizard

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=451959751640&set=a.213243671640.137416.157102206640

Male Witch Doctor

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=450182161640&set=a.213243671640.137416.157102206640

I notice how colorful some of the armor is and I can't say I hate it, in fact I think it's awesome. Just my opinion though. Also, they said that itemization like this is one of the last things on their list to do before any kind of Beta, so I expect a Beta next year some time.

[myrmidon]

Im not sure if i posted here before but.


no... maybe the opposite of exited and those pics arent the best.

[Scryer]

You mean they aren't high resolution?

There's a second Gamescom post about Diablo 3, this was the original, general D3 topic.

[yerkyerk]

Can't say I like the witch doctors, but that's just a matter of taste I guess. The male wizard though, looks like something pulled straight from any random anime series... :undecided:

The female barbarian looks pretty good though.

[ASYLUM101]

Can't say I like the witch doctors, but that's just a matter of taste I guess. The male wizard though, looks like something pulled straight from any random anime series... :undecided:

The female barbarian looks pretty good though.

Pretty much sums it up for me. The wizards look like freaking high elves from Warhammer, the witchdoctor looks like an adult fetish from D2 (those midgets with knives), but like yerk says, the barb looks kinda neat.

Bear claw!

[mamba]

The male wizard though, looks like something pulled straight from any random anime series... :undecided:

The female barbarian looks pretty good though.

Agreed, this kind of art actually makes me think twice about getting the game (don't like the anime / comic look much). I probably will get it in any case, but so far it has not convinced me yet, I certainly am looking forward to GD more than to D3.

[Scryer]

This is one thing you really can't complain about...

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/104608-Billions-of-Class-Builds-Await-in-Diablo-III

[gruevy]

Of course I'll get it. How could you not? How can a Blizzard game be anything but fun? :)

[ASYLUM101]

This is one thing you really can't complain about...

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/104608-Billions-of-Class-Builds-Await-in-Diablo-III

Interesting. But...this pretty much sums up my thoughts -

Of course, given the nature of Diablo, only some of those builds will end up being very feasible in the long run.

[Renevent]

I think that goes for every game...regardless it does appear their new rune system will make for very interesting class builds.

Personally the 97 millionjillion combinations doesn't really excite me...it's the fact the runes will actually allow you to customize your character in a very tangible and mechanical way. It's not only about numbers this time around :D

[yerkyerk]

Well, no news, but at least it confirms we can definetely have fun making idiotic fun builds, something I greatly enjoyed in D2 after I finished the game a couple of times.

[Scryer]

The Demon Hunter - New Class, and PvP Announced.

http://us.blizzard.com/diablo3/characters/demonhunter.xml

I figured out my first class... haha

[ASYLUM101]

Oh look, it's the assassin from D2 rolled together with the amazon. How did I know this is what they were doing?

Looks alright, I think I'll stick to barbarian though.

Also - since when do bolas NOT cause the target to fall? Since when do bolas explode?

[yerkyerk]

Oooh! Final class. Well, it was bound to be some kind of archer, this one looks pretty cool. I thought the Monk was a lot like the D2 assassin btw?

[Harlequin]

Throwing Grenades? I'm in!

[yerkyerk]

Pretty cool trailer too. The quality seems to look way better than the in-game monk's one. I wonder if the trailer is in-game?

Only point of concern to me is that weird white flash effect you see when shooting normal arrows. Looks kinda like your shooting with a nerf gun.

EDIT: Also, pvp mode in team arena's. Looks exciting. We only have to wait for x more years...

[Harlequin]

EDIT: Also, pvp mode in team arena's. Looks exciting. We only have to wait for x more years...

Dont worry I am sure the Arena will be in an addon. Just like the story. So the game will be out soon. Oh and start saving cash for Act II, III and IV.^^

[Scryer]

Dont worry I am sure the Arena will be in an addon. Just like the story. So the game will be out soon. Oh and start saving cash for Act II, III and IV.^^

I don't get it?

[yerkyerk]

I think it's a poke at Blizzard's handling of the Starcraft II chapters.

[Scryer]

That makes more sense, except SC1 had Brood War. Thanks for explaining it though. ^_^

In any case, I'll enjoy Diablo 3, did you see the 9 minute game play video yet? It looks... crazy fun.

http://www.youtube.com/user/legitreview#p/u/3/bmB140BKPII

[Chameleon]

Finally a ranged class!!

I was expecting some kind of bow user but the dual crossbows using Demon Hunter is almost exactly what I was hoping for! I wanted a Van Helsing style class, and I got it. :)

None of the other classes appeal to me so the Demon Hunter has saved the game for me and I will probably get it when it comes out in 2020. ;)


I watched the gameplay Vid and D3 looks more like Torchlight than D2...

[yerkyerk]

I think I'll end up playing the witch doctor 80% of the time. I just love summons. Other than that, all classes seem appealing.

[Renevent]

I think I'll end up playing the witch doctor 80% of the time. I just love summons. Other than that, all classes seem appealing.

Yeah so far the Witch Doctor looks like the class I am most interested in.

[shawnmck]

The new class looks "meh" to me. Not bad, but nothing I want to play.
I will most likely stick with the barbarian class, & try out the witch doctor class cause it does look pretty cool.

I also hope that they add a really cool looking class in an expansion. Hopefully something similar to the Druid class of D2, that is a shape-shifting class.

BTW
Anyone else notice that the bow's sound effects sound exactly the same as D1 & d2?
I thought it was pretty cool myself.

Now if they could only give us a rough estimate on when it is going to be released. 2011, 2012...something.

[Scryer]

I'll be playing a Monk most likely, to start with anyway, then I'll either move on over to the Wizard or Demon Hunter. With the Barbarian and Witch Doctor being my least favorite for some reason.

But I'd like to try them all then focus on the ones I enjoy the most.

[REDASSBABOON]

I was expecting a Paladin class, someone with a shield and auras, I hope its not the last class

[Kardiophylax]

The demon hunter trailer and gameplay was lackluster in my opinion. The PVP gameplay looked pretty fun though.

[yerkyerk]

This is the last class, at least for the first game. Most likely there'll be at least one expansion, probably more.

The last class almost had to be a ranged class, since that was the archetypical RPG class still missing (not just talking in hindsight here, I'm pretty sure I've written that prediction several times on this board probably months ago). We had a summoner, caster, monk and warrior already, only the ranger was missing.

They did say that future expansions might have some of the old classes returning. I also thought they said some classes might return as npc's, not sure about that. The two are not mutually exclusive ofcourse, as D2:LoD had the assassin and there was an assassin npc in Diablo 2 classic.

[Roros]

Yeah, I can say with absolute certainty that there will be more classes in expansions later. I wouldn't be surprised if they go a little crazy with it considering their unlimited funds and what a massive brand Diablo is.

I think the current classes are pretty cool. You got the basics in there with the barbarian, sorcerer, and a ranged rogue, but still something new and interesting with the unarmed monk and witchdoctor.

These Demon Hunter videos has me wondering how flexible weapons are going to be. If you pretty much "have" to use a class's "native" weapon, or if it's viable to go melee DH and bowdoctor and such.
One of my gripes with Diablo has always been how you lock yourself into a singular weapon type, and I'd love to see that loosened up a bit.

[dr_bowtie]

is it just me or is this game starting to look more and more like Torchlight mixed with Titan Quest????

really starting to lose its curb appeal to me...

its got the looks and feel of Titan Quest with the cartoonish addition of Torchlight and really brings nothing to the table as far as i am concerned. So it add more classes blah blah blah....same land, dungeons and same ole' lame killing...BAH

In the beginning I was really hyped to the thought of D3...but the longer they make me wait the less I like it and the more it looks the same as old games with just new classes...

Trailers do nothing for me...

[ASYLUM101]

It's looked like Torchlight for a looooong time now lol

[shawnmck]

Diablo 3 looks nothing like Torchlight in my opinion.
Sure, it has some bright colors, but other than that it is still the Diablo that we all know & love.

[myrmidon]

more like know and is ok. but definitely cant be beaten and played the same amount as tq

[Mind Dragon]

Eventhough I am not a big fan of D2, it was clear they had a lot of good ideas. Also, the action and movement was along the direction I favor.

The D3 sorceress video looked pretty good.

Still D2 didnt have the same level of action with movement that TQ had and the skills werent as lively. The videos show some big changes I think.

But my opinion is to wait til it is released/demo/reviews before really considering it. It could be a long way out -- let blizzard release it when it is done.

If it is like starcraft, then it might be more of a rented walled garden. I might be ok if the content is good but if so I wont be as interested.

There are not that many good ARPGs coming out, so for myself, any competition would be temporary.

[sinkiller]

more like know and is ok. but definitely cant be beaten and played the same amount as tq

Diablo 3 will be amazing, played the demo at blizcon and it was amazing. I see myself putting in more hours into that game then d2 (which is roughly 1000 hours). TQ is a amazing game put i don't think ill put as much time in it as i will in d3. (put 50 hours into TQ)

[hooby]

Well, I had a funny little incident concerning the likeness of Torchlight and D3 regarding skills.

I had a little dispute with a friend of mine. We both agreed that several skills you can see in the early D3 videos are very similar (almost identical) to some skills in Torchlight.

My friend claimed, that Torchlight clearly ripped off D3, since the D3 video was published before Torchlight was released. But I didn't believe that the Torchlight Team - after the D3 video came out - redesigned some of their skills (which surely must have existed before, since the game was already far in development).

Then I found a very plausible explanation. Torchlight was done by the former Mythos Team. Mythos was developed by a secondary office of now-defunct Flagship Studios (which were working on Hellgate:London in their main-office). Flagship Studios were foundet by former Blizzard North employees, after they had left Blizzard. In fact, the Schaefer Brothers and others who worked on Torchlight, had been with Condor Entertainment (the company which was renamed Blizzard-North after beeing bought up) since the very beginning.

And if I'm not mistaken, development on D3 started quite some time before those guys left Blizzard. So I guess those similar looking skills were possibly designed by the same guys. They did those skills for D3, then they left, then they did the same or similar skills for Torchlight again.

There's no proof, but this seems quite plausible to me.

[ASYLUM101]

Diablo 3 will be amazing, played the demo at blizcon and it was amazing. I see myself putting in more hours into that game then d2 (which is roughly 1000 hours). TQ is a amazing game put i don't think ill put as much time in it as i will in d3. (put 50 hours into TQ)

Wow! That's a really nice opinion you've got there!

[myrmidon]

lol 1000 hours of diablo. that's a waste. myn is the opposite diablos like "ok beat it once done with the game" for me.

[yerkyerk]

I'mma have to buy two computers so i can play both Diablo and Grim Dawn at the same time. That should help organizing my gametime more efficiently.

As for the TL skills looking like D3 skills, TL had a very short development time, I actually thought they started on TL after the D3 announcement to cash in on the Diablo hype?

[sinkiller]

lol 1000 hours of diablo. that's a waste. myn is the opposite diablos like "ok beat it once done with the game" for me.
Have to disagree a game thats been around for 10 years and still people plays show its not just a beat it once and your done

[myrmidon]

well im going to have to disagree with all those people because it definitely is a beat one time and done for me.

[jamesL]

Well, I had a funny little incident concerning the likeness of Torchlight and D3 regarding skills.

I had a little dispute with a friend of mine. We both agreed that several skills you can see in the early D3 videos are very similar (almost identical) to some skills in Torchlight.

My friend claimed, that Torchlight clearly ripped off D3, since the D3 video was published before Torchlight was released. But I didn't believe that the Torchlight Team - after the D3 video came out - redesigned some of their skills (which surely must have existed before, since the game was already far in development).

Then I found a very plausible explanation. Torchlight was done by the former Mythos Team. Mythos was developed by a secondary office of now-defunct Flagship Studios (which were working on Hellgate:London in their main-office). Flagship Studios were foundet by former Blizzard North employees, after they had left Blizzard. In fact, the Schaefer Brothers and others who worked on Torchlight, had been with Condor Entertainment (the company which was renamed Blizzard-North after beeing bought up) since the very beginning.

And if I'm not mistaken, development on D3 started quite some time before those guys left Blizzard. So I guess those similar looking skills were possibly designed by the same guys. They did those skills for D3, then they left, then they did the same or similar skills for Torchlight again.

There's no proof, but this seems quite plausible to me.

show your friend these pictures of the D3 Demon Hunter (just announced) and the TL Vanquisher (been around for a year), LOL
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v366/SliskyToo/Justforkicks.jpg

[jamesL]

also, look at the D3 barbarian video skill Seismic Slam
http://us.blizzard.com/diablo3/characters/barbarian.xml

then look at the Cyclops battle in Titan Quest
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QA9_s8Lgceo#t=0m35s

and of course the Mythos Blade Breaker skill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho9hkjY_RPE&feature=related

[Sile]

Thankfully, Grim Dawn wont look like either of those two games!

[yerkyerk]

How about these three than:

http://www.grimdawn.com/screenshots/2010-05-07_necropolis01_lrg.jpg

http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/wizard-disintegration.jpg

http://i2.ambrybox.com/240910/1285336579642.jpeg

[mamba]

Have to disagree a game thats been around for 10 years and still people plays show its not just a beat it once and your done

All a matter of personal opinion / preference. I played Diablo through once only too. I did start a few other chars, but never was interested enough to actually get them very far.

TQ on the other hand I did finish multiple chars and started a lot more (most did not finish all 3 difficulties, but there must be about 10 chars in their 40s by now).

TQ was way more enjoyable than D2 to me, like the skills better and combining masteries.

No 1000 hours in TQ for me, but certainly a lot more than in D1 and D2 combined.

And by now I start losing interest in D3 already, when I see yet another story about it, I just pass it by as they all are just the same uninteresting stuff all over again. I am pretty sure I will still get it when it is released, but by now I do not even rule out that I pass it by, something I had not thought possible a year ago. For me it certainly is on a downwards trend.

[myrmidon]

never even played diablo 1 i heard it sucked

[Kardiophylax]

All of the games in this genre borrow from one another, that's no surprise. If a skill is fun and works in one game, there is no reason it won't be fun and work in another. While we do, and should, expect some amount of innovation, it is not at all unusual to see this type of behavior.

Story, setting, pacing, loot variety, viable build types/variety, things to craft, things to collect, general things to do beyond or while grinding, this is where these games will differentiate themselves. Grim Dawn has a lot of advantages here due to the inheritance of the dual mastery creates a class system. It sounds like they have made a lot of head way in the crafting as well, and if the new random affixes make it in, loot should be stellar as well.

There's nothing wrong with Diablo 3, but I think in a lot of ways Blizzard is going to play it safe. They are a large enterprise now and they are developing a title for an already established fanbase. Their check, as they say, is already in the mail before the game is even done.

[jamesL]

never even played diablo 1 i heard it sucked

whoever told you that is an idiot
D1 is still played by many after 13 years, D1 spawned D2 which is still going strong after 10 years, if D1 sucked then D2 never would have happened


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_%28video_game%29#Reception_and_influence

The large majority of reviews Diablo received were very positive. It received an average rating of 94 on Metacritic, with many awarding the game near-perfect or perfect scores on their respective grading systems.


Most praised the game's addictive gameplay, immense replayability, dark atmosphere, superior graphics, moody musical score, and its great variety of possible magic items, enemies, levels, and quests.

Computer Games Magazine's Cindy Yans said ... "for anyone who enjoys a good multiplayer dungeon crawl, Diablo can’t be beat".


Cindy Yans finished her review, "Despite the rather pale storyline, watered-down quests and a fair amount of necessary repetition, Diablo is a must for anyone interested in 'just plain fun.'"

Diablo was awarded GameSpot's Game of the Year Award for 1996.

As of August 29, 2001, Diablo has sold 2.5 million copies worldwide.

[Sile]

Actually, GD's screenshots look like what I expected Diablo 3 to look like truthfully. Dark and gritty.

While D3 still looks dark and gothic, I can't help but feel as though it's cartoon. I like it, but it doesn't seem as real as GD.

[hooby]

never even played diablo 1 i heard it sucked

Well if you play it now, it surely cannot live up to D2 or TQ. If you play D1 nowadays you'll find it does lack many things you've come to expect from an ARPG.

Skill-System (rather Spell-System in that case) is not very developed, although the spells themselves are quite good. Most spells do friendly fire, the three classes don't differ much in terms of gameplay mechanics. There's no "Run" you can only slowly walk. You have to manually create save-games, etc. etc.

So Diablo 1 is clearly inferior to newer ARPGs on many grounds.

But - and thats a very big 'but' -

Back in the days when Diablo1 came out, there was nothing like it. Nothing at all. The whole genre of ARPG did not even exist yet - D1 did found it. Yes some of the ideas of D1 possibly did exist before... but D1 was the first game to put it all together and to form and coin a new genre by doing so.

And if you compare D1 to all the games of its own time, and to the games that came before - then it is freakin' awesome.

D1 invented the formula of ARPG. That formula was much improved afterwards, so that the modern-day ARPG formula clearly features a lot more and better stuff than D1 did...

But D1 invented the wheel, and although there were many tries to re-invent the wheel, to innovate etc. - but still all new ARPGs feature everything that D1 invented (and additional improvements).

D1 paved the way. Without it the whole genre of ARPG probably wouldn't even exist.

[shawnmck]

never even played diablo 1 i heard it sucked

Diablo 1 was awesome for its time. I don't know if the person who told you that played it many years after its release, or what? But Diablo 1 is a classic, and was/is very fun and addicting to play. I myself can still play it today, and actually like it better than D2 in many ways.

Of course, if you were to play it today, then of course it is going to seem bad because of the huge leap backwards in graphics & game-play....but it did start a genre after all. It helped usher in the action slash rpg, without of which Titan Quest & Grim Dawn may not have been born. It is like the gran-daddy of hack & slash.

[Sile]

HOLY SHIT! D3 is going to have PvP arena style!

PvP Arena D3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91was59zs1w&feature=related)

Not sure uf anyone else has posted this, I just found it by accident. WOW! I wasn't even aware it was going to have this feature. This is awesome!

[yerkyerk]

Yea, that was reveiled at Blizzcon :)
Could be fun!

[Sile]

such a cool idea!

[Chameleon]

I hope D3 is released soonish, I dont want my eyesight to have gone before I get to play it.:p

[Lmaoboat]

The rune system alone makes Diablo 3 a must buy, and there's tons of other new features I'm looking forward to.

[DragonWolf]

Having played D1 and D2 and its Expansion I am looking forward to the release of D3. It is my sincerest hope however that while they are making the game look 'pretty' they don't sacrifice other aspects of the game as I have seen in so many others.

I care little for the 'latest graphics' (even if they do make them look cool) just so long as a game plays well and has some meat to it. How well it plays is what I look for in a game, playing and continuality. Awesome graphics are no excuse for dodgy dialog and poor game mechanics.

When it comes i shall buy it and if I find it to be absolute crap I will be having a small bonfire in my backyard or it will be holding a special place on my bedroom floor which is where everything that 'shall never be seen again lives'. :D

[hooby]

You've got nothing to fear than.

They are going to make it "Blizzard Art Style" - a term that has been coined by WoW, and translates to:
"Well-designed comic-style look that covers up lack of technical quality of the graphics very well."


The thing that I fear about D3, and that is pretty much guaranteed to happen, is that any decision that comes up during development (no matter if it's gameplay, story, graphics, items, etc. etc.) will be made by thinking about "What's the most mainstream way to do this?"

[Scryer]

From what I've seen and the testimonials I've seen from people that have played the game at BlizzCon, this game pays a lot of homage to Diablo fans while keeping the mechanics fresh and interesting.

As to people complaining about the stylized look of the game, why, how shallow. Just so you know, they actually tried to give the game more realistic colors but after play testing the game they realized the monsters blended too much into the back ground, and coloring them made them look ridiculous in a realistic setting.

So they changed the setting to be more stylized and gave everything a splash of color. I think it was a good call and a good design move. Things have to make sense in a game otherwise immersion is near impossible. You can't suspend disbelief when the mobs you're attacking look much more colorful then the realistic setting they are in. At least they didn't think the two fit well together.

Anyways, Diablo 3... yeah I like the color.

[yerkyerk]

I don't want to theorycraft, I just wanna play the game already :mad:

[antxs]

I've been waiting for D3 for almost 10 years... and what I'm seeing is World of Diablo, not Diablo 3. All of the Great Blizzard North guys who made D2/LOD are not working on D3. It's all of the wow dev's which is why it has more in common with wow than Diablo.

Level cap 60 - wow
auto stats - wow
team based pvp arena with achievements and titles - wow
no more random PK / hostiling people - wow
cool downs on potions / life orbs - wow
reforging / respec - wow
high level items being soul bound - wow

Just waiting for blizzard to announce vanity pets, badge vendors, and real money purchasable items / mounts and let the World of Diablo commence!

I hate blizzard now and I will not be buying Diablo 3.

Grim Dawn will be much better.

p.s. The graphics in D3 look terrible. Imo Grim Dawn looks better and its running on an engine made years ago.
Crate > Blizzard

[yerkyerk]

Level cap 60 - wow
auto stats - wow
team based pvp arena with achievements and titles - wow
no more random PK / hostiling people - wow
cool downs on potions / life orbs - wow
reforging / respec - wow
high level items being soul bound - wow

Actually, I like all that stuff - and I never played WoW, nor will I, probably. And even though it's in WoW, it's not exactly like they invented any of that stuff. Besides, a bunch of the former Diablo devs made Hellfail London.

[ASYLUM101]

Yeh, I don't see respecs and pot cooldowns as a bad thing lmao.

[Renevent]

Since when does WoW have life orbs?

And team based PvP is a bad thing?

LOL...whatever...people latch on to stuff like this for whatever reason...it's craziness.

Forgot if something is actually a good idea that adds to the original game...it's from WoW it SUXXORS!

[Malpheas]

Actually.. I do not like that high level items found by a character bound to that character. That's a little out of the spirit of diablo, in my opinion.

That's about it from the list. The crafting system in D3 looks crazy good. FINALLY a good main game crafting system.

[Lmaoboat]

All of the Great Blizzard North guys who made D2/LOD are not working on D3. It's all of the wow dev's which is why it has more in common with wow than Diablo.

You mean all those "great" Blizzard North guys who were responsible for Hellgate: London and Torchlight?

Level cap 60 - wow
cool downs on potions / life orbs - wow
reforging / respec - wow
WoW doesn't have life orbs, and Titan Quest had cooldowns on potions, respecs, and a level 65 level cap.

high level items being soul bound - wow
Actually, they're bind on equip so there won't be an infinitely increasing supply of loot that would mess up the trading economy.

no more random PK / hostiling people - wow
Two words: Good. Riddance.

auto stats - wow
And instead we're getting far better character customization than the god-awful stats system ever offered. Besides, the new charms will essentially fill the role of manual stats.


team based pvp arena with achievements and titles - wow

Right, because standing out side the Rogue Camp playing chicken on town borders is way better. Doesn't matter if arenas or achievements would be better, WoW clearly invented them, and thus it can never fit in Diablo 3, nevermind how much fun people playing it at Blizzcon found it. Hell, let's take out health and mana because ANYTHING that's in WoW is bad, right?

[Malpheas]

Actually, they're bind on equip so there won't be an infinitely increasing supply of loot that would mess up the trading economy.

Really? Cool.

However, I still think this should not be the way it is. I think you should be able to test the weapon and not have to make a limiting game choice.

[ASYLUM101]

And instead we're getting far better character customization than the god-awful stats system ever offered. Besides, the new charms will essentially fill the role of manual stats.


I really don't see how besides the spell runes.

[yerkyerk]

I would see a problem with binding it once you find it, as that would completely screw over the trade system. But if they bind on equipment, I'm perfectly fine. Although a test sytem would be preferable. Binding equipment means taking them out of the roulation - that is necessary to secure something of an economy - and the epic items you find will actually be worth something. I would propose this actually for Grim Dawn, if the game offered closed servers. Might not seem like a fun thing initially, but I'm betting it makes finding rare loot and trading a lot more exciting.

[myrmidon]

wait i thought tq cap was 75 or 70.... hmmm

any way i still feel the same about the game which is i dont care about it im not going to buy it for awhile after it comes out

[yerkyerk]

TQ was capped at 65, IT increased it to 75.

Anyway, there'll probably be a few expansions raising that number.

[Sile]

Learnt a few facts reading through these comments. I haven't really gelved into researching everything there is to know about diablo 3 though.

Soulbound high lvl items sounds like a bit of a downer. I thought some of the fun was finding items on one character, then transferring them over to one of your other toons. Then again, it does add a level of difficulty doesn't it?

As for World of Diablo.. Look, I kind of agree with the similarities between the two games in terms of features and what-not. WoW is a great MMO, there's no doubting it. The numbers speak for themselves. I can see why Blizzard would want to incorporate some of the winning features from WoW into D3.

In saying that, it would have been awesome to see D3 look and feel more like D1 & 2 did. The atmosphere in those games back in the day was awesome. But as the gaming industry makes leaps and bounds and gamers expectations change, I think trends needs to be broken and things needs to move in different directions.

Obviously, they aren't *just* looking at pleasing the Diablo fans. They are looking for fans of WoW and fresh meat that haven't played Diablo before. They are broadening their member base to try and encompass many and that calls for changes I guess. It's funny, because players expect more out of these types of games yet when we get more, we wnat less, or the same as before. We are a fussy bunch.

Not really sure what my point is, I'm just typing while I uninstall BF2 and PR mod.. what a fail that was. Anyhoo, I'll be buying D3 and enjoying it. It has some great features, should have an epic story and the fan base will be massive.

It will be a Diablo 3 and Grim Dawn showdown. I don't even think Torchlight appears on the radar here. I think it has it's own little niche, but it's not top dog.

[Scryer]

Soulbound high lvl items sounds like a bit of a downer. I thought some of the fun was finding items on one character, then transferring them over to one of your other toons. Then again, it does add a level of difficulty doesn't it?

Actually high level items are bind on equip. So, they don't bind to your character until he decides to use the item. I think it gives the game fascinating choices, do I sell this item and get something else? Do I send this item to an Alt? Do I use this item? These are true decisions reinforced into the player.

You never really asked those questions in D2. Really it was more like "I can keep this item as long as I want and sell it when I don't need it." That's not really a decision it's more like just how you played the game.

[yerkyerk]

Well, if I'm not mistaken you can still transfer. You just can't transfer second hand equipment.

EDIT: ninja'd, that's what you get when taking 1,5 hour to type a response while gaming :)

[Scryer]

Haha, yeah, and only high level second hand equipment at that. However, I do remember reading that Jay Wilson kind of liked the idea of transferable soul bound items.

So, we'll have to wait and see how that turns out. Though maybe they won't do that.

[mamba]

Soulbound high lvl items sounds like a bit of a downer. I thought some of the fun was finding items on one character, then transferring them over to one of your other toons. Then again, it does add a level of difficulty doesn't it?

This is the first time I hear about it, and out of the things mentioned, this is the one I like least (auto-stats would be second, the rest are ok imo).
I definitely want to be able to transfer gear between my chars. I am not much of a server player, I play with a few friends, but that is it. I do not worry about some kind of pretend 'economy' in a game world, I certainly worry more about my ability to transfer gear between chars.

[Renevent]

From what I understand nothing with be bind on pickup...so you definitely can still trade these items. And the other thing is they are only the very end game items.


Non-transferable items that are solely attached to your character, or “soulbound” equipment, have always been a touchy subject in online RPGs. With many items subject to being traded, the in-game economy in an online game is often at risk of hyperinflation, and handing items down to lower level characters, or “twinking” as it’s more commonly known tends to arouse discussions on game balance and fairness.

Bashiok has since posted a number of details regarding bound items in Diablo III to clarify statements made by the game’s lead designer Jay Wilson to the effect that soulbound items would exist in the upcoming game.

"Yes, true, as Jay said at BlizzCon we are planning to have some amount of items that will bind to a character upon equipping them.

We absolutely won't have items that bind when picked up, except for the obvious things like quest items and other character-specific items that wouldn't/shouldn't be tradable anyway.

That alone, I think, should dissuade the most severe concerns with binding items. And before I go on just understand that while a lot of this is very stable in its concepts, the details aren't final.

For Bind on Equip (BoE), the idea right now is that it would only be applied to "end game" items of specific quality levels. So to start, it's not every item, and it's not even every item above a certain level. For the BoE items that will exist, you can pick them up, if you don't want it you can still trade it, or give it to another character, a friend, vendor it, whatever you like. But, if you make the commitment to keeping the item and equipping it, yes, it's yours now.

The reasoning is that in reality we need a solid way to keep the economy stable at the end game. With items building up over a potentially infinite amount of time there's no way to have any measure of control over worth of items. While an item may be the rarest and best in the game, over four or five years a stockpile has built up and those items are now commonplace and hold little value as compared to their rarity. The gold being earned by players stays the same or likely increases as players become more proficient at playing the game while they spend less as items lose their value. Gold value drops, and we're skirting into a familiar cycle.

By ensuring we can rely on some amount of "consumption" of items, their relative worth stays high, the market is predictable and both sellers and buyers enjoy a stable marketplace for (hopefully) many years.

Diablo II has an inconsistent approach which is the somewhat stable Ladder economy, since it's quite literally flushed out every so often. But it's a very intrusive approach to a problem that could be solved through other means that don't require making everyone start over.

As a quasi-aside: There's an idea being thrown around, and this is really not guaranteed in any way, that some or potentially all items that are bound to you could be bound to your entire account. So if you yourself "own" an item from it being bound, you can trade it between all the characters on your account freely. Feed alts your old-but-still-very-nice items, etc. That's just an idea, it may not take shape, but it's a possibility."

To clarify his statement further, Bashiok explained that the selection would be limited to “endgame” items and quest-related equipment or rewards.

"No armor/weapons/equippable items will be Bind on Pickup unless they are rewarded by quests. End-game items of specific quality types are currently planned to be Bind on Equip."

In other words, the economy will not be flooded with too many powerful items. Items will always retain their value regardless of how many of them are found over time, because there will always be a demand to meet the supply.



I really don't care for it either, but it doesn't sound half a sbad as people make it out to be.

[myrmidon]

TQ was capped at 65, IT increased it to 75.

Anyway, there'll probably be a few expansions raising that number.

oh ok i thought it got up to 75.

[Lmaoboat]

I really don't see how besides the spell runes.
There's going to be a specialized container for charms, which will now focus on major stats, so essentially you still have manual stats, you just have to lot them first. The trait system should also prove to make more interesting builds than the old "all points in stamina".

[thedarkwolf333]

As a long time Diablo player, I was excited when Diablo 3 was announced. I am still excited about some of the features they are implementing. The crafting system looks really fun. I am, however, concerned about the monsters. When everyone threw a fit about the environments not being dark enough, I wasn't really upset about that.

I watched a video a while back. It compares the concept art of the "Fallen" to their in-game models. They go from Hell-spawned creatures of death (concept) to cute fluffy WOW characters, in my opinion. There's no scare factor. If you haven't watched the video, I suggest you check it out. I think its on IGN.

[Renevent]

I looked through every enemy here:

http://www.diablo3demo.com/enemies.html

I didn't see anything 'cute and fluffy'...then I watched the boss battle video with that big fat guy and watched him explode into disgusting chunks lol.

I really don't see the cute and fluffy factor here...

With that said I was replaying Diablo 2 today and the monster design is fantastic...especially the demons types.

[hooby]

I watched a video a while back. It compares the concept art of the "Fallen" to their in-game models. They go from Hell-spawned creatures of death (concept) to cute fluffy WOW characters, in my opinion. There's no scare factor. If you haven't watched the video, I suggest you check it out. I think its on IGN.

Haven't seen the video, but I know what you mean.

Maybe "cute & fluffy" isn't the best way to describe it, but there's a lack of that gothic horror feeling, that was so predominant in the first two games.

I feel tempted to attribute this to the comic-style look, but then again I do know know comics that are able to convey a real chilling horror-look.

It's just all those little details.
Proportions.
The fact that they made necromants and demonic cultists wear purple robes and cast purple spells.
And the designs of armor and clothing...

It's the same optical difference, as if you compare
this costumes (http://mentalslapstick.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/braveheart5.gif)
to
that costume... (http://lesbicanarias.es/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/xena.jpg)

Ah, I finally came up with a word to describe what I mean:
Diablo3 looks overstylized.

[thedarkwolf333]

Yes, overstylized is a good description of how the monsters look. I simply meant they looked cute and fluffy when compared to their concept art.

http://www.ign.com/videos/2009/05/22/diablo-iii-pc-games-trailer-the-fallen-ones?objectid=714955

Here's the video I'm referring to.

[yerkyerk]

Fallen Ones in D2 were cute and fluffy... they made cute sounds and cutely ran away when you killed one of their kin.

[Lmaoboat]

Fallen Ones in D2 were cute and fluffy...

Bishibosh!

[Sile]

I don't mind if there's a few monster types in D3 that appear to be "cute and fluffy" for a lack of a better phrase. If you think about it, the devil is a trickster, so why wouldn't he have minions that seem somewhat innocent or cute to lure in unsuspecting victims. I think it fits the setting fine and gives a good contrast from the more horrific looking creatures.
Not everything has to be walking around with intestines hanging out to be scary.

[ASYLUM101]

Not everything has to be walking around with intestines hanging out to be scary.

It should be that way, makes for a better game than having to deal with happytreefriends.

[Sile]

It should be that way, makes for a better game than having to deal with happytreefriends.

I don't think happytreefriends will be in D3. Although if we talk about your mind, perhaps.. :rolleyes:

[Scryer]

These are some of the dye colors you can expect in Diablo 3 for changing the color of your gear.

http://www.diablofans.com/uploads/1287860841/gallery_37842_4_36745.png

[Sile]

These are some of the dye colors you can expect in Diablo 3 for changing the color of your gear.

http://www.diablofans.com/uploads/1287860841/gallery_37842_4_36745.png

Pretty cool.

[Scryer]

Yeah, this is why I like color... diversity.

[Chameleon]

These are some of the dye colors you can expect in Diablo 3 for changing the color of your gear.

http://www.diablofans.com/uploads/1287860841/gallery_37842_4_36745.png

I hope I am able to dye each piece of equipment.

[Zoenova]

A comment from the first page, blizzard makes quality products? Obvious you havent ever played world of warcraft, every patch the game is almost totally unplayable for weeks. The beta test every patch for months and when it hits its like its the first time that have found issues. Blizzard does not listen to the fan base.

All the classes are still unbalanced, after all the work with the new stat system there are the same old problems.

Besides it shouldnt take 10 years to make a game like diablo 3. It should have been out years ago, the focus is the cash cow known as wow. So why bother with d3 everybody seems to have forgot about it anyways, and more the half the wow fanbase havent even played d1 or 2

[Rainier Wolfcastle]

A comment from the first page, blizzard makes quality products? Obvious you havent ever played world of warcraft, every patch the game is almost totally unplayable for weeks. The beta test every patch for months and when it hits its like its the first time that have found issues. Blizzard does not listen to the fan base.

All the classes are still unbalanced, after all the work with the new stat system there are the same old problems.

Besides it shouldnt take 10 years to make a game like diablo 3. It should have been out years ago, the focus is the cash cow known as wow. So why bother with d3 everybody seems to have forgot about it anyways, and more the half the wow fanbase havent even played d1 or 2

Though I agree with most of your post the thing you have to keep in mind is that the reason it took 10 years was because of the shutdown of Blizzard North in the middle of all that. The project was even scrapped at one point. Crap happens. But i do agree that they don't really make a quality product anymore. I beta tested for Starcraft 2 and what I noticed was for the most part the Makers would not really reply much or say much to the Testers on the private testers forum. On top of that Towards the end of the beta the game still seemed to have some real balance issues between the factions. Blizzard has really lost their way these days.

[Skellt]

Hah d3 course!

ive been hyped since the very announcement

shit i still play D2 so D3 will be no exception, ive had my copy preordered for like nearly 2 years now at gamestop haha.. actually a bit over 2 years, was when i got out of college so :P

D3 will come out, and my guess is end oct start of Nov 2011 at most, ive been saying so and im pretty sure its somewhat accurate!

def looking foward to it

[DragonWolf]

I don't mind if there's a few monster types in D3 that appear to be "cute and fluffy" for a lack of a better phrase. If you think about it, the devil is a trickster, so why wouldn't he have minions that seem somewhat innocent or cute to lure in unsuspecting victims. I think it fits the setting fine and gives a good contrast from the more horrific looking creatures.
Not everything has to be walking around with intestines hanging out to be scary.

Like Ridley from Metroid Other M. He's all cure and fluffy (till he opens his mouth anyway) and then eventualy tramsforms into the monster we know and love to annihalate.

[Scryer]

A comment from the first page, blizzard makes quality products? Obvious you havent ever played world of warcraft, every patch the game is almost totally unplayable for weeks. The beta test every patch for months and when it hits its like its the first time that have found issues. Blizzard does not listen to the fan base.

All the classes are still unbalanced, after all the work with the new stat system there are the same old problems.

Besides it shouldnt take 10 years to make a game like diablo 3. It should have been out years ago, the focus is the cash cow known as wow. So why bother with d3 everybody seems to have forgot about it anyways, and more the half the wow fanbase havent even played d1 or 2

Not quality? I think that 11 million subscribers might beg to differ. Case in point, all games will have their launch hiccups, whether it's a new game or a patch, either way, quality is based off of long term play experience and not small bugs that get fixed 2 weeks after launch. This is true for many pc products.

[yerkyerk]

The bigger the game, the more complaints. I'm sure WoW offers a very solid gameplay experience (which is evident by the huge cashco.. fanbase), I just don't have any motivation to get into it. The whole "it used to be good until it went mainstream" is almost older than time itself.

I'm sure Starcraft 2 is very good in what it does, but I could never get into Starcraft 1 and since most reviews depicted it as a near carbon copy with improved gfx of the original, I'm not in any rush to get it soon. I prefer Dawn of War 2.

Blizzard, imo, is good at what they do. Though there's always the off chance that Diablo 3 might be a huge failure, I'm assuming it'll be a great game, based on Blizzards track record. Now, I would subscribe the success of D2 to the lead developers, until I saw what they did with Hellgate - and Torchlight just seemed like a dumbed down version of Diablo 2. A good one, mind you, but it couldn't hold my attention for long, as D2 did. The part that remained with Blizzard however, continued to make games that were extremely well received by the audience. And theoretically, I agree with most changes they've implemented with regards to D2.

[Skellt]

Well the thing about blizzard is, they take their time

ofc they cant satisfy everyone but nobody can.
Wow worked because its easy as hell and brought the MMO genre to a comunity which hadnt heard of it before, and guess what its immensely addictive.

WoW in itself used to be better yes, but we'll all agree that clicking on a character and when you press 1 you know ur fireball will hit regardless of if hes on the other side of the tree and the fireball has to go through it makes it.. well rather easy.

At the same time, in that department in the style WoW went, there isnt much competition, others are usually unpopulated and have no support.
The only one i had found myself loving was Darkfall online, where death, actually matters. You kill someone? you steal all his shit thats how darkfall is, and the world is IMMENSE (about 4h to travel on foot corner to corner) and it acts as a FPS hit or miss.
If yas dont know about it you should check it out pretty fun... warning its hard as fuck :D

And now.. the only one that can potentially hit WoW is Tera Online, in my opinion.

As far as SC2 goes, its like wc3, yes the basic idea of those two is a RTS where you have to crush your opponent with insane macro and micro etc although, for me, the thing that is most apealing about most of them are custom games. people literally make anything. i mean i have wc3 since it came out and... i maybe played 100 ladder games at most. i was good at it and all but i felt like custom games offered a better and less repetitive experience.
Sc2 and Wc3 both have insanely powerful map editor and thats what made them, i think.

And i'm pretty sure D3 will be a huge success.. when has blizz failed really... nobody can deny that, sure you can hate their game all u want, but they always succeed (aside from ghost lol)
Currently, i have 3 copies of D3 preordered (not all for myself haha) but still. i KNOW i'll play d3 from its release date to YEARS after

[Lmaoboat]

Now, I would subscribe the success of D2 to the lead developers, until I saw what they did with Hellgate - and Torchlight just seemed like a dumbed down version of Diablo 2. A good one, mind you, but it couldn't hold my attention for long, as D2 did. The part that remained with Blizzard however, continued to make games that were extremely well received by the audience. And theoretically, I agree with most changes they've implemented with regards to D2.

Hellgate: London at least had lots of style, and some really good ideas, but Torchlight was just... bleh.

[hooby]

Torchlight is a 1:1 clone of "Fate", the former game of Travis Baldree who was head of Flagship:Seattle (developing Mythos at the time of the shutdown) and then became lead designer of Torchlight.

Torchlight does not innovate or even add much to the gameplay that already existed in Fate - but if you consider two facts, that's not surprising: 1.) After the demise of Flagship those guys were broke. They had to make and sell a new game quick. 2.) It was never meant to be an AAA game, it was released at a price tag of EUR 15 (download), EUR 20 (boxed) - and through different promotions you could get it for half that price or even lower.

It's not a great game, but considering that price point, you get a lot of fun for your buck.

The only thing that torchlight shines at is it's combat. It perfectly hit the itch of many hack&slay fans (including me). Combat was smooth, perfectly paced and satisfying.

I played Mythos during it's alpha and beta testing phases, and although it went a similar direction, it was quite different to Torchlight. But Fate and Torchlight are almost identical.

[myrmidon]

starcraft ghost is an other reason to hate blizzard that was going to be there best game and they canceled it. i expect its because of sc2 and how you can make an fps mod or something out of it an all but i realy dont care if they did ad that in starcraft 2 i dont even think anyone likes modding starcraft 2

[Lmaoboat]

starcraft ghost is an other reason to hate blizzard that was going to be there best game

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COSeM2EVkDc

[alexei]

starcraft ghost is an other reason to hate blizzard that was going to be there best game and they canceled it. i expect its because of sc2 and how you can make an fps mod or something out of it an all but i realy dont care if they did ad that in starcraft 2 i dont even think anyone likes modding starcraft 2

I don't want to say this but that's so unaccurate, emotional and biased opinion. :p

[myrmidon]

id hate to tell you but that is also your opinion. it is true that some people who moded starcraft 1 dont like modding starcraft 2.


and yes it is my opinion that stracraft ghost was going to be one of there best games. obviously.

[Renevent]

Well you are making some pretty bold claims there bud...and they aren't really backed up by anything either. First of all I hate to tell you but SC2 modding scene is pretty huge.

I also don't get the relationship between Ghost being canceled and the fact you can have a FPS mod in SC2. Ghost was canceled in early 2006 which is a long time...and everything points to a game that just never materialized. It's not the first Blizzard game to come near completion and get canceled...

[ASYLUM101]

What you are capable of doing in SC2 is not "modding". Its more of advanced mapping. Compare mods from SC1 to those of SC2. Its almost a complete game makeover. Blizz doesnt truly support real mods.

[Scryer]

Reputable site posts Blizzard's plans, the possibility of Diablo 3 by the end of next year? I was expecting that.

http://media.mmo-champion.com/images/news/2010/november/blizzardslate.jpg

[ASYLUM101]

Annnnnd either scryer doesn't care about kittens, or he didn't read the fine print.

I wouldn't put too much faith in that sheet at all.

[Skellt]

Ive been saying since it was announced oct-nov release of d3

Yes they said they had alot to do but they also said they were further than we thought. its been announced for quite a while and i think i'm just about on the target

May even hit july or august

[Kardiophylax]

Ghost was canceled in early 2006 which is a long time...and everything points to a game that just never materialized. It's not the first Blizzard game to come near completion and get canceled...

Okay, I need to know right now.

Was there a damn Rock n' Roll Racing MMO planned that I didn't hear about? Because IF there was, and damn it there better not have been, and I didn't hear about it.... well...

Best thing Blizzard ever released!

[myrmidon]

Okay, I need to know right now.

Was there a damn Rock n' Roll Racing MMO planned that I didn't hear about? Because IF there was, and damn it there better not have been, and I didn't hear about it.... well...

Best thing Blizzard ever released!

i wish! and was that released by blizzard? if so im sewing them for terrifying me of the death of my newly found kittens in the backyard!

[Kardiophylax]

i wish! and was that released by blizzard? if so im sewing them for terrifying me of the death of my newly found kittens in the backyard!

Indeed, they were called Silicon & Synapse back in those days. The Lost Vikings, which was also a good game, was released by them as well. Rock N Rolling racing will always be special to me. Hitting my friend from across the entire track by quickly twisting and firing a missile across the entire map, killing him and his lead at the same time, all the while listening to Bad to the Bone and Born to be Wild. Yeah, those are some epic SNES memories right there.

[Scryer]

I read the fine print but everything I said still stands. I didn't use the chart as a fact either, I simply stated that a reputable site posted it. I also said that it's what I expect, not that it's a fact.

[ASYLUM101]

"This is not an official announcement, a kitten will die each time you use it as a fact, or post about it on official forums."

Orly.

[Scryer]

These aren't really "official forums" to say the least. It's an off topic forum about an off-topic game.

[Void(null)]

http://i54.tinypic.com/35itc3l.jpg

[ASYLUM101]

These are the official forums of GD, no?

[Renevent]

Okay, I need to know right now.

Was there a damn Rock n' Roll Racing MMO planned that I didn't hear about? Because IF there was, and damn it there better not have been, and I didn't hear about it.... well...

Best thing Blizzard ever released!

There was a Warcraft adventure game that met the same fate as ghost as well...and I think there was one or two others as well.

And yes, a rock and roll racing MMO would be sweet! Actually, I really would like to see another Blackthorne...always thought that game was really cool especially blasting orcs in the face with a behind the back shotgun blast :D

[Malpheas]

Eh, RNR racing lol. I played the hell out of that game. Was good for a while. But I still subscribe to Super Sprint (and all it's runty children).

You ever play flashback, Ren?

As well, LMAO Void.

[Renevent]

Flashback was another great game :D

[Scryer]

Then you're just taking the word official out of context.

He means official WoW forums.

In either case, you can't put something like that on a reputable site and not expect people (like me) to re-post and discuss its purpose.

[ASYLUM101]

I don't think anyone should be giving an estimated date for a game release when the company itself will never admit to a release date until a month or two before.

[Malpheas]

In either case, you can't put something like that on a reputable site and not expect people (like me) to re-post and discuss its purpose.

It doesn't hold water, either way, regardless of how much you really really really want it to be true.

[jamesL]

http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/blizzard-release-dates-leaked/

[ASYLUM101]

OIC, more kitten murderers, and now LIARS. (they removed the bottom strip, haha)

[myrmidon]

people these days man... no ones seems to care about the lives of kittens any more /:

[Scryer]

Well, I'm estimating in my mind what I suspect to be a reasonable time frame for the game to be released. But we won't really know anything concrete until the beta is announced, once that happens, we'll know for sure that 6 or so months later the game will come out.

Kittens must eventually be spayed or neutered also... Bob Barker commands it. Drew is just a disciple.

[jamesL]

"In a follow up to the last rumors about those leaked Blizzard product date plans, there are new rumors that Bliz US is carrying out an investigation of how things are leaking from Blizzard China. The head of Blizzard’s Chinese operations has just left the company, though the official word is that his departure was long planned, and is not related to these recent supposed security breaches. "

http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/more-blizzard-china-info-leak-intrigue/#comments

[yerkyerk]

Well, they had another small, superficial update; the Male Demon Hunter (http://us.blizzard.com/diablo3/characters/demonhunter.xml).

I dunno... he looks like the regular (female) demon hunter with a male face...

[Renevent]

Well...other than tits that's usually one of the main difference (visually) between guys and gals at least if they are clad in armor and stuff :D

[yerkyerk]

His clothing looks even more feminine than that of the female. He's wearing a corset and it even looks like he's wearing a bra... a flat chested one, but still.

Ah well, it's our biannual update.

[Renevent]

Well I don't know about more feminine but yeah, not the most manly looking class lol.

[Wildman]

His clothing looks even more feminine than that of the female. He's wearing a corset and it even looks like he's wearing a bra... a flat chested one, but still.

Maybe if they gave him a bigger cod piece :rolleyes: lol.

On another note, I dont think I'll be getting it until it drops in price. It looks like they are doing the same as everyone else, turning action RPG's (Hack "N" Slash/dungeon crawler) into adventure RPG's. If I want tactics and strategy I'll load up a RTS or a true RPG.

[yerkyerk]

I don't think it's really gonna drop steeply, it's Blizzard after all, even their old games are ridiculously overpriced. So I might just purchase it day 1. Depending on if my friends get it. But 60 euro's seems like quite a bit of money, especially considering that I've hardly paid more than 10 euro's for any games I've purchased in a long time, including triple A titles. And my friends probably won't get it, so I might just wait till it drops to 40 or something.

[Wildman]

Hehe, yeah I here that, I was thinking the same, maybe 30 to 40 dollars US, there is no way I'm giving them 60.

[eisprinzessin]

His clothing looks even more feminine than that of the female. He's wearing a corset and it even looks like he's wearing a bra... a flat chested one, but still.This becomes clear, if you switch the page (http://us.blizzard.com/diablo3/characters/demonhunter.xml) to German (I need to reload the page with Firefox :confused:). Both, male and female Demon Hunter have been translated into Dämonenjägerin (female German ending in as in my nick). :p

[Scryer]

$60.00 for a game that will give me at least 3 years worth of entertainment, count me in!

Hell, most $60.00 games last a few months and then die out, so I would consider this a deal. Of course, if Diablo 3 lasts as long as Diablo 2 did, then hell it’s more than worth it.

But I'm still looking forward to Duke Nukem, Portal 2, I've bought Grim Dawn, I will buy Torchlight 2, Skyrim is a very possible purchase also, and Path of Exile will probably also be an investment for me.


I think I'm missing a game, but I'm not sure...

[Roros]

I don't think I've ever paid over 50 euro for a game, save maybe Steel Battalion.

You can preorder Diablo3 for £35 from most 'decent' online sites - the only ones I use these days are play (£32) and zavvi (£35). It will probably be twice that from over-the-shelf retailers.
I remember when Halo 3 came out here, it was 699 nok (€90/$120) if you just went to the nearest physical store.