Diablo III

[Gray]

New game which has been announced by Blizzard today.

Looks impressive. I was an avid DiabloII player, but ended up playing Warcraft. Was sort of hoping that the new Warcraft expansion was getting a release date announced, but still!

http://eu.blizzard.com/diablo3/

http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php

[Gonzo]

Going to be sick.

[Y2Ant]

fasdsdfsahfskjal;ksakla

[road doggy dogg]

Yeah I feel this.
crossrine

[Hanso Amore]

Dick = Hard

[Requiem]

Wish I could go back in time and invest in Activision before Blizzard released WoW.. That, and this would have made me a millionaire.

[RBM]

I got a bit stiff in the pants after watching the gameplay trailer.

I just wonder how much of a time difference Starcraft 2 will be compared to Diablo 3 with their releases.

[Ninti the Mad]

Are the zones not gonna be randomized anymore? That made Diablo interesting for me.

[Requiem]

Wow, honestly didn't care about the game until I watched the gameplay video. Holy crap that looks amazingly fun. At the end when the boss picks up one of the guys and bites him in half.. awesome.

[Sepholio]

Was watching the stream when they announced it this morning. I immediately cast level 20 jizz storm on my surroundings.

Apparently Rob Pardo, one of the designers who was interviewed by ign, said their team liked to announce games roughly 1-1.5 years before release, so should be out by end of next year. Lot of rumors claim the game may actually release before SC2. DAMNIT I WANNA PLAY IT NOWZZZZZZZZZZZ

[Ninti the Mad]

whoo still randomized

[Bad Company]

Oh fuck yes, I am jizzing right now.

[asphyXy]

asdflkasdhfkjhasdlfkjhasldkfjhasldkfjhalskdjfhuwiefhoiaufb

[Splaya]

According to Gamespot.com, and I swear to you I looked at this twice. The release date for Diablo III is......






12/31/08

PRETTY SURE I'M GONNA FAINT IF THIS IS TRUE

[DS]

Not true. They wouldn't announce a release date the same time they announce the game is in development. And the date on Gamespot now is back to TBA.

Was most likely just a default date.

[Gray]

Yeah, a lot of companies [Amazon/Play.com] etc have to put what they would think is a release date by all accounts, so it gives people the right to Pre-Order, think its illegal otherwise

[Bad Company]

Wonder if we'll see it on console

[LoDownM]

Wonder if we'll see it on console

Wouldn't surprise me.

[Bad Company]

Yeah, I think it'll have to be, crazy cash cow.
Speaking of cows... Perhaps we'll see a Diablo III cow level :D

[Gonzo]

I don't think it will go to console. If it does, I doubt you would see a port until at least several years after the PC release.

[Boomer]

Diablo II is probably in my top 3 favorite games of all time, so yeah. I'm excited.

[Sepholio]

Diablo II is probably in my top 3 favorite games of all time, so yeah. I'm excited.

Yea, it falls as number 3 for me. Top PC game in my personal rankings. In fact I am going to start on the new ladder season tomorrow due to posting this.

[Boomer]

Being the big Diablo fan that I am, I have been a bit upset at some of the fan backlash to the amount of color in the initial released gameplay video. People get too up in arms over things like that...especially when it only shows like 2 or 3 areas in a game that takes place 20 years after Diablo II, in which the world has gone back to normal.

[Sepholio]

Not to mention that the guy who released the 'edited' images to show what the fans want just took the same images, decreased the gamma and saturation and saved them. I like the graphics how they have them, tbh. If it didn't have the gore I'd be pissed but the barbarian was brutalizing those schmucks and leaving a wave of blood and guts behind.

And as for the game being 20 years later, I am calling this now. Tyrael will be the bad guy by the end of the game.

[Boomer]

The little comments they have had about Deckard Cain make it sound like he might go crazy too. I'm intrigued.

[Sepholio]

Deckard Cain is Diablos Mom. It's true, don't ask me how, but it is.

[Bad Company]

mmmmmmmmmmmmmm, Diablo 3.

http://iforce.co.nz/i/ec4ae9f0302e9f6508cf58b8d73a78d1.jpg

http://iforce.co.nz/i/c5ddcbb1ca21a64c3f3092004a1cc307.jpg

http://iforce.co.nz/i/e001230d6c232fa39286082432211d4f.jpg

http://iforce.co.nz/i/c0d302568298b767aca1fa4cce5c2106.jpg

[Dark-Slicer Diago]

Nice pics, I can't wait for this to finally be released.

[Boomer]

I'm excited probably more than anybody on here (I'm sure I'd have plenty of people contest that), but its still a long way away. Something really exciting to look forward to though.

[Funky Fly]

Me want. When is it due?

[Bad Company]

I'm excited probably more than anybody on here (I'm sure I'd have plenty of people contest that), but its still a long way away. Something really exciting to look forward to though.
Yeah, I'd easily argue with you over that :p

[Bad Company]

Me want. When is it due?
End of the year according to the rumour mill a while back. Hasnt been announced though.

[Boomer]

I doubt very seriously if its coming by then. Blizzard haven't even released the beta for Starcraft II yet, which is much farther along in its development. I mean Blizzard hasn't even announced the other two playable classes yet. I honestly don't see it until dropping until Mid-Late 2010...if we're lucky. I would love to be wrong about that.

[Gonzo]

I wouldn't mind if it were that long, that way I'm out of school by a mile and it won't hurt my grades.

[bigdaddysuperfreak]

Blizzard takes forever to do anything

[Dark-Slicer Diago]

I wish this game wasn't taking them so long to make, it'll be awesome when it's finally released.

[RBM]

They might take forever, but it's always worth it. No other gaming company can compare with Blizzard in the last 15 years, imo. Even Rock n Roll Racing and The Lost Vikings were excellent games in the SNES years.

[Emperor Smeat]

Was unsure to bump up this old thread or just make a new one due to how long of time passed between announcements but a bunch of Diablo III news was released by Blizzard.

The game will have an in-game auction house similar to World of Warcraft with one auction house allowing real money to be spent for in-game items and another auction house allowing in-game currency and items to be spent for other items.

Also revealed was the game will require constant internet connection in order to play the game ("Always On" connection). Blizzard says the reason is meant as a way to preventing hacking or minimize it and because of how the game uses Battle.net at all times.

http://gamrfeed.vgchartz.com/story/87427/diablo-iii-to-have-persistent-internet-connection-real-money-auctions/


The beta for the game is still set to arrive between later this year to early next year with initial reports say the game feels and plays just like classic Diablo but with all the flexibility of modern MMOs.

http://kotaku.com/5825582/diablo-iii


Finally, to combat hacking and illegal playing of the game due to the new auction houses, all mods will not be allowed at all for the game.
Q: Will Diablo III include support for bots and/or mods?

A: No, for a variety of gameplay and security reasons, we will not be supporting bots or mods in Diablo III, and they'll be expressly prohibited by our terms of use for the game.
http://kotaku.com/5826453/diablo-iii-mods-are-forbidden-banned-not-allowed

[Requiem]

Forced connection at all times, AND microtransactions for in-game items? What a bunch of horse shit. I will not buy this game. I will, however, pirate the fuck out of it once someone cracks it to make it playable offline.

[Boomer]

Forced connection at all times, AND microtransactions for in-game items? What a bunch of horse shit. I will not buy this game. I will, however, pirate the fuck out of it once someone cracks it to make it playable offline.

I understand the issue with a constant internet connection, but why give a fuck about micro-transactions? People did this on eBay with Diablo II and WoW, its just making it legal and manageable for Blizzard. Just ignore the fuck out of it if its that big a deal and get your items the old fashioned way; it's not like those items are only available with money. And hey, maybe you could buy the game, and pay the fucker off by selling in-game items!

And playing Diablo solo isn't nearly as fun, so have fun pirating it. No LAN support, at least from Blizzard anyway.

[Requiem]

People doing it on ebay is irrelevant, because it was against both game's terms of service. Just because people did it doesn't make it alright. And I didn't play Diablo II online, because of the sheer amount of hacking that was prevalent for years. As far as WoW goes, I could care less. The game is utter trash compared to other games in the genre.

Selling actual items in-game is dumb, and the fact that it is a Blizzard game means that a LOT of people will play it, and a LOT of people are going to spend a shit ton of money on the items. I am hugely against game-altering micro-transactions. So basically, if I want to play multi-player I will end up having to play with countless people who have bought items. Fuck that. I will do without it. I played through Diablo II countless times by myself, as well as on LANs with friends. I can do without multiplayer if it means not having to deal with the 'always on' bullshit, as well as people who purchased items.

In a game where there ends up being competitive play or PvP of any sort, allowing the sale of actual items (not vanity items), is retarded. Especially with all these 'MMO-like' components they're touting. I'll pirate it, and play it, and uninstall it. The point of me not purchasing it is that they lost a potential customer because of those 2 features. Congrats Blizzard. I know at least 3 people who will not purchase it because of those features as well. Especially the 'always on' bit. I will -NEVER- purchase a non-MMO game that requires me to be connected to the internet in order to play it.

[Requiem]

Also, one of the worst things they could possibly do for this game is to deny LAN support. Diablo II was a LAN king.

[Boomer]

I'm just saying I don't blame Blizzard for doing micro-transactions, since people are going to farm items in their game regardless of what they do. I never said what farmers did was right, I just see where Blizzard is coming from and why they made the decision to manage them.

And the always-on/LAN thing has to do with piracy, so I don't blame them for that decision either. Same with Starcraft 2, so this isn't some new issue for Blizzard. And when people keep pirating, it's just going to keep showing up in their games. Just feel bad for the people who have limited bandwidth or internet availability getting screwed over.

[Hanso Amore]

Req, you are a fucking dick.

They institute measures to prevent piracy and your response is "Fuck all that, Im going to pirate it!"

In todays world what LAN are you playing on that DOESNT have an internet connection?

Diablo 2 was Lan King because you could hack the shit out of it for free.

You are the type of person they added these measures for, so thank yourself for the added security we ALL have to go through.

And if you dont want to buy in game items, dont. You wont need to. They are just adding the option to make some extra cash just like every other publisher.

[Hanso Amore]

Starcraft 2 had the same security and connection policy, and we still played 8 player matches at my office.

The Only change from the original? All 8 were paid for.

[Requiem]

Funny how that works. I have the same opinion of any game that utilizes DRM. I refuse to allow a company to install monitoring software, or to monitor when I am using their game by requiring me to be connected to their servers. I also find it incredibly stupid that if I go on a trip or am anywhere I don't have internet, that I can't use a game that I paid money for. That alone is reason for me to not purchase it. If my internet drops out, then what? If I'm not even playing with other people, I should be allowed to play something I paid for.

Your response acts as if I don't understand why they do this. But they don't realize that this simply causes more people to pirate their products.

As far as micro-transactions, it's not about if I want to buy those items or not. Yeah, I could ignore them and not buy items. But if I want to play online, then I'm forced to play with people who have bought advantages. It's dumb. They're touting this game as having MMO-like qualities to its gameplay. (It's important to note that it's NOT an MMO, which is another reason requiring an always-on connection is stupid) Why should I have to pay more in order to keep up with the other people playing it? It's greedy. But hey, it's Blizzard. I guess at this point I should have expected it.

[Requiem]

And second, I and all of my friends back in the day owned our copies of Diablo II, and we still played offline through a LAN. Because it was easier, and there was less latency issues. You try having 6 or 7 people connected to a shitty home line, all doing different things online. When a couple of them want to play a game together, it's simpler to just LAN it.

We owned probably 80% of the games we played on LAN. These days, I don't care about it as much because I don't LAN like I used to. But I play these types of games single-player more than I do multiplayer these days, and I am not going to get a game that requires me to be online in order to play single player. And again, in the event that I want to play with other people, I don't want to play with people who bought advantages.

[Requiem]

I pirate a lot of games, but 'I'm the reason this exists' is a stupid response, because as far as Blizzard games go, I still own my copies of them. I pay for games from companies that put out quality products, and with how good Diablo II was, I would have bought this game in a heartbeat.

If a PC game I like has multi-player, I typically purchase it.

[Requiem]

Starcraft 2 had the same security and connection policy, and we still played 8 player matches at my office.

The Only change from the original? All 8 were paid for.

Try playing with those same 8 people on a home line. You'll find it's a lot more difficult, and not nearly as smooth an experience.

[Gonzo]

Alright, so don't purchase the game. Stick it to the man and pirate the shit out of it.

Moving forward...

[Requiem]

From a player perspective, there is no positive to requiring you to be online in order to play the game. Nor is there a single positive for allowing a company to install DRM on your PC. Name me one positive from a player's perspective that says "Oh yeah, I like that".

You can't, because there isn't one.

[Requiem]

Alright, so don't purchase the game. Stick it to the man and pirate the shit out of it.

Moving forward...

Done. :y:

[RoXer]

<iframe width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/DDYjljdje-g" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Miotch]

Evidently FAngel is as upset about this as Req.

[Requiem]

lol no way this guy's voice is for real. i can't believe that people who make videos are unaware that they sound like this.

[Requiem]

lol k watched the whole thing this is definitely some kind of overexaggerated act

[Buzzkill]

I BOYCOTT YA GAAMEZ

[Emperor Smeat]

Depending on when Blizzard finally finishes up creating the beta for the game and the results from the beta, the company still thinks it has a chance of releasing the game before the end of this year.

Blizzard was as non-committal as ever in today's call with investors, with Blizzard CEO Michael Morhaime once again restating that the company hopes to deliver Diablo III before the end of the year.

...

"There's a lot of moving parts in putting out a complicated release like Diablo III," he said later. "We're not yet in beta. It's really going to come down to when the game is ready for prime-time. We'll know more when we hit beta and we'll know more when we put some of these new systems into test."

...

Morhaime also said the impending beta test is scheduled before the end of the current quarter, which means sometime between now and the end of September.

http://www.giantbomb.com/news/blizzard-still-hoping-to-release-diablo-iii-this-year/3553/

[Lock Jaw]

Used to play Diablo all the time. Did not care for Diablo II.

[LoDownM]

I don't know why people are getting so up in arms over the real money for virtual items, it's not like you have to use that feature.

[Requiem]

How hilariously appropriate that mytony should post in this thread.

And LoDownM, I have explained twice why I loathe that feature. It has NOTHING to do with whether or not I wish to use it, and everything to do with whether or not I want to play with people who bought an advantage. I don't.

[Pintint]

How hilariously appropriate that mytony should post in this thread.

And LoDownM, I have explained twice why I loathe that feature. It has NOTHING to do with whether or not I wish to use it, and everything to do with whether or not I want to play with people who bought an advantage. I don't.

To be honest, in Diablo 2, people bought and sold items online anyway. As long as the items are not "created" by Blizzard to be sold and still have to be found and sold, that's fine, just bypasses the side market and allows Blizzard direct control over it.

[LoDownM]

Ok, I went and read your posts Req, all I have to say is, shut up, you are the video game forum version of Kano.

"The real money auction house will not be available in Hardcore mode." There you go, play hardcore mode and shut up.

[Boomer]

To be honest, in Diablo 2, people bought and sold items online anyway. As long as the items are not "created" by Blizzard to be sold and still have to be found and sold, that's fine, just bypasses the side market and allows Blizzard direct control over it.

I've said that to Req. He doesn't care.

[#BROKEN Hasney]

People played Diablo 2 outside of hardcore mode?

Pussies.

[Requiem]

Ok, I went and read your posts Req, all I have to say is, shut up, you are the video game forum version of Kano.

"The real money auction house will not be available in Hardcore mode." There you go, play hardcore mode and shut up.

Excellent news. :y:

DRM will still keep me from purchasing this game.

[Requiem]

And also, fuck off. :)

And also also, I DON'T GIVE A FUCK IF PEOPLE -DID- BUY ITEMS ONLINE. THAT DOESN'T MAKE IT ALRIGHT. Said that a couple times too, but I guess it's alright that YOU didn't pay attention to what I said, and it's fine to try and act like I'm the one not paying attention. Pretty bad when I have to repeat myself on a half dozen occasions because you dolts don't read.

[Requiem]

People have been buying items off ebay for games for years. I GET THAT. Saying it 5 fucking times doesn't make me 'get it' any more. They did in the first 3 big MMOs, and they still probably do it to this day in current games. That doesn't excuse it, as it is still against those game's terms of service. It still ruins game economies in games where item loss/destruction doesn't exist, and it still gives unfair advantages to people who bought items. Don't understand how this is such a difficult concept for you people to understand.

Since the micro-transactions will be unavailable in hardcore mode, the bulk of my complaint about it is now gone. It's still stupid, it's still greedy, but it will largely not affect me as I feel hardcore mode is the reason to play this game online. It also gives FAR more people the ability to purchase items, where-as I would wager money that the vast majority of people do NOT purchase items illegally in these games. It's the ones that do, that ruin the games. Blizzard giving in and creating a market to regulate it is only opening up the option for more and more people that may not have ever done it before. Hence, greedy.

DRM is still a complete piece of shit though, and only affects people who purchase games, not people who pirate games. Companies just don't "get" that. In the majority of games that use DRM, (ie; non-multiplayer games), it has absolutely ZERO affect on people who pirate games. They'll still pirate the game regardless. DRM only exists to piss off people who purchase it, regardless of the companies intentions with it.

For instance (ie; a single example, not an example of DRM in all games), DRM in Spore was complete and utter bullshit. It did nothing but hurt people who actually purchased the game by allowing a limited number of installs. People who pirated the game were allowed as many installs as they want, and due to modern programming/cracking, people could even get a SHIT TON of custom content.

DRM is counter-productive, and drives people to pirate. There's simply no argument that I could possibly believe is being honest, in support of DRM.

[#BROKEN Hasney]

I'm willing to bet that it launches with an offline mode or is patched out soon after. I actually believe them when they are doing this to stop hacks more than piracy because they know they'll sell their games.

If it has an offline mode where you can't take that character to online games, transfer items from him to other people and things like that, it'll be a fair compromise.

[Requiem]

If they have an offline mode, I will have no issues with it and I will probably purchase it. (just keeping in mind that is speculation, and they haven't said anything yet) I obviously don't care about having to be connected to the internet in order to play online with people. That would be ridiculous. Since I will only play hardcore mode online, (or regular with friends), I don't have to worry about micro-transactions.

That's all I am saying, people. Hasney speaking some sense in here instead of getting bent out of shape just because I think it's bullshit that they included certain "features". :y:

[Requiem]

I actually believe them when they are doing this to stop hacks more than piracy because they know they'll sell their games.

Although I don't know about this. Hacks ran rampant in Diablo II online. Hacks run rampant in WoW as well. Don't think forcing people to be connected to the internet will do anything to deter it. People will still have hacks, and when those become detectable, they'll make new ones.

I know someone who was banned 4 times (lol) from WoW for hacking, and he played for at least 6 months a few of those times without getting caught. The first time, he played over a year while hacking and didn't get caught.

[Emperor Smeat]

They would be more concerned about the hacks regarding the paid auction houses because Blizzard could be held liable for criminal or illegal transactions.

I'd assume the idea from Blizzard was instead of having a ton of gold miners and illegal sellers, they figured it would have been more easier to monitor and regulate them in an a single official spot.

There is still regular auction houses that only swap items and the traditional way of getting items for those who don't want to spend real money or play in a more leveled playing field. I wouldn't be surprised if they eventually have a server just for paid auction users to separate them from everyone else.

[Boomer]

I just don't share your opinion, Req. It annoys me when I can't play my Steam games when my internet goes out, sure, but I can manage. Like I said before, I only feel bad for the people who don't live in a situation without a good or constant internet connection. Companies have their reasons for DRM, and I just don't let it bother me that much. You can feel how you want. Same for the auction house - it's such a small detail, and is easy to ignore, so I don't much care if people want to waste away their money.

And if I complained about pirating games, I'd still be nothing but a hypocrite. I've done a lot in the past few years to stop, mainly because I can't find any good reasons to justify it (even though there probably aren't any good reasons anyway), but I still find myself getting the occasional handheld release gratis. If I was you, I'd buy the game and the crack it to play offline if the DRM bothered me that much. Pirating to "stick it to the man" just sounds like poor reasoning to me. Again - think and do what you want.

[Requiem]

You know you can play Steam games in offline mode, right?

[Requiem]

I actually enjoy Steam as a platform for which to purchase games. It gives me access to them forever. All I have to do if I ever reformat is log in, and start redownloading my games. It has an offline mode which lets me use them while not connected. I can redownload them as many times as I want, and Steam actually encourages me to purchase games I wouldn't normally buy because of awesome deals that they offer all the time.

[Boomer]

Steam's offline mode requires that you log-in online first before you go offline. When I don't have internet, I can't log in.

[Requiem]

No it doesn't. When you try to load it or a game that uses it, wait for it to fail and it will ask you what you want to do. Then you need only click 'start in offline mode' and boom.

[Boomer]

Wasn't working for me because I don't save my username and password on the computer. The Steam website says you have to log in online first, so I never really bothered. Never though clicking "remember password" was particularly important for offline mode, and the application itself doesn't make it particularly apparent. My mistake, I guess.

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=3160-AGCB-2555

But anyway, it doesn't matter. My point was DRM has never bothered me and probably never will. You're certainly allowed to feel differently.

[#BROKEN Hasney]

It depends how it handles disconnections for me. I can't buy a game that boots me out of it because my internet went a bit funny. Settlers did that and I never made it past the second level until I cracked it.

[RoXer]

http://i.imgur.com/dbm0T.jpg

[Requiem]

lolllll

[Requiem]

Also makes sense. Just don't see the point in a gameplay standpoint of why you would want to buy gear in a game like Diablo. The entire point of the game is to go through and find awesome stuff and gear out your character. Why ruin that by buying stuff that's just going to help you beat the game faster. Why buy/play it at all?

[Requiem]

Remember in DII when I found this BADASS 4-slot axe for my barbarian. Spent a bunch of time finding sweet runes/stones to put in it until it was just a sweet weapon.

[Pintint]

Yeah this game will suck balls because people will just use real world money to buy good loot and have an advantage over those who dont have/dont want to spend money. Boring. Its kind of like releasing a game with cheats built in for online play.

[Sepholio]

And I will still play it for at least 7.3 years of real world time. I don't give a shit that I have to be online to play it. It's fucking diablo and it will rule the world.

However, as soon as there is a huge storm and our internet goes down and I want to play and can't then I will totally start spazzing and go on a real life killing spree with my sweet 6 slot colossus sword. Yeah totally. Wait, what?

[Emperor Smeat]

Blizzard announced it is hiring programmers and other employees with the goal being to bring Diablo III to consoles although no exact system was announced nor any guarantees the side project would actually result in a console version of the game.

Auction houses and other new features would be a top priority if the game can be ported completely to a console.

In a Gamescom press conference today, Josh Mosqueira let everyone know:

"Today, we're trying to build the best console team at Blizzard. We're looking for programmers, designers, artists who think their dream job would be to bring Diablo to the console."

http://screwattack.com/blogs/ScrewAttack-News/Bring-me-Diablo-3-on-a-console

[Emperor Smeat]

Diablo III has been delayed from a late 2011 release to now a vague "early 2012" release date.

While Blizzard hinted it was going to be tough to reach the original release date, they now say they are taking the extra months to polish the game up more and the beta will get extended for a longer period of time to help with the tweaks.

http://www.giantbomb.com/news/we-actually-have-a-release-window-for-diablo-iii/3689/

[RBM]

Can't wait for Diablo 3. Been playing Torchlight on my X box and that game is basically diablo lite. Fun. Has it's issues of course, but the core gameplay and treasure hunting is all there.

The auction house situation certainly doesn't bother me. I have no desire to buy anything from it and hell, I might end up selling a few things.

Chinese farmers are going to be doing it nonstop anyways, so Blizz might as well set up a system where they make a little money off of it. Hopefully increased revenue leads to more than just one expansion of content.

[Gonzo]

I read an article on Cracked recently, I guess gold farming in video games is a billion dollar industry in China.

[Funky Fly]

Oh yeah. If you're willing to pay for something, China is willing to sell it to you, no matter how frivolous or not necessarily legal it is.

[Majunior]

Yay China.

Seriously though, until they release an offline mode, I will not buy this game.

Maybe I'm the minority (I am in a lot of ways it seems) but I have no desire to play online. I don't do MMOs, XBox Live, or anything else. The most I do is some of the app games on Facebook... and I still play them by myself. I really just won't play online.

[Emperor Smeat]

Blizzard finally clears up how the auction house system works and why it was done.

They needed to get rid of the countless scamming and "hacks" that affected Diablo II but didn't want to get rid of the idea of players swapping items and instead felt it would be more secure to do them at official auction spots.

"Players will be able to make purchases in the currency-based auction house using a registered form of payment attached to their Battle.net account. As with other popular online-purchase services, players will also have the option to charge up their Battle.net account with a balance of funds that can be drawn from for purchases of any digital product available through Battle.net. When players sell an item in the currency-based auction house, the proceeds of the sale are deposited into their Battle.net account."

"Fans still concerned about using the currency-based auction house can rest easy knowing that the feature is completely optional. After all, the main mode of acquiring awesome items and equipment is still by playing the Diablo III’s core adventure. Besides, there will be no shortage of opportunities to trade with friends and use the full-featured gold-based auction house. Considering that every single item from the most basic of salvaged components to absolutely epic weapons and armor can be traded, bought, and sold, Diablo III will likely keep players busy with the sheer joy that comes with acquiring and managing loot.
http://www.gamezone.com/news/diablo-iii-s-auction-house-system-explained


GiantBomb also had a quick preview of the PvP Arena mode and basically confirms Blizzard has no intentions of balancing this mode for eSports/competitive gaming.
http://www.giantbomb.com/news/a-few-minutes-in-diablo-iiis-pvp-arena/3768/

[OldSchoolFan]

What are you gguys thoughts on them "giving" the game away to WoW players?

[Emperor Smeat]

Looks like there are some more restrictions with the auction houses dealing with real money and actually has a good benefit as a result.

While the game is region free, auction houses are locked to specific regions as a way to prevent Chineese gold farmers from scamming non-Asian regions and people buying items with different currencies than allowed in a region.

* Diablo 3 is region free. You have a default region (based on your address), but it can be modified to play in another region (think D2).
* You can use every gold Auction House.
* You are restricted (locked) to a specific Real Money AH based on your address when you activate your game.
* You may move region providing proof of habitation (not 100% sure).
* These apply for EU/NA 100% some things may be different for Asia.


http://www.screwattack.com/news/diablo-3-region-free-real-money-auction-houses-arent

[Requiem]

What are you gguys thoughts on them "giving" the game away to WoW players?

You have to buy like a year's subscription to WoW. Who cares.

[Emperor Smeat]

Blizzard confirms there will be a console version for the game and at least the Xbox 360 and PS3 have been confirmed platforms.

Blizzard Community Manager “Bashiok” confirmed that a Josh Mosqueira was lead designer on the project on Twitter:

“Yup. Josh Mosqueira is lead designer for the Diablo console project.”

They were hiring programmers weeks ago with experience on console development so the news isn't a huge surprise. No other details on when the console version will arrive or if the PC version could be delayed so that all versions get released at the same time.

http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/diablo-confirmed-for-consoles/

[Emperor Smeat]

PC version collector's edition got revealed with a price of 69.99 euros in Europe but no US/Canada prices were given. Expect it to be around the $90-$99 price range for the US though based on conversions.

The CE does include 4 free months of World of Warcraft as an extra bonus.

* Diablo 3 PC/Mac Game
* Behind the scenes DVD and Blu-Ray Two Disc Set
* Collectors Edition Soundtrack
* The Art of Diablo 3
* Diablo Skull and 4GB USB Soulstone
* Diablo 3 Aesthetic Artifacts (in-game)
* World of Warcraft pet (in-game)
* Starcraft 2 Battlenet Portraits (in-game)


http://www.screwattack.com/news/depths-hell-comes-diablo-iiis-collectors-edition


The bad news is the game itself has been delayed again from the Early 2012 (March) date to now an end of June release date.
http://www.giantbomb.com/news/yep-diablo-iii-has-been-delayed-again/3977/

[#BROKEN Hasney]

Beta keys if you're quick:

http://destructoid.com/elephant/redeem_code.phtml

[whiteyford]

all gone :(

[#BROKEN Hasney]

You might have to be logged into Destructoid before going there. People are still grabbing them.

[whiteyford]

I'm logged in,says they've all been claimed. :(

[Emperor Smeat]

PvP mode has been cut out in order for the game to arrive on time and not be delayed again.

"After a lot of consideration and discussion, we ultimately felt that delaying the whole game purely for PvP would just be punishing to everyone who’s waiting to enjoy the campaign and core solo/co-op content, all of which is just about complete."

Although Blizzard did announce the feature will be patched in later once its completely ready but didn't give an exact date when it would arrive.

http://www.screwattack.com/news/diablo-iiis-pvp-aspect-has-been-cut-initial-release-prevent-further-delays

[Iop]

Diablo 3 looks like a childrens cartoon compared to Diablo I and II.

Ugh.

Horrible art style/design. Failure total. I wished they made a dark and gritty Diablo but everyone caters to the 12 and younger category now and every game blizzard makes now seems to have the same look as world of warcraft.

[LoDownM]

Stop living in the past.

[Boomer]

May 15th was just announced as the release date. Super excited.

[Dark-Slicer Diago]

Let's see if theis date stands, excited if it does.

[whiteyford]

2012?:-\

[Pintint]

The one that's running this weekend?

From what I can tell, they put a limit on the number of players who can log into their servers at once and so far its been impossible to log in. Hopefully this isnt an indication of how their final product will perform.

Still cant wait tho, soooooooooo many good memories of Diablo II.

Playing Diablo II is one of my favorite teenage memories :love:

[#BROKEN Hasney]

Was in the closed beta and couldn't download it right. Oh well.

[Pintint]

Seems to be major fail. UGH trying all day to get into the server. Too many ppl playing, they shouldve limited it so that people who own Diablo II get in first.

[Requiem]

Seems to be major fail. UGH trying all day to get into the server. Too many ppl playing, they shouldve limited it so that people who own Diablo II get in first.

Would still be a million people trying to get in.

[Pintint]

Would still be a million people trying to get in.

Doubt it. Its been 10+ years since Diablo II...

[#BROKEN Hasney]

Doubt it. Its been 10+ years since Diablo II...

30,000 beta invites we're taken within 5 minutes on one website.

[Pintint]

Yah but were they all from people who owned and still own Diablo II?

[Extreme Angle]

Wow, you owned Diablo II...

[Requiem]

Him and 4 million other people. ;)

[Pintint]

Still, there wouldnt be a million people, on day 1, who still had their copy of Diablo II.

Anyway, I got in, and meh. It seems every single game blizzard made after Warcraft III uses the SAME art style and the same graphics. Its a bit boring by now...the game is alright, but Blizzard really lost its sense of art design...this just doesnt feel like a Diablo game.

[Extreme Angle]

It's their art style and it's awesome.
I'm still yet to properly play a diablo game, its on my desktop waiting for me to click it when my masses of coursework depletes.
How does this one feel different?

[Pintint]

It's their art style and it's awesome.
I'm still yet to properly play a diablo game, its on my desktop waiting for me to click it when my masses of coursework depletes.
How does this one feel different?

Art style is a lot more colorful and toonish, as opposed to Diablo I and II which were more gritty and darker.

[Extreme Angle]

Art style is a lot more colorful and toonish, as opposed to Diablo I and II which were more gritty and darker.

Yeah... But surely that's just implementing the art style that they're know known for.
I just checked out videos and I think it looks sick, , I mean everything is rendered amazingly from what i've seen.

[Pintint]

After playing it some more, totally not feeling it. You cant even assign your own stat points? Wut? That was like the whole point of Diablo II, finding items and creating different character builds. The game's incredibly dumbed down. No "lobbies" as well, just click and it throws you into a random game thats on the quest you're on. Lame/Boring.

[whiteyford]

It is just the Beta

[Gonzo]

I don't know how I feel about the leveling system. It seems that it opens itself to some customization of your character. I don't know how it will work versus the traditional tree skill development. I think the point of the D3 method is to make early skills more viable end game and to allow for customization but I'm skeptical that certain "builds" won't be defaulted to for certain areas/difficulties and PVP down the line.

[Pintint]

Well, I was going to get it this at launch, but after playing the beta, I'm holding off.
Game isn't as good as I was hoping it would be.
(that'll teach Blizzard to do open betas! lol)

[Sepholio]

Just paid off my pre-order and bought a new PC for this. Gonna be so awesome.

LOL @ people who are not gonna get it because they didn't like the beta. Newsflash: most betas suck ass compared to the final product.

[PrettyCool]

I played the beta too and this game blows a railroad track of dick!

And yes most betas are not finished product, but this beta is almost finished product so its not like they are gonna change the design or add a skill system like in diablo 2.

This game is like a free 2 play Nexon game skill wise.

[Sepholio]

Thats cool. One less moron I have to deal with online.

[PrettyCool]

Thats cool. One less moron I have to deal with online.

Now u make me want to buy it just to search for u on there.

[PrettyCool]

http://i.imgur.com/XIOwO.jpg

[#BROKEN Hasney]

Think I'm going for Torchlight 2, not feeling this especially with the always online part. I understand what Seph is saying about the beta, but the mechanics are pretty much locked down for launch, they won't change too much between now and Tuesday.

[El Fangel]

Bottle of lube on the dresser behind the guy on the right.

[Sepholio]

8 more hours. I feel like a tool, but damn, I been needin' my diablo fix for like a decade.

Only thing that sucks is that the video card I ordered for my new PC is the only part that isn't here yet. Gotta play on low-medium settings for a day or two >_<

[Emperor Smeat]

Apparently people in Australia can't get the disc version of the game if it was pre-ordered at GAME stores since a bunch of them filed for bankruptcy and are refusing to either offer a refund or sell the copies they have in stores.

[Dark-Slicer Diago]

Arn't they able to get sued for that?

[Gray]

Diablo EU servers fucked, no one can log in due to massive amount of people attempting logon.

Asia had an issue as well.

Good luck America :p Then again, no fuckin doubt you lot will get in no problem.

[#BROKEN Hasney]

Nah, Blizzard already warned this would happen.

US will be fucked too.

[Emperor Smeat]

Arn't they able to get sued for that?

Apparently not since some have tried but the courts have said GAME isn't accountable for providing refunds because I think its a Chapter 7 (full shutdown) and not a Chapter 11 (regular bankruptcy) like the UK branch was facing.

[Gonzo]

I can't play the first day because I have to go out of town. I'm actually kind of happy because I knew that there would be server issues right off the bat.

[Sepholio]

Wonder how the global merger will go when the last servers come online at midnight PST

[Sepholio]

5 more minutes until servers go live. Gonna wet my pants.

[Dark-Slicer Diago]

My brother has been playing this non-stop since he got the midnight release, makes me think about getting on the weekend.

[PrettyCool]

My brother has been playing this non-stop since he got the midnight release, makes me think about getting on the weekend.

Ur brother must weigh like 500 pound :lol:

[Emperor Smeat]

Besides login errors and issues, a patch is on its way to fix two bugs with one of them causing the game to crash.

The biggest and most terrifying of the bugs is a genuine game-breaker, according to various threads in the Blizzard forums. In this case, it appears that anyone who equips a Templar follower with a different shield will suddenly encounter a synchronization error and be dropped from the game's servers. Users are additionally reporting that even upon restarting the client and attempting to log back in, a dreaded "Error 3006" message appears and prevents them from doing so.

This error may be limited to the Demon Hunter class, but regardless of class, it's probably best if you hold off on doing any shield switching with your Templar buddy until Blizzard posts a fix (which Eurogamer reports is on the way), just to be safe.

Blizzard has also addressed a couple of other issues, including a character creation error that somehow maxes your character list, as well as the more nebulous errors 14009 and 315300. For the character creation bug, Blizzard suggests that simply logging out and then logging back in may fix the problem. For the other errors, the current workaround involves creating a new Windows user account with admin permissions, and try again from there. Not exactly an ideal solution, but it's what they've got right now.
http://www.giantbomb.com/news/here-are-some-diablo-iii-issues-you-ought-to-watch-out-for/4148/

[Sepholio]

I just equipped a shield on my templar and absolutely nothing happened. I think that bug is being blown WAY out of proportion by trolls. Should have seen the bnet forums last night. The same people claiming they could not even get in to start a game due to error 37 were reporting this error breaking their game.

Error 3006 is nothing more than a connection timeout. If you get it and it persists, just reset your modem/router and reboot your PC. Works perfectly fine after that.

[Boomer]

My game was delivered at 630 pm, and I got to play for five minutes. I guess I've already played the first act anyway...but I wish I didn't have plans tonight. Last day of work is tomorrow though.

[Nark Order]

Still having issues getting the game to work. I'm not all too angry. After the SWTOR launch, this is pretty tame.

[Sepholio]

Man, when the hell am I ever gonna find my first unique item. Or ring or amulet. The anticipation is killing me.

[Nark Order]

Anybody else have the MSVCR90.dll error when trying to start the game out of the launcher? This is getting tedious. Can't seem to find a clear answer.

[#BROKEN Hasney]

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/findbyerrormessage/a/msvcr90-dll-not-found-missing-error.htm

I get that stupid DLL going missing all the time.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

http://i.imgur.com/XIOwO.jpg

Next stop is the hospital to get a foot removed.

[El Fangel]

<embed src="http://www.ebaumsworld.com/player.swf" allowScriptAccess="always" flashvars="id1=82537225" wmode="opaque" width="567" height="345" allowfullscreen="true"/>


Ahahahahahahahaa.

[PrettyCool]

lol dat was awesome

(Girl is smoking hot :drool: )

Altho D3 is a lot worse

[Kapoutman]

This game looks fun, but I don't want a game that forces me to be online all the time. My wireless connection will be crap for a while.

Think they might cave in to the pressure with the login issues and release a patch to make single-player offline?

Probably not. But that would make me a buyer.

[Sepholio]

Game seems to be a lot harder than D2 on the higher difficulties. I'm on hell right now and I'm wondering just how rough the new Inferno difficulty is gonna be.

I do have one huge complaint though. Unique/Legendary items do not drop enough. It is retarded. I have not seen a single one drop yet.

[#BROKEN Hasney]

You can always buy one in the auction house.

Wait, I see a connection here...

[Pintint]

Spent more time with the trial edition (Got a code from a nice guy on another forum) and I think I'm gonna end up buying it tomorrow. I also found a cool mod for it that seems okay with blizzard that makes the art style more...diablo-ish.

<IFRAME height=315 src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/LcnIIVYSuLM" frameBorder=0 width=560 allowfullscreen></IFRAME>

http://darkd3.com/

[Emperor Smeat]

Blizzard made 2 announcements recently with the game breaking the all-time Day 1 sales record for a PC game at around 3.5 million copies and part of the reason for the servers being bombarded.

The other is the recent news of account hacking and Battle.net itself being attacked by saying the service itself hasn't been attacked nor has anyone's account been hacked in any new ways. They did say so far it seems to be mainly phishing attacks have been the cause for some accounts to become compromised.

http://www.giantbomb.com/news/blizzard-says-battlenet-hasnt-been-compromised/4170/
http://www.giantbomb.com/news/diablo-iii-sells-35-million-copies-in-its-first-day-alone/4169/

[Sepholio]

After further playing, I have def changed my opinion on some fronts. I enjoy the game alot, but the AH is seriously broken and the Inferno difficulty end game is shit.

It's like, hey we have this difficulty you can not beat unless you have epic gear....but you aren't going to be able to get this epic gear unless you buy it on the AH from the few groups of people who can actually manage to farm inferno for the items.

What's the point of Inferno if you reach max level before you get there and are instantly destroyed in act 1, where you will not find items good enough to get you any further? Oh I know, it forces people into the AH (and eventually the RMAH) where blizz will take a 15% cut of profits.

The game is awesome through hell difficulty though.

[Kapoutman]

So I made the mistake of trying the game at a friend's house over the week-end. I was hooked in half an hour. I went to the Future Shop right away, bought the game, and installed it on my crappy laptop with a crappy internet connection.

I can only play in the kitchen because the Wi-Fi signal is only strong enough there, and I had to put every setting to low (and even turn off shadows and clutters and stuff like that) to get the game to run smoothly.

But I'm still loving it. When I get to Montreal, I'll install it on my tower and finally get some real gaming going on.

[Hanso Amore]

I was very disappointed by the story and length. Way too easy in normal mode too.

Gameplay is amazing though. Wish you could use your companion in multiplayer though - you could in D2.

Im not sure how I feel about multiple playthroughs to get to a decent mode. Seems like there is too much "MMO like" farming built in.

[Gonzo]

Did you play Diablo 1 and 2?

[Sepholio]

D1 and D2 had definitive end games. While it may have been repetitive, it was fun. The end game in D3 is still repetitive but no longer fun due to class imbalance and extreme difficulty. Blizzard keeps saying you need to farm the items to progress, but there is a problem; the items melee classes need to progress past act 1 inferno do not drop until act 3 and 4 inferno. It makes you use the AH; big surprise there, considering they take 15% profits.

I feel like this game would have gotten the polish and balance it deserved if not for the AH and people constantly harassing about the release date. As it is, I kinda feel like we all paid for a decent beta build. We're just getting used as millions of test dummies so they can fix everything later with the obvious expansions they have lined up. Welcome to World of Diablo.

All things considered, the progress of levelling from 1-60 through hell mode is still fun. Just the inferno end game blows it.

[Sepholio]

Here is wonderful example of how to play D3 on inferno.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PEyk63UaBI4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Boomer]

What is everyone's problem? Blizzard constantly patches their games to achieve balance, and it's no different this time. God forbid they make the endgame hard as fuck and then work towards making it more obtainable. I would agree that D3 is easier overall than D1 or D2 up until Inferno, but it's the best flowing game of the series without question.

[Sepholio]

Best flowing? In what sense do you mean?

[Gonzo]

My brother said he is farming the Skeleton King on Inferno solo as a Barb. He told me he is making enough money on the yellow drops he gets (~100-200K per) that he can either buy what he needs or use what he finds. It's a bit of a process but that's exactly what Diablo 2 was like.

[Boomer]

Best flowing? In what sense do you mean?

They keep the action going. Combat flows well, and the story progresses without large amounts of searching on the map for what you are looking for. I didn't mind it in some parts of D2 (the Arcane Sanctuary), but the Jungle in Act 3 was always super confusing and just a lot of running around trying to find the next waypoint. D3 does it well by telling you the general direction to go in if you want to hit the main quest line, but otherwise lets you roam around all you want.

[Sepholio]

My brother said he is farming the Skeleton King on Inferno solo as a Barb. He told me he is making enough money on the yellow drops he gets (~100-200K per) that he can either buy what he needs or use what he finds. It's a bit of a process but that's exactly what Diablo 2 was like.

Tell him to go to act 2. People who can solo the butcher on inferno get killed 1 or 2 hits by the first random monkey in act 2.

In diablo 2 you could find the gear you need to progress yourself. You didn't need to go buy stuff on an AH that blizzard will take 15% of the money from.

[Sepholio]

They keep the action going. Combat flows well, and the story progresses without large amounts of searching on the map for what you are looking for. I didn't mind it in some parts of D2 (the Arcane Sanctuary), but the Jungle in Act 3 was always super confusing and just a lot of running around trying to find the next waypoint. D3 does it well by telling you the general direction to go in if you want to hit the main quest line, but otherwise lets you roam around all you want.

So they hold your hand and tell you where to go? Definitely better flow there.

Inferno makes your point about combat flowing well moot. Everything becomes about kiting enemies into a corner, dying, and then never going back to that corner again.

[Boomer]

Yes, they hold your hand. So what? It makes for a better game, in my opinion.

And I already made my argument that Blizzard fixes things as they go. Inferno will not stay this way forever. Servers were down today because they were applying a patch to the game. Blizzard having post-release support...surprise surprise.

[Kapoutman]

DAMMIT. That's exactly why I didn't want to buy the game in the first place. I have very few times where I can play Diablo because I work a lot. Last time I wanted to play was at the start of the week, and I couldn't because servers were down for maintenance.

Right now, I have an hour or two free where I can play. What's happening? SERVERS DOWN FOR MAINTENANCE.

I only want to play single players. Wish I could play this offline.

I'm an idiot. I bought this when I knew this would be happening.

[Emperor Smeat]

Real-money auction house will be made available on June 12th with server instability the official reason to why it was delayed and only the in-game trading auction house was available at launch.
http://www.screwattack.com/news/real-money-auction-house-diablo-iii-release-june-12

[Sepholio]

Real-money auction house will be made available on June 12th with server instability the official reason to why it was delayed and only the in-game trading auction house was available at launch.
http://www.screwattack.com/news/real-money-auction-house-diablo-iii-release-june-12

Not true at all.

The same thing was said about the RMAH going live on May 29th. May 29th came, and the date got changed to June 12th. There has been nothing official from Blizzard guaranteeing that as the definitive launch.

And it also has less to do with server stability and more to do with the fact that the gold auction house is buggy as shit. Peoples items and gold disappear for days and days on end with no explanation other than database errors.

If they have just a small percentage of the problems they have with the gold auction house occur with the RMAH then they will open themselves up for lawsuits.

Not to mention the numerous accounts being hacked with and without authenticators, and Blizzards blanket denials of it being from exploits to their servers. Forbes has even run articles on this at this point in time. What happens when you have your card linked to the RMAH and your account gets taken due to one of these exploits and someone else runs your credit into the ground?

In short, Blizzard can not afford to open the RMAH at any point before they fix the nagging problems with the game stability, the gold auction house, and the security of their systems.

[Pintint]

I think the most shocking event in Diablo III so far


Tyrael is black? Damn. Always saw him as some sort of blonde blue eyed long haired white guy.

[Emperor Smeat]

Blizzard removes the 72 hour restriction on digital copies which was meant to combat gold farmers but ended up causing a lot of issues with the low level cap.

http://www.giantbomb.com/news/blizzard-lifts-odd-72-hour-diablo-iii-digital-purchase-restrictions/4245/

[Kapoutman]

I completely stopped playing this and I'm still at level 12. Just clicking on stuff was addictive at first but quickly lost its appeal. I bet I'll go back to it in a few months though when I have more free time.

[Sepholio]

It's getting better with the last couple patches now and the increased drop rates in Inferno. Balance is coming along somewhat, but still isn't quite tuned right for a couple classes.

Now if they would just get rid of that fucking single player lag....oh wait.

[Kapoutman]

That would help my desire to play tremendously.

[Heisenberg]

I started playing Hardcore mode with a monk so every upgrade item i get seems more important and so far I havent hopped back on my Demon Hunter to farm act 1 inferno which seems to be all I can do without using the Gold and RMAH.

[Emperor Smeat]

Blizzard is banning Linux users from the game claiming they are either trying to get around the security in place of the game or are cheating. Linux users affected are saying all they are running is a Wine program (lets them use Windows to play the game).

Not all Linux users are getting banned though and anyone who has been affected was also tested for false positives as part of their appeal process.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/118246-Linux-Users-Accuse-Blizzard-of-Unfair-Bans

[Emperor Smeat]

Upcoming patch will be raising the level cap by about an extra 100 levels while those who already reached the current cap will be now using a new progression leveling system called the "Paragon System."

Through the Paragon System, players will be able to gain 100 extra levels, each awarding base stats such as Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Vitality. To curb gear swapping mid battle, each Paragon Level will also add 3% Magic Find and 3% Gold Find.
http://www.screwattack.com/news/diablo-iii-get-new-progression-system-and-100-new-player-levels

[road doggy dogg]

Diablo III got kinda boring really fast. I'm hoping the 1.04 Witch Doctor changes make it fun for a few more weeks.
crossrine

[Gonzo]

Agreed. WD was my first character and I found it difficult to make a feasible end game build that worked.

[Heisenberg]

I did a Butcher run tonight and saw nothing but improvements to a lot of things. The Paragon system is quite interesting as well. Going to start back where I left off at in Act 3 inferno soon.