Diablo 3

[Slippery]

No Diablo 3 thread!? Blasphemy!

New "Monk" class announced at Blizzcon, here's a 12 minute video of him in action (http://www.giantbomb.com/twelve-minutes-with-diablo-iiis-monk/17-1228/)

Looks pretty badass to me :cool:

[Spudzilla]

Can't wait for this. Hopefully by the time it comes out I'll have a computer that's able play games made after 1999.

[Watchers]

You better hope they announce the bard class soon, Slip, because otherwise you won't be playing with us.

[dinopoke]

The new engine is pretty snazzy. Come to think of it, I better get back to actually finishing Diablo 2.

[AranchineD]

Hmm, just like Starcraft 2, I'm not anticipating this game at all. Blizzard just aren't doing it for me lately, probably because everything is about the multiplayer with them nowadays.

[FrozenSoul80]

Looks impressive. I just hope my computer can run it.

I also hope they don't make us pay for battle.net :/

[FX-GTZ]

Pretty cool, so is he based around fast weapon speed and aoe fighting?

[SOX]

I won't mind paying for Battle.net to be honest as long as there is an Xbox Live kind of service going on with a profile going between games and achievements and what not.
I use regular b.net every week so I wouldn't mind paying for a better version.

[TrinityJayOne]

Monk is sweet! They did a long, in-depth panel on the development of the Monk and his/her skills, as well as explaining a few changes that have been made to the other classes since last Blizzcon. The Barbarian's Whirlwind changes are rather good, but words don't do it justice so here's a quick vid (http://members.iinet.net.au/~trinityjayone/BlizzconBarbarian.mp4) (recorded from my screen, sorry about quality).
For those who have never played an RPG before, the Monk is a lightly armored melee/caster hybrid that does damage through fast combo attacks and spells. Blizzard are not taking the Rogue-style combo points route though (hooray!), instead a very open chaining system is used. As an example during Blizzcon, they demonstrated 3 combo attacks that each have 3 stages to them. To perform the combo you simply enter the same combo command 3 times in quick succession, but it's possible to mix & match. For example, pressing Combo A -> Combo B -> Combo A will perform a full Combo A, but the 2nd attack would be the 2nd hit from Combo B, not the 2nd hit from Combo A. Hopefully that makes sense because it's difficult to explain without actually seeing it in action and that particular segment is too long to bother recording.

Let the rumour mill commence on the 5th class!

[Silverwolf]

Pretty cool, so is he based around fast weapon speed and aoe fighting?

The general idea of a Monk in any game is they PUNCH SHIT.

[AranchineD]

Given the above description the Monk really does sound like the Assassin from LoD, though I guess with more emphasis on, as Silverwolf said, PUNCHING SHIT.

[Spudzilla]

I remember way back in the RO days you would be walking around Poring Isle looking Angeling or Ghostring and this Monk would just show up, jump into a swarm of Porings and then start PUNCHING SHIT.

[TrinityJayOne]

The general idea of a Monk in any game is they PUNCH SHIT.
They said during the panel that they toyed with the idea of them being unarmed, but it created itemization issues as you could imagine. Staves and fist weapons will be the order of the day, and apparently your available attacks will vary depending on what you have equiped.

Also, the lead dev said that it definitely won't be out this year as they still have a lot of tuning to do, the female Monk hasn't been done and the 5th class is still up in the air. He says they had decided on all the classes about 2 years ago, but things have changed since then and now they're not totally sure about the 5th one.

[Blue]

The Monk sounds pretty cool, but I'm not a fan of the Witch Doctor. I preferred the Necromancer.

[Slippery]

You better hope they announce the bard class soon, Slip, because otherwise you won't be playing with us.

You can play the witch doctor

:(

[Ashmaran]

Well if you look at the Diablo III classes so far:

Wizard = Sorceress
Barbarian = Barbarian
Witchdoctor = Necromancer
Monk = Paladin / Assassin

One class left, and they haven't really touched on the Druid or Amazon. So I'm expecting a Ranger style class with either some pets or backup mystical magic.

[Blue]

Ranger would be cool. Basically WoW Hunter? Or would it be pets and melee?

I didn't really like the Druid's Werebear form.

[Ashmaran]

Well right now there's no dedicated bow user, so they'd have to fill that surely.

[SOX]

Yeah it's gotta be some kind of physical ranged class

[Blue]

Well, if it's pretty much a hunter, I guess I've got my class then.

I always liked the ravens from Diablo 2. It was cool when you built up this miniature flock that would attack automatically. They weren't very strong, but having a flock of angry ravens is just deadly cool.

I wish WoW was more like Diablo 2, come to think of it.

[SOX]

WoW is like Diablo 2...?

[Vindik8or]

Oh don't be ignorant. Diablo II was a proof-of-concept for WoW.

[SOX]

Yeah that's what I was meant to imply but I failed miserably.
WoW is very much an extension of D2.

[SOX]

No Diablo 3 til 2011 /wrists (http://www.destructoid.com/wow-expansion-and-starcraft-ii-coming-in-2010-but-no-diablo-145367.phtml)

[AranchineD]

Blizzard really need to learn to stop revealing their games so early.

[AranchineD]

Violence and blood and gore to be 'toned down' for Australian version of Diablo 3 (http://www.kotaku.com.au/2009/08/diablo-iii-some-versions-will-be-edited/#more-352603)

YAY

[Ashmaran]

I think that kind of speculation is premature considering we probably won't see the title until 2011. If stuff like Prototype and Fallout 3 can get through, I'm sure Diablo III can.

[AranchineD]

Sorry, just felt the need to post this.

http://i604.photobucket.com/albums/tt128/Cresset/d3rainbow.png

[Azzaman]

Yeah that's what I was meant to imply but I failed miserably.
WoW is very much an extension of D2.

When I said this to my friends a few years back I got shot down and ridiculed. I'm glad someone else actually agrees with me.

[TrinityJayOne]

So figured it's time for a revival as Blizzcon is bound to give us a lot of info, and hopefully the 5th class! In the mean time, here's a video (http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1520764133185&comments) showing the artisan (professions) system that was announced at Gamescom. Effectively having WoW professions but removing the boring part (farming) is a great design choice if you ask me.

The flash content on the main site isn't working for me so I can't confirm this, but is it just me or does the Monk seem heaps thin now?

[bulkerking]

Yeah I saw he had a shield and a assasin type weapon on as well.

As far as the artisan (professions) go it's good to have it more steam line but I am afraid that it will kill of higher level players giving away yellows and just keeping them for mats. I really hope they have trading system for set iteams or at least a post system like WoW considering that take ideas off each other all the time. I'm also wondering about the iteams being soul bound like in WoW to.

I'm surprised that teleport is still in as a wizard skill coz you can bet your bottom dollar that botting is going to go off tap like in d2 1.13.
________
AVANDIA SICKNESS (http://www.classactionsettlements.org/lawsuit/avandia/)

[TrinityJayOne]

New class will be revealed within the next 2 hours! :D

[Lordage]

Awesome!

Pretty much my most highly anticipated game :)

[TrinityJayOne]

Demon Hunter, looks really good. Also, the customisation is insane!

[Slippery]

Demon Hunter is meant to be the badass that chases demons down but, at least from the gameplay video IGN put up, you spend all your time running away from them so they don't get close, kinda ruins the vibe.

[TrinityJayOne]

I do not care because I am a homosexual.

[Second]

Generally not a fan of physical ranged classes, but the Demon Hunter looks interesting.

Also, TJ1 really is homosexual.

[Lordage]

Generally not a fan of physical ranged classes, but the Demon Hunter looks interesting.

Also, TJ1 really is homosexual.

Seconded... Ba-dum tish.

[Slippery]

I don't understand why that's relevant :S

[TrinityJayOne]

Blizzcon Diablo 3 Q&A Moron Checklist

[ ] "Are you going to make the game darker? Too bright/cartoony/much like WoW"
[X] "Will there be a cow level?"
[ ] "What is the next class?"

Pleasantly suprised, although there was a bunch of new retarded questions.

Also I have decided I'm no longer homosexual so we can all sleep safe at night.

[Second]

Oh... :(

[bulkerking]

Everyone kinda knew that the last class would be range based. I still like the look and the skills shown off. (Fan of knives).

Also didn't mind the Arena's shown for PvP I'm thinking of D.O.T.A :)
________
grandma Cams (http://www.girlcamfriend.com/webcam/granny/)

[immol8]

The May Conference call is now over. While most of the call was not about D3, we did get some important information. Most importantly, the Diablo III external beta testing is expected to begin in Q3 of this year; that is July 1st - September 30th. Also with this, Mike Morhaime said that they are still pushing to get Diablo III out this year.
Get hyped, I mean geez.

[Second]

Not enough to get hyped about until it's out, dawg.

[immol8]

Excuse me but you are talking about the goty, regardless of which year it comes out

[Spazzola]

It's not only a Blizzard title, it's mother****ing Diablo!

http://www.wednesdaymartin.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/excited_woman_2a_dkc9.jpg

[Second]

I guess it'll be alright then, I guess.

[AranchineD]

It's not only a Blizzard title

That's a bad thing nowdays

[dinopoke]

Diablo 3 isn't so exciting in a world with games like Din's Curse.

[aubergine]

Did Starcraft 2 Episode 1 set the world on fire?

I really kind of feel that Blizzard's past triumphs are over-trumpted. I just could not comprehend the attraction of Diablo, it's so instantly boring. Found the same thing with Torchlight on 360. I've actually got the PC Torchlight but I've been meaning to pass it to a friend who was right into Diablo in its day.

[immol8]

I can't believe you people. You're sickening.

[immol8]

Seriously. Too much "jaded professional gamer" up in this thread. I'm gonna have so much fun lanning this with my housemates when it comes out.

[aubergine]

Lol. Like it'll have LAN support.

[immol8]

lan, battlenet same diff

[immol8]

True story, we were lanning D2 only a couple of weeks ago. So that's where that came from

[aubergine]

I'm sad about what has seemed like the death of LAN. But Starcraft was released in a different world. I've rarely ever used a LAN through lack of opportunity, but it's a cool feature. Having to go through Master Control for casual matches at home is shit, but they must have their stats. I'm sort of dismayed that achievements were created as a means to track people's playing habits. At least it's fairly transparent I guess.

[Spazzola]

Did Starcraft 2 Episode 1 set the world on fire?

I really kind of feel that Blizzard's past triumphs are over-trumpted. I just could not comprehend the attraction of Diablo, it's so instantly boring. Found the same thing with Torchlight on 360. I've actually got the PC Torchlight but I've been meaning to pass it to a friend who was right into Diablo in its day.

I agree that Blizzard's past games aren't truly a god-send, but they did provide fun over a prolonged period. I suppose that may be why the Blizzard fanbase can be so rabid - their games seem to be played for years by a relatively large fanbase. This may be purely because of the long gap between releases in a series (D2->D3, SC:BW->SC2), or because a competative phenomenon was created (SC:BW and to a lesser degree, WC3). Additionally, the older titles were fun with friends, often appearing at lans (particularly WC3/DotA and D2).

As for why I'm looking forward to Diablo 3, I'm just wanting to relive my experiences with Diablo 2. I suppose nostalgia will play a large part in my enjoyment. I daresay that Diablo is like Pokemon; easy to pick up and play, but also contains considerable depth for the more devoted.

[Slippery]

Did Starcraft 2 Episode 1 set the world on fire?


Starcraft was never going to be everyones cup of tea, but the people that like that game, really like it.

[Ad-Rock]

I'm excited for D3. Bliz release quality games. Sure they're not all ground-breaking, but they are developed with higher production values than most of the other tripe that's out there.

[aubergine]

I thought Starcraft was a terrific game, but I didn't feel any interest in getting the new one. I'd have been interested in a continuation of that story 10+ years ago. Reviews made me think I'd be dissatisfied by the direction of this one.

[TrinityJayOne]

There are some terrible people in this thread. Diablo 3 will be ****ing amazing. AMAZING I SAY

[Second]

If you say so.

[immol8]

Number of people in this thread who like to have fun: like 3.

[aubergine]

Just trying to make some conversation points. It's not like there's any Diablo 3 news to discuss. Maybe we should repost those fake "Rainbow Brite" screenshots Blizzard released years ago.

[TrinityJayOne]

We could converse about other things, like those related to how good it will be.

Now that all the classes are known, I'm still playing witch doctor. Gonna have to get some tips from Ghosty on the best way to (fire) bottle ****s.

[Second]

I'll likely stick with the Monk. Mother ****er's like ASS KICKING WOO YEAH! **** YEAH!

[Slippery]

Whilst drinking four mates and I picked our classes out of a hat, around about when the class got revealed.

Monk baby awww yeah.

Little do they know I'll likely do most of my playing with the JOFC.

[Second]

WOO YEAH! ****ING ALMOST A NINJA ****IN' BOSS ****S YEAH

MONKS FOR LIFE!


Seriously though, I want a big stick.

[Ad-Rock]

I can't decide between demon hunter and witch doctor.

[Second]

Biiiiiiiiiiiiig stick.

[immol8]

We could converse about other things, like those related to how good it will be.

Now that all the classes are known, I'm still playing witch doctor. Gonna have to get some tips from Ghosty on the best way to (fire) bottle ****s.

Amazing.

Barbarian 4 lyfe

[Second]

The prospect of throwing dead bodies around does tickle my fancy.

[immol8]

JdJasi2QS80
AKA mercenaries from D2 as far as I can tell. Lotta hate going around due to colours etc, but being able to pick their skills and stuff was something I wanted back then, so I'm glad it's included now. Only beef (and it is minor) is that templar and his ridiculous armour. Otherwise, droolin.

[Araenel]

Going to monk it up I think.

[Slippery]

No idea which class I would actually like to play, but I'm leaning towards Monk/Barbarian.

[TrinityJayOne]

I could play any right now to be honest, except the Demon Hunter. It's the only class that doesn't grab me, perhaps because it's the most similar to something in WoW in terms of both skills & concept.

[Watchers]

Always be maging.

[Slippery]

Form of... a rock!

[Watchers]

Man, if there ends up being a spell that can turn me into a rock in this game...

[Surgeon.]

I hope you guys like 'generic Titan Quest enemy'

Watchers turns into a rock

Everyone else dies.

[Watchers]

And they never dicked around again.

[Slippery]

Always be dicking

[Second]

I was born to dick.

[Cerebral]

Does anyone use spears or lances in this game?

I'm that person

[Second]

HAHAHA

Asian dicks are small.

[TrinityJayOne]

Monks can use staves, that's probably as close as you'll get. Barbarians are limited to axes & maces, I think.

[JubeiSaotome]

Does anyone use spears or lances in this game?

I'm that person

I use spears too and would love to know what class uses them. If not, I'm going monk.

[Second]

Monks also double the fist.

[immol8]

Monks can use staves, that's probably as close as you'll get. Barbarians are limited to axes & maces, I think.

Barbarians will certainly use swords, probably polearms and spears too.

[Slippery]

Monks also double the fist.

Always be fisting

[bulkerking]

Barbarians will certainly use swords, probably polearms and spears too.

Last time I played Diablo 2 any class could use just about any weapon with the assassin claws and nec wands, pally maces the few weapons that where that class only. That's what make's Diablo the way it is. Monks in full plate armour and Barbs with xbows. I really hope that don't go down the WoW road on this one.

Other things that have me worried. Iteams being soul bound.

[FX-GTZ]

Diablo 3 Mod's Banned (http://kotaku.com/5826453/diablo-iii-mods-are-forbidden-banned-not-allowed)
Diablo 3 Auction House (http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/08/01/diablo-3-will-let-players-buy-and-sell-items-for-real-money/)
Diablo 3 player's required to be online to play. (http://www.1up.com/news/diablo-3-requires-online-when-playing)

[TrinityJayOne]

Also worth noting is the removal of skill trees. Apparently now you unlock abilities as you go, and you can choose (at any time) which 6 offensive & 3 defensive abilities you have usable. It's going to make everything far more flexible and get rid of the cookie cutter build, because there's no way to dump all your points into one or two skills like in the last game.

The mandatory Battle.net connection is lame and I'm sure they know it, but at the same time I can see why they're doing it. I just hope A. that it's only a background check and that stuff like moving is not going to be checked server-side (in other words, subject to latency), and B. that it's actually going to work and stop the economy from being ruined.

[Slippery]

I think it's 6 active and 3 passive abilities, rather than offensive and defensive

[TrinityJayOne]

Yeah not sure why I said that. Now where's that beta invite, Blizzard! I've been in it for every WoW expansion so far and SC2, don't fail me now!

[aubergine]

Such utter bullshit. Of course, I'd expect no less from Activision.

"But Blizzard are a separate entity!" I hear all you Blizz fans proclaim in unison. Be **** they're not! They're as separate an entity as my cock is to my balls.

Amusing comment from one of those articles.

[AranchineD]

Also worth noting is the removal of skill trees. Apparently now you unlock abilities as you go, and you can choose (at any time) which 6 offensive & 3 defensive abilities you have usable. It's going to make everything far more flexible and get rid of the cookie cutter build, because there's no way to dump all your points into one or two skills like in the last game.

You mean remove any depth from the game since you don't even have to think about how you play the game anymore? "IT'S OKAY PEOPLE EVEN BRAINDEAD MORONS CAN PLAY OUR GAME NOW JUST CHOOSE WHATEVER FREAKIN SKILLS YOU WANT WE DON'T GIVE A SHIT BECAUSE WE'RE TOO LAZY TO BALANCE THEM ALL"

Actually you can sort of see this kind of system in Dungeon Siege 3. And that game was an utter piece of shit.

[AranchineD]

Now that I think about it, with the only form of actually customising your character being items, I can see why Blizzard wanted to put a real money auction house in, people spending money just to have a character they can actually call their own

[SOX]

Don't worry, Torchlight 2.

[Vindik8or]

Blizzard has no plans to sell items themselves - oh no! - but the sellers are anonymized, so... hm. Apparently you’re supposed to report things like these with a straight face.

Yeah, pretty much.

[Clockw0rk]

Yeah not sure why I said that. Now where's that beta invite, Blizzard! I've been in it for every WoW expansion so far and SC2, don't fail me now!
Chuck me an invite if you get one!

[TrinityJayOne]

What Vin posted sucks dicks, but ultimately it doesn't affect me because I won't be PvPing.

[aubergine]

People continue to go insane at Blizzard (http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-08-05-blizzard-surprised-by-diablo-3-outrage) for persistent connection/dBay scheme.

[Dunkurtin]

Lame. Guess i'll be waiting for a cracked version then.

[Second]

No you wont.

[Slippery]

Is online all the time such a big deal? I really couldn't care less.

[Dunkurtin]

No you wont.

Yeah, i prob just wont play at all.
Torchlight 2 instead.

[Azzaman]

I had a time of about 6 months where I had very spotty internet due to moving houses while my current house was being built. When I did have net it was usually very slow/low cap, mainly 3G.

I have internet now, but I can see this being a problem going into the future for blizzard. I really hope a good offline crack comes out for this.

[FrozenSoul80]

Why isn't this out already?

[TrinityJayOne]

Is online all the time such a big deal? I really couldn't care less.
These are my feelings right here. People are just bitching because of Ubisoft and their DRM antics when this really isn't anything like that. Forget the whole item shop thing, they just want people to stop hacking the game and this is the best way to do it. Somebody out there would have found a way to hex edit shit into the game or something like that, and making it all server-side is really the only way to stop it.

[Dunkurtin]

Why should the game I already paid for be rendered useless if I have connection issues outside of my control?

[Second]

They dictate the terms. You will be going in knowing that a connection is required to keep things clean and legit. Deal with it.

[Dunkurtin]

Pay attention, knowing that I won't actually buy it. They're going to lose a lot of sales because of this decision.

[BB2K]

but you probably already have a superfast internet connection plus a wireless modem just in case the new episode of fullmetal alchemist comes out when you aren't home.

[Spudzilla]

http://i.imgur.com/8B127.gif

^^^^^^^ BliZZArd an acTiVi$IoNN

[aubergine]

These are my feelings right here. People are just bitching because of Ubisoft and their DRM antics when this really isn't anything like that. Forget the whole item shop thing, they just want people to stop hacking the game and this is the best way to do it. Somebody out there would have found a way to hex edit shit into the game or something like that, and making it all server-side is really the only way to stop it.

"forget the item shop"? This is ALL the item shop. They've (correctly) percieved a manner to make further billions, this time by making their own players into gold farmers and taking a percentage, through dBay, but to maintain the integrity of their virtual item pawn shop there can be no modding either good, benign or ill. They've created a monetary stream that demands absolute fidelity from the game. If that's what a player wants (and I see the attractions) they will be will served. If thats NOT what you looked forward to for ten years, Blizzard asks you go **** yourself, the end.

I think they'll add in an offline mode, it seems mad not to.

[fishfishmonkeyhat]

But you just said....

[Spazzola]

They're going to lose a lot of sales because of this decision.

I somewhat doubt this. People used to say the same thing regarding MMO subscriptions.

[TrinityJayOne]

"forget the item shop"? This is ALL the item shop. They've (correctly) percieved a manner to make further billions, this time by making their own players into gold farmers and taking a percentage, through dBay, but to maintain the integrity of their virtual item pawn shop there can be no modding either good, benign or ill. They've created a monetary stream that demands absolute fidelity from the game. If that's what a player wants (and I see the attractions) they will be will served. If thats NOT what you looked forward to for ten years, Blizzard asks you go **** yourself, the end.

I think they'll add in an offline mode, it seems mad not to.
I agree with everything you've said as well, because there are certainly multiple factors here. I never played any mods for the previous games (didn't even know they existed) and I have zero interest in playing the game alone, so the things that are pissing off others just don't concern me. What I do care about is being able to jump into a game with randoms knowing that they aren't playing characters with duped items/skills/whatever, and Battle.net solves that particular problem.


With that being said, something that I mentioned earlier warrants discussion and this is how the online requirement will affect the core gameplay. In WoW, everything is validated server-side with the exception of PC movement, because it would be far too difficult to do and result in a horrid player experience. The server knows where you are, but it does not check to see if there is an actual route or if the distance you travelled is actually possible. This is the only thing in WoW that ever got hacked, namely China farmers effectively teleporting a ranged character to the end boss of a dungeon, then teleporting around during the fight to locations that the boss could not quickly path to so that they would never get hit.

In a click-to-move game like Diablo 3 it is incredibly easy to have server-side movement, because all it has to check is whether there's a valid path between the character's current position and where they want to go. If they decide to go this route then the gameplay will suffer, especially for us, because there'll be a delay (close to a second) between clicking and your character actually moving. It's pretty jarring, and anyone with nothing better to do this weekend could download the American Ragnarok Online client (http://www.playragnarok.com/downloads/clientdownload.aspx) and experience this for themselves. A better solution is to have the movement done client-side and validate the route on the server afterwards, as that way you don't get the lag and anyone trying to teleport about would be instantly detected when the server sees that the client has plotted an impossible route.

To end this post on a positive note, anyone hoping to get into the upcoming beta should go here (https://www.battle.net/account/management/beta-profile.html) and update their beta profile settings with the new program (even if there hasn't been hardware updates), otherwise you won't be in the selection pool.

[Second]

http://art.penny-arcade.com/photos/i-bMtwfTg/0/L/i-bMtwfTg-L.jpg

[aubergine]

Pretty much sums it up. I won't be buying it because I wasn't going to anyway - in fact if anything this makes the game somewhat more interesting - its the expression of a new and bold/rude business aspect that's got me looking at this game at all.

[Vindik8or]

Personally I don't care about their auctioneering system, especially since it's there but unnecessary. But denying modders and telling people, "No you don't want to play it in the way that you want to play it", that's a pretty dangerous and flippant thing to do with your customers.

[Azzaman]

I couldn't give a sh*t about modders, but making this game online only is pretty crap. If I was on an airplane for 10hrs plus this game would be perfect to play despite what they say.

[Watchers]

So play a different game on a plane. I mean seriously.... who's buying games based on whether they can or can't play them on a plane....

[Azzaman]

You're right, I'll play flight control instead. There Blizzard, you've lost yourself a customer!

[Watchers]

Azzaman, 3 months ago: "I shall only buy Diablo 3 if I can play it on a plane"
Blizzard the other week: "Sucked in Azzaman. Be online or don't play."
Azzaman, now: "FUUUUUU!"

[Second]

I buy all my games on their ability to be played on planes.

[SOX]

I can't think of a game possibly more annoying to the people around you on a plane trip than the clickyclickclickclickclcikclicklcikclick of diablo.

[tau]

Not to mention how annoying it'd be to use a laptop on a plane. It's cramped as it is without having to find room for a mouse too, unless you're insane enough to play diablo with a trackpad

[AranchineD]

So play a different game on a plane. I mean seriously.... who's buying games based on whether they can or can't play them on a plane....

those ****en neckbeards who want to play a game the way they want to

****en destroying the industry those ****s are

[Spudzilla]

I wish I didn't have any social awareness and only focused on myself too

[aubergine]

Meh, it's not that great.

[fishfishmonkeyhat]

http://www.virtualshackles.com/img/green_eggs_and_diablo.jpg

[Second]

DDYjljdje-g

10/10

[Vindik8or]

The guy is a chubby genius.

[JubeiSaotome]

Head of marketing

[immol8]

3:40 I'm losing it

[Second]

Sadly it's just for lols.

z1QvNkC30cQ

[Vindik8or]

the guy is a chubby genius.

12345

[fishfishmonkeyhat]

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

[Clockw0rk]

I'm not really worried about the auction house, the game is made for PvE and PvP is scaled to match your gear/level so it's not as though my single player experience will be affected by rich kids running around with high end loot.

I'd actually like a show of hands regarding the online thing: Who here has a main gaming PC that doesn't have an always-on internet connection? Does anyone actually care or is this just a knee-jerk reaction to supposedly "restrictive" DRM? You don't see 50 million people bitching that Facebook requires an always-on connection and you can't play Farmville on a plane.

Is this going to get a SC2-style campaign/scenario editor? Cos that'd be sweet.

[Slippery]

To be fair, facebook is free. But I really don't care that I'll need net to play D3.

[Watchers]

I don't care, I'm generally always online. So long as progress is saved or I'm not booted from the game if my net goes down briefly, then I'm fine. To be honest, I'll probably be spending the vast majority of my time playing with people anyway, so I need the online connection.

[castr8or]

Sadly it's just for lols.

z1QvNkC30cQ

so instead of being a pathetic fat nerd who will never ever feel the embrace of a woman...he's...still...a pathetic fat nerd who will never ever feel the embrace of a woman

mfw
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/14042015/images/1298686696728.jpg

[immol8]

I'd actually like a show of hands regarding the online thing: Who here has a main gaming PC that doesn't have an always-on internet connection?

Me. For another month or so.

[Second]

Classic Jim.

[Ad-Rock]

When I was poor and couldn't afford internet at home I hated having to be connected to play. Now it's only annoying if the internet is down.

So I don't really care, in other words. Auction house stuff could be really good, or it could backfire badly... Have to wait and see.

[castr8or]

auction house just means there will be bots and sweatshop farming
the average player won't be able to make an income from this because you will have professional companies driving down the value of everything due to their ability to invest in free automated or extremely cheap labor and put in a far larger number of hours than even a hardcore player.

Blizzard wins because we all know they are going to be taking a cut from any and all cash sales.

[Second]

You must be so much fun at birthday parties.

[Slippery]

Seconded.

[TrinityJayOne]

Beta is still yet to start according to Blizz, and there's no NDA now so there shouldn't be any problems finding out when it has. **** me do I want to play this game. :(

[TrinityJayOne]

Beta postponed until sometime in September, as posted by a blue. :( On the plus side-

vWeFyrsLqV4

[ElPresidente]

I know that Blizzard has started asking press for Battle.net logins so I'd not expect the beta to be delayed any further than September. Sounds like they are gearing up.

[TrinityJayOne]

I'll slip you $50 if you give them my Battle.net username in place of one of your co-workers.

[Slippery]

Too lazy to embed, some Demon Hunter gameplay (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=iv&src_vid=4gQHuRqLGP8&v=TiCwATxb0a0&annotation_id=annotation_38530) (around level 5ish) from Beta, high quality

Heaps of beta footage around, D3 is looking like... D2. Great!

[TrinityJayOne]

Beta footage you say? So...it's started now then? Time to put on the kettle me thinks...

Also, 1:30 - potions are back in?


EDIT: Sheeet, don't need to, the client is available to all but you need access to play it. Downloading because it's only a matter of time before someone gets an offline mode going, if they haven't already.

[Second]

F&F beta is on. Rumour says closed starts soon (tm)

[TrinityJayOne]

Closed beta has been underway for a few days I think. The same group that created the SC2 beta hacks are onto this, so fingers crossed. One of their guys has already managed to emulate a server that gets you into the game, but it crashes shortly after.

[Second]

Media and Fansite beta is on, but they have an NDA. Friends and Family beta is on with no NDA. The actual closed beta has not started yet.

[TrinityJayOne]

Ahh, very well. I guess they don't want the media commenting on it until they've had time to polish the thing up.

[ElPresidente]

Dunno if it is the true media beta that has started since we've been told by Blizzard there will be no NDA for it... that and as far as I'm aware no one in the Aus press has got their access yet.

*starts eying inbox eagerly*

[TrinityJayOne]

*also starts eyeing Prez's inbox eagerly*

[tau]

*continues to wait patiently for the game to actually be released*

[Slippery]

I didn't even sign up for the beta, I'd rather just play it when it comes out.

[fishfishmonkeyhat]

I'm not even going to play it when it comes out that's how hip I am.

[tau]

I played it before it was even announced that's how hip I am.

[Slippery]

My artificial hip has Diablo 3 Alpha running on it, that's how hip I am.

[castr8or]

Heaps of beta footage around, D3 is looking like... D2. Great!

not a fan of the art direction

low res, wow style textures are fugly

[Slippery]

I meant looks like from a gameplay perspective, but I also disagree with you here, what I've seen of the art style looks pretty nice. Exactly what I'd want from a Diablo game. I have only seen the first areas though, and not in a particularly high-res video.

[TrinityJayOne]

The characters look a bit dated on the character select screen because they're appearing at like 10x the size they actually will during gameplay. Textures are fine, the game is graphically very pretty imo.

[Second]

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/

Skills calculator up. Worth a look if you're interested in seeing what the various runes do and such.

[TrinityJayOne]

Bugger me, awesome website overhaul!

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/witch-doctor#gcZRSf!Xcd!ZZZYcc :D

**** not having stat points, the way the abilities are being altered is fantastic. Essentially what glyphs in WoW were originally intended to be, only now they're actually doing it. I imagine it's a lot easier to balance when you're designing skills from scratch.

[Slippery]

The number of variations on the way to play a character with limited active skills and runes altering those skills is really interesting, excited to see how it turns out.

[castr8or]

The characters look a bit dated on the character select screen because they're appearing at like 10x the size they actually will during gameplay. Textures are fine, the game is graphically very pretty imo.

I meant looks like from a gameplay perspective, but I also disagree with you here, what I've seen of the art style looks pretty nice. Exactly what I'd want from a Diablo game. I have only seen the first areas though, and not in a particularly high-res video.


allofmynope.jpg

it looks way too much like wow to me

i get that i'm putting forth a criticism that has been around since something like 2008, but still, i would have preferred something different

[AranchineD]

after watching a few videos, Path Of Exile looks and seems to play more like Diablo than this game does

it's also free

[AranchineD]

I mean, first of all it has stats

and a skill tree that looks like this

http://i.imgur.com/iUs2V.jpg

[Second]

That looks like Final Fantasy X.

[Second]

http://www.livestream.com/liquidblue1985

Watched some of these videos. It follows him right from the start all the way through to the end of the beta with each of the classes (except Wizard, which he did prior to his stream).

[Ad-Rock]

The skills of the Monk and Barbarian look a lot less interesting than the Witch Doctor and Wizard.

I think I'll try out the Witch Doctor first.

[bulkerking]

Just had a go at the calculator http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/barbarian#feVSUQ!abh!aabYbb

[TrinityJayOne]

(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

I'm playing witch doctor! Now you can't be in the Hyper team. >_> :P

Speaking of which, we should organise some groups & shit seeing as it's limited to 4p co-op. I pick Ruda.

[Second]

Sounds like fun, Trin. Your dogs and my monk's auras make a good combination.


I've watched most of the classes play-throughs now. I've got to admit, the only class that doesn't interest me is the Witch Doctor. That's not very surprising though, considering I dislike most pet-based classes.

[tau]

bags monk

[Slippery]

There are 5 classes but 4 player co-op is maximum? Sillyness to the max.


Speaking of which, we should organise some groups & shit seeing as it's limited to 4p co-op. I pick Ruda.

JOFC for life.

[Watchers]

I'm a wizard, and that shit's ****ed up.

[bulkerking]

Yeah I'm starting to like the Monk skills... Most players would want you to go medic spec not that there's anything wrong with that.

[SOX]

Except its Diablo and a healer class is a ****ing stupid idea.

[TrinityJayOne]

Pretty much. You'll notice a lot of the red gems (I think?) add healing abilities or perks to spells.

If I recall, the 4p co-op limit was put in because they found it was the best mix between playing with friends but still being able to see what the **** was going on. It's fine if you ask me, as judging from the skill calculator you could probably have 4 people all playing the one class and still be different.

[Ad-Rock]

Downloaded D2 yesterday playing necromancer and it's very cool. Graphics are obviously very dated, but some of the effects still look surprisingly nice.

[Ad-Rock]

I take back what I said about the barbarian. The more I look at it, the more I think it's actually pretty cool.

[Second]

Barbarian and Assassin were my classes of choice in D2: LOD.

Good times...

[Ad-Rock]

Diablo 3 Beta now live!

Which one of you lucky bastards already has a beta key?

[ElPresidente]

*puts hand up* :P

[Ad-Rock]

Consider me jelly

[ElPresidente]

Consider me realising this work day is going to be infinitely longer than originally anticipated. Hurry up 5:30, I wanna go home!

[TrinityJayOne]

Pfft, as if you'd even go to work!

No key for me :(

[Second]

Knowing your luck, Pete, you'll have it before weeks end.

[TrinityJayOne]

Eh, if I didn't get in the first round it'll be a little while off yet I reckon, if I even get in at all! The guys doing the server emulation are close though, apparently they have it down to a Demon Hunter-only sandbox.

[ElPresidente]

Had another bash tonight with Eliot Fish and Bajo... lots of silliness ensued. If only the screenshots could portray what we were yelling and yelping about throughout.

http://members.iinet.net.au/~elpresidente/Diablo-III-01.jpg

Happy Snap 1 - Kicking some skeleton king arse.

http://members.iinet.net.au/~elpresidente/Diablo-III-02.jpg

Happy Snap 2 - Posin'... kinda.

For those curious - barbarian was Baj, Eliot was the monk and I was rocking some Demon Hunter styles.

[TrinityJayOne]

Looks good! How's the latency playing on American servers? Pleeeeeeeeeeeease tell me the movement is done client-side.

[Ad-Rock]

From what I've heard the game feels completely lag free, in terms of combat, but there can be a little lag when treasure drops or chests open etc. My source is the Diablo Podcast which isn't Aus based, however.

[Second]

A few items are up on the D3 Community site.

Dyes: Most interesting is the invisible dye (still going pink)

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/dye/


This news post on Diablofans.com also has some interesting updates on the Demon Hunter and skill scaling in general:

Demon Hunter Resource Changes


As reported on by our own Magistrate in his recent article on the topic, it seems the Demon Hunter's resource has undergone a large revision.

There has been a consistent trend in the responses of current Beta testers regarding the Demon Hunter's Hatred resource. The complaint was that it simply runs out too quickly, leaving the class unable to use its offensive abilities. Blizzard has heard these claims, and changed the system according.

Where as the Demon Hunter's skills used to be categorized under Hatred, Discipline, and Utility, now there are both Hatred Generators, and Hatred Spenders, alongside a Discipline category. With this change the class will now be able to strategically choose both hatred generators, and spenders to keep the pain rolling at a consistent rate.


Complete Skill Damage Overhaul


While this topic doesn't have it's own page, or even a single mention on the entire site, one could say this is the most drastic change of them all.

Skills across all five classes generally were based off two types of damage, % weapon damage, or scaling damage which only changes with the rank of the skill; this posed a big problem. When a player found a decent weapon, all of the skills based off of scaling damage instantly became obsolete. In Force's recent Let's Play series he came across this issue many times, where he wouldn't use certain skills simply because the ones based off weapon damage outclassed the ones based of scaling damage.

What Blizzard has done is base almost every single offensive skill off % weapon damage. This will make nearly every skill viable, where as before it was almost always the better choice to stick with the % weapon damage based skills. This trend can be seen across all five classes. In concept, this change greatly broadens the number of viable skills, though only time will tell how it will turn out.

[Second]

Diablo 3 pushed back to early 2012.

#1 - 2011/09/23 12:30:00 PM
We commonly use the term “soon” when referring to Blizzard releases, because we know that no matter how hard we’re working to reach a target, we’re not going to compromise and launch a game before it’s ready. For Diablo III, we were aiming to launch by the end of 2011. As we’re announcing globally today, our new target for the game is early 2012.

While this news might not be a complete surprise, I know that many of you were hopeful that Diablo III would ship this year. We were too. However, this week we pulled together people from all of the teams involved with the game to decide whether we felt it would be ready before the end of December, and we grudgingly came to the conclusion that it would not. Ultimately, we feel that to deliver an awesome Diablo sequel that lives up to our expectations and yours as well, we should take a little more time and add further polish to a few different elements of the game.

The upside of today’s announcement is that we will be running the beta test longer than we initially planned, which will allow us to invite more of you who have opted in.

For those taking on the Diableard challenge, we salute you -- and now fear for your well-being and personal hygiene. We hereby issue an official reprieve to all Diableard participants, including Blizzard employees, if you want to trim or otherwise manage the lower half of your face. We’d still love to see your beardly achievements, and we look forward to seeing more of your efforts as we move into 2012, but not to the detriment of your workplaces and significant others.

Thank you everyone for your support and anticipation for Diablo III. We’re still moving ahead at full pace, and we’ll be keeping you fully informed of any news and developments here at Diablo3.com, including the specific release date when the time comes, so stay tuned.

-Mike Morhaime

[TrinityJayOne]

I was actually doing the Diableard thing and had a pretty thick (albeit short) layer built up, but it was getting too scratchy so I ****ed it off.

Frankly the release date doesn't suprise me, as with the beta test only starting now I assumed they'd be holding off til 2012 anyway.

[ElPresidente]

You gotta fight through the itch man, it comes good. I promise.

[aubergine]

Aye, the itch be but temporary.

[Ad-Rock]

Diablo 3 pushed back to early 2012.


I won't care if I get a beta key...

[TrinityJayOne]

Runes getting revised, this is what Blizzard has in mind (http://www.diablofans.com/topic/26476-runic-revision/)

I think the reasoning behind wanting to change it is good (so that runes aren't immediately junk drops as soon as you have a few of each colour), but this may be a bit extreme. Likely having to go through numerous rune attunements before you get one that has the buff you want and in the colour you need is going a bit far in the RNG direction. Stuff like this is why they moved to a token system for raids in WoW - too much RNG is just frustrating. I think random perks are good because that keeps you on the lookout for better runes, but attunement should be pre-defined, or at least under player control. Maybe all runes could start as unattuned, and then the Mystic artisan gives them the attunement of your choice using a selection of magical reagents, with higher ranked runes requiring better/more materials.

Also, interesting that they aren't present in the beta. I imagine that will change soon enough as they wouldn't leave something like that untested.

[Vindik8or]

So this isn't a beta. This isn't even an alpha. It's supposed to be feature complete.

[Second]

Runes getting revised, this is what Blizzard has in mind (http://www.diablofans.com/topic/26476-runic-revision/)

I think the reasoning behind wanting to change it is good (so that runes aren't immediately junk drops as soon as you have a few of each colour), but this may be a bit extreme. Likely having to go through numerous rune attunements before you get one that has the buff you want and in the colour you need is going a bit far in the RNG direction. Stuff like this is why they moved to a token system for raids in WoW - too much RNG is just frustrating. I think random perks are good because that keeps you on the lookout for better runes, but attunement should be pre-defined, or at least under player control. Maybe all runes could start as unattuned, and then the Mystic artisan gives them the attunement of your choice using a selection of magical reagents, with higher ranked runes requiring better/more materials.

Also, interesting that they aren't present in the beta. I imagine that will change soon enough as they wouldn't leave something like that untested.

It's still not confirmed if it's actually going in or not. Also, they apparently drop from Act II onwards, so they won't be in the closed beta at any point in time.

[Slippery]

So this isn't a beta. This isn't even an alpha. It's supposed to be feature complete.

Oh my god! Get outraged!

[bulkerking]

Hmm I'm worried that now if you want a certain strat that's gear dependent you have to get the rune's as well.

[Vindik8or]

Oh my god! Get outraged!

I think you got me confused with someone who plays blizzard games.

[AranchineD]

Silly Vin, you don't 'play' Blizzard games anymore

[Vindik8or]

Watch some sickarse FMVs, follow an online build order guide?

[TrinityJayOne]

It's still not confirmed if it's actually going in or not. Also, they apparently drop from Act II onwards, so they won't be in the closed beta at any point in time.
I mean they'll patch them in to be useable earlier. It just has too big of an effect on gameplay to not at least test it for balancing if you ask me.

[Ad-Rock]

I saw somewhere on the bliz forums that they reckon they have a large enough internal testing system to iron out the higher levels and associated gameplay without releasing it to beta. Perhaps that will change now that the beta is going to be extended by at least a month.

[TrinityJayOne]

Well all I know is that in WoW they had a lot of skills that they thought were fine in internal testing, but when thousands of beta participants were playing it became obvious that the numbers were way off.

[TrinityJayOne]

Posting new build so I don't have to remember it. http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/witch-doctor#gSWRfb!Xcd!ZcaYZa

[tau]

Well all I know is that in WoW they had a lot of skills that they thought were fine in internal testing, but when thousands of beta participants were playing it became obvious that the numbers were way off.

I'd imagine back in the initial development of WoW, they didn't have anywhere as much experience or resources as they do know to make something good first go.

The beginning of WoW was a complete mess in a lot of ways, but it's not till after so many changes do we REALLY understand this.

[TrinityJayOne]

Except I was talking about the last two expansions.

[Ad-Rock]

So Pres, can you share your thoughts on the beta?

[ElPresidente]

There's so little to talk about unfortunately.

The beta can be knocked over in an hour or two and is severely lacking challenge being only the start of Act 1 on normal difficulty.

What I can say is that I'm having a ball. I've maxed my Demon Hunter after multiple play-throughs and I'm preparing to give the monk a go next.

Graphics are great and very moody with some gorgeous incidental stuff going on in the background like field mice scurrying from shrub to shrub and bookshelves falling down in a very enjoyable way to watch.

My only complaint would be the player textures feel low res when zoomed in compared to how they look on the character select screen. I'm going to assume this is a beta issue at the moment.

Gameplay is pure Diablo. The new skill system certainly encourages a higher level of experimentation than the prior games but until I get to play with runes I'm not prepared to say its better than the old system. Beyond this all the changes seem to work well and the whole health orb thing fits in very well. It's more to help you move from battle to battle as opposed to saving your life mid zombie horde.

My real complaint with the beta is that we don't have the ability to up the difficulty which is a bit depressing. I want some challenge. Actually, screw that, I want the final game!

[Ad-Rock]

Thanks dude! Very encouraging :)

[Ad-Rock]

**** YEAH!!!! just got Beta access!!!


Celebratory Zoidberg

(V){;,,;}(V)

[ElPresidente]

Gratz!

I really should jump back into the beta, haven't played in ages.

[Second]

Has anything changed in the beta recently?

[TrinityJayOne]

There's been a few patches according to the Facebook page, but nothing major like a new chapter or runes.

Pres, you should be donating your access for the greater good! As I understand it you dont need the authenticator, so not like anyone can do you harm.

[Ad-Rock]

I believe the Demon Hunter has or is about to receive an overhaul, but I won't know until after work.

[Second]

RMAH is being test it seems.
Achievements are being tested sometimes too.
Demon Hunter overhaul is in the game now.

No Runes or anything interesting though.

[SOX]

http://us.blizzard.com/store/_images/product?productId=1100001714&type=3&loc=en-US

From Blizzard's online store (http://us.blizzard.com/store/details.xml?id=1100001714)

[FrozenSoul80]

Yeah you know what's better? A ****ing release date.

[Tukenstein]

February's not that far off!

[Ad-Rock]

Lots more changes to the game, some not for the better. (http://au.pc.ign.com/articles/121/1216836p1.html)

TL;DR version:

- Scroll of Identification Removed
- Mystic Artisan removed (no item enchanting "profession")
- Nephalem Cube and Cauldron of Jordan removed, this means you'll be spending a ****-tonne more time on inventory management.
- Stone of recall is now called Town Portal and is activated from your skill bar and not from inventory pane. I'm not sure if it will take up a skill hotkey slot, and I'm not sure why this change has been made at all...
- Precision is being replaced by Dexterity. Strength will be for barbarians, Dex for DH and Monk, Int for Wizard and WD.
- Skill and Rune systems are being changed, but no details released.

[Spazzola]

Adding to that, all characters have been wiped (http://www.playerattack.com/news/2012/01/23/all-characters-wiped-in-diablo-iii-beta-patch-10/).

[Ad-Rock]

Brilliant! I'm imagining all the sweet, sweet nerdrage.

[Second]

They wipe for most beta patches.