During the last week of 1996, Blizzard released Diablo, a groundbreaking action role-playing game (RPG) set in the dark fantasy-themed world of Sanctuary. As a lone hero attempting to save the town of Tristram from the Lord of Terror, the player (in the role of a warrior, rogue, or sorcerer) must venture underneath the town in search of Diablo’s lair. However, the journey proves to be a dark and dangerous one, as Diablo and his minions are bent on far more than the destruction of just one town...
Diablo went on to become a #1 bestselling and award-winning game, while gaining a legion of players and critical acclaim. It has even been credited with pioneering a new subgenre of RPGs, and to this day it is used as a benchmark for games within that subgenre.
Notable features:
Isometric third-person perspective allows for an expansive view of the detailed environments and characters
Innovative gameplay streamlines moving and attacking functions into an entirely mouse-driven interface
Ease and simplicity of play combines with a deep and complex set of abilities, skills, and an array of powerful items to create a highly engrossing experience
Randomly generated levels ensure high replay value - no two adventures are the same
No secret cow level. Really.
One of Diablo’s most important features is its robust online multiplayer component. The game was launched concurrently with Battle.net, Blizzard’s multiplayer online gaming service. It was the first proprietary online gaming service released by a game developer that was integrated into its games themselves, and Diablo was the first game to utilize the service.
Completely free to use, the version of Battle.net that shipped with Diablo allowed gamers to create and join multiplayer games from a central hub. Diablo players created accounts and then were assigned to a channel, in which they could chat with other users as well as set up and join multiplayer games. In Diablo, the mix of compelling gameplay and well-implemented and well-supported multiplayer aspects resulted in a dedicated and passionate player base. This formula for success, the roots of which could be seen in Blizzard’s first two games – Warcraft: Orcs & Humans and Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness – would continue to be a hallmark of Blizzard game design in the years to come.
StarCraft
With each new Blizzard release subsequent to Diablo, Battle.net would continue to evolve and grow. The multiplayer gameplay of StarCraft was a tremendously popular aspect of the game that was well-served by the matchmaking capabilities of Battle.net. Ladder rankings were introduced, along with detailed user information, including wins and losses. The release of StarCraft’s expansion, Brood War, brought more players and more prominence to Battle.net in the gaming world. A year later, Blizzard re-released Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness with support for Battle.net play newly incorporated.
Diablo II
For the release of Diablo II, Battle.net took another substantial step forward. For the first time, player accounts and games were hosted on the Battle.net servers, also as a free service. Players could still connect directly to each other instead of hosting their games on Battle.net if they wished, but the appeal of competing alongside and against other players in a format in which their accomplishments could be seen by others added to the fun.
From StarCraft’s ranking system to Diablo II’s chat room avatars and its Hardcore ladder mode, Battle.net serves as a live record of players’ online accomplishments and their status within the games’ communities. The Hardcore mode is the perfect playground for the most thrill-seeking and skilled gamers who would risk hours of gameplay knowing that if their character ever died, it would be permanent, with the character being wiped from the server. To reach the top of the ladder is still the ultimate accomplishment in terms of Hardcore Diablo II bragging rights.
Warcraft III
The release of Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos in 2002 was highly anticipated, as gamers were finally able to return to Azeroth after a seven-year absence. Warcraft III and its expansion pack, The Frozen Throne, introduced another slew of additions and refinements to Battle.net that centered around the social aspect of the game. Some of these included new player-selectable chat room icons that were earned by winning a set number of games, an anonymous matchmaking system that placed players in games based on their rankings, a friends list, and support for clans.
Ten years after its inception, Battle.net is still going strong, as millions of gamers continue to play Blizzard’s games on its servers. In November 2006, more than 13 million Battle.net accounts were active, and more than eight billion minutes were logged by its players. More importantly, Blizzard has taken its experience from creating and improving Battle.net into its current and upcoming games, most notably World of Warcraft. From a technical standpoint, creating a game on the sheer scale of World of Warcraft would not have been possible for Blizzard without the lessons learned from Battle.net.
PS. it took them 7 years to return to the warcraft series, so all hope should not be lost for d3..
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
During the last week of 1996, Blizzard released Diablo, a groundbreaking action role-playing game (RPG) set in the dark fantasy-themed world of Sanctuary. As a lone hero attempting to save the town of Tristram from the Lord of Terror, the player (in the role of a warrior, rogue, or sorcerer) must venture underneath the town in search of Diablo’s lair. However, the journey proves to be a dark and dangerous one, as Diablo and his minions are bent on far more than the destruction of just one town...
Diablo went on to become a #1 bestselling and award-winning game, while gaining a legion of players and critical acclaim. It has even been credited with pioneering a new subgenre of RPGs, and to this day it is used as a benchmark for games within that subgenre.
Notable features:
One of Diablo’s most important features is its robust online multiplayer component. The game was launched concurrently with Battle.net, Blizzard’s multiplayer online gaming service. It was the first proprietary online gaming service released by a game developer that was integrated into its games themselves, and Diablo was the first game to utilize the service.
Completely free to use, the version of Battle.net that shipped with Diablo allowed gamers to create and join multiplayer games from a central hub. Diablo players created accounts and then were assigned to a channel, in which they could chat with other users as well as set up and join multiplayer games. In Diablo, the mix of compelling gameplay and well-implemented and well-supported multiplayer aspects resulted in a dedicated and passionate player base. This formula for success, the roots of which could be seen in Blizzard’s first two games – Warcraft: Orcs & Humans and Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness – would continue to be a hallmark of Blizzard game design in the years to come.
With each new Blizzard release subsequent to Diablo, Battle.net would continue to evolve and grow. The multiplayer gameplay of StarCraft was a tremendously popular aspect of the game that was well-served by the matchmaking capabilities of Battle.net. Ladder rankings were introduced, along with detailed user information, including wins and losses. The release of StarCraft’s expansion, Brood War, brought more players and more prominence to Battle.net in the gaming world. A year later, Blizzard re-released Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness with support for Battle.net play newly incorporated.
For the release of Diablo II, Battle.net took another substantial step forward. For the first time, player accounts and games were hosted on the Battle.net servers, also as a free service. Players could still connect directly to each other instead of hosting their games on Battle.net if they wished, but the appeal of competing alongside and against other players in a format in which their accomplishments could be seen by others added to the fun.
From StarCraft’s ranking system to Diablo II’s chat room avatars and its Hardcore ladder mode, Battle.net serves as a live record of players’ online accomplishments and their status within the games’ communities. The Hardcore mode is the perfect playground for the most thrill-seeking and skilled gamers who would risk hours of gameplay knowing that if their character ever died, it would be permanent, with the character being wiped from the server. To reach the top of the ladder is still the ultimate accomplishment in terms of Hardcore Diablo II bragging rights.
The release of Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos in 2002 was highly anticipated, as gamers were finally able to return to Azeroth after a seven-year absence. Warcraft III and its expansion pack, The Frozen Throne, introduced another slew of additions and refinements to Battle.net that centered around the social aspect of the game. Some of these included new player-selectable chat room icons that were earned by winning a set number of games, an anonymous matchmaking system that placed players in games based on their rankings, a friends list, and support for clans.
Ten years after its inception, Battle.net is still going strong, as millions of gamers continue to play Blizzard’s games on its servers. In November 2006, more than 13 million Battle.net accounts were active, and more than eight billion minutes were logged by its players. More importantly, Blizzard has taken its experience from creating and improving Battle.net into its current and upcoming games, most notably World of Warcraft. From a technical standpoint, creating a game on the sheer scale of World of Warcraft would not have been possible for Blizzard without the lessons learned from Battle.net.
PS. it took them 7 years to return to the warcraft series, so all hope should not be lost for d3..