DiabloFans

Bashiok informs of the importance of chests in Diablo 3, which may encourage thorough exploration of dungeons. Chests won't be locked, and will be of varying qualities, some rare.

Bashiok: There have been a few discussions about chests, what they meant in the previous game, and what they'll mean in Diablo III. Currently there are no locked chests, and it's not something we're looking to reintroduce for now. We have discussed varying chest quality and types, adding randomness not only to the appearance of a chest but also the value of items it may drop or possibly specifically what types of items it's guaranteed to drop. Mix it up a bit and make finding a chest exciting, but make finding a special chest something even rarer and more exciting. It could certainly make exploring the entire floor of a dungeon more compelling before moving on.

Bashiok confirmed the piece of artwork shown in the latest media update is indeed Skovos Isle, but it won't be a place we will visit in Diablo 3. From the looks of it, probably the expansion? Skovos is the homeland of the Amazon class in Diablo II.

As we know, the only returning playable class is the Barbarian. However, Jay Wilson recently suggested some classes could return in the Diablo 3 expansion pack.

Bashiok: It is Skovos, and I think this piece was something that Leonard showed and discussed at the WWI Lore and Environment Art panel.

It isn't a location that you'll visit in Diablo III, but the artwork is a good example of the work and thought going in to fleshing out the world of Sanctuary. It's already a very complex world with a lot of locations and events, but a lot of it still isn't visually or contextually realized. As we want to create the feeling of a world outside of your immediate view it's important to create or expand upon the locations and stories of that world.

As we're working to create Diablo III we're also working to create a more visually complete Sanctuary

Source: battle.net

A new tidbit about Diablo 3, that at least I hadn't heard before ... Diablo 3 outdoors (exteriors) are not random generated. Only dungeons are. That sounds great to an extent since everyone could memorize and know exactly where you are heading in the world of Sanctuary. Especially when you are with other friends and set a place to rendezvous at. Blizzard wants us to get acquainted with the different lands of Sanctuary.

Among the interview discussion came up that monster encounters are random generated such as Rare and Champions popping up here and there (or mini-bosses as Jay puts it).

Jay wants the outdoor world to be static in contrast with the random generated outdoors in Diablo II. This helps creating a better and unique look, adding objects, doodads, etc. that could be nigh impossible to place in a random generated landscape. More importantly, making a static world outdoor helps greatly the adventure system, and trigger-driven encounters.

Thus far, the interview didn't shed much about Battle.net. Jay said he didn't want to steal that thunder, which definetely means Battle.net 2.0 details will be unveiled at BlizzCon 2008 on October 10th. Diablo 3 in comparison with the other two franchises is the only game that could possibly be translated to Consoles, but currently Blizzard doesn't have the manpower to focus on console porting Diablo 3. Hopefully some time in the future it could make it, but as of now it's just not happening.

Crispy Gamer has a four-pages interview with Jay Wilson discussing the art style, random generation, Console port, and more.

Crispy Gamer: Are the dungeons still going to be randomly generated?

Wilson: Yes, we have a ton of random generation in the game. All the dungeons' layouts are randomly generated. The exteriors are not. We have a new system of adventures that allows us to cut sections out of the terrain to put random -- whatever -- in there. We can put random terrain, we can put in scripted events -- we wanted to add a lot more scripted events into the game.

Blizzard has announced the opening of BlizzCon contests for all of you who are going to Anaheim on October 10-11. The contests range various categories:

• BlizzCon Costume Contest
• BlizzCon Diorama Contest
• BlizzCon Original Song Contest
• BlizzCon Movie Contest
• BlizzCon Motivational Poster Contest
• BlizzCon Dance Contest
• Blizzard /Silly Contest

We are now accepting entries for our BlizzCon online contests, including our Diorama, Motivational Poster, and Movie contests. Whether you have tickets to BlizzCon or not, your application is welcome. Simply fill out the Submission form and be prepared to demonstrate your creative talents! For more contest information visit our BlizzCon Contests page.

For those BlizzCon attendees looking to show off graceful dance moves, fill the convention center halls with laughs, or come dressed as your favorite Warcraft, StarCraft, or Diablo characters, the Submission form for all applicants is now available! For more contest information visit our BlizzCon Contests page.

Sideshow Collectibles shows off the making of the Diablo 3 OVERTHROWN polystone diorama with 37 images to demonstrate the process of developing each sculpture from scratch. You can see the diorama in various angles. The painted version will be unveiled soon. In the meantime, view all the 37 screenshots and pre-order yours!

The Diablo II Original Soundtrack is now available via iTunes for those who wish to download and play at leisure.

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today announced that a wide selection of music from its popular games has been added to the iTunes store. Much of this music was originally available only in collector’s editions of the games, or at special events such as the company’s BlizzCon® gaming convention. Six Blizzard Entertainment® soundtrack albums are currently available:

• StarCraft® Original Soundtrack
• Diablo® II Original Soundtrack
• Warcraft® III: Reign of Chaos® Original Soundtrack
• World of Warcraft® Original Soundtrack
• World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade® Original Soundtrack
• World of Warcraft: Taverns of Azeroth Original Soundtrack

The albums have been placed on a new Blizzard Entertainment hub page within the iTunes store. This page also hosts content such as the BlizzCast™ podcast and trailers and gameplay footage from upcoming Blizzard Entertainment games, with more material to be added in the months ahead. In addition, the “Diablo III Overture” from the company’s recently announced action role-playing game, Diablo III, is available as a single and has been highlighted as a Discovery Download, making it free to download until Tuesday, September 9.

Players in the regions iTunes serves (North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan) can purchase the music at standard rates for each of those regions. For more information, please visit Blizzard Entertainment iTunes Store

Game Informer got a three-pages interview with Jay Wilson. Most of it is stuff we have heard often. However, one snippet might be of interest to diablo fans. The special effect sounds composer in Diablo III was who did them in Diablo II.

Jay Wilson answers how they approach character roster when creating new classes for Diablo 3.

GI: People who played Diablo II obsessively acquired a Pavlovian response to the drop sounds—are you keeping those effects, or are you rerecording them?

Wilson: We’re probably going to rerecord them, just because the quality isn’t as high, but the guy who’s doing them is the same person from Diablo II. He’s going to do them justice, for sure. The main thing I actually want to get is a little more distinction, where higher-quality magic items have a more distinct sound.

Blizzard has released a timeline of the Diablo Universe which provides a chronological background for the history of Sanctuary for those who are geeky about lore.

Media galleries have also been updated with four new pieces of artwork and four new screenshots.

Thanks for the heads up, AlaskanFireDragon

Jay doesn't exclude Item Gambling from Diablo 3, but it is not yet determined. He also talks about death mechanic. Mercenaries are back renamed as Followers. Read the transcript here.

in Diablo.de: Will Diablo 3 still have a gambling-feature to gamble good rare Items?[indent]Jay Wilson: We have not actually made a decision on gambling. We have talked about it and we might do it! It kind of depends on some of the other decisions we will make. We do not have anything against it, it is more like that: Once we make some of the other decisions on how we are going to handle items, we will decide whether or not that warrants an inclusion. But, for the most part, i think we are generally for it!

in Diablo.de: When a character dies, will it lose gold and experience like in Diablo 2?
Jay Wilson: We have not actually decided on the final death mechanic. I can guarantee that you will not lose experience. We are not urging to big penaltys for death. But we want enough of a penalty to be there, so that death has meaning! Like to lose a little bit time, some kind of decrement... We do not currently have a durability, but some kind of ... a gold cost is actually not so bad. And having the player to waste some time, that is certainly an element. Generally we kind of rely on the effect that players do not want to die. You know, you just do not want to. So there is no real reason to add a further "ding" to them for something happening that was already unfavorable to them. But we have not got our final mechanics on that, yet.

Jay Wilson talks more in-depth about the Witch Doctor, Loot, Gameplay, and more... watch the video interview.

UPDATE: Garret from Ten Ton Hammer informs the transcript to the interview is now available for those with slow internet connection or without plugins to watch the video. You can read the full transcript here

The Diablo series is among those touchstone gaming experiences that many of us RPG types grew up relishing. If to this day your MP3 collection isn't complete without "Tristram" and other tracks from Matt Uelman's masterful Diablo 2 score, we understand each other.So, when the opportunity to interview Diablo 3 Lead Designer Jay Wilson came up, we fell over ourselves rearranging our Leipzig GC schedule even though this isn't Ten Ton Hammer's standard MMORPG fare.

Learn how Blizzard hopes to capture the essence of Diablo & Diablo 2 and even take Diablo 3 beyond its predecessors in a variety of ways, not the least of which is an updated control scheme and an fast-paced approach to combat that can only be described as epic, even by Diablo terms. Get the skinny on the boss fights you saw in the D3 trailer, gather some hints on the changes in store for Blizzard's multiplayer portal, Battle.net, and see much more in this ten minute video!

Our friends at SteelSeries, Jinx, Upper Deck, and BradyGames have just launched the Win a Trip to BlizzCon Sweepstakes. The grand prize winner will receive a trip for two to Anaheim, California, along with two free tickets to attend BlizzCon 2008. For more information or to enter the contest, visit www.blizzconsweepstakes.com.

There's a possibility DiabloFans will be giving away BlizzCon tickets too. Stay alert to the DiabloFans News section.

BlizzCast 5 is now available as MP3 and as a trascript. Diablo 3 Lead Designer Jay Wilson is interviewed by Bashiok, Nethaera and Karune. Jay Wilson discusses ACT distribution, trade systems and more. Bind on Pickup or Bind on Equip is out of the equation in Diablo 3. Blizzard wants trading to be global and accessible to everyone instead of only to a few elite players. Monsters have been planned for Act 2 and 3 already, designed based on abilities of certain hero classes. This means other classes are in development. Bet some new classes will be announced at BlizzCon this year.

Other topics discussed were Inventory system. Mulling is not encouraged in Diablo 3. That's a thing of the past. The part that made me drool here was "... We really want to make it easier for you to be able to share and trade items with other people and other characters on the same account. We've talked about ideas like a shared stash, or a mail system like World of Warcraft has, and we haven't nailed down exactly which one of those we want to do, but we're definitely going to do something like that, that's going to make it really easy for you if you've got, a witch doctor and a barbarian character, and you find that awesome witch doctor drop and you want to share it, it'll be super-easy to do that. No more opening up a game, dropping items on the ground, and you know, hoping that the game stays open or getting a friend to help out, no more of that. You should be able to do it on your own."

You can check out the BlizzCast 5 Podcast and transcript here.

In this special Worldwide Invitational wrap-up edition of BlizzCast, we briefly recap some of the events at the recent WWI in Paris, and then move straight into a discussion with Diablo III Lead Designer Jay Wilson. We quiz him on how the development team is evolving the classic series -- and then dive into a discussion of some recent hot issues surrounding the upcoming sequel.

Thanks, Zoltrix

Gamona interviewed Jay Wilson. There seems to be many revelations to be made about Diablo 3 at BlizzCon this October. When asked if Diablo 3 could be playable at BlizzCon, Jay Wilson said Blizzard wouldn't let him say. At least a third of the Diablo 3 team are from the old Blizzard North team that worked on Diablo II.

It is not certain whether the next installment of Diablo after Diablo 3 will be an MMO, but he does answer Chris Metzen has plenty of lore and knows what direction the Diablo universe will go after Diablo 3.

Thanks, Jugzor.

Kotaku cornered Jay Wilson for a short interview where finally the cat is out of the bag. The Barbarian is the only class that is returning in Diablo 3. The Necromancer is completely out of the equation according to Wilson because it was a flawless class. It has no room for improvement beyond what it already is.

Regardless, that doesn't mean we won't see Necromancers as NPCs. This is not official through the interview, but the city of Ureh is within Necromancer territory, thus inevitable not to see Necromancer NPCs. Richard A. Knaak told me a few days ago "Ureh is an integral part of the game." Two years ago, Knaak also told us during the public Q&A that Blizzard had very special plans for Zayl the Necromancer.

The Necromancer, he said, was simply a victim of his own success. He was just too well crafted as a character, something that Wilson's Blizzard design cohorts, current and former, likely don't mind hearing. Necro fans on the other hand, probably won't be too thrilled to learn of his disappearance, despite the Witch Doctor class's similarities.

Gamespy asks Jay Wilson from Leipzig GC how random generation dungeons is so hard and unsuccessful sometimes to other companies and not for Blizzard. PvP gameplay is another topic discussed in this interview. At this point, PvP is merely in brainstorm-ideas mode, and not fully worked on. From what Wilson answered, it is obvious they wish to change how PvP worked in Diablo II, and make it more suitable for every player without the exploits associated with it that usually discourages players from playing again. Can you say, Gankers no more?

Other topic discussed was Diablo 3's financial model, whether it would be free-gameplay, subscription model or micro-transactions model. Read the three-pages interview