Sixen's Profile - Member List

Sixen
Curse Premium
Member for 15 years, 7 months, and 28 days
Last active Thu, Dec, 16 2021 19:17:19

98 Followers
5,657 Total Posts
283 Thanks

Nov 1, 2011
Sixen published the article Stay Awhile and Listen!

I recently had the chance to sit down and chat with David Craddock, author of the upcoming book uncovering how both Blizzard and Blizzard:North affected the Diablo series... A topic that many DiabloFans would be interested in, yet none have told the tale. Sure, there may be bits and pieces of the events that took place throughout the internet, but nothing in one centralized location, and this is where David comes in. He tells the story of Blizzard:North and Diablo, from a neutral standpoint, talking to both B:N and ex-Blizzard employees to help reveal what was going on for those long years that Blizzard:North went quiet. The story begins in the early days when the company was first acquired and brings us up to the point where the employees were merged with Blizzard:"South" and began re-working on Diablo III, for the third time. The book is slated to come out sometime next Summer (can anyone think of any significant dates over the Summer?) and is a must read for any avid Diablo/Blizzard fans. Stay tuned for more information. In the mean time, check out the interview below as well as the formal press release below! And don't forget to 'like' David's new publishing company on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

Sorry for the slight video distortion at the beginning, >.>

Official Blizzard Quote:

Upcoming Book Invites Diablo Fans to Stay Awhile and Listen to the Untold Story of Blizzard North

Former Blizzard Entertainment and Blizzard North developers tell the tale of one of the industry's most influential studios and the dungeon crawler that defined a genre.

October 31, 2011 - Digital Monument Press, an e-book publisher dedicated to documenting video-game history, is excited to announce its debut title, Stay Awhile and Listen, for release in summer 2012.

Featuring extensive input from Blizzard North and former Blizzard Entertainment developers, Stay Awhile and Listen delves into the 12-year history of Blizzard North. Readers will explore the making of the Diablo series, get to know the engineers, artists, musicians, and designers whose ideas and perspectives formed a powerful culture of open and organic development, unearth details on unannounced projects such as the first two iterations of Diablo III, go behind closed doors to observe the relationship between Blizzard North and Blizzard Entertainment, and learn the circumstances that led to the departure of Blizzard North co-founders David Brevik, Max Schaefer, and Erich Schaefer in 2003, as well as the studio's closure in 2005.

Just as the different perspective of every Blizzard North developer influenced the company's games and culture, David Brevik believes perspective will play a large part in determining what readers take away from the studio's story. "If you're a reader interested in the back-story and history of how this all came together, and the relationships and trials, and how much work, effort, time, and sacrifice goes into this kind of thing, I think you'll get a good sense of how hard you have to work to get to where we were. Or if you're another developer, maybe you can learn something from some of the mistakes we made."

For Erich Schaefer, partaking in Stay Awhile and Listen was important not only to relay the story of Diablo and Blizzard North, but also to provide encouragement and motivation for anyone fighting to turn a dream into reality. "I'd definitely like to see this set a record for what went on. ... I would also love for the story to inspire somebody to make great games. I don't know how that would work, exactly, but if you find the right readers and they end up thinking, 'Hey, I can do that' and just try big things, that would be great."

"What I hope readers take away from the book is that regular people make games like ours, so don't ever think you can't be part of something like that," agrees Max Schaefer. "That's the important thing for me in telling this story: to let people know that regular people can do things like this, you just have to do them. We didn't have business experience, we didn't even really have professional experience. It's just a matter of having a dream and having a vision, and doing the grunt work that realizing that dream entails."

Written by David L. Craddock, Stay Awhile and Listen is projected for release on Amazon Kindle, Apple iBooks, and Barnes & Noble Nook platforms in summer 2012.

About Digital Monument Press, LLC
Digital Monument Press publishes e-books that chronicle the making of video games, the personal accounts of the developers that make them, and the practices, culture, and trends that drive the industry.

Each Digital Monument Press book utilizes a unique format featuring an abundance of developer quotes--concerning anecdotes as well as insight into industry culture and development--intertwined within a core narrative. The publisher's documentary-narrative structure allows for a more intimate account of each story, a stronger bond between readers and developers, and a wide appeal that simultaneously targets current industry members interested in the inner workings of specific studios, students and gamers eager to learn more about how games are made, and readers simply interested in a good story.

Learn more about Digital Monument Press, and follow Digital Monument Press on Facebook.

About David L. Craddock
A writer of fiction and nonfiction, David L. Craddock broke into writing as a freelance games journalist, writing for a number of prominent websites and magazines such as Shacknews, Official Xbox Magazine, Games Radar, PlayStation: The Official Magazine, various sites within the AOL Joystiq network, and Good Old Games.

Of the many articles David wrote, editorials detailing the making of games such as King's Quest, Fallout and Fallout 2, and Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee and Abe's Exoddus, became his favorites. Eventually, David decided to apply his passion for recounting video-game history to the untold story of his favorite studio, Blizzard North. To David's delight, the Diablo developers responded with enthusiasm, kicking off three years of phone calls, lunch meetings, Skype chats, and stories exchanged over countless cups of coffee and hot cocoa. The result: Stay Awhile and Listen, a story which David feels honored to tell.

Keep up with David at his personal website and Facebook.

Posted in: Stay Awhile and Listen!
Nov 1, 2011
Sixen published the article Binkles the Frog

We had a lot of great entries in our Fourth Beta Key Contest, so this was a very hard decision... The first place winner gets his entry in the Binkles the Frog article as the Lore and a Beta Key, the second place winner gets a Beta Key, and the third place winner... Gets a pat on the back! The winners are as follows:

First place!

Quote from Leeodin

“Come gather people of Tristram and listen to a tale, the hero we know, as Binkles…”

A frog of might, a heroic delight;
Binkles’ the Demon Slayer.

He is a legend about this place;
Fighting hellish minions for all.
He has the strength of an epic mace;
and his croak blows holes in walls.

He hops about town licking enemies to the ground;
Binkles’ the Demon Slayer.

Some say a man hidden from sight;
well others a frog with demonic blood.
One thing we know, he murders with delight;
And brings a curse upon the evil crud.

Protects us and heals, kills with skill;
Binkles’ the Demon Slayer.

A masked hero working for good;
seeking no reward or fame.
Punishing those that brings the flood
of evil that comes from hell’s domain.

Our Streets are safe; Thanks to our saviour;
Binkles’ the Demon Slayer.
A champion forever, a hero of the night;
Binkle’s the Demon Slayer.

A song from a travelling musician...

Second place!

Quote from Jaelzadeon

I'm not good at writing stories. I always get ideas in my head, but have no idea how to really put them together to make them sound as cool as I think they are. Anyway, I'm not going to pass up a chance for a Diablo III beta key, so here's my attempt.

The origin of Binkles the frog -

"You scum!"

"Darling, please, it's not what you think..."

Of course it's what you think, it's always just what you think. Your asshole husband in bed with another woman - it's exactly what it looks like, exactly what you think it is.

The strange woman gets up out of the bed and hurries out of the room, naked, with nothing covering her except for a cloud of embarrassment.

You eye your husband as if you're about to straddle him and pierce his heart with a poison dagger.

What the hell was he thinking? He vowed to stay faithful to you for all eternity.

Now this? What happened to what you once shared...

You met him when you were barely an adult, out in the world on your own for the first time, doing what you felt was right to help humanity. You had gotten yourself into a little trouble, and he was there, he helped you out. He was your hero.

Your hero. This is your hero?

At that time, he didn't quite understand you. You explained to him that you were a witch doctor, you dealt with spirits, voodoo, poisons, but he didn't understand any of it.

Despite differences, however, the two of you fell in love. You complemented each other well in battle with anything that came against you. The two of you promised to spend your life together, forever. Always together, until the very end.

"What were you thinking?" You cry, rage in your voice. "What of our promise?"

"We still have our promise..." He stammers, "We're-We will still be together. She was nothing, just- We'll always be together, my dear..."

He was right, the two of you would always be together. In one swift motion you jump atop him, your hand coming up to his neck. You smell the sweat stench from the strange woman on him and you do not hesitate. Where your hand was placed on his neck, it's now the sharp end of a dart, slowly pumping dark liquid into his veins.

"What was that?! What did you..." He's grabbing desperately at the object sticking out of his neck.

You stand up tall over him. "You're right, my dear." You grin. "We will be together until the end. But I won't have you in bed with every harlot that comes into town."

He starts to shake his head, but suddenly pain takes over his entire body. His limbs start to transform, smaller at first, then elongated, with webbing between each digit. His body shrinks, his skin turns smooth and the colour changes. His neck is replaced by a large jaw, and his eyes grow big and round.

All that sits in front of you in the blankets thrown about the bed is a small frog.

You pick him up, and pat him gently.

"Yes, my dear. We will always fight together."

Honorable mention..

Quote from dnavarre

Binkles the Frog. That was his new name, and he had better get used to it. Diablo had chosen to return in the most obvious way possible, in a comet, in order to instill terror in peoples all around. Mephisto, however, had wanted to come back in a more covert way. Mephisto, the Lord of Hatred, had returned as the most hated thing of all--a simple mosquito. His plan had been to invade and take over the body of a human--perhaps a certain Necromancer that had gotten lucky years before--but alas, it was not meant to be.

Upon his first night of return in Sanctuary, in the swampy woods of Kurast, he had encountered his first problem. The angel-demon offspring had found a deep magic to disguise themselves...they called this magic "repellent" and kept it contained in impenetrable bottles of all shapes in sizes. For a week, Mophistosquito hovered around the village of the Kurast Docks, waiting for the invisibility spray to wear off, hoping he would by chance run into the fiendish creatures. By the time the seven days were over, he felt age getting to him, as if he had lived half a lifetime. Mophistosquito knew then that time was running short.

He worked faster, spreading out further as his hope failed. And then he saw it: a human male, emerging from an outhouse--the evil magic had been overriden by some other smell, highlighting him! Mophistosquito charged, needle-nose extended as much as possible. But his greatest challenge awaited him. A creature many times his size and weight, rippling with an odd skin, pounced in front of his path. A frog, green to blend in with the swamp, had wandered into town. Mophistosquito pulled back, trying to stop or avert his course, but it was too late. The tongue lashed out and wrapped around his outstretched nose, pulling him in to the beast's mouth. He tried to struggle, only to puncture the frog's throat with his needle. Instead of blood pouring in, Mophistosquito was sucked out. The frog's green coloring became tainted, becoming more yellow.

Mephrog was born, but it was not over yet. The human had reached him and was bending over. Mephrog's body quivered with rage and fear--he was in no state to fight!

"Yes, you'll do quite nicely," the man said. "Come, I take care of you. You Binkles. Binkles the Frog. I Witch Doctor and we have much fight to do. Oh, yes, many demons come and Doctor and Frog must unite in battle."

And so Binkles the Frog was born...or reborn. Whatever.

Congratulations guys, enjoy it! This is Sixen signing out.
Posted in: Binkles the Frog
Nov 1, 2011
Sixen published the article The End of an Era

I'll try to keep this short and sweet... My time here as the lead Administrator on DiabloFans has come to an end. It seems like just yesterday I made my introductory newspost telling everyone who I was... :QQ:. It's been quite an adventure running this place and helping shape it into what it's become today, and I am certainly going to miss it. While I am stepping down as Administrator, I'll still certainly be around the Diablo community. You'll be able to catch me around here, on the Battle.net forums, and on the weekly DiabloCast's still; i'm just moving onto darker, bloodier, and more gothic pastures. What that means, exactly, will be unveiled in the very near future, ;).

For those of you curious, Boubouille from MMOChampion will be taking over as the lead Administrator. I have complete faith that he'll be able to run DFans with ease, afterall, MMOChampion is the leading WoW site nowadays, ;).
Posted in: The End of an Era
Oct 28, 2011
Sixen published the article Diablo 2 Patch 1.13d
That's right! In conjunction with the very recent ladder reset, Blizzard has released a minor D2 patch fixing quite a few bugs and even implemented some new methods to combat spambots!
Official Blizzard Quote:
Patch 1.13d - 10/27/2011

New Features
- Ignoring players is now saved between sessions of the game. All ignores are now written out to disk (file: 'ignorelist'). This feature can be toggled by issuing the command '/ignorepersist'.
- Users can now filter messages based on content by issuing the command '/filtermsg '. To unfilter content issue the command '/unfiltermsg '. (The maximum length of a filter pattern is 128 characters)
- Users can now set their home channel by issuing a new Battle.net chat command '/home ' while in the Battle.net chat interface.
- Users can return to their home channel at any time by issuing the command '/home' while in the Battle.net chat interface.
Major Bugs
- Fixed a known dupe method.
- Fixed another issue where players were able to stack auras in an unintended way.
Minor Bugs
- Fixed a bug where Mercenaries wouldn't have multiple auras active when they should have.
- Fixed an issue where players could create games prefixed with color codes.
- Potentially fixed an issue where players would be disconnected when watching the cinematics when in a Battle.net game.
- Fixed an issue where the game would crash when running in windowed mode with sound disabled and the game tried to play a cinematic.
Posted in: Diablo 2 Patch 1.13d
Oct 26, 2011
Sixen published the article D2 Ladder Season 9 Begins!

Update:

Official Blizzard Quote:

The Diablo II servers are now online and available for play on the new ladder season. See you on Battle.net!

Update:

Official Blizzard Quote:

All realms will be available, and ladders reset, starting in one hour at 3:30pm PDT.

Update:

Official Blizzard Quote:

The Diablo II servers are currently offline as we make the changes required to reset the ladder. A notification will be posted here 1 hour prior to the servers being made available for play.

As we've informed you not too long ago, D2 ladder season 9 begins tomorrow (later today?), Tuesday, October 25th. Bashiok has already stated that the reset will begin early in the morning (just guessing here, probably around 10AM) and will take a few hours as usual, though we'll be updated of the progress as it happens.

Official Blizzard Quote:

Just a ladder reset information update:

Once maintenance and the ladder reset have been completed on October 25, we will make an announcement one hour in advance of when the realms will become available. Stay tuned for details!

This information has been updated in the original post of this thread.

Stay tuned to this newspost for more information, when Rethek gives us an update, we'll be sure to relay the information to you.
Posted in: D2 Ladder Season 9 Begins!
Oct 24, 2011
Sixen published the article Beta Key Contest #4

Welcome to week four of the DiabloFans Beta Key Contest! This week is going to be slightly different than the previous three weeks: this time we're doing a mini-writing contest. If any of you haven't seen already, there is an NPC in Diablo III named Binkles the Frog and we're dying to find out more about him! We want you to come up with his backstory, fit him into the Lore of the Diablo Universe, and simply tell us what in the world he is doing around Sanctuary.

We'll choose the best one or two entries week and they'll be granted a Diablo III Beta Key. In addition, the winning piece(s) will be placed on his wiki page permanently as his "fan lore." Submissions should be posted in this thread and you are allowed more than one entry if you'd like! You have until October 31st at midnight to get your submissions in.

Congratulations to Arvron for winning the third Beta Key caption contest.

Posted in: Beta Key Contest #4
Oct 16, 2011
Sixen published the article Beta Key Contest #3

Welcome to week 3 of the DiabloFans Caption Contest. Each week, we're going to have a screenshot to show and your job is to add a caption. Whether the caption be epic or completely for the lulz, we don't care! We'll choose the best one or two entries each week and they'll be granted a Diablo III Beta Key.

To edit in your caption, you can just toss this image into MSPaint or any other photo editing program, add a few thought or speech bubbles, and go to town! You can then upload your screenshot to your Gallery here on DiabloFans, or any other image sharing service you choose. This week's screenshot is...

Submissions can just be posted here and you are allowed more than one entry if you like! These will run Saturday to Saturday, every week for the next few weeks. Winners will be picked on Saturday and the next screenshot will go up.

Congratulations to Kaulov for winning the second Beta Key caption contest.

Posted in: Beta Key Contest #3
Oct 14, 2011
Sixen published the article DiabloCast: Episode XXX
Nethaera recently commented on the Diablo III Competitive vs Cooperation discussion that has been going on in the official D3 Forums. Our question to you this week is very straight forward, do you feel like Diablo is competitive or cooperative in nature? Let us know!
- All Cooperative.
- All Competitive.
- A mixture of both.
- Too busy hacking and slashing.
In our previous poll, we wanted to know what you thought about Moon Physics in Diablo III and the majority of you said that it was perfect as is! Seems like Blizzard must be doing something right.

If you missed the twenty-ninth episode, you can check it out here. Otherwise, the thirtieth episode covered the following topics:
If you've missed any previous episodes, check the archive on our Wiki!
Posted in: DiabloCast: Episode XXX
Oct 11, 2011
Sixen published the article Curse.com Relaunch

Curse.com has a fresh new user-friendly design and laser focus on online game downloads! It supports an expanded list of games and genres. In addition to add-ons, Curse.com offers custom maps, high-quality/exclusive demos, client downloads, and beta key programs. Premium users will greatly benefit from their faster download speeds as file sizes for demos and game clients are much larger than add-ons. Check out the new Curse.com and download everything you need for a superior online game experience!
Posted in: Curse.com Relaunch
Oct 9, 2011
Sixen published the article Beta Key Contest #2

Welcome to week 2 of the DiabloFans Caption Contest. Each week, we're going to have a screenshot to show and your job is to add a caption. Whether the caption be epic or completely for the lulz, we don't care! We'll choose the best one or two entries each week and they'll be granted a Diablo III Beta Key.

To edit in your caption, you can just toss this image into MSPaint or any other photo editing program, add a few thought or speech bubbles, and go to town! You can then upload your screenshot to your Gallery here on DiabloFans, or any other image sharing service you choose. This week's screenshot is...

Submissions can just be posted here and you are allowed more than one entry if you like! These will run Saturday to Saturday, every week for the next few weeks. Winners will be picked on Saturday and the next screenshot will go up.

Congratulations to Calavera666 for winning the first Beta Key caption contest.

Posted in: Beta Key Contest #2
Oct 7, 2011
Sixen published the article DiabloCast: Episode XXIX
Bashiok recently commented on the Diablo III "Moon" physics and how our heroes affect the physics system. It was also noted that the Barbarian, being ridiculously strong, would have the most outrageous physics, and rightly so. Blizzard wants us to feel like we're these super-human Gods with amazing powers.
- Works perfectly.
- Way too over the top.
- More Moon physics!
- Needs more blood.
- Is there gravity in Sanctuary?
In our previous poll, we wanted to know what you thought about the randomization in Diablo III and the majority of you said that it was perfect as is!

If you missed the twenty-eighth episode, you can check it out here. Otherwise, the twenty-ninth episode covered the following topics:
If you've missed any previous episodes, check the archive on our Wiki!
Posted in: DiabloCast: Episode XXIX
Oct 7, 2011
Sixen published the article D2 Ladder Reset: Season 9

As Bashiok informed us not that long ago, it was about due time for another Diablo II Ladder reset, but that had "things to figure out."

Official Blizzard Quote:

We're holding off on a reset to figure out some things. We'll let you know as soon as we do.

It seems as if whatever Blizzard had to figure out has just been figured and a ladder reset has been announced for October 25th, making this the 9th Ladder Season. Nothing else (patch?) was announced with the Ladder reset, so exactly what it is they were doing has gone completely unknown, though I am sure we'll find out soon enough.

Official Blizzard Quote:

We will be resetting the Diablo II ladder the morning of October 25.

We anticipate all Diablo II realms to be down for approximately six hours during the reset. More specific information on realm availability on the day of the reset will be posted in the Battle.net Status forum. When the ladder is reset all existing ladder characters will be converted to non-ladder. All characters and items being converted to non-ladder will remain intact, but once converted these characters will no longer have access to ladder content such as creating ladder-only rune words. For more information on ladder characters please visit the Arreat Summit Realm Character Types page.

If you're looking for some class builds, i'd recommend using Magistrate's Firebolt utility, which indexes guides simply for you.
Posted in: D2 Ladder Reset: Season 9
Oct 3, 2011
Sixen published the article Beta Key Contest

As most of you are already aware, a few of the various Blizzard Influencers and fansites have been given beta keys (see our beta key image above?) to give away to our dearest fans, ;). Since we know that you're all hungering for the Beta, we're going to keep it short, sweet, and to the point! Each week, we're going to have a screenshot to show and your job is to add a caption. Whether the caption be epic or completely for the lulz, we don't care! We'll choose the best one or two entries each week and they'll be granted a Diablo III Beta Key.

To edit in your caption, you can just toss this image into MSPaint or any other photo editing program, add a few thought or speech bubbles, and go to town! You can then upload your screenshot to your Gallery here on DiabloFans, or any other image sharing service you choose. This week's screenshot is...

Submissions can just be posted here and you are allowed more than one entry if you like! These will run Saturday to Saturday, every week for the next few weeks. Winners will be picked on Saturday and the next screenshot will go up.
Posted in: Beta Key Contest
Oct 3, 2011
Sixen published the article Unofficial Diablo III Armory
DiabloFans now has an unofficial iPhone App, Diablo III Armory. It's not exactly made solely by us DiabloFans (but it is made by a good friend of ours), and it's pulling our news stream, so you can get DiabloFans news from just about anywhere now! In addition to our news feed, the App offers the following:
- News feed from diablofans.com
- Game information page (FAQ)
- Classes page to showcase each class and their skills.
- A skill calculator built completely for the iPhone platform.
- Easy swiping while viewing skills to see rune effects.
- Calculator can save/name builds, load them later, and even print out a Bnet URL of your build (in case you want to share it).
- And more to come, ;).
The app is completely free as well, so go download it and enjoy Sanctuary from anywhere on Earth! Those of you with Android devices (I only have an Android :() will have to wait for an app. Whether or not we develop an Android app as well is solely based on the success of the iPhone app. For more screenshots of the app, you can check the temporary support site, or watch the video below.
Posted in: Unofficial Diablo III Armory
Sep 29, 2011
Sixen published the article BlizzCon: Foo Fighters and Media

That's right! The Foo Fighters have just been announced as the band that will be playing at this years' BlizzCon and TAFKAL80ETC will be returning and opening for them! For quite some time, it was speculated that deadmau5 would be doing the concert due to his recent trip to BlizzHQ. Whether or not either of them could top Tenacious D will be something we'll have to wait and see, though... How can you top Jack Black? Then again, the same was said about Ozzy; we all wondered how exactly Blizzard would top him...

Official Blizzard Quote:

Over the course of their 16-year career, the Foo Fighters have sold tens of millions of records, won half a dozen Grammy awards, and raised countless voices in singalongs of iconic anthems like "Everlong," "My Hero," "Learn to Fly", "All My Life," “Best of You,” and “The Pretender.” Foo Fighters' BlizzCon debut marks founder Dave Grohl's triumphant return to the convention after playing drums for Tenacious D in last year's show, and comes during an international arena, stadium, and festival tour promoting their seventh album, the international #1 record Wasting Light.

Opening up the concert will be The Artist Formerly Known as Level 80 Elite Tauren Chieftain, who are returning to BlizzCon following a two-year interstellar tour through the Koprulu sector. Blizzard's in-house metal band will amp up the crowd with an earth-shaking set of both familiar and brand-new songs drawn from the Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo universes before turning the stage over to Foo Fighters for the main event.

In addition, the Sons of the Storm will be returning for their very own signing panel as usual.

Official Blizzard Quote:

We're shy of a month away from the sixth BlizzCon in history. And once again, the Sons of the Storm will be there in full force! We will have a one-hour signing session on the second day of BlizzCon:

Saturday, October 22, 10AM to 11AM at the developer signing area

So if you would like to meet and greet...or get your sign on and your whine on (be warned Red Shirts!), then mark the date and be there on the dot. Lines tend to get crazy! Remember to double-check the signing schedule for any changes.

Also worth mentioning, the BlizzCon Media section has just recently been updated to include a ton of media from every BlizzCon thus far, as well as the few World Wide Invitationals. Anyone who wants to get a feel of what the environment is like should go check it out!
Posted in: BlizzCon: Foo Fighters and Media