DiabloFans

Quote from "Flyarion" »

I'm thinking of about 40-50% is done when blizzcon arrives

I gotta say more than that. Almost 40-50% was done back in June when they told us that the last two classes were already playable in their office and Act 2 was coming along quite nicely. Even if we don't see everything they have worked on at Blizzcon 2009, they will still be farther ahead than what they have officially announced. I would say that at this point, all 5 characters are absolutely playable with many skills, Act 1 is done (minus polishing), Act 2 is almost done, and Act 3 is in the making. This would be about 60-75% finished as of Blizzcon 2009.

Quote from "akse" »

Sorry but you cant put numbers to your name(only account) even in Diablo 2 so I guess we can't in 3 either.

Damn, your right. I swore you could use numbers. I know for a fact you could on Diablo 1. Thats pretty lame if you ask me. I guess I will just have to make sure I make a midnight purchase and get my name then. Blizzard got me again...

Quote from "Shisou" »

By account name.

So you want me to know your account name when I search your player? What if I was then good enough to hack your account, give all your items to my characters, delete your characters, and replace them with a lvl 1 character named "QQLOOZERUGOTPWNEDQQ". Thats just more crap Blizz would have to worry about, especially if you were too dumb shit stupid to make a decently secure password. Sure, systems to prevent brute force or things like that could be put in place, but if there is a will, there is a way. Someone could do it. By not giving out account information of any type whatsoever and suggesting that players do the same inside the game, the game becomes a lot more secure. A person trying to hack someone's account would not be able to just know their account name off the bat. Without your account name, a hacker could probably somehow find any given account name and hack it, but not specifically target you for an attack. As Gandolf once said: "Keep it secret, keep it safe".

That being said, just KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid. Just keep the same D2 system, maybe step up the anti-profanity, and slap it on D3. There is no harm in that, it keeps it as simple as ever, and doesn't change the game in a way that could allow for easier griefing.

Tell me Izanami, what exactly makes you think arcane isn't purple? What would you base your arguement off of to say that Arcane is not and cannot be purple? A real life example? The fact is, we don't have real visual magic, let alone arcane magic, in this world to base that off of. Its a fantasy world. Arcane could be any color of the rainbow for all we know, its not our world. Even if DnD said arcane magic should be effin yellow for all I care, Blizzard could make arcane any color they like. Since they already have arcane magic in previous games, and its typically purple, one could assume they would keep that idea in mind when making arcane magic in this game.

I personally understand that they changed the color to broaden the color spectrum in the different trees, but personally this red color doesn't make sense to me. Red is the color of fire. People see red and they associate it with fire. To me, if anything, highly focused arcane magic would probably look pure white. Thats just my opinion, however it could then also be confused with Holy magic. I did however see a really nice photoshop someone did of a pure white with purple outline that made it look really sweet and put no doubt in my mind that that was pure arcane energy.

I'd be DIABLO and chew on three people for all of eternity with my three effin heads!

Et tu, Brute?

Quote from "Vnom" »

Could we make an art rant thread or is that off limits?

Not that I'm going to just curious.

I'm no mod, but I would say it would be totally fine if it wasn't the hundredth one we have seen. That topic is old news. It was lame when it started, and now that the dead horse has been beaten beyond all recognition, it is the lamest topic that could possibly exist. I personally wish the art rants would die already (not that I am saying this is one). Its like a horror movie villain: they are all ugly, most of them just get uglier over time, they always come back when you least expect them, and the sequels just keep getting cheesier. When will it ever end?

Quote from "Vnom" »

Could we make an art rant thread or is that off limits?

Not that I'm going to just curious.

I'm no mod, but I would say it would be totally fine if it wasn't the hundredth one we have seen. That topic is old news. It was lame when it started, and now that the dead horse has been beaten beyond all recognition, it is the lamest topic that could possibly exist. I personally wish the art rants would die already (not that I am saying this is one). Its like a horror movie villain: they are all ugly, most of them just get uglier over time, they always come back when you least expect them, and the sequels just keep getting cheesier.

Quote from "Seth" »

Well, first of all, they probably are telling us hardly anything, partly because that is how Blizzard, but more specifically, the sector working on the Diablo franchise, has always been, and partly because whenever they announce something fans immediately look for things to complain about it. And also, of course, no percentage is from Blizzard, so it could be more or less than anything in here.

In all honesty, if it's taken them this many years, nearly a decade, to get the ball rolling on just the game engine, characters, and first act, I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't get released for another five years. I'm fairly certain the Diablo III team is the smallest in comparison to WoW (of course, which has its own floor at Blizzard HQ) and SCII, which is obviously way more popular than Diablo, especially outside of the US. It would be nice if we were provided some real numbers on those, though, so I could be certain.

You really think its going to take 5 WHOLE YEARS? Don't get me wrong, we all have opinions and to each its own, but that just seems way out of the ball park. LoD came out June 29, 2001. It has only really been a little over 8 years since release. You really don't thing they actively started working on D3 right after that came out did you? They had other stuff in mind, such as WC3 and its following expansion. I would be willing to say Diablo 3 didn't even get into the concept phase until at least some time 2003, if not later.

Concept could take a very long time, especially if they have other priorities in mind, as Blizzard ussually seems to do. I'd say they probably started thinking it up, and just started compiling ideas until they were ready to get that ball rolling. Once concept is completely done, they would have to start working on an engine. This isn't like the tons upon tons of console games that just jack (insert engine here, such as the Unreal engine) and make a game based off it. We are talking an entirely new engine from scratch, and this is Blizzard we are talking about as well. You can't expect them to even make an engine from scratch at the same rate other companies would because Blizzard is full of perfectionism. If you can't do it right, don't do it at all, and that is the way Blizzard rolls.

That being said, they probably didn't even have anything playable until late 2006 - mid 2007. From there they probably played around a lot, worked on it beside their higher priority projects (WoW expansions and SC2). We then didn't see something they saw fit for the public till 2008. Come June 28, 2008 they had all classes and Act 1 playable. That is a very good place to be at that time. In a whole years time they probably have all 5 classes pretty spiffy, Act 1 pretty much what they want it to be at this point, and working on Act 2 and beyond. All of it is subject to change, especially as they progress, but they seem to be making good timing now that that D3 is stepping up to the plate on Blizzard's priority list.

As I have said before, I personally think its realistic to expect a 2010-2011 release date. If they don't announce Cataclysm at Blizzcon 09, chances are Diablo 3 will be ideally expected in 2010 (as they have announced that we are likely to see two 2010 releases). If, however, Catacylsm really is announced this year, I have a bad feeling they are going to put it higher on the priority than Diablo 3, and end up bringing it out first. To me, its kinda sad that they would work harder on an expansion for a game thats been out for years than they would on a brand new game, but then again we are talking about their pet money maker WoW. I wouldn't really expect less from Blizzard these days, they have gotten pretty obsessed with WoW. I just hope they still have the ability to put the highest standards of game quality before everything else.

Yeah, I'm with you Italifoca, there is a huge need for at least something to do come 99 (for those of us who actually have the time and patience to get there). Something like a never ending wave system to me seems idealistic for one simple fact: itemization. Even at 99, there are always items out there that can help your build more and more. They are saying now that most of the Uniques and such will vary a lot. Even the ones with a real name will change a lot, they can be socketed or not, have more base stats, etc based on the randomization engines. Even if you have great gear there will almost ALWAYS be room to get better items through the randomization engine. Even then, there are other builds one could try and get items for to fit their needs.

Quote from "Bellend" »

Its not clever to play music while you play a game that requires alot of concentration like starcraft2 or Diablo3, because creatures around you will be sneaking so it good to hear their footsteps.

No, but you would be amazed how many people you can catch trying to sneak up on you on a good FPS with a nice DD 5.1 surround headset.

The idea is cool, but I don't know. Personally, I liked different multicolor renditions of Disintegrate people have done. I have seen it in a nice violet with white hue and many others, I think it might have been here. The only problem I see with the beam changing color over time is, how exactly do you tell how long its been on each target? Lets say your shooting it down a hall of zombies, its hitting 5-8 zombies, but a few actually walk into the beam over time coming close. How would you tell that the first zombie you aimed at is taking more damage that subsequent zombies who have stumbled into Disintegrate's path. Would the color of the beam tell you only how much damage its doing to the highest target? I mean, the idea makes sense artistically, but it kinda doesn't. The beam itself isn't (ideally) getting hotter because its hitting a target longer, that target is just heating up more because the beam has been there longer.

As long as the game supports 5.1 DD surround I am fine. I got a nice head set from my WoW days awaiting SC2 and Diablo 3...

Yeah, personally the only reason I even played WoW was because it was the closest thing we had to a Diablo 3. I think others who share my perspective may drop WoW for D3, but I don't think the SC2 community would effect WoW as much. Sure, it will mean some people will play their other games, but Blizzard wants you to play other games other than WoW, because that just means more time you have to purchase subscription. Blizzard must hate people like me that power-quest a WoW character 8+ hours a day (when I used to play) and end up 80 in a month.

Diablo 3 might take people away from WoW for a while, but I don't think it will take the true WoW fans away for long. However, people like me who will probably beat normal with one of every class/gender combination, get one of each class to 99, and keep playing them even though they are maxed out are going to have a lot to do before release and the first expansion.

Quote from "Loaner" »

honestly I don't mind it coming out in 2011, cause that's when I graduate XD. No school more play, meh, but then there's college. But yeah 2011 ain't that bed, now stretched to 2012 then we'll have to talk >>

Yeah, I practically dropped college for weed and WoW, don't do it, it sucks. Then again, Diablo 3 would probably allow you much more time since you could play it and stop any time, unlike WoW where you have to take 4 hours to do an effin instance and 8+ to do a whole raid.

I personally love the idea myself, without items or exp. I have always wanted some sort of "end game" for Diablo, but without making it a dungeon or final boss. We shouldn't need to be level 99 to finish Hell for any given reason. However, I would love to see something that would still give you something to do at 99. A challenge above all challenges. Ultimate survival mode, a never ending game of pure skill.

The only problem I see with it is time. Not everybody wants to spend 8 hours on their computer, and if you just get that good that you could be playing it for 8+ hours, it might not really appeal to you anymore. Would there be a save system so you could come back and continue your onslaught, or would ending the game mean you accept whatever wave you are on as your final score?