Author Topic: Diablo 3 is here and ITS AWESOME!  (Read 119516 times)

Offline MysterD

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #40 on: Tuesday, July 01, 2008, 02:17:49 PM »
Idol found this image and it's exactly right.  Diablo just needs to look more gritty, less clean.  That image demonstrates perfectly where the misstep lies.  That's some brilliant use of post-processing and highlights changes in color and lighting that suit the game much, much better and make it feel much closer to its predecessors.

Some fans not thrilled w/ the artwork style for D3 are petitioning online for a change in art direction to be more like the old-Diablo style.

Quote
Unhappy Diablo Fans Start Petition
[Ure "Vader" Paul]
09:13 am EDT @ July 01st, 2008
Filed under: BLIZZARD, DIABLO, DIABLO 3, WORLD OF WARCRAFT

It appears that Blizzard's new art direction for Diablo III made certain fans of the franchise rather unhappy. They've decided to express their discontent with a petition that asks people to support the notion of a darker, more realistic art style, and not something that's, as they put it, so similar to World of Warcraft. Here are some of their wishes:

    * A darker, gothic, cryptic and creepier environment.
    * A more realistic artistic direction, more independent from the Warcraft universe art direction.
    * Darker dungeons without a blue/green environment, Diablo dungeons are dark and shadowy.

You know there is some truth to this. It's obvious Blizzard moved away from the style and art of the old Diablo games. Speaking as a true-hearted Diablo fan, I must say that this new direction is a good choice. True enough, it is similar in some ways to WoW's artwork, but c'mon guys, why are you so bothered by it? It's really not something I'd start a pointless petition over. The game looks awesome at this point

Offline Quemaqua

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #41 on: Tuesday, July 01, 2008, 05:59:20 PM »
I added my signature, for what it's worth.  I actually like the blue/green look to the dungeons, but I agree with everything else.

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Offline gpw11

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #42 on: Tuesday, July 01, 2008, 10:13:20 PM »
Goddamn it, every time I decide I don't like these types of games I get sucked back into Titan Quest. 

Offline MysterD

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #43 on: Wednesday, July 02, 2008, 01:36:11 PM »
Goddamn it, every time I decide I don't like these types of games I get sucked back into Titan Quest. 

TQ and D2 are like crack w/ its single-minded style of play -- you play it for a bit, you put it down for a while, but then you come right back to it for a short period of time has gone by, repeat process.

I don't think D2 and TQ are the kind of game that you can really play for hours and hours and hours and hours....


Offline MysterD

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #44 on: Wednesday, July 02, 2008, 02:51:34 PM »
GameSpy Interview w/ Leonard Boyarsky of Blizz
Diablo III's Lead World Designer, who so happens to be Leonard Boyarsky, talks w/ GameSpy.

Side note: Some of you around here may remember Leonard Boyarksy as one of the lead designers/lead writers from the old-school BIS days (Fallout 1 and 2) and also Troika Games days (Arcanum, Vampire: Bloodlines).


Having him aboard Blizzard to do D3....damn, this is just more great Diablo 3 news, if you ask me....

Quote
Diablo III: Deep in Hell with Leonard Boyarsky (PC)
We talk with Diablo III's lead world designer about creating a rich world that many gamers will never see.
By GameSpy Staff | June 29, 2008

Leonard Boyarsky has a very tough job. He's lead world designer for Diablo III, the sequel to the quintessential action-RPG notorious for appealing to players who would never read quest text in an MMO and think story is that annoying few moments between fights and the next piece of "phat loot." Boyarsky is the guy who integrates the vast background of Diablo's world of Sanctuary with its diverse civilizations and rich and storied history into a game that prides itself on blazing action. Despite this and the punishing pace of working a show as chaotic as Blizzard's World Wide Invitational in Paris, France, though, Boyarsky seems like a pretty chipper guy. The reason is that he sees the challenge of integrating a deep background and a rich story into Diablo III as less a problem than an opportunity to try out a new twist on storytelling in games.

"I wasn't a hardcore Diablo fan before joining Blizzard," Boyarsky says as we begin talking. "I played them, of course, and I really liked them, but I usually like a lot more story depth in my games." According to Boyarsky, what drew him to the project was what he sees as the franchise's untapped potential for storytelling. "A lot of people are afraid that we're going to slow the gameplay down by enriching the story parts of the game. We're not doing that at all." The idea is to use some simple cinematic techniques such as dialogue rather than monologue to convey quest information and crafting richer backstories for the main characters that will be reflected in their artwork and the way they view the central action of the story.

One of the examples of this Boyarsky likes to use is the new Witch Doctor class. Unlike the previous games in which the player's avatar was more archetype than actual character, the classes in Diablo III are designed with complete backstories including who they were before the story began, why they're interested in the events of Diablo III, and who they are as people. The Witch Doctor is angry, someone who's been broken by a life that's dealt a few too many hard knocks and not enough joy. This is someone tired of being smacked in the head, so he uses his mystical powers to get into the heads of others (and if that doesn't work, a swarm of locusts will get under their skin). Boyarsky also cites the new city of Caldeum that became the seat of government when Karast fell in Diablo II. How an open-trade city changes when its freewheeling style is co-opted by colorless government bureaucrats is something that informs everything from character development to artwork to the nature of quests.

"Working all of this stuff out is a day-to-day challenge," Boyarsky says of the continual iterative process. As he describes it, it "...bounces back-and-forth between story and art and gameplay design." While Boyarsky is responsible for the creative integrity of the storyline, the details of the world often change based on what comes out of other areas. An artist will create a really cool piece of artwork that has to be fit into the history of the world somewhere and gameplay mechanics must be invented for. A new monster is built around a really interesting combat encounter and Boyarsky's the one who must rip pieces of the world away, juggle them around and put them back together in a way that makes sense within the rules of Diablo's fictional universe.


"I do recall one idea that I was really resistant to," Boyarsky recalled. "It was going to require me to re-write a third of everything I had created and looking back, I resisted because I just didn't want to do it." In the end, however, the idea was just too good and ended up going in the game, making it an argument Boyarsky says he's glad he lost. "One of the reasons this process works is because we're all gamers. It made the game better and that's the bottom line."

"I often use other games as examples of why story is important, even in an action game," Boyarsky said. "Sadly few games really love to tell stories." He cites games like Half-Life and Half-Life 2 as examples of games that integrate stories into dialogue and environment without sacrificing any of their fast-paced action. "The word around the office is that Diablo III is 'action with a capital A'," he said. "Lately, though, it seems like people are looking for more story in genres that aren't necessarily known for being story-driven." This is what pushes Boyarsky on. "People are ready for us to take Diablo III to new places rather than make Diablo all over again.

EDIT, 7/3/2008:
1Up has an interview with Ron Pardo of Blizz
1Up interview w/ Ron Pardo
Quote
1UP: On the subject of Diablo III being a more colorful game, there's already comments online about the color palette. Can you talk about how the team arrived at the decision for a wider color palette?

RP: Yeah, so we've probably been through, I don't know, maybe three major art direction changes on the game. And the previous two were probably a little more similar to the Diablo II look. But it just didn't feel right anymore. It didn't feel like an interesting enough environment to play in anymore. So when we finally came up with this look, what we're really trying to do is add more color to the game, and we were very careful to not want to go to WOW. We don't want the game to look like WOW. We want it to look like Diablo. But we felt that there was an opportunity to add more color to the game but still keep the game feeling dark. And I think that's something a little tougher to see in a demo. I think when you're playing the game, people will fall in love with it, and will realize, "you know what? You can have reds and blues and a more painted look and still have a very dark, gothic feel to it all."
« Last Edit: Thursday, July 03, 2008, 07:26:37 PM by MysterD »

Offline MysterD

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #45 on: Tuesday, August 05, 2008, 07:02:43 PM »
Diablo III designer Jay Wilson talks about The Necromancer Class -- why it was cut from D3, that it was even unpopular amongst designers to have this class not included D3, and that the class might be back sometime down the road (like say in say a D3 Expansion).

Quote
On Diablo III's Necromancer Cut & Possible Return [August 05, 2008, 7:21 pm ET] - 5 Comments
Diablo III Designer Explains Why Necromancer Was Cut, Hints At Return on MTV Multiplayer justifies cutting the Necromancer class from the action/RPG sequel, and hints that this may not be a permanent situation: The reason it was cut was because they didn't want to rehash the characters from previous Diablos (the Barbarian returns because they thought they had a new take on the character), but lead designer Jay Wilson indicates this was not a universal opinion, even among the Diablo III developers, so the Necromancer may eventually be, yes, resurrected:

    “There’s a lot of people on our team who aren’t happy with our class choices,” he admitted. “But after we’ve established ‘Diablo III’ as its own game with its own type of gameplay and experiences, I wouldn’t be opposed to looking at old classes. We are trying to design [the Witch Doctor] class so that if we did bring back the Necromancer, there’s room for him. We’re looking out ahead of time at what our expansions are going to be, so we’ve got to keep room open for some of those other classes down the road.”

Offline Quemaqua

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #46 on: Tuesday, August 05, 2008, 08:11:46 PM »
I think it's funny that they care at all about rehashing when people are still playing Diablo II and still aren't sick of it.  I mean, the classes are half the fun.  I wouldn't mind new takes on old classes, of course, but it seems weird to just drop them.

All I know is I want a return of the Rogue.  Damn it!  Amazons just didn't cut it.

天才的な閃きと平均以下のテクニックやな。 課長有野

Offline Quemaqua

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #47 on: Sunday, September 14, 2008, 02:52:58 PM »
Brad Shoemaker changing his tune?  I agree with the dude in comments who said Jeff just likes to take whatever side the net mob isn't on, so he can seem reasonable by contrast (because he never does on his own), and the other, smarter members of the team sort of go along with it.  But it's interesting to see Brad's take on this video, which I wasn't even aware of until today, and I was actually surprised at it.  I didn't think the use of color was really what bothered me so much, but after watching that video, it absolutely looks 100% better to me.  It was like an epiphany... suddenly it looked like a Diablo game.

What do you guys think of it?

天才的な閃きと平均以下のテクニックやな。 課長有野

Offline MysterD

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #48 on: Sunday, September 14, 2008, 03:51:22 PM »
Regardless of the art direction-style, Diablo III looks very impressive either way.
Though, I do prefer the old-school dark Diablo-look over the new clean-cut look.

Offline Xessive

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #49 on: Monday, September 15, 2008, 07:15:55 AM »
I think beyond the new art style, Diablo III's animations are what will really shine. Blizzard will make it smooth and sleak that years down the animations will still look great.

Offline PyroMenace

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #50 on: Tuesday, September 16, 2008, 02:54:58 AM »
Well I dont know if my opinion matters too much since Im not totally endeared to the Diablo games. I can say Im pretty happy with the look Blizz has set for it and when I watched the video where the colors desaturated to nearly black and white and made the game more difficult to see, I was immediately turned off. I really hope Blizzard doesnt listen to these people.

Offline Xessive

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #51 on: Tuesday, September 16, 2008, 04:16:25 AM »
Blizzard have done an impeccable job with all their titles and I think the fans should trust in what artistic decisions they've made. In the end, this is Blizzard's own franchise, they're not developing it on behalf of someone else; it is their baby!

Personally I like the new art style.

Offline Quemaqua

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #52 on: Tuesday, September 16, 2008, 06:55:45 AM »
Except that probably none of the people working on Diablo III had anything to do with the previous two.  Frankly, I think the whole "ownership" argument is done to death and not particularly compelling.

天才的な閃きと平均以下のテクニックやな。 課長有野

Offline Xessive

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #53 on: Tuesday, September 16, 2008, 07:57:52 AM »
Either way the people in charge at Blizzard wouldn't allow it to turn into something terrible.

I know the whole "ownership" discussion is overdone but it's still valid to an extent. Regardless, I always hope that any discourse leads the developers into an even better direction. No contest, no development, right?

Offline Quemaqua

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #54 on: Tuesday, September 16, 2008, 05:32:22 PM »
Again, I don't think the game is going to be terrible.  I think that no matter what direction it takes, it's going to be awesome and even people who might wish it was more in line with what came before it will still be swayed into liking it simply because it's one of Blizzard's usual pieces of greatness.  Don't get me wrong.  I don't think it's a huge issue, or one that will ultimately make the franchise hang in the balance or anything.  Just sucks to watch a unique franchise start to look like everything else, even if only visually.

天才的な閃きと平均以下のテクニックやな。 課長有野

Offline Xessive

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #55 on: Tuesday, September 16, 2008, 06:12:56 PM »
Again, I don't think the game is going to be terrible.  I think that no matter what direction it takes, it's going to be awesome and even people who might wish it was more in line with what came before it will still be swayed into liking it simply because it's one of Blizzard's usual pieces of greatness.  Don't get me wrong.  I don't think it's a huge issue, or one that will ultimately make the franchise hang in the balance or anything.  Just sucks to watch a unique franchise start to look like everything else, even if only visually.
I know what you mean. It's like the devs are just slaves to trends. Remember when the Bloom effect was the "in" thing?

I have faith in Blizzard. Afterall, they cancelled StarCraft Ghost because they felt it would be inconsistent with the StarCraft universe and its original fanbase.

I feel like reinstalling Titan Quest now!

Offline Quemaqua

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #56 on: Monday, September 22, 2008, 08:19:35 PM »
Just something interesting I ran across the other day (from the introduction of The Witcher's artbook) that I think gives a little more practical substance to the arguments about Diablo's traditional visual design and the impact it had.  It just sounds like whining from fans, yet the impact was made; and in this circumstance, you can see that it helped inspire the beautiful and acclaimed visual design of one of the best RPGs in years.

Quote from: Adam Badowski, Head of Art, The Witcher
We drafted the artistic concept [of The Witcher] at the turn of 2002 and 2003.  Familiar with Andrzej Sapkowski's prose, having a clear idea of how it should look in game form, we devised the overriding visual formula within a few weeks.  The Witcher would draw on the 'dark fantasy' genre and the best available example of it - Diablo 2.  This was consistent with our vision of a brutal and grimy game world that would afford little room for charming illusions.  It had to be a thoroughly believable world, a convincing backdrop for the contemporary social problems that would play out within it.

And that isn't to say that The Witcher isn't vibrant and full of color, because it is.  You just have to know what you're doing and figure out how to properly marry that richness with the bleakness that makes dark fantasy what it is.
« Last Edit: Tuesday, September 23, 2008, 12:09:19 AM by Quemaqua »

天才的な閃きと平均以下のテクニックやな。 課長有野

Offline Pugnate

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #57 on: Monday, September 22, 2008, 11:58:58 PM »
Earlier, I felt weird complaining about the art style myself, because it indeed did feel like the typical internet whining, but the art design of Diablo III really does need some changes.

For me, Diablo is all about atmosphere. That atmosphere is created by the music and the art direction. Without that, the game might as well be Titan Quest.

Offline MysterD

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #58 on: Tuesday, September 23, 2008, 05:38:24 PM »
I'm with Que on that. Yeah, Witcher really knew what it was doing, when to be colorful and when to be gritty and bleak.

Vizima itself was a very bleak place; in color and whatnot....
(click to show/hide)

Though...
(click to show/hide)

Though, I also think much of the color in the game can be found on most of the women in the game and anybody with some sort of aristocratic importance.



Offline Quemaqua

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #59 on: Tuesday, September 23, 2008, 06:15:18 PM »
But there are lots of moments that break through the bleak coat of paint.  Often indoors you'll see shafts of light illuminating certain areas from windows or what have you, there are some fantastic sunsets that paint buildings and fields with lovely tones, and many of the costumes, setpiece areas for unique encounters, and that kind of thing stand out from the rest.  I love those moments... but the bleakness is what gives them more power than they might otherwise have.  A pretty little tavern full of happy drunkards is dime-a-dozen stuff in a game like Fable, but in The Witcher it's a refreshingly bright bastion in a long expanse of darker stuff, because you don't see trees with blossoming flowers every time you turn around, and the sky gets overcast a lot, and you see the filth on the streets and the dead from the plague.  Even in areas where things are nicer, you get the social problems to cast a nice shadow over the more pleasant-looking architecture, you work the story to bring those dark fantasy elements flooding back when the player least expects it.  The game isn't a cartoon in any sense (other than some of the technical shortcomings which add unintentional humor, heh), and I think I'm realizing now that this is why I'm so afraid of Diablo 3's potential for being more cartoony.

Because Diablo is really a fucking cartoon.  Run into huge hordes of dudes, swing away, watch them all explode and fly back in showers of blood, then go follow the totally comic-booky fantasy story and love the hell out of it.  I mean, there really isn't much character drama, that much concern for people, that much that draws you into the world as a whole.  And that part is totally fine being a sort of caricature, because the dark visuals back it up and make it feel like it has some real substance.  But take away the bleakness, the rawness of the visuals, what with giant pools of blood full of naked rogues, or the tree where all the dead hang above the graveyard... and all you've got is the mechanical parts of the game that made it so great.  Which are still great, but it's a big loss.  Warhammer 40k is totally awesome, but how much would it lose if you took off that gritty, gothic, bitter, nasty edge?  Even if it was still dark, it's defined by the sharpness of that edge in so many ways, it's just something that has to remain intact.  I think Diablo would simply lose a lot of what made it feel more poignant within the context of its own silliness if it was to move away from the sheer decadence of its prior art.  It needs that to help drive it, at least for me.

So maybe I just figured out why this bothers me when it doesn't seem like such a big deal.  The Witcher has a ton of subtext which means the visuals could merely compliment what is an inherently deep, dramatic, emotional experience... much more isn't needed from them, even though they often do more than simply compliment something else.  Diablo fundamentally lacks subtext and the ability to emotionally engage on a deeper level.  It doesn't have any deep-set nuance.  I don't mean to say it's ultimately shallow, because there's definitely more there than its commonly given credit for, and what's there is totally fun... and engaging, even if not emotionally.  But still, take away the punchiness of it, and I think the experience as a whole is going to suffer.  We have a lot of really good Diablo clones out there, but I think simple mechanics may be less of a reason why so many of them failed, and the lack of a deep, dark chain of striking imagery may be the real culprit.

天才的な閃きと平均以下のテクニックやな。 課長有野

Offline Xessive

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #60 on: Tuesday, September 23, 2008, 07:50:29 PM »
I thought The Witcher was done masterfully. Visuals, sound, music, story, it was all fantastic! It really is an amazing piece of art and I can't wait to see how well it was perfected in Enhanced Edition.

Offline MysterD

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #61 on: Friday, October 10, 2008, 10:45:02 AM »
New Diablo 3 class unveiled.
The Wizard


Quote
Wizard!!!
Posted 10th Oct 2008 05:09 PM by Elly

The new character has been revealed and, as somewhat expected, it’s a mage. A wizard, to be exact.  There are a bunch of screenshots and a new gameplay movie featuring the new character.  Updates to come very soon, we’re in the press room working away right now.

Here’s the press release blurb.

Quote
Blizzard Quote:    
   During the show, Blizzard Entertainment also unveiled the game’s third playable class: the wizard. A wielder of the elements and a master manipulator of time, the wizard can hurl environment-shattering lightning bolts, channel explosive arcane energies, and create pockets of space outside the normal temporal flow. BlizzCon attendees were able to adventure as either the wizard or the previously unveiled barbarian or witch doctor, battling alone or with up to three other players through the catacombs beneath Tristram Cathedral to a final showdown with the Skeleton King.

Offline idolminds

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #62 on: Friday, October 10, 2008, 03:49:26 PM »
Lots of awesome new D3 info. A work in progress full Wizard skill tree and info on Skill Runes.

Offline Pugnate

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #63 on: Friday, October 10, 2008, 10:30:01 PM »
It is actually called a Wizard?

Offline idolminds

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #64 on: Friday, October 10, 2008, 10:54:48 PM »
Yes.

Offline Xessive

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #65 on: Saturday, October 11, 2008, 05:37:54 AM »
Haha I think Pug is so underwhelmed but the banality of that title :P Call that class Warlock, Sorceror, or Mage even!

Wizard.. Sounds too close to wizzer, or a wizzer-lizard, a wizard.

I wonder if the assassin class will make an appearance.

Offline Pugnate

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #66 on: Saturday, October 11, 2008, 07:44:53 AM »
Yup, I am just surprised by the title. It goes back to the days of Diablo1, when we had a "fighter" class.

Even titles like Warlock and Mage are a touch spicier than Wizard. I'd say that the word "Wizard" along with "Sorcerer" is the oldest and most easily recognizable word used to describe a man who does magic. Imagine if the next class is simply called "Thief".

This isn't meant as a criticism of course. I'd love to run around in Diablo 3, looking like an absolute cliche of a Wizard... with my long white beard, my staff, my patched up robe, and of course... my cat.

Come to think of it, it doesn't sound that exciting. :P

Offline MysterD

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #67 on: Sunday, October 12, 2008, 03:46:09 PM »
Sounds like some of D3's MP feature will cost some money.

Sounds like there might be some official DLC that you will have to buy and maybe extra-special things you can get that'll cost $$, sometime down the line.


Quote
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Blizzard on Battle.net Subscription, Diablo 3 Modding
by Nick Breckon Oct 10, 2008 7:58pm CST tags: Diablo 3

Diablo III director Jay Wilson said today that the company does not have a great desire to charge a subscription fee for the upcoming revision of its multiplayer client Battle.net. However, the developer did note that Blizzard will likely monetize unknown features of the game.

"We are going to monetize features so that we get to make them," said Wilson. "We kind of have to."

Wilson noted that whatever the content would be, it would have an appropriate value to users.


Fans of map hacking and other Diablo II modifications have little to look forward to with the sequel, as Wilson shot down any talk of mod support.

"We don't have a lot of plans to do that. It would make our lives so much harder" he said, adding that despite the fact that he and many other designers got their start in modding, the team takes a strong stance on the hacking of their games.

Wilson also used the panel to reemphasize the trading aspect of Diablo III, saying that no items outside of specific quest rewards will be bound to players.

Offline Pugnate

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #68 on: Sunday, October 12, 2008, 09:07:59 PM »
As long as all the original MP features of Diablo are free, I am happy. But this does have me worried. What the hell sort of age are we reaching in gaming?

Offline MysterD

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #69 on: Sunday, October 12, 2008, 09:46:06 PM »
As long as all the original MP features of Diablo are free, I am happy. But this does have me worried. What the hell sort of age are we reaching in gaming?

Nickel and diming age.

Offline Quemaqua

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #70 on: Sunday, October 12, 2008, 10:00:40 PM »
The problem for me is that I just don't care enough to pay.  There are a lot of games that will go this route and I'll stop supporting them, not really out of spite, but because it just doesn't matter enough for me.  I would love to play Diablo 3 online with Sy and Idol... but pay for it?  What the fuck for?  I can go play Guild Wars and not pay a dime.  It just doesn't matter enough to me.  It'll have the single player, which *may* be attractive enough for me to make the purchase, but there's no guarantee.

天才的な閃きと平均以下のテクニックやな。 課長有野

Offline idolminds

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #71 on: Sunday, October 12, 2008, 10:23:13 PM »
I seriously doubt they will make Diablo 3 pay-to-play over bnet. I just hope the stuff they do charge for isn't stuff I REALLY want.

Offline Pugnate

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #72 on: Monday, October 13, 2008, 01:48:55 AM »
Yup, I am pretty sure normal Bnet stuff will be free.

Offline Xessive

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #73 on: Monday, October 13, 2008, 03:02:22 AM »
This micro-transaction crap is getting irritating. I'm already seeing so much crap on the Playstation Network that is basically worthless yet still costs some money. Most recently I was kind of bugged that Megaman 9 costs $13 (which is a bit much for a game that really ought to be under $5) and its additional game modes are around $4 and $2.50, totaling $19.50.

What's bugging me even more is seeing more games sticking to digital distribution. Which is a bonus to publishers in that they charge us full retail price anyway and it pretty much solves their issues with the used games market.

Offline Quemaqua

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #74 on: Monday, October 13, 2008, 06:22:58 AM »
If they start charging for items and stuff, I just plain won't play it.  The entire Diablo experience is around getting new gear and stuff, and if the best items are reserved for those who shelled out extra money, I can guarantee you I won't set foot anywhere near this.  If it's more like Guild Wars where they make totally unnecessary perks available for hardcore users (buy extra character slots, etc.), that's fine, but there's a fine line there, and it's one I'm afraid Guild Wars 2 may even cross.

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Offline MysterD

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #75 on: Monday, October 13, 2008, 07:31:51 AM »
If they start charging for items and stuff, I just plain won't play it.  The entire Diablo experience is around getting new gear and stuff, and if the best items are reserved for those who shelled out extra money, I can guarantee you I won't set foot anywhere near this.
Or say you wait for a Diablo 3 Battle Chest which includes access to that stuff. :P Hopefully that'd include that stuff in one final D3 Battle Chest. :P

I can say understand them selling DLC, which would be like expansions or mini-expansions, adding a few hours of new areas, new levels, new story, and new weapons. People would jump for that, if it was priced reasonably -- worked for Oblivion.

Quote
If it's more like Guild Wars where they make totally unnecessary perks available for hardcore users (buy extra character slots, etc.), that's fine, but there's a fine line there, and it's one I'm afraid Guild Wars 2 may even cross.
I hope GW2 don't cross that route.

Offline Xessive

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #76 on: Monday, October 13, 2008, 07:49:04 AM »
If they start charging for items and stuff, I just plain won't play it.  The entire Diablo experience is around getting new gear and stuff, and if the best items are reserved for those who shelled out extra money, I can guarantee you I won't set foot anywhere near this.  If it's more like Guild Wars where they make totally unnecessary perks available for hardcore users (buy extra character slots, etc.), that's fine, but there's a fine line there, and it's one I'm afraid Guild Wars 2 may even cross.
That would be a serious deal-breaker issue for me as well.

Speaking of Guild Wars, apprently the Complete Pack has been released, it costs about $45 USD and I was seriously thinking about but I figured I ought to try a demo out first. Even though I have only ever heard great things about GW.

Offline MysterD

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #77 on: Monday, October 13, 2008, 09:52:10 AM »
Speaking of Guild Wars, apprently the Complete Pack has been released, it costs about $45 USD and I was seriously thinking about but I figured I ought to try a demo out first. Even though I have only ever heard great things about GW.
That's a hell of a deal.

Only one I'm missing is Factions.

Offline idolminds

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #78 on: Monday, October 13, 2008, 10:18:08 AM »
Fear not!

Quote
With Battle.Net we're definitely looking at possible different features that we might be able to do for additional money. We're not talking about Hellgate or anything like that. We're not going to tack things on. I think World of Warcraft is a great example to look at. We charge people if they want to switch servers or if they want name changes, things that aren't core to the game experience, they're really just optional things that some people want. It takes us some development work to do it, so it makes sense to charge for it. We would never do something like say to get the full game experience, you'll have to pay extra.

Offline scottws

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Re: Diablo 3 is announced
« Reply #79 on: Monday, October 13, 2008, 11:16:51 AM »
I was just about to say "Didn't they learn anything from seeing what happened with Hellgate?"  Then I saw idol's last post.