Yet, they aren’t happy with it. Blizzard states:

Inventory management and the systems that surround it are something we’re obviously interested in, but not something that can really be tuned until we have more of the item game fleshed out and tuned itself. It’s hard to know exactly the best way to handle inventory management when the items, types, pickup frequency, and removal frequency can’t really be measured with any real accuracy.

I hope this doesn’t mean we get to play item tetris – as it was in Diablo 2 with different items taking different number of slots.

At the same time, Blizzard obviously don’t want to copy WoW’s inventory system. Or, Warhammer Online’s system of different bags filtering different item types. They want to make us THINK about which items we put in the inventory.

In public Blizzard remained adamant about the art direction but since then they have let the Art Director go and lo and behold – the updated screenshots look very much LIKE Diablo 2!

Check out the desert screenshot below – I did some minor sharpening in Photoshop but I must say it looks like Act II (Lut Gholein). Mercifully, the green grass has been removed and the characters look dark and desperate!

For starters, a new character will be playable at Blizzcon – the Monk! According to pundits, he replaces the Paladin, so for all of you Hammerdin fans, try to find some love for the Monk.

The Monk’s skills are: Crippling Wave, Impenetrable Defense (bubble?), Exploding Palm, Seven-sided Strike, Way of the Hundred Fists. As usual, you can check these in action here.

You can check out gameplay video below:

Stay tuned for more Blizzcon coverage!

Well, Diablo 3 takes center stage at this Blizzcon! The Barbarian is displayed prominently on the homepage (next to something green looking like a Starcraft II ghost).

OK, a few bullet points about Blizzcon 2009!

• Tickets will go on sale worldwide on Saturday, May 16 for $125 each
• Blizzcon 2009 will be held on August 21 and 22 in Anaheim, California
• You get a unique WoW (non-combat) pet – Grunty the murloc marine
• Global finals for the 2009 Warcraft III and WoW Arena will be held – finalists get top prize of $25,000 per player

If you’re not able to attend, there’s the poor man’s Blizzcon – live Directv coverage for just $39.95. You do the murloc marine pet, so if you need a green/blue blob around you at all times, make sure you give your hard-earned cash to Blizzard.

Bill Roper is the producer of the original Diablo and Diablo II and he thinks that Diablo is a Gothic fantasy. He thinks the CLOWNs at Blizzard have took the game over and have repainted the graphics in their favorite cartoony colors.

I think that one of the things that we always tried to get across was that Diablo was Gothic fantasy and I think there was just a need that was put in there from the visuals that I didn’t necessarily get. I got it from the architecture and to a degree from the character design but not the feeling of the world. I can’t say that I dislike it. I didn’t look at it and go, oh my God that’s horrible. But I looked at it and went, it’s not really… to me as a player it just didn’t really ring with Diablo.

Admittedly, it could be that Bill Roper is bitter about the dismal failure of the Hellgate: London project. Frankly, though, I agree with him – we need MORE blood and guts and dark horrors, not LESS.

Combat Skills Combat Masteries Warcries

Level 1 Bash Sword Mastery, Axe Mastery, Mace Mastery Howl, Find Potion
Level 6 Double Swing, Leap Polearm Mastery, Throwing Mastery, Spear Mastery Shout, Taunt
Level 12 Double Throw, Stun Increased Stamina Find Item
Level 18 Leap Attack, Concentrate Iron Skin Battle Cry
Level 24 Frenzy Increased Speed Battle Orders, Grim Ward
Level 30 Whirlwind, Berserk Natural Resistance War Cry, Battle Command

“Being born out of pits of human misery, these beings feed on human suffering. Wherever bodies are dumped together unceremoniously, the unburied may rise.”

That’s neat. I wonder if my Barbarian should pack a shovel to dispose of bodies in individual graves now. Or God forbid, the unburied will arise again.

Anyway, check out the updated media section.

Here’s the theme park contest rules:

What thrills would you seek in the Blizzard Entertainment theme park of your dreams? This is your chance to show us.

We’re challenging you to design and illustrate your own Blizzard Entertainment Theme Park, including roller coasters, water rides, shows, shopping areas, food courts, game areas, patrons, and whatever fantastic attractions you desire.

Submit your original park design by March 30, 2009, and we’ll choose our favorites based on the creativity of the design, artistic technique (including the medium and style), and how your park reflects the lore and spirit of Blizzard Entertainment’s games.

In case you’re wondering, there is a prize: Wacom Cintiq 12WX Digitizing Tablet, a pair of StarCraft II beta keys, and more.

OK, let’s go over how runes worked in Diablo 2. There are 33 runes that drop from monsters. Note that some runes drop often while others drop extremely (e.g. Zod rune). Also, there are items with sockets that are able to take runes (or jewels). Some rune combinations (called runewords) create Runic Items, which are among the most powerful items in the game.

For example, socketing the runes Hel + Ohm + Um + Lo + Cham gives your axe or hammer a whole bunch of additional stats and it also adds the label “Doom”.

OK, so what are the changes to the runes in Diablo 3? Runes will still be used to CUSTOMIZE your character, however, runes no longer modify ITEMS. Instead they’ll be added to skills (each skill has a single rune slot).

Also, to make runes easier to use, rune names will be changed to reflect their effect, e.g. Rune of Multistriking. How does this affect gameplay?

For example, a Minor Multistrike Rune attached to the Skull of Flame will make projectile skip along the ground once , but higher quality Runes like the Major Multistrike Rune may raise the amount of bounces and the distance traveled by the projectile.

Jay Wilson, Diablo 3 Lead designer, expressed his strong desire to make each skill customizable while at the same time retaining the uniqueness of each class. In other words, he doesn’t want the Barbarian to be able to mimic the Wizard by adding certain runes to skills.

The barbarian character looks fine when reduced several times but zoom in and you see brush strokes – it looks like the artist had an hour or less.

It does carry the message that barbarian armor is crude and rugged but I’d love to see a bit more details. Other AAA titles have MUCH, MUCH superior art.

Update: I see a few Blizzard fanboys commenting how I don’t appreciate Blizzard brushstroke genius. I simply said “I’d love to see a bit more details“. Here’s what I mean – compare Warhammer concept art to Diablo 3 concept art. Now, tell me Blizzard are not taking shortcuts when it comes to concept art. They do and you’ll be blind as a bat if you don’t see a difference in the level of “finish”.