Archive for the 'Diablo 3 rumors' Category

Diablo 3 approved in Korea, release now clear

Diablo 3 has finally received the blessing of Korea’s game review board. On one condition: remove all real-money transactions from the game.

I know some of you would like Blizzard to do that worldwide but no, it’s only a Korean thing (for now).

There has been a ton of speculation that Blizzard was dragging their feet with the release (and extended the beta), just to buy some time to please the Koreans. As you know, it’s one of their major markets for eSports games (Starcraft).

So now that the road is clear, when will Blizzard announce a release date for Diablo 3? If you ask the guys at BestBuy, they already did and that date is February 1. Now that’s a lot of bullshit from BestBuy, trying to get the early pre-orders.

Diablo 3 parties…

like it’s 1999. Remember the Prince song? Who would’ve thought that 1999 would come and it will be not be remembered as THE big party.

Blizzard has confessed they’ve designed Diablo 3 around the specs of a 2008 PC.

Blizzard games are intended to be accessible, and that’s seen through game design as well as system spec requirements. It’s not going to be pushing too many people’s systems to the limits, which is the intent.

We also tend to spend time on a visual style that we believe will be timeless. While the cutting edge FPS’ of a few years ago quickly fall to the glitz of newer technologies, our intent is to create a beautiful game that doesn’t age because it’s not attempting to be a representation of reality. Good thing too, because we expect people to be playing it for a long time to come.

Now, I don’t want to harp on about “Blizzard selling out”, because I always get the same two types of comments:

Type 1: I am a hardcore player and I feel Blizzard have been dumbing down their RPGs.
Type 2: My girlfriend plays WoW and she’s crazy about pandas. She says Diablo is cute too.
i.e. Blizzard have always had an incredibly broad appeal, ever since their first game, WoW.

Another interesting thing that I came across on the forums is that Blizzard has sent Diablo 3 beta keys to European gamers (like myself):

Beta keys are given out in the EU, they are distributed and given on as fair a basis as we can, as well as for the needs that we have for testing purposes. Please do note that not everyone in the US receives Beta keys for DIII, they are limited in the number they give out as well.

They claim they did, I say none of my friends got one. Well, my friends are playing SWTOR now, so they care none.

Update: I just read Tobold’s blog and hit this post about a comparison between SWTOR and WoW when it comes to system requirements. He says WoW runs at 80 FPS on his 2-year old laptop, while SWTOR runs at 10 FPS.

Although I read that the GFX optimizations for SWTOR haven’t really made it to the release version, it seems to be another testament of how broad Blizzard target is.

Diablo 3 Demon Hunter revamp

Diablo 3 Demon Hunter was announced last, so it stands to reason that it is the archetype in most need of fine-tuning. After all, the Barbarian is almost identical to it’s Diablo 2 counterpart. The Wizard looks very similar as well.

Blizzard, however, has been sending mixed signals when it comes to the scope of the changes to class – as a result of user feedback during the closed beta.

First, they said that the Demon Hunter is all fine and dandy and that the only changes will be to the skill unlocks:

We’re not overhauling the class, just changing up what skills unlock at which levels and fixing some of their resource starvation issues. It’s easy to change this kind of stuff. Spreadsheet stuff.

However, on the Italian Battle.net forum, they posted:

We are radically changing the resource management of the Demon Hunter, including changes to unlocking skills, use of resources and more. (Translated)

I think both of these could actually be true.

The demon hunter is the only class where the player has to manage two resources at the same time: hatred and discipline.

In an ideal world, it could have worked but when you consider everyone of the other character has a single resource, you realize that might be a losing battle for the game designers. There will be pressure from players to see a streamlined character.

There have been enough complaints already from beta testers about the healing orbs falling too far away for ranged characters, requiring constant going back and forth. So you add dual resource management to the health management issues already present, it becomes a bit too much.

Diablo 3 beta video leaked

Yes, there’s a video from the Diablo 3 beta! It’s only 20 seconds long and there isn’t much to see apart from the ten characters in Diablo 3.

Yet, the fact that the beta is real and that Diablo 3 is probably on track for a 2011 release is nothing short of AMAZING!

Update: Video disappeared, so here’s a commentary that INCLUDES the leaked video as well as some screenshots.

Diablo 3 beta invites

I was extremely excited when a few people reported that they have just received Diablo 3 beta invites. Turns out, they were all journalists from game and computer-related media.

Like this twit sent by Rich from CNET:

Diablo 3 beta invite just showed up. Any cardio routines out there that target your index finger?

So who’s this Rich guy? He is “Senior Editor covering desktop PCs, gaming, and other topics for CNET.com”. OK, I get it, this round of beta keys goes to the media.

In fact, here’s the beta email that Blizzard is sending to game journalists across the globe (hint).

Greetings from Blizzard Entertainment!
We’re gearing up for the forthcoming launch of Diablo III and would like to extend you an invitation to participate in the beta test. If you are interested in participating, you need to have a Battle.net account, which you can create on our Battle.net website.

Send us your Battle.net account login name and we will flag you for access to the Diablo III beta test when we begin admitting press. You do not need to go through the opt-in process. Please note that we do not currently have a date to announce for the start of the beta test.

There will be no NDA associated with the beta test, so you’re free to write and take screen shots or video as you please.

To secure your place among the first of Sanctuary’s heroes, we’ll need to have your Battle.net account login name by Tuesday, August 30.

Thanks and see you all in the Burning Hells!

So what can you do? I mean apart from joining CNET as a game journalist. Quite simple, really, as Bashiok said yesterday: “In order to be eligible to participate in the Diablo III beta test, you should set up a Beta Profile on your Battle.net account.”

Diablo 3 beta release date

Diablo 3 beta is probably just a few weeks away.

Blizzard has already finalized the box art for Diablo 3 beta, so that you can select it in your Battle.net account as part of the beta selection process.

Btw, if you still haven’t signed up for the beta, go to your Battle.net account now.

In addition to the Diablo 3 box art, Blizzard’s PR machine has roared to life, announcing a press tour starting August 1.

According to MMO Champion, it’s the same pattern as with Cataclysm – the beta release date is probably 2 weeks away.




Get into the Diablo 3 beta!

Hundreds of beta keys will be sent.
Note: You get ONE email, when Blizzard announces Diablo 3 beta.


  

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