Diablo 3 Press Event

[Jedimindtrixxx]

Long DiabloFans article has been posted talking about the Media Event that happened on the 27th. Force has also released some videos about the media event too, go check them out lots of info.

DiabloFans Article

Force Videos Thread

The media event videos are outside of the for easier access.

TL;DR summary of the article

• D1 Warrior (the Dark Wanderer) was retconned, he is now King Leoric's eldest son.
• Fire reigns from the sky, dead arise from graves, bring heroes to Tristram.
• Book of Cain fills the 20-year gap between LoD and D3.
• Leah is Adria's daughter and Cain's adopted niece.
• 6 active skills instead of 7. Traits revamped into "passive skills," only 3 active at a time.
• Each class has ~20 skills and ~15 passives.
• Cauldron of Jordan: Allows you to sell items from battle.
• Nephalem Cube: Salvages items.
• Stone of Recall: D3's version of a hearthstone.
• Stash is huge! Larger than LoD's and has 5 pages, that you can purchase for gold.
• DH has 2 separate resources, Hatred and Discipline, both regenerate at a certain rate.
• Beta will only be a portion of Act 1 and will be relatively small.
• Real money auction house as well as a gold auction house and direct trading.
• Banner system to represent each person individually.
• Character naming system is exactly like SC2's. Name#XXX.
• Willpower is removed.

Discuss.

 

[Bloodcount]

Q: How will PvP be implemented in Diablo III?

A: While Diablo III is designed primarily for cooperative multiplayer, we are building in support for competitive player-vs.-player gameplay as well. We’re focusing on team-based PvP in an arena setting, and we’re being careful to avoid PvP features that can easily lead to griefing, such as the ability to go hostile at will. We also plan to integrate Battle.net’s matchmaking system, a progression-based ranking system, and more.

and

: What matchmaking functionality will the game include?

A: With Diablo III, it will be easier than ever to quickly group up with your friends or other players in the community. When looking for a group, players will be able to simply broadcast an invite to all of their Real ID friends. Anyone who sees this broadcast can accept the offer with one click and automatically be added to their friend’s game.

We’ll also be including a robust public game finder for those times when you just want to play with whoever’s available on Battle.net as opposed to Real ID friends specifically. This feature will bring together players based on different factors, such as the part of the game they’re looking to play through.

Regardless of whom you group with, the game is designed to offer a seamless, fun experience. Players will be able to easily transition between single-player and cooperative play with their characters at any point during their Diablo III campaign, and the map will dynamically adjust to accommodate for additional players midstream. This means more-powerfuldemons to slay, more loot exploding out of corpses, and more fun on the fly. In addition, the game will offer each player their own individual loot drops, health globes will be automatically shared among players, and players will be unable to go hostile at will, all of which should help cut down on unfair ambushes and other types of griefing.

For player-vs.-player matchmaking, the game will group players together in the PvP arenas based on level and skill, making for fun, closely matched PvP action.

: What matchmaking functionality will the game include?

A: With Diablo III, it will be easier than ever to quickly group up with your friends or other players in the community. When looking for a group, players will be able to simply broadcast an invite to all of their Real ID friends. Anyone who sees this broadcast can accept the offer with one click and automatically be added to their friend’s game.

We’ll also be including a robust public game finder for those times when you just want to play with whoever’s available on Battle.net as opposed to Real ID friends specifically. This feature will bring together players based on different factors, such as the part of the game they’re looking to play through.

Regardless of whom you group with, the game is designed to offer a seamless, fun experience. Players will be able to easily transition between single-player and cooperative play with their characters at any point during their Diablo III campaign, and the map will dynamically adjust to accommodate for additional players midstream. This means more-powerfuldemons to slay, more loot exploding out of corpses, and more fun on the fly. In addition, the game will offer each player their own individual loot drops, health globes will be automatically shared among players, and players will be unable to go hostile at will, all of which should help cut down on unfair ambushes and other types of griefing.

For player-vs.-player matchmaking, the game will group players together in the PvP arenas based on level and skill, making for fun, closely matched PvP action.

and

Q: What is the banner system?

A: Think you're better than all of your friends? Your banner will prove it. The banner system will be avisual representation of the achievements players earn across all of their Diablo III characters on their Battle.net account. A player’s banner will have multiple components that can be earned through various modes of gameplay. Completing different parts of the game at different difficulty levels, defeating bosses, earning achievements in PvP, and earning various other achievements will unlock ways for players to customize their banner and show off their progress in the game.

Is what made my day. ^_^

So, ladder, option for non preset things, and a banner where you can show off. all that in diablo's world and with the hack and slash battle system... can't get much better than this : )))))))))

 

[Renendaru]

What's still not clicking in my head, is the skills system. How many skills does each class have in total?

 

[Jedimindtrixxx]

What's still not clicking in my head, is the skills system. How many skills does each class have in total?

i dk myself rly, but you can only have 6 total.

also, 3 new vids from force on the force thread, top 3 r the new ones. one talks bout the skills

 

[tommerbob]

A real money Auction House. My initial reaction, probably like 99% of most other players, was complete shock and horror. I was expecting some major announcements, even an announcement about an Auction House; but not like this. I am still in shock. I don't really know what to think at this point, lots of different stuff has gone through my mind.

I could go into a lot of detail about this, but I won't. Right now for me, the bottom line is that Blizzard's reason for including such a feature is 90% bullshit. I say 90% because I did play Diablo 2, and I do know the ridiculous extent of third-party boting, hacking, and profiting that goes on. However, Blizzard has stated repeatedly that they will ensure security against hackers and boters in Diablo 3. ORLY!? If you have the technology to do that, then you don't need a damn real money bullshit auction house to do it. The fact that Blizzard will tax every transaction? Heaven forbid they will already make hundreds of millions off this game. They are using this as a simple excuse to make more money.

At this point, I'm simply at a loss for what to think. Am I completely against this feature? No. A very small part me is saying "Okay, this isn't April 1st, and Blizzard isn't completely f*cking retarded....right?"

And the new skill changes? WTF!? I mean, I'm not necessarily against the change, I can see their reasoning behind it; but still, WTF!?

All I can say is, we'll have to see what happens. I'm considering not buying Diablo 3 at this point. It's sad because i'm a diehard Diablo and Blizzard fan.

 

[Jedimindtrixxx]

However, Blizzard has stated repeatedly that they will ensure security against hackers and boters in Diablo 3. ORLY!? If you have the technology to do that, then you don't need a damn real money bullshit auction house to do it.

As quoted in the previous thread from this article;

Their reasoning behind doing this is simply because the players want it. If the players didn't want it, they would not have been using shady third party sites, like d2jsp in the D2 era of the series. Essentially, all Blizzard did was make something that was previously unofficial and sketchy, official and supported.

you can blame all those fags on D2 who bought their items and/or bought d2jsp points to trade for their items.

i never personally used d2jsp or bought anything from sites and i turned out ok, all i did was use in-game trading and i didnt fall behind really, so im hoping that would still work in d3

Cleaned up the opening post for easier reading now that i aint so jumpy over it.

@Renendaru, each class has ~20 skills and ~15 passives. But out of the ~20 you can only use 6 (meaning you gotta choose which skills wisely and get a good build going)


The thing i dont understand is the TP removal and replacement with the stone. they said they dont want TPs because of rushing, but then they said they made rushing available because you can teleport to your friend whenever, and said they wont stop rushing because they made high level monsters not level you so all you are doing is ruining the story by getting rushed and not getting anything out of it, so i dont understand why they have the stone and not town portals....????? i was always attached to TPs in diablo 1 and 2 because of how cool i found the concept as a kid and it stayed with me

 

[Dan]

I really think that the auction house system will be a success. If Blizzard has taught us anything, it is that EVERYTHING can be balanced with enough effort. Where they failed to support a good economy with in-game gold in D2, I believe they are going to go full force in making up for this time around. How embarrassing do you think it is for a game company to see players totally trash in-game gold for other forms of barter and trade with third party sites that they have no control over? How embarrassing do you think it must be for them to watch their players get hacked because of a fault in their system? I think Blizzard is coming back with a vengeance. What they are doing is a response to these old problems. The concept itself will work. If all their systems work well, (offline modes stop duping and hacking/auction house makes in-game economy flourish/ griefing is impossible/pvp support keeps people busy when off of campaign/ friends connect quickly/longevity of game is sustained through several modes and optional quests) then this game will rock on.

I implore you to take on the attitude of "if done correctly, what Blizzard wants to accomplish will be amazing" instead of "the original concept is no good and can never work". The truth is that the concepts that they are going after CAN work. Implementation is key.

 

[Jedimindtrixxx]

Nobody is doubting that it will be successful, people are just upset because some people are going to take the easy route and buy their items when they themselves are going to have to work their ass' off getting the items. i personally dont have that much of a problem with it on second thought, i was never the strongest on d2 because i never used d2jsp but regular trading, and i was fine with that so i figure whats the difference here, people will do it anyway, this way its more legit though i guess. the only thing i dont like is the no offline SP, not personally all i used it for in d2 is to use a trainer to see how a build would turn out in the end with everything, the only reason i don't like it is because they say that 'we want to push for co-op play' when everybody knows for a fact that they are doing it because they are money-hungry and dont want people to torrent the game. i understand its the fault of the people pirating the game, but so many people are against it completely and entirely and they say that there is no chance of them changing it. what i dont like is that they are willing to compromise what the community wants for profit, and it is ironic because in this press event in one of the interviews jay states that 'if you make a game people like is fun and they want to play the money will follow' but clearly they dont believe in their own logic. the only reason this is affecting me is because i wonder to what extent they will go to rip off the players just so they could make more $$$ and steer away from jay says is their philosophy.


dont get me wrong though still completely psyched for the game and will be getting it no matter what. i will enjoy it its just what level of enjoyment willi be having.

 

[Dan]

I think that Blizzard does things that no other company dreams of. I also think that they deserve the money that they get. I have always hated the "They make enough money" argument. They deserve every penny. I would much rather give them money out of my pocket optionally through digital means for things like gold and vanity items and pets, etc than getting game prices and monthly fees pressed onto my wallet.

I think that this is all a part of a broader picture, though. Blizzard MADE STARCRAFT 2 BATTLENET ONLY... The implications of this action are much larger than anything that Diablo will ever feel. Starcraft is a much bigger game than Diablo. Starcraft is a major e-sport game all over the world, and by taking the option to play offline out of the question, Blizzard seriously hurt the e-sport capabilities of their next generation of starcraft.

I think Blizzard is simply trying to own their games more. With offline plays out of the question, Blizzard has much more control over what happens with their games and the experiences that players have with them. Their patches go through instantly because you cannot play offline, so mistakes are quickly taken care of. Player experiences are more guaranteed this way. You are prompted to try cooperative play and enjoy things like pvp arenas and are reminded to keep playing through the battle.net infrastructure. Your game becomes part of the Blizzard battle.net experience. You see your friends online who are playing World of Warcraft and Starcraft2 and invite them to play Diablo or go play with them.

I also see this as a play against companies like Valve who have a pretty good social system and download platform. Blizzard does not play the same type of game that companies like Valve do. They never will really, but what they can do is keep you interested in their games and give you their own social network, albeit small-scale in comparison.

Don't get me wrong, there is a list of cons to this new model of Blizzard philosophy; however, I believe Blizzard is looking broader than what we expect and by being put out x amount, we might enjoy ourselves more in the end and ensure that Blizzard is around a decade from now.

as a last thought, sorry to everyone with bad connections to the interwebs. Blizzard doesn't hate you, technology does! XD