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Game News Diablo 3 update

Vault Dweller

Commissar, Red Star Studio
Developer
Joined
Jan 7, 2003
Messages
28,024
Tags: Blizzard Entertainment; Diablo III

There's been a number of <b>Diablo 3</b> sightings in the last 6 months: positions in the team behind Diablo 1 & 2, claims that the music is already recorded, etc. Here is an <a href=http://www.gamingsteve.com/archives/2006/02/rumor_diablo_ii.php>interesting article</a> posted by <a href=http://www.gamingsteve.com>Gaming Steve</a>:
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<blockquote>Well, before I answer let me mention a few things. First, I don't want to get any of my friends at Blizzard in trouble, so from instead of mentioning "Diablo III" let's call this theoretical game "Beelzebub 3" and instead of "Blizzard" let's call them "Snowstorm". Second, my information is quality stuff, but it is a little old, so take that with a gain of salt. Third, err, well, there is no third, so let's get into what I know!
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Let's the obvious out of way, "Snowstorm" is indeed working on "Beelzebub 3". Not only are they working on it, but they have been working on this game for no less than the past four years. In fact, "Snowstorm North" nearly completed the game several years ago, but what they developed just "wasn't fun" and been quietly reworked. This was actually one of the key reasons why Snowstorm North was closed and everyone was relocated to Irvine-based Snowstorm, so that the bigwigs in Irvine could better track and follow the development of Beelzebub 3.
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As for what to expect in to see in Beelzebub 3, believe it or not but those rumors that were floating around a few months ago about the game were fairly accurate (by the way, I have no idea who started these rumors or where they came from). According to the rumors:
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"Diablo 3 takes place in heaven. Hell is trying to take it over and it is AWESOME looking … Imagine the brightness of heaven being taken over by the darkness of hell … Imagine WoW but in a Diablo world in amount of size and playability … Also, guild housing is available in this game for those of you who know about it."
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This information was pretty dead-on. It is true that Beelzebub 3 will be done in true 3D and it did indeed look freaking awesome. It is also true that Beelzebub 3 features a story between the conflicts of Heaven and Hell and contains a very cool feature where every single item in the game can change between a "light" version and a "dark" version. However this was also one of the problems with the original version of the game. Other than the ability for any item to visually change from light to dark it didn't affect the actual stats of the item or change the gameplay in any way. So the game has gone through a total rework to inject some "fun" into the gameplay and to make it feel like the Beelzebubs of old.
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The core gameplay Beelzebub 3 will play pretty much like Beelzebub 1 and 2, but the game world will be much larger and provide a much deeper experience -- many more items, more levels when you go through the game for first time, more skills, more of everything. In addition, the multiplayer aspect will be greatly enhanced from the past installments and don't be surprised to see more than a couple of WoW-based concepts to leak over into the Beelzebub 3 universe ... such as two opposing factions (Alliance and Horde = Heaven and Hell), enhanced guild functionality, and maybe even mounts?!
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As for when Beelzebub 3 will released, that one is easy to answer ... when it's done. Snowstorm is in no rush to finish this game and will release it only after they feel it's perfect. And after the fiasco of StarCraft: Ghost -- which has been announced for years and is currently going through its second round of redesign and reprogramming -- Snowstorm is in no rush to announce Beelzebub 3. Don't except an announcement until the game is near completion.
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But there is some good news; that "leak" on the Snowstorm jobs page was no accident. If they are starting to leak information about Beelzebub 3 then they are starting to get closer to a final release. Of course for Snowstorm something "getting close" can mean two years from now.</blockquote>
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Well, regardless of whether or not it's the truth, I don't think anyone doubts that D3 is in development and will be released in 2007.
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Spotted at: <A HREF="http://www.rpgdot.com">RPG Dot</A>
 

Chefe

Erudite
Joined
Feb 26, 2005
Messages
4,731
The first two were such great benefits to the RPG genre that I can't wait for the third. And it's going to be similar in style to WoW? Amazing, just what I've always wanted. Can it get any better than this?
 

Avé

Liturgist
Joined
Dec 31, 2004
Messages
468
Chefe said:
The first two were such great benefits to the RPG genre that I can't wait for the third. And it's going to be similar in style to WoW? Amazing, just what I've always wanted. Can it get any better than this?
Yes, they can rename it to World of Diablo!
 

Araanor

Liturgist
Joined
Oct 24, 2002
Messages
829
Location
Sweden
Who knows, it could be a good Diablo-style hack n slash. As long as I don't have to treadmill, watch a screensaver or play a WoW-clone it might do for some entertainment.
 

Atrokkus

Erudite
Joined
Feb 6, 2005
Messages
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Location
Borat's Fantasy Land
The first two were such great benefits to the RPG genre
They weren't meant to contribute to RPGs, you Fargot. It's a completely different genre, and the both games were brilliant in execution and design.

The news is great indeed, but I just hope we won't end up with another WoW.
 

kris

Arcane
Joined
Oct 27, 2004
Messages
8,836
Location
Lulea, Sweden
Doesn't sound like any sort of innovation. "More stuff, more levels, bigger world (read: more kills)". I guess I can click trough another game like that
 

Chefe

Erudite
Joined
Feb 26, 2005
Messages
4,731
metallix said:
The first two were such great benefits to the RPG genre
They weren't meant to contribute to RPGs, you Fargot. It's a completely different genre, and the both games were brilliant in execution and design.

The news is great indeed, but I just hope we won't end up with another WoW.

Don't call me a Fargot, you stupid Fargot.
 

Atrokkus

Erudite
Joined
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Messages
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Location
Borat's Fantasy Land
Don't call me a Fargot, you stupid Fargot.
"No."
- Yes
- No

Want to hear:
Latest Rumors
Caius
Fargoth is you
Vvanderfel geography



As for this article... Can someone confirm this info somehow, through other sources/leaks? Though it seems possible and realistic, I can't take it without a huge pile of salt. I really want Diablo 3, though even if this information is true, there are no clues as to which way exactly is Blizzard taking this time.
 

Chefe

Erudite
Joined
Feb 26, 2005
Messages
4,731
Of course they're not going to release anything quickly. They're Blizzard.
I like how he used Beelzebub and Snowstorm..."YOU SEE NOTHING!"

metallix said:
Don't call me a Fargot, you stupid Fargot.
"No."
- Yes
- No

Want to hear:
Latest Rumors
Caius
Fargoth is you
Vvanderfel geography

"Vvardenfell Geography"
Morrowind is the northeastmost province of the Tamrielic Empire, bounded on the north and east by the Sea of Ghosts, on the west by Skyrim, on the southwest by Cyrodiil (also known as the Imperial Province), and on the south by Black Marsh (also known as Argonia). Vvardenfell District encompasses Vvardefell Island, a great land mass dominated by the giant volcano Red Mountain and cut off from mainland Morrowind by the surrounding Inner Sea.

Only recently open to settlement and trade, most of the island's population is confined to the relatively hospitable west and southwest coast, centered on the ancient city of Vivec and the old Great House district centers at Balmora, Ald'ruhn, and Sadrith Mora. The rest of the island is covered by hostile desert wastes, arid grasslands, and volcanic badlands, and thinly populated by the nomadic Ashlander tribes.

Vvardenfell has nine basic geographic regions, each with their own distinctive plants and terrain features. Scholars have based their classifications on the different types of land described by the native Ashlanders, so the designations are recognized by most local traders, travelers, and adventurers. These geographic regions are called: the Ascadian Isles, the Ashlands, Azura's Coast, the Bitter Coast, the Grazelands, Molag Amur, Red Mountain, the West Gash, and Sheogorad.


Want to hear:
Ascadian Isles
Ashlands
Azura's Coast
Lustful Argonian
Bitter Coast
Grazelands
Aolag Amur
Red Mountain
West Gast
Sheogorad
 

Micmu

Magister
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Messages
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ALIEN BASE-3
I still don't get it. So it IS going to be another fucking MMOG or not? Why Diablo 3 then?
 

Chefe

Erudite
Joined
Feb 26, 2005
Messages
4,731
Why did they call World of Warcraft "Warcraft" despite having nothing in common with the original Warcraft games? Why not call it "Hot Elves versus Stupid Orcs" or "Generic Fantasy Hack Shit Game"?

The name sells.


*kid walks into a game store*
Kid: "Hey! Diablo 3! Kick ass!"
*kid buys game and goes home*
Kid: "Allright! This is going to be sweet! Yes!"
Kid: "Oh, I have to pay 10 bucks a month? Oh well, that's alright I guess. That means they've probably awesomely improved multiplayer or something."
*kid pays*

*later*
Kid: "What the fuck? This is a fucking MMO!"
Blizzard: "Muahahahaha! We already have your money! No refunds, bitch!"
 

kingcomrade

Kingcomrade
Edgy
Joined
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Messages
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Cognitive Elite HQ
Well, before I answer let me mention a few things. First, I don't want to get any of my friends at Blizzard in trouble, so from instead of mentioning "Diablo III" let's call this theoretical game "Beelzebub 3" and instead of "Blizzard" let's call them "Snowstorm". Second, my information is quality stuff, but it is a little old, so take that with a gain of salt. Third, err, well, there is no third, so let's get into what I know!
I feel like crying...
I can just imagine him with a retarded shitface smile on his mug as he typed that. Hee hee!
 

FrancoTAU

Cipher
Joined
Oct 21, 2005
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Location
Brooklyn, NY
I never heard the story about Blizzard North pretty much finishing Diablo 3 and it sucking. You gotta give them credit for scrapping it and starting over from scratch. Is there any other stories from the ex Blizzard North guys about their opinions of this?
 

DamnElfGirl

Liturgist
Joined
May 31, 2004
Messages
313
Location
Canuckskiville
I think the scuttlebut is that Diablo 3 will not be an MMO in the Everquest sense, but that they're adding features for people who want to play on-line multiplayer. It makes sense. As far as I've heard, though, it will still be a single-player game. Maybe the on-line version will be more MMOish.

I liked Diablo I (mostly when playing with friends... it's fun to shoot your friends in the back!), but DII eventually bored me to death. I never got past that stupid jungle. So really, I don't care all that much about D3.
 

kingcomrade

Kingcomrade
Edgy
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Oct 16, 2005
Messages
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Location
Cognitive Elite HQ
Same here. I played Diablo 1 to death, and multiplayer over modem, but Diablo 2 is meh. Not nearly as fun or interesting. I'm not that excited about D3, nor Hellgate London.
 

Saint_Proverbius

Administrator
Staff Member
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Behind you.
I heard on the radio the other day that MMO publishers and developers are rethinking the model and costs to play of MMORPGs in order to get more people playing their game. They're thinking that they might want to lower monthly fees in order to get more players or remove monthly fees and offer content add-ons to entice players as a way of getting more people to cough up dough.

Of course, MMO Diablo sounds about as appealing to me as soggy crackers.
 

Shagnak

Shagadelic
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Messages
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Arse of the world, New Zealand
After playing D1, D2, and Sacred (with all the bells on) I don't think I could give a toss about yet another Diablo-style action-rpg thingy wotsit.

I mean, what are they going to do?
They'd have to add some pretty un-Diablo-esque stuff (e.g. make it part-based) to retain my interest, and then of course it wouldn't have that quintessential Diablo feel. Catch 22 for me.

And making it more MMO-like? Meh.
 

FrancoTAU

Cipher
Joined
Oct 21, 2005
Messages
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Location
Brooklyn, NY
I can see some more medium size houses dropping the subsciption model like "Guild Wars" but i doubt you see the big boys like World of Warcraft dropping their fees.
 

Thrawn05

Scholar
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Feb 3, 2006
Messages
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Location
The Mirror of Death void
FrancoTAU said:
I can see some more medium size houses dropping the subsciption model like "Guild Wars" but i doubt you see the big boys like World of Warcraft dropping their fees.

If MMO's dropped the subscription fee, then I MIGHT consider them more. It's just that my life is kinda hectic and if I'm playing a game, would have to drop it on a dime. You really can't do that if you are in a multiplayer game on the net, you piss people off.
 

Jon

Scholar
Joined
Jan 7, 2006
Messages
105
Did not some of Blizzard North's employes leave to make Guild Wars? It might be Guild Wars has something (much) in common with the game that was not 'fun' enough to be Diablo 3...
 

Sol Invictus

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Pax Romana
How exactly are you supposed to work with the "team behind Diablo 1 & 2" when none of them work there anymore?

I don't think that Diablo 3 was ever "almost finished", either. They were working on it during D2XP's development but beyond art and storyline and some engine work, I don't think that there was ever any actual work put into further development.

Just wait another year before someone else releases some new rumor about how Diablo 3 is just entering development and how it'll be ready for release in 2009.

Did not some of Blizzard North's employes leave to make Guild Wars? It might be Guild Wars has something (much) in common with the game that was not 'fun' enough to be Diablo 3...
Starcraft's core developers left to create their own company, ArenaNet to develop Guild Wars. Guild Wars was always intended as a PvP game from the start but somewhere down the line, they implemented PvE to cater to the Diablo crowd and the implementation was just incredibly poor.

Blizzard North, on the other hand, went to Flagship Studios and a couple of smaller studios.
 

S4ur0n27

Liturgist
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Apr 21, 2004
Messages
382
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Outremont
What kind of asshole names himself "Gaming Steve"? You have a shitty name, don't try to exploit it.
 

Sovard

Sovereign of CDS
Joined
Sep 2, 2004
Messages
920
Interesting side note:

President of VoodooPC, Rahul Sood, has some exciting information from Geneva this week. Sood claims Blizzard just purchased 1,500 HP Opteron 64 servers specifically for World of Warcraft and Battlenet systems.

I am guessing Blizzard will combine the power of these servers to improve the gaming experience for World of Warcraft users worldwide – as well Blizzard may also be preparing for their next major online game. Perhaps they are preparing for the next generation Diablo or something of the like.

Blizzard anticipates releasing an expansion pack to the wildly popular MMORPG within the next few months. The company has come under continuous scrutiny after its servers have crashed due to end game content and increasing populations. It's still unclear as to whether or not Blizzard will adopt these servers to replace the existing fleet of several thousand machines world wide, or if the new servers will just host new content and worlds.
 

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