Diablo 3

[Nadia]

released May 5,2012

thought I created a topic months ago but cant find one -- so here's a new one

Diablo 3
http://www.blizzard.com/diablo3/


Battlenet will have no monthly fee
http://www.joystiq.com/2008/10/13/blizz ... onetizing/

D3 will not allow User Content or Modding
http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/55271

D3 will not support LAN play
http://forums.diii.net/showthread.php?t=687933

Blizzard:
We currently have no intentions to allow LAN games, we are focusing fully on Battle.net, where we not only have the ability to quickly connect with other players, but also to the Blizzard community.

EDIT =======================================
release date announced, presales open
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/4612389 ... _2012#blog

http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/pr ... id=4606414

Diablo III will be available for Windows® XP/Windows Vista®/Windows® 7 and Macintosh® at a suggested price of $59.99 USD for both the retail DVD-ROM version and the digital version sold directly from Blizzard.

A special alabaster-white Collector’s Edition, sold exclusively in retail stores at a suggested retail price of $99.99 USD, will include the full game on DVD-ROM, a behind-the-scenes Blu-ray/DVD two-disc set, the Diablo III soundtrack CD, a 208-page Art of Diablo III book, and a 4 GB USB soulstone (including full versions of Diablo II and Diablo II: Lord of Destruction®) and corresponding Diablo skull base, as well as exclusive in-game content for Diablo III, World of Warcraft®, and StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty®. Diablo III has received a Mature rating from the ESRB.

System requirements
http://us.battle.net/support/en/article ... quirements

[Ddrak]

No LAN play seems a bit stupid to me. Assuming everyone wants to connect to the internet just to play multiplayer is retarded.

Dd

[Fallakin Kuvari]

I think releasing 3 versions of the same game is retarded (read: Starcraft 2). Also, marketing genius... I won't partake in it though.

[Nadia]

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/08/01/diabl ... #continued

Diablo 3: Auction House Does Cash, More
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Diablo ... 13154.html

no offline mode, no bots and no mods.

Joystiq reports that Diablo 3 will feature two in-game auction houses to sell items from player to player: one using in-game gold and one using real-world cash.

According to the report, the latter auction house will be like an "eBay for Sanctuary," allowing players to put items up for sale in each of the game's various regions around the world. Blizzard will take a fixed fee out of the eventual sale for listing and selling the virtual item. Players can either keep the cash in their Battle.net account to use on other Blizzard-related items, or cash out and pay a set percentage-based withdrawal fee. So far Blizzard hasn't revealed what third-party financial institution it plans to use.

AH will support paypal
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/vi ... tion-House

[Jarochai Alabaster]

Monday brought the unsurprising news that Blizzard's highly-anticipated action-RPG will require a constant Internet connection.

Fuck you, Blizzard.

[Fallakin Kuvari]

I don't understand why everyone is so up in arms about this...

It cuts down on people hacking the game and ruining it for other people, plus most all computers are constantly connected to the internet these days.

[Jarochai Alabaster]

I have absolutely no interest in playing Diablo over battle.net. None whatsoever. I also would like to be able to play the game I've purchased whether I currently have an internet connection or not, which includes on vacations, if my network card happens to fry, or if Cox in all its infinite glory happens to randomly interrupt my internet connection (Happens at least 3-4 times a week during my late-hours usual play time).

I refuse to purchase a product that I cannot use at any time regardless of my connection to the internet. I'll be waiting until either A) Blizzard pulls their heads out of their asses and lets up on the persistent internet necessity, or B) Someone cracks the game and distributes a pirated copy that doesn't require internet access for single-player use.

Frankly, I anticipate B happening before A. The irony is their anti-piracy "policy" (Read: Bullshit) is actually encouraging piracy with respect to me, and I suspect I'm not alone in the sentiment. It's not like this game isn't going to produce untold millions as it is, and quite frankly a little loss is to be expected. If they can't compensate without reaming the customer and compromising the integrity of the product, fuck 'em.

[Fallakin Kuvari]

Script kiddies will have working "no net" hacks ready soon after launch, you could almost bet on it.

[Ddrak]

I don't think the "always online" thing has anything to do with piracy. It's Blizzard keeping the market under control to make sure the real-world-cash transaction thing doesn't explode in their faces.

Dd

[Nadia]

one of the reasons Pardo gives is they cant be sure how valid offline chars will be -- if brought into online
BUT...
Diablo2 never offered that feature

in diablo 2,
the offline character had no connection to Battlenet
you wanted Battlenet? you rerolled a Battlenet character

this worked fine for Diablo2 - I dont see why they cannot do the same for Diablo 3

could leave the offline version with no auctionhouse -- no need for one

[Ddrak]

Sure, but they want people to be tempted by the auctions so it's more profitable to not have offline mode.

Who really knows - I'm just guessing. I just don't completely buy the "piracy" argument.

Dd

[Fallakin Kuvari]

Sure, but they want people to be tempted by the auctions so it's more profitable to not have offline mode.

Dd

That is the influence of Activision, imo.

[Jarochai Alabaster]

in diablo 2,
the offline character had no connection to Battlenet
you wanted Battlenet? you rerolled a Battlenet character

This.

Whether they want to encourage use of the AH or not, some players are never going to bother with battle.net. They're deliberately destroying single-player to try and increase the cash crop, and I'm not going to reward a company for that. I've almost never pirated games, including an aversion to emulators for old or never-imported console games. In this case, I'll be more than happy to make an exception.

And I'm sure their AH revenues are going to more than make up for the handful of people like me who refuse to purchase the game due to its projected format. I seriously doubt including a single-player version with modding capability and lack of access to battle.net for the SP characters would cut into those revenues much, but clearly they don't care about their player base.

I look forward to the cracked SP hack that I'll be able to torrent and play without needing a persistent net connection. Too bad I won't be able to pay the company that developed the game.

[Freecare Spiritwise]

I'm fine with games like MMOs that are based on everyone being connected all the time, but I won't buy a game that doesn't need that connectivity but still requires it, regardless of the reason. Shame. This was actually one I was going to buy.

They can't just make fucking billions. Nope, they have to make billions++ and squeeze every last fucking dime out of every player. Even if it reduces the quality of the game and takes away from the player experience. Fuck 'em.

[Ddrak]

I doubt there will be a "cracked SP hack" that allows offline play. I'm betting the online component is more than a piracy check. To make sure the market isn't broken, they'll be (at the very least) generating the random drops on the server side and not the client side, if not running a lot of the game itself from the server. That would put a crack of D3 in about the same realm as running your own WoW server with the current client.

Only saying that because that's the way I'd design it if RMT were involved.

Dd

[Fallakin Kuvari]

Blizzard responds.

[Freecare Spiritwise]

Blizzard responds.

"I'm actually kind of surprised in terms of there even being a question in today's age around online play and the requirement around that," said Blizzard's vice president of online technologies Robert Bridenbecker.

Translation: "We figured everyone would just lay down and take it up the ass like they always do. Why should this ass-fucking be any different?"

[Kulaf]

Did I just read that right that Blizzard is on record guaranteeing that there will be "no hacks or dupes on Battle.net". Good to know.

[Jarochai Alabaster]

A Blizzard rep is also on record saying something to the effect of "I know players may want to play Diablo 3 while they don't have a constant connection, such as on a plane or during a connection outage, but there are other games to play during those times."

He effectively said "don't play our game."

Ok, I won't play your game. No sense wasting money on a product that I don't actually own and can't use wherever/whenever I see fit.

[Fallakin Kuvari]

This is what I like to call the "Activision effect". Bleed your playerbase for all its worth, if they don't like it they can play elsewhere.

They did the same thing to the Interstate '76 series.