FINALLY. Diablo 3 in the works.

[xekushnr]

Check it out for yourself. Be sure to watch the lengthy gameplay video.

http://www.blizzard.com/diablo3

[MinisterofDOOM]

I hope it lives up to it's predecessors. The original Diablo team is no longer with Blizzard. Warcraft III was crap. It took everything good about the series and threw it down the drain, then introduced a whole bunch of new concepts that were absolutely no fun. If Diablo III is the same way, I'm going to be mad. I've been looking forward to this game for a very very very very long time. I had better not be disappointed.

[f1seb]

I hope it lives up to it's predecessors. The original Diablo team is no longer with Blizzard. Warcraft III was crap. It took everything good about the series and threw it down the drain, then introduced a whole bunch of new concepts that were absolutely no fun. If Diablo III is the same way, I'm going to be mad. I've been looking forward to this game for a very very very very long time. I had better not be disappointed.

I enjoyed Warcraft 3 a lot. And I am actually still enjoying it. Never played Diablo so I really don't care for it. Not going to be getting this game. The co-op games never appealed to me, I never got passed the 1st 20 minutes of NWN, meh, not my thing.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Diablo isn't a coop game. It's an RPG you can play with friends. It is also absolutely NOTHING like NWN, so don't make the mistake of writing it off on that alone.

[f1seb]

Diablo isn't a coop game. It's an RPG you can play with friends. It is also absolutely NOTHING like NWN, so don't make the mistake of writing it off on that alone.

What's the difference? Isn't NWN an RPG game that you can play online with friends? And Guild Wars?

[MinisterofDOOM]

Yeah. But that's like basing your opinion of System Shock 2 on Halo 3 coop. They're both FPSs that you can play with friends, but that doesn't mean they're anything alike.

You can play through Diablo and DII entirely solo and not miss anything gameplay-wise. But you can also hop online and play it with friends.Diablo games are a VERY unique type of RPG. They play completely differently than the likes of Guild Wars or NWN (which are also very very different from each other).

[xekushnr]

Guild Wars is an MMORPG, one of the few you dont have to **** out money to pay for. NWN its a similar style game to D2, yet very different. Diablo II was one of the most fun games I have played on computer. I'm usually a bigger fan of turn based and strategy RPG's, but D2 was one of the only action RPGs that I LOVED. It was never dull, or boring. Everyone that owns a computer should play it. It should be a law, like getting a license before you can drive.

[Hijacker]

Diablo's success was really based around it's simplicity. They made hack & slash fun. I enjoyed D2 a lot, but I never went overboard like a lot of people did. I'll probably end up picking up D3 just because I usually buy any and all blizzard games.

The best comparison video game I can think of for D2 would be the new Gauntlets. Just add a wonderful levelling system and skill trees that alter how each class is played based on your preferrences.

D2's skill system was the basic design for WoW's talent trees.

And even though Bill Roper left and Blizz North was absorbed into the main company, a lot of the design team remained from what I understand. So basically, Blizz North made D3, they just aren't called Blizz North anymore.

[1unar3clipse]

I'd Rather have Starcraft 2...

[MinisterofDOOM]

I'd Rather have Starcraft 2...

I'm still looking forward to Starcraft 2.

But Diablo is on a whole different level for me. The only games that rank higher on my scale are the Half Life series. Diablo (the game and the series) are a VERY VERY close second. I haven't been this excited for a game since the wait for Half Life 2.

I've been playing through DI:LOD again. It's been a while since I've played DII (I've played the original more, and more recently). I had forgotten just how fun it is. Crazy fun. Even just singleplayer is a lot of fun.

I'm definitely looking forward to the interface tweaks in DIII, though. I know a lot of people are fighting the "wow feel" in DIII, but I don't see how Diablo gaining from WoW's ultra-simple and ultra-functional UI can possibly be bad. Plus, people who are whining about Diablo taking aspects of WoW need to look at the past of WoW...it's got a lot of Diablo in it as well.

The new hotbar/belt system, stackable potions, and revised inventory (one slot per item) are upgrades in my eyes. The old "block" inventory system never worked all that well as it didn't let you rotate items, so it often got in the way and led to 5 times the necessary town portal trips. Making that more efficient won't hurt anything. It'll just mean you can get down to what really matters in Diablo: wading through hordes of hellspawn.

I hope we get to see Azmodan and Belial in person in DIII. I REALLY enjoyed kicking Duriel's ***. Now it's their turn.

The game's return to Tristram is also excellent. Once again crawling through those catacombs will be like going back home.

Diablo's success was really based around it's simplicity. They made hack & slash fun. I enjoyed D2 a lot, but I never went overboard like a lot of people did.

Oh, I definitely went overboard. I used to play online (Open, which allows you to keep your characters on your computer instead of the "safe" hack-proof closed servers) every night. I had both legit and hacked characters. Open was more fun because people took it less seriously. And because you could take your singleplayer characters online to play with friends. Hacked character duels were a blast. You'd run into some seriously strange glitches.Back when I did this, I had a bunch of those old free dialup accounts with limited hours. When one ran out I'd just switch to the next. Great memories of a phone cord trailing the entire length of my parents' basement to my bedroom so I could play DII.

And even though Bill Roper left and Blizz North was absorbed into the main company, a lot of the design team remained from what I understand. So basically, Blizz North made D3, they just aren't called Blizz North anymore.

Sort of true. "Blizzard North" might still be there, but the IMPORTANT members are not. They all left to form Flagship (and a couple other companies, but the key guys are at Flagship now). All the *REAL* Diablo guys, the old pre-Blizzard Condor guys, are gone now. Those are the only ones that mattered.

Still I hold out more hope for DIII due to the fact that WCIII sucked because it had too much RPG in it. It's obvious that RPGs are where Blizzard's strengths really lie these days.But the Diablo lore and storyline hold special value for me. I love them. They're outstanding. So it make me nervous to see them in new hands.

The good news, regardless of how DIII turns out, is that Roper and crew are working on Mythos, which also looks brilliant. I'm almost as excited for Mythos as I am for DIII--probably would be moreso if it wasn't for the fact that Mythos doesn't carry on the Diablo storyline. And Mythos will be 100% free, which is freaking awesome. The Pyromancer class appears to be RIGHT up my alley.

[Hijacker]

WCIII was supposed to be an RPG originally with RTS elements. That got canned and Blizz held over the RPG elements and integrated it into an RTS. I really liked the concept and it worked pretty well as it changed early game and end game gameplay during the course of a map. It did lead to some unbalanced games since I was more old school and didn't creep as well as I should have. The RPG elements lead themselves a lot better to the single player campaign than the multiplayer, but I never really considered it to make WCIII suck. In fact, putting WoW aside, I've logged more hours in multiplayer WCIII than any other blizzard game to date. And that's a lot since I used to be glued to SC on bat.net

[MinisterofDOOM]

Upkeep was what really ruined it for me. But the RPG elements ruined singleplayer for me. It might have "worked" but it wasn't fun. It was too thin to be enjoyable as an RPG but you spent half the time doing RPG stuff anyway. IF they'd cut down on the RPG segments it might have been okay. As it was, it grew tedious.

[Hijacker]

I guess I've moved more towards the user maps that take advantage of the level system and make it work and be fun.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Yeah. Everyone's taste is different, too. I was "raised on" C&C, especially Nod, so I like big armies and well fortified bases. WCIII went in a different direction and it just didn't suit me as well. I still enjoy WCII though. "We've got explooooosives! Kaboooom!"

Back to Diablo III, the more I really think about it, the more excited I get for a lot of the changes to the gameplay.It really looks like the dev team is making a big effort to keep the flow of combat going without interruption. A lot of the things they're changing change up the old flow of "fight until you're out of potions" and "fight until your bags are full" and then TP back to restock/sell/whatever.

They're saying Potions will most likely be WoW-style, on a cooldown, and more like panic buttons than crucial tools you can't survive without. The new health orb drops will more or less replace potions in addition to introducing new strategy (remember, DIII isn't an MMO so it has character collisions; if there are enemies between you and your health orb, you have to fight for it) as well as replacing the potions spamming that became such an integral part of DII's gameplay. I think this alone will make the game MUCH more enjoyable. Less dependence on a stocked belt and in it's place a highly tuned gameplay flow.

Another cool thing they mention is the loot system. It's another aspect that keeps things moving. Rather than loot drops being a free-for all or roll-based, the game drops loot only for the person who gets it. That is to say, if a monster is killed and drops a sword for me, I'm the only one who ever even sees the sword drop. The monster might also drop other loot for other party members, but I'll never see that either. If you don't want an item and want to let the rest of the party have it, you can just pick it up and drop it again, and they'll all be able to see it. Or you can trade directly or sell it to a vendor, of course.With this system, there's no worry about whether the loot is yours or someone else's, no worrying about whether you should grab it or not. Just grab it and keep playing, because no one else even knows it was there.

They also mentioned that, unlike LoD, there will be almost no class-specific items. A few things, like some weapons and off-hand items can be class-specific. But otherwise, the only restricting factor will be individual character stats.

Also along the lines of items, they said that WoW's "binding" system doesn't have any place in Diablo. You will always be able to re-sell or trade items, even after having used them.

[Hijacker]

I'm liking the loot system so far. I was afraid they would just mimic WoW in every sense and just slap a Diablo skin on it.

Since they're trying to move away from having potions play a major part of the gameplay, does this mean that you're going to need a healer? Because that almost makes it sound like you'll need a party. And if I need a party, that means I'm going to an instance

[MinisterofDOOM]

No, they definitely made it clear that the class systems and party makeups would remain pure Diablo. They're not treating it like an MMO when it comes to the classes.

Not that classes won't benefit from each other in various ways, Barbarian shouts being good party buffs, etc. but every class is essentially a demon-killing DPS class. We have no intentions to create a tank, or healer, etc. Every class will play their own way, and while some may take direct hits easier than others, it certainly wouldn't define their role within a party. Everyone should be kicking in heads at the same time.

Definitely a reassuring thing to hear.

Tons of great info:http://www.diii.net

[Hijacker]

That's an awesomely reassuring thing to hear.

I love WoW, but I don't want to play WoWDIII

[Jookmasta]

never got into the diablo thing as i tried DII and found it quite a bore. as for WCIII, i actually liked the RPG thing since it mimicked starcraft in a human/NE/orc kind of way. the graphics were also pretty advanced (in reference to the video segments) for it's time as not many pc games were delivering such scenes.

in regards to the new DIII, there's definitely a good buzz going on about it. blizzard definitely is too smart to turn DIII into some wow-based tangent but i do envy the trade system that is proposed for DIII. as for them being of the same gameplay, highly doubt it as the new WoW expansion is due within the next couple of months supposedly.

i must say though, MoD has definitely been researching this game. you really aren't missing much info from your posts besides how much the game will cost lol.

[MinisterofDOOM]

NOOOO!

Apparently Flagship studios, the new home of the old Blizzard North/Condor original Diablo team, closed down today.

These were the guys developing the excellent Mythos that I've mentioned in this thread and that I've been looking forward to for 6 months. This BLOWS.

[Hijacker]

I finally got around to watching the gameplay trailer. They have my interest, but it still just looks like more of the same. Which can be can be a good things. I just hope they utilize situational environment more often than just that one wall collapse. Things like that have potential

[MinisterofDOOM]

Yeah, I'm hoping they'll include that kind of stuff in boss fights. I realize Diablo boss fights are pretty much "run up, attack, potion spam, win" but a boss fight set in a functionally designed area could be really neat.

[Hijacker]

Definitely. So much potential.

The boss fight at the end of the demo was pretty cool, and I like how it actually chomped some of the PCs in half when it killed them.

[OldmanPurdy]

NOOOO!

Apparently Flagship studios, the new home of the old Blizzard North/Condor original Diablo team, closed down today.

These were the guys developing the excellent Mythos that I've mentioned in this thread and that I've been looking forward to for 6 months. This BLOWS.

The Korean partner is supposed to be taking over the IP's but not sure if that Mythos or just Hellgate, suppose if its run by a Korean mmo studio its just as well to forget all about it

[MinisterofDOOM]

FINALLY official word.http://www.mythos.com/undergro...ating

I heave a sigh of Relief. (Yes, that's a capital R)

With Roper still at the helm of Mythos, I'm not too worried.Still, it doesn't say exactly what's going to happen now.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Definitely. So much potential.

The boss fight at the end of the demo was pretty cool, and I like how it actually chomped some of the PCs in half when it killed them.

Unfortunately, it turns out that was scripted.Official reply regarding that:

Well the way we imagined the final fight going down when thinking about the flow of the presentation was to have a few heroes killed off, and thought it would be cooler to see someone get ripped in half by a giant demon than just fall down. While it was an event made for the presentation it could definitely be worked in to the actual end-product. We try not to spend time on anything that can't be incorporated in some way. If there's a mockup or some cool flavor added in somewhere to show something off, we want to build it so that it can actually be used.

In a reply (which I can't find right now but I'll keep looking) to another question about boss fights, they cited Zelda as one of their inspirations. To me, that's massively good news. Zelda is actually exactly the game I had in mind when I made my post about functionally designed areas up above. Zelda boss fights are some of the most memorable of all my gaming experience. If the new Diablo team can meld that with the classic feel of Diablo, they will have earned my respect. Just imagine a multi-staged, evolving, strategically designed fight against something with a specific weakness that you need to actively take advantage of rather than just hacking and slashing...so much more depth, excitement, and so much more satisfaction once you've won...especially if you're with a party.