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StarCraft II Expansions, Diablo III Coming in "Next Few Years"
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Diablo III: Some Versions Will Be Edited
Hands On With Diablo III's Monk
BlizzCon: Where Are Diablo III's Runes?
BlizzCon 2009: The View From The Show Floor
BlizzCon 2009: The Show So Far
Details On The Monk: Diablo III's Newly Revealed Street Fighter

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ThisCharmingMan
11/12/09

In reply to StarCraft II Expansions, Diablo III Coming in "Next Few Years"
If they're planning on releasing SC2 in 2010...they've better get the ball rolling on that beta. I doubt Acti-blizz would want to have to push BOTH SC2 and Cataclysm to a holiday release, and Chris Sigaty I believe said that he wanted to have a 6 month beta period. Also, I'm getting impatient. #diabloiii
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RealmRPGer
11/12/09

@ThisCharmingMan: They had beta signups (or rather opt-ins) a few months ago, right? Beta should be getting started soon, if not already under way (I think there's currently a very, very closed beta -- eg special invite only. This is sometimes referred to as focus testing, but I personally believe SCII is beyond that stage) #diabloiii
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ThisCharmingMan
11/12/09

@RealmRPGer: I chatted with a few of the guys at Blizzcon...they still think the Zerg air units are terribly underpowered. The vibe there didn't seem like they were ready at all. I'm still under the opinion that the game is not done. #diabloiii
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RealmRPGer
11/13/09

@ThisCharmingMan: That sounds like a balance issue and would typically be something that devs would consider perfect for beta testing. However, Blizz seems to have adopted the idea of "if it's not perfect, try a different idea" instead of a process of refining.

The Beta process is meant for this kind of process of refinement. A Beta is not "it's perfect, let's let people play it." A beta is meant to find bugs, improve quality, and balance the game. It's generally considered silly to "perfect" your balance internally, because developers are classically similar minded. You need a broader audience to run into cases of "huh, I didn't think of that."

Also, six months is an extremely long beta. If everything is supposed to already be perfectly balanced, I have no idea why they feel the need to spend so much time in it. #diabloiii
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ThisCharmingMan
11/13/09

@RealmRPGer: I thought six months was a long period as well, but that's what they said. You're right about the balance issue being a perfect thing to tackle in the beta, but I think they're looking to have a completely balanced game internally, and then see how users exploit different options that they haven't noticed in their own offices. I mean, if THEY think there's a big balance issue I'm sure they don't need a beta to confirm it. #diabloiii
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SublimeAndEtc
11/12/09

In reply to StarCraft II Expansions, Diablo III Coming in "Next Few Years"
"... Activision Blizzard chief financial officer, raved about the strong business done by Bliizard games."

I bet he did. I'm so disappointed that Blizzard ever merged with Activision. They were glorious enough on their own.

I don't know how my Activision ban will hold up once SC2 and D3 roll out, but we'll see. #diabloiii
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fearing
11/12/09

@SublimeAndEtc: They weren't really on thier own before, they're actually still owned by the same company, General Electric, which owns NBC Universal, which owned Vivendi Universal(owners of Blizzard(with some great contract stipulations for Blizzard)), which, with the power of thier parent companies bought out Activision, and since Vivendi wasn't really the name in gaming that Acitivision was, they just kept the Activision name and corporate structure and got rid of the Vivendi name. Same owners still, it's more like Activision got aquired by Blizzard and thier owners really. #diabloiii
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SublimeAndEtc
11/12/09

@fearing: Wow, I never knew that... definitely put a new perspective on the whole deal. #diabloiii
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fearing
11/12/09

@SublimeAndEtc: I remember the Vivendi sales rep at my store(back when Vivendi had sales reps to audit and educate stores) talking about a Vivendi board meeting once, and this was told to me a while ago, so the details may be a little off, where someone relatively new to the board was asking about Blizzard taking so long to make thier next game (which I think would come to be WoW, but this could have been even earlier) and if they can make a corporate visit and talk to them about speeding things up and getting this game out, and the rest of the board's (or maybe it was the CEO's) response was something along the lines of, we're not really alowed to be over there or interfere, we're not even really sure where THERE is, they're contract lets them do thier thing, and to be honest thier thing has always taken a while, but been more than profitable, and has better results than anything else we do, so we can't really touch them and we don't try to. Again that's very paraphrased and I'm sure a little exaggerated by the person who told be to begin with, but you get the idea.

I'd imagine they probably still have the same basic contract, or a lot of the main guys who have the creativity and pull would've left. And I'd imagine the corporate structure would still keep a similar attitude... or at least they would if they were smart, but with Kotick, who knows. #diabloiii
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Vecha: One more Month promoted this comment fearing was starred fearing was unstarred

PixellatedViscera
11/13/09

@fearing: GE never owned Vivendi, Vivendi is a French mega-corporation of its own with roots in utilities and telecom all over Europe. GE got involved when Vivendi sold its interest in Universal TV/Film to NBC a few years ago, creating NBC Universal. Vivendi maintained control of Universal's video game business as well as its music arm, Universal Music Group, which is the largest music publisher in the world. The latter entity is a pretty strategic coupling for the Activision Blizzard merger (which, as you correctly point out, Vivendi also maintains controlling interest in), as UMG gives Activision some pretty amazing synergies for the Hero franchises.
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Edited by PixellatedViscera at 11/13/09 10:56 PM PixellatedViscera was starred

fearing
11/14/09

@PixellatedViscera: Hmm, that I did not know. I wish I could remember where I got the previous information from, but apparently it wasn't the most reliable. Well, now I've learned something new. #diabloiii
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hot_heart
11/12/09

In reply to StarCraft II Expansions, Diablo III Coming in "Next Few Years"
I love the Diablo III hashtag here. I just imagine some hooligan yelling 'DIABLOIII!' #diabloiii
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abort_user
11/12/09

In reply to StarCraft II Expansions, Diablo III Coming in "Next Few Years"
Diablo: Forever #diabloiii
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SacGamer
11/12/09

@abort_user: Doesn't even compare. Blizzard is just slow. Where as that probably wasn't being worked on at all. #diabloiii
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Chirotera
11/12/09

@SacGamer: I read this quickly as a positive affirmation of your love for Diablo. DIABLO FOREVER! As if to say Diablo should be forever.

Then I realized what you really meant and felt rather foolish. Sigh. :-( #diabloiii
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esereldogate
11/12/09

In reply to StarCraft II Expansions, Diablo III Coming in "Next Few Years"
fuck blizzard, im tired of waiting 3-4 years for a game.

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supo promoted this comment esereldogate was starred esereldogate was unstarred

supo
11/12/09

@esereldogate: 3-4 years? Try at minimum 10 years for a Diablo sequel... #diabloiii
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supakame
11/12/09

@supo: Well, SC is taking about 12 years to come out with a sequel, so I think Diablo is on schedule. #diabloiii
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supo
11/12/09

@supakame: That is true, but we will see how long they take with diablo :( #diabloiii
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abcFRAG: How do you gold star?
11/12/09

@supo: 10 years for a Diablo sequel?? Try waiting forever for DNF... #diabloiii
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supo
11/12/09

@abcFRAG: We all knew that wasn't coming out :p #diabloiii
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Karlott
11/12/09

In reply to StarCraft II Expansions, Diablo III Coming in "Next Few Years"
Diablo3plsEverythingElseGTFO. #diabloiii
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Keepin It Hamsta
11/12/09

In reply to StarCraft II Expansions, Diablo III Coming in "Next Few Years"
Doesn't announcing they have an unannounced MMO mean it's no longer unannounced and rather just not detailed? #diabloiii
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Aidan_
11/12/09

@Keepin It Hamsta: Dude...*holds his forehead* Too early for that shit, man. #diabloiii
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tetracycloide
11/12/09

In reply to StarCraft II Expansions, Diablo III Coming in "Next Few Years"
all the doom and gloom for diablo III is silly. like there could possbily be any doubt the game will release. diablo III is not ghost, by which i mean it's not not a spin off of a popular title in an entirely new genre. it's a straight up sequel, there isn't a chance in hell it won't come out short of the company failing.

also, i love that not only is WoW in all three categories it's in 2010 twice. blizzard knows where its bread is buttered.
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Edited by tetracycloide at 11/12/09 9:21 AM tetracycloide was starred tetracycloide was unstarred

Aether7
11/12/09

@tetracycloide: Actually, I think it's on there three times for 2010. I think the last line says "China Online" which would mean them resolving the issues the country is having with keeping WoW on servers. #diabloiii
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Flare5X
11/12/09

In reply to StarCraft II Expansions, Diablo III Coming in "Next Few Years"
Doesn't surprise me in the slightest. In fact I wasn't expecting Diablo 3 until 2012.

One thing that annoys me though, if they knew the game wouldn't be released for another two years then why the hell did they announce it so early. #diabloiii
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tetracycloide
11/12/09

@Flare5X: "the first ones free" he says. #diabloiii
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SpishackCola is your Brodie, Brotron, and Brodington!
11/12/09

In reply to StarCraft II Expansions, Diablo III Coming in "Next Few Years"
Hmm, no Warcraft 4 on that list. So, not every leak about WoW:C was true...yet. #diabloiii
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Methusalah
11/12/09

In reply to StarCraft II Expansions, Diablo III Coming in "Next Few Years"
Thankfully we have torchlight. #diabloiii
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Calverz
11/12/09

In reply to StarCraft II Expansions, Diablo III Coming in "Next Few Years"
Seriously who gives a rats arse about theses games? The industry has moved on and is better for it. #diabloiii
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Đipic promoted this comment Calverz was starred Calverz was unstarred

Đipic
11/12/09

@Calverz: lol wut #diabloiii
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StarTropicana
11/12/09

In reply to StarCraft II Expansions, Diablo III Coming in "Next Few Years"
Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up. I thought the last we heared from Blizzard about this was that Diablo III was going to be released way before Starcraft II?
I must say that I'm ashamed for falling for the Blizzard release date projections. After all these years you'd think a guy would know better. #diabloiii
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Odin
11/12/09

@StarTropicana:
The funny thing is Blizzard rarely releases such projections. Most of the publicized ones are a mix of speculation and rumour. Blizzard are very finicky about confirming release dates. #diabloiii
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PositivelyGreg
11/12/09

@Odin: True, but they've been pinned down a little more often since Activision stepped in. While obviously they'd be idiots to choke the "when it's done" design philosophy out of Blizzard, I have to admit a little bit of Kotick discipline could probably make those release dates happen faster with very little impact on the final game quality (especially given that all of these products will get dozens of patch updates over time anyway).

But until they say a day - A DAY, not a quarter or a year or anything - nothing they say is real. #diabloiii
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Zyker
11/12/09

@PositivelyGreg: Exactly. Blizzard and Valve go hand in hand when it comes to development time and release dates (please see Valve Time for a deeper explanation). #diabloiii
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FrigidAir44
11/12/09

@PositivelyGreg: Trust me sir, Blizzard is on the 'when its done' boat still. Nobody in Activision is going to interfere with the golden goose's release schedule. #diabloiii
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resonance462
11/12/09

@PositivelyGreg: Do you really want Activision pushing out an unpolished (by Blizzard standards) game? There is something to be said about trying to get it right the first time.

Case in point: COD MW2 and the PS3 port issues. I've also had issues on the 360 in relation to spec ops. #diabloiii
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PositivelyGreg
11/12/09

@resonance462: , @FrigidAir44: Don't get me wrong, Blizzard is awesome. But (just like for Valve... I need to promote Zyker here too...) getting something right by taking the time is great, but it's not proof that you needed that much time to get it right. Without the wolves at the door pushing you to make a decision and roll with it, there's going to be too much over-thinking things, over-engineering things, obsessively tweaking balance on abilities which will inevitably need re-tweaking after players get their hands on the game and find every mechanic that they can cheese. #diabloiii
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kahoona
11/12/09

In reply to StarCraft II Expansions, Diablo III Coming in "Next Few Years"
I still don't understand it. Why the FUCK does it take them so fucking long to make a game? Diablo 3 was announced nearly a year and a half ago for fuck sake. #diabloiii
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fauxbravo
11/12/09

@kahoona: And Starcraft 2 over 2 years ago WITH gameplay footage. Apparently there are a lot of bugs to be worked on or something. It's pretty obnoxious. Let's not hear about the game until it is actually somewhat close to complete please.

You too, Square Enix. #diabloiii
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Koztah
11/12/09

@fauxbravo: Thus is the industry. I remember when you wouldn't hear about games unless they were going to be released in the next 3-6 months... unless it was already released in Japan and we were waiting to see if it would get localized. #diabloiii
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fauxbravo
11/12/09

@Koztah: The good old days. I think it's even worse now because we have the internet and so we see bits and pieces every so often over a long period. That was way less of an issue in the 90s. Hell, I didn't have the internet until my senior year of high school in 2000. We just had whatever was published in the game magazines. #diabloiii
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Koztah
11/12/09

@fauxbravo: Hah. And the surprise of showing up at your local rental shop.. "What? Chrono Trigger is out here?! I read about the japanese release of this in EGM like six months ago!" #diabloiii
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Chilly Hollow
10/14/09

In reply to World of Warcraft Players, You're Gonna Need A Battle.net Account
Whether you like Battle.net or not, you are going to have to use it. I highly recommend setting up a free email address to use as your login, though. Beloved did and is already getting spam from gold sellers and keylogger on this address which has never been used for anything else.

In other words, Battle.net is not secure.
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