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Diablo 3 design fundamentals

joystiq.com — At the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational, Diablo 3 lead designer Jay Wilson, presented a rundown of the design philosophy behind the game, covering its origins, the game's approachability, and the design team's "better gameplay, less carpal tunnel" approach."

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  • haruuii, on 06/30/2008, -8/+66"Q: Will the seven classes from Diablo II be kept as well as the new classes you're introducing?
    A: We have no plans to carry classes over. It's a fresh start, we haven't finalized the final classes or how many there will be. We're not trying to bring back Diablo II classes."

    Let's just hope it's not WoW-esque classes, but other than that, the game looks like it's goin to ***** be 'bitchin'
    • Pittance, on 06/30/2008, -3/+18Blocked at my work. Would you or someone else post the Q&A please? Thanks.
      • yargthepirate, on 06/30/2008, -1/+39Q: Do you plan to keep the 4/5 man typical group size or will you design for much larger groups?
        A: Group size isn't a technical restriction, but a gameplay one. Smaller groups are better due to the camera restriction. We haven't really decided but we'll focus on whatever gives the best experience, that'll be 4 or maybe 5 person parties.

        Q: Will you increase inventory size?
        A: We haven't decided. We're improving the inventory system and it'll be easier to trade items between your characters or other players. We'll pick a size appropriate to gameplay.

        Q: There are a lot of WoW players and Diablo II players, which audience are you aiming at?
        A: We haven't a particular aim. We're making the game for people who love Diablo, and there's plenty of room for both WoW and Diablo, we've no intention to play one game against the other.

        Q: Will the seven classes from Diablo II be kept as well as the new classes you're introducing?
        A: We have no plans to carry classes over. It's a fresh start, we haven't finalized the final classes or how many there will be. We're not trying to bring back Diablo II classes.

        Q: Will there be different systems like mana, energy and rage for each class?
        A: We're exploring these systems, we have no specific plans.

        Q: Will there be hardcore mode in Diablo III?
        A: I don't see why we wouldn't. That decision is made towards the end of development, we might not, but we probably will.

        Q: With the loot system in Diablo II, the player with the fastest connection often got the loot. Will this change?
        A: We're changing the drop system. Monsters will drop multiple items, each player will see loot generated for them.

        Q: Will you be able to respec your player's skills?
        A: We're not talking about it but I think it's a bad idea not to. I can't give you any specifics.

        Q: Is the witch doctor a spiritual successor to the necromancer?
        A: It's not really a replacement. It's a really cool class that we liked the sound of. The witch doctor doesn't prohibit us deciding to put a necromancer class in too.

        Q: How does the gear system differ from Diablo II?
        A: There are new features for items planned. The core system isn't drastically changed. The loot structure is already good, we've maintained and improved on that.

        Q: Will there still be the ability to cheat over Battle.net?
        A: I can't give you specifics, there's a new version of Battle.net with a huge focus on cheats and anti-hack. We really want to make sure it works as cheating hurts the community.

        Q: Will there be secret areas and hidden levels?
        A: That's a secret.

        Q: Will single-player and co-operative play be balanced? Do you have to group to get the best items?
        A: The game experience is different in co-op but items will be available in both modes, there won't be anything available in co-op you can't get in single player.

        Q: You announced LoD in 2001, why is the sequel so late?
        A: It's a development issue. We wanted to make a game worthy of being a Blizzard game, so it took this long to make it that good.

        Q: Will male and female characters have different attributes?
        A: There will be no differences beyond physical appearance. We don't want to get into that area.

        Q: Will system requirements be high or will a WoW-capable PC run it? Will you need DirectX 10?
        A: It's not settled but Blizzard's goal is to support a broad set of systems. We'll have as low system requirements as we can. We don't plan to use DirectX 10 at the moment.

        Q: Will there be a map editor?
        A: We haven't nailed specifics but the Diablo series isn't very friendly to mods, mostly due to the random nature of the game. It's not a big focus of ours. But we haven't decided.

        Q: In Diablo II there was a rune system, will you keep that?
        A: No comment at this time.
      • Equinox1, on 07/01/2008, -0/+3Don't know why you were dugg down...goddamn idiots.
    • antdude, on 07/01/2008, -0/+13Barbarian?
      • XBSHX, on 07/01/2008, -0/+5I watched the live stream of this and what he actually said was that they aren't designing it with the mindset that they HAVE to bring any of the classes back. If one of the classes works they'll include it, if not they'll come up with something new.
    • Bamont, on 07/01/2008, -11/+5"Let's just hope it's not WoW-esque classes"

      Fear? Check
      Damage over Time spell(s)? Check
      Summon Pets? Check

      From the info we have thus far - the Witch Doctor is shaping up to sound like a Warlock. :P

      Not that I mind, of course, I'll still buy the hell out of this game and play it. WoW and Diablo are different, and there will be similarities - considering they came from the same company. I don't think you should be worried, the art styles are completely opposite of one another.
      • Gizza, on 07/01/2008, -2/+9Fear? Check
        Damage over Time spell(s)? Check
        Summon Pets? Check

        OMG, the necro from Diablo 2 copied the Warlock from WoW too!!!
      • mlvassallo, on 07/01/2008, -0/+10WoW is essentially Diablo elements applied to an MMO in the Warcraft universe.
    • pdavda, on 07/01/2008, -0/+3I really hope they keep the Paladin as he was my favourite character but I guess a fresh start will be more exciting
      • anothrnbdy, on 07/01/2008, -0/+1Ah, I have fond memories of my Avenger and Zealot. Good times, those.
    • rz8472, on 07/01/2008, -0/+4Here's hoping for the D1 Rogue.
    • TheInfinityZero, on 07/01/2008, -0/+2As long as there's a Druid for me, I don't care what the other classes are.
    • Shaflugi, on 07/01/2008, -1/+3Is there something wrong with having WoW-like characters? They're different games and they play differently, whether they have similar classes or not.
    • razor150, on 07/01/2008, -2/+1I know I am going to be dugg down for this, but fresh start? Please. The game looks and plays like, from the game play they've shown, just like Diablo II except in 3D. If they were really going for a fresh start they could have tried evolving the game play. They haven't even changed the hud.
  • Innisskillin, on 06/30/2008, -23/+11The more I hear about this game the more I Di-a-blo my load over it.
    • Elliottx, on 06/30/2008, -4/+2........Deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesgusting.
    • Beanbones, on 07/01/2008, -0/+11I believe you diablew it there. Let's hope this comment doesn't get diablown out of proportions though.
    • Dennisisok, on 07/01/2008, -0/+3Stay a while, and listen!
  • AlDaTbagsNChina, on 06/30/2008, -9/+96Audience Q&A

    Q: Do you plan to keep the 4/5 man typical group size or will you design for much larger groups?
    A: Group size isn't a technical restriction, but a gameplay one. Smaller groups are better due to the camera restriction. We haven't really decided but we'll focus on whatever gives the best experience, that'll be 4 or maybe 5 person parties.

    Q: Will you increase inventory size?
    A: We haven't decided. We're improving the inventory system and it'll be easier to trade items between your characters or other players. We'll pick a size appropriate to gameplay.

    Q: There are a lot of WoW players and Diablo II players, which audience are you aiming at?
    A: We haven't a particular aim. We're making the game for people who love Diablo, and there's plenty of room for both WoW and Diablo, we've no intention to play one game against the other.

    "We have no plans to carry classes over. It's a fresh start, we haven't finalized the final classes or how many there will be."


    Q: Will the seven classes from Diablo II be kept as well as the new classes you're introducing?
    A: We have no plans to carry classes over. It's a fresh start, we haven't finalized the final classes or how many there will be. We're not trying to bring back Diablo II classes.

    Q: Will there be different systems like mana, energy and rage for each class?
    A: We're exploring these systems, we have no specific plans.

    Q: Will there be hardcore mode in Diablo III?
    A: I don't see why we wouldn't. That decision is made towards the end of development, we might not, but we probably will.

    Q: With the loot system in Diablo II, the player with the fastest connection often got the loot. Will this change?
    A: We're changing the drop system. Monsters will drop multiple items, each player will see loot generated for them.

    Q: Will you be able to respec your player's skills?
    A: We're not talking about it but I think it's a bad idea not to. I can't give you any specifics.

    Q: Is the witch doctor a spiritual successor to the necromancer?
    A: It's not really a replacement. It's a really cool class that we liked the sound of. The witch doctor doesn't prohibit us deciding to put a necromancer class in too.
    "The witch doctor doesn't prohibit us deciding to put a necromancer class in too."


    Q: How does the gear system differ from Diablo II?
    A: There are new features for items planned. The core system isn't drastically changed. The loot structure is already good, we've maintained and improved on that.

    Q: Will there still be the ability to cheat over Battle.net?
    A: I can't give you specifics, there's a new version of Battle.net with a huge focus on cheats and anti-hack. We really want to make sure it works as cheating hurts the community.

    Q: Will there be secret areas and hidden levels?
    A: That's a secret.

    Q: Will single-player and co-operative play be balanced? Do you have to group to get the best items?
    A: The game experience is different in co-op but items will be available in both modes, there won't be anything available in co-op you can't get in single player.

    Q: You announced LoD in 2001, why is the sequel so late?
    A: It's a development issue. We wanted to make a game worthy of being a Blizzard game, so it took this long to make it that good.

    Q: Will male and female characters have different attributes?
    A: There will be no differences beyond physical appearance. We don't want to get into that area.

    Q: Will system requirements be high or will a WoW-capable PC run it? Will you need DirectX 10?
    A: It's not settled but Blizzard's goal is to support a broad set of systems. We'll have as low system requirements as we can. We don't plan to use DirectX 10 at the moment.

    Q: Will there be a map editor?
    A: We haven't nailed specifics but the Diablo series isn't very friendly to mods, mostly due to the random nature of the game. It's not a big focus of ours. But we haven't decided.

    Q: In Diablo II there was a rune system, will you keep that?
    A: No comment at this time.
    • alexforcefive, on 07/01/2008, -2/+16It must be killing microsoft that they aren't even planning to use DX 10
      • stoanhart, on 07/01/2008, -0/+11I hope they opt for OpenGL, and release on all three platforms. That would really twist the knife :)
      • BlackJackJester, on 07/01/2008, -0/+7They should patch XP to use DX10, as they have already extended the life of XP on lower level systems. If they want companies to use DX10, they need to make sure the people are using DX10, and the majority are running XP
      • CalamariAce, on 07/01/2008, -0/+3They should, but they marketed DX10 as a huge thing that would be essential to the future of games, so more people bought vista than would have otherwise.

        In any case it is evident that XP with no DX10 is not missing out on very much...
      • sinatosk, on 07/01/2008, -0/+2replying to stoanhart mostly here...

        Considering they said they are releasing Diablo III on both PC and Mac ( Mac uses OpenGL ) so yeah they are using both Direct3D and OpenGL... and what Warcraft III and World of Warcraft is like when configuring it to use OpenGL... I think it will run alright under Linux ( using wine ) and the same applies to Starcraft II
    • dante2010xxx, on 07/01/2008, -2/+8Why bother having a QA when you don't give any real answers to questsions?
    • johnroth, on 07/01/2008, -1/+1I really... REALLY hope they make this game mod friendly... some of my best times are with D2 mods.
      • medfreak, on 07/01/2008, -0/+1D2 was no where near mod friendly. Don't worry though, immense amount of talent that brought the D2 mods will work for D3.
        It is an internet rule when a game is as popular as diablo, someone is bound to ***** with the files, to our own benefit
      • johnroth, on 07/03/2008, -0/+1I know... thats why I want D3 to be mod friendly... because the mods made for D2 were amazing. But I just wonder what they would be like if Blizzard made it easier for them.
    • RealmDown, on 07/01/2008, -2/+2This guy is a level 99 "I won't nailed down" character of the "Be as ambiguous as possible" class.
    • matthew26, on 07/01/2008, -0/+1So are the classes no longer gender-locked?
  • Tigdigger, on 06/30/2008, -2/+99It's great that they're putting so much time into this game, it sounds like it's going to be friggen awesome. Except it's funny to see that the interview doesn't reveal much at all. . .

    Q: Will there be "insert feature here?"
    A: Maybe, we haven't decided yet.

    . . .
    • CarStan, on 07/01/2008, -0/+9I hope they include it.
      "Insert feature here" was one of the things that made D2 so great
  • mecharabbit, on 07/01/2008, -21/+2Please stop submitting stories about Diablo. You're scaring the children.
  • ligyron, on 07/01/2008, -1/+37I'm looking forward to the Battle.net upgrade. Battle.net is about 10 years overdue for an upgrade.
    • u8myfoood, on 07/01/2008, -2/+8If we are forced to pay for a newer Battle.net, i'd rather keep the older version!
      • pdavda, on 07/01/2008, -0/+12Battle.net has always been free, why would they change that now?
      • medfreak, on 07/01/2008, -0/+1Because they could? Because millions bought Diablo 2 for the multiplayer experience? Because monthly fees is a bottomless pit filled with cash as evidenced by WoW?
        When you have a cow, you are bound to milk it.
    • BlackJackJester, on 07/01/2008, -3/+7If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Battle net is great because of its simplicity. Any EA game online sucks because it's not battle.net. battle.net also grew into the monolith that it is by being free to play, which grew starcraft and Diablo 2 into the mega successes they are. Having battle.net pay to play would pretty much ruin their chances at another unbelievably successful game.
      • MaskedSlacker, on 07/01/2008, -5/+6Yeah, WoW is sooo unsuccessful.
      • personalj, on 07/01/2008, -0/+4WoW receives frequent content updates, I don't see how you could add frequent content to Diablo 3.
    • quomen, on 07/01/2008, -0/+1I'm hoping they have a better custom game system for warcraft.
      • XBSHX, on 07/01/2008, -0/+1They aren't upgrading all the old games.
  • goeric, on 07/01/2008, -5/+58Stay a while and listen.
  • rz8472, on 07/01/2008, -1/+12I wonder who will be the ubiquitous "archer" class in DIII... will the DI Rogue or the DII Amazon make a comeback, or will it be an entirely new class?

    I remember using Buriza with knockback and multiple shot; that was always overkill at least until you reached Hell Difficulty.
    • danomagnum, on 07/01/2008, -8/+1Maybe an elf?
      • Rsam, on 07/01/2008, -1/+16Elves dont belong in Diablo. Bring back the ROGUE
      • DarkDx, on 07/01/2008, -0/+1They specifically said : only humans.
    • BlackJackJester, on 07/01/2008, -5/+1It was also super gay. I hope the 5 classes are "Barbarian, Barbarian, Barbarian, Barbarian, and Witch Doctor"
    • jamesLankford, on 07/01/2008, -0/+3every class will have male and female
      you can' t really have a male amazon, so amazons are out
    • jaalin, on 07/01/2008, -1/+0ith bow + 40hex kthx
  • ultraJesus, on 07/01/2008, -8/+3No returning classes eh? I'm intrigued.
    • ace144, on 07/01/2008, -0/+16umm. barbarian.
    • jgzman, on 07/01/2008, -0/+5I believe he means that every class will be determined 'from whole cloth' rather than included in 3 just because it was in 2.
  • CJ117, on 07/01/2008, -2/+17Necromancer FTW!
  • Arcae, on 07/01/2008, -0/+125Wrath of the Lich King, Starcraft 2, Diablo 3. Blizzard does not want me to have a social life.
    • pdavda, on 07/01/2008, -0/+12Social life, ah, its overrated
    • Dracusis, on 07/01/2008, -4/+15You're on Digg, clearly you never ~had~ a social life.
      • stevealford, on 07/01/2008, -1/+16I had a social life until I joined digg. I had a great-paying job, beautiful girlfriend, dog, cat, and was in great shape. We won't discuss my current life.
    • TheBlackLotus, on 07/01/2008, -0/+0A soci....a what?? *gets out dictionary* *flip flip flip* Social life...mumblemumblemumble... I dont get it..?
  • Nazuel, on 07/01/2008, -4/+90Anyone else notice that D3 seems to be in its early stages? A lot of fundamental design choices have not even been made, let alone implemented. What exactly has Blizz been doing with the diablo IP for the last seven or so years? Sorry but I am getting tired of 'announce then make your fans wait three years for the game' crap. Personally I think they do it to build hype and let marketing have at it. Anyway D3 looks good at least so far, I just dont want to wait tillo 2011 to play it. I would much rather have developers announce a game when it is in its later stages of development, NOT its early stages where the game you are pimping won't resemble the final product anyway.
    • Kappa00, on 07/01/2008, -9/+3They were busy making sure they could milk a much money as they could from the WoW fanatics before they started any new games.
      • XBSHX, on 07/01/2008, -0/+1They've been working on this since at least 2004 and StarCraft 2 since 2003. WoW wasn't released until 2004 and it was a huge undertaking. They pull people off of other projects to work on the ones closest to release, which just happened to be WoW. They'll pull people off of the next gen mmo they're working on as well as D3 when StarCraft 2 gets closer to release.
      • Incomp3tnt, on 07/01/2008, -0/+1Yeah, I agree. And I'm still paying them for it. I need a life.
    • DifferentAngle, on 07/01/2008, -1/+6Yeah a year should be the limit. I'm looking at you, SC2.

    • kakwakas, on 07/01/2008, -0/+19Well, for one thing, pretty much the ENTIRE team behind Diablo quit a few years back. Then again, in that time, those guys made Guild Wars and Hellgate: London...
      • swicken, on 07/01/2008, -0/+10Yeah, they really should have stuck with blizzard.... :P
      • BlackJackJester, on 07/01/2008, -1/+4The programmers left....the visionaries (Chris Metzen) are still at blizzard.
      • XBSHX, on 07/01/2008, -0/+21/2 of Blizzard North left which was pretty much all the designers for the Diablo series. Blizzard North was then closed and the rest of the team was merged into Blizzard HQ as team 3. Chris Metzen was never on team 3/blizzard north. He is the Vice President of Creative Development of all blizzard products.
      • Incomp3tnt, on 07/01/2008, -0/+3Half of them went on to make a Diablo-esque game called Mythos. It's still in beta at the moment, but looking pretty nice.

        http://www.mythos.com/
      • smmakira, on 07/01/2008, -0/+2Ohh god Hellgate London....It had such potential. But epically failed in the end.
      • swicken, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1@incomp
        Mythos sucks. Trust me.
    • kinseyincanada, on 07/01/2008, -0/+3they said at the convention that D3 has been in development for the past 4 years so i would assume that it is coming along, i would guess a release date by mid to late next year.
      • BlackJackJester, on 07/01/2008, -0/+1Q4 2010, no earlier. I'd put money on it.
      • jamesLankford, on 07/01/2008, -0/+2well you sure don't get that from the interview

        unless by "in development for the past 4 years" they mean writing a new 3D engine

        because in the interview its sounds as if they don't have anything planned at all,
        of course, he could be lying :)
      • medfreak, on 07/01/2008, -0/+1Well they have been denying Diablo 3 for the past 4 years many many times. I think most of their vision on what the game is has already been set. They just want to send droplets of information over a period of time to keep the hype.
    • strictnein, on 07/01/2008, -0/+4I'd be willing to bet that they're shooting for a Winter of 2009 release date.
      • pdavda, on 07/01/2008, -0/+4I agree, hopefully Starcraft 2 will be the end of this year and then Diablo 3 next year. That sounds realistic.
    • Bamont, on 07/01/2008, -2/+8Since Blizzard typically builds its own gaming engines (which, if you work in the industry you'd know this takes anywhere between 1-2 years). Design for games like these takes a mountain of time to formulate, and then of course there is always the age-old question of, "will this be fun?" Not too be rude, but a lot of people have high expectations for gaming companies and the reality is that you can't just pump a game out in a few months. There have been very few (if any) games that came out at such a speed that were worth their weight in gold. The games we wait the longest for are typically the games that are the best. Their reasoning for not including much information about the game itself isn't necessarily a result of it being in its infant stages (because its beyond Alpha, the gameplay trailer showed us that) - I'd say it probably has to do with not wanting to reveal too much before their within an acceptable amount of time for release. Why burn out the populace on information they won't be able to enjoy for 1-2 years?
      • robz0rz, on 07/01/2008, -0/+5Then I can't wait for Duke Nukem Forever :D
      • jamesLankford, on 07/01/2008, -2/+1the gameplay trailer most certainly did NOT show that its beyond apha

        did we see any quests? any areas besides that one dungeon and one clearing outside the dungeon?
        any classes other than those barbarian and witch doctor? see or hear anything in that interview that they even have skills for other classess developed?

        they pretty much could have made that same video 2 years ago with the existing D2 barbarian, and a few tweeks to the necro
      • XBSHX, on 07/01/2008, -0/+1Yep it's probably in the Pre-Alpha to Alpha stage. StarCraft 2 is finally being played by all the blizzard devs. (Blizzard's alpha stage)
      • Bamont, on 07/01/2008, -0/+2@jamesLankford - Perhaps you don't know what the difference between Alpha/Beta is. Alpha is the phase before any art assets are inserted into the game, it's when place-holder art is rampant and the main focus of that phase is hammering out a majority of the technical implementation. Small steps, my friend, small steps.
    • shakbhaji, on 07/01/2008, -1/+4The lead designer said in an interview that almost all of the character classes and mechanics are playable, they just need time now to generate content. My guess is it will be released sometime in 2009.
      Also as kakwakas said, they had to pretty much reboot the entire project when blizzard north left, which isn't an easy thing.
      http://www.gamespot.com/video/930659/6193139/diabl ...
    • wolferz, on 07/01/2008, -0/+1"Personally I think they do it to build hype and let marketing have at it."

      perhaps they do... for a lot of Warcraft/WoW/Starcraft/Diablo players it seems to work too.
  • BananaGrabber, on 07/01/2008, -2/+9I'm hoping they don't force a healer, tank, and dps team like in WoW. I'd like to take down bosses with full dps teams.
  • xenoc1de, on 07/01/2008, -1/+11I'm pretty damn hyped.
    • KlogereEndGrim, on 07/01/2008, -1/+1And the marketing hype works! Thank you for the feedback!
  • Onion575, on 07/01/2008, -5/+13I miss the dark and spooky feel of Diablo 1, which was lost in Diablo 2. I hope they bring it back for Diablo 3...
    • wolferz, on 07/01/2008, -0/+13well it is hard to make a Forrest and a desert seem spooky in an isometric view game... perhaps you'd prefer they just keep you in a dungeon the whole time like DI?
      • Gizza, on 07/01/2008, -0/+3Fine by me if they made it a really huge dungeon.

        Nah, but seriously, I hope they have some really deep, dark claustrophobic type dungeons like Diablo 1.
      • yohnstoppable, on 07/01/2008, -0/+3You don't have to be in a dungeon for a spooky atmosphere. I actually agree with onion, as the atmosphere was my biggest beef with diablo 2 (although d2 was still amazing). Maybe it's cause I played it as a kid, but diablo 1 was at times actually scary imo.
      • pradaaddict, on 07/01/2008, -0/+2Some of the Tombs in D2 had a creepy feel but i agree it's really difficult to make an outdoor environment feel really spooky.
    • BlackJackJester, on 07/01/2008, -0/+7I don't know about anyone else, but whenever I faced the butcher or the Skeleton king, or diablo, or lazaraus, I would almost always bust out in a cold sweat. I'm not talking about just at release. i installed and played through it 2 months ago, and they still freak me the ***** out. Not sure what it is, but they nailed it.
      • DoubleTap84, on 07/01/2008, -0/+2I wish i could digg this comment more than one... seriously the first time I went to face Diablo in D1 it took me ten minutes to get the balls to pull that lever and let him out...
  • denizen42, on 07/01/2008, -15/+2Looks too cartoonish.
  • IpwnZnoobs, on 07/01/2008, -2/+3I wonder If there will bosses that REQUIRE a group of people to kill. I also wonder if there will be healers.
    • strictnein, on 07/01/2008, -0/+19I hope not. I prefer my Diablo to be a single player experience.
      • psevium, on 07/01/2008, -0/+4Me too, but I like that we can have multiple mercs with us
    • Technohamster, on 07/01/2008, -1/+10Never played Diablo huh.
    • logload, on 07/01/2008, -0/+1no, you can do single player.
    • Goodsorse, on 07/01/2008, -0/+0no healer necessary if the mobs will be dropping health orbs or what not
    • Incomp3tnt, on 07/01/2008, -0/+3On battle.net the difficulty of monsters scales to the amount of people playing. That's why it says "Diablo's minions grow stronger/weaker" when people join/leave a game.
  • maximatron, on 07/01/2008, -0/+47Q: With the loot system in Diablo II, the player with the fastest connection often got the loot. Will this change?
    A: We're changing the drop system. Monsters will drop multiple items, each player will see loot generated for them.

    Wow.

    Problem.... Solved.
    • GrammerPants, on 07/01/2008, -2/+2I love this idea! Now I'm waiting to hear if they will implement a BoP or BoE system.
      • jgzman, on 07/01/2008, -0/+9I certainly hope not. Diablo is not an MMO, and elements from MMOs should be carefully considered before being implemented.

        A mere handful of items were BOA in D2. Mostly quest items and similar. I would expect to see the same in D3. A huge part of the fun was twinking out your low-level characters.
    • xenoc1de, on 07/01/2008, -0/+7The killed pickit in 2 sentences.
  • drimsun, on 07/01/2008, -0/+7I uploaded the whole D3 design panel:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjlqQK4FY4I
  • bigmrpig, on 07/01/2008, -0/+9I hope they do manage to implement some sort of reasonable respec system. Always making a character and then having to restart around levels 30-40 because I did something wrong always really really made me hate my life. My life being Diablo.
  • chaos7, on 07/01/2008, -5/+1how bout a video of this
  • novask, on 07/01/2008, -3/+2The thing I worry about most is if the levels will be randomly generated every time you play a new game. After seeing the gameplay video and the beautiful scenery, I'm not sure if everything will be as random as it was in the previous titles. Its something that will either make or break the game and I'm surprised nobody has asked about it yet.
    • lucidavid, on 07/01/2008, -1/+4because shooting fireballs from your palm and hellspawns is pretty damn realistic
    • psevium, on 07/01/2008, -0/+3I think it adds to the playability, you don't want to start a new game with a new character and be like "Ok, 5 seconds going left and i'll be at the waypoint. Fun". It means you still need to explore, which is good
  • magicaltrout, on 07/01/2008, -4/+103Q: Will there be a cow level?
    A: There is no cow level
    • Infidelcastr0, on 07/01/2008, -4/+8Why does this not have hundreds of diggs.
    • Dracusis, on 07/01/2008, -21/+2Because it wasn't in the FAQ, Novask is just posting *****, you know, your typical diggtard.
      • PCloadLetterWTF, on 07/01/2008, -0/+17before you accuse someone of being a diggtard perhaps brush up on your dork history.

        In Diablo 1 there was a rumor that there was a secret cow level which, of course, there wasn't one. But it sparked a legend of sorts.When StarCraft was released, it featured a cheat code, "There is no cow level". Then the fabled cow level made its appearance in D2.

        I'm assuming that's what he was referring to.
    • Incomp3tnt, on 07/01/2008, -0/+3People actually dugg him down! Wow, learn your Diablo history. Especially if you're going to comment on it.

      Because, y'know... diggs are everything.
  • banido, on 07/01/2008, -1/+3I installed Diablo 2 again to see how different is the Barbarian, and I gotta say, the Barbarian skills in D3 look way more kickass than in D2. I actually hated the Barbarian but now I'm pretty sure I'll love it in the next game, the new skills look awesome and we just had a little preview of them.
    Can't wait to see the Sorceress/Mage (hopefully there will be one, it was my favorite hero in D2).
    • bonds, on 07/01/2008, -0/+4I always liked barbs. Even today if you build them right and have the right items(same is true for all classes) you can solo 8 player hell games no problem. Only thing you really have to watch out for as a barb is iron maiden. Berserk helps with that, but a lot of times in Chaos Sanctuary one of those ***** Oblivion Knights will cast it on your from offscreen while you're in mid whirlwind. Always sucks to hear that sound, cause as soon as you stop whirling you're dead.

    • stretch611, on 07/01/2008, -0/+1My preference was for the Druids. Good summons for meat shields and attacks. While limited in variety, he had some kickass spells (even though they were only fire based.) Add a decent bow and you could go the distance. (I never bothered with shape-shifting, allowing me to spend more on summoning and fire skills.)
  • BananaGrabber, on 07/01/2008, -1/+2I loved that gold was useless in D2, other than for buying vendor stuff.. I kind liked having to trade item for item. Bargaining without gold was fun.
  • Infidelcastr0, on 07/01/2008, -0/+36Oh god, Diablo 3.
    Just when I thought I was out, They pull me back in.
  • TankMcCannon, on 07/01/2008, -1/+6I hope they bring back the necro, he was ***** badass.
    • Aieces, on 07/01/2008, -3/+0They cant bring back the barbarian and not the necro. Thats just backwards ass crazy.
  • hypermog, on 07/01/2008, -2/+5*video*
    ! http://www.incgamers.com/Videos/43/Diablo-3---Desi ... !
  • norman619, on 07/01/2008, -3/+3I hope they spend a little more time on the monsters you fight. I hated that they reused monster models and simply changed their color. That was as bad as the Star Trek folks slapping a funny nose thing on people and calling them aliens. It was kinda sad also that the graphics in Diablo 1 were better than what they had in Diablo 2.
    • Onion575, on 07/01/2008, -0/+1True, but I guess it would take them a tremendous amount of time designing hundreds upon hundreds of new monster designs... because thats how many random bosses you'd find throughout the diablo games.
      • Dracusis, on 07/01/2008, -0/+3Keep in mind that the old Diablo games were severely limited in terms of what they could fit on a CD (or 4 or 5) and how much memory they could use at once. Buffering sequences of sprite based animations gets large real quick. I worked on 2D games like that back in those days and it was so horribly limiting, they really did do a fantastic job all things considered.

      • norman619, on 07/01/2008, -0/+1A boss is not a random monster. It's a boss. A special bad guy. It should be unique since you will only fight one of his kind not many copies of it.
  • diespectra, on 07/01/2008, -8/+1Needs more PVP
    • bonds, on 07/01/2008, -1/+1You used a Buriza didn't you?
    • diespectra, on 07/01/2008, -2/+1So apparently there are a lot of carebears on digg
  • punkcat, on 07/01/2008, -0/+8Q: With the loot system in Diablo II, the player with the fastest connection often got the loot. Will this change?
    A: We're changing the drop system. Monsters will drop multiple items, each player will see loot generated for them.

    thank god, i had fear of ninja looters.

  • punkrawkintrev, on 07/01/2008, -4/+2god knows i loved the original diablo games and I may get burried for blasphemy here, but I would love to see an option to go into a close third player view like Fable. That would make Diablo III truely bitch'n
    • Aieces, on 07/01/2008, -0/+0Fable is Fable and Diablo is Diablo. That being said, they do have a new zoom option in D3. I think thats as close as theyll ever get to third person.
  • NecroDigg, on 07/01/2008, -7/+2I hope they put lots of PVP in it.
  • mrzack, on 07/01/2008, -15/+2What a waste of technology. Wasted on a violent-senseless-brainless-incessant-mouse-clicking hacke-em up.
  • canyoudiggitman, on 07/01/2008, -8/+1ugh diablo 2 iz bibhosh
  • dissurmom, on 07/01/2008, -2/+6Respecs? I hope not... It's better I think to have everyone being a little different... Some players better than others...

    Hardcore too... I hope they have hardcore mode.

    Rakanishu!
    • Durrok, on 07/01/2008, -0/+4You mean the ones that looked up their spec on someone's blog and copied it?
  • Intensity, on 07/01/2008, -0/+5"Q: You announced LoD in 2001, why is the sequel so late?
    A: It's a development issue. We wanted to make a game worthy of being a Blizzard game, so it took this long to make it that good."

    This is the reason I love their games.
    • bonds, on 07/01/2008, -1/+6Why not just say "we were busy with WoW" and leave it at that?
    • PosedMagnet, on 07/01/2008, -0/+1I call BS on that. It doesn't take 8 years to make the game engine we saw in the gameplay vids.. especially made by a company like Blizz.

      (Expansions don't count, as they just build upon the existing engine)
      • spawnfree, on 07/01/2008, -0/+1true, they could take all the money WOW makes in a single month and hire the amount of talent needed to put together this game in 6 months.
        it would be a lot of people, and a organisation nightmare, but they would still have money left over at the end.
  • Lockhart, on 07/01/2008, -1/+7Diablo 3 was announced?
  • rolosworld, on 07/01/2008, -0/+1something I disliked from Diablo II is how, when you are at a very high level, as a warrior, your character swings and swings his sword and missing a LOT, when trying to kill a very low level monster... this made the game boring to me (even more if the monster is a ranged one and keeps running from me). I hope they fix that... I think its simple to fix, just make it not miss the hits if its a lower level monster.
    • SmokeyTreats, on 07/01/2008, -0/+1It's called attack rating. Get some and you'll rarely miss.
      • rolosworld, on 07/02/2008, -0/+1no, you missed what I was referring to,

        "when trying to kill a very LOW LEVEL monster"

        Not missing always, just LOW LEVEL ones. Something that makes no sense.
        Dunno if this was fixed eventually.

        This was evident if you finished the game like about 2 times with the same character.
  • grimward, on 07/01/2008, -1/+7From having played tons of D2 mods, I must say that according to the mod makers.. diablo 3 should contain:

    * Bigger stash (pretty much all mods)
    * Enemies that require intelligence to defeat (hell unleashed)
    * Bosses that also require more than just "hack and slash" approaches (hell unleashed)
    * No ***** town portals everywhere! (hell unleashed, ancestral recall)
    * More physically powerful necro (Blackened)
    * More diverse skill set for barbarian (ancestral recall)
    * More spells for sorceress (median)
    * USEFUL druid
    * More diverse traps/melee skills for assassin (median)
    * Faster running (pretty much all mods)
    * More customization options for your gear (crafting/gemwords/runewords/socketing)
    * Less gold
    * More diversity in the skills being used (pretty much all mods)

    And I do hope they make the game mod friendly as that's one of the factors that made Diablo 2 still
    a viable gaming choice for me even today.

    • nlight, on 07/01/2008, -1/+1I think that gold should stay the way it was in D2 - plentiful, but you can only buy potions and mediocre items with it. D2 trading was fun, because there was no common currency and you had to use some marketing skills to trade something for something better. With a common currency (like gold in WoW, I believe) every item will have a fixed value and trading will quickly become boring. "Cool Item" for "Cool Item" trades are more fun.
      • chongli, on 07/01/2008, -1/+1Diablo 3 is not going to have potions, from what I've seen so far anyway.
      • waterrat132000, on 07/01/2008, -0/+1actually it does, there are just the "quick health orbs" that are dropped, but if you look in the videos that are posted there are potions that are dropped.
    • rickcarson, on 07/01/2008, -1/+2Median is amazing. Brother Laz has been making awesome mods for absolute ages.
      • grimward, on 07/02/2008, -0/+1Yes, it is my fav mod of the moment too, only thing is that it's a bit too easy even with players 8 set.
  • belebih, on 07/01/2008, -0/+3Q: Will single-player and co-operative play be balanced? Do you have to group to get the best items?
    A: The game experience is different in co-op but items will be available in both modes, there won't be anything available in co-op you can't get in single player.

    Thank you! One of the main reasons for me to play when it comes out will be to get some time away from the necessity of groups. Most of my game time will probably just be solo when not grouped with just a handful of real life friends.
    • nlight, on 07/01/2008, -1/+1Co-op Diablo 2 with three of my friends was the most fun I've had with the game ever. Single player was good the first time, then it quickly got boring. I firmly believe that they should focus on co-op/multiplayer and include co-op only content to force people to try it. The RPG genre, at it's roots (board games), is meant to be played with other people.
      • AussieFox, on 07/01/2008, -0/+2So if someone doesn't want to play co-op, blizzard should force them to play it anyway?

        Yes, co-op is more fun, but forcing people to play it when they don't want to?
  • BedPost, on 07/01/2008, -1/+11Man, I was *so* close to graduating High School. Ah, such is life.
    • DuxBelorum, on 07/01/2008, -0/+3Don't worry. You still have a few years until its released. Maybe you can do it in that time.
    • PosedMagnet, on 07/01/2008, -0/+1Don't worry, it won't be out for another 3-4 years.
  • BlackJackJester, on 07/01/2008, -0/+1Take heed and bear witness to the truths that lie herein, for they are the last legacy of the Horadrim. There is a war that rages on even now, beyond the fields that we know - between the utopian kingdoms of the High Heavens and the chaotic pits of the Burning Hells. This war is known as the Great Conflict, and it has raged and burned longer than any of the stars in the sky. Neither side ever gains sway for long as the forces of Light and Darkness constantly vie for control over all creation.
  • JordanAustin, on 07/01/2008, -1/+3A multi-million dollar company with a presentation on one of their newest products, which just so happened to be my favorite game series of all time. I would of cooter and donkey punched every person in there who talked during presentation. The video is very hard to hear, maybe someone dumped the mic feed?
    • elpollocholo, on 07/01/2008, -0/+2and the donkey punch should be one of the abilities in the skill tree
    • Papajohn56, on 07/01/2008, -0/+2lmao because you don't know what donkey punching really is. hint: it's not punching a man in the crotch
  • Naskin, on 07/01/2008, -1/+9I hope I can be an ASTRONAUT
  • Georgie2x4, on 07/01/2008, -0/+2"Q: Will the seven classes from Diablo II be kept as well as the new classes you're introducing?
    A: We have no plans to carry classes over. It's a fresh start, we haven't finalized the final classes or how many there will be. We're not trying to bring back Diablo II classes."

    Well they have already put the Barbarian in so I'm guessing that they will probably put more classes from the old ones in. No doubt there will be some sort of Paladin/Knight class and Mage/Sorc class.
  • Viriatus2, on 07/01/2008, -11/+1i just hope that we can play multiplayer with a pirated version...
    • luckyguy2000, on 07/01/2008, -1/+6no, you cant. at least not on the official servers.

      ill BUY TWO copies of d3 when its released (already decided) and as long as you can afford a pc which runs d3 i dont think youve an excuse why you "need" to pirate a game like this.

      just to clarify: im against copyprotections (its doing harm to the legit owner only) and i dont think ppl who occasionally copy a song, movie or game from a friend should be treated as heavy criminals, BUT its still wrong and there should be punishment (like 500$ or 1000$ not 50.000$+ though).

      the guys who make the game earn that money, and who am i to steal from them?

      what is wrong with you ppl?


  • luckyguy2000, on 07/01/2008, -1/+3this is going to be a freakin awesome game.
    takin' the hack&slay genre to a whole new level.

    i cant wait.
  • PosedMagnet, on 07/01/2008, -1/+2So basically it's a bunch of vague answers to important questions.

    Why bother even asking if every answer is "We explored that possibility, but aren't sure yet" or "We've improved on that, but that has yet to be determined."

    Waste of time.
  • MarrowMan, on 07/01/2008, -0/+2The Diablo Series rocks. The Necromancer is the whole reason I chose MarrowMan as a handle.
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