Blizzcon 08: Hands On - Diablo III

[Dectilon]

I hear your concern about the randomization in areas where they felt empty and boring ... honestly, it didn't feel that way to me at all. The dungeon was randomized, but it was still *interesting*.

Also, the script and atmosphere is very well done. A nice touch is the ability to pick up journals (for instance, King Leoric's), and play them back with voiceover while you quest. Leoric's was very well voice-acted, and fans of D1 should appreciate the references

Oh, I was talking about the outdoors areas of D2 for the most part.

Personally I dislike the idea of Leoric returning BECAUSE it's an attempt at pleasing the D1-fans. If it was the Leoric character that intrigued me I'd just play D1 again. It just adds to the idea that Blizzard is running low on ideas. : (

 

[John Funk]

To be fair, it's not a major part of the story in any way (from what I could tell). This is one of the earliest dungeons in the game, and Leoric's re-resurrection has been thoroughly foiled by the end of it Really, it just seemed like a neat little throwback to fans of the first game as an introduction.

And I understand that you were talking about the outdoors areas. I don't actually know if D3 will feature randomized outdoor environments in addition to the random dungeons; I'd guess not but they could always surprise me. My point still stands, though - if the hypothetical random exteriors are as interesting as the random dungeons, boredom shouldn't be a concern

 

[Dectilon]

To be fair, it's not a major part of the story in any way (from what I could tell). This is one of the earliest dungeons in the game, and Leoric's re-resurrection has been thoroughly foiled by the end of it Really, it just seemed like a neat little throwback to fans of the first game as an introduction.

And I understand that you were talking about the outdoors areas. I don't actually know if D3 will feature randomized outdoor environments in addition to the random dungeons; I'd guess not but they could always surprise me. My point still stands, though - if the hypothetical random exteriors are as interesting as the random dungeons, boredom shouldn't be a concern

I'm pretty sure they've said the exterior locations will not be randomized as they wanted to be able to make a map of the different regions (that's the excuse anyways). Don't get me wrong now, I love ol' Blizz'. My favorite game currently is Warcraft 3 (not for the story though... ugh), but I live in constant fear that they will transform into yet another company-clump, which feeds on money and shits sequels : (

 

[John Funk]

Makes sense to me (randomization, I mean). And Tristram was the same when I ran around it both times... so that'd seem to indicate that the randomizing is limited to dungeons.

I understand your concern, and I understand why you'd worry about it. Me? I spoke with a lot of people from Blizzard since last Thursday from people in the QA department all the way up to meeting Mike Morhaime by the Guild booth on the show floor, and I left LA yesterday with even more respect for the Boys in Blue than I'd entered with. The sheer pride they take in the Blizzard name and reputation is flabbergasting, and it's something that's immediately obvious when you speak with them.

They're not perfect, of course. They have their slipups. But my faith is strong

 

[Dectilon]

I'm not entirely on Yathzee's side, but I do think it's best to be constantly critical as long as one has the possibility. I'm sure Blizzard appreciates that people have high expectations of them, as opposed to EA for example.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

I do agree with Dectilon they should explore new IP's. Now that they're rounding out Starcraft and Diablo, theres no reason not to. No game should ever go on longer then a trilogy. I look forward to Halflife 3 closing out the series, for example.

 

[Dectilon]

So I just read on 1up that Blizzard are planning to make bnet as a whole something you have to pay for each month. I wonder what airhead thought that was a good idea : /

 

[John Funk]

Where on 1up is it? All I see is Rob Pardo talking about how bnet won't be subscription based, but will likely have some optional things to pay for (like paid name changes/server changes in WoW).

 

[Lvl 64 Klutz]

I do agree with Dectilon they should explore new IP's. Now that they're rounding out Starcraft and Diablo, theres no reason not to. No game should ever go on longer then a trilogy. I look forward to Halflife 3 closing out the series, for example.

Especially with the hint at Warcraft 4. What can be added that would set it apart from Warcraft 3 besides shinier graphics?

 

[Dectilon]

Where on 1up is it? All I see is Rob Pardo talking about how bnet won't be subscription based, but will likely have some optional things to pay for (like paid name changes/server changes in WoW).

Hmmhmhm... *reading again*

You're right, I misread it.

Phew... Close call ~~

 

[Emperor Inferno]

This isn't to say, though, that the developers of Diablo III haven't taken a page or two from the WoW playbook. It's much more common to see abilities with short "cooldown" timers, for instance. One of the Barbarian moves, for example, is a devastating stomp that deals damage to all enemies in a small area around the character and stuns them. However, it takes 8 or so seconds for the skill to recharge, so it can't just be spammed at will.

This skill cool down was used to a great extent on Diablo II, long before WoW. Especially in the expansion, there was a cooldown on a lot of the druid's skills.

 

[John Funk]

I never really played a Druid much. I do recall hearing cooldown timers being mentioned specifically as one of the things they're "doing things with," though to be fair it'd be hard to make that statement any more vague Point taken, though, and I stand corrected.

 

[Emperor Inferno]

Makes sense. They're doing it for the same reason they did it in D2: some powers are just to ood to be allowed to be used frequently.

 

[Dectilon]

Hey, cooldown was implemented in wc3 first : P

Stupid WoW... Stealing wc3's thunder... grumble grumble...

 

[Emperor Inferno]

Didn't bother with W3. As soon as I saw how different it was from W1&2, I said, ah, screw this, it's just going to ruin the original for me.

 

[John Funk]

You missed out, IMO. WC3 was great.

 

[Emperor Inferno]

Maybe I'll give it another shot, as soon as I get my own computer.

 

[Ralackk]

Best way to enjoy Warcraft 3 I found was to think of it more as a shallow RPG with minions.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

Any word on when we'll be able to see more of Diablo 3? Whens the next event of the gaming scene?

 

[Emperor Inferno]

Any word on when we'll be able to see more of Diablo 3? Whens the next event of the gaming scene?

To be honest, I doubt we can hope for much more until next E3. The upcoming one will be the first since D3 was absolutely confirmed, so they'll probably do something there, but I don't think there'll be too much till then besides the website.