Diablo III Wild Speculation and Rumor Mongering Abounds

[Tebonas]

You ought to have a list which of us Plebs can't to avoid such embarassments! 

[Ironwood]

I'm still confused on this whole 'Only Good News Please' idea.

[Lantyssa]

Schild.  Diablo.

'Nuff said.

[Murgos]

I'm still confused on this whole 'Only Good News Please' idea.

If you don't say bad things about it, it can't possibly turn into Hellgate: London...

[Ironwood]

Hey, I'm not gonna say shit anyways because it's not for me.

Buying a copy for the wife tho.

[schild]

Schild.  Diablo.

'Nuff said.

This.

[FieryBalrog]

I'm still confused on this whole 'Only Good News Please' idea.

If you don't say bad things about it, it can't possibly turn into Hellgate: London...

Blizzard couldn't make Hellgate London if they tried. It takes a special form of genius to spin $30 million into that.

[Ironwood]

Wasn't it a bunch of ex blizzard guys ?

[ezrast]

Every ARPG is made by "a bunch of ex blizzard guys."

[Rasix]

I'm still confused on this whole 'Only Good News Please' idea.

Happy Fun Ball will be extra happy.  Taunting is not recommended.

[Malakili]

Wasn't it a bunch of ex blizzard guys ?

Yeah.  But whatever system Blizzard has in place to prevent the release of shitty games systems to have been left behind.  Acutallly, I think the main problem with Hellgate is that it lacked any coherent design.  It was like...we want to be Diablo, but with some shooter elements, and sort of an optional MMO thing, and in the end it ended up doing almost none of it well and to top it all off they had HUGE amounts of technical problems from the billing system not working right on launch, to horrible memory leaks that caused Direct X 10 mode to crash every 10 minutes.   If they had focused on doing something well, instead of trying to offer something for everyone, I think the game could have turned out a lot better, but oh well.

[Hutch]

I'm still confused on this whole 'Only Good News Please' idea.

[Paelos]

I was planning on being happy about the game before the happy mandate.

5 Days! 

[Ironwood]

Wasn't it a bunch of ex blizzard guys ?

Yeah.  But whatever system Blizzard has in place to prevent the release of shitty games systems to have been left behind.  Acutallly, I think the main problem with Hellgate is that it lacked any coherent design.  It was like...we want to be Diablo, but with some shooter elements, and sort of an optional MMO thing, and in the end it ended up doing almost none of it well and to top it all off they had HUGE amounts of technical problems from the billing system not working right on launch, to horrible memory leaks that caused Direct X 10 mode to crash every 10 minutes.   If they had focused on doing something well, instead of trying to offer something for everyone, I think the game could have turned out a lot better, but oh well.

Well, yeah, but I was going for the funny throwaway line.

You know, in a change to my normal metier.

[Fabricated]

I say we should work backwards from the typical F13 new game reactions and start the Diablo 3 forum inside the graveyard.

[Ragnoros]

Wasn't it a bunch of ex blizzard guys ?

Yeah.  But whatever system Blizzard has in place to prevent the release of shitty games systems to have been left behind.  Acutallly, I think the main problem with Hellgate is that it lacked any coherent design.  It was like...we want to be Diablo, but with some shooter elements, and sort of an optional MMO thing, and in the end it ended up doing almost none of it well and to top it all off they had HUGE amounts of technical problems from the billing system not working right on launch, to horrible memory leaks that caused Direct X 10 mode to crash every 10 minutes.   If they had focused on doing something well, instead of trying to offer something for everyone, I think the game could have turned out a lot better, but oh well.

I believe that system would be, "We have more money than God and can spend twelve years making Diablo III". Normal studios have to release shit on time lines n such. I imagine the change might be a bit jarring.

[Malakili]

Wasn't it a bunch of ex blizzard guys ?

Yeah.  But whatever system Blizzard has in place to prevent the release of shitty games systems to have been left behind.  Acutallly, I think the main problem with Hellgate is that it lacked any coherent design.  It was like...we want to be Diablo, but with some shooter elements, and sort of an optional MMO thing, and in the end it ended up doing almost none of it well and to top it all off they had HUGE amounts of technical problems from the billing system not working right on launch, to horrible memory leaks that caused Direct X 10 mode to crash every 10 minutes.   If they had focused on doing something well, instead of trying to offer something for everyone, I think the game could have turned out a lot better, but oh well.

I believe that system would be, "We have more money than God and can spend twelve years making Diablo III". Normal studios have to release shit on time lines n such. I imagine the change might be a bit jarring.

Sort of true I guess.  Flagship North, or whatever they were calling themselves while working on Mythos got their act together pretty well and pretty quick.  I know not everyone loves Torchlight, but they made the whole damn thing in 11 months and it was pretty decent quality.  I think Bill Roper had delusions of grandeur with the Hellgate project or something.

But I digress.  Diablo 3 is going to be really good, but I don't think its just money + time.  As much as that formula seems to work for Blizzard and Valve,  Duke Nukem Forever didn't exactly pan out.

[ezrast]

I say we should work backwards from the typical F13 new game reactions and start the Diablo 3 forum inside the graveyard.

Worked out well for Blood Bowl.

[Samprimary]

Forum will go up Sunday night or Monday morning. This thread will get locked when it does.

Also, I want that forum to be fucking rainbows and buttercups and shit, so if you want to bitch - bitch here.

Seriously that electrocute graphic is just piss poor. I want everyone in on my outrage goddamnit.

[Hutch]

Forum will go up Sunday night or Monday morning. This thread will get locked when it does.

Also, I want that forum to be fucking rainbows and buttercups and shit, so if you want to bitch - bitch here.

Seriously that electrocute graphic is just piss poor. I want everyone in on my outrage goddamnit.

No one can hear you until you make a comic about it.

[Paelos]

If SC2 taught me anything, I expect to be fully blown away by the polish on every detail of the game, from the menus to the gameplay.

[Lightstalker]

If SC2 taught me anything, I expect to be fully blown away by the polish on every detail of the game, from the menus to the gameplay.

Am I missing something?  SC2 had a memory leak each time you opened a conversation window.  Granted, not core gameplay, but you could exhaust virtual memory without actually doing anything.  I think we just have collectively lowered our expectations due to other games bricking your box when they update or networks storing your passwords in plain text.  SC2 was basically SC1 +10 years of development so it isn't like they blew their budget breaking new ground and trying new things. 

I don't look to Blizzard for leading the way in coding practices, I rather appreciate them for their above average play-ability (esp. replay ability).  DIII is going to be loads of fun, even if the bolted on social components are going to be clumsy. 

[FieryBalrog]

Wasn't it a bunch of ex blizzard guys ?

Yeah.  But whatever system Blizzard has in place to prevent the release of shitty games systems to have been left behind.  Acutallly, I think the main problem with Hellgate is that it lacked any coherent design.  It was like...we want to be Diablo, but with some shooter elements, and sort of an optional MMO thing, and in the end it ended up doing almost none of it well and to top it all off they had HUGE amounts of technical problems from the billing system not working right on launch, to horrible memory leaks that caused Direct X 10 mode to crash every 10 minutes.   If they had focused on doing something well, instead of trying to offer something for everyone, I think the game could have turned out a lot better, but oh well.

I believe that system would be, "We have more money than God and can spend twelve years making Diablo III". Normal studios have to release shit on time lines n such. I imagine the change might be a bit jarring.

That may be what makes Diablo 3 a great game, but I don't really think that's what made Hellgate a complete turd. The studio just got super over ambitious and even the base design behind the game is pretty bad. Turns out randomized maps translate very poorly to a first person perspective in a full 3d environment. Also turns out a half-assed MMO design slapped onto an ARPG doesn't make either fan base happy. I'd say that's not something you fix with money, it's something you fix by realizing that's bad game design and not doing it.

Obviously when the Schaefer brothers and Baldree got their own gig they made sure their studio was the complete opposite of that (proven game design, very reined-in ambitions, low hype, self-published for cheap) and it turned into a smash hit. Then they scaled up and by all accounts it's another one outta the park.

[Job601]

Seriously that electrocute graphic is just piss poor. I want everyone in on my outrage goddamnit.

I thought arcane orb was really terrible looking, personally.

[Paelos]

Am I missing something?  SC2 had a memory leak each time you opened a conversation window.  Granted, not core gameplay, but you could exhaust virtual memory without actually doing anything.  I think we just have collectively lowered our expectations due to other games bricking your box when they update or networks storing your passwords in plain text.  SC2 was basically SC1 +10 years of development so it isn't like they blew their budget breaking new ground and trying new things. 

I don't look to Blizzard for leading the way in coding practices, I rather appreciate them for their above average play-ability (esp. replay ability).  DIII is going to be loads of fun, even if the bolted on social components are going to be clumsy. 

I thought it was pretty. The menus and transitions were cool. The cutscenes were well done. The missions were well done. The overall tone of the game was perfect. I also never had a memory leak.

[Malakili]

I thought it was pretty. The menus and transitions were cool. The cutscenes were well done. The missions were well done. The overall tone of the game was perfect. I also never had a memory leak.

I never had a memory leak either, I don't even remember it from beta...

I will say, though, that Battle.net 2.0 was, and still is, in many ways inferior to the original (which was probably at its best in Warcraft 3: Frozen Throne).  The changes they are finally making that will coincide with Heart of the Swarm release are finally going to patch back in several features which were available in the original Starcraft (notably, cross region play and shared replay viewing) which are currently still conspicuously absent.

The single player was very good though, and I think they spent a LOT of time on that stuff.  My only possible bitch was Raynor somehow getting like 10 years younger and jacked out of his mind, but in general yes, they did nail this part of the game.  

With regards to money/time and SC2 just being SC1++ or whatever, I think we shouldn't underestimate the value of trying stuff that didn't work.  When I've heard developers talk about the SC2 dev process it sounded to me like they introduced a lot of new stuff that eventually got taken out because it didn't "feel" right.  In the end I'm sure having the resource to be able to devote to trying stuff like that and more importantly being free to just revert and eat the cost of developing/testing them plays a big part in releasing a top notch title.  To bring it back to Diablo 3 - I think the time and money to iterate on some of that stuff is really going to pay off in the same way.

[Ingmar]

[f13] Yegolev
In-Game
Titan Quest: Immortal Throne

Someone is jonesing bad.

[Tannhauser]

Seriously that electrocute graphic is just piss poor. I want everyone in on my outrage goddamnit.

I thought arcane orb was really terrible looking, personally.

Steps to be a stylish and kickass Mage
1.  Use Ray of Frost 24/7
There are no other steps.

[FieryBalrog]

The reason SC2 was so conservative was because they wanted to make an eSport. Whatever the value of that to some people, it did tie their hands design wise. Of course, a lot of people complained about how conservative it was.

D3 is a lot less conservative even if it's still an isometric ARPG, which is why (apart from the online requirement) the complaining and turn-off has been in the opposite direction. To a segment of the D2 fanbase, D2 IS the only ARPG Bible.

[K9]

I say we should work backwards from the typical F13 new game reactions and start the Diablo 3 forum inside the graveyard.

I endorse this suggestion.

[Cheddar]

He just doesn't want the usual tomfoolery.  No matter how good the launch goes, how great the design is, or how great the polish is someone will pop in and shit on everything.  Just because.

Oh, and Diablo.

[Ratman_tf]

That may be what makes Diablo 3 a great game, but I don't really think that's what made Hellgate a complete turd. The studio just got super over ambitious and even the base design behind the game is pretty bad. Turns out randomized maps translate very poorly to a first person perspective in a full 3d environment.

I had no problem with the random maps. It was just like Diablos in that regard.

Also turns out a half-assed MMO design slapped onto an ARPG doesn't make either fan base happy. I'd say that's not something you fix with money, it's something you fix by realizing that's bad game design and not doing it.

This I agree with. The Subscription model for HGL was pants on head.

[Samprimary]

No one can hear you until you make a comic about it.

F13, I am starting an online petition to improve Electrocute's graphics, we will be heard,

[Paelos]

I like your hat.

[Musashi]

Does an wizard wwebsite as on the internet?