[Blizzcon 2016] No, they didn't announce Diablo IV

Ceno

BLIZZCON IS UPON US

You can watch the opening ceremony at 11 AM PDT on 11/4 for free, but the other panels are going to cost you. The virtual ticket will also provide you with some nifty in-game loot, if you so desire.



There is a lot of stuff to sift through (here's the full schedule) but here's a rundown of what was announced:

DIABLO

This is Diablo's 20th anniversary and Blizzard has decided to remake the original Diablo and patch it into Diablo III. They are including the old bosses and even a retro visual mode that pixelates the graphics. Next year, they will be selling a class add-on, the Necromancer. No mention of a Diablo IV.



OVERWATCH

Sombra was officially unveiled and will hit the PTR soon. Additionally, they announced an "arcade mode" (which looks like it will house smaller specialized modes) and the Overwatch League, Blizzard's foray into making esports actual sports.



HEROES OF THE STORM

Varian Wrynn and Ragnaros are the new characters. There is a limited time event running that will get you free heroes and an Overwatch skin as well, simply for playing with friends.

HEARTHSTONE

Gadgetzan expansion announced. Some new cards were shown too, but I don't understand CCGs.

WARCRAFT

Not much news. I imagine there will be some patch updates at the Warcraft panel.

STARCRAFT

Starcraft II is the new game that will challenge DeepMind, the A.I. that will soon destroy us all.



There will also, of course, be loads of costume contests, concerts (Weird Al! Hodor!), and interviews as well. So gird your loins and review your ARG notes, it's time for some giant shoulderpads, zerg rushes, legendary loot, lane pushing, tavern card brawls, and omnic racism. Most importantly, have fun.

BahamutZERO

I hope it's diablo 4 and they learned a lot of lessons from d3 about things to do and not do when making a diablo game that are to my personal specific tastes!

Ceno

Whatever they do, I hope it all comes to console as well, like Diablo 3 and Overwatch.

Olivaw

I loved Diablo 3 on PS4

It let you roll through barrels!

A Dabble Of Thelonius

I'm jazzed for a HotS hero reveal

QuantumTurk

Given Blizzard arcs, I'd see D3 x-pack 2 before D4, which...I'm pretty ok with really. Seasons got me back into playing and made the loot grind way more bearable, and when the last x-pack came out I rolled the new class and did all the content with a friend. I've never been nearly as hardcore as others, or even had a hardcore character, but looking that I have a max level of everything in various states of gear...yea I got my monies worth. The auction house and loot 1.0 were awful though. If you have not touched D3 in a long ass time, I highly recommend rolling a new char and playing again, you don't even have to do the story anymore, just run around hitting goals. They super streamlined the satisfaction.

crwth

super popular arg huh

I needed anime to post.

way back, shortly after D3 released, an investor presentation slide showed that they'd planned for 2 diablo 3 expansions, so i wouldn't be surprised if they were still sticking to that

Kevin Crist

I'll be intrested in seeing how the Necro will be different from Witch Doctor.

And maybe we'll see some 7.2 stuff for WoW.

Ceno

crwth wrote: »

super popular arg huh

the most popular

TheStig

Diablo is in a position right now that I'd compare to civilization games. By that I mean it's really good with a lot of expansions and updates and any sort of sequel will likely be a step backwards at least until they can expand/patch the hell out of it.

PMAvers

In regards to Warcraft, I figure they might talk a little about what's coming in the future. 7.2 and beyond.

They did seem to be trying to do smaller but more frequent updates this expansion cycle. I could sort of see a PvP-focused patch coming out around the same time the Nighthold opens. Maybe with the next PvP season?

There was some talk back around the beginning of the summer that they were looking at reworking some of the battlegrounds. Some of them are *really* showing their age and probably need to be nuked from orbit by some Legion missiles and rebuild from the ground up.

I'm looking at you, AV and WSG and IoC and Twin Peaks and Strand of the Ancients and Silvershitty Mines.

BahamutZERO

All of wow pvp is bad garbage poopy butt leavings

Tallahasseeriel

BahamutZERO wrote: »

All of wow pvp is bad garbage poopy butt leavings

Wow should be pve focused full stop. should have been from Day 1.

I feel bad for falling off the bandwagon so fast on it again. I just fell behind for various reasons and catching up will be basically impossible I feel.

Peewi

The Diablo in this image looks weird


It's similar to the Diablo 2 design, but I feel like there's too much neck.

I guess it might not actually mean anything, but it's something I noticed.

Regardless of whether it's a second D3 expansion or D4 I hope they use smaller numbers. Damage numbers don't need to go into the billions.

Kwoaru

Damage numbers should always go higher

I hope they don't abandon diablo 3 diablo's design though, id like for them to stick to their guns a little bit instead of constantly apologizing for the game not being diablo 2 again

Hacksaw

Diablo 2 was fun for its time, but I don't feel the need to play it ever again.

QuantumTurk

I remember my wow moment with diablo 3 was starting with a wizard, and right off the bat, your main attack is magic missile. It costs no mana. It MAKES mana. This blew my mind coming from D2.

BahamutZERO

I could also see that Diablo head being from a D2 HD remake

SyphonBlue

Diablo 3 is so damn good.

I like it a lot better on PS4, actually. I think it plays better with a controller than mouse.

A D2 remake with a more D3-style gameplay would be pretty cool.

Lars

Diablo has a different appearance in all 3 Diablos (presumably due to having a different host in each game). I'd assume a theoretical Diablo 4 would probably have a new appearance as well.

Also, if they actually do make Diablo II HD, then I hope they tread very carefully on what gameplay mechanics they decide needs "modernizing" and what doesn't. There are definitely things that need it, while other things might be better left alone.

Mx. Quill

I'll actually be at Blizzcon going to as much Overwatch and Hearthstone stuff as I can.

Gonna try and get the OW voice actors to sign my goodie bag in a box after their panel.

Ceno

If they make a Diablo II remaster, I want it on consoles too.

RT800

I still play D2.

D2 with upgraded graphics sounds good.

Although the old graphics have a certain charm. Simpler times.

Also the enemies of Diablo 2 were a lot more menacing. Everyone in D3 is a fucking ham who won't. shut. up.

They really dropped the ball on atmosphere with D3.

Machwing

Oh hey I'm working this. Come by the HotS booth tomorrow if you wanna see some cool shit!

BahamutZERO

RT800 wrote: »

I still play D2.

D2 with upgraded graphics sounds good.

Although the old graphics have a certain charm. Simpler times.

Also the enemies of Diablo 2 were a lot more menacing. Everyone in D3 is a fucking ham who won't. shut. up.

They really dropped the ball on atmosphere with D3.

why can I only agree with this post one time

TheStig

I want them to make a D2 remaster and remove the necromancer for no reason but to piss off necro fanboys.

Moriveth

I like Diablo 3's gameplay a lot more than 2, but I do think 2 had significantly better atmosphere/story

Inquisitor

What tournaments do they have going this year?

Also I will as always, hope against hope for a Warcraft 4 announcement.

SyphonBlue

Yeah for as much as I love Diablo 3, there really is no denying that although the environments look great, there is almost 0 atmosphere to any of them.

SyphonBlue

Inquisitor wrote: »

What tournaments do they have going this year?

Also I will as always, hope against hope for a Warcraft 4 announcement.

God yes, please give us Warcraft 4 already

Olivaw

SyphonBlue wrote: »

Yeah for as much as I love Diablo 3, there really is no denying that although the environments look great, there is almost 0 atmosphere to any of them.

I think it has atmosphere, it's just a hair too... strange, to be the thing they want it to be

Like it's not lighthearted and cartoony or anything, but a game that has that god dang witch doctor character isn't a game that's trying to convey a purely gothic-horror atmosphere, y'know?

Bloodborne it ain't

BahamutZERO

TheStig wrote: »

I want them to make a D2 remaster and remove the necromancer for no reason but to piss off necro fanboys.

rrrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Munkus Beaver

The Diablo 3 Story is so hilariously bad.

But also it is way, way, way, way too early for Blizzard to even be talking about Diablo 4 at this point. Come on now.

Sterica

I predict they will announce Farnahm the Drunk, Hemet Nesingwary, a car from Rock n Rolling racing, and Chris Metzen as hots characters

Al_wat

Yes give me d3 necros i am the fan boy

Madican

Introducing Diablo 4 with a new and improved real money auction house.

The rioting would be immediate and justified.

sarukun

Machwing wrote: »

Oh hey I'm working this. Come by the HotS booth tomorrow if you wanna see some cool shit!

My heart goes out for you, brave soldier, for I was once in your shoes.

Kwoaru

Lars wrote: »

Diablo has a different appearance in all 3 Diablos (presumably due to having a different host in each game). I'd assume a theoretical Diablo 4 would probably have a new appearance as well.

Also, if they actually do make Diablo II HD, then I hope they tread very carefully on what gameplay mechanics they decide needs "modernizing" and what doesn't. There are definitely things that need it, while other things might be better left alone.

When they do Diablo 4 I'd be fine with Diablo having a different more classically inspired design, I just hope if they bring back Diablo for this last Diablo 3 expansion they keep it more like the Diablo 3 design

I mean they could make the argument that in D3 its actually the prime evil and so if Diablo comes back solo it would look like the old design but I would never think that is the real reason for the design change

WiseManTobes

Oo schedule has an hour block for Overwatch animated shorts, wonder if that whole hour is new? oh man, gimme more Overwatch animateds!

Brolo

1994: Warcraft 1
1995: Warcraft 2
1996: Diablo
1998: Starcraft
2000: Diablo 2
2002: Warcraft 3
2004: WoW
2010: Starcraft 2
2012: Diablo 3
2014: Hearthstone
2015: Heroes of the Stone
2016: Overwatch

I wonder how much WoW fucked around with Blizzard's production of other games.