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Diablo III Offically Announced - The hype continues

dr0neboydr0neboy Registered User regular
edited July 2008 in Games and Technology
New thread, the same topic.

So what do you guys think, 2010 - sooner or later?

Update: Screenies:
d3_1.th.jpg

d3_3.th.jpg

d3_4.th.jpg

d3_5.th.jpg


FAQ copied from Blizzard:
What’s new about Diablo III compared to the previous Diablo games?

Exciting new classes like the witch doctor bring new gameplay options to the table. Returning classes, like the barbarian, have been completely redone with new skills to give them a feel unique to Diablo III. New customization options will provide for an even greater level of character specialization than the previous Diablo games, allowing the player to create unique characters brimming with power.

Diablo III is powered by a new graphics engine that can display characters and hordes of monsters in lush, fully 3D environments. Powerful special-effects systems and Havok-powered physics allow the player to lay waste to the Hells' minions in spectacular ways.

Also, Diablo III builds on the random environments of the previous Diablo games by introducing a host of new ways to create random scripted events throughout the game. This creates a dense and exciting world alive with quests, NPCs, dynamic encounters, and viciously challenging new monsters and bosses. Diablo III's environments add a great deal of interactivity to the game, including destructible elements and environmental obstacles that can be turned against your enemies.

In addition, Diablo III will benefit from Battle.net upgrades that will provide some exciting new features for players. Cooperative online play remains a primary focus, with multiple enhancements being planned to make connecting with your friends easier and cooperative gameplay even more fun. We'll have more details on all these aspects as well as other exciting new features at a later date.


Can you give an overview of Diablo III's storyline?

It has been twenty years since the events of Diablo II. Of those who faced the Lords of Hatred, Terror, and Destruction in the battle over the fate of Sanctuary, there are few still living who can bear to remember the horrors that the Prime Evils wrought upon the world. And of those who did not witness the terrible events firsthand, most believe the stories to be little more than myth. But something evil is stirring once again in Tristram, and it may already have claimed its first victim: Deckard Cain.


Will there be any other familiar faces in Diablo III (other than Deckard Cain)?

Yes. Players will encounter several new characters as well as a number of characters from the previous games.


Will players be visiting any familiar locations in Diablo III, such as Tristram?

Yes, definitely. Players will return to Tristram and certain other locations from the previous games, and they'll be exploring new areas of Sanctuary as well.


How many character classes are included in Diablo III? What are they?

Five character classes will be included in the game, two of which, the barbarian and witch doctor, were revealed when the game was announced at the 2008 Blizzard Entertainment Worldwide Invitational. The other classes will be announced at a later date.


Will players be able to choose the gender of their character, regardless of class?

Yes. Players will be able to create male and female characters for all five classes.


Will Diablo III be playable over Battle.net? What new features can we expect?

Yes, Diablo III will be playable over Battle.net, and Battle.net will offer some exciting new features to enhance players' Diablo III experience. We'll announce specifics and go into much more detail at a later date.


Will there be a single-player component in addition to multiplayer?

Yes. In addition to battling the hordes of the Burning Hells cooperatively with friends over Battle.net, players will be able to adventure through the world of Diablo III solo. More details on both the single-player and multiplayer experience will be revealed at a later date.


What will questing be like in Diablo III? Will it be similar to Diablo II?

Our plans for the story and quest mechanics are still under wraps. We'll go into detail on those elements of the game at a later date. We can say, however, that we expect to have class-based quests in addition to the main story-line quests.



More answers are available here.

Videos are coming.

[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
dr0neboy on
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Posts

  • UrianUrian __BANNED USERS regular
    edited June 2008
    Late 09 Early 10 is my guess.

    edit: also they already said no Starcraft 2 this year so they probably have a lot more to work on for it while Diablo 3 might be further along.

    Can you... can you guys imagine a silmatenous launch for both? It would perhaps be the greatest single day man may ever know.

    Urian on
  • TehSpectreTehSpectre Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    This OP is lame.

    I demand pictures and facts.

    TehSpectre on
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  • smokealbertsmokealbert Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    2010 seems likely but you never can tell with Blizzard.

    Also, the OP could do with some beefing out. Specifcally screenshots, gameplay videos and a section for upcoming news would be nice.

    Perhaps a link to Blizzards FAQ to stop repeated questions (or even copy and paste it into the OP)

    EDIT: What he said /\

    smokealbert on
    Xbox GT: Smokealbert
  • dr0neboydr0neboy Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Of course it's lame but I'm at work and all the fun pages (with for example pictures and facts) are blocked.

    If any one can pm some facts and pic/vid links I'll be glad to edit them in.

    dr0neboy on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    You should add, "Stop arguing about the fucking graphics," to the OP.

    I've been thinking about this 5 classes nonsense, and I think they're going to narrow it down to what I guess would be the 5 main types of characters you see in RPG's. Like there will be a healer type, mage type, and archer type. I wonder if the gender changes what your character's class is called? Like, obviously there wouldn't be male amazons, but something else that has the same abilities. Anyone get what I'm getting at?

    Henroid on
  • TehSpectreTehSpectre Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Five is all they have right now.

    There may be more.

    And they'll probably just have gender neutral classes like "Ranger" instead of "Amazon".

    TehSpectre on
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  • UrianUrian __BANNED USERS regular
    edited June 2008
    So me and my friends think that fire demon at the end of the cinematic trailer probably isn't Diablo. I'm hoping that's just another one of his minions and Diablo's arrival is a surprise and much like how epic it was in Diablo 2. Wether his appearance will be different or not from D2 i'm not sure, but judging from the boss in the gameplay video and the demon in the cinematic trailer, he better be fucking menacing.

    Urian on
  • TehSpectreTehSpectre Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    You were actually surprised about Diablo's appearance in Diablo 2?

    TehSpectre on
    9u72nmv0y64e.jpg
  • ForarForar #432 Toronto, Ontario, CanadaRegistered User regular
    edited June 2008
    While I'm sure their opening volley will be strong in regards to the five initial classes, I wouldn't be surprised if they were designing everything from the ground up for more (1-3ish?) in the inevitable expansion.

    And I do agree that we might see it sooner rather than later, but this is Blizzard we're talking about here. The company that took around a year and a half to put out a patch that was supposedly "in the can" for over half that time? For whom release dates are a dirty, vulgar word never to be uttered unless pending within a month or two (preferably less).

    I'll be floored if we see either SC2 or D3 in the next 12-18 months, but I certainly wouldn't complain.

    Hrm, the old joke is that WLK will come out, oh, like a week before or after Warhammer Online comes out. Any big RTS's or action RPG's due out in the next 2 years? Who else could they crush under their titanic behemoth of a ravenous fan base?

    Forar on
    First they came for the Muslims, and we said NOT TODAY, MOTHERFUCKER!
  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    TehSpectre wrote: »
    And they'll probably just have gender neutral classes like "Ranger" instead of "Amazon".

    I guess. That really takes the punch and charm out of things though.

    Also, Diablo himself kinda looked stupid in the cinematics. As did Mephisto. Baal was the only one that looked nifty.

    Edit - That is, in Diablo 2, Diablo looked dumb. His in-game sprite was the shit.

    Henroid on
  • BakerIsBoredBakerIsBored Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Female Barb.... give me a break.

    BakerIsBored on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Also, another thought:

    Blizzard should delay Diablo 3 for a year like they did with Diablo 2. m i rite

    Henroid on
  • TehSpectreTehSpectre Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Female Barb.... give me a break.

    Sexist.

    TehSpectre on
    9u72nmv0y64e.jpg
  • ForarForar #432 Toronto, Ontario, CanadaRegistered User regular
    edited June 2008
    By now they're probably masters of judging when the hype machine is at it's peak full swing, and will release it shortly thereafter to maximize sales.

    So we give it a year for them to work and polish it up, and then we need to clamour like nothing has ever been clamoured for before.

    Forar on
    First they came for the Muslims, and we said NOT TODAY, MOTHERFUCKER!
  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    TehSpectre wrote: »
    Female Barb.... give me a break.

    Sexist.

    Female barbarians would add more to that Conan vibe (someone said the music does this already, and I agree).

    Henroid on
  • RedMageDarionRedMageDarion Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Henroid wrote: »
    Also, another thought:

    Blizzard should delay Diablo 3 for a year like they did with Diablo 2. m i rite
    I always laugh when I think about how the CD insert for Starcraft said

    DIABLO 2
    COMING IN 1998

    Then it didn't come out for 2 more years.

    Also, color me super excited for this game.

    RedMageDarion on
    Pokemon White - 3954.6369.6328
  • BakerIsBoredBakerIsBored Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Henroid wrote: »
    TehSpectre wrote: »
    Female Barb.... give me a break.

    Sexist.

    Female barbarians would add more to that Conan vibe (someone said the music does this already, and I agree).

    Wait am I playing Diablo 3 or Guild Wars. o_O

    Also, I think they need to make this game look more like Diablo... and less like WoW and WC3. But they have plenty of time to work on it :)

    BakerIsBored on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • NerfThatManNerfThatMan Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Where are we getting the number five for the classes? I watched the Developer's Panel thingy and they said they hadn't picked a number yet...

    NerfThatMan on
    PSN: corporateshill
  • DiannaoChongDiannaoChong Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Id like to remind everyone that during the beta, everyone thought the graphics were dated (noone had complained about the res yet really). Yet as time went on everyone really enjoyed that graphics I felt and they definately grew on you. Id just like you haters to keep that in mind and maybe try the game out before you bitch that its low poly.
    Where are we getting the number five for the classes? I watched the Developer's Panel thingy and they said they hadn't picked a number yet...

    They said it during the 20 minute gameplay video. I could also swear the barb picked up items that were on the doctors screen, but we know for a fact all loot droped on your screen is yours now (phew!). I would go by the devs word since its most up to date.

    DiannaoChong on
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  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Where are we getting the number five for the classes? I watched the Developer's Panel thingy and they said they hadn't picked a number yet...
    How many character classes are included in Diablo III? What are they?

    Five character classes will be included in the game, two of which, the barbarian and witch doctor, were revealed when the game was announced at the 2008 Blizzard Entertainment Worldwide Invitational. The other classes will be announced at a later date.

    Henroid on
  • UrianUrian __BANNED USERS regular
    edited June 2008
    TehSpectre wrote: »
    You were actually surprised about Diablo's appearance in Diablo 2?

    No not surprised but shocking in how he emerged, with the meeting of the three of them and the rising of the hell gate along with the music. Of course I knew it was coming but the scene in which he came was fucking badass.

    Diablo 3 I meant when he comes in it should be a surprise in the way that we know he will come eventually but we don't know when.

    Urian on
  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Also, I think they need to make this game look more like Diablo... and less like WoW and WC3. But they have plenty of time to work on it :)
    Henroid wrote: »
    You should add, "Stop arguing about the fucking graphics," to the OP.

    Look guys. I know there are forumers that don't come around much (if at all) over the weekend. But for fuck's sake, can we please not talk about the graphics / in-game art design? The weekend handled this really shitty like.

    Henroid on
  • SudsSuds Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    I played Diablo and at the time of Diablo II I wasn't in the mood for hack and slash RPGs.

    The gameplay of Diablo III looks fucking sick though. To get in the mood I went and picked up Titan Quest and I"m going through that co-op with a friend.

    Edit: I also thought the graphics looked awesome as hell.

    Suds on
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  • NerfThatManNerfThatMan Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    So then why the hell did the developers say they didn't know how many classes they wanted?!

    NerfThatMan on
    PSN: corporateshill
  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    So then why the hell did the developers say they didn't know how many classes they wanted?!

    They have 5 finalized to a point where they know they will be included. The game is still being developed and there's still time to add more.

    Henroid on
  • RookRook Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Suds wrote: »
    I played Diablo and at the time of Diablo II I wasn't in the mood for hack and slash RPGs.

    The gameplay of Diablo III looks fucking sick though. To get in the mood I went and picked up Titan Quest and I"m going through that co-op with a friend.

    Edit: I also thought the graphics looked awesome as hell.

    It's kinda funny to see Titan Quest back in the top10 sales on steam, I guess quite a few people must have had the same idea. Poor old Iron Lore.

    Rook on
  • NerfThatManNerfThatMan Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Henroid wrote: »
    So then why the hell did the developers say they didn't know how many classes they wanted?!

    They have 5 finalized to a point where they know they will be included. The game is still being developed and there's still time to add more.

    Mmmm.

    Mmmm.

    Thanks for calming me down with that.

    NerfThatMan on
    PSN: corporateshill
  • ForarForar #432 Toronto, Ontario, CanadaRegistered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Henroid wrote: »
    So then why the hell did the developers say they didn't know how many classes they wanted?!

    They have 5 finalized to a point where they know they will be included. The game is still being developed and there's still time to add more.

    Mmmm.

    Mmmm.

    Thanks for calming me down with that.

    Also, if they are designing the core game with an expansion in mind, they might be working on significantly more classes, but only plan on including 5 initially with the ones that need the most work or seem like they'd fit in better later (perhaps mechanics need design tweaks still) later.

    Of note, they haven't said anything about an expansion (that I know of), and it's presumptious to even think about releasing D3 at this point, let alone an expansion that one assumes would come 1-3 years after it is released, but you know someone somewhere probably said "Y'know how we basically got licences to print money with LoD and TBC... yeah, we should probably plan on doing that again after we get our updated licences with SC2 and D3 itself."

    Forar on
    First they came for the Muslims, and we said NOT TODAY, MOTHERFUCKER!
  • X3x3nonX3x3non Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    I am going to go out on a limb here to speculate that the witch doctor will be somewhat like the Warlock from WoW.

    X3x3non on
  • mastriusmastrius Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    X3x3non wrote: »
    I am going to go out on a limb here to speculate that the witch doctor will be somewhat like the Warlock from WoW.

    Possibly. But from what Ive seen and heard I guess its supposed to be like the Necro. It wouldnt surprise me if WoW has some sort of effect on this game though...not at all.

    mastrius on
    "You're like a kitten! A kitten who doesn't speak Japanese." ~ Juliet Starling
  • DietarySupplementDietarySupplement Still not approved by the FDA Dublin, OHRegistered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Is it foolish to hope that this will come out in Q1 '09?

    DietarySupplement on
  • Feels Good ManFeels Good Man Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Is it foolish to hope that this will come out in Q1 '09?

    Yes.

    Feels Good Man on
  • RedMageDarionRedMageDarion Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    mastrius wrote: »
    X3x3non wrote: »
    I am going to go out on a limb here to speculate that the witch doctor will be somewhat like the Warlock from WoW.

    Possibly. But from what Ive seen and heard I guess its supposed to be like the Necro. It wouldnt surprise me if WoW has some sort of effect on this game though...not at all.
    Yeah the Witch Doctor seems a lot like the Necromancer from D2.

    Summons? Check.
    Combat magic? Check.
    Curses? Check.

    Also, watching the Barbarian hop around reminds me very much of God of War for some reason.

    Also also, I wonder if they're going to have the same skill tree type thing as Diablo 2. And if they do, will they keep it at 3 trees or will they have more?

    RedMageDarion on
    Pokemon White - 3954.6369.6328
  • dr0neboydr0neboy Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Is it foolish to hope that this will come out in Q1 '09?

    Very much so yes. But for us being so certain you'll prolly be right.

    dr0neboy on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • UltrachristUltrachrist Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    I'd say the 5 classes are almost definitely barb, wd, bow-person, nuker, and holy dude (doesn't have to be a paladin, but priest or monk or whatever). Even though the witch doctor is clearly a re-tooled necro, I'd much rather the classes show up with a new theme rather than just be the same old class with some old and some new skills like the barb. IIRC, there were some related files in the original D2 that hinted at the druid and assassin. I'm not sure if this just meant that they were supposed to be in the original game but scrapped or if they had already planned the expansion beforehand (in which case they have probably planned the D3 expansion classes as well).

    Ultrachrist on
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  • DisruptorX2DisruptorX2 Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Needs the D1 sorceror back.

    DisruptorX2 on
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  • Idx86Idx86 Long days and pleasant nights.Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Once someone saw the "Hel" rune in the picture from a few weeks ago, I was certain this was going to be announced. Diablo II + LoD was one of my favorite gaming experiences. I remember I had just a ton of item mules on East to horde all my gear.

    I wonder if Battle.net will continue to be a free service with Starcraft II and Diablo III.

    Idx86 on
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    2008, 2012, 2014 D&D "Rare With No Sauce" League Fantasy Football Champion!
  • LightRiderLightRider __BANNED USERS regular
    edited June 2008
    Surely the hellspawn will ravage this earth well before D3 is actually released, giving internet geeks all new reasons to bitch and moan about how it doesn't reflect true post-apocalyptic fantasy hellscape adventuring.

    LightRider on
  • DisruptorX2DisruptorX2 Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    LightRider wrote: »
    Surely the hellspawn will ravage this earth well before D3 is actually released, giving internet geeks all new reasons to bitch and moan about how it doesn't reflect true post-apocalyptic fantasy hellscape adventuring.

    Yeah, having standards sure is a bad thing. I'm sure Blizzard will listen to fan reaction however, and ensure the game is top notch.

    DisruptorX2 on
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  • HadjiQuestHadjiQuest Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    This isn't the great step forward I envisioned years ago.

    I'm still pissed that Guild Wars and Hellgate each failed so badly as successors. D3 so far sounds like it's going to play it so safe by expanding the gameplay design without really changing it.

    I really enjoyed Hellgate's gameplay, and I had hoped D3's would be a much, much more refined form of that type of 3rd person action. It's just too bad that Hellgate's multiplayer was broken in every way; from poor netcode to the difficulties in forming parties and the high difficulty curve when trying to solo online, all the way to the uncompelling storyline.

    Guild Wars also had dull gameplay, and I never made it very far because the game was just brutal to solo-ers or smaller parties, even when the game's for-hire bots were brought in. I never tried any of the games past the first one, however, and I hear the difficulty curve was brought into balance by nightfall.

    Even out of all the Diablo 2 clones, none were really that great. Sacred had a huge world and a lot of little neat additions, but it was also buggy, lacking in the story department, and had many repetitive quests. Dungeon Siege just got boring too quickly. Titan Quest couldn't hold me over either, even though I thought it got closer than anyone else had.

    For some reason, no one can beat the world and atmosphere that blizzard creates in these games. I was never really deep into D2's story, but I still felt like I was bound in this world. Everything was just so perfect.


    Sacred 2 and Guild Wars 2 will be out before D3 is, and it's likely that they'll still fail to capture the full spirit of the Diablo series. Then D3 will drop, and that will be that for those smaller games.

    HadjiQuest on
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