As many of you know, they've recently announced that some of those folks working on D3 have been transferred to the WoW team. Many have voiced the opinion that "this is the end of D3" or something like that. - Well, I just don't think that that's how it works. I've played Blizzard games for over a decade and I've read those "blue posts" all this time. You get a certain feeling of what's going on when you follow things closely. They're not at all going to "let D3 die" or anything like that, but they ARE going to throttle down a bit regarding new content probably. Might just happen that they're working on a new Diablo game btw.
Personally I can only say that if this means that they'll spend less time on "wardrobes", "gz screens" and bling nonsense, all the better. D3 will be kept alive for 20 more years probably and perfect every single aspect of the game. We might see a few new things here and there, but if what's in store for us is seeing D3 being polished over and over for the foreseeable future, well, I call that a win. I'd much rather see the devs abandoning the development of new things in favor of every single aspect of the game being perfected over time. I'd prefer a car with a solid, working engine over added bling any time. If D3 wasn't already great, 15-20 years of polishing certainly will make it absolutely legendary and no one can beat an effort like that....
I really think that some kind of announcement will be made at blizzcon. There is a lot of speculation going around about another expansion or a whole new game.
Well, I don't mind the way the game is now. Take a look at diablo 2: the game has been around for nearly 20 years and people are still playing it. Would i like new content? Sure. Do i demand new content? No. Everything that blizzard do is for a reason. So yeah, they shifted some of the D3 team to work on other projects in the company. Doesnt mean that the game is dead or what not...
If they produce less content the game will die. Its in a bad spot now. The new project they are working on is most likely a new game. which means diablo 3 is dead when it arrives.
I really think that some kind of announcement will be made at blizzcon. There is a lot of speculation going around about another expansion or a whole new game.
I don't think so. I think we'll get a relatively small 2.4.2 patch before Blizzcon and a huge preview of a 2.5+ patches at the event.
The reason why I say so is simple - based on the job postings (which sound like Blizzard is just hiring some really important people for the project) and Blizzard's history, their new game is most likely still in its infant stages, which means it's nowhere close to being ready to be announced (i.e. there's not a lot to show, there's not really to much to tell since probably most core systems are still on the drawing board, the delay between the announcement and any playable version would be too long). I think that new game is most likely like 4-5 years away in terms of release and at least 1-2 years away in terms of any announcements.
As for a D3's next expansions - well, I'm 99% convinced there won't be any. The job posting, people from D3 teams migrating to other projects, huge gap between RoS and now/potential release make it seem very unlikely.
Will the game die, though? Nah, I don't think so. I think they will provide the players with quite a lot of great patch content while we wait for another game in the Diablo franchise or at least until they are ready to announce it and openly admit they're done with improving D3 since there is this awesome, new game coming that they need to work on.
I suppose only time will tell. Damn it's a long time till November. For me any news would be welcome but Blizz has always kinda preferred the whole cloak and dagger approach to things
Well, I don't mind the way the game is now. Take a look at diablo 2: the game has been around for nearly 20 years and people are still playing it. Would i like new content? Sure. Do i demand new content? No. Everything that blizzard do is for a reason. So yeah, they shifted some of the D3 team to work on other projects in the company. Doesnt mean that the game is dead or what not...
This! Exactly this. People asking for expansion/Diablo 4 are mostly asking for a "different game". I don't fully understand the agenda behind this. An expansion usually adds 1-2 new classes, one new act, a few new models and that kind of thing. Nothing of substance that necessarily changes the game. Let's look at the changes that improved D3 over time (some of them can be argued, but let's not get into that - there are always changes that some people like and others dislike):
Complete overhaul of all class sets to bring a lot of more balance; set dungeons (patch 2.4)
Almost none of the things that made Reaper of Souls great were actually part of the base package of RoS. The expansion brought us act 5 (an act that everyone stays the hell away from unless they need it for bounties), Malthael (a story line many players spent 2 hours on before never going back to campaign), a new class (balancing 5 classes is just more difficult than 6 classes, and besides Mannercookie there was never a streamer or famous player who "championed" the class as we see for other classes). The two things that RoS introduced that were definitely great were adventure mode and the Mystic, though the rather was just revived from early beta tests and not really "new". But all I'm saying is - good content patches can bring as much, if not more, to the game as a new expansion. However, a new expansion will also completely mess up all existing balancing - and with patch 2.4.1 Blizzard made huge steps towards a better balance in many aspects (solo vs. group, many class sets got closer together, XP doesn't seem to allow for people to reach 4k paragon at the end of the season, and so on).
I'm really looking forward to patch 2.5 and whatever is to follow. I think they might just alternate bigger patches (like 2.1 and 2.3) and smaller balancing patches (like 2.4.1, though obviously they were a bit too conservative with the wizard nerfs). The cube, all the new items in 2.4, set dungeons, and new areas like Greyhollow Island indicate (at least to me) that they've given up on expansion plans and are slowly releasing that stuff as small patches over the next 2-3 years. Because that's the time span until we hear about the new "unannounced Diablo project" for which they have jobs out - whatever it is, the jobs they're hiring are very basic (lead concept artists and stuff), so don't expect that game to be released before 2020. Diablo 3 was in development for 11 YEARS!
I agree with what OP said: the future of D3 is looking bright. The foundation for this game is awesome, and they're slowly, very slowly, addressing the problems. Michael just got world rank #1 for monks - with relatively low augments (77ish), solo play since paragon 900 or so, no clan, non-meta build (U6 instead of Inna's), and comparatively super low gems (3x ~90 IIRC). Just for everyone who's crying about "I need to play group and meta and 24/7 to be successful" - no, you don't, he proved it :-) Also, the XP changes on 71+ really seemed to have slowed down paragon gain as it's unlikely at this point that anyone will get to 3000+ as many people did last season, so when Wudijo reached rank 4 on the leaderboards with paragon 1200 or so last season you might even be able to get to the top with that with a bit of luck. So my main complaint for a long time (paragon) might finally be slowly be addressed more and more, due to XP nerfs, Caldessan's, and whatever there is to come. We'll see how they overhaul class sets for the next patch to turn things around one more time, and if there's a new feature waiting for us. And at the very least, I have a reason to play at least a little bit each season (journey, conquests, stash tab). Good enough for me! If I had the time, I'd probably also engage in the leaderboard race - from the looks of it it seems as if in S6 once again "semi-casuals" have a real chance, after the S5 banwaves.
If you compare the timeline of Diablo 3 now to Diablo 2 (summer of 2003) it certainly looks great. Remember, back then we had totally broken builds and overpowered skills, crazy amount of cheating and botting even in closed B.Net that was way ahead of anything we've seen even in the worst times of D3, and no endgame besides killing Baal 1300 times to advance from level 98 to 99. I think hunting another leaderboard record sounds better to me ;-)
My #1 item on the wishlist now is to bring back the "item hunt". Something to actively incentivize people to hunt for gear, and stop those silly no-boss runs. I'm not sure what that could be, it would also suck to have crazy RNG back like people not getting a Kridershot the entire season and therefore not being able to play their favorite build. I'm thinking of something like the high runes in D2, or super high-level rares or uniques which essentially would provide +1 skill level more or something like that. Not as game breaking as having (or not having) a Kridershot, but like a 10%-20% boost if you get that super rare thing. It'd be about one tier of GRs, not enough to stop casual players from playing, but enough for top level players to engage in the long-term hunt.
I personally hope thay are working on expansion pack. Job postings says nothing, transfering people from team to team is an internal blizzard thing, and we shouldn't make any conclusions without knowing bigger picture of that. Expansion is the most logical thing company like blizzard would do because:
- shorter development time than a brand new game (means they can get profits much faster)
- young age of the game
- good foundation and huge potential of the game (theres tons of stuff they can actually add to the game make it superior to any arpg)
- development philosophy (game + expansion 1 + expansion 2 ... its like that in every bizzard game now)
Blizzard was adding features in patches, thats true and that is great. Does that mean they are scrapped expansion ? In my opinion no. Without those things game would be dead very fast. Imagine if they wouldnt introduce greater rifts and seasons. Noone would play d3 anymore. Also remember that vanilla d3 also had updates like paragon system, monster power, uber bosses, brawling.
About "need of an expansion" - expansion isn't only the new zone/class and increased level cap. RoS gave us the whole end game called adventure mode: bounties and rits and loot 2.0. This is the direction that expansion might go safely imho. Doing rifts all day is boring like hell so adding more endgame events sounds pretty logical to me. Reworking paragon system and gear farming to make it last longer isn't something that can be done in patches and prolly need a soft reset (new level cap, ur current gear is crap) and thats why expansion is needed.
I would love to see the gold auction house back, i could get a few extra empowered rifts with the stuff i de.
"no endgame besides killing Baal 1300 times to advance from level 98 to 99"
This is incorrect, i got many chars to 99 doing cows. In the early days only diablo himself gave you xp from 98 to 99 (or was it 100 i forget), i used to help clear chaos for the first 99 on east. Departy with 8ppl in group and static him down while barb gets kill.
Diablo 3 is the tenth best selling video game of all time! This is quite an achievement especially with quarterly patches constantly changing the game keeping it from getting boring. Sales will continue and I can see this game hitting within the top 5 of all time sales. Kudos to Blizzard for keeping content active. Every patch feels like I am playing a new aspect of the game, making this the longest game that I have ever played.
Diablo 3 is the tenth best selling video game of all time! This is quite an achievement especially with quarterly patches constantly changing the game keeping it from getting boring. Sales will continue and I can see this game hitting within the top 5 of all time sales. Kudos to Blizzard for keeping content active. Every patch feels like I am playing a new aspect of the game, making this the longest game that I have ever played.
Ehh... I kind of get the feeling that anyone playing the game that hasn't gotten bored is either a new player or the kind of player who wouldn't quit in the first place, because Diablo 3 got boring a looooong time ago for most of us.
Diablo 3 is the tenth best selling video game of all time! This is quite an achievement especially with quarterly patches constantly changing the game keeping it from getting boring. Sales will continue and I can see this game hitting within the top 5 of all time sales. Kudos to Blizzard for keeping content active. Every patch feels like I am playing a new aspect of the game, making this the longest game that I have ever played.
Ehh... I kind of get the feeling that anyone playing the game that hasn't gotten bored is either a new player or the kind of player who wouldn't quit in the first place, because Diablo 3 got boring a looooong time ago for most of us.
i am one of those who come back every new patch, try every new season. Its getting stale faster and faster. Last season i got to paragon 750 ish before i quit. Now in this season i quit in the early 500's. They need a lot of new shit into this game to keep me playing it. A few wings and a portrait won't cut it. And im willing to bet that there are many that feels the same as me.
i hope the game is looking bright because I currently migrated tto black desertt online and wish I did sooner! I feel my time in BDO is much more appreciated than diablo3's replay value !
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As many of you know, they've recently announced that some of those folks working on D3 have been transferred to the WoW team. Many have voiced the opinion that "this is the end of D3" or something like that. - Well, I just don't think that that's how it works. I've played Blizzard games for over a decade and I've read those "blue posts" all this time. You get a certain feeling of what's going on when you follow things closely. They're not at all going to "let D3 die" or anything like that, but they ARE going to throttle down a bit regarding new content probably. Might just happen that they're working on a new Diablo game btw.
Personally I can only say that if this means that they'll spend less time on "wardrobes", "gz screens" and bling nonsense, all the better. D3 will be kept alive for 20 more years probably and perfect every single aspect of the game. We might see a few new things here and there, but if what's in store for us is seeing D3 being polished over and over for the foreseeable future, well, I call that a win. I'd much rather see the devs abandoning the development of new things in favor of every single aspect of the game being perfected over time. I'd prefer a car with a solid, working engine over added bling any time. If D3 wasn't already great, 15-20 years of polishing certainly will make it absolutely legendary and no one can beat an effort like that....
Diablo 3 might go the same way Guild Wars did with an entirely new game Guild Wars 2 that came out some time ago a really good title .
I really think that some kind of announcement will be made at blizzcon. There is a lot of speculation going around about another expansion or a whole new game.
Not all those who wander are lost.
Well, I don't mind the way the game is now. Take a look at diablo 2: the game has been around for nearly 20 years and people are still playing it. Would i like new content? Sure. Do i demand new content? No. Everything that blizzard do is for a reason. So yeah, they shifted some of the D3 team to work on other projects in the company. Doesnt mean that the game is dead or what not...
If they produce less content the game will die. Its in a bad spot now. The new project they are working on is most likely a new game. which means diablo 3 is dead when it arrives.
Not all those who wander are lost.
Almost none of the things that made Reaper of Souls great were actually part of the base package of RoS. The expansion brought us act 5 (an act that everyone stays the hell away from unless they need it for bounties), Malthael (a story line many players spent 2 hours on before never going back to campaign), a new class (balancing 5 classes is just more difficult than 6 classes, and besides Mannercookie there was never a streamer or famous player who "championed" the class as we see for other classes). The two things that RoS introduced that were definitely great were adventure mode and the Mystic, though the rather was just revived from early beta tests and not really "new". But all I'm saying is - good content patches can bring as much, if not more, to the game as a new expansion. However, a new expansion will also completely mess up all existing balancing - and with patch 2.4.1 Blizzard made huge steps towards a better balance in many aspects (solo vs. group, many class sets got closer together, XP doesn't seem to allow for people to reach 4k paragon at the end of the season, and so on).
I'm really looking forward to patch 2.5 and whatever is to follow. I think they might just alternate bigger patches (like 2.1 and 2.3) and smaller balancing patches (like 2.4.1, though obviously they were a bit too conservative with the wizard nerfs). The cube, all the new items in 2.4, set dungeons, and new areas like Greyhollow Island indicate (at least to me) that they've given up on expansion plans and are slowly releasing that stuff as small patches over the next 2-3 years. Because that's the time span until we hear about the new "unannounced Diablo project" for which they have jobs out - whatever it is, the jobs they're hiring are very basic (lead concept artists and stuff), so don't expect that game to be released before 2020. Diablo 3 was in development for 11 YEARS!
I agree with what OP said: the future of D3 is looking bright. The foundation for this game is awesome, and they're slowly, very slowly, addressing the problems. Michael just got world rank #1 for monks - with relatively low augments (77ish), solo play since paragon 900 or so, no clan, non-meta build (U6 instead of Inna's), and comparatively super low gems (3x ~90 IIRC). Just for everyone who's crying about "I need to play group and meta and 24/7 to be successful" - no, you don't, he proved it :-) Also, the XP changes on 71+ really seemed to have slowed down paragon gain as it's unlikely at this point that anyone will get to 3000+ as many people did last season, so when Wudijo reached rank 4 on the leaderboards with paragon 1200 or so last season you might even be able to get to the top with that with a bit of luck. So my main complaint for a long time (paragon) might finally be slowly be addressed more and more, due to XP nerfs, Caldessan's, and whatever there is to come. We'll see how they overhaul class sets for the next patch to turn things around one more time, and if there's a new feature waiting for us. And at the very least, I have a reason to play at least a little bit each season (journey, conquests, stash tab). Good enough for me! If I had the time, I'd probably also engage in the leaderboard race - from the looks of it it seems as if in S6 once again "semi-casuals" have a real chance, after the S5 banwaves.
If you compare the timeline of Diablo 3 now to Diablo 2 (summer of 2003) it certainly looks great. Remember, back then we had totally broken builds and overpowered skills, crazy amount of cheating and botting even in closed B.Net that was way ahead of anything we've seen even in the worst times of D3, and no endgame besides killing Baal 1300 times to advance from level 98 to 99. I think hunting another leaderboard record sounds better to me ;-)
My #1 item on the wishlist now is to bring back the "item hunt". Something to actively incentivize people to hunt for gear, and stop those silly no-boss runs. I'm not sure what that could be, it would also suck to have crazy RNG back like people not getting a Kridershot the entire season and therefore not being able to play their favorite build. I'm thinking of something like the high runes in D2, or super high-level rares or uniques which essentially would provide +1 skill level more or something like that. Not as game breaking as having (or not having) a Kridershot, but like a 10%-20% boost if you get that super rare thing. It'd be about one tier of GRs, not enough to stop casual players from playing, but enough for top level players to engage in the long-term hunt.
I personally hope thay are working on expansion pack. Job postings says nothing, transfering people from team to team is an internal blizzard thing, and we shouldn't make any conclusions without knowing bigger picture of that. Expansion is the most logical thing company like blizzard would do because:
- shorter development time than a brand new game (means they can get profits much faster)
- young age of the game
- good foundation and huge potential of the game (theres tons of stuff they can actually add to the game make it superior to any arpg)
- development philosophy (game + expansion 1 + expansion 2 ... its like that in every bizzard game now)
Blizzard was adding features in patches, thats true and that is great. Does that mean they are scrapped expansion ? In my opinion no. Without those things game would be dead very fast. Imagine if they wouldnt introduce greater rifts and seasons. Noone would play d3 anymore. Also remember that vanilla d3 also had updates like paragon system, monster power, uber bosses, brawling.
About "need of an expansion" - expansion isn't only the new zone/class and increased level cap. RoS gave us the whole end game called adventure mode: bounties and rits and loot 2.0. This is the direction that expansion might go safely imho. Doing rifts all day is boring like hell so adding more endgame events sounds pretty logical to me. Reworking paragon system and gear farming to make it last longer isn't something that can be done in patches and prolly need a soft reset (new level cap, ur current gear is crap) and thats why expansion is needed.
I agree,
I would love to see the gold auction house back, i could get a few extra empowered rifts with the stuff i de.
"no endgame besides killing Baal 1300 times to advance from level 98 to 99"
This is incorrect, i got many chars to 99 doing cows. In the early days only diablo himself gave you xp from 98 to 99 (or was it 100 i forget), i used to help clear chaos for the first 99 on east. Departy with 8ppl in group and static him down while barb gets kill.
Diablo 3 is the tenth best selling video game of all time! This is quite an achievement especially with quarterly patches constantly changing the game keeping it from getting boring. Sales will continue and I can see this game hitting within the top 5 of all time sales. Kudos to Blizzard for keeping content active. Every patch feels like I am playing a new aspect of the game, making this the longest game that I have ever played.
i hope the game is looking bright because I currently migrated tto black desertt online and wish I did sooner! I feel my time in BDO is much more appreciated than diablo3's replay value !