I know this has probably been said before, and I hope you do not interpret this as another release date thread. However, Diablo 3 was delayed so that Blizzard could announce the WoW Annual Pass offer at Blizzcon. That is the reason why Diablo 3 did not launch before 2012. A January-February release date is likely for Diablo 3, as it will nearly coincide with the expiration of the annual pass offer. Blizzard will probably keep the offer active until early January, in order to keep adding additional annual subscribers. The release date should follow pretty soon after the expiration of the WoW Annual pass offer, which could possibly be in July. As far as beta testers are concerned,the development team could just make it appear that Diablo 3 isn't ready to be launched. Maybe they launch it on Valentine's Day, February 14, and air a commercial during the Super Bowl. Starcraft 2 launched a commercial before Super Bowl.
You really think Blizzard would go so far as to sandbagging the beta just to try to convince the beta testers the game wasn't ready yet in an attempt to keep the "truth" of the delay a secret?
That isn't to say the annual pass didn't have some influence on the release date because everything aside Blizzard is still a for profit company they will do whats in their best interest and there is no reason to hide that.
Fact of the matter is this delay has ultimately worked out in our favor in terms of class improvements and game tweaks with the exception of the clunky feeling, in my opinion, of the nephalem altar. Yes, some of the excitement has certainly died down simply due to the fact the bait is no longer right in front of our faces, but that will change in a few more months.
Maybe, you're right.
Blizzard was really keen on a 2011 release date. You know, getting a bug ridden, half-baked Diablo 3 out to the masses. But then, some random employee (probably a WoW designer, who got a fat raise since then, if you know what I mean ;)) came up with the brilliant scheme to hold D3 off for a later release for them to make even more money in the meanwhile.
So, while they make truckloads with their new 'Annual Pass' money making scheme, they have a bit of time to spare. They figured while they're waiting they may as well polish up D3 and get all those bugs and problems out the way. You know, since they have nothing else to do...
Alright, sorry about the sarcasm, but seriously though. The game isn't finished, that is the reason for the delay. They just reworked the Demon Hunter, they reworked most skills and continue doing so, they're still working on the items, they're finalizing the rune system, they're fixing the plethora of bugs, and above all else they're polishing the game, something that Blizzard insist on grinding on with meticulous obsession (it's just something they do).
According to them the game isn't finished, and they always go on and on about how they'll never release a game as long as they feel it's not finished.
That's all there is to it.
runestones are going to be hell to balance, you know 30 kills for 5 classes, each with 5 stones with 7 levels of progression, thats 30X5X5X7= 5250 skills/similar skills to balance. I wish blizzard goodluck
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You really think Blizzard would go so far as to sandbagging the beta just to try to convince the beta testers the game wasn't ready yet in an attempt to keep the "truth" of the delay a secret?
That isn't to say the annual pass didn't have some influence on the release date because everything aside Blizzard is still a for profit company they will do whats in their best interest and there is no reason to hide that.
Fact of the matter is this delay has ultimately worked out in our favor in terms of class improvements and game tweaks with the exception of the clunky feeling, in my opinion, of the nephalem altar. Yes, some of the excitement has certainly died down simply due to the fact the bait is no longer right in front of our faces, but that will change in a few more months.
-Runestones
-Skills (Balance and swapping)
-D3's Battle.net 2.0 interface
Blizzard was really keen on a 2011 release date. You know, getting a bug ridden, half-baked Diablo 3 out to the masses. But then, some random employee (probably a WoW designer, who got a fat raise since then, if you know what I mean ;)) came up with the brilliant scheme to hold D3 off for a later release for them to make even more money in the meanwhile.
So, while they make truckloads with their new 'Annual Pass' money making scheme, they have a bit of time to spare. They figured while they're waiting they may as well polish up D3 and get all those bugs and problems out the way. You know, since they have nothing else to do...
Alright, sorry about the sarcasm, but seriously though. The game isn't finished, that is the reason for the delay. They just reworked the Demon Hunter, they reworked most skills and continue doing so, they're still working on the items, they're finalizing the rune system, they're fixing the plethora of bugs, and above all else they're polishing the game, something that Blizzard insist on grinding on with meticulous obsession (it's just something they do).
According to them the game isn't finished, and they always go on and on about how they'll never release a game as long as they feel it's not finished.
That's all there is to it.