Then how do you judge if a game is good or bad? Wouldn't you think that a company who creates games would judge how 'good' the game is based upon how many people purchase it, how long they play it and if subscriptions are possible, how many people subscribe?
I have already said I am not a big fan of WoW, though I myself did play the game and enjoy my time playing it, it just got old after a while. You are entitled to your opinion and I am not saying that you cannot think WoW is a below average game. What I am saying is that millions of people have a different opinion than you that WoW is a good game.
So will Blizzard ignore the masses and go with the minority of gamers? I don't think so. From a company perspective they are going to create games that a lot of people enjoy, because that is the goal of a company creating the game.
My point was just that. You can't judge if a game is good or bad. You can only make it sell or not. Gaming these days just doesn't go well, and the masses dictate the need. I see nothing wrong in trying to please the majority... but the fact is, games aren't what they are anymore, because true gamers are getting rare, and the new "kid" gamers are getting increasingly... single minded? The people seems to simply be too ignorant (not necessarily their fault) and have nothing to really compare the games with. Again, this is especially true with kids, which seems to see nothing else but the big, advertised titles.
I'm really getting off topic, though. And by the way, I consider WoW above average myself.
I am sure they at least 35% done with the game as a whole, probably more. Knowing Blizzard though. They probably have the game built and created, but are continuously adding more things too it, so it is difficult to but a percentage of completion on it. The game is going to be massive, that is for sure.
"and.. we have uhh.. I think (2:06 in interview) most of the other classes are actually playable back in the home office, but I'm not gonna tell you about them today. Also the First Act is also pretty playable, but we still have a long ways to go, mainly on the content side now..."
So that was in June 28, 2008, so more than a year ago. So for everyone doubting whether they are done with the classes, I think we can gurantee that they are at least at the last stage in balancing and that kind of thing.
I still go back to my 60% - 65% done. You guys who are guessing the 20% range... all I'll say is that is a good technique to set your hopes low so they don't get crushed, but thats not realistic at all..
Yes, and like Seth said, it IS most interesting to see how far diablo 3 is in the minds of the forums.
wow i just watched that Rob Pardo interview on youtube, it said it was put up june 5th 2008, all characters playable back at office and first act almost fully playable..
hopefully he wasn't bluffing..
blizzcon in 9 days
Well if all chars are playable and 1st act then what is that for percentage? only about 45 %...so really low... i expected more from Blizzard after such a long time since the announcement of the game... well thats what methinks...
Well, first of all, they probably are telling us hardly anything, partly because that is how Blizzard, but more specifically, the sector working on the Diablo franchise, has always been, and partly because whenever they announce something fans immediately look for things to complain about it. And also, of course, no percentage is from Blizzard, so it could be more or less than anything in here.
In all honesty, if it's taken them this many years, nearly a decade, to get the ball rolling on just the game engine, characters, and first act, I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't get released for another five years. I'm fairly certain the Diablo III team is the smallest in comparison to WoW (of course, which has its own floor at Blizzard HQ) and SCII, which is obviously way more popular than Diablo, especially outside of the US. It would be nice if we were provided some real numbers on those, though, so I could be certain.
well im thinking, that they are jsut keeping alot from us becasue, of exactly what you said. they dont want people to complain....so they are keeping us in suspense. I think for the rest of the year, otehr than this Blizzcon we wont be getting to much info about D3, because they will probably want to release it Q4 of 2010 or Q1 of 2011. So i do beilive that they dont want to give us to much more info.
And, well, more as of the last month or two, less and less Diablo III news has been coming through. I think that is because we're so close to the BlizzCon that they just want to save a bunch of stuff up and release it all at once, hoping that will appease people for a few months after the BlizzCon to mull over.
Well, first of all, they probably are telling us hardly anything, partly because that is how Blizzard, but more specifically, the sector working on the Diablo franchise, has always been, and partly because whenever they announce something fans immediately look for things to complain about it. And also, of course, no percentage is from Blizzard, so it could be more or less than anything in here.
In all honesty, if it's taken them this many years, nearly a decade, to get the ball rolling on just the game engine, characters, and first act, I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't get released for another five years. I'm fairly certain the Diablo III team is the smallest in comparison to WoW (of course, which has its own floor at Blizzard HQ) and SCII, which is obviously way more popular than Diablo, especially outside of the US. It would be nice if we were provided some real numbers on those, though, so I could be certain.
You really think its going to take 5 WHOLE YEARS? Don't get me wrong, we all have opinions and to each its own, but that just seems way out of the ball park. LoD came out June 29, 2001. It has only really been a little over 8 years since release. You really don't thing they actively started working on D3 right after that came out did you? They had other stuff in mind, such as WC3 and its following expansion. I would be willing to say Diablo 3 didn't even get into the concept phase until at least some time 2003, if not later.
Concept could take a very long time, especially if they have other priorities in mind, as Blizzard ussually seems to do. I'd say they probably started thinking it up, and just started compiling ideas until they were ready to get that ball rolling. Once concept is completely done, they would have to start working on an engine. This isn't like the tons upon tons of console games that just jack (insert engine here, such as the Unreal engine) and make a game based off it. We are talking an entirely new engine from scratch, and this is Blizzard we are talking about as well. You can't expect them to even make an engine from scratch at the same rate other companies would because Blizzard is full of perfectionism. If you can't do it right, don't do it at all, and that is the way Blizzard rolls.
That being said, they probably didn't even have anything playable until late 2006 - mid 2007. From there they probably played around a lot, worked on it beside their higher priority projects (WoW expansions and SC2). We then didn't see something they saw fit for the public till 2008. Come June 28, 2008 they had all classes and Act 1 playable. That is a very good place to be at that time. In a whole years time they probably have all 5 classes pretty spiffy, Act 1 pretty much what they want it to be at this point, and working on Act 2 and beyond. All of it is subject to change, especially as they progress, but they seem to be making good timing now that that D3 is stepping up to the plate on Blizzard's priority list.
As I have said before, I personally think its realistic to expect a 2010-2011 release date. If they don't announce Cataclysm at Blizzcon 09, chances are Diablo 3 will be ideally expected in 2010 (as they have announced that we are likely to see two 2010 releases). If, however, Catacylsm really is announced this year, I have a bad feeling they are going to put it higher on the priority than Diablo 3, and end up bringing it out first. To me, its kinda sad that they would work harder on an expansion for a game thats been out for years than they would on a brand new game, but then again we are talking about their pet money maker WoW. I wouldn't really expect less from Blizzard these days, they have gotten pretty obsessed with WoW. I just hope they still have the ability to put the highest standards of game quality before everything else.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
There are no stupid questions, just a bunch of inquisitive idiots.
Equinox, I agree that WoW is definitely subpar, especially for Blizzard. I played WoW for a total of 1 week, I didn't even finish the trial period!! And this is coming from a guy who played the free Pirates of the Caribbean MMO for almost 3 months.
As far as the OP question:
I'm thinking somewhere along the lines of 60-65%. You have to figure, that StarCraft II was announced in May of 2007, and was planned to be released in the end of the 3rd quarter of 2009. That's 2 1/2 years. Apply that to Diablo 3, and you get the beginning of the 4th quarter of 2010, unless they find some way to screw up the game and delay it (which I'm sure they will).
I agree with Seth for the most part. They are witholding a ton of info from us, and at the very least, we will see 1 new class at this year's Blizzcon, possibly 2 classes. Then I bet they'll have a surprise class announced at next years Blizzcon. This Blizzcon we'll also see a lot of Act 1, and part of Act 2, and I think we'll see at least one of the main bosses this year. I'm sure we won't see Diablo himself until at least Blizzcon next year. My $.02
I'm hoping they're pretty darn far. I won't expect them to announce all the classes, but they may. I would like to be surprised when I buy the game, instead of already knowing the plot twist at the end...
It's been how long since their wizard class update? I can't even remember the last time something significant was put up on the d3 site. I think they need give us some more updates just to show they're still working on the game.
It's been how long since their wizard class update? I can't even remember the last time something significant was put up on the d3 site. I think they need give us some more updates just to show they're still working on the game.
That's a pretty legitimate reason to get what you want, I think... If you look at all the updates, they've gone this long before without updating. It's only been two months.
It's been how long since their wizard class update? I can't even remember the last time something significant was put up on the d3 site. I think they need give us some more updates just to show they're still working on the game.
Just about 1 year soon.. it was announced in last years blizzcon I suppose we might get a mega update this year.
My point was just that. You can't judge if a game is good or bad. You can only make it sell or not. Gaming these days just doesn't go well, and the masses dictate the need. I see nothing wrong in trying to please the majority... but the fact is, games aren't what they are anymore, because true gamers are getting rare, and the new "kid" gamers are getting increasingly... single minded? The people seems to simply be too ignorant (not necessarily their fault) and have nothing to really compare the games with. Again, this is especially true with kids, which seems to see nothing else but the big, advertised titles.
I'm really getting off topic, though. And by the way, I consider WoW above average myself.
2010 is out of the question
wow i just watched that Rob Pardo interview on youtube, it said it was put up june 5th 2008, all characters playable back at office and first act almost fully playable..
hopefully he wasn't bluffing..
blizzcon in 9 days
In all honesty, if it's taken them this many years, nearly a decade, to get the ball rolling on just the game engine, characters, and first act, I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't get released for another five years. I'm fairly certain the Diablo III team is the smallest in comparison to WoW (of course, which has its own floor at Blizzard HQ) and SCII, which is obviously way more popular than Diablo, especially outside of the US. It would be nice if we were provided some real numbers on those, though, so I could be certain.
You really think its going to take 5 WHOLE YEARS? Don't get me wrong, we all have opinions and to each its own, but that just seems way out of the ball park. LoD came out June 29, 2001. It has only really been a little over 8 years since release. You really don't thing they actively started working on D3 right after that came out did you? They had other stuff in mind, such as WC3 and its following expansion. I would be willing to say Diablo 3 didn't even get into the concept phase until at least some time 2003, if not later.
Concept could take a very long time, especially if they have other priorities in mind, as Blizzard ussually seems to do. I'd say they probably started thinking it up, and just started compiling ideas until they were ready to get that ball rolling. Once concept is completely done, they would have to start working on an engine. This isn't like the tons upon tons of console games that just jack (insert engine here, such as the Unreal engine) and make a game based off it. We are talking an entirely new engine from scratch, and this is Blizzard we are talking about as well. You can't expect them to even make an engine from scratch at the same rate other companies would because Blizzard is full of perfectionism. If you can't do it right, don't do it at all, and that is the way Blizzard rolls.
That being said, they probably didn't even have anything playable until late 2006 - mid 2007. From there they probably played around a lot, worked on it beside their higher priority projects (WoW expansions and SC2). We then didn't see something they saw fit for the public till 2008. Come June 28, 2008 they had all classes and Act 1 playable. That is a very good place to be at that time. In a whole years time they probably have all 5 classes pretty spiffy, Act 1 pretty much what they want it to be at this point, and working on Act 2 and beyond. All of it is subject to change, especially as they progress, but they seem to be making good timing now that that D3 is stepping up to the plate on Blizzard's priority list.
As I have said before, I personally think its realistic to expect a 2010-2011 release date. If they don't announce Cataclysm at Blizzcon 09, chances are Diablo 3 will be ideally expected in 2010 (as they have announced that we are likely to see two 2010 releases). If, however, Catacylsm really is announced this year, I have a bad feeling they are going to put it higher on the priority than Diablo 3, and end up bringing it out first. To me, its kinda sad that they would work harder on an expansion for a game thats been out for years than they would on a brand new game, but then again we are talking about their pet money maker WoW. I wouldn't really expect less from Blizzard these days, they have gotten pretty obsessed with WoW. I just hope they still have the ability to put the highest standards of game quality before everything else.
As far as the OP question:
I'm thinking somewhere along the lines of 60-65%. You have to figure, that StarCraft II was announced in May of 2007, and was planned to be released in the end of the 3rd quarter of 2009. That's 2 1/2 years. Apply that to Diablo 3, and you get the beginning of the 4th quarter of 2010, unless they find some way to screw up the game and delay it (which I'm sure they will).
I agree with Seth for the most part. They are witholding a ton of info from us, and at the very least, we will see 1 new class at this year's Blizzcon, possibly 2 classes. Then I bet they'll have a surprise class announced at next years Blizzcon. This Blizzcon we'll also see a lot of Act 1, and part of Act 2, and I think we'll see at least one of the main bosses this year. I'm sure we won't see Diablo himself until at least Blizzcon next year. My $.02
BTW: has nothing to do with the subject but ... new avatar + signature!!
To end on topic, I think they will release D3 on 10.31.10 (but in my dreams 10.31.09, luvly dreams)
That's a pretty legitimate reason to get what you want, I think... If you look at all the updates, they've gone this long before without updating. It's only been two months.
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