I think this is why the release still so up in the air. If beta starts and very few issues exist then they can bump up the release date. If all six months are needed, maybe it will be pushed back to early 2012.
How many issues do you think Blizzard expect us to find with 1 ~ 2 dungeons to play ?
you have to remember we're not given the entire game to fix or balance, unlike SC2.
SC2 took a whooping 5 months because they had to fix the "entire" game to meet balance expectations.
In Diablo 3, they are not going to balance anything. [It would be absurd to do so, as I said we simply dont have time to encounter 100+ different item combinations and not to metion there are 15 gems and 7 runes per each skill and item.]
That being aside, D3 are going to fix/test the basics.
- Server stress test(Probably will invite 250,000+ in the end)
- Battle.net 2.0 integrations
- User Interface
- Minor Bugs in the game.
Such as Movement, item being stuck in salvaging mode etc..
I don't know what Blizzard plans on doing duringthe six month beta. Again, the six month beta is not my opinion. It is the duration that Blizzard has said. Yes, they specifically said beta will start 6 months before release and not that it will run for six months but Blizzards betas usually run for this amount of time and usually run up until about a week before release.
My question is, if it starts 6 months before beta and only runs for 2-3 months (according to you) what are they doing during these other 3-4 months before release?
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I think people put way to much emphasis on the beta statement. If you were a product manager for Diablo III and would make a statement about time from beta to release would you play it safe and a state a number you are reasonably certain to achieve or a stretched target? Right, 6 months is a target they feel they will achieve.
Now - that does not mean 8 months of beta is out of the question either but I think it is not a bad assumption to read that quote more like 'we believe we need up to 6 months of beta testing' even though that is not what was said.
The most problematic part of testing is normally balancing and they have clearly stated they will not go for a perfect world there during the beta.
I agree with this whole-heartedly. Blizz has been very careful to maintain a diplomatic, lack luster set of expectations, as far as timing is concerned. Hell...Soon is a brand for crying out loud. Can't get more diplomatic than that.
I feel that the time they are taking now - is the balancing period. They bring in a load of people for a few months to expose the cracks and fix them. If they need six months, so be it. If they need less, than I do not believe they are going to sit around waiting for the 6 month deadline to expire, before they release. If its ready to go, then they will ship.
And as far as fears of our expectations not being met - I doubt they are in a place for that right now. They have released too much, to be concerned that people will not have the game live up to their expectations. No one is going to be 100% happy with this game. If they are concerned about system mechanics working out (i.e. working on all platforms) than that's not something that I think will need 6 months to figure out. Never underestimate the power of patching...
How many issues do you think Blizzard expect us to find with 1 ~ 2 dungeons to play ?
you have to remember we're not given the entire game to fix or balance, unlike SC2.
SC2 took a whooping 5 months because they had to fix the "entire" game to meet balance expectations.
In Diablo 3, they are not going to balance anything. [It would be absurd to do so, as I said we simply dont have time to encounter 100+ different item combinations and not to metion there are 15 gems and 7 runes per each skill and item.]
That being aside, D3 are going to fix/test the basics.
- Server stress test(Probably will invite 250,000+ in the end)
- Battle.net 2.0 integrations
- User Interface
- Minor Bugs in the game.
Such as Movement, item being stuck in salvaging mode etc..
My question is, if it starts 6 months before beta and only runs for 2-3 months (according to you) what are they doing during these other 3-4 months before release?
Find any Diablo news? Contact me or anyone else on the News team
I agree with this whole-heartedly. Blizz has been very careful to maintain a diplomatic, lack luster set of expectations, as far as timing is concerned. Hell...Soon is a brand for crying out loud. Can't get more diplomatic than that.
I feel that the time they are taking now - is the balancing period. They bring in a load of people for a few months to expose the cracks and fix them. If they need six months, so be it. If they need less, than I do not believe they are going to sit around waiting for the 6 month deadline to expire, before they release. If its ready to go, then they will ship.
And as far as fears of our expectations not being met - I doubt they are in a place for that right now. They have released too much, to be concerned that people will not have the game live up to their expectations. No one is going to be 100% happy with this game. If they are concerned about system mechanics working out (i.e. working on all platforms) than that's not something that I think will need 6 months to figure out. Never underestimate the power of patching...
Monkalicious: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/OptimusPrime-12194/hero/79139477