Blizzard can't trademark Mephisto, it doesn't have to be them. It would also be extremely bizzare to use an actual character name in their universe as a "secret" codename. So I'm going with coincidence.
Mephisto would be an odd choice for HotS though, since he hasn't been relevant in a very long time. That would almost confirms a D2 remaster is going on, though you'd think Baal would be the better choice there. I can't find anything remotely credible about this rumor though anyway.
They just gave up on making actual changes or content for D3 seasons anymore. I don't know how you go from maintenance mode back to any expansions or DLC. Aside from maybe a Switch port, D3 is definitely cooked at this point.
I've tried to bring back some of them, but for them Diablo 3 is like a new version of their once favorite dish that was served with some disgusting sauce on top, and no matter how many times you promise them "this time I'll make it right", they'll probably never return your dinner invite. Understandably, I'd say.
This has to be kept in mind when you look at the insane number of boxes the game moved, even if relatively little of the playerbase stuck with the game very long. PC expansion sales seem to be downright pathetic compared to the blockbuster original game and console bundles, which is why IMO we haven't seen a second expansion and almost certainly never will. They are far more concerned with how to win these lapsed people back, or to expand their unexpected success on consoles, than how to monetize the few existing users at this point.
For that reason I think there's far more than 1% chance that we are looking at least a psuedo-reboot. They won't call it Diablo 4 because they don't want the public to think it's just Diablo 3 over again, even if the game mechanics end up very similar. They will want to have some kind of microtransaction setup from the start to milk a huge population of fresh players and hopefully fund ongoing content. I also suspect they will think long and hard about whether they can tilt gameplay somewhat more in the console direction while remaining a great PC experience.
There are people hired for a Diablo project, so something is coming, albeit a long time off.
I expect it to do something substantially different with the series though. We could get an xpack just fine if they really wanted to make more of the same, but slightly better. So its hard to carry forward specific mechanics ideas when even the whole genre of the game can and perhaps should be different.
Some examples of different genres the game could go in:
Third-person mass combo beat-em-up on console, a la dynasty warriors.
First-person Diablorim (unlikely since Blizz loves multiplayer...)
Truer roguelike/roguelite (permadeath, high difficulty, no farming, shorter game)
Necro is among the "band aids" to tide people over till the next Diablo game that they are working on. You know, instead of an expansion, which it is just insane to hold out hope for after they started selling classes standalone.
How would it differ from Dark Souls or WoW? Faster-paced? Multiple mobs and powerful AoE moves instead of dangerous one-on-one battles?
Probably taking more from dynasty warrior series, you can cut through hordes of foes in third person just fine. That would probably involve more focus on combos and timing than just blitzing through though.
There's plenty of fast-paced third person games now, but they are basically built for consoles/controllers first. Even though MMOs are getting more actiony, they are typically still more about skill rotations. So going here would depend largely on how Blizzard feels about consoles IMO. (Hell, maybe that is why D3 is largely abandoned now...)
That said, yes I still want a first person Diablorim with the atmosphere of D1. Don't mind if the gameplay slows down for it.
Blizzard North was independently working on D3 when WoW was gearing up for release, the project failed on their watch as so much key talent jumped to flagship. The D3 we have was built from scratch a bit after they shut down blizz north, meaning only 5+ years of actual development.
A new class is half the selling point of an expansion, you don't go selling that separately unless you've given up on them.
Also the anniversary thing is a temporary event done up with VGA-esque shaders, its likely just an easter egg like the moo moo farm with no bearing on lore. The plan going forward rather looks like they want to gradually feed their daily players additional random content to enjoy rather than building campaigns for the one-and-done crowd that made up the millions of sales of the base game.
I have a bad feeling that this is going to be a new cosmetic effect for sets in an upcoming patch. Sort of how there was a D2 necromancer set that turned you into a vampire, this will be a witch doctor set that makes you look like a necro, with bonuses to some witch doctor skills that maybe make them more necro-like. (e.g. skeletons replacing dogs) There's already a male necro in the game so it might not be that much effort. They can slowly roll out similar sets for crusader->paladin, demon hunter->amazon, etc.
What are the odds of marketing deciding that a good logo and name for an expansion, i.e. something carefully chosen to maximize sales, happened to already line up in a book, where the actual connection between the topic and image isn't even clear there? Whether expansion or not, I think that fact strongly suggests the shirt has no direct relationship to the kind of upcoming content (or lack thereof) we are about to see, and is meant to be a direct reference to the book of Cain chapter and nothing more.
I would argue that the lack of information in those first two chapters "The Dawn" and "The Burning Hells" (especially "The Burning Hells") is great for an expansion. The mortal realm only speculates on the Realms of Terror. They more about Anu and Tathamet than "The Burning Hells." With the book only speculating on what happened going into hell and defeating the prime evil "Tathamet" (Tathamet is a all of the seven prime evils) is possible. The lore could be expanded on "The Burning Hells" which is mostly speculation!
I am focusing on the claim that the expansion is named "realms of evil" and features the icon on that shirt. Sure, any of this lore could be a great expansion setting: but why would they choose THIS image with THAT fairly crappy name for an expansion, as they had already appeared in the book of Cain? Ruling that connection out is important, so people don't narrow down the possibilities too early in their line of speculation.
If past precedent is anything, an expansion name would speak to the main antagonist, as LoD and RoS have, regardless of where it was set. Dragon of Burnination, or something.
What are the odds of marketing deciding that a good logo and name for an expansion, i.e. something carefully chosen to maximize sales, happened to already line up in a book, where the actual connection between the topic and image isn't even clear there? Whether expansion or not, I think that fact strongly suggests the shirt has no direct relationship to the kind of upcoming content (or lack thereof) we are about to see, and is meant to be a direct reference to the book of Cain chapter and nothing more.
D2Mods were nothing like the custom arcade. You made toons on your own computer or unofficial servers, quite often completely new toons for playing just in the mod. Taking existing realm characters for a spin in custom games is a different beast entirely, and the big problem is how you control progression. Neverwinter tried with custom dungeons and its still a problem there.
Its also worth mentioning that D2 mod tools were entirely community-developed. Anything like an arcade would imply a lot more support than any iteration of DIablo has ever given. And unlike some very popular UMS in SC and WC3, D2 mods have never had quite the same popularity. (Then again, from what I understand, neither has SC2.)
Blizzard can't trademark Mephisto, it doesn't have to be them. It would also be extremely bizzare to use an actual character name in their universe as a "secret" codename. So I'm going with coincidence.
Mephisto would be an odd choice for HotS though, since he hasn't been relevant in a very long time. That would almost confirms a D2 remaster is going on, though you'd think Baal would be the better choice there. I can't find anything remotely credible about this rumor though anyway.
They just gave up on making actual changes or content for D3 seasons anymore. I don't know how you go from maintenance mode back to any expansions or DLC. Aside from maybe a Switch port, D3 is definitely cooked at this point.
I
This has to be kept in mind when you look at the insane number of boxes the game moved, even if relatively little of the playerbase stuck with the game very long. PC expansion sales seem to be downright pathetic compared to the blockbuster original game and console bundles, which is why IMO we haven't seen a second expansion and almost certainly never will. They are far more concerned with how to win these lapsed people back, or to expand their unexpected success on consoles, than how to monetize the few existing users at this point.For that reason I think there's far more than 1% chance that we are looking at least a psuedo-reboot. They won't call it Diablo 4 because they don't want the public to think it's just Diablo 3 over again, even if the game mechanics end up very similar. They will want to have some kind of microtransaction setup from the start to milk a huge population of fresh players and hopefully fund ongoing content. I also suspect they will think long and hard about whether they can tilt gameplay somewhat more in the console direction while remaining a great PC experience.
There are people hired for a Diablo project, so something is coming, albeit a long time off.
I expect it to do something substantially different with the series though. We could get an xpack just fine if they really wanted to make more of the same, but slightly better. So its hard to carry forward specific mechanics ideas when even the whole genre of the game can and perhaps should be different.
Some examples of different genres the game could go in:
Third-person mass combo beat-em-up on console, a la dynasty warriors.
First-person Diablorim (unlikely since Blizz loves multiplayer...)
Truer roguelike/roguelite (permadeath, high difficulty, no farming, shorter game)
Some mobile crap (let's face it, most likely)
Necro is among the "band aids" to tide people over till the next Diablo game that they are working on. You know, instead of an expansion, which it is just insane to hold out hope for after they started selling classes standalone.
There's plenty of fast-paced third person games now, but they are basically built for consoles/controllers first. Even though MMOs are getting more actiony, they are typically still more about skill rotations. So going here would depend largely on how Blizzard feels about consoles IMO. (Hell, maybe that is why D3 is largely abandoned now...)
That said, yes I still want a first person Diablorim with the atmosphere of D1. Don't mind if the gameplay slows down for it.
Blizzard North was independently working on D3 when WoW was gearing up for release, the project failed on their watch as so much key talent jumped to flagship. The D3 we have was built from scratch a bit after they shut down blizz north, meaning only 5+ years of actual development.
A new class is half the selling point of an expansion, you don't go selling that separately unless you've given up on them.
Also the anniversary thing is a temporary event done up with VGA-esque shaders, its likely just an easter egg like the moo moo farm with no bearing on lore. The plan going forward rather looks like they want to gradually feed their daily players additional random content to enjoy rather than building campaigns for the one-and-done crowd that made up the millions of sales of the base game.
I have a bad feeling that this is going to be a new cosmetic effect for sets in an upcoming patch. Sort of how there was a D2 necromancer set that turned you into a vampire, this will be a witch doctor set that makes you look like a necro, with bonuses to some witch doctor skills that maybe make them more necro-like. (e.g. skeletons replacing dogs) There's already a male necro in the game so it might not be that much effort. They can slowly roll out similar sets for crusader->paladin, demon hunter->amazon, etc.
If past precedent is anything, an expansion name would speak to the main antagonist, as LoD and RoS have, regardless of where it was set. Dragon of Burnination, or something.
How is that Book of Cain not a huge flag?
What are the odds of marketing deciding that a good logo and name for an expansion, i.e. something carefully chosen to maximize sales, happened to already line up in a book, where the actual connection between the topic and image isn't even clear there? Whether expansion or not, I think that fact strongly suggests the shirt has no direct relationship to the kind of upcoming content (or lack thereof) we are about to see, and is meant to be a direct reference to the book of Cain chapter and nothing more.
Its also worth mentioning that D2 mod tools were entirely community-developed. Anything like an arcade would imply a lot more support than any iteration of DIablo has ever given. And unlike some very popular UMS in SC and WC3, D2 mods have never had quite the same popularity. (Then again, from what I understand, neither has SC2.)