My name is Josh Mosqueira, I am the new game director for Diablo III, and I want to take a moment to say "Hi" and introduce myself.
I'm a writer, designer, and lifelong gamer, and I got my official start designing games back in 1996. That's when I had my first real break as a writer for White Wolf (makers of the Vampire: The Masquerade pen-and-paper role-playing game), when I co-wroteConstantinople by Night and Montreal by Night while serving in the Canadian army and finishing university. After that, I went on to work on a number of popular game series, including Homeworld, Company of Heroes, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War, and FarCry. However, 1996 is a key year for me for another reason, because it's when I, like many of you, was introduced to Diablo.
Having a heavy background in pen-and-paper design—specifically in telling stories and building worlds set in realms of horror and fantasy—I was immediately drawn in by Diablo. While the game's dark, gothic setting hooked me, it was the intense, fast-paced action gameplay and the thrill of finding awesome loot that kept me coming back for years after.
That's always been the magic of the game for me. It starts with a setting that pits epic heroes against the teeming, endless hordes of the Burning Hells, in an adventure filled with nonstop, intense action. It's in players facing off against enemies like the Butcher and Diablo, villains who truly capture the essence of evil. And having the alluring promise of new and more powerful treasures around every corner doesn't hurt either.
When I joined Blizzard, I was entrusted with the responsibility of helping to determine whether it would be possible to create a console version of Diablo III and working on what that might look like. I took this responsibility extremely seriously as I wanted to ensure that the legions of players new to the series on console could experience the magical combination of action and treasure hunting that Diablo is known for. It was important to me that we retain that essential core that is Diablo—every player who has ever roamed the shadowy halls of Sanctuary's dungeons, hunting vile demons and looting their corpses, knows it well. My goal has been to help keep that core magic formula going strong with Diablo III, and to continue refining the game, initially for the console version, and now for the game as a whole.
Enjoying the nice weather with a few teammates (left), and our PAX East crew celebrating an epic convention (right).
For me, first as a Blizzard gamer and now as a game designer at the company, I've always felt that one of the things that sets Blizzard games apart is our passion and commitment to support our games well after launch. Many of the people I've worked with here have been at Blizzard since the early days of the company, and our heavy focus on putting the games first is the culture they helped create and that everyone here lives by. That's why we didn't call it a day after launching Diablo III and move on to the next project—the care, dedication, diligence, and ongoing effort from our development team continued full steam ahead as we listened to and acted on your feedback. We don't just ship a game and leave it at that; we make sure that it grows and evolves after launch.
In the year since Diablo III launched, we've made good strides, but there are still things we can improve and new surprises in store for everyone. As Travis mentioned earlier, itemization is one of our big focuses for Diablo III moving forward. We want items to feel more meaningful, and we want players to be excited about the next loot drop. Our goal is to make the loot experience more enjoyable for ALL players. This includes reducing the amount of loot that drops while improving the overall quality, introducing targeted Legendaries, and giving players ways to directly customize their character's armor—both visually and mechanically. We're also looking into ways to reduce the impact of the Auction House. While we think the feature does provide a lot of value, it shouldn’t feel like the end-all-be-all force driving character progression.
We've built a solid foundation for the future of Diablo III and we're focused on staying true to the core essence of the game, while pushing boundaries to evolve gameplay in ways that will keep players like you excited. We hope you'll agree that with each update, the game keeps getting better and better, and we're only just getting started.
In the future, we'll be focused on preserving the core fantasy by cultivating the roots of the Diablo storyline, fine-tuning the heroes for what lays ahead, and creating new monsters and demons that will once again plant the seed of fear in your hearts. While some Diablo players out there are just looking for a fun single playthrough of the game, for many others, part of the appeal of the game is coming back again and again to test their mettle against challenging foes in an ongoing search for rare treasures, with the goal of making their heroes more and more powerful. We want to give those players, and really everyone, even more reasons to keep coming back to Sanctuary, and we have some great ideas brewing for ways to address randomization, what our endgame should offer, and how to make playing online with friends truly fulfilling.
To this end, you can expect to hear more from our designers, producers, and directors about what we have in store.
Thanks for being a part of the Diablo family, and we'll see you in Hell!
In the future, we'll be focused on preserving the core fantasy by cultivating the roots of the Diablo storyline, fine-tuning the heroes for what lays ahead, and creating new monsters and demons that will once again plant the seed of fear in your hearts.
Mmmm, yes please
Excited to see where future patches and the expansions take us.
I hope and pray he can bring the game back to the roots of what originally made the franchise so awesome. A leader with fresh eyes might be exactly what this game needs.
I hope and pray he can bring the game back to the roots of what originally made the franchise so awesome. A leader with fresh eyes might be exactly what this game needs.
Jay Wilson only had eyes for food so his focus wasn't really on the game. This guy seems to know what he's doing.
Let's see how many people jump to conclusions right off the bat. "He worked on the console version, he is the embodiment of all that is evil and must be cleansed. We, the PC gaming master race, demand that he be locked in purgatory for a week before touching our game." So far we got one...
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A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head!
Let's see how many people jump to conclusions right off the bat. "He worked on the console version, he is the embodiment of all that is evil and must be cleansed. We, the PC gaming master race, demand that he be locked in purgatory for a week before touching our game." So far we got one...
I expect a lot. Just because it is impossible for some people to say anything good about this game. This one is a freebie for that crowd. However it's not really relevant in my opinion, he seems qualified and the mention of working on the console version is him stating how he was introduced to the development process of Diablo.
Was hoping for more details about the future, like maybe a little patch preview. This is good news though, glad they found their guy.
Now that we officially have the game director it seems more than likely that the D3 expansion is going to be announced at Blizzcon.
Welcome, Josh!
I doubt that will happen..it would be nice to get some information about future plans..but if anything I imagine they'll take about the itemization patch..and not an expansion.
I think this game director shows some promise, and it appears hes been involved in quite a few other successful games. I wouldn't consider him being part of the console development to be a bad thing by any means.. I don't see where this silly stigma even would come from. The whole PC Gaming vs console gaming argument is pointless.
I hope he does aim to get back to the 'roots' of this game and that community input is taken into account further..not because they've screwed up and want to appease people, but because valuable feedback can provide amazing new features and changes.
I hope they focus on PVP first, but there are certainly plenty of fixes which are needed.
Now that we officially have the game director it seems more than likely that the D3 expansion is going to be announced at Blizzcon.
Welcome, Josh!
I doubt that will happen..it would be nice to get some information about future plans..but if anything I imagine they'll take about the itemization patch..and not an expansion.
It would be a horrible, horrible thing for this game if the itemization patch doesn't come out before November 8th. I'm almost certain that they will talk about the expansion by then.
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"Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the small death that brings total obliteration."
There's still hope for this game.And remember guys whenever we think about diablo 2's awesome moments,we actually think about D2:LOD not the original one.
If this guy really does what he says and the expansion comes with new features.............then this game will be the best diablo game ever.
Cos right now the only feature that is good about diablo 3 is the uninstall feature.
I used it months ago and loving the benefits of this feature.
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Grinding Gear Games (Company that produced POE): "These are great Ideas, we will use them for sure as they are clearly what the player base is looking for."
Blizzard: "While we agree that this game needs re-working and that these ideas could help the future of this game, we have no plans to listen to our fan-base at this time."
There's still hope for this game.And remember guys whenever we think about diablo 2's awesome moments,we actually think about D2:LOD not the original one.
If this guy really does what he says and the expansion comes with new features.............then this game will be the best diablo game ever.
Cos right now the only feature that is good about diablo 3 is the uninstall feature.
I used it months ago and loving the benefits of this feature.
And yet here you are, following every piece of news about this terrible game.
I really hated this write up. I'm excited about what's to come, but it's just SO. MUCH. FLUFF. Ah, well, here's to a future where the average legendary drop doesn't make you suicidal.
They need to bring make a horadic cube back so we can improve the item we currently have.
I can find a nice ammy that give me 10k dps boost only have to give up 70 RA and 100 vita. It doesn't make any sense. Should allow upgrade via the cub or blacksmith if you bring the materials.
he was the "Console" lead designer right?
i dont know how good this is for the fate of the PC version!
Well, don't forget that the console version has excluded some of the much hated features found in the PC version. The console version is better really...
I really hated this write up. I'm excited about what's to come, but it's just SO. MUCH. FLUFF. Ah, well, here's to a future where the average legendary drop doesn't make you suicidal.
It wasn't really intended to be an informative post. It was an introduction to the new game director.
They spend an absurd amount of time and effort (and henceforth, money) on telling their customers basically nothing. Then a small percentage of the playerbase says, "Hey, what the fuck? I'm really pissed that you're telling me nothing!", Blizzard thinks, "Hmm, our customers really don't appreciate our point of view! We're really just trying to relate. Let's write another newspost to emphasize how much we care!", and the whole circus starts all over again.
I really hated this write up. I'm excited about what's to come, but it's just SO. MUCH. FLUFF. Ah, well, here's to a future where the average legendary drop doesn't make you suicidal.
Yeah. I was hoping he would have had something good to announce to boost excitement. Apparently not. Either I fail at PR, or they do.
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Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
My name is Josh Mosqueira, I am the new game director for Diablo III, and I want to take a moment to say "Hi" and introduce myself.
I'm a writer, designer, and lifelong gamer, and I got my official start designing games back in 1996. That's when I had my first real break as a writer for White Wolf (makers of the Vampire: The Masquerade pen-and-paper role-playing game), when I co-wroteConstantinople by Night and Montreal by Night while serving in the Canadian army and finishing university. After that, I went on to work on a number of popular game series, including Homeworld, Company of Heroes, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War, and FarCry. However, 1996 is a key year for me for another reason, because it's when I, like many of you, was introduced to Diablo.
Having a heavy background in pen-and-paper design—specifically in telling stories and building worlds set in realms of horror and fantasy—I was immediately drawn in by Diablo. While the game's dark, gothic setting hooked me, it was the intense, fast-paced action gameplay and the thrill of finding awesome loot that kept me coming back for years after.
That's always been the magic of the game for me. It starts with a setting that pits epic heroes against the teeming, endless hordes of the Burning Hells, in an adventure filled with nonstop, intense action. It's in players facing off against enemies like the Butcher and Diablo, villains who truly capture the essence of evil. And having the alluring promise of new and more powerful treasures around every corner doesn't hurt either.
When I joined Blizzard, I was entrusted with the responsibility of helping to determine whether it would be possible to create a console version of Diablo III and working on what that might look like. I took this responsibility extremely seriously as I wanted to ensure that the legions of players new to the series on console could experience the magical combination of action and treasure hunting that Diablo is known for. It was important to me that we retain that essential core that is Diablo—every player who has ever roamed the shadowy halls of Sanctuary's dungeons, hunting vile demons and looting their corpses, knows it well. My goal has been to help keep that core magic formula going strong with Diablo III, and to continue refining the game, initially for the console version, and now for the game as a whole.
[Picture 1] [Picture 2]
Enjoying the nice weather with a few teammates (left), and our PAX East crew celebrating an epic convention (right).
For me, first as a Blizzard gamer and now as a game designer at the company, I've always felt that one of the things that sets Blizzard games apart is our passion and commitment to support our games well after launch. Many of the people I've worked with here have been at Blizzard since the early days of the company, and our heavy focus on putting the games first is the culture they helped create and that everyone here lives by. That's why we didn't call it a day after launching Diablo III and move on to the next project—the care, dedication, diligence, and ongoing effort from our development team continued full steam ahead as we listened to and acted on your feedback. We don't just ship a game and leave it at that; we make sure that it grows and evolves after launch.
In the year since Diablo III launched, we've made good strides, but there are still things we can improve and new surprises in store for everyone. As Travis mentioned earlier, itemization is one of our big focuses for Diablo III moving forward. We want items to feel more meaningful, and we want players to be excited about the next loot drop. Our goal is to make the loot experience more enjoyable for ALL players. This includes reducing the amount of loot that drops while improving the overall quality, introducing targeted Legendaries, and giving players ways to directly customize their character's armor—both visually and mechanically. We're also looking into ways to reduce the impact of the Auction House. While we think the feature does provide a lot of value, it shouldn’t feel like the end-all-be-all force driving character progression.
We've built a solid foundation for the future of Diablo III and we're focused on staying true to the core essence of the game, while pushing boundaries to evolve gameplay in ways that will keep players like you excited. We hope you'll agree that with each update, the game keeps getting better and better, and we're only just getting started.
In the future, we'll be focused on preserving the core fantasy by cultivating the roots of the Diablo storyline, fine-tuning the heroes for what lays ahead, and creating new monsters and demons that will once again plant the seed of fear in your hearts. While some Diablo players out there are just looking for a fun single playthrough of the game, for many others, part of the appeal of the game is coming back again and again to test their mettle against challenging foes in an ongoing search for rare treasures, with the goal of making their heroes more and more powerful. We want to give those players, and really everyone, even more reasons to keep coming back to Sanctuary, and we have some great ideas brewing for ways to address randomization, what our endgame should offer, and how to make playing online with friends truly fulfilling.
To this end, you can expect to hear more from our designers, producers, and directors about what we have in store.
Thanks for being a part of the Diablo family, and we'll see you in Hell!
Mmmm, yes please
Excited to see where future patches and the expansions take us.
Jay Wilson only had eyes for food so his focus wasn't really on the game. This guy seems to know what he's doing.
Welcome, Josh!
I expect a lot. Just because it is impossible for some people to say anything good about this game. This one is a freebie for that crowd. However it's not really relevant in my opinion, he seems qualified and the mention of working on the console version is him stating how he was introduced to the development process of Diablo.
Was hoping for more details about the future, like maybe a little patch preview. This is good news though, glad they found their guy.
I doubt that will happen..it would be nice to get some information about future plans..but if anything I imagine they'll take about the itemization patch..and not an expansion.
I think this game director shows some promise, and it appears hes been involved in quite a few other successful games. I wouldn't consider him being part of the console development to be a bad thing by any means.. I don't see where this silly stigma even would come from. The whole PC Gaming vs console gaming argument is pointless.
I hope he does aim to get back to the 'roots' of this game and that community input is taken into account further..not because they've screwed up and want to appease people, but because valuable feedback can provide amazing new features and changes.
I hope they focus on PVP first, but there are certainly plenty of fixes which are needed.
On a side note, let's hope he is better at PR than Jay Wilson was. Would hate to see the "new" guy get stuck in a "F that loser" disaster.
My BNet Profile
It would be a horrible, horrible thing for this game if the itemization patch doesn't come out before November 8th. I'm almost certain that they will talk about the expansion by then.
If this guy really does what he says and the expansion comes with new features.............then this game will be the best diablo game ever.
Cos right now the only feature that is good about diablo 3 is the uninstall feature.
I used it months ago and loving the benefits of this feature.
Blizzard: "While we agree that this game needs re-working and that these ideas could help the future of this game, we have no plans to listen to our fan-base at this time."
http://s1332.photobucket.com/user/Tester_3211/media/Diablo3devs_zpscc5fbac9.jpg.html?state=replace
And yet here you are, following every piece of news about this terrible game.
I can find a nice ammy that give me 10k dps boost only have to give up 70 RA and 100 vita. It doesn't make any sense. Should allow upgrade via the cub or blacksmith if you bring the materials.
It wasn't really intended to be an informative post. It was an introduction to the new game director.
They spend an absurd amount of time and effort (and henceforth, money) on telling their customers basically nothing. Then a small percentage of the playerbase says, "Hey, what the fuck? I'm really pissed that you're telling me nothing!", Blizzard thinks, "Hmm, our customers really don't appreciate our point of view! We're really just trying to relate. Let's write another newspost to emphasize how much we care!", and the whole circus starts all over again.
Yeah. I was hoping he would have had something good to announce to boost excitement. Apparently not. Either I fail at PR, or they do.