The Music and Sound panel was focused all around the making of the soundtrack for Diablo III. Some very interesting tidbits were shared such as the fact that Diablo III has around 12,000 - 16,000 lines of dialogue. All of which is to help tell the epic story that will unfold during the gameplay. All of the sounds in Diablo III are all focused one keyt aspect of what makes the Diablo franchise so great, randomization.
When clicking the same spell over and over again, thousands of times, it is important that the sound of this skill is not repeated exactly over and over again which would dull the experience of the hack n' slash genre. Each skill is given multiple tracks for casting, pathing, and contact. Each of these distinct elements are then also given special treatment with varying sounds, lengths, and volumes. When compiled together, they randomize five to ten different sounds that can be repeatedly randomly to help add variety to the button mashing combat.
Along with this, even the music itself can be randomized. Starting with random sounds, it was mentioned that there are areas where random sounds can be heard while other times silence is used. With the actual music, it is orchestrated in multiple levels. They then use these multiple levels to help create randomized music that blends together harmoniously so that you do not even notice that the music itself has changed and is randomized.
Bridging the gap between Blizzard North and Diablo I & II was also a key focus for the team for creating the soundtrack of Diablo III. A lot of effort went in to using what Matt Ullman created for the previous games and made iconic to help bring players into the new game seamlessly. While creating something unique for Diablo III, the team made sure to use those iconic sounds. It was even mentioned how when Diablo III was announced at the WWI in Paris, that only music was needed for the entire crowd to know that it was Diablo.
If you are interested in learning more about the music and sound of Diablo III, you can watch the panel (will be uploaded soon™) and take a listen for yourself. You can also purchase the Diablo III CE which will include the soundtrack and making of.
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- ScyberDragon
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Member for 15 years, 2 months, and 28 days
Last active Tue, Apr, 1 2014 12:13:11
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Oct 21, 2011
published the article The Music and Sounds of Diablo IIIPosted in: The Music and Sounds of Diablo III -
Oct 21, 2011
published the article Blizzcon 2011 HubPosted in: Blizzcon 2011 HubWe will be giving full coverage over the 2011 Blizzcon. However, to keep everything in one easy place to reference, this thread will be used as a hub for all the articles and information released from Blizzcon.
Articles
Blizzcon Scheduled Coverage - A quick overview of DiabloFans' plan for coverage and schedule.
Opening Ceremony - Everything Diablo mentioned in the opening ceremony including CE info and a glimpse at the Black Soulstone cinematic.
Music and Sound Panel - Discussion on the making of the sounds of Diablo III.
Costume Contest - All of the Diablo themed costumes.
Gameplay and AH Panel - Coverage of the game mechanics covered in this panel.
Lore Panel - Discussion on the Lore behind Diablo III and the franchise.
Diablo Question and Answer Panel - Questions asked by users and answered by Blizzard.
Black Soulstone Cinematic Panel - Detailed explanation of the work behind creating the Black Soulstone cinematic.
Videos
Black Soulstone Cinematic
Gamplay Footage from 2011 Blizzcon
Interview with Jay Wilson by Sixen and Force
Interviews
WoW & D3 Press/Fansite Interview
Full compilation of various interviews (Special thanks to doomscream)
Links
Diablo III Collector's Edition
Diablo Wallpaper
If you find any info we have missed, please feel free to let us know so we can add it to the list. -
Oct 21, 2011
published the article DiabloFans' Blizzcon CoveragePosted in: DiabloFans' Blizzcon Coverage
DiabloFans will have complete coverage over the 2011 Blizzcon. Sixen, Magistrate, and force are all at the event for a first-person and immediate coverage over all of the happenings related to Diablo. Myself and many other members of the news team and DiabloFans staff will also be watching Blizzcon from the virtual ticket feed so we can inform the rest of the community about what is being shared by the Blizzard team. We will be writing up extensive coverage over the Diablo panels as well as finding any other random Diablo news shared.
As far as Diablo goes, there are four main panels that are focused just on Diablo:
Diablo III Gameplay and Auction House - Friday 4:45-5:45pm PST
Diablo III Lore - Saturday 10:00 - 11:00 am PST
Diablo III Open Q&A - Saturday 11:30 - 12:30 pm PST
Blizzard Cinematics: Diablo III - Making of 'Black Soulstone' - Saturday 3:00 - 4:00 pm PST
There is also the possibility of some other panels mentioning information about Diablo:
Opening Ceremony - Friday 11:00 - 12:00 pm PST
Artists Stage - Friday 12:00 - 1:15 pm PST
Blizzard Sound - Friday 12:30 - 1:30 pm PST
Artists Stage - Friday 1:30 - 2:45 pm PST
Artists Stage - Friday 3:00 - 4:45 pm PST
Artists Stage - Friday 4:30 - 5:45 pm PST
Blizzard's Publishing: So What's the Story? - Friday 4:45 - 5:45 pm PST
Artists Stage - Saturday 11:00 - 12:15 pm PST
Artists Stage - Saturday 12:30 - 1:45 pm PST
Artists Stage - Saturday 2:00 - 3:15 pm PST
Artists Stage - Saturday 3:30 - 4:45 pm PST
Closing Ceremony - Saturday 6:00 - 9:30 pm PST
Stay tuned to DiabloFans for everything you need to know about what is happening at the 2011 Blizzcon. If you have any questions or comments on the coverage, please feel free to ask and share them here.
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Oct 17, 2011
published the article The Fallen StarPosted in: The Fallen Star
Your epic journey to vanquish the
Denizens of Hell begins with the tale of the Fallen star. The one cinematic we have seen has shown this mysterious Fallen "Star" the reawakens that which lies beneath the Tristram Cathedral. While the intro cinematics are not in the beta, your character begins with the knowledge of the Fallen Star.
*Warning - The information in the rest of this article may be considered a spoiler for those who do not want to know about the story and/or quests in the game.
You start the game at Overlook Road, a small path leading to New Tristram. Along the way to the town, you will encounter your first demons to slay. A few Risen line your path while the consume on the dead that lay on the ground.Making quick work of these zombies, you make your way to the front gate of New Tristram. However, the gate is sealed as a horde of zombies attack the base. This is where you run into Captain Rumford. He will give you your first actual quest to help end the attack. After proving your worth to the Captain, he will inform you to talk to Leah, the only survivor of the Fallen Star event, within New Tristram.
After making your way to the Slaughter Calf Inn, you talk to Leah who informs you that Deckard Cain was blasted down further into the Tristram Cathedral. However, before she finishes explaining what has happened, some survivors of the attack turn into Risen and you must kill the newly transformed demons. After making quick work of the zombies, you tell Leah that you will help save the town from the newly awakened evil. She will then direct you back to Captain Rumford who can help you figure out just how to accomplish this task. Your quest will update as you slay the first Wretched Mother who is spawning the Risen. After killing her, your next objective is to follow the path to Old Tristram to slay the Wretched Queen. Along the way, you are also presented your first bonus quest to kill three more Wretched Mothers along the way. Conveniently, these monsters are highlighted as red dots on your map to help you find and kill them. While you do not have to complete the bonus quest, it will give a nice +xp boost for killing zombies on your way.
Once you make your way into Old Tristram, you will find the queen. She is the first set rare monster that you will fight. While she can raise zombies through vomiting like the other Wretched Mothers, she will also cast a red-fiery circle on the ground that will damage you over time if you remain in that area.After killing her, you will find a waypoint that will take you back to New Tristram. In fact, you will even get a bonus quest to take this portal back to talk to Captain Rumford. After reporting you have killed the Queen, you will finish the first quest of the game. Captain Rumford will then ask you to talk to Leah as he is afraid of her attempts to go rescue her Uncle Deckard which starts the next quest.
Areas
While going through this first quest, you will venture through four different areas.
Overlook Road - A small area where your character starts the game. Leading you to New Tristram, Risen will liter the road as well as the corpses of those not strong enough to fight off this newly awakened presence.
New Tristram - The first city and central hub you will encounter. This area will house many different services such as your Blacksmith that you eventually get as well as your shared stash. The central waypoint is also in the middle of the city for quick and convenient access to these amenities. Leah and many other quest givers will also be located in found in this town. You can also get some nice flavor dialogue from the numerous NPC's that crowd the streets of New Tristram like how and why New Tristram was built to how crazy you are to stay in the town.
Old Tristram Road - After exiting the town, you will find yourself on the path to the Old Tristram. Along the way of fighting of various monsters, you will also possibly come across some randomly generated dungeons. While nothing big, these smaller cellars may offer a chest or rare monster to kill as an incentive for venturing down in them. While you can follow the path straight to your next destination, the area spreads out for those who want to venture and kill every last demon.
Old Ruins - The deserted and, once again, destroyed remains of Old Tristram concludes the areas of the first quest. The Wretched Queen will reside inside as well as the waypoint back to New Tristram. The city is constructed to match that of Diablo I, including Griswold's shop which has an anvil of fury that may randomly spawn and drop the only legendary item in the beta, Griswold's edge. You may also find another random dungeon to explore.
Demons
The game begins with a few demons that will attempt to stop you in your quest to find out more about the Fallen Star. The first demon you will run across is the Risen. Your run-of-the-mill zombie that will rest again after one or two hits. The Wretched Mother will follow soon after. Her ability to raise new zombies from her vomit will force you to target her first. The
Walking Corpse is yet one more zombie. However, after slaying him, there is a chance that he will spawn a Crawling Torso, the top half remains of the zombie. The only non-zombie monster you will encounter in this first quest is a familiar demon from Diablo II, the Quill Fiend. You may even run into Sarkoth, a unique Quill Fiend, while venturing into the Dank Cellar in Old Tristram Road. Also while venturing into random dungeons, you may have your first encounter with the Treasure Goblin. Concluding the Fallen Star quest in the Wretched Queen who will cast a DoT in your current location forcing you to move around.
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Sep 30, 2011
published the article DiabloCast: Episode XXVIIIPosted in: DiabloCast: Episode XXVIII
This week, we want to know how you feel about Diablo III's randomization. We all know by now that there are certain parts of the game with no randomization. Things like the outlaying environment as well as certain areas in dungeons. However, this does not mean that there is no randomization in Diablo III. In fact, there is quite a bit of randomization in the game and there is even randomization with the randomized areas. With all of that said and from what you have seen and heard, how do you feel about the randomization in Diablo III.
In our previous poll we asked how you guys felt about Blizzard delaying the game until 2012. Half of the voters were upset by the delay but over 25% were okay waiting if it meant that the game was going to be fully polished.
With Closed Beta in full swing and Blizzcon coming within a month, we will be discussing further experiences of playing Diablo III as well as thoughts and ideas of the upcoming Blizzcon.
- Diablo360
- Beta Patch 4
- BlizzCon: Foo Fighters and Media
- The Voodoo That I Do Beta Witch Doctor Experience
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Sep 28, 2011
published the article The Voodoo That I DoOriginally, we had planned on releasing full coverage over many different topics with the beta but with the limited amount of game play, this would have exhausted all of our material very quickly. Instead, we have decided to go more in-depth in each area to give better coverage. I will be starting off with detailed play throughs with each class to give you guys a glimpse into how each class feels and plays. I have already done this with the Demon Hunter if you would like to read up on that one here. This time, we will be focusing on thePosted in: The Voodoo That I Do Witch Doctor.
The Witch Doctor is a mixture between a summoning class with a bit of mid-ranged magic abilities. Being able to do both equally as well, players will not be forced to choose either focus. With that said, I did focus on the summoning aspect of the Witch Doctor. However, whether you choose to kill your foes with zombies, fire, or poison, the Witch Doctor is a fun class to play.
Mana is the Witch Doctor's resource. Mana functions similarly to the way Mana acted in Diablo II. It is a large pool that will increase as your character's level increases. Higher level skills and more powerful skills will cost more Mana than lower damaging spells. After exhausting your Mana, the globe will slowly refill back to full; different from arcane which fills much quicker. The Witch Doctor also has many skill and passive options that will help him keep his Mana replenished and not have to wait for it to slowly refill itself. From my play through with the Witch Doctor, all but one skill had cost so little Mana that I was actually able to spam any skill indefinitely. I am sure at higher levels this will not be true but for the beginning, it is practically unlimited. However, once the resource was emptied, it was very damaging to wait for the globe to refill itself, especially when fighting the Skeleton King. Managing this resource and finding ways to rebuild it quicker will definitely be a key strategy to playing this class.
More specifically are the skills that use Mana to be cast. Starting off, players are given two spells to use. The first is
Zombie Dog which is the first of two permanent summons that the Witch Doctor has. Changing significantly since its first version, the Witch Doctor will always cast three zombie dogs that will follow you around for your bidding. The AI has been greatly improved since Diablo II and you no longer get angry when you see your summons walking blindly into the corner of a room. They see, fight, and kill anything in the vicinity of them. Personally focusing on the summons, I used this skill for most of the beta to help me plow through the larger mobs. The second skill you get to start off with his Poison Dart. It is a nice ranged spell that I used for awhile as a basic attack from afar. The next skill obtained is Plague of Toads which releases a group of toads with poison damage. However, the skill is difficult to use because their pathing is unpredictable and very short range. Given that I was trying to keep my distance, I found this skill of little use. Grasp of the Dead was the next skill you obtain. The skill slows movement down of enemies. Given the third slot by this point, I used it on the monsters to help slow them down so that my zombie dogs could attack them easier. However, at such a low level, the movement speed reduction did not make a very big difference. Haunt was the next skill which is a ranged single-target DoT. Haunt was useful to cast on a few monsters while the zombies dogs went after the group. The nice thing about the skill is if the monsters die while still having the DoT, the haunt will transfer to the next monster. This allowed you to cast it only a few times but it was still effective with some monsters dying really quickly. I ended up using this as my right click for most of the beta.
Zombie Charger is the next skill you get which is a short range zombie that rushes in front of you for a short distance attacking anything in its path. However, given is very short range and myself staying away, I rarely used the skill. Hex followed which summoned a Fetish Shaman that would run around turning monsters into chickens. As far as using it for CC, it was pretty ineffective because it was only one monster at a time when there was usually five to ten. However, the nice part about the skill is that the chicken'd monster does not break out when damaged and actually takes more damage when changed. When used on champion and harder monsters, it helped to drop them quickly while they were unable to do anything. Corpse Spider is a temporary summon that released multiple spiders that attacked nearby monsters. Although I wanted to focus on any summoning, their temporary state made it insignificant for the few skill slots I had available. Horrify became your "Oh Shit" button when surrounded by large groups. A quick way of avoiding a quick death. Once more skill slots are available, I could imagine it being very useful. However, the beta has only three to four slots making skill choice very important and I didn't end up using it that much. The last skill I got was Firebats, a short ranged AoE that attacked anything in front of the Witch Doctor. The range was actually surprising large and the damage by level was impressive and became my main attack. It mowed down most monsters within seconds. However, because it is a channeling spell, it was the first time I actually saw my Mana drain. There are a few more skills that are available for the beta but I did not get to a higher level... yet.
I also unlocked one passive slot by level ten. I chose to use
Vermin which made my Firebats even stronger and skipped Circle of Life which would have given me Mana for each Health Globe picked up. While I look forward to seeing what other passives I will pick for future builds, this was all that is available in the beta.
The look and feel of the Witch Doctor was amazing in my opinion. Starting off, I really enjoyed the voice acting for the male Witch Doctor. Not too overdone, it definitely gives you the feel of this tribalisitic character. His gear equally matches this feel. With the same gear looking different on each class, the Witch Doctor's gear was great at looking strong while keeping the minimalistic look of the Witch Doctor. I also enjoyed at one point where the character falls down when entering Tristram Catherdral. While most classes do so with agile or strength, the older Witch Doctor actually looks like he is falling giving him this cohesive feeling.
Overall, I loved playing as the Witch Doctor. I planned on playing this class first and he was the character I selected when I first logged in. Starting off with my Zombie Dogs, I enjoyed the summoning aspect of the class, saving me from having to click on every single monster to kill it. I was also able to find a good mixture of skills that allowed me to keep my distance. The odd part about the class is that you can choose to stay away with many skill choices or getting into the fray with the multiple close-ranged skills. The Witch Doctor really allows you to have a wide range of viable builds to match your play style. I found myself able to stay away while still being in the action while my zombie dogs chowed their way through the mobs. As mentioned earlier, once I had Firebats and my Mana actually drained, I found running out very debilitating. King Leoric was especially tough when he took out my minions and I found myself without Mana and just having to stay away until it refilled. I planned on this class being my favorite and so far it has not disappointed.
You can watch Force play through as a Witch Doctor as well.
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Sep 21, 2011
published the article Diablo 3 Beta: Day 1Posted in: Diablo 3 Beta: Day 1
Classes - Demon Hunter
The Demon Hunter is your classic bow-wielding class. From a wide range of arrow-shooting skills to marking targets, this class fills the role. In case you do not know yet, the DH uses two separate pools for their skills playing on the whole distinction between hatred and discipline. Admittedly, the two pools just does not do it for me. I am constantly checking my hatred and not caring about my discipline at all. If it runs out, I do not seem to really be at a disadvantage like I am with hatred. Hatred is used for most of your spamming skills and therefore is needed to continually dish out the pain. The more situational based skills of discipline do not need to be used that often. Especially through level 9, there are only three discipline skills you can even use compared to the six hatred skills. I honestly never used any of the discipline skills because the hatred skills could kill any group quick enough that it was never really needed (more on actual skills later). Overall, I had fun with the Demon Hunter. While I did not feel that he was the strongest class in the game, the tactics used in his combat were more involved and fun to use.
Skills
As mentioned, the Demon Hunter has two basic pools of skills; Hatred and Discipline. Hatred comprises most of your skills and all of your spamming skills. I had two hatred skills set to my left and right mouse buttons. You start of with Hungering Arrow and Caltrops. Hungering Arrow was a great first skill to have. With it seeking monsters and a chance to pentrate and seek more, it would mow down groups quickly. You could spam it almost non-stop without draining your hatred. Caltrops did next to nothing. It was a trap that was placed right under you so you had to lay it and then back away but by then you could have just killed them with Hungering Arrow. After that, you get Entangling Shot which I used for a minute but everything died to quickly to notice the entangle work. Then came Evasive Fire which became my bread and butter. It was a hatred skill that cost less than it refilled during the shot so you could spam it indefinitely. The nice thing about the skill was that if you were within a certain yardage of a monster, you would also back flip away for a discipline cost. This was a perfect skill to spam away and stay away from danger at the same time. I used this skill for the rest of the play through. Fan of Knives was okay but the plan is to stay away so I never ended up using it thanks to evasive fire. Bola Shot was my second main skill. I would cast it once or twice into a large groups, spam evasive until bola exploded and then repeated. The delay was perfect to get in other shots but then when it exploded it did massive damage. Vault seemed useless once again thanks to evasive. The only time I thought about using it was to get to the back of the mobs where spawners were but then you just ended up in the middle and taking loads of damage. Defensively, there was just no need. The last skill I got was Marked for Death which I used only because I didn't need anything else with my two-shot combo. I guess for uniques it was good but it was hard to even tell a difference. There are still some more skills to try out but I only got to level 8 at the end and the beta caps at 13. So, when I have more time, I will cap to try out the other skills.
Items
Obviously, there are tons of items so I will not bore you with the mundane and average. I had managed to beat King Leoric twice today giving me two rares. The first was a glove with 3% increased attack speed, 2% casting speed, +3 precision, and +1 vitality. The were a good drop to get but the worst part is that they are bright pink (pictured left). I also got a rare belt with +3 all attributes, +2 attack, +8 precision, and +1 exp for each kill. Everything else that I was wearing was for MF gear for a total of +9 MF. The best part is that with the shared stash you could transfer your gear over to your next alt and start them off with decent gear and MF.
Monsters
I will be highlighting just a few monsters in each article. This time around, I will mention first the
Grotesque. This monster is especially tough because when he dies, he explodes which also deals significant damage. So, you have to make sure that you are plenty far away when killing this monster which was easy for the DH thanks to, once again, evasive. However, every now and then I would get caught and it does a good deal of damage not to mention releasing three more monsters to kill. The next highlight was not a particular monster but a monster attribute. Illusionist turned out to be a tough fight because the monsters were able to clone themselves much like Baal did in Diablo II. I was fighting one (pictured right) who was creating clones faster than I could kill them. They kept piling up and I couldn't get to the actual monster. This was especially tough since all of my shots would hit the first target in its path. I had no way of getting around them. Had I used vault, I may have been able to best him but instead I had to slowly chop down until I finally made my way to him.
Quests and Lore
I will preface with just the beginning of the lore of the game. You start off outside of New Tristram. You make your way through a few zombies when you come up to a guard. He asks for your help in defending their town. After proving your worth to him, he allows you to enter and you are told to go find Leah to ask about what is going on in New Tristram. I will elaborate more on the quests and lore through later articles.
Overall Review
What can I say? It's Diablo III. The game honestly feels like a Diablo game. I have tried out numerous hack n' slash games while waiting for this gem but none have held a canlde to the awesomeness that was Diablo II. Diablo III does not disappoint. I felt like I was playing the classic but it was all new all over again. The action, the pacing, the clicking, the loot, the monsters, the skills. It's all in there and more. The skill selection is great. I honestly would have been upset if I had to only choose a few skills and level them up. The openness makes it so fun and easy to test out different combinations and strategies. For the DH, I had to try out numerous different combinations to find a set the catered to my play style. I would have been screwed if I was not given this liberty and I can only imagine once you add in the runestones how many choices there are. But even with this freedom, I never found myself constantly switching for the situation like many thought players would do. You really find the skills that work best for you and stick with those ones.
The randomness is also amazing. I played through twice and found most of the dungeons completely different. There are even numerous mini dungeons that randomly appear to venture in to.They are great because they are small enough to where you do not feel like you are wasting your time going in them and makes you want to check out each one. Within the deeper dungeons, I found myself makes giant loops just trying to find the stairs down, much like the fun of D2's maps. They also did a great job with the outside world. It looks amazing and big enough to explore but still leads you to the next area.
The action is so well paced that I found myself needing to stop to use the bathroom but every corner there was something else that drew you in. It was blast but I may have done some kidney damage. Overall, the game was amazing and I cannot wait to play it some more tomorrow.
Stay tuned for some more beta coverage.
Right now, you can check out force playing through as the Barbarian.
You can also read up on snared04drummer's blog as he goes through the beat as well. I also encourage anyone else in the beta to start a blog of their own here on DiabloFans and we will make sure to highlight them to the rest of the community.
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Sep 18, 2011
published the article In Search of a New FaceEvery Diablo Fan is eagerly awaiting the release of Diablo III. This game poses to change everything we know and love and hopefully improve upon everything that makes Diablo so great. With that said, we here are DiabloFans are also ever changing and working on improving ourselves. With our Skill Calculator and ever expanding Wiki, we are doing our best to change with this newest title to give our community everything it wants and needs for Diablo III. While there are even more changes to come, there is one in particular that we would like your help with.Posted in: In Search of a New Face
Our logo is amazing and one that we have used for years. Jetrall outdid himself when he made this for the site. We have used it for just about everything that we put our name on and it has become a symbol of DiabloFans. However, just like everything in life, time has passed and change is needed. While we all love our logo, it has unfortunately become outdated. With Diablo III just on the horizon, our beloved Lord of Terror no longer resembles this face that we have come to love and fear. With Diablo's new appearance, we are looking to change ours as well. DiabloFans is looking to update our logo.
Where do you come in? Well, we are asking the community to come up with our new logo. Something that screams both Diablo III and DiabloFans. Whether you just update the look of Diablo or make something completely new, we are open to any and all ideas.
The Rules:
1. Members are allowed to enter as many submissions as they want.
2. The logo must be unique, original and reflect both Diablo III and DiabloFans.
3. The image size should be a minimum of 450 x 200 pixels in width and height. (Please also keep a file with as many layers as you used for future editing)
4. Entries should be submitted in the official submission thread.
5. Entries will be accepted until October 31, 2011.
6. Once all entries are submitted, the DiabloFans staff will vote on a winner for the new logo.
The Prize:
The prize is simple. Your art will be represented on DiabloFans as well as trademark our site on any other ventures made by DiabloFans. The winner will also receive a custom user title reflecting their contribution.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in this thread. All submissions should be made in the submission thread.
If you are planning on trying to match the current font, it is a mixture of Abaddon and Blade 2 with some custom edits to the lettering.
For inspiration, here are a few pictures of the new Lord of Terror for referencing.
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Sep 16, 2011
published the article Gold Auction House in BetaBlizzard has just added in thePosted in: Gold Auction House in Beta Auction House into the beta for testing. They had mentioned that they were planning on implementing the AH soon™. After a delayed re-opening of the servers, the AH is now up and running for those fortunate enough to be playing right now.
Official Blizzard Quote:
We’ve recently patched the Diablo III Friends & Family beta test to include access to the gold-based auction house.
Friends & Family beta test participants can check out the auction house by clicking on the ‘gavel’ icon at the bottom of the main Battle.net interface seen when first logging into the game.
To sell items, you’ll first need to place anything you want to sell in your shared stash. The shared stash can be found near the Slaughtered Calf Inn in New Tristram. Once you’ve placed items in your stash you’ll be able to choose from them the items you’d like to sell. By placing starting and (optional) buyout prices, you can place your item up for auction. If someone chooses to buy the item, you’ll receive the final sale price, minus any posting fees.
Keep in mind that this is the gold-based auction house only. The currency-based auction house may be available for testing at a later date, and if it is, we’ll have more information on how it will function at that time.
We’re looking for both stability and usability testing, and appreciate your help with buying and selling items to run the system through its paces. If you’d like to provide feedback, please do so by posting in this thread: http://us.battle.net...opic/3196019654 and if you find any bugs please post in the Beta Bug Report forum in this thread: http://us.battle.net...opic/3195919893
For an auction house overview and information regarding specific functionality, be sure to check out the services section of the Diablo III community site, here: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/services/ Browse through the auction house section of the site using the multiple tabs at the top for more details, located here: http://us.battle.net...e/functionality
While it is just the gold AH that is being implemented right now, we also learned recently that the Real Money Auction House will be using PayPal to handle their real-money transaction and may be added later in the beta testing. -
Aug 29, 2011
published the article Diablo 3 Beta: What to ExpectPosted in: Diablo 3 Beta: What to ExpectAs you may have heard, Sixen, ScyberDragon (myself), Magistrate, and Force have all received invites into the beta once it goes live. We will all be doing our best to get everyone else complete coverage of the game. Our plan is to have at least one recap of all aspects of the beta, five days a week as well as in-depth analysis articles of various game mechanics. With the help of Force, we will also have daily video covering all aspects of the game; from play-throughs of each class to system focused videos. We are also planning on having live streams including a complete play through the beta with all four players. With that in mind, I would like to take this opportunity to share just exactly what kind of coverage to expect.
First, let me begin by saying we still do not know when the actual beta will start. It could be anytime from today until the 30th of September. With that in mind, we are ready at any moment to begin full coverage to share with you guys. With that said, we also know that the beta will only cover a portion of the game. Approximately, it will cover the first 1/3 - 1/2 of Act I. According to Sixen and Force who already got to play the beta, the beta takes about 2-4 hours to clear. While we will cover everything that the game has to offer at the beginning, we will not be able to cover everything in the game.
Classes
We will have full coverage of all five classes in Diablo III. No matter which one is your favorite, no class will be left behind. The plan for now is that each day of the week, we will be covering one class. For example, the Barbarian will be covered on Sundays, the Demon Hunter will be covered on Mondays, so on and so on. This will help us focus on one class at a time and give them the attention they deserve. You can expect full coverage from the feel and play style of the class, the use of their resource, their skills (see below), dialogue and story, and any other aspect that makes playing each class feel unique.
Skills and Passives
We will have complete skill coverage from all five classes. Eventually, we will explore each skill, its use, mechanics, and stats. We will also be trying out a wide range of different skill builds from the obvious (summon
Witch Doctor, to the more obscure battle mage Wizard). Thanks to Diablo III's open skill system, we can try out almost any combination imaginable. However, the beta will not allow us to obtain every skill. With the limited range of the beta, it is most likely that we will only be able to unlock the first four tiers and have only four skill slots available. This means that we will all have to wait to try out skills like Blizzard and Fetish army. However, this still leaves us with approximately nine skills per class to dive into. Skillrunes will also not be available in the beta since they do not drop until Act II so, unfortunately, we will have to wait until release to see what these stones actually offer to the gameplay. Passive abilities do not become available until level 10. However, with some grinding, we should be able to at least get a few to test out.
Items
We will also share many of the items we find while venturing through the beta. From the mundane trash to the possibility of a low-level legendary, all items of interest will be shared. We will be posting images of armor and weapons so you can see for yourself what they look like. We will also share the wide-range of attributes we find on different pieces of gear and what they do. You can also expect a description of character progress through gear and how influential it is even at these early stages. As mentioned, we are confined to this small section of the game. This also means that the items we will find are limited to this as well. We will all just have to wait to share the epic loot we find in
Inferno. We will also have coverage of the Nephalem Cube, Stone of Recall, and Cauldron of Jordan including their use and viability of using them.
Monsters
What would Diablo be without its hordes of demons to slay. We will be sharing through pictures and videos the various monsters that lay wake in your hero's path. From type, name, attacks, and stats, we will get you everything you need to know about the denizens of Hell. We will also share any encounters with any champion and unique monsters and what special affixes the brought with them. You can expect detailed combat logs of encounters highlighting Diablo III's improved encounter system. We will also be taking a hard look at the first boss fight we will get at the finish of the beta with
King Leoric. Expect to hear about our battles against him as well as descriptions of how they have improved boss fights from Diablo II.
Quests and Lore
We will go in-depth with the lore and the quest system of Diablo III. While the lore will not be plentiful in this small section of the game, their will definitely still be something to talk about. As we help Leah and make our way through the Tristram Cathedral to the Skeleton King, we will share all the story has to offer. NPC dialogue and other flavor text will be shared to help flesh out the lore behind Diablo III. We will also be covering any quests that occur within the beta. How the system works, the rewards, and how the random quests change the gameplay experience. In any write-ups involving quests and lore, we will be adding the spoiler image seen above for those of you who wish to keep this part a secret until you can experience it yourself.
Battle.net
Any information about Battle.net will also be explored. From simple avatars and profiles to the match-making system to party up. Options for creating games will be covered so players know what to expect compared to the old Battle.net. This new 2.0 Battle.net will host a bunch of other options to help players communicate and play together and we will tell you exactly how they are doing that.
Followers
The beta will grant us access to the Follower system with the introduction of the Templar. We will explore the use of the Follower, his skills, and his added dialogue. We will find out just how important these characters are to single-player and how they effect the overall game.
Artisans
The
Blacksmith will be the only Artisan we run into during the beta. However, we will make sure that we are giving as much coverage to this smith for players to understand how the entire system works. With the use of the Nephalem Cube, we will test out the crafting system. We will also try out socketing items and see how gems will affect our gear. Repairing gear from durability loss and buying gear from the Blacksmith will round-out our Artisan coverage.
Auction House
The Auction House will not be in beta at launch. However, it will be patched in later and you can bet we will have coverage over its use the day it does. We will explore just how this new system revolutionizes how players will be trading with each other. From selling to buying, we will try our hands at the market and see how well the system works.
PvP
As of right now, there will be no PvP in the beta. Due to the fact that Blizzard is not trying to balance PvP to a razor's edge, they do not need us testing the system endlessly to ensure it does. Everyone will just get to experience together so nobody has an edge over one another.
If there is any other aspect of the game you would like covered or would like to hear about the beta, please let us know. I am sure we are all eagerly awaiting for this day but with every passing day, it will be here that much Soon™-er. -
Aug 26, 2011
published the article Beta WarningUPDATE 3: Just so everyone is aware, Sixen and myself have also been invited into the beta when it starts. We will be giving you guys daily coverage of the beta.Posted in: Beta Warning
I still want to warn everyone that these invites are still for press and fan sites only right now. If you get an e-mail saying you have been invited into the beta, do not give them any passwords and do not click on any links.
UPDATE2: Recently, some major press sites have received e-mails from Blizzard, These are just collecting information (their Battle.net accounts) so they can be added to the Beta when it goes live. So unless you run a major press site or fansite, you need not worry about this. And no, this does not mean the Beta is starting now, just that it's starting soon! SC2 Press/Fansite invitations went out ~3-4 weeks prior to the start of the SC2 Beta. So... We've got a few weeks!
~~Sixen
UPDATE: Richard has clarified that the e-mail only accessed for his Battle.net account info so when beta starts, he can be included in it.
To clarify, no date for D3 beta yet. Per email: (from known Blizz source), "send us your Bnet account name and we'll flag for access.
While I can not deny nor confirm the legitimacy of this tweet, I promise you that DiabloFans is hard at work trying to get factual information on the subject.
Until then, I would like to take this time to give you guys some basic information and warnings about beta and invite e-mails.
1. IF beta invites are going out, this does not mean that beta has started. Blizzard often sets up their first wave before launching the beta. It is possible that IF beta is being handed out, it may still not start for a week or two.
2. If you believe you got an invite into beta ever, please do not click on any links within the e-mail and certainly do not give any info back in the e-mail. If you are selected into beta via e-mail, Blizzard will have already permitted your account to download the beta client through your Battle.net account. If you believe you were invited into the beta, you should close the e-mail and log into your Battle.net account. If the game is not there, then you have not actually been selected.
I would also like to take this time to let you guys know that DiabloFans Has a full schedule for beta coverage once the beta does go live. We will be posting daily updates covering all aspects of the beta (with spoilers tagged and included ;)). We will also be collaborating with force to include video footage daily of beta coverage. The wiki team will also be hard at work getting in as much information as possible.
If you are one of the lucky ones to get into beta, DiabloFans would like your help. How can you help? Glad I asked. First, we have a blog section on the forums. We would appreciate if anyone in beta would like to keep a blog of their current adventures in Sanctuary. I will then post a recap of said blogs on the front page. The wiki team could also use your help. Please feel free to help build the wiki with the data you collect. You can also post any information in the wiki forums if you are unfamiliar with how to work on the wiki.
We will keep you guys updated about any more beta news as soon as we can get something concrete. Until then:
**DO NOT CLICK ON ANY LINK IN AN E-MAIL. IF YOU ARE INVITED INTO BETA, GO TO YOUR BATTLE.NET ACCOUNT ONLY.**
I woke up this morning with a glimmer of hope. It appears as if Beta may be starting Soon™. Supposedly, Richard Brown, Senior Editor at CNET has received an E-mail inviting him into the beta.
Quote from
Diablo 3 beta invite just showed up. Any cardio routines out there that target your index finger?
-
Aug 17, 2011
published the article Diablo 3 Beta UpdateI'll keep this short and sweet. It looks like we will not be seeing beta anytime in the month of August.Posted in: Diablo 3 Beta Update
Official Blizzard Quote:
That's weird, they originally had the exact quote in their Inferno article and then pulled it out and only quoted "When it's ready." in that new mini-blip thing. I think his original quote on Kotaku was "by the end of September" but I didn't copy it down.
Anyway, to set expectations straight, beta in August is unlikely. But it shouldn't be too long after.
So, as of now, the best we can hope for is before September 30. -
Aug 17, 2011
published the article Inferno RevealedPosted in: Inferno RevealedAt gamescom, Blizzard has finally revealed their plans for end game in
Diablo III. Called Inferno, we first got a hint about this in the beta interview where it was said that players would have more difficulties to face in the "Hell and Inferno" difficulties. While at the time we did not know exactly what inferno was, we do now.
Inferno will be a fourth and even harder difficulty that unlocks after beating the game through the Hell difficulty and getting your character to level 60. Designed as an end game objective for players, monsters faced in this difficulty will all be at least level 61. Designed with more HP, damage, resistances, and more aggressive AI, the monsters pose to face players with the most difficult challenge of the game. Along with this, some monsters and bosses will even have extra skills at their disposal that you will only see in Inferno.
The objective of the Inferno difficulty is to give players something to do once capped but would avoid running the same bosses over and over again like the Baal runs of Diablo II. The entire game will plateau in this difficulty meaning that there will be no one particular place that would be best to farm for items. Blizzard is hoping that this will give the players an incentive to repeat the entire content of the game while looking for the best items and not just one section repeatedly. Even if players find a particular area that maximizes results for their efforts, Blizzard said they will add incentives to run through the entire content.
Official Blizzard Quote:
The idea was that we wanted a difficulty mode where the entire game was viable. So you don't have to pick and choose key areas [to replay].
We do expect there to be a certain amount of... runs to get items, but we wanted players to do it over a lot more content. We're trying to make sure that there's a lot more opportunities for players to see a lot more variety.
Now for the incentive to put yourself through this challenge of Inferno. Blizzard has said that only the best of the best gear will drop in Inferno. Both statistically and visually, if players want to find the best gear for their characters, they will have to make their way through Inferno multiple times. Along with armor and weapons, other high-end items like top ranked
runestones will only drop in Inferno.
With end game finally revealed, and Beta beginning in a "little while" what else could gamescom hold in store for Diablo III. Stay tuned on Saturday when Diablo's two performances and interview are being held for some more possible news.
There was also 14 new screen shots that were shown as well that you can find on our wiki.
You can also check out force's video covering this news as well.
And in case you did miss it:
It turns out that Diablo, himself (herself?) did indeed open the gates of Hell at Rudlofplatz on the 16th.
Official Blizzard Quote:
As a side note, any rumors you may have heard about a gate to Diablo’s Burning Hells opening in Cologne are completely unfounded. Seriously, nothing is happening at Rudolfplatz from the evening of August 16 — especially nothing to do with demonic invasions.
A special thanks to Lorgarn for sharing the pictures and evilenginen9 for informing on the Inferno news and hicksology for starting the discussion on the topic. -
Aug 15, 2011
published the article Blizzard's 2011 Writing ContestPosted in: Blizzard's 2011 Writing Contest
Official Blizzard Quote:
You sit at your typewriter, hands frozen in fear by the sound of crumpling paper from the darkness behind you. Shadows of broken quills encroach on your sight's periphery but slither out of view when you turn toward them. Summoning your courage, you lash out at the apparitions before they fade, only to awaken in a cold sweat with pencils and pens gripped tight in your clenched fists. You know what this dream foretells: the 2011 Global Writing Contest is upon us!
That's right everybody. It is time again for Blizzard's Global Writing Contest. This year, the lucky winner will get a chance to go to Blizzard's HQ and dine with the team's writers. Not to mention, you get almost every book they have written and signed by the authors. Short stories (2,500 - 7,500 words) of any of their franchises are eligible, although we here would especially like to see a Diablo winner. So, get your pen and paper out (or keyboard) and start writing. Submissions are due by October 15th.
If you would like to submit your work for peer reviews and critiques, please feel free to post your stories in the Fan Fiction section.
For those of you who don't like to write, Blizzard is still taking submissions for their art contest as well.
-
Aug 11, 2011
published the article Gamescom EventPosted in: Gamescom EventBefore Blizzcon hits us in October, one final gaming event that may have some information regarding Diablo III will be Gamescom in Cologne, Germany. Originally, Blizzard had not mentioned any addition of Diablo at this event but this was later changed when we found out that event-goers would be able to play the Blizzcon 2010 demo there. Today, Blizzard added a full schedule of their activities while at Gamescom.
An interesting point to note is that the activity includes a "performance" while the WoW and SC2 activities only include an interview. What exactly this performance is remains unknown but hopefully we will be getting a little more attention than the other two franchises.
Official Blizzard Quote:
Diablo Performance and Interview with Diablo III Development Team
Date:Saturday, 12:00
Description: After a dance macabre from the demonic hordes, Jay Wilson and Josh Mosqueira will be on the Blizzard booth for an interview about the upcoming title Diablo III.
If you take a look at the activities page, there is also a disclaimer at the bottom of the page. While the message is less than exciting, it should help avoid any possible expectations of what fans might expect during the event.
Just in case this is not clear enough, a user on Battle.net asked if this was code for something that might be happening. To which, Kaivax responded:
Official Blizzard Quote:
As a side note, any rumors you may have heard about a gate to Diablo’s Burning Hells opening in Cologne are completely unfounded. Seriously, nothing is happening at Rudolfplatz from the evening of August 16 — especially nothing to do with demonic invasions.
Official Blizzard Quote:
I think "nothing is happening" is pretty clear.
How much more clear must the message be?
Although it is unlikely that anything major like a beta announcement will occur during Gamescom, there will certainly be some information shared during the Diablo III activity. We here at DiabloFans.com will be giving you full coverage of the event and we even have a correspondent who will be there to give us any news concerning Diablo III.
A special thanks to Doomscream for sharing the schedule
