Official Blizzard Quote:
The Diablo II 1.13 patch is on temporary hold while we investigate potential impact on the Battle.net service. As we moved closer to launching the patch concerns grew that an increase in the player stash size (a feature in the patch) could compromise the Diablo II Battle.net service. The hardware and configuration could potentially not handle the increased stash size gracefully under heavy load. Currently we?re investigating potential impact as it is one of the larger content features in the patch and we?re hoping it can remain a part of the release. If it does have to be removed it will require additional time to remove it, generate new patches, and test, which will add time before we can go live on the PTR.
We?re hoping to have our diagnostics and a final decision on how we?ll be moving forward decided by early next week and we?ll have an update for you at that time.
The patch has been delayed.
Again.
On the bright side, it looks like the increased inventory size previously suggested (see Patch 1.13: Larger Inventory for Diablo II) is planned to stay, although it is the cause of the delay. It also seems that a sincere promise on progress will be made next week- whether or not this will mean anything with regard to how they have handled the relaying of information and the keeping of promises in the past is yet to be seen (see WCIII Patch is Up- Diablo II Patch 1.13 Soon to Follow?).
UPDATE (10/01/09):
It would seem that Bashiok is on a reply spree for 1.13 today. It is confirmed that two of the three top requests for patch 1.13 will not be met:
Official Blizzard Quote:
Higher resolution, which we unfortunately just can't do because it would fundamentally change the game and require a huge development investment to have the game/servers spawn enemies farther out, have them aggro from farther out, and even then it increases travel time to the player... it's just a mess. Apparently increasing the resolution in LoD was this gigantic issue so I think the idea of increasing it again makes some of the old time programmers want to curl up in a fetal position.
And new end game content, which we do want to continue adding, but just wasn't possible for this patch.
So far, the following has been confirmed:
- Increased stash size, which is the cause of the current delay as they take hardware and server considerations in to thought, is so far essentially confirmed.
- No increased resolution- it would require "fundamental change" to the game and would have to account for faster player traveling issues (like being able to Teleport or Jump farther), spawning monsters on a larger scale around the player, and monster aggro would have to be taken in to account.
- No new end-game content. Bashiok noted that with this patch it would not be possible to add it, although there was no inkling of whether or not it would or would not be included with any future patch.
UPDATE (10/14/09):
Official Blizzard Quote:
Update - 10/14
The decision on whether or not to include the enlarged stash size has been slightly delayed. As mentioned previously it would require some additional weeks of development and would remove one of the most requested features were we unable to include it. If it were to be included the concern is that it could render Diablo II unplayable, and repairing the issue after the fact would draw heavily on development resources. Which is also something we obviously want to avoid.
We hope to be able to reach a conclusion and decision soon on the future of the 1.13 patch, and we?ll keep you updated as it develops.
No real news, just a rehashing of the previous statement made a week ago, except now he is not alluding to a dated announcement.
change that to a few more months and you'll have a release date
I'm not saying they aren't doing a good job developing their new games or even that they're ignoring the community, they've been doing great on those fronts, but they've also been making these false implications on the pretense that they're actually working hard on the title when they're really just trying to keep more players around until their new games are out. That's just not a smart move on any game developer's part. *cough* L4D *cough*
That would be shit
They can take this patch and shove it up their ass. No way in hell this will be worth the wait and no way in hell will it doing anything to bring new life into the game. What a waste of time.
Some of the designers had great ideas to refresh an old game that just ended up either costing too much or giving them an impossible workload. That just didn't pass with the decision makers, no surprise there.
Spice D2 up, then send the workforce on D3. No need to waste that much time and money on a game that will ultimately become obsolete with the release of it's sequel. No matter how great it once was. There comes a time when we have to let go.
If only either of those games were anything close to D3
Its already confirmed that we won't have any new resolutions.
Well, pretty much confirmed anyway. See the topic in the D2 forum here. Sorry.
Indeed the skill ans stat system in place now needs serious work, a LOT more then the stash or any other feature in the game
Id say thats in there with a lot of certainty considering its easy to implement and doesnt impact the game in any real negative ways(at least i cant think of anything)
Indeed....even tho the game is old that is one part of it that is so stupid and outdated it needed to go...to bad they probably wont get to put it in...but we might get lucky if they can find a way with the limited time and resources they have.