Rejoice, for I have returned.
However, this spotlight was delayed for good reason. In case you missed it, the Community Projects article overruled this spotlight a while back, and focused mainly on the Fan Art, Fan Fiction, and Roleplaying forums.
Then, we had our (Or, should I say, Scyberdragons, seriously, give the man a pat on the back for the work he put into that.) Valentines day article. If you've been wondering what the fifth class will be, we've solved the mystery. Cupid, it will definitely, 100% without a doubt, be cupid.
As for the last month or so, a lot has gone down.
Starcraft II Beta, the Female Monk, a New Version of Patch 1.13, and a multitude of other noteworthy articles have graced our front page. Don's most recent editorial (scroll down the page a bit, you'll run into it) explores the possible locations of Diablo III, while Seth's Various Mod Articles will let you squeeze as much enjoyment out of Diablo I & II while you wait for Diablo III.
Now, with all that out of the way, we turn our gaze towards the forums.
(Colour brought to you by Nektu and CrazyCapnMorgan)
The Forums
The long standing debate of PvP vs PvE has finally been made tangible, through this poll. Cvoisgreat created this thread, and thus far, it has been met with quite a few votes, 57 in total (at the time of writing). The votes have been swinging towards PvE, with PvP trailing behind by roughly 25. Keep in mind, that PvE included cooperative play, which, as those of us who have had a LAN party will say, is one of the most fun experiences in Diablo when you've got a good crowd together.
Then, we've got lorenzo von matteorn, with his thread. Basically, it asks which character you will choose to play first. Over 7 pages of solid discussion have resulted, with users stating their reasoning behind their choices, the build they plan on using, and why they like the character they have chosen. Personally, I'm all about the Monk. Whether you agree or not, is another matter, and should be settled in the thread. Get in there and share your opinion!
For any looking for a new challenge from Diablo II, check out the Eastern Sun Craftsman Tournament, by Hans. Basically, this tournament tests your single player abilities, with strict guidelines. Hardcore is a must, and you can only use white, magic, rare, and crafted items. Definitely something to check out if you're looking for a new challenging type of gameplay, it will test you, there's no doubt about that. (In case you don't know what Eastern Sun is, it's a mod for Diablo II, and any questions will be answered here.)
In the realm of real life, the Vancouver 2010 Olympics have been taking place, and a thread has been made to discuss them. Pryda brought this thread into existance, and thus far, it has been filled with excessive patriotism, and sportsmanship. Personally, I'm surprised that this thread didn't degenerate into death threats and fist fights, kudos to everyone who handles themselves maturely in there, it's hard to do when the Olympics are going down.
As for forum games, Nacho_ijp has spawned a new creation, with the Treasure Hunt game. An account has been set up by the name of "Treasure", players will have to guess the password of Treasure, by using clues given by the current owner of the account. Once guessed, players will have to change the password, and begin giving out clues as to what it is. At the moment, Nacho is in the lead with 4 correct guesses, see if you can beat down his streak.
Have you ever seen a movie that was so bad, that those several dollars and hours invested in it will never be justified? Now, we have a thread to warn others of these abominations, courtesy of pathsofthedead. In here, you're free to whine, QQ, even rage about the worst movie you have ever seen. Death threads to the directors are still prohibited, but I'm sure you can sneak some in by using tricky synonyms, the moderators will never know.
Forum Changes
We've got a new admin!
Say hello to Alexia, the newest admin on the Diablofans team.
Fan Creations
The fan fiction and art forums are still trucking onwards, and the roleplaying forum is picking up steam once more, thanks to yours truly.
Fan Fiction
Old Fanfics have been continued, veteran writers have created new works, and two new writers have emerged into the forum. All in all, a solid month for the Fan Fiction forum.
The Veiling continues onwards, thanks to the hard work of Seth. It has now reached three chapters, and will be continued onwards. All of the finished chapters are downloadable, as well.
Scyberdragon has also produced some fiction, with his story, The Mercenary.
Two newcomers to the Fan Fiction forum have also produced some work, shibblicious with A Lesson in Life and Death, and Kickin_It with Redemption of the Vizjeri.
Fan Art
Fan art by Tepes, squishie, and naj (from left to right)
Roleplaying
We've got two new Roleplays that are both pretty far outside the box, so if you're looking for something new, now is the time to start using the Roleplaying Forum.
Where other roleplays have left out statistics for a more text driven approach, Scyberdragon and Junction3 has created one of the few "True RPG's" we have. He has created the Zombie Survival Tactics game, in which players take turns, level up, find items, and pick and choose tactical targets, hence the name. Players will, of course, be fighting against zombies as a team of survivors. If you're a fan of the Dungeons and Dragons games, this will definitely suit you well.
Most roleplays set pit you against all manner of undead, demons, and corrupt humans. But, you very rarely see roleplays in which you play the bad guy. Look no further, for the best user on these forums (Ahem) has created Damnation Rising. In this roleplay, you don't fight back the horde of demons, but instead, you play as one of the demons trying to see that horde overtake Sanctuary and eventually, Heaven.
Blues not in the News
Seems gender biases will be non-existant in Diablo 3, as both genders of the same class will have the exact same stats, as indicated by this post by Bashiok.
Official Blizzard Quote:
Separating them creates a choice at the start of the game that will have long-lasting repercussions on how your character behaves without actually knowing what those effects will be at creation.
It forces the veteran player to choose one over the other for specific builds. "You can't be the best jugger-barb unless you pick the male barbarian", as an example.
It effectively doubles the amount of classes to be balanced against each other. Assuming the differences are big enough to matter, and if not then what would be the point anyway?
wheres the damn wiki zhar.
*Stares*
otherwise nice article.
*draws on someone*
Why are you drawing on me, zhuge?
and I made it again!! (I always make it with my games :P)
I'm missing the Dfans movie "fan fic"... you know... the one that Nekrodrac is writing...
Good job Zhar.
Mehehehe...you forgot to mention Emil...as being the most evil Treasure on this forum.
Ah...our good old Emil, always going by the motto- why make things simple when you can get them complicated as you want them to be.
Edit- Just thought it would be cool to mention those:
The (non-diablo) fanfics of feb-
The Visitor, Part II by Nektu
C.u.s.p. by IllBeTheJudgeofThings
Monk E-Mayhem by ScyberDragon
Anyway, excellent summary Zhar
*puts on sunglasses*
However, Zhar, gotta tell ya my eyes are sensitive to light. I make up for it with partial night vision, though. On a side note, I think Scyber should just have one big spotlight everywhere he goes. The amount of work this guy puts towards anything is enough to warrant it.
*eyes zhuge*
I don't need a crayon tattoo, so don't even think of drawing on me. Go draw on him. *points to Shatterer*
Wait, what? No, no, no, no, no. Look at the lovely wiki sandbox. Loooook at the lovely wiki sandbox.
*quietly backs away*
Curs'd be thee cap'n. Curs'd be thee.
Well, seeing as how Shatterer is shy about tattoo work, how about you draw on him, zhuge? *points at Seth*
.......OH MY FUCKING GOD!!!
I FORGOT THE FUCKING WIKI!!!!!
Writing this brought me way too much grief, you have no idea how hard it was to resize those pictures, I was quite literally making rage edits to my post.
Must have forgotten it in my rage :(.
Either that... or because it's been like a month since I've written one of these.
*grumbles*
Here's some tea, mate. *hands over warm cup of tea* We're all human, yeah?
Edit: BTW Zhar, I think the color for the Community spotlight topics is awesome. Not too bright to induce epileptic seizures and not too dark to make you squint at your computer from three inches away. Of course, I like it because it was mine and Nektu's idea, but when you look at it, it makes you look at it even more because the color reminds of something...legendary.
LOL seriously? 50 something people out of how many thousands of players means something? I'm honestly suprised its even as close as that on this particular site, but if you want to see which is more popular, look at a larger site with more users, such as d2jsp.
PvM forum, 13k topics, 107k posts.
PvP forums, 60k topics, 1m posts.
Trading btw, 36m topics, 171m posts. Clearly nobody plays this game for the barter system and we all can't wait to see a gold based economy.
after all every month you forget it WILL come back in greater masses.
wink
drops a paint bucket on him