Official Blizzard Quote:
We're glad the changes in 1.13b are being well received. We don't think we've hit every issue obviously, there are still quite a few, as well as feature requests, etc. that we hope to address in future patches.
But, 1.13b won't be the final version of this patch. Work is already in progress and near completion on a 1.13c that addresses a few additional issues. This new version will require new patches to be generated and tested, but it won't be making its way to the PTR as we don't feel the changes warrant it.
We plan to give a one week warning before a Diablo II ladder reset, which will coincide with the release of 1.13. You're not likely to hear any updates on release schedule before that one week warning.
As has been noted lightly before, the Legacy Team will also likely be working on patches for Diablo II in the future, though no dates or specifics have been provided.
Official Blizzard Quote:
I also want to impress upon everyone that 1.13 isn't and never has been intended as a final patch for Diablo II. I realize with the long delays in getting it to PTR, and longer stretches of time inbetween patches that it seems like it's necessary that 1.13 encompass everything because, well, there's just no guarantee that anything will come after. Or in a timely fashion. But, there is a solid long term plan of action for future support of Diablo II. There's obviously plenty of room for skepticism, and I can't blame anyone for that. But even with that skepticism I hope that we can get the message across that we have no intention of stopping here.
So play up your last-minute cheats on the PTR while you can, we may not be far from the long-awaited ladder reset and finished patch that has dragged us through a long and harrowing year.
I concur. When they started 1.13b, that's actually the first thing that occurred to me. It's approval rating was relatively low all over the place. Still, it doesn't look like 1.13c will have anything fantastic in it, but the tweaks at least show that they care about player feedback in some way.
I was going to add this, but I'm fairly certain that when Bashiok turned down extra content for 1.13, he said it was a possibility for 1.14. I can't remember where I saw it, though.
As soon as I get into my holidays, I'll retrieve my d2 discs and get going. :cool:
Blizz seem to be working though.
They must have realized it was high time seeing that D3 is around the corner (kind of)...
Don't flame me for ignorance, maybe they have announced that the old battle.net will remain for legacy titles and they won't all go to b.net 2.0.
I know someone who makes good d2 mods (super_jew if any of you know him) and he can make some pretty sweet stuff in a few days, and this is only one person. They're supposed to have a descent team of competent people working on this. Quite frankly I'm disgusted at how long it takes them.