We want to thank everyone who came to the site to get these updates and the 3,500 live viewers who listened to the podcast today. You can expect a lot more updates in the next coming months and plenty of beta coverage here at DiabloFans and through Force Strategy Gaming. There will be a recorded version of the live podcast later today for those of you who missed it. In the mean time, you can check out the slideshow presentation they gave, and if you're actually interested, you can take a look at this quarters' numbers. If you weren't able to listen into the live DiabloCast, you can listen to the recorded version now.
As I am sure most of you know by now, today @ 1:30 PST is the day of the Activision/Blizzard financial conference call. Now, normally there is not a lot of interesting information during these calls for us DIabloFans, however, todays may be the exception. During the last conference call, Mike Morhaime said there would be news regarding the beta during this call.
Official Blizzard Quote:
As for Diablo III, development continues to go well, and we’re very excited about the game. Our most recent public showcase for Diablo III was at the G-Star show in Korea, where demo stations attracted huge lines of players. I’m looking forward to sharing some more news about the game and our upcoming beta on the next call
First, the actual link to the conference call for those of you who want their info direct from the source. Keep in mind, this is a conference call for investors. This is not a conference call for Blizzard or Diablo. Most of the call is business jargon for investors of Activision and Blizzard. Unless you are into that sort of stuff, you probably should avoid the call itself.
http://investor.acti...m?eventid=96008
The second way to get your information from the call is through the Live DiabloCast. Sixen, Force, and ScyberDragon (myself) will be having a live broadcast of the podcast we normally do. We will be discussing Diablo 3 in general, answering questions from you guys (that you can submit on Force's Facebook page), and announcing any Diablo news given during this call.
http://www.youtube.c...s/0/OzJQX1Pt3ZQ
Finally, for those of you who would just like your news right here on DiabloFans, I will be giving up to the minute updates on any news given during the call right here. The Front Page, and more specifically this post, will be used to relay any news we hear during the conference call. You can also check out our IRC to chat with other DiabloFans about any of the news given.
http://www.diablofans.com
Its a financial call. We basically got the best news out of it that we could (other than a May/June beta). Their not going to spend time going in depth on a game's mechanics/graphics/etc.
However, an upcoming beta does mean that in the next few month's we'll get plenty of info about any unannounced systems.
Yeah. And I will enjoy every word of the news of D3.
You missed one key point. The use of the word "target". Target does not imply guarantee, so we don't even know for sure if it will be Q3. That's partly why I am so disappointed.
Well put.
There was some interesting talk along these lines. Morhaime is terrible at answering shareholder questions. He openly admitted when asked about wow subscription "churn" that more people are leaving WoW than joining. If I'm an investor, here's how I see it:
1. BlackOps is doing great, but they spent a little too much time talking about the nickels and dimes of DLC 2.
2. WoW is dying.
3. Starcraft II does not bring in subscription revenue, so it's already priced in.
4. Diablo 3? What the hell is.. Oh yeah, that franchise. No subscription revenue, no real timeframe, no care.
5. They've announced a new MMO that they haven't announced yet, so the universe might run out of electrons before THAT thing comes out.
Conclusion: sell.
Edit: Damn you Umpa, you just confused the hell out of me for a second lol.
You make very depressing, but good points there.. lol. Although looking at the even bigger scheme of things, I think Blizzard is in a little bit of a rut. WoW is old, say what good things you will about it but in 3 years it will be ancient in terms of video games. Blizzard knows this I'm sure. So on top of anything else, I'd bet they are planning a grand release for their new MMO that will kick start a new generation of Blizzard games, which can be funded from the pay to play plan that will undoubtedly be part of it.
If I were an investor, as long as the market holds I'd wait it out.
I love you to Dingler, but even more so I love your prematurely grown mustache.
That's exactly what I got out of Machinima's "Blizzard Entertainment Part 5." Frank Pearce said "I would say that even though we have these really popular franchises, Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo.. If you look at our track record over the last 10 years or so, really you could make the argument that we've just been the Warcraft company." Morhaime added some color to what Pearce said by staring all sadface at his shoes.
It's hard for me to accept the timetable for D3 because Blizzard constantly and openly admits short-changing their other franchises for the sake of WoW maintenance. Yes, they're working their tails off, but they need more engineering resources to actually get the thing done in a timely way.
I thought it was interesting that Morhaime hinted at changes to their development structure to facilitate faster release time frames. I don't have the quote but I remember that distinctly.
External beta between July and September - I can wait. But you know what would really help the wait...
D3 system reveals! Let them come!