When Will Beta Begin?
If there's any one game developing company known for delays...Well, let's just take a look at the facts. The Diablo franchise, itself, is no spring chicken. There's the ten years we've been patiently awaiting Diablo III, and the seven years we had to wait for even the announcement during the final Worldwide Invitational (see Diablo III Announced). But how far back to delays go in Diablo's history?
Did you know that Diablo II was originally slated for a 1999 release date? According to a very archaic passage from the reputed ShackNews game news network, the second installment was delayed an entire year.
But the delays don't stop there. The Starcraft franchise has had its share of shortcomings, even establishing a hallmark among ghosted games. Starcraft: Ghost has been on what Blizzard calls an "indefinite hold" since 2006, with a game announcement reaching as far back as 2002. Guess the game was dead before it even hit shelves.
For a more modern gaming audience, the delays of Starcraft II might be a source for more sorrow. In 2009, GossipGamer reported that the game was being delayed due to Battle.net conflictions (and the game still launched with Battle.net problems.) Before even that delay, it was further put off track due to the taskforce needed to push out Wrath of the Lich King.
As for the much-loved Warcraft RTS franchise, which is often differentiated by fans as being entirely separate from World of Warcraft, Warcraft III was delayed by as much as a year, with a purported release set for 2001 and later delayed to 2002.
Major game releases haven't been the only victims. The hit-or-miss Diablo II Patch 1.10 (Diablo II) faced some sluggishness from it's announcement when it finally hit the scenes in 2003. Patch 1.13 (Diablo II), which we covered extensively from inception to implementation, suffered numerous delays due to patch work on Warcraft III and other unspecified reasons (see WCIII Patch is Up- Diablo II Patch 1.13 Soon to Follow?).
How should these details factor in to our beta date hopes, if at all? To be fair, several things should be taken into consideration with regards to the past. Diablo II was, of course, being developed under a much smaller team than the more modern one led by Jay Wilson. In addition to creating an entirely new game engine from the ground up for Diablo III, Blizzard has undergone several employment revamps since Blizzard North's time, making their last ten years nothing to scoff at.
Starcraft: Ghost was being developed entirely by third-party developers until Blizzard simply bought out the latest company, Swingin' Ape Studios, in 2004. Maybe there's something to be said for it not being directly developed by Blizzard Entertainment. And perhaps to Starcraft II's credit, the game was entirely finished and ready for release, but structural details with the latest rendition of the Battle.net system caused some unforeseen problems.
Years later, Blizzard now boasts dedicated development teams for each franchise, as well as a Battle.net team and a budget that would make most developers envious. With relatively little else going on for Blizzard development-wise, perhaps we can place more faith in "targeted" dates. Let's hear what you think!
And when they realize that the delay made it to September, they will just delay it another month to announce it in Blizzcon.
Totally agree with you on that. July just sounded like a good time to pick for beta. If they didn't have blizzcon it would probably be the case. If they release game pre blizzcon, all they will have to talk about are expansions and the next mmo. Gotta feed the PR machine!
Or, you know, a Christmas release announcement assuming the beta goes smoothly.
And considering they've rented out more than their usual convention space for this Blizzcon, I wouldn't underestimate this year's con.
Well, it didn't start until February of 2010.
The Battle.net issue, one off as it may have been, was something pretty unexpected and that sort of thing sets something of a disturbing precedent.
Blizzard destroys every other game company that's out there, especially in the last 15 - 17 years. Only early Westwood Studios and Bioware from back in the day come anywhere near what Blizzard has achieved.
Having said that, there's always a price to pay. In Blizzard's case, it's that their development process is inefficient and they tend to iterate way too much, especially in an era where patches for online games can solve everything.
They're simply blessed that their massive fanbase is as patient as we are. Any other company would look at all the other games coming out and start hyperventilating at the thought of losing customers to these other studios.
And like you said, SC2's delay was only because of B.net. I don't see how thats disturbing. If anything, the delay of SC2 was one of the more minor delays Blizz has had, and if B.net was already up and running (like it will be for D3), the game would've probably come out on time.
Also I dearly hope beta won't be six months from then on. Six months from now however I could live with, as that would give us a 2011 release. Right hammy?
This is how I voted. More in hopes, rather than a guess.
ScyberDragon asked Bashiok if they had plans on how and when they are going to announce these remaining systems.
Official Blizzard Quote:
@ScyberDragon Yes. Very specifically.
I think they know exactly when they're going to start beta.
Why wouldn't they give us a specific date than? Your post supports what I said about Blizzard beating around the bush because the know the Beta, and the game is going to come late.
First, as your post points out, Bash says they know how they're going to release systems. So one could tie this loosely into the Beta, as you did.
Than, come the conference call we get a 3 month window in Q3.
Very contradicting.
Blizzard has become nearly phobic about talking dates, even ambiguously, one would think even 'Q3 beta' is almost surprising from them, they must be reasonably confident.
Best thing i read all day! YOU good man are my hero!
I'm ok with this. Blizzard releases polished, fun games. If they say it needs another month or two, I can accept that because i know what we end up getting, whenever that may be, will be awesome.
Once a game reaches the testing phase generally the games production schedule becomes a bit more regimented, meaning now they have time frames that they are aiming to achieve. These time frames are established due to precedence, so what I'm trying to say is that Blizzard is saying Q3 2011 because they genuinely believe it will be out then. I would say as early as July 18th but my gut says August 8th.
Blizzard´s past is what ironically makes me think like that. They are well known for being evasive and all that "soon" and "when its done" things, so if they are finnaly announcing a date (or a period) I have no problem believing in it. There would be no difference in keeping us in the dark for 2-3 more months, if they picked up the callendar and said "this month" they should be pretty close to finishing the game.
If they dont.. I really dont care that much. They launch when its done and I play when its launched.
can't say any better
btw, i'm expecting beta by the first days of august, more 4 months and then LAUNCH
always thought bout a 2011 xmas release and i'll keep that
So basically if the alpha isn't too buggy/broken, then the beta will come out Q3, if the beta goes well, the game will come out in 2011. Unfortunately for when we get to play, but fortunately for the end product, Blizzard's standard for whats acceptable is obviously very high, so some kind of delay is, IMO, likely. That doesn't mean that it will get delayed all the way to 2012 though, and even if it does it'll probably be very early (Q1/Q2) of 2012, and in the meantime we'll be playing (or at least getting boatloads of info about) the beta.