The Great Flood


After what was likely one of the biggest weeks in Diablo 3 development history (aside from, of course, the game's announcement), I think now is a good time to summarize and touch on the great flood of information we've received over the past week or so. Not only am I referring to the information from the Press Event and the Conference Call, but there has also been ~100 new blueposts/tweets from Blizzard as well. Before we begin, I wanted to point out that just prior to the event, three pretty big editorials were posted covering: death throughout the Diablo series, the life of a Monster, and the Interface/Controls throughout the Diablo series.

Thus far, the biggest and most discussed topic from the Press Event has been the Auction House and this is simply because real money will be involved. While real money is going to be used, Gold will still make up the economy, the only difference is that the value of gold will be determined by its' exchange rate within the RMAH. The AH will, without a doubt, affect all aspects of the game indefinitely. With the entire revamp of the skill system, including the removal of skill points and potential rune system change, it will make the trading of runes on the AH much more valuable than it currently is. Not only that, but keeping in mind the fact that the PvP System will not be competitive means that players can essentially purchase items and pwn the arena without any foreseeable nerfs. That in mind, Blizzard is taking a much more casual approach to the Arena now. No longer will arena matches be 3v3 or "last man standing"-styled; now Blizzard is aiming for 4v4 PvP matches (with the maximum D3 party size being 4) and a Team Deathmatch styled arena.

Not only were these big changes presented to us, but a number of exclusive interviews were conducted, including the secret Blizzard interview with Kevin Martens, where he may have slipped up on a potential fourth difficulty, and the G4TV interview with Rob Pardo, where he may have also slipped up about Diablo being the final boss. For those of you who like to tune into our weekly DiabloCasts, this past weeks' Cast covered all of the topics presented throughout this article.

Following both the Press Event and the Conference Call, Blizzard requested that we all update our Beta Profile Preferences for the chance to opt-into the D3 Beta. It seems as if this past week was the calm before the storm and all we're waiting for now is the beta to begin.


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