UPDATE - It appears the sign has now been removed! (source)
Update 3:
It gets more interesting! When we called the Rochester, Minnesota Best Buy this morning, a manager explained that the sign has been taken down as a directive from the store's "GM" (general manager), not because the manufacturer had asked but because the manufacturer has been "not very firm" in picking a launch date. As many had guessed (per the misspelling of "February," among other things), the signage was made in-house and not sent by Blizzard. If you happen to spot any similar signage in your local big box retailer, don't hesitate to contact us!
A lot of hype is going around today about the BestBuy countdown banner at one of their stores. It is counting down to February 1st, midnight release. However, there are a few things to keep in mind. We have had many blue posts saying retailers will not know the release date before we do. We also have (read above) a blue post saying they like to give us a few months warning before a title comes out. Bashiok also replied about this on twitter today.
Official Blizzard Quote:
whats the word on this? http://t.co/dqQ8mt7G
The word is lol. (source)
yeah, but its on their website, and the forums are blowing up. ill admit i got excited for the first time in a long time.
Retailers will not know a date until its officially announced through a press release.(source)
you guys really need to let best buy know...unless im missing something here
We can't really keep every individual retail shop from making up a date.(source)
Barbarian - Runed Weapon Throw
Today we have Weapon Throw for the Barbarian. The Indigo rune has been left out in this video. Also, its very important to note that these skills may be missing some effects/graphics. PLEASE keep this in mind while watching.
Diablo 3 Not Confirmed for Q1
Bashiok posted quickly. last night. that he had made a mistake by saying Q1 and that the game is still on track for "early" 2012.
Official Blizzard Quote:
Sorry I wasn't intending to imply anything by writing first quarter, just an honest mistake. Our official target is still "early 2012". Not sure if it makes too much difference one way or the other, but I don't want people to nitpick a mistake.
Bashiok on When Beta Ends and Demo
Bashiok posted on the legacy forums last night stating that the beta probably wont be ending until close to the release of the game. He also says in this same post, that they usually try to let us know two months in advanced for release dates.
Official Blizzard Quote:
We probably won't end beta until shortly before release, and traditionally we've tried to announce release dates about two months before release. I couldn't speculate how invites might ramp up or down when the beta finally comes to a close, it definitely is not coming to a close yet though.
Bashiok did say there was a strong possibility of a demo after release
We'll probably make a trial edition at some point. It's sort of a demo I suppose, but it's a bit better because it's essentially the full game just with locks put on certain areas. So you'd be able to jump into multiplayer games with your friends, but maybe you wouldn't be able to play beyond a certain place and wouldn't have access to all the game systems (certainly not auction houses) but if you choose to buy the game all that stuff just unlocks.
Keep in mind, he can only throw one normal (it uses all his fury) also a corpse would need to be on the groupd for him to grab
I smell fish.
Is it just me, or is this Blizzard talk for;"yeah, I totally mean't we wanted it released in the first quarter, but we just realized that's not going to happen so we'll call it a misunderstanding."
Edit: @ snared04drummer you beat me to it by mere seconds! But I'm glad it's not just my interpretation! haha
oddly enough thats how they chose to do the animation haha..
"skinny zombie, diablo fiend(?) and regular zombie" hahaa..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVnAn9d0_kk
This is Weapon Throw in Slow Motion, showing all 5 runes.
horrify video as well incoming, ChatGem i like your videos better than mine haha.. ill give you the heads up when we start to code some pets and hirelings and maybe even some more monsters (considering i can spot some thousand pounder effects in the files hehe)
That would be so great! yeah Im refreshing your page daily to see what you have added. its big time nice being able to view some new stuff while we wait for a release date =D
Cheers.
or your thinking one way, and they are another.
Yeah if we look at it in quarters... but early could be anything before "half". Its just all on how you look at it, and people will all have their own ways. But yeah its safe to say early = Q1 imo as well.
They just don't have enough respect for anybody to be honest about... anything. Yeah they've said Q1 a couple times then took it back. At this point I think they believe anything before July is early. W/e. I don't like them. I'll play it when it comes out but it won't change how I feel about their business ethics.
I don't think there's really any way else to see it. Early doesn't mean pre-july, it means "within the first couple months of the year". At least in the land of truth tellers and forthcoming people. Don't defend their disrespect to the fans. Blizzard has jerked everyone around about literally everything and worst of all, they have provided less than no information on why we've been jerked around. It's sad that they can get away with it and the friends that I have that work for them or have in the past say "yeah, it's pretty terrible how lightly they take doing this to people because they know they'll get away with it." Awful.
The only thing that seems to bug you is your forum members. You bashed everyone for talking about this best buy thing as though they were misguided idiots, then suddenly it's front page news???