It has just been brought to our attention by our development team that a hacker had gained access to one of our sister sites in the Curse network. The intrusion was stopped before any real damage could be done.
However, the hacker was definitely able to access the database of at least one Curse website and could have accessed other websites of the network running the IPB software, including this one. Sensitive information such as passwords were fully encrypted and should be safe, however they did gain access to the emails used to register forum accounts.
These can be used immediately in order to send phishing emails that mimic official Blizzard emails. As always please check all links in emails. Remember blizzard will never ask for your password, offer you free games or free items, and that any login to Battle.net should be done by typing the URL yourself in your browser instead of clicking links.
Though forum passwords were fully encrypted and more than likely safe, it never hurts to change your passwords and change them every now and then.
We greatly apologize for the inconvenience, measures are already in place to make sure it doesn't happen again.
Rare and Champion Pack Kills Tied to Boss Kills
With bashiok posting awhile back about Champions and Rares dropping the loot we will be looking for, some were worried about the fate of bosses. It looks like the designers are on the issue, and we might have more information on it at some point. (Edit: he has added "...SOON")
Originally Posted by Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
(The designers have been working on and testing a system that actually ties the rare/champion pack kills to boss kills quite nicely. It seems like it's solid enough for us to talk about the intent and goals even though it's still in testing, we can look into sharing more about it .... SOON.
+Skill Affixes Confirmed
Originally Posted by Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
(Level by level the choices are only limited by your skill and runes; my monk will be identical to yours.
In the final version of the game you will have ample choices of personalization; there will be affixes and legendary items that will modify the effects and abilities of your character. Obviously those items can be found towards the end of the game, so they are not available in the current beta.
Items that modify spell effects? So are they really "rune skills" or do they just increase the damage, like Cleave can be modified to do 150% WD instead of 120%?
Yes, let's say that they are the new runes. The developers wanted to implement an alternative to the removal of quality levels of runes to customize the abilities of your character.
[...] I think you can wear those items, but I'm not sure and I have no further information at the moment; since the game is in beta, anything can change before the final release
In the final version of the game you will have ample choices of personalization; there will be affixes and legendary items that will modify the effects and abilities of your character. Obviously those items can be found towards the end of the game, so they are not available in the current beta.
Items that modify spell effects? So are they really "rune skills" or do they just increase the damage, like Cleave can be modified to do 150% WD instead of 120%?
Yes, let's say that they are the new runes. The developers wanted to implement an alternative to the removal of quality levels of runes to customize the abilities of your character.
[...] I think you can wear those items, but I'm not sure and I have no further information at the moment; since the game is in beta, anything can change before the final release
Diablo 3 Beta Now Available in French and German
Originally Posted by Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
(The call for heroes goes out once more! The French and German Diablo III beta clients are now available, and battle-hardy warriors are needed to rigorously test them. Do you have the mettle to accept the challenge?
Players who already have access to the beta can download the new clients from the Battle.net account management page. Once you have installed your chosen game, let the demon slaughter begin. But be aware – we want your feedback! Any comments you have on these clients should be made on the Beta Feedback forums and would be very much appreciated.
If you would like to test Diablo III in French or German but do not yet have beta access, be sure to visit the opt-in FAQ. There you will find full instructions on how to sign up for the chance to be selected as a beta tester.
The denizens of Diablo III’s Burning Hells await you. Go forth and cleanse Sanctuary of this blight, then return to report your findings.
Players who already have access to the beta can download the new clients from the Battle.net account management page. Once you have installed your chosen game, let the demon slaughter begin. But be aware – we want your feedback! Any comments you have on these clients should be made on the Beta Feedback forums and would be very much appreciated.
If you would like to test Diablo III in French or German but do not yet have beta access, be sure to visit the opt-in FAQ. There you will find full instructions on how to sign up for the chance to be selected as a beta tester.
The denizens of Diablo III’s Burning Hells await you. Go forth and cleanse Sanctuary of this blight, then return to report your findings.
I was thinking about that very fact actually. But why would they wait to tell us this instead of mentioning it when they announced that they were removing droppable runes? And even after the uproar that followed. Seeing as how it still has only been released on a foreign website and not even confirmed in English?
I cannot imagine how they tie one thing to another?
But this is something im happy to hear, I really wanted bosses to still 'matter'
Perhaps they might do something like the more rare/champion packs that you kill in the level, the better the bosses loot table becomes.
@post above
Thats what im thinking. Or when you kill a boss, more champs spawn...ect..ect
i was merely suggesting ways to make it better because i know you hated it. the ways i suggested were fine, tying champions and bosses together for loot is GAY as fuck because basically forces me to farm bosses just like in D2 AFTER farming champions if i want the best loot, forcing me to fight a gay boss that might take 20 min to kill (inferno) and have to switch up my farming builds which i also didnt want to do. a system that FORCES us to do bosses for the best loot is what i was so glad was gone, now that its back. FML //wrists
No, they need to do something to encourage people to actually explore. As it is right now, people take the shortest route through an area. If you notice that you're next tile is an end piece, people don't even explore it they simply turn around. Whole sections are being ignored because people are just B-lining their way through.
If they have bosses drop the best loot, but require you to hunt down rares/champs for that to happen, then people will have more reasons to search all the areas people are skipping.
Granted, this is happening in the beta and I guess you could argue that that might not be the case in the retail game, but i think it will.
Also, why are they still meddling with game systems if we are expecting a release date any time now? It's like this game is stuck in feature creep development hell. RELEASE IT ALREADY.
I think you have to backwards (well this is all theory based on how I think they will do it)
Right now, bosses are 'pointless' and we are goiing to be farming champs/rares so, as we are killing them it makes the boss es chance to drop better loot go up. so if we farmed the whole act (like you want ) when we get to the boss, we dont just go "oh, hard boss with lame loot, /leave" we now get good loot as well
id rather /ragequit after the whole act is done right before the act boss because i dont want to re-do him. i have the mass majority of my fun in diablo killing big groups and going through the areas, not doing the bosses. which is why i quit D2 a lot quicker because farming bosses was horribly boring, even if tied into the mob killing i still wont enjoy myself while trying to kill bosses especially in inferno which some bosses will make people ragequit smash screen im sure. being killed instantly by a champion pack is one thing, spending 15 min trying to kite around a boss and then him getting in a lucky shots just makes me replace screens
i guess we just have to wait and see what bosses are like. Im just going off the idea that im going to love the bosses, and that they are going to be unqiue and a lot of fun. The quote on the reason why we have to do that "confirm your ready" being due to how a lot of boss fights have "parts" and scripted events makes me think there will be a lot to them, and hopefully in a fun and exciting way.
So it all depends on how bosses turn out I guess.
why? this sounds like its easily all backend stuff, easily part of release day patch
@apoc
But then there would still be no reason to kill them. If they still dont drop good loot, id rather skip, unless they become so pointlessly easy they take no work
but from his last tweet/blue post, it sounds like, as it stands right now, bosses wont drop as good as loot as champs/rares. (I dont mean less, I mean just down right wont drop)
Originally Posted by (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
so if what he says there is taken word for word. Then even if a Boss can be killed in 1/4 the time.. its still not worth it
Why is it not worth it? Bosses are required kills to progress to higher parts of the game. If I can get past that, then I instantly have access to higher level mobs and thus better quality loot.
Edit: I don't see this change revolving entirely around boss loot. I see it more as about getting to the parts of the game you want to be at without having bosses being such roadblocks.
The 'making exploration feasible' objective is centered around farming. What your talking about is what every player has to do to get to farming content anyways.