Introducing Innkeeper - The Hearthstone Digital Assistant
Blizzcon Approaches, Rotation for Nov. 3, 2015, Weekly Sales
Warlords Season 2 Ending Soon, Patch 6.2.3 PTR - Build 20691
New CM and Statement on Botting
Nevalistis has announced a new community manager, Kauza. With the announcement we also get the first official statement from a Blizzard rep about the community's letter against botting.
He assures us the letter and complaints have not fallen on deaf ears, and that the dev team is both aware and working on the issue!
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Hey everyone,
Please join me in welcoming Kauza to the North American Diablo III Community team!
Kauza comes with a strong passion for Diablo III and all Blizzard games, and is super stoked to be joining us in our ongoing adventures through Sanctuary. He is taking up the mantle of manager for our humble team, and in addition to operating in a large capacity behind the scenes, will also perform many of the normal community manager functions like meeting with developers, writing feature articles, manning our social media accounts, attending live events, and of course popping in to say hi here on our forums.
Our fearless leader has hit the ground running since joining us a few weeks ago, endeavoring to be a conduit for information as well as a voice for the Blizzard community. It's about time that you all get to know him better, too!
Random Facts About Kauza
- Joins us from Washington, D.C., though originally hails from Albuquerque, New Mexico
- Has as many favorite classes as Wyatt Cheng, rotating through each of the classes with every Season
- Is currently rocking a Crusader (SC) in Season 4
- Dressed up as Vault Boy for Halloween, as pictured here
Without further ado: Welcome, Kauza!
Hi, everyone! I’m thrilled to be here. [Obligatory “fresh meat” reference]
Our resident Death Maiden’s introduction suits me quite well, but please let me know of anything else you’d like to know about me! If you want to talk about my poor S4 Crusader’s failed quest for an ancient Johanna’s Argument, I’m definitely looking for some emotional support there (or some Death’s Breath…a few thousand should do it, thx). Also, did you catch that killer Conduit Pylon reference in Nevalistis’s post? I know you did that on purpose, Nevalistis. I’m onto you.
I also wanted to take a few minutes and talk to you all about botting. First off, I’m genuinely sorry that it has taken so long for you all to see a blue post on this issue. No excuses. I want to assure you that we have been discussing the open letter since it was posted.
To get a couple of things out of the way: yes, botting is absolutely, 100% against the terms of service and an offense that may lead to the closure of your game license. As for how we detect players using this software and actions on those accounts, we simply can’t share information on that front. The more we discuss those two topics, the easier it becomes for bot creators to stay informed of our efforts.
That said, I want to reiterate that the letter and your comments have not fallen on deaf ears. This is an issue that we are actively discussing and addressing. We in Community, along with the Development team, don’t want the spirit of fair play to be tainted by a group of folks refusing to play by the rules.
So, with that in mind, thanks to each and every one of you who has continued to make the journey with us each season and shared your feedback, needs, wants, and concerns. I’ll be at BlizzCon to chat with as many of you as possible.
D3 Schedule at Blizzcon
A recent blog post goes over all the D3 related schedule for Blizzcon. They will be showing new legendaries along with reworked sets on the Diablo panel, and for the first time some streamers will play and stream those sessions live from Blizzcon.
Also, it seems like the blog post contained a mention to "new set dungeons" and "stash space", as shared by easygameeasykill on Reddit. It could either be information that shouldn't have been revealed, or that is simply not being implemented. Read below.
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
The time has come once again for the Blizzard community to storm the halls of the Anaheim Convention Center! If you're planning on joining us live at the event or tuning in at home with the Virtual Ticket, here's what you can expect from Diablo III at BlizzCon 2015.
Blood and Treasure—New Content and Features for Reaper of Souls
See what’s on the way in Diablo III’s next patch! Join us as Lead Designer Kevin Martens, Senior Technical Game Designer Wyatt Cheng, Senior Game Designer Joe Shely, and Senior Level Designer Matthew Berger reveal the exciting changes that await nephalem in our next patch!
- What: A first look at upcoming feature content, including updated sets, new Legendary items, and more.
- When: Friday, November 6 from 3:30pm to 4:30pm PST.
- Where: Panel Stage, Hall A
Slaughtered Calf Inn
Stay awhile and listen to the Diablo development team at the Slaughtered Calf Inn as they deliver a series of quick talks about Diablo III!
- What: Hang out, chat, and listen to developers to get the inside scoop on Diablo III .
- When: You can come by and hang out anytime, but we’ll also have a schedule of quick talks available at Blizzcon to help you plan ahead. (We’ll add a quick talk schedule to this section when available.)
- Where: Inside the Darkmoon Faire, Hall A
Twitch Streams from BlizzCon
For the first time ever, you’ll be able to watch some of your favorite streamers play live at BlizzCon! Join Quin69, DatModz, and Rhykker as they host their channels from the Darkmoon Faire at BlizzCon. They will be playing for an hour each at the times below:
- Quin69: http://www.twitch.tv/quin69
- Friday, November 6 from 5:15pm to 6:15pm PDT.
- Saturday, November 7 from 1:30pm to 2:30pm PDT.
- DatModz: http://www.twitch.tv/datmodz
- Friday, November 6 from 6:30pm to 7:30pm PDT.
- Saturday, November 7 from 2:45pm to 3:45pm PDT.
- Rhykker: http://www.twitch.tv/rhykker
- Friday, November 6 from 7:45pm to 8:45pm PDT.
- Saturday, November 7 from 4:00pm to 5:00pm PDT.
For those of you who are unable to attend the event, don’t worry. The Virtual Ticket gives you a front row seat at BlizzCon 2015 from the comfort of your own couch, and comprehensive coverage of both days, including the closing show performed by none other than Linkin Park. Watch Blizzard’s epic gaming convention live, November 6 - 7!
-
View User Profile
-
Send Message
Posted Nov 4, 2015No offense to Kauza, but his statement on botting is one of those that made me say, "well no shit." I don't think anyone in this forum thinks that botting is really a legitimate activity in the game. I think they want more frequent action taken to reduce its use.
I think a more meaningful statement would have been talking about things like YOLO Mouse and TurboHUD. There are always discussions posted here where the player base is split on if it is legit and/or punishable to use tools like that. He could have made a powerful statement by posting a much more encompassing statement on this clause within their terms of service.
However, I am glad to see that they have a new leader running the team and hope that he does some great things for their community.
-
View User Profile
-
Send Message
Posted Nov 4, 2015How is using a skin for your mouse cursor not legitimate? I hope you're joking. I mean you do realize that is is what 90% of apps do, right? What you see is simply your Windows cursor with another skin. Only in a few cases the app will use a software cursor, independent from Windows.
-
View User Profile
-
Send Message
Posted Nov 4, 2015If you really want to get technical about the ToS and yolomouse then it is against the terms of service. The mouse cursor is a game file, yolomouse changes that game file. While i personally dont think people should be banned or suspended for using it, it is technically against the ToS.
-
View User Profile
-
Send Message
Posted Nov 4, 2015The second and third post on this thread just proved my point in the OP.
-
View User Profile
-
Send Message
Posted Nov 5, 2015So basically they are revealing a patch at blizzcon. We need a expansion to save diablo. Not short lived patches like 2.3.
We need new classes. Not new item sets and legendaries.
We need new game modes and maps. Rifting is getting old.
-
View User Profile
-
Send Message
Posted Nov 5, 2015I'm not sure who you are referring to in your post. I don't feel that any of the posts in this thread have been "angry" in nature. Just more people talking about their interpretation of the ToS, which really doesn't matter because it's Blizzard's opinion that truly matters.
Personally, I want it cleared up because I want to know what additional tools I can use without being banned by the company. I'm not against addons or tools, I just want clarification because I'm too cheap to buy additional copies of a game I already play in the event I could get banned.
-
View User Profile
-
Send Message
Posted Nov 5, 2015I'd go on to say "The only way you'll really get their attention on bots, is if thousands and thousands of players start quitting for simply that reason." Then of course they'd HAVE to focus more of their efforts on stopping bots.... However, I'd near-guarantee you that thousands and thousands and thousands more players would probably stop playing once the content/seasons or whatever else had to make a cutback to put more effort into this department affordably. Also, unlike some people, I don't envision these people sleeping on bags of money at night, but instead working tirelessly and hard to create this.
-
View User Profile
-
Send Message
Posted Nov 5, 2015I also agree that no company has all the funds to do all the things. They have to invest strategically into what they are developing. It could be that the problems most people see are being highlighted by a very vocal minority and don't have much of a negative impact to overall game/customer experience. However, there could be a situation over time where there are diminishing returns for investing in content if there are not controls in-place to improve the user experience.