Hey all
well after watching some beta footage it was inevitable to think about how complete is the game right now? (more or less of course)
i mean of course blizzard will have to tune things up and balance stuff but what i really mean by asking this is act-wise how complete it is?
what are your thoughts? or maybe blizzard even said something about it lately?
if the acts are all completed than it seems the game is really close now since the FF beta is running pretty good and blizzard just said the closed public beta is very very close.
so think about it, most of the work is the acts and gfx engine.. the balancing is really not allot of work.
so after the public stress test if everything is going well (probably will since blizzard is very very experienced with such games)
than maybe D3 in the next couple of months?
Because shit happens... Starcraft 2 was done too, but the Battle-Net 2.0 delayed the game almost 1 year.
Blizzard games are never "done" I mean, they're probably 100% playable now, with most of the items and more balance than most ARpgs out there.
Starcraft 2 had a lot of balance changes even in the beta, and after intensive internal testing for balance. We probably won't see the same for D3 since it's not a competitive RTS, but I believe they may still change a lot of things even throughout the beta (legendary's stats, quest rewards, overall skill balance, monster stats).
I'm assuming they've got a little bit left on the design end as well. Experimenting a bit more with the rune system (like they said they wanted to), adding more items, doing final touches on music and voice acting, etc. But there's probably little to nothing left of the really important stuff.
D3 running with Bnet2 right now right?
isnt it reasonable to assume that D3 wont take as long as SC2?
Bnet2 may be fine with it, but there are lots of problems that may come from anywhere that could delay the scheduled release date.
Software development is way too complex, you can never predict what kind of shit may happen. That's what Beta tests are for, to assure that nothing really really wrong is happening and to correct minor issues with the target hardware.
Actually they are rolling out new functionality with Bnet2 for Diablo3. This includes the cross game achievement thing, Auction House, Banner System.
In terms of actual game development, they were on the fence about runes as late as E3. They specifically said they are not changing the way it interacts with skills but they were not 100% sure about making runes a 1 time socket or if you would pick them up not identified and would only show the color when socketed. If a rune once socketed could only be used for that skill or transferable.
I'm sure its all settled now since beta has started but they now need enough servers to prevent lag for day 1, and we are talking huge setup times. Every server can only hold 4000-6000 people, if you have 1,000,000 copies sold on day 1, we are talking 200 servers at least, not including Login servers, region servers, auction house servers etc.
I expect at least 2-4 million sold on day 1 world wide. That's at least 400-800 servers, probably double that to prevent lag issues and including all the other kinds of servers. If each server takes just ~2 hour to configure. You do the math. Even if you assume all this prep work is already done, every change means a new patch and they need to patch ALL the servers. The only reason I think D3 might have a trouble free launch is because they have had 7 years of experience with WOW.
The game is complete. They just need to fix some bugs and to test hardware and server stability.
so why the hell even considering to release in 2012???
(in case the stress test will be good of course)
Because shit happens... Starcraft 2 was done too, but the Battle-Net 2.0 delayed the game almost 1 year.
D3 running with Bnet2 right now right?
isnt it reasonable to assume that D3 wont take as long as SC2?
Yes.
Keep in mind that SC2 closed beta lasted around 4 months, and battlenet was still very rough. I'm hopeful about D3 launching this year just because the basic framework for Bnet has been set up, and blizzard, lately seems to be intelligently cutting corners to hit important dates. Like in SC2 they wanted to get it out on time and skipped the whole chat channels thing and launched it 2 months earlier than it would have, then 2 months after launch added chat channels.
I'm pulling these facts out of the air but I wouldn't be surprised if they had for example a december 5th date where they decide to leave out "dota mode" and patch it months down the road, so they could get D3 out before christmas. They've just been getting good separating the essential from the nonessential stuff and patching it in later, to get the game out earlier, which i like and am hoping happens with D3. Only time will tell.
Well the only thing we're able to actually see and use is the front end UI, and it doesn't look very complete to me.
Functional yes, but it appears that there's a lot more work to be done, at least in that department. Overlays appear to be just thrown together quickly, with limited options and lots of bugs just from the few moments I spent looking around.
If that gives any indication as to how "complete" the game is, then there's still a lot to be done.
so why the hell even considering to release in 2012???
(in case the stress test will be good of course)
Game balance, last minute content additions, stress tests. SC2 got fuckruppered by balance testing especially, but thankfully that won't be as much of a problem with D3 since we don't have a competitive gaming scene, or the entirety of South Korea backing our game.
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Short question: Where did you get the 4000-6000 people number from? Me - I do not know the Diablo III number but would be surprised if it is not quite alot higher than that. The main reason there is that the upper limit for WoW/WAR/EVE online and other MMO servers is driven by that the data traffic increases exponentially (this is the key word) with the number of people in one area. Since Diablo clearly limits exactly this function - number of people in one area cannot be higher than 4 - the number albeit unknown to me should be significantly different than for regular MMOs.
You're right that number was more for MMO's. But D3 has the added complexity of needing to spawn infinite number of games instead of just ensuring everyone is in the same world server. I need to look at more videos but I didn't see a lobby system for D3 like there was in D2. So is locating others for a game like the instance matching in WOW?
SC2 needed excellent level of balance right out of the box. They were always going to need at least the better part of a year to get it just right, but anything glaring and SC2 launch would suck, from a competitive point of view. As for what people are asking, I think a few things are clear:
1) Beta, as mentioned, is a SERVER AND CLIENT STRESS TEST. Meaning hardware, software, combinations thereof, and functionality are most of what Blizzard wants to see in the beta. They have tons of QA and other testers to play through the game many, many times. The bugs that might occur will be patched in quickly as they are aware they cannot possibly try everything with so many variables, but better to keep the game fresh and secret and patch as things come along.
2) Why don't they just release now? Because they aren't ready. Why consider a 2012 release? Because 3 months isn't that long. This is all impatience talking, nothing more. The beta test is way too short, I'm not even that interested in it. Being a broke college student, I'd probably sell it rather than play it, simply because its too much of a tease. Who knows though; if I get that magical email, it may be too tempting.
3) Quote from above: "I expect at least 2-4 million sold on day 1 world wide. That's at least 400-800 servers, probably double that to prevent lag issues and including all the other kinds of servers." and the poster went on to talk about how many servers and configurations would need to be taken care of.
Starcraft II has had ~4.5 million boxes sold worldwide. It's 48 hour total was about 1.4 million iirc. I highly doubt you will see 4 million copies of D3 in the first hour. 2 million would be the ceiling on its day 1 total, I could see 3.5 million maybe in the first week.
With that said, I agree that server architecture and all that is the key to this. WoW's launch was disastrous. Blizzard was lucky that the hype machine for that game far exceeded any normalized considerations of what is expected of a game with a monthly fee. If Sc2 was like WoW in terms of networking, the world would have gotten pretty damn pissed. They need to ensure that on day 1, people can open the game and play without problems. I think it should be somewhat easier than WoW, since D3 holds 4 ppl max, and many plan on playing alone at first, so creating lots of games I think is easier than connecting everyone in the same world.
Diablo 3, for playing purposes, is complete. They cannot enter beta and talk about Q4 release as possible without it done. What must be considered is whether they have the time and power to get their infrastructure ready. I assume there is enough content to keep people busy while they fix things that need tweaking during release, but then again, after WoW Blizz knows they tend to underestimate the rate at which players consume content. I think they are already pressured by investors/corporate bigwigs, let's not give them anymore stress from the fans to get the game out. You waited a decade, wait another month or two..
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well after watching some beta footage it was inevitable to think about how complete is the game right now? (more or less of course)
i mean of course blizzard will have to tune things up and balance stuff but what i really mean by asking this is act-wise how complete it is?
what are your thoughts? or maybe blizzard even said something about it lately?
if the acts are all completed than it seems the game is really close now since the FF beta is running pretty good and blizzard just said the closed public beta is very very close.
so think about it, most of the work is the acts and gfx engine.. the balancing is really not allot of work.
so after the public stress test if everything is going well (probably will since blizzard is very very experienced with such games)
than maybe D3 in the next couple of months?
so why the hell even considering to release in 2012???
(in case the stress test will be good of course)
D3 running with Bnet2 right now right?
isnt it reasonable to assume that D3 wont take as long as SC2?
Starcraft 2 had a lot of balance changes even in the beta, and after intensive internal testing for balance. We probably won't see the same for D3 since it's not a competitive RTS, but I believe they may still change a lot of things even throughout the beta (legendary's stats, quest rewards, overall skill balance, monster stats).
Bnet2 may be fine with it, but there are lots of problems that may come from anywhere that could delay the scheduled release date.
Software development is way too complex, you can never predict what kind of shit may happen. That's what Beta tests are for, to assure that nothing really really wrong is happening and to correct minor issues with the target hardware.
In terms of actual game development, they were on the fence about runes as late as E3. They specifically said they are not changing the way it interacts with skills but they were not 100% sure about making runes a 1 time socket or if you would pick them up not identified and would only show the color when socketed. If a rune once socketed could only be used for that skill or transferable.
I'm sure its all settled now since beta has started but they now need enough servers to prevent lag for day 1, and we are talking huge setup times. Every server can only hold 4000-6000 people, if you have 1,000,000 copies sold on day 1, we are talking 200 servers at least, not including Login servers, region servers, auction house servers etc.
I expect at least 2-4 million sold on day 1 world wide. That's at least 400-800 servers, probably double that to prevent lag issues and including all the other kinds of servers. If each server takes just ~2 hour to configure. You do the math. Even if you assume all this prep work is already done, every change means a new patch and they need to patch ALL the servers. The only reason I think D3 might have a trouble free launch is because they have had 7 years of experience with WOW.
Yes.
Keep in mind that SC2 closed beta lasted around 4 months, and battlenet was still very rough. I'm hopeful about D3 launching this year just because the basic framework for Bnet has been set up, and blizzard, lately seems to be intelligently cutting corners to hit important dates. Like in SC2 they wanted to get it out on time and skipped the whole chat channels thing and launched it 2 months earlier than it would have, then 2 months after launch added chat channels.
I'm pulling these facts out of the air but I wouldn't be surprised if they had for example a december 5th date where they decide to leave out "dota mode" and patch it months down the road, so they could get D3 out before christmas. They've just been getting good separating the essential from the nonessential stuff and patching it in later, to get the game out earlier, which i like and am hoping happens with D3. Only time will tell.
Functional yes, but it appears that there's a lot more work to be done, at least in that department. Overlays appear to be just thrown together quickly, with limited options and lots of bugs just from the few moments I spent looking around.
If that gives any indication as to how "complete" the game is, then there's still a lot to be done.
Game balance, last minute content additions, stress tests. SC2 got fuckruppered by balance testing especially, but thankfully that won't be as much of a problem with D3 since we don't have a competitive gaming scene, or the entirety of South Korea backing our game.
1) Beta, as mentioned, is a SERVER AND CLIENT STRESS TEST. Meaning hardware, software, combinations thereof, and functionality are most of what Blizzard wants to see in the beta. They have tons of QA and other testers to play through the game many, many times. The bugs that might occur will be patched in quickly as they are aware they cannot possibly try everything with so many variables, but better to keep the game fresh and secret and patch as things come along.
2) Why don't they just release now? Because they aren't ready. Why consider a 2012 release? Because 3 months isn't that long. This is all impatience talking, nothing more. The beta test is way too short, I'm not even that interested in it. Being a broke college student, I'd probably sell it rather than play it, simply because its too much of a tease. Who knows though; if I get that magical email, it may be too tempting.
3) Quote from above: "I expect at least 2-4 million sold on day 1 world wide. That's at least 400-800 servers, probably double that to prevent lag issues and including all the other kinds of servers." and the poster went on to talk about how many servers and configurations would need to be taken care of.
Starcraft II has had ~4.5 million boxes sold worldwide. It's 48 hour total was about 1.4 million iirc. I highly doubt you will see 4 million copies of D3 in the first hour. 2 million would be the ceiling on its day 1 total, I could see 3.5 million maybe in the first week.
With that said, I agree that server architecture and all that is the key to this. WoW's launch was disastrous. Blizzard was lucky that the hype machine for that game far exceeded any normalized considerations of what is expected of a game with a monthly fee. If Sc2 was like WoW in terms of networking, the world would have gotten pretty damn pissed. They need to ensure that on day 1, people can open the game and play without problems. I think it should be somewhat easier than WoW, since D3 holds 4 ppl max, and many plan on playing alone at first, so creating lots of games I think is easier than connecting everyone in the same world.
Diablo 3, for playing purposes, is complete. They cannot enter beta and talk about Q4 release as possible without it done. What must be considered is whether they have the time and power to get their infrastructure ready. I assume there is enough content to keep people busy while they fix things that need tweaking during release, but then again, after WoW Blizz knows they tend to underestimate the rate at which players consume content. I think they are already pressured by investors/corporate bigwigs, let's not give them anymore stress from the fans to get the game out. You waited a decade, wait another month or two..