Playing the beta i can see how unfinished the game is.
The AH for example is buged as it can be. Achievements are also completly bugged.
Looks like even early 2012 seens a bit unlikely. I believe 2012.2 is the best guess right now.
You've got to be joking.
Playing through the beta, at the earliest stages, before they even added achievements or the RMAH it was the most bug free and complete feeling beta i've ever played.
I think i played beta off and on for a month or so starting back in september and the first thing that came to mind after finishing the beta was "why are they not releasing this right now???"
I'll tell you the reason why they arent releasing it, it isn't because it isn't done, it isn't because they're polishing it (though im sure they're taking advantage of the extra time) the reason why they havent launched it is because of this fall's insane game lineup, for example: Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Gears of War 3, Rage, Dark Souls, Batman: Arkham City, Battlefield 3, Modern Warfare 3, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, Saints Row: The Third, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, and finally, Skyrim, and even more. I'm not a young gamer, not an old gamer, i'm just over 28 years old and can't think of a winter season with more blockbuster hits all releasing within the same 4 months.
With that said, the reason why Diablo 3 isn't releasing, and the reason they wouldn't tell you, is for business reasons. Blizzard just like every game company is a company that needs to make money, and if it released this fall, it would have to compete with a boatload of other games people have been anticipating for quite awhile. I've played almost every single one of the games listed (trying to distract myself from Diablo 3) and they're almost all well worth the hype. However, if i wanted to launch a game, it would take a very stupid Blizzard marketing executive or lead i think to release this fall and compete with the vast ocean of great games that released.
I'm willing to bet almost anything they're waiting till the releases chill out, till things to back to normal; Maybe until after everyone returns their unwanted christmas gifts and plays through all their games they get on christmas, and are ready for something new and fresh before they release Diablo 3. I truly believe the delay is for business reasons, not "polish". Polish is a nice thing to say that calms people down and gives great justification, but the thing is, they'd never say "well it's because we want to make more money" i know Blizzard, and i know they wouldn't say something like that.
TLDR: The game is ready now, the beta is the most polished beta i've played. They're delaying for business reasons, as not to compete with this fall's insane lineup. Remember they are a business, they are a business, they are a business, they need to make money and as much as possible. this also is normal.
Blizzards beta's are always EXTREMELY polished. I said the same thing last year when I got into the SC2 beta, it felt like the full game. It's their need for perfection that is causing the delay. Blizzard holds themselves to such high standards that their betas could be passed as the final product for most other developers.
When they said end of 2011 I was psyched. I was stoked that they were giving such a close time frame, and then they said early 2012 and I understood because this is Blizzard and they make their games polished for release. But as 2011 is coming to a close it seems like they are kind of avoiding any implications to a release coming soon, and outright refusing to give one because they "don't feel it's ready" because of some bullshit or another. If the beta is an indicator of how good the game will be then I am really anticipating an amazing game, but if they announce that it's going to be Q2 or Q3 I will be very pissed.
Makes sense but I have no problem being grumpy about it. It's been years and years and it's really hard to be a cheerleader for them at this point. I'm gonna be a happy gamer when I play it but right now the thrill of knowing it's coming eventually has turned into mild resentment. They have great quality in their games but this announce to release stretch has been... unsatisfying.
It really seems like that are a lot of server problems and RMAH bugs at the moment. They definitely won't release the game till every single kink is worked out. With the RMAH coming out with the game there is a lot for them to lose here. They won't release until everything is perfect.
Part of Bashiok's job is to quell the masses. He's never going to admit that it is either the RMAH or WoW or some other factor. It's his job to say otherwise so that people don't get upset and rage. Whether you believe him or not, he's more than likely lying for his company to protect their reputation, no matter what the reasons are for delay.
"The game doesn't meet standards" line is a load of crap. But to be fair, so are all of the RMAH, WoW conspiracies. Just like how the biggest movie blockbusters come out May-July, video games have their "High" months too. All of the biggest selling games come out in either November, or March.
No game ever meets standards at release or there wouldn't be a need for patches. Skyrim's occasional backwards flying dragons, or sometimes glitchy gameplay doesn't stop it from being a great game, and patches come along to fix the odd things that need polish. I would much rather play a great game that will be patched better, than to wait forever for a "ready" game right out of the box. I played the beta a couple of times about 3 months ago and it is a great game, certainly capable of exceptional reviews. 6 months of waiting is going to make my experience that much more perfect... Yeah right, then maybe they can go and punch out God...
Back when they said they were aiming for 2011, they were aiming for November... they missed it... hello March release. Simple as that. The rest is just a PR circle jerk. So everyone say thank you to the person on the left and reach for the one on the right.
Seriously, what the f*** is up with:
1. people that create topics to nerdrage @ Blizzard for not announcing the release date,
2. people that create topics to defend / justify blizzard's stance on those matters.
How hard is to get one, bizarrely simple sentence through your thick skulls:
"Its done when its done". There - the simplest sentence ever. In the meantime, go and get a life ffs.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Come into the dark, for when I'm done with you, even the light won't recognize you"
And you believe it? I personally not. This whole week people were very angry and they probably were told to say something calming to the community.
You would have to be clinically insane to believe korea or WoW had anything to do with delaying the game anyways.
FFS just look at the recent changes they announced....does that look like anything that would be a result of a finished game?
Other than the removal of Lethal Decoy and work on the AH, everything else looks like balance tweaking skill costs/gains, etc. Skill balancing adjustments could/will be made when the game is live, too. Other than the RMAH, these patch notes do not indicate an unfinished game by any means.
"Redesign" is a good thing, people. Is this what you want to play?
If not, then calm down. Let Blizzard do their magic.
Yeah the current version looks much much better. I'm happy Blizz started from scratch. BUT since this screenshots was of the 2005 version from Blizz North, that version would've at least been released a couple of years after 2005 and we might be currently waiting for the 4th Diablo or at least the second expansion which might have been released in 2012 or later or something.
The point is if I heard in 2005 that Blizz North (BN) would've been releasing that D3 version, it would've been one of the best days of my life. Again, if I heard in 2005 (knowing Blizz North was developing that D3 version) and they said: "Sorry guys, we've been working on this game since 2002, but as of current events, the development of D3 has been stopped for various reasons, [so no D3 for you! Muhahahaha]". It would've been the saddest day of my life.
When I heard in 2008 (without knowing BN's D3 version) that there was gonna be a D3, best day of my life. When I now look back at that version of D3, it's still the best day of my life, knowing that the version we have now is so much better looking (and probably better sorry BN).
So overall, happy we have the current version, but sad it's taking so long!
Edit:
Official Blizzard Quote:
While you bring up a number of points of speculation, I just want to cut right to it and state that the reason we don’t have a release date yet is because the game isn’t yet where we want it to be in terms of our quality standards. We aren’t holding it back on account of any one piece of the game, or for any other outside factors.
Note that Bashiok didn't specifically said "RMAH in Korea" which is the main factor the OP is addressing for the game's delay. He only say "outside factors". Bashiok's not going to admit the RMAH to be the main factor. He is just "protecting" Blizz from the community's rage (Savages summed it up nicely). And if he did say "it's not being delayed cause of the Korean RMAH" and it turns out to be true, his credit as a Community Manager will be sunked.
And you believe it? I personally not. This whole week people were very angry and they probably were told to say something calming to the community.
You would have to be clinically insane to believe korea or WoW had anything to do with delaying the game anyways.
FFS just look at the recent changes they announced....does that look like anything that would be a result of a finished game?
Other than the removal of Lethal Decoy and work on the AH, everything else looks like balance tweaking skill costs/gains, etc. Skill balancing adjustments could/will be made when the game is live, too. Other than the RMAH, these patch notes do not indicate an unfinished game by any means.
They removed a skill, and added another. That is certainly not something you do with a finished game.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Do you want to get scammed? Perhaps a nice keylogger?
"Just google "diablo 3 gold guide" and magical rainbow covered demons will assault your eyes."
You are talking about a single skill being swapped. It's not like they did an overhaul on every single class in the game and scrapped everything. I'm highly confident that cyclone strike has existed internally being tested with little risk of putting it in the closed beta at this stage.
I think you are being a little pessimistic for no reason this time. (Disclaimer: Not that Blizzard hasn't given people a reason to be pessimistic over a lot of things recently.)
And you believe it? I personally not. This whole week people were very angry and they probably were told to say something calming to the community.
You would have to be clinically insane to believe korea or WoW had anything to do with delaying the game anyways.
FFS just look at the recent changes they announced....does that look like anything that would be a result of a finished game?
Other than the removal of Lethal Decoy and work on the AH, everything else looks like balance tweaking skill costs/gains, etc. Skill balancing adjustments could/will be made when the game is live, too. Other than the RMAH, these patch notes do not indicate an unfinished game by any means.
They removed a skill, and added another. That is certainly not something you do with a finished game.
The one and ONLY problem there is, was Blizzard announced the game to soontm
and I really, REALLY hope they don't make same mistake with "Titan", I'm looking forward to know what it is, but I dont wanna know 3-4 years in advance, I wanna know when theres MAX 2 years until release. Just as there shouldn't have been more then 2 years from D3 announced to release.
Don't do this again Blizzard, not for you own sake but for my health sake
Rumor mill is saying that Titan is scrapped. There was an article out there somewhere on the interwebz saying that the majority of the dev team for Titan is no longer working for Blizzard. I really hope Titan is just a developmental name, because that alone sparks no interest from me in wanting to ever see it come to fruition.
You've got to be joking.
Playing through the beta, at the earliest stages, before they even added achievements or the RMAH it was the most bug free and complete feeling beta i've ever played.
I think i played beta off and on for a month or so starting back in september and the first thing that came to mind after finishing the beta was "why are they not releasing this right now???"
I'll tell you the reason why they arent releasing it, it isn't because it isn't done, it isn't because they're polishing it (though im sure they're taking advantage of the extra time) the reason why they havent launched it is because of this fall's insane game lineup, for example: Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Gears of War 3, Rage, Dark Souls, Batman: Arkham City, Battlefield 3, Modern Warfare 3, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, Saints Row: The Third, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, and finally, Skyrim, and even more. I'm not a young gamer, not an old gamer, i'm just over 28 years old and can't think of a winter season with more blockbuster hits all releasing within the same 4 months.
With that said, the reason why Diablo 3 isn't releasing, and the reason they wouldn't tell you, is for business reasons. Blizzard just like every game company is a company that needs to make money, and if it released this fall, it would have to compete with a boatload of other games people have been anticipating for quite awhile. I've played almost every single one of the games listed (trying to distract myself from Diablo 3) and they're almost all well worth the hype. However, if i wanted to launch a game, it would take a very stupid Blizzard marketing executive or lead i think to release this fall and compete with the vast ocean of great games that released.
I'm willing to bet almost anything they're waiting till the releases chill out, till things to back to normal; Maybe until after everyone returns their unwanted christmas gifts and plays through all their games they get on christmas, and are ready for something new and fresh before they release Diablo 3. I truly believe the delay is for business reasons, not "polish". Polish is a nice thing to say that calms people down and gives great justification, but the thing is, they'd never say "well it's because we want to make more money" i know Blizzard, and i know they wouldn't say something like that.
TLDR: The game is ready now, the beta is the most polished beta i've played. They're delaying for business reasons, as not to compete with this fall's insane lineup. Remember they are a business, they are a business, they are a business, they need to make money and as much as possible. this also is normal.
Yeah! I'll be pissed if MoP and d3 come out around the same time and I have to choose between the two.
Ps. SIF BELIEVE TROLLIOK!
If not, then calm down. Let Blizzard do their magic.
Your sig is too small. You should enlarge it so I can see all the details, my Polska brother.
Battle.net Profile / Diablo Progress Profile
No game ever meets standards at release or there wouldn't be a need for patches. Skyrim's occasional backwards flying dragons, or sometimes glitchy gameplay doesn't stop it from being a great game, and patches come along to fix the odd things that need polish. I would much rather play a great game that will be patched better, than to wait forever for a "ready" game right out of the box. I played the beta a couple of times about 3 months ago and it is a great game, certainly capable of exceptional reviews. 6 months of waiting is going to make my experience that much more perfect... Yeah right, then maybe they can go and punch out God...
Back when they said they were aiming for 2011, they were aiming for November... they missed it... hello March release. Simple as that. The rest is just a PR circle jerk. So everyone say thank you to the person on the left and reach for the one on the right.
1. people that create topics to nerdrage @ Blizzard for not announcing the release date,
2. people that create topics to defend / justify blizzard's stance on those matters.
How hard is to get one, bizarrely simple sentence through your thick skulls:
"Its done when its done". There - the simplest sentence ever. In the meantime, go and get a life ffs.
FFS just look at the recent changes they announced....does that look like anything that would be a result of a finished game?
"Just google "diablo 3 gold guide" and magical rainbow covered demons will assault your eyes."
Other than the removal of Lethal Decoy and work on the AH, everything else looks like balance tweaking skill costs/gains, etc. Skill balancing adjustments could/will be made when the game is live, too. Other than the RMAH, these patch notes do not indicate an unfinished game by any means.
Battle.net Profile / Diablo Progress Profile
The point is if I heard in 2005 that Blizz North (BN) would've been releasing that D3 version, it would've been one of the best days of my life. Again, if I heard in 2005 (knowing Blizz North was developing that D3 version) and they said: "Sorry guys, we've been working on this game since 2002, but as of current events, the development of D3 has been stopped for various reasons, [so no D3 for you! Muhahahaha]". It would've been the saddest day of my life.
When I heard in 2008 (without knowing BN's D3 version) that there was gonna be a D3, best day of my life. When I now look back at that version of D3, it's still the best day of my life, knowing that the version we have now is so much better looking (and probably better sorry BN).
So overall, happy we have the current version, but sad it's taking so long!
Edit:
Official Blizzard Quote:
While you bring up a number of points of speculation, I just want to cut right to it and state that the reason we don’t have a release date yet is because the game isn’t yet where we want it to be in terms of our quality standards. We aren’t holding it back on account of any one piece of the game, or for any other outside factors.
Note that Bashiok didn't specifically said "RMAH in Korea" which is the main factor the OP is addressing for the game's delay. He only say "outside factors". Bashiok's not going to admit the RMAH to be the main factor. He is just "protecting" Blizz from the community's rage (Savages summed it up nicely). And if he did say "it's not being delayed cause of the Korean RMAH" and it turns out to be true, his credit as a Community Manager will be sunked.
"Just google "diablo 3 gold guide" and magical rainbow covered demons will assault your eyes."
I think you are being a little pessimistic for no reason this time. (Disclaimer: Not that Blizzard hasn't given people a reason to be pessimistic over a lot of things recently.)
Battle.net Profile / Diablo Progress Profile
Of course it can be. That's a small change.
Rumor mill is saying that Titan is scrapped. There was an article out there somewhere on the interwebz saying that the majority of the dev team for Titan is no longer working for Blizzard. I really hope Titan is just a developmental name, because that alone sparks no interest from me in wanting to ever see it come to fruition.
Battle.net Profile / Diablo Progress Profile