DiabloFans

Ok, so not really. But our own Dauroth, a fan in the Battle.net forums, pointed out the man singing "Hotel California" is none other than Ed Trotta, the actor who voiced Tyrael.


I'm now just counting the days until somebody does a video mash-up where we actually see Tyrael performing the song. Make it happen people!

Thought you guys would like to see some more of the sights that we saw while attending Blizzcon this year, so I've just put up a bunch o' photos from the event. You can click on any of the following pics to view a larger version:


There are still more photos to see, so be sure to check out the full online gallery located here:
http://www.diablofans.com/forums/album.php?albumid=47

Be sure to let us know what you think of the pics! Hope you enjoyed them!

Because it's filled with rainbows!!! I'm sure that's what a few of you were thinking in the back of your heads, but that's just not the case. Wired recently conducted a nice interview with Diablo 3 Lead Designer Jay Wilson about violence and gore in Diablo 3. Take a look:It's gotta be nice to work at a place where you can have conversations with your co-workers like, "You want to behead the guy? Go ahead, yes." Pretty interesting read eh? I definitely like that they're going to be emphasizing certain events to make them more exciting by toning down the frequency that they occur. What do you guys think about it?

Also, letting your daughter play Diablo 3 = Dad of the year.

A user on the Battle.net forums recently asked Bashiok why Blizzard introduced the Monk class when they had said no additional old character classes would be returning as playable in Diablo 3. He was, of course, speaking of Diablo Hellfire when he brought this up and here's what Bashiok had to say in response:

Having played the Monk class quite extensively at BlizzCon, I can definitely assure you all that he's something totally new. It's actually painful not being able to play the game again right now. You have no idea how badly I want to destroy some more enemies with skills such as "The Way of 100 Fists". That character is simply too much fun.

I just heard word that a new character class for Diablo 3 has apparently been unveiled: The Monk! Supposedly, it's replacing the Paladin. Still waiting for confirmation from Blizzard on all of this of course. JUST CONFIRMED IT'S OFFICIAL!

I'm still getting set up in the press room here guys, but thought you'd want to know! You heard it here on Diablofans first!

Update: The Monk is playable at BlizzCon!!!! It wasn't at first, but after the announcement, they made the character playable on all the computers in the convention center.

Update #2: The Cinematic Trailer and the Gameplay Trailer for The Monk are up on Youtube. Scroll down and you can check 'em out!


The screenshot came from a Korean-language version of the Diablo 3 site.

Here's the actual Cinematic Trailer for the Monk:


And here's the Gameplay Footage of the Monk:


More news to come soon!

Hey guys,

I just arrived back at my hotel from Blizzard's 2009 Fansite Summit and thought I'd give you a recap of what went down today (well, what I'm allowed to divulge at least heheh). Hope you're comfortable, cuz this is gonna be a fairly lengthy post.

At 9:30am, myself and all of the other fan site representatives met up in the Anaheim Marriott lobby as we waited to hop on the bus which would take us to Blizzard's headquarters. Bashiok handed out our passes and we were soon on our way.

Once we arrived, we all stood outside for a bit to admire the amazing Warcraft statue created for Blizzard by the Weta Workshop. No matter how many times you see it, you just don't get tired of looking at that thing. (Don't worry, I took plenty of photos which I'll be sharing later on).

Next, we were brought inside for another look at Blizzard's many prestigious awards in their museum sections along with some concept art of their past games. Same stuff we saw last year basically, but still nice to see again. Then we headed into the small theater area for a brief orientation about what we'd be doing today. Also got to see the new Fan Site program logos which they worked up, so it's good to see Blizzard is bringing that whole thing back into focus. Looking forward to proudly displaying the Official Diablo Fan Site logo here on Diablofans in the near future!

Once that was done, Bashiok loaded up the latest Diablo 3 demo (apparently the same build from Gamescon that we've been discussing over the last few days) and we were treated to seeing the new desert areas on the large screen. It really does look fantastic and I absolutely love the particle effects going on as the window blows sand everywhere you travel. No new character classes were shown yet (doh!) so he loaded up the Wizard and started playing a quest where you had to follow the road to Alcarnus. Saw some Sand Wasps get decimated pretty quickly along with a big Lacuni Warrior with translucent blades. There were also some beast carcasses lying around on the ground which could be overturned to reveal some gold and/or potions.

It was nice seeing how effective the Wizard's mirror image spell really worked on distracting the enemies. They would all attack his mirror image, while the real wizard just stood back and picked them off with ease. There's no official answer about whether the mirror image itself could ever do damage to enemies, but it might be possible with certain augmentations. I guess time will tell on that one. He then went on a "Blood money" side quest and was given a wanted poster for somebody who needed to be captured, but he was really just trying to find the entrance to a dungeon, which apparently spawn in random places each time you play.

We saw more of the inventory, which has been improved. Items take up 1 or 2 slots in the inventory and can now be equipped by simply right-clicking on them. They've really improved that system dramatically and I'm looking forward to testing it out when I'm not busy covering the panels.

Anyway, he restored a few desecrated shrines in the desert, and doing so apparently gives you a temporary power-up against your enemies. Saw some more of the Fallen attacking him as well around this time, but then we saw what was easily my favorite enemy. The Dune Dervish. This large creatures flails around wildly at random intervals, and whenever it's actually spinning, anything you shoot at it will be deflected right back towards you.

Another amusing thing was a frightened, crying girl who, when he walked over to her aid, was apparently just luring him into a trap, because a bunch of enemies attacked him. With no sign of the dungeon entrance, he decided to just restart the game and play as a different character class - this time, it was the female Witch Doctor.

Her Zombie Dogs were tearing things up from the get go, and everybody enjoyed the Corpse Spider spell in which a zombie comes out of the ground and vomits up spiders. He then entered the Howling Plateau ares of the desert and soon found The Ruins dungeon entrance. This is where he stopped and told us we'd get to see that dungeon and more for ourselves when we play the demo at BlizzCon.

However, he did show us how the Witch Doctors skill trees were broken up into three category sets basically: Zombie, Spirit and Voodoo. We also heard about some of the other spells for the Witch Doctor such as Mass Confusion, Fetish Army (which many of you will recall from Act 3 in Diablo 2), Gargantuan (which is apparently like a larger version of the Zombie Dog), Parasite (which infects your enemies so they'll fight for you), and some other ones we didn't hear much about such as Grasp of the Dead, Spirit Barrage, Firebomb, Sacrifice, and Horrify.

With the Diablo demo concluded, we were then taken on the franchise tour. Each fansite representative went on a separate tour based on what game their site covered. Naturally, I went on the Diablo one, and we started off with getting to check out the sound booths. Joseph Lawrence (sp), who is the lead on game sounds for Diablo, gave us a quick tour of the foley and voice-over booths, and then brought us into their impressive new mix room. Blizzard can now do all of their mixes in-house instead of doing them in some Hollywood sound stages, so that's definitely nice for 'em. Joseph played the old Diablo 3 cinematic trailer for us on those thundering speakers of his, and wow... it was a hell of a lot nicer sounding than on my laptop speakers. I won't name any names, but I'm pretty sure a few fan site reps soiled themselves hearing that trailer the way it was meant to be heard.

Next we were taken into the Diablo 3 development area and I was amused that pretty much every door still had "Project Hydra" written on it instead of Diablo 3. We saw a few demo pods hooked up where they apparently test the latest elements of the game. Also saw some of their break areas which included some nice arcade cabinets where apparently some heated Street Fighter games take place. Word is that their Lead Animator (Bowie) is currently the king of Street Fighter there. I also couldn't help but nod in approval at the Big Trouble In Little China poster they had on the wall in that room. Blizzard, you guys truly are kindred spirits.

We then walked past the programming and concept art areas and saw a large Diablo statue in the hallway that was lit up. Really cool looking, but obviously, we weren't allow to take any photos in there so you'll just have to take my word for it.

Next we went to their Library, which apparently was still under construction last year so that's why we didn't get to see it then. The library is filled with everything a game developer could want - classic games from yesteryear (both PC and console), coding books, art & design reference books, graphic novels... the works. All of it can be checked out by employees just like you would do with a regular public library card. I loved that they had many classics in there such as Populous and a variety of Sierra's point-n-click adventure games including "Space Quest" and "Police Quest". Bashiok was trying to find a copy of Leisure Suit Larry, but I guess that one is always checked out. Hmm... I wonder why.

Another nice feature of the library is how it's made to look old. The doors at the entrance have old iron handles on them, the bookcases are made to look a bit aged, and there are even flickering faux-lanterns inside. It's just nice to see how much they care about aesthetics, even outside of their games. Really creates a nice welcoming atmosphere for anybody who walks in.

Now that the main part of our tour was done, it was time for lunch with the developers. The three people who were there (in addition to Bashiok) were Dave Adams (Lead Level Designer), Nate Bowden (Environment Artist), and Chris Haga (FX Artist). The way the table was divided up, it was pretty much impossible to hear everything they were all saying, especially since only 1 rep from each site was invited, but I was able to speak with Dave and Nate pretty extensively. They talked with us about their typical days at work, which are apparently anything but typical since they're always working on something different. Some days they'll show team dailies to the other developers so everyone knows who's working on what, other times they're in meetings, and then of course a lot of time is spent on concepting and modeling.

They've also apparently gone on some team building adventures including a sea voyage which they refered to as "Team Diablue". They equated it with the Life Aquatic film since they were all given hats similar to the ones the characters wore. Both Dave and Nate talked about how nice it is working at Blizzard compared to other companies they've worked with because of how the company has a strong-sensitivity to the life-work balance of their employees. If somebody is seen working too late, they're literally told to go home because Blizzard feels that will just harm their productivity the following day... not to mention, they want their employees to have plenty of time to spend with friends and family outside of work.

That doesn't mean employees don't put in their hours, especially during crunch time. But even then, members from other game teams will apparently come and lend a hand to help ease things for the team in crunch mode. You can just tell everybody there is genuinely happy with how they're being treated and that there's a lot of camaraderie amongst the employees.

Nate and Dave also discussed their backgrounds a bit. Nate has a strong background in architecture which he says really helps him with his work as an environment artist. He also worked at Electronic Arts, so I can't say I'm surprised that he's enjoying working at Blizzard based on the horror stories I've heard about working at that place in the past heheh. You'll hear more from Nate in the coming days since he'll be in the Diablo Art Panel.

Dave actually has a degree in film which he also said has helped him as a level designer. He's worked at a variety of game companies and worked on titles including The Neverhood and Skull Monkeys (hooray for Claymation games!!) and later, Metal Arms. When he came to Blizzard, he started working on Starcraft Ghost, which he said they'll still play multiplayer modes of the demo version every now and then. I suggested they include the demo as a bonus for anybody who purchases all the Starcraft 2 games. I wouldn't hold my breath on that one, but it's nice to think about. Hopefully that game won't remain a shelved idea forever as I'm sure many people would at least like to try it. Really makes me wish I could've attended the first BlizzCon... I hear the multiplayer games were a blast. You'll hear more from Dave at the Design Q&A panel in the coming days. He even joked about possibly puking during his panel and how that would be "Diabloish". I then commented that it sounded exactly like something the Witch Doctor would do. In fact, I'm putting this out there right now - I want to see a "Putrid Projectile Puke"(tm) spell for the Witch Doctor in Diablo 3!

From what I gathered, most of the employees seem to like the Witch Doctor character in Diablo 3 the best simply because of all the crazy spells. I guess it appeals to the designers and developers, but they did talk about liking the Wizard as well. Couldn't get them to speak at all about the unknown character classes. Shocking, I know.

Our day at Blizzard's headquarters ended around 3pm back in the small theater, where we watched some Starcraft 2 Beta gameplay between the Protoss and Terrans, but I can't really comment on that as it may be a part of a video that Blizzard will release in the near future. It definitely made me want to play the demo some more at BlizzCon over the next few days... but the same could be said about any new game footage we see, right? Right.

Again, they wanted to remind all of us that they will be updating on Twitter extensively during BlizzCon, so be sure to check that out. And, of course, during the Diablo panels, be sure to stop by here on Diablofans.com because I'll be hosting Live Chats right on the homepage where you can interact with us as the news of each day unfolds, just like last year! Click here to see our Live Chat schedule.

Ok, my fingers are now tired from typing up this virtual novel of a post, and my stomach is growling because I haven't fed it enough. Hope you guys enjoyed this extensive recap of the 2009 Fansite Summit as I did my best to cover all of it (what I was allowed to talk about, at least). I really enjoyed meeting with some of the other fansite members and, of course, more of the Blizzard team. Everybody here is ridiculously nice and I can't wait for more o' BlizzCon in the coming days!

Talk to you guys tomorrow!

-Mockery

In preparation for our extensive coverage of BlizzCon 2009, I'm happy to announce that we'll be launching our Diablofans site redesign tomorrow! This change will be the first step in what will lead to many new features on our site, so it's definitely exciting to see it finally happening. While you wait for the redesign to launch, I have a screenshot of the redesign that you guys can check out (be sure to click on it to see the full-length version):


Keep in mind, this is just a sample screenshot sample and obviously not exactly how the final design will look once it's all filled in with content and background graphics. Please let us know what you think of the new layout as it's going to be a work in progress that we'll be adding onto in the coming weeks. And just so you know, that box above the "Latest News" area is where we'll be displaying new media as it comes in. Should be really nice. So yeah, make sure you post some feedback about it to help us continue to improve things here on Diablofans!

Hope you guys are all excited about this and BlizzCon. Just so you know, we WILL be holding live chats once again this year for ALL of the Diablo-related panels at BlizzCon. It was a huge success last year and everybody had fun getting the live up-to-the-minute updates, so we had to do it again. Make sure you're here on Diablofans at the appropriate times so you can join in the chatroom discussion with us!


And for those of you who missed it, be sure to check out Seth's post about the Gamescon Diablo 3 coverage for what is likely a taste of things to come at BlizzCon 2009!

With BlizzCon 2009 quickly approaching, everybody's getting excited to see what goes down at the big event this week. While we wait for all the news to unfold, here's a look at the official floor plan for this year's BlizzCon:


[click here to enlarge]

As you can see, it's larger than ever before, so it should be a blast for all in attendance. I'm sure I'm not alone when I say I still wonder if Blizzard will use a portion of Hall D to show us their unannounced game. A lot of people were pondering that back when it was first announced that they'd have an extra hall. The last time they added on an additional hall, they shared the Diablo 3 demo with us. So just because it's not on the map, I'm not entirely convinced they don't have more up their sleeves in store for us with the front area of Hall D. What do you guys think?

In other Diablo 3 news, for those of you planning on entering the Diablo 3 Unique Item Contest, Bashiok recently posted a close-up shot of the prize:



As they stated on the Diablo Twitter feed, Bashiok's hand is not included as part of the prize. Damn!

(Thanks pwnsickle)

Hey guys, I just wanted to help plug a new site that was just added into the Curse network today. Introducing FFXIVCore.com:

"In our quest to provide you the best communities for your favorite online games we've positioned FFXIVCore.com into our network! This new addition to our network renews our promise to cover the top MMORPGs and provide value-added news and services wherever we can! FFXICore already has some of the best coverage, and most active forums, for this game on the internet, and we plan to add more unique features to put this website at the top of Final Fantasy communities."

If you want to learn more about it, check out the official press release. Let's give a warm welcome to 'em as it's always good to have some new neighbors in the network!

In Diablo-related news, a fan of the game recently started a "Diablo Haikus" thread on the Battle.net forums and Bashiok already pitched in one of his own:

"Only four more days
BlizzCon doesn't wait for me
Fetal position"

I'd like to see each of you write a Diablo-related haiku too and post it in this thread. Let's see whatcha got!

Well they certainly didn't waste any time getting those promised contests up and running, eh? Blizzard has just announced three contests to give a nice jump start to their new Twitter feeds (Diablo, Starcraft and Warcraft). Speaking of which, the feeds for each game are now up and running complete with some nice background artwork on each page, so be sure to check them out.

Here are the quick summaries of each contest straight from the source:

1. @Warcraft -- Let out your #BattleCry to show your allegiance to Horde or Alliance in preparation for BlizzCon! Win Horde and Alliance prize packages while showing off your pictures during the ongoing battle across Twitter! (click here for official rules and details)
2. @StarCraft -- Are you the biggest #SC2fan? If you are, you will have a chance at 500 StarCraft II beta keys we?re giving away in this challenge. (click here for official rules and details)
3. @Diablo -- Have you always wanted to have an item in a game that you've named? Enter the #d3unique contest with your best item name and you could win the grand prize of seeing your item wielded by Diablo III players worldwide. (click here for official rules and details)

So who here is going to be entering the Diablo contest? That'd be pretty damned cool to have an item you named in a game that will be played by millions. Better yet, who here plans on entering all three contests?

(thanks lordbone)

We just received word from Bashiok that Blizzard is going to be officially launching some new Twitter feeds for their three primary game properties, Diablo, Starcraft and Warcraft. Here's what he had to say:

"In the next few days we will be officially launching the @Warcraft http://twitter.com/@warcraft;, @StarCraft http://twitter.com/@starcraft;, and @Diablo http://twitter.com/@diablo; Twitter feeds where we plan to share news, run contests and events, and much more. We'll be starting things off with a bang by holding contests leading up to and through BlizzCon as well as will be twittering all through the show.

We're looking forward to the opportunities that will come with these new Twitter accounts and the increased interaction between Blizzard Entertainment and the community."

So for all you tweetoholics out there, now you have even more feeds to watch, especially since they'll be launching some contests. Keep an eye out for 'em!

Also, if this discussion thread doesn't generate at least one image and/or animation of Diablo killing the Twitter bird, we have failed as a fan community. Make it happen people. Make it happen.

I'm sure you all remember the World of Warcraft TV ad featuring Ozzy Osbourne, right? Well, Blizzard just made a surprise announcement today that the Prince of Darkness, Ozzy himself, will be performing live at BlizzCon 2009!

"Ozzy Osbourne, the only mortal to openly challenge the Lich King?s claim to the title "Prince of Darkness" and survive, will take the stage live at Anaheim Convention Center to rock the closing ceremonies of BlizzCon 2009.

Although tickets to the convention sold out in minutes, you can still join in with the 'BlizzCon Virtual Ticket' live Internet stream or via DIRECTV Pay Per View. The Virtual Ticket will feature 18 hours of BlizzCon coverage, including Ozzy?s live performance, as well as the BlizzCon 2009 exclusive in-game pet: Grunty the Murloc Marine.

Check out the official press release to learn more."

That's definitely one hell of a way to end BlizzCon in memorable fashion. All abooaaaard the Crazy Train!

We recently posted about the Starcraft II release date delay, and there was some concern that it could potentially cause the release of other future Blizzard titles (including Diablo 3) to be delayed as well. Fortunately, that's just not the case as Blizzard president Mike Morhaime had the following to say during Activision's quarterly earnings call:

"I'd just like to reiterate that we haven't announced any release dates on any future titles, and I'll also reiterate that the move of StarCraft into next year does not impact the schedule," he said after being asked whether or not we'll see two Blizzard games next year twice by two separate analysts.

"So, it would be correct to conclude that you could expect two releases of Blizzard next year, but I would not make any conclusion on what those titles are going to be." -(source: VG247)

So there you have it... no need to worry about the Starcraft delay affecting Blizzard's release schedule. All this news really does is make us wonder what other game they're going to release in 2010. Will it be another World of Warcraft expansion, or could it finally be Diablo 3?

(thanks cwain)

Some bad news for Starcraft fans today. Blizzard just announced that the game, which was due out this October, is now being pushed back to a 2010 release. From what it sounds like, it's mainly because the new version of Battle.net isn't quite ready to go yet and since it's a huge part of the game, they're having to push back the date until (hopefully) no later than the first quarter of 2010.

"It's official. You won't be playing Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty this year, as Blizzard has moved the release date of the real-time strategy game to the "first half of 2010." No, they never dated it; but they have now.

Activision Blizzard's reason for the delay of Starcraft II is reportedly tied to the relaunch of its upgraded Battle.net service, which handles multiplayer for all things Blizzard. In a statement to the Blizzard community, the developer writes "Over the past couple of weeks, it has become clear that it will take longer than expected to prepare the new Battle.net for the launch of the game."

Blizzard calls the new Battle.net an "integral part of the Starcraft II experience and will be an essential part of all of our games moving forward." Activision CEO Bobby Kotick said during an investor call today that the new iteration of Battle.net will likely be ready "early next year.""

(source: Kotaku)

We're all obviously used to long delays with Blizzard's new games, but the extended waits never seem to get any easier. One can only speculate as to whether this delay will affect the release of Diablo 3. Do you think this will push the release of that game forward or will it stay on track?

A user on battle.net forums recently commented that the Witch Doctor's "Plague of Toads" skill was "lame". This baffles me, because out of all the skills that I played around with at BlizzCon last year, the toads were easily my favorite and seemed perfect for the character. Bashiok also commented in on the subject:

"If you're basing the entirety of your purchasing decision on if Plague of Toads remains in the game or not, then sure, otherwise that's a giant leap of logic.

I'm saying if you don't think it's cool enough there are tons of other skills to spend points on. I happen to personally think it's a cool ability. It works really well, the sounds and visual of a plague of toads hopping around and exploding in poisonous goo is entertaining to me. It fits the style and feel of the witch doctor class, and it's a fun and useful skill. I like it.

If you don't think it's a good ability, you don't have to use it. The great thing about Diablo III is there are lots of options for building a character. If you don't like an ability for whatever reason, it doesn't work with the build you're going for, it seems weak, or you just don't like the way it looks, don't get it. There are plenty of skills to spend your points in. The witch doctor trees have only been shown in a very limited amount, so I know that's kind of hard to put into focus, but he has tons of awesome (AWESOME) skills. Pick the ones that appeal to you. Customize your character as you see fit.

Saying it's not cool enough is completely subjective, and based on limited knowledge. So I disagree with you, I think it is awesome, and it should be a skill. There's no consensus here. So where does that leave us?

We could argue back and forth how appealing something is to each individual person. Or! We could agree that not every skill will appeal to every player, and through diversity and choice we welcome a wide range of players to choose how they wish to play."

He then went on and responded to the following user comment:

"I'm happy that you often mention sounds with skills, though. That is a very, very important aspect of any skill in any game. I hope to hear more about that soon. (pardon the pun).
I know I probably won't since game companies tend to gloss over sound creation and highlighting those features but it is very important, as was mentioned in some thread about the sound the health globes make. Distinctive and unmistakable is key."

"I would love! to have a dedicated feature just to the sound engineering that goes into the game. It's truly amazing how much of an abilities power and feeling comes from the audio.

Jay had an anecdote at ... the last BlizzCon I think, where he talked about seismic slam. It was one of if not the first barbarian abilities created, actually first in the game entirely, and they were working on it and working on it, and just never really happy with it, and then one day the sound came back for it and they got it all working in game, and finally it all came together. It became this stunningly powerful feeling ability. I think that speaks volumes (nyuk nyuk) about how important sound is to the feeling of a game.

That same lesson is true through the development of the game. A new skills goes in and it seems awesome, it looks cool, but until you get the sound attached it just seems incomplete.

Just because a lot of the sounds are early renditions though, as amazing as they are, we'd need to make sure the audio engineers are far enough along where they'd want to showcase them. They're perfectionists. So hopefully a sound feature is something we can do, but if I had to guess it won't be for a while yet."

So what do you guys think about the Witch Doctor's skills from what we've seen so far? I for one love 'em. And yes, sounds are vital and it's unfortunate that the foley artists often don't get the same credit that the graphic artists do.