DiabloFans

It's been a pretty rough month so far: news is dwindling, Bashiok is more tight-lipped than ever, and we're still waiting on the next patch for Diablo II. Yet, our forum still soldiers on, scraping every bit of discussion we can out of the tidbits of news we're given. Not everyone wishes to crawl through the forums to see everything that is going on, however.

So now, to serve as a torch for those people, and those who just want to see the best of the best, we have...


Community Spotlight, Chapter I!

Thats right, community spotlight. Where the chosen of the forums come to showcase their discussions, their contributions, and their forum-spirit.

Anyways, flashy introduction aside, let's get down to business.

The Forums

It's been a relatively quiet month on the forums thus far, yet we've still had some amazing discussions flowing from our users.

First off is waelsj's Pirate idea. The thread began with little thought or proof (sorry waelsj), but users really began to discuss it in depth, and it seemed more and more at-home in the world of Sanctuary. Fifteen pages of discussion later, the thread was closed. Definitely an interesting read for anyone wanting to learn about what we could be getting for our fifth class.

Next on the list, is Entropy's Starcraft II find. It consisted of a screenshot, and sparked much debate over what it would be. Users decided that it was in fact, a Zerg unit. But what unit, is another question. At the moment, the general consensus is that it's either an Ultralisk, or a Queen. Check it out and share your thoughts, or if Starcraft isn't your thing, avoid it like the plague. Your choice.

Finally, we've got DarkMagicc's "New name instead of Noobs" thread. Discussion has flowed for seventeen pages so far about what word could replace the tried and true insult "Noob". To save you from searching out each one mentioned, I'll mention some of the best: Dewb, Bish, Derp, Durry, Flayers, Bhok and Kunk. If none of those suit your tastes, get in there and share your ideas, maybe your insult could replace Noob some day.

Fan Creations

It seems creativity is slowing down 'round here, but we've still got some great submissions being posted, as well as some great Roleplays happening at the moment.

For art, we've got Holyknight3000's wallpapers. This month, he's made a wallpaper of the Stinging Sands, a location within the Borderlands (the area in Diablo III, not the game). Once more, he's worked his magic to create another outstanding wallpaper for users to put on their desktops, check it out if you're in need of a new one.

For fan fiction, there is a story posted up by Number1SuperGuy, called Adflict, Lord of Torment. It was posted long before November began, but seeing as this is our first community spotlight article, I thought I'd include it. For anyone wanting a quick and interesting read, give it a go.

This brings us to the Roleplaying forum, which, at the moment, is being dominated by The Dark Abyss, created by Junction3, and scyberdragon. It's a roleplay set in outer space, following the story of the Revenants, a group of bounty hunters trying to get rich quick. Thus far, they've gathered their group together, hunted down a gang leader, got caught in a swarm of zombies, murdered a giant T-Rex, and have drank their earnings away on a paradise planet. The RP is still running, and the creators may still have room for more users, so if you're in a creative mood, get in there. Or, if it doesn't float your boat, try your hand at running an RP yourself.

The Wiki

Oh, the wiki. A source of knowledge many of us have yet to contribute to. Nevertheless, the staff and a select few users have been filling it with quality articles covering almost every facet of the Diablo universe.

Recently, the staff behind it has finished writing out the skill pages for Diablo II within 5 weeks. When they began, they needed to reformat 210 pages of skills, 180 of which did not even exist. It was obviously a massive task, made even larger by the fact that it was finished mainly by five people. Of these five contributors, three were Wiki staff (zhuge, Lt. Venom, and Phrozendragon), the other two were normal users.

Blood-doll helped with the Assassin skill pages, and finished the majority of them, all the while keeping the quality of the pages intact. Sebastian helped with the Necromancer pages, and provided the basis for the Wiki staff to work with. A thanks to both of these users, pass them some rep if you can!

Name Changes

This month in particular, we've had two name changes. The first, was Elyk, now known as Azriel. Next came Turmobil, who is now known as Entropy. I briefly changed my name to Fuzojix, then changed back to Zhar (Sorry Sixen).

Thus ends our first community spotlight article, hopefully it was informative enough for you. If you have any suggestions, feel free to voice them, we still need to refine this to make it better for the users.

After all, the users is what this article is all about.

The twitter tracker strikes again, this time with an interesting snippet about the environments to come.


Thus far, we've been shown deserts ( The Borderlands), dreary forests and hills ( New Tristram), an urban type area ( Caldeum), and various dungeons ( Tristram Cathedral). All of which have had a significant amount of concept art tied with them, along with screenshots for a select few.

But unless the streets of Caldeum are without any type of waste-management, where do tar pits fit into the mix?

The first environment that jumps to mind is of course, Hell. Now, we've mainly gotten bubbling lava for the other versions of it in both Diablo I & II, but I can easily imagine a tar pit, complete with unfortunate human souls trapped forever within its grasp, making a cameo in the Diablo III version of Hell.

Next up, is the Borderlands. This environment screams desolation through a megaphone. No doubt a pit of tar would go well with the tone set by the endless deserts, ruins, and dying vegetation. Also to take into consideration, is how these two elements have gone together in previous Blizzard games. Take Starcraft: Brood War, for example. The levels that took place on Korhal had their water replaced with tar, as well as the grass replaced with sand, ruins, and dying vegetation. It's a bit of a stretch, but connections can be made between the two.

Of course, there are many other possibilities aside from the two mentioned, but I'll leave the rest of the speculation up to you.

"OH MY GOD, THAT THING JUST BIT OFF THE BARBARIANS HEAD!!" is basically all I remember thinking from the first gameplay trailer. That several second snippet of badassery (Thanks to the Siegebreaker Assault Beast) had me pumped already. That, combined with how he smashed through a wall to trample all four heroes, made me anticipate fighting that boss once Diablo III rolled around.

But I never really took the time to consider: if mini-bosses such as the Siegebreaker Assault Beast had such amazing scripts and finishing moves, what would other bosses have? Well, Blizzard has somewhat answered the question, making good use of their twitter page once more.


Now, assuming the first act was where the Siegebreaker appeared, and also taking the various precedents set by Diablo II, we can pretty safely assume that the act two boss encounter will blow our faces off.

Why, you may ask? Well, I'll tell you...

First off, back in Diablo II, it seemed bosses got more and more epic as the game progressed. First, we started off fighting the lesser evils (Andariel and Duriel), then moved onto the primes, being Mephisto, Diablo, and finally Baal.

Second, it seems that mini-bosses (The Siegebreaker Assault Beast, and Thousand Pounder) have some fairly intense scripting effects, and combat behavior. As I've already pointed out, the Siegebreaker ripped the head off one of the heroes, which definitely qualifies as awesome in my books. Lets not forget the way the Thousand Pounder was summoned, which blew up every one of the cultists in the process. Basically, if mini-bosses have top-notch effects, then the actual end of act bosses will be that much more impressive.

Third, simply because it's a boss. Bosses will really give Blizzard a chance to showcase what is capable with their new engine, and their experience with the past two games. Once more, if the two bosses from the first gameplay trailer are anything to base our judgments on, then Blizzard will really pull out all the stops to make sure each boss encounter is unique, and memorable.

Anywho, what does everyone think we'll be getting for scripts and the like this time around? Maybe will the boss burst through the floor, and swallow us? Or will it materialize out of thin air, and proceed to rip our arms off?

The possibilities are pretty much endless.

Now, I've got an odd habit of using game manuals as reading material on the john, and as I was rifling through the Diablo I manual several weeks back, I found an interview that I previously hadn't read.

Of course, I read through it, and was surprised at the amount of insight into the development and history of Diablo that was contained within. One section in particular however, completely dwarfed all others in the sheer amount of questions it raised about what our beloved games could have become.



In case nobody knows what they mean by old Unix games, they basically mean dungeon-romps (much like the Diablo series), in which you would move around a character, often represented by a letter, to kill monsters. All of which was often turn based.


For all of you out there who blame Blizzard for all of Diablo III's shortcomings, and wish that Blizzard North was running the show, know this: If Blizzard North had their way with Diablo I, we would have been playing a turn based game, possibly with Diablo II as well.



It's really quite interesting to consider what would have been, if that real-time-test had never occured...

I don't want to think of how PvP would have turned out. No doubt it would still function similarly, but it would have lost that fast-paced, on your toes feeling granted by the real-time aspect. It would also eliminate all but the most capable PKers; can you imagine trying to jump lower level characters, when they have time to wait for you to move 4 more squares before you could land a hit on them?

Along the lines of PvP, is the combat system as a whole. What use would faster attack be with a system such as this? Would it simply add another chance to attack on your turn? What about potions? Would they be free-actions, or would drinking a potion end your turn before being able to move or fight?

It also really brings into question how the development of further games would have been effected with a turn-based system. Perhaps it would have influenced Diablo II to become more of an RTS-styled game, than the fast paced mayhem we all know and love.

Though, the most important question I had on my mind...
Would we even be playing it?

Sources: Straight from the Diablo I manual, pgs. 243-244.

Just saw this on the Blizzard website, thought I should let ya'll know.

http://www.blizzard.com/us/opt-in/

There are only 200 spots available for this benefit dinner. Blizzard Entertainment will be holding a drawing for a chance to purchase up to two tickets for this exciting event. You can enter the drawing by selecting to "opt-in" through your Battle.net account. Blizzard Entertainment executives, key game developers, artists, and community team members will be attending the dinner and meet with attendees. In addition, Blizzard Entertainment has donated 200 BlizzCon tickets to the museum, so every attendee to the dinner will receive a full BlizzCon ticket (complete with goody bag). Each attendee will also get a signed art print by one of Blizzard Entertainment's top artist.

To get into this benefit dinner, you need to opt-in with your battlenet account.
A drawing will then be held, and people will be selected.
These people will then be given a chance to purchase up to 2 tickets, at $500 a pop.
It will continue on, until all tickets are gone.

If you do choose to purchase a ticket, the money is donated to the art museum, and you get to take part in the benefits dinner, get an art print by the Blizzard artists, get to look at the WoW art exhibit, and get your Blizzcon tickets.
So basically, you're getting dinner, a tour, a signed art print, and a blizzcon ticket for $500.

I strongly suggest reading the FAQ section found on the link, as it will clear up any confusion you may have.

So, if anyone is still desparate to get a ticket, now is your chance.

Anywho, any thoughts ? Anybody thinking of donating or entering the opt-in ?