Here is the thing with the movie. It is entertaining the first hour or so. the last 30 minutes to an hour just plain sucks. I don't want to give any spoilers, so that is as detailed I will go into.
But for the surround sound and bigger than life robots on the big screen I was entertained. I went on a early showing Satuday afternoon for $5 and feel like I got my money's worth. I would suggest seeing it in the theater instead of renting it for that, unless you already have a bad ass theater system in your home
If they do Monetize b.net then I would hope they wouldn't make it change the gameplay. Maybe something like in-game e-mail system, so you can message your friends when they are offline, or able to host tournaments for prizes (key word there is host; anyone should be able to participate).
Either of those has no effect on game play but add features to the online experience that people would enjoy.
The thread title says 'Released today', as if it is up to that fansite to 'release' anything relating to the game, implying that Blizzard released something since it is only them who can 'release' something like this.
Diablo-Source "released" their calculator for the Blizzcon 08 build. In the news post linked it says:
We know based off of screen shots from the last BlizzCast that the skill trees are still a work in progress and have changed since BlizzCon. We think that the community would like to see the progression Diablo 3 has gone through from start to finish and be able to talk about the changes made to Diablo 3 along the way.
Sorry if my thread title threw you off. I probably should not assume that people would actually read the news item I am linking them too......
The 'calculator' only shows a fraction of currently known skills, the icons are largely wrong,
From BlizzCon the site used a camera and took pictures of each spell in game. From these pictures they had their artist duplicate the icons for the calculator. While I don't expect you to have these icons to compair, please know that MrJack (the artist) is a very tallented.
No spells are missing in that Calculator from the BlizzCon 08 build (save for the Barbarian tree witch will be released later next week or the following week)
the progression is wrong, point caps are wrong, and statistics are nowhere near official (since they are not decided upon)
Again if you read the News Item you would know that this is the BlizzCon 08 build, not current. As I said before what fan site information is ever official before the game is released? The moment a fan site has information on a game "pre-release" chances are the developer has already changed much of the values in the game (esp at the point that Diablo is currently in).
So I don't see what's all the fuss about? It is not even a precise replica (nowhere near it) of the rough ideas Blizzard is currently working on, if that's what it was aiming for.
At least now when we do get to see the BlizzCon 09 build with the new tree, Diablo-Source will update the tree with the newest information on the skill trees, and skills. Then we can compair between the two tree types.
As a fan of Diablo and of games in general I take an interest in the progression of Diablo III. I think it will be interesting to actually be able to see how the skill tree growth from start to finish takes place. For me; that is what all the fuss is about.
Just incase you are interested here are some examples of MrJack's artwork.
Haha yeah I don't think anything from a fan site is really official
Then again this is the only one with actual icons that match the ones shown at BlizzCon so it is the closest we have.
Also they note that the information was taken from BlizzCon 08 (almost a year ago). This is really the only information any of us have to go by. Blizzard really hasn't said much on skills or abilities since then.
Interesting. At the Fan Site Q&A (Blizzcon 08) I asked Wilson about the Icon there and if he could talk about it. He said it was a Talisman screen that is on it's way out. He said it was an attacking mechanic that didn't really work the way that they had intended so they took it out, but haddn't removed the icon before Blizzcon.
Since it is still in there even after a UI update, I am thinking that they had a change of heart since then. Just like the skill tree mechanic.
As some other poster's have stated if there really does not exist a "stealth" class in Diablo II why call any class a stealth class? Mele Glass Cannon perhaps?
While I did not play the Assassin as extensively as I did other classes I will say that I never found her (or any other class) to be stealth. I know you put the word in quotes, but from my first glance I thought "well I must have been playing the class wrong all those years ago".
If the word can barley be used to describe something loosely why use it at all?
So funny that everyone, Bill included, is talking about the art direction in this game like it is some static thing.
Did a single one of the hundred geniuses who posted above mention the fact that the lead producer and art director both are off the title as of just a few months ago? Does a single one of the posters above even know the names of these two guys - or their replacements?
Maybe a higher-up or two had similar feelings as Bill and already took action last summer... ya think??
Brian Morrisroe left Blizzard to peruse another job outside of the gaming industry.
Here is Blizzard's Response to the new (at the time) job posting for art director:
"Regarding Brian, he recently resigned to form a startup technology company (outside the game industry), which is why we've posted about the open position,"
They followed up with: "This change won't impact the game... we're really pleased with the look and feel that Brian helped create for Diablo III, and the new person we bring on board will work with the other artists on the team to maintain the art style moving forward."
So yes some of us did know that, and we do know that a new art director does not always (in this case especially) mean that the art style will change. It helps to actually look up what you are talking about before you call out several people above you.
To touch on that art "style" now. I use to feel the same way as Roper. I thought "oh boy look at that WoWish game." Looking at the screen shots I still get that feeling from time to time.
I was lucky enough to get to play Diablo III at Blizzcon though. Playing the game really changed my point of view on the art style. I didn't think it looked cartoony playing it. I was a bit spooked out even (all while playing next to 500 other people).
The art style is different, but I really do think that with the sound and play style the game really maintains that "Diablo feel" we all talk about.
Honeslty the only thing that really took away from the Diablo feel was combos, crit numbers, and the leveling animation. In my honest opinion they really added an arcade game feel to the game. Never the less it was still bad ass (esp the leveling animation).
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But for the surround sound and bigger than life robots on the big screen I was entertained. I went on a early showing Satuday afternoon for $5 and feel like I got my money's worth. I would suggest seeing it in the theater instead of renting it for that, unless you already have a bad ass theater system in your home
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Either of those has no effect on game play but add features to the online experience that people would enjoy.
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We got out Barb tree updated for you today
http://www.diablo-source.com/index.php?cmd=article&sec=news&act=view&id=106
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... reading it's what's for dinner
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Diablo-Source "released" their calculator for the Blizzcon 08 build. In the news post linked it says:
Sorry if my thread title threw you off. I probably should not assume that people would actually read the news item I am linking them too......
From BlizzCon the site used a camera and took pictures of each spell in game. From these pictures they had their artist duplicate the icons for the calculator. While I don't expect you to have these icons to compair, please know that MrJack (the artist) is a very tallented.
No spells are missing in that Calculator from the BlizzCon 08 build (save for the Barbarian tree witch will be released later next week or the following week)
Again if you read the News Item you would know that this is the BlizzCon 08 build, not current. As I said before what fan site information is ever official before the game is released? The moment a fan site has information on a game "pre-release" chances are the developer has already changed much of the values in the game (esp at the point that Diablo is currently in).
At least now when we do get to see the BlizzCon 09 build with the new tree, Diablo-Source will update the tree with the newest information on the skill trees, and skills. Then we can compair between the two tree types.
As a fan of Diablo and of games in general I take an interest in the progression of Diablo III. I think it will be interesting to actually be able to see how the skill tree growth from start to finish takes place. For me; that is what all the fuss is about.
Just incase you are interested here are some examples of MrJack's artwork.
MrJack's Diablo Artwork:
http://www.diablo-source.com/index.php?cmd=media&sec=artwork&member_id=591
MrJack's StarCraft Artwork:
http://www.starcraft-source.com/index.php?cmd=media&sec=artwork&member_id=591
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Sorry if I missed something.
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Then again this is the only one with actual icons that match the ones shown at BlizzCon so it is the closest we have.
Also they note that the information was taken from BlizzCon 08 (almost a year ago). This is really the only information any of us have to go by. Blizzard really hasn't said much on skills or abilities since then.
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They even have skill icons that were taken from the game.
http://www.diablo-source.com/index.php?cmd=article&sec=news&act=view&id=90
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Since it is still in there even after a UI update, I am thinking that they had a change of heart since then. Just like the skill tree mechanic.
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While I did not play the Assassin as extensively as I did other classes I will say that I never found her (or any other class) to be stealth. I know you put the word in quotes, but from my first glance I thought "well I must have been playing the class wrong all those years ago".
If the word can barley be used to describe something loosely why use it at all?
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Follow-up question: How is the Assassin a Stealth Class?
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Brian Morrisroe left Blizzard to peruse another job outside of the gaming industry.
Here is Blizzard's Response to the new (at the time) job posting for art director:
"Regarding Brian, he recently resigned to form a startup technology company (outside the game industry), which is why we've posted about the open position,"
They followed up with: "This change won't impact the game... we're really pleased with the look and feel that Brian helped create for Diablo III, and the new person we bring on board will work with the other artists on the team to maintain the art style moving forward."
So yes some of us did know that, and we do know that a new art director does not always (in this case especially) mean that the art style will change. It helps to actually look up what you are talking about before you call out several people above you.
Source: http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/54087
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I was lucky enough to get to play Diablo III at Blizzcon though. Playing the game really changed my point of view on the art style. I didn't think it looked cartoony playing it. I was a bit spooked out even (all while playing next to 500 other people).
The art style is different, but I really do think that with the sound and play style the game really maintains that "Diablo feel" we all talk about.
Honeslty the only thing that really took away from the Diablo feel was combos, crit numbers, and the leveling animation. In my honest opinion they really added an arcade game feel to the game. Never the less it was still bad ass (esp the leveling animation).