DiabloFans

1. Oh right, they were going to bring all of them back (except the Barbarian) as some sort of bosses, and of course, other classes from D1 and D2 can come back and act as NPC's and such.

2. Oh? I thought they were saying something about giving all weapons to all classes would mean extra animation, aka more work, and they wanted to devote the time to something else. However, still very interesting.

3. I agree, but she looks too drastically different than the Wizard model, and the lotus mark stands out. Plus she looks entirely like a Taoist, wherein as the Wizard is supposed to look young and untamed. Those are opposing attributes.

4. Of course they aren't going to say that. Western fantasy is European based, aka White people. Adding too many Asians would make it unfitting and probably get some idiots to complain. Bash did say it is based heavily on the Eastern concept of Monks, but they added some Western flavor so it fits in Sanctuary. I still suspect it's because of the race thing.

5. Read 3. The mark on the forehead doesn't make it look Asian, it's actually more Indian. But because the male Monk has it, it makes sense the female would have it. Concept arts can be drastically different, because the artist is trying to conceptually picture something. However, they usually don't show old concept arts when they already picked a path they were going. This is a well-polished art, thus it would make no sense to publish something a Wizard does not look like, unless they are promoting character customization in terms of different faces, skin color, etc., which clearly, Diablo 3 does not have.

I don't see how this is logically the Wizard's. It looks like everything the Wizard is not. It's like promoting a Necromancer class giving it a holy look. It makes no sense.

Shaolin monks took part in alot of battles and were drafted into the military in various times in Chinese history.
they were like the special forces of today

... so because they took part in some battle they are special forces now? You need to read up what Shaolin Monastery is like. I think I know how my culture works. Martial arts are used for self-defense, they teach you this in any decent martial arts school on the very first day. Shaolin Monastery were for Buddhist research and studies. The martial arts factor was to prevent bandits and such from attacking the monastery, and the whole concept of meditation in Buddhism is to perfect one's body, and thus one's soul, the same way martial arts do. The Monks fight, yes, and several occasions, they fought because of either outside invaders that weren't Han Chinese, or certain things like because their monastery was being attacked or invaded.

If you read the Wiki article in the post you linked me, it says clearly their monastery was being MARCHED UPON. Don't link stuff for proofs if you didn't even read it yourself.

that item is NOT specific to Taoism, Chinese people use a similar type of crown in various times in history to keep their hair in a specific way.

Yes, except Taoists used a special kind, and that looks just like it. People wear different ones based on social ranks, sex, and other things.

the mark on a D3 monk is 2 vertical dots, that looks more like a lotus mark which is like yo said more Taoist than Buddhist.

Lotus is actually a Buddhist concept. The character looks Taoist because the head ornament along with the cloth style. Plus, Taoists are more commonly known with a sword, wherein as the Shaolin Monk typically uses a staff because it's not a deadly weapon. Of course, most martial arts practitioners back then knew all 18 weapons in order to be a complete warrior.

Notice the fact that they said that the female monk is still in conception art stage. Notice that this banner was revealed after the wizard class was.

They also released pics for Druids and other concept classes that haven't existed yet. Nothing stops that from being a concept. I don't recall reading anywhere where the Wizard uses a sword, so correct me if I am wrong. So far their weapons seem to be staff, orb, and possibly wand if they still exist in the game.
The magical effect is easily explainable... magical weapons. Elemental enchantments on magical weapons is about the most common thing out there.
Also, explain the mark on the forehead and the DRASTIC difference between the actual Wizard model and the concept art.
The Monk does look White, but it's still mostly based on the Shaolin Monk concept. I bet the first Monk drawings were Asian, but they can't put too many Asians in the game because idiots always complain when White people aren't a majority in a western fantasy game because it wouldn't make sense.

http://www.blizzard.com/diablo3/_images/artwork/ss71-hires.jpg

Notice the difference. The Wizard doesn't have the ornament on the head, which that specific ornament is usually specified to a Taoist. The Wizard doesn't use swords either.

Do you also notice the mark on the forehead? Male Monk has that too.

Heeeh..
I wonder how the female Monk looks like

Can't believe no one has found this yet...

http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2009/features/blizzcon-2009-photo-gallery/blizzcon_790screen151.jpg

Note that the female Monk looks like a Taoist, wherein as the male Monk looks like a Shaolin Monk. The look is really where the similarity ends, as Shaolin Monks usually don't fight unless provoked, and the worship and fighting for a higher authority doesn't work the way it works in Western fantasy. However, this is Blizzard's lore, so they can do whatever they want.
And, stop quoting Naruto. That anime made all those Japanophiles think ninjas are all about friendship, love, and beating each other senseless with flashy moves and fair fights in day light.

It was one of those pics in Gamespot because it was in the Blizzcon panels or something. Looks just like a Taoist, figured it was a female Monk.
The Monk in D3 is clearly Shaolin Monk. I don't see anything about European Monk about it.

Edit: here, I found it again:

http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2009/features/blizzcon-2009-photo-gallery/blizzcon_790screen151.jpg

D2:
Amazon was White
Assassin was Asian
Necromancer was White
Barbarian is White
Paladin is Black
Sorceress is Indian/Middle Eastern
Druid was White

It's true, Blizzard is racist!

D3:
Barbarian is White (he is the same guy anyway)
Wizard is Asian (Tang style dress, Chinese :/?)
Witch Doctor is Black
Monk is... I don't know... the Male Monk is based off of Shaolin Monk, wherein as the Female Monk is based off of a Taoist... which both are Chinese, but the Male Monk looks a bit... White?

Blizzard is turning Chinese.

I am Asian, and I think you're not bright in English from the way you type. Don't label everything with racism, it only shows how shallow YOU are.

The whole point of the "we" in that sentence is that, if I am wrong, then it's their fault because I can't control what they say. However, if it's right, it's because me, and only me alone

Bashiok has already said that the Monk is inspired by real life eastern monks, but with some eastern european looks to it.

I bet they only did that so there is no argument of "Omg, there are more Asians than other races in this game". It sounds stupid people would say things like this, but I am pretty sure it's going to happen.

It is in no way a buddhist... This is Sanctuary, not Earth. Don't be irrational and think that they suddently created a character from Earth with asian lore... They look like asians because they are inspired by Asia. The lore is already existing for the class, it isn't a Buddhist or from China...

We never said they were Buddhists... we just said they were INSPIRED by Buddhists. We said the Monk was Chinese because he is pretty much what a typical Shaolin monk looks like. Obviously a video game character isn't from real life...

Now that I think about it, the Wizards have traditional Chinese dresses (Tang Dynasty). I am Chinese, and I am finding it weird 1/2 of the already released classes are Chinese-inspired. Diablo has always been such a western fantasy

Also, something to note... the female Monk (the screenshot from Blizzcon... someone find me a link :P) is actually what a female Taoist looks like.

Maybe it's the huge market in China

Let's hope they will eventually do a cityscape theme somewhere, maybe as part of a quest. It would be quite cool to fight demons on a busy street, and have merchants running around screaming and getting impaled. Who knows, maybe you can snatch some quick gold from some abandoned stores, or better yet, raid a blacksmith shop

I think the traditional religion in Japan is Shintoism or something, where you believe that every object in nature has a spirit.

That's also in Chinese. It's part of the culture (superstitions), and Japanese just took that and made a religion out of it.
You can believe in Buddhism and Taoism and all those things, but you are not necessarily religious. Religions don't work in Asia the way they work in the West. Religions have become such an integral part of the culture that it is the culture itself. It has nothing to do with following the religion to the utmost extend by that point.

Stop saying female monks are impossible. The Monk in Diablo 3 is Asian-themed, specifically, Chinese-themed (think Buddhism, Shaolin, etc.). There are female monks in Buddhism.

Cataclysm is kind of needed for WoW. This is due to after 2 expansions, people are still having to level 1 - 58~60 in the boring old vanilla zones, and they want change. Some people feel less compelled to create new characters for such reasons, and they need to revamp some things to keep the crowd happy and interested. WoW is their major income right now, and if that goes down, then you won't see D3 ever. So next time you people complain about WoW getting all the attention, realize that.
Diablo 3 will pay for itself, but it won't continue to bring revenue. The only income after the game purchase would come in the forms of:
1. Expansions - And Blizzard has never been a speedy one to develop things like that.
2. Online Services - So things like character changes and possible Hardcore revives, I don't think they'll get a lot of services for this.

That's all the revenue they'll milk from D3. I suspect more people will buy SC2 than D3, due to the whole WCG attention and competitions (SK), so that is probably being prioritized as well.

Blizzard is being extra greedy at the moment in that they are developing 4 games at once (SC2, D3, WoW Exp, and a MMO). As you guys know, Blizzard has never been a company known to have a lot of IP's, or even have a lot of games developed at a short time. I think they are feeling safe with the incomes of WoW right now, and are trying to expand that. This feels like a risky move, especially with the whole MMO based on an entirely new IP. That's usually fail unless the MMO is based off a source of lore (i.e., AOC, WAR). Not a lot of MMO's have pulled this off. One example of a relatively successful one is GW (on a related note, GW2 trailer and release :D).

And you never know, Blizzard probably has MORE games going in the background they aren't telling us :O! I am going to suspect the MMO is supposed to pick up after WoW, since the game won't last forever (graphics issues, and most MMO's don't survive past 8~ years).

I know I am going to get flamed for this, but I honestly think they should have thought about a possibility of a Diablo MMO, or even a SC MMO. It has enough lore and fanbase that it could be pulled off. It's a lot safer than their MMO based on an entirely new IP.

I feel like at least someone should say it so...
The Monk should use Chi (Qi in Pinyin), because it is Chinese :/

Two Asian classes in D3... win?

I think you only really need 15 points into Critical Strike. I think it caps around there, and if not, +skills should take care of the rest.