http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC6OK_OVz9o
Advance video to 10:18
Afterwards, Blizzard responded via their Twitter, clarifying how each item slot has 18 unique tiers.
Official Blizzard Quote:
Theeliminator2k - @diablo when you say 18 sets you mean 18 different boots, leggings,etc? And does that 18 include unique armor or are they totally different?
Diablo - @Theeliminator2k To clarify, there are 18 complete tier looks. Complete. 18 individual looks for each item slot.
Official Blizzard Quote:
in diablo 2 sure they repeated the graphics but we did have 15 tiers of armor that were repeated.
i hope in the case of chest piece armor they have more armor since it is not repeating something in the area of 30 or so would seem good.
with only 18 tiers and 3 difficulties if they only have 4 acts ( just a total guess ) we are looking at only 1-2 new armor looks in a new act
Diablo 2 did not have 15. It had 5. And those were mostly recolored versions of each other with extra pieces stuck on to make them look different.
Not to knock Diablo 2. The number of looks it had are amazing considering what it took to render them out.
Official Blizzard Quote:
He means, when you equip them, 3 look very much alike with minor changes. Not that, in your inventory, they're unique looking.
Oh, yeah, icons don't count. Those will be unique per item though, too, FYI.
Speaking of the icons, yes each tier looks different. When looking at the characters though, most look almost indistinguishable. Bashiok follows this with examples of unique armor tiers on the Witch Doctor.
Official Blizzard Quote:
Hopefully this will help. These aren't new, they're from the BlizzCon 2010 panel. There are most certainly already pictures out there of these slides (if not video). These are 4 of the set appearances for the witch doctor. They're unique from each other in every way, including unique geometry, textures, and in some cases animations, and that is true of the other 14 'tiers'.
http://i616.photobuc...ok/Picture2.png
http://i616.photobuc...ok/Picture4.png
http://i616.photobuc...ok/Picture3.png
http://i616.photobuc...ok/Picture1.png
These visual looks do not determine anything about the item stats, name, quality, etc.
Next a member states how 18 tiers may not be enough to share through each act, in each difficulty. Bashiok responds explaining how there are 720 unique armor pieces in the game, not including weapons, or other item slots. Also in the mix are the dozen or so Armor Dyes which can be placed in each item slot to change its color. Bashiok also makes it clear that he is strictly speaking visually, and not about item stat variations.
Official Blizzard Quote:
it will not be cool to play a whole act and only have 1 ( 2 sometimes ) new type of armor available to find
Hrm. Not cool compared to what? I don't think this is being compared accurately to what Diablo II or even other games offer as far as visual upgrades to a character. 18 tiers, times 5 classes, times 8 armor slots is 720 unique pieces of armor in Diablo III. That's not counting weapons, or alterations to make each armor piece fit both genders. Oh, and right, the dozen or so different colors you can dye each of those pieces.
I also hope this isn't being confused with actual diversity in item drops. You're still going to be finding tons of items with varying quality levels and stats, but the best are going to always be pushing your character's aesthetic 'impressiveness' forward.
Official Blizzard Quote:
as compared to d2 you joined a new act and had access to 3-4 or so new armor types
Aside from those 3-4 being minimal changes from one another, they repeated per difficulty. We don't think that's nearly as cool.
Numbers-wise, yes, absolutely Diablo II had more "unique looks" per act. From a viewpoint of actually considering what's available in Diablo III, we've got a ton more items for you to find, and they're all unique, and amazing looking.
2
Official Blizzard Quote:
Well, followers are essentially a flavor bonus to those playing through normal the first time by themselves. It provides some story elements, but more importantly it gets the idea in their head of playing with another person. You come across each of them pretty quickly in Act 1, and then they help you throughout the rest of the game if you'd like. They aren't required to beat the game on Normal, even if you're playing by yourself. Feel free to leave them behind if you like. But they are pretty awesome.
They're also tuned so that they become very weak starting in Nightmare, and then are completely unusable in Hell. Even if you're playing alone, you will probably not be using Followers past Normal - - you can try but they're going to just be one-shot back to back. They're there as a bit of flavor, to help get people into the mindset of co-op if they're a bit reluctant, and... that's about it. They won't be usable at end-game, and they'll never replace the abilities and power that another player can bring.
It provides some story elements. That's right. The companion doesn't add any more story than is already provided. Instead, the character adds color to the situation.
Official Blizzard Quote:
Followers will not stay alive easily past Normal, and if they're not alive you aren't going to be getting their bonuses. I'm sure people will try to game this, and ideally they will fail. If not we will ensure followers are not part of the end-game MF equation. They are not intended to be, and we will take whatever steps are necessary to ensure they cannot be.
They're also tuned so that they become very weak starting in Nightmare, and then are completely unusable in Hell.
They are not intended to be [used outside of normal], and we will take whatever steps are necessary to ensure they cannot be. In other words, this is JUST A FLAVOR MECHANIC FOR NORMAL DIFFICULTY.
1
1
ScyberDragon asked Bashiok if they had plans on how and when they are going to announce these remaining systems.
Official Blizzard Quote:
@ScyberDragon Yes. Very specifically.
I think they know exactly when they're going to start beta.
3
This is just speculation.
Blizzard would not be doing any "vague or hopeful speculation" when talking to investors, they are serious about their estimations. Furthermore, Blizzard does not want to release any game after Christmas. Doing so would be bad business for any company.
For once in your life people, believe what blizzard says, ffs.
2
It's not a moral boost. It's a conference call to investors so it's as accurate as they can possibly predict.
Edit: I'd also like to note that releasing any game AFTER Christmas (aka Q1) rarely ever happens.