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(Source/source) Wondering what will become of your carefully-crafted hardcore characters in Diablo III after they pass on? Vaneras responded to some fan inquiry today regarding the afterlife of hardcore characters; to be sure, it's an improvement from Diablo II.

In the old days, dead hardcore characters consumed valuable slots in online accounts, forcing players to make yet more accounts for fear of losing trophies of their accomplishments. Although the previous solution was unlimited, since accounts could be created ad nauseum, Diablo III accounts are singular and capped.

To account for the lack of space, as well as cater to the desire to preserve ghostly trophies, Diablo III is taking a much more convenient angle on hardcore deaths, allowing not only for perusal of butchered hardcore characters, but also access to interesting statistics about their journeys:

Official Blizzard Quote:

We have plans to create a Hall of the Dead where your can view your deceased HC characters, and you will probably also be able to view fun and interesting statistics about them.

Dead HC characters will not remain in your main character list, though.

But probably on the softer side, Vaneras also mentioned that all is not lost when hardcore characters inevitably kick the bucket. While "items in the possession of any HC character at the time of death will be lost," he wrote, any items kept in the hardcore shared stash will remain perfectly usable for current or future hardcore characters.

Do you think that the Hall of the Dead is a logical next step in catering to hardcore players' needs? Should hardcore items in hardcore shared stashes remain intact, even after the original character is defeated? Does this make hardcore mode easier, minimizing hardcore losses, or only more convenient?

We want PvP to be incredibly challenging and fun, but we want to avoid turning it into a truly competitive leagues/ladders eSport. We just don't think Diablo gameplay is very conducive for that type of controlled environment where balance is paramount.