Official Blizzard Quote:
The Diablo II 1.13 patch is on temporary hold while we investigate potential impact on the Battle.net service. As we moved closer to launching the patch concerns grew that an increase in the player stash size (a feature in the patch) could compromise the Diablo II Battle.net service. The hardware and configuration could potentially not handle the increased stash size gracefully under heavy load. Currently we?re investigating potential impact as it is one of the larger content features in the patch and we?re hoping it can remain a part of the release. If it does have to be removed it will require additional time to remove it, generate new patches, and test, which will add time before we can go live on the PTR.
We?re hoping to have our diagnostics and a final decision on how we?ll be moving forward decided by early next week and we?ll have an update for you at that time.
The patch has been delayed.
Again.
On the bright side, it looks like the increased inventory size previously suggested (see Patch 1.13: Larger Inventory for Diablo II) is planned to stay, although it is the cause of the delay. It also seems that a sincere promise on progress will be made next week- whether or not this will mean anything with regard to how they have handled the relaying of information and the keeping of promises in the past is yet to be seen (see WCIII Patch is Up- Diablo II Patch 1.13 Soon to Follow?).
UPDATE (10/01/09):
It would seem that Bashiok is on a reply spree for 1.13 today. It is confirmed that two of the three top requests for patch 1.13 will not be met:
Official Blizzard Quote:
Higher resolution, which we unfortunately just can't do because it would fundamentally change the game and require a huge development investment to have the game/servers spawn enemies farther out, have them aggro from farther out, and even then it increases travel time to the player... it's just a mess. Apparently increasing the resolution in LoD was this gigantic issue so I think the idea of increasing it again makes some of the old time programmers want to curl up in a fetal position.
And new end game content, which we do want to continue adding, but just wasn't possible for this patch.
So far, the following has been confirmed:
- Increased stash size, which is the cause of the current delay as they take hardware and server considerations in to thought, is so far essentially confirmed.
- No increased resolution- it would require "fundamental change" to the game and would have to account for faster player traveling issues (like being able to Teleport or Jump farther), spawning monsters on a larger scale around the player, and monster aggro would have to be taken in to account.
- No new end-game content. Bashiok noted that with this patch it would not be possible to add it, although there was no inkling of whether or not it would or would not be included with any future patch.
UPDATE (10/14/09):
Official Blizzard Quote:
Update - 10/14
The decision on whether or not to include the enlarged stash size has been slightly delayed. As mentioned previously it would require some additional weeks of development and would remove one of the most requested features were we unable to include it. If it were to be included the concern is that it could render Diablo II unplayable, and repairing the issue after the fact would draw heavily on development resources. Which is also something we obviously want to avoid.
We hope to be able to reach a conclusion and decision soon on the future of the 1.13 patch, and we?ll keep you updated as it develops.
No real news, just a rehashing of the previous statement made a week ago, except now he is not alluding to a dated announcement.
kinda fucked up ^
LOL, no news this week. Seems like they're gonna keep us dry for 1 more week.
I can't agree with that, I'm sorry. There isn't anything they could do right now to "completely change the game." For example, even something like respecs, which I think should have been in the game to begin with, isn't a game-changing mechanic; it's a time saving mechanic. All it means is that I would only need to make 1 paladin instead of 3, or whatever. It's not that I don't trust the Blizzard to add in some nifty stuff, but it won't be anything interesting (to me), especially if it's not a content patch. In fact, you saying it's not a content patch makes me want to play even less.
Very much agree. Originally i figured it would be out in July. No! Then August. NO!. September. HELL NO! Now October IT BETTER F**KIN COME IN THIS MONTH. But... doesn.t look promising
I don't mean to draw animosity, but yes, this is still a content patch. They've just been elusive with the definitions and details.
I am inclined to agree
They could, but I'd bet they won't. They especially won't take effective builds and "remove" them, that would be stupid. As OP as they can be, I don't think they should be made worthless. Even if they made their synergies a bit weaker, that's not what I'd call a major change.
These simple changes would bring a new light to the game for a lot of people. No more overpowered hammerdin? GIMME! It would be about damn time, I say.
Well you said remove, so I took it to mean remove, but now we're just getting at semantics. In any case, all I really meant to say was I won't be playing
I'm totally agree !!!
Power up some skill that useless,
Too many skill are good with only 1 point, and be stupid to put more in it.
Too many skill are useless no matter how you put point in it.
-static : euuuh it's the most powerful skill of the game unlock at level 6 ? add points in it and only the radius increase ?
-resists : you rarely need more resist...
-vigor : 1 point is just useful, more point in it is a waste of point except for synergies.
...
Firebolt vs Fireball
why firebolt have less damage when it doesn't make area damage ?
I'm so desperate when I analysis the balance and the logic of d2 !
I don't understand the logic of game designer ! maybe they just don't balance this part before release the game.
Sometime I don't understand how d2 was so polpular, when the game is so unbalanced.
/pulls hair out
Patch will never come out as the lazy asses that are working on it say they are but really aren't and laugh as they piss us off! Goddamn, that was a mouthful, BTW the reason the sentence didn't have punctuation is because it's supposed to be said all in one breath.