Official Blizzard Quote:
Update - 11/18
We've recently completed a revised version of the Diablo II 1.13 patch that removes the increased stash size. A larger stash will unfortunately no longer be a feature included in patch 1.13 due to the previously mentioned concerns. As higher priority work continues on Warcraft III we're hoping to complete our quality assurance tests for the 1.13 patch in the next few weeks. But as always, the types of issues that may appear and take higher priority are rarely foreseeable. We continue to plan a release based on our best intentions.
If it is indeed true that increased stash size is now no longer in the picture (see Patch 1.13: Larger Inventory for Diablo II), every top request made by fans when Blizzard ran its fan-request patch marathon (see Tell Blizzard Your #1 Diablo II Patch Note) earlier this year has been denied so far, with the possible exception of skill resets, which we have received no further conformation or details on since it was hinted at:
- 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 [highlight](now debunked)[/highlight].
- 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.
As far as why the expanded stash upgrade was also nixed, it was apparently due to outdated hardware and software, as hinted at before:
Official Blizzard Quote:
The service is designed specifically for the requirements of the game. Meaning that specific hardware has and continues to be used because the game was designed to run on it. The limitations now are that this hardware is pretty old, the storage capacity is more than enough to hold the data from an increased stash size, but at peak load can the service and database actually handle the ability to record all the data without fault? The feeling is probably not.
Now, that's only a reasonable doubt. If we were to throw caution to the wind and see if it works anyway the teams that would be responsible for cleaning up the mess are hard at work on completing the new Battle.net for StarCraft II. We're just not willing to bet the manpower that it will work and potentially impact one of our next major game releases.
The question then comes up that why don't we just upgrade the hardware? As I sort of hinted at this isn't off the shelf hardware and we can't simply throw in some new parts and hope it all works. It would be months of work, again, by teams of people that we simply aren't willing to remove from their current tasks.
Yet again, Blizzard raises the pretense that the patch could be expected in the next "few weeks" and is now on hold due to more "higher priority" issues concerning Warcraft III patching, when progress was said to pass over to Diablo II's patch (see WCIII Patch is Up- Diablo II Patch 1.13 Soon to Follow?) since the PTR went live for WCIII some time ago.
On the flip side, this may mean the patch will come along sooner without complicated additions to work in to massively-outdated server technology and software.
Whether this patch will continue to hold the nearly decade-faithful player base of Diablo II in sway is yet to be seen, but in light of recent events, it may be that this news will meet a frothing pot of dissatisfaction for those who have been waiting for months for not only this patch, but years for basic fixes for many issues with Diablo II.
(Astion first posted about it- see here for the original thread.)
Looks like a marketing gimmick to me. Get everyone all excited, string them along for a few years, release 1.13 a week before Diablo 3 comes out with no changes except the version number.... Clever gremlins they are...
What I dont get is why they dont add the larger stash to singleplayer anyway, and just leave it out for multiplayer. Especially if they have already done the actual coding.
It would be better than nothing.
This criticism is intended for the legacy team and its management, as well as whoever at blizz determined that the legacy team is about 1/50th as important as their kitchen staff.
Yea, but note that they did not keep their promise as expected and the patch has already been delayed for months now. And even now, it's priority to finish the patch is still behind any game nor patch under development even though a different team has been assigned to developing the patch. They have made several announcements that the patch would be released soon prior to that date, but it still gets delayed. I would rather appreciate if they would just make a solid announcement rather than post unnecessary announcements regarding the release dates which hypes up us fans, but eventually just disappoints us with posts after posts of delay. Blizzard should not get accustomed to this sort of negative feedback and improve on that matter although its already apparent to Blizzard fans that its a tradition to the company.
Now that the plans for the major upgrade in the patch has already been terminated, I would assume that the patch will be released as soon as this month, unless they have something big installed. If not, I don't see why the patch should be announced in the first place if there's totally no priority given to the project as I rather they work hard on main titles now.
What?
I don't want to see autostatting. I liked tinkering with stats. I thought it was fun trying out max block/max vit variants, glass cannons, titan barbs, different mixtures for es, etc. So everyone messes a few characters up before they get something more workable...I see it as a learning curve not a game flaw.
I don't want to see binding gear of any sort. I like being able to swap my bowzon gear for an foh set up, then trade that for a windy a week later. In my opinion its hurting trade and increasing end game grind. I'd rather see end game based more on other things then grind. I'd rather have seen a trade system expanded on, like some sort of trade house on bnet where you can post what you have, what you want, and if your list matches with someone elses send them offers while one of you is offline so its more convenient to get the trade done.
I liked the ladder reset system. It was fun to keep playing ladder and get a fresh start everyone year or so. It was fun to find people actively trading, dueling with characters who weren't all decked out with perfect gear, and running pub games of various sorts. It seemed like ladder reset was always the funnest time to play, and without it I'm curious as to how many people would have kept interest for so long.
I don't want to see pk limited in any way. Its one of the major tihngs thats kept me interested in the game so long. Its a lot more challenging, random, and fun then pvm, and if anything I'd rather see pvp, both pk and organized improved upon, rather then the neutering of pk. Call me childish, immature, or a jerk, whatever you see fit, but theres nothing funner then pwning a baal run and talking trash afterwards without getting banned for name calling or innapropriate language. Wait I take that back, there is one thing funner, when someone tries to pwn your baal game and you kill the pk'er
How exactly does disagreeing with the devs on those issues make me a troll?
*cry face*
im going to go emo and let andy kill me repeatedly for a while
Perhaps Blizzard will come up with something else to make the 1.13 patch
the fun change we all have been looking for.
You gotta remember that they didnt work on this patch for a whole 6 months... They stopped the work every time they had other things to do like fixing shit in Wc3...
EDIT: Ho ya and I'm forgetting that they were working on it before bashiok announced it! So now I may not know how much time before but according to his comments when he announced te patch, it was pretty far in development. I will add 2 months to the 7 months... 9 months. 9 months - 3 months = 6 months
That's what we're all wondering right now >.>
They haven't stopped loving us, we're just the neglected child in a family of 4 :O:(:mad: