The Blizzcon Hub
This article was previously an article on the Demon Hunter and PvP, it has been turned into a "Blizzcon Hub", in which you'll be able to find all the resources you need to get the most info out of us.
Now that the first hectic hours of Blizzcon have passed us by, we've had a chance to compile our information, level our heads, and churn out in depth articles covering everything Blizzcon.
We have written out articles on the three main aspects we wanted to bring to light, and links will be provided to help you quickly find them in the chaos Blizzcon has brought down upon us. Welcome chaos, of course, as now we have a fifth class!
The Demon Hunter Unveiled - I take a look at the new fifth class, explore the lore behind the Demon Hunter, give some insight into tactical considerations, and dig up the skills we've been shown. If you want to learn about the fifth class, check this article out!
Character Customization - Scyberdragon compiles everything to do with character customization into one sexy slab of article. Changes to skills, new skills, skill runes, and info on the talisman can all be found here. If you like to tweak your character to your own tastes, this is the article for you.
Diablo III PvP - Battle Arenas - With his first article (give the man a hand), liquorice takes a look at the new "Battle Arena" PvP system in Diablo III. With a blend of facts and speculation, he explores every aspect of the new PvP system, which hopefully will be more complex than the "hostile button" from Diablo II. Cross your fingers.
Wilson on Diablo III and Press Conference - Magistrate, our inside man at Blizzcon brings us the scoop directly from the floor. Read up on the latest info regarding PvP in Diablo III.
Crafting Sanctuary - A collaborative effort; liquorice, Scyberdragon and I cover the latest on crafting, items, monsters, and the world of Sanctuary. Anyone wondering how development is coming along should definitely read up.
You can also see pictures from Blizzcon 2010 as well as upload your own in the new Blizzcon 2010 Gallery.
There has also been a presskit released filled with pictures and a 20min gameplay video. You can download the presskit HERE.
Lastly check out our user/staff D3 game demo experiences.
This post will be updated with more information and new articles as they become available, so check this thread for updates whenever possible. In the mean time, check out the Diablofans IRC channel to chat with your fellow users in real time!
Did you not also get the feeling that while there was magic in the Diablo world, it wasn't necessarily polluted with magic. Magic seemed like it was still hard to come by and only few experts possessed it in large amounts. Whereas in Warcraft, your very cup of coffee was swirling with magical goodness and everything sparkled and it all just kind of blurred the senses after awhile.
I think I know what you mean. Previous Diablo games we still knew we'd have what it would take to ultimately take down evil, but these trailers do give the impression of invulnerability and overconfidence. I realize in character trailers they're just trying to showcase the style and abilities of the classes, but we want to still fear the enemy as well. We want to really believe we are in danger in this supposedly dangerous world. Show the classes killing off enemies, sure. But don't have them do it all so flawlessly and effortlessly that it takes away the mystique and dangerous feelings we're supposed to be getting from the monsters.
I think this really remains to be seen. I think we may find in actual gameplay that it really is difficult and you can't just savant your way through everything. And that bosses won't be a dime a dozen which would normally make us take them for granted. Yes, the first time you see Andariel you're like, "Oh, well fuck me then..." And I think we may yet have plenty of moments like that in D3. Sometimes I think we put ourselves at a disadvantage this way following every step of development along the way. There was obviously not this much exposure to D2 before it was released. We're all kind of filling ourselves to the brim on D3 development news.
You shouldn't have to be a purist just to have complaints. I was mad when the game first came out that some people had legitimate complaints, not just about the art direction, but people were shooting these complaints down because they thought we were all just a bunch of D1 purists who hated change.
Ugh, don't remind me. I'm so sick of high heels on costumed heroes. I can masturbate just fine to the Demon Hunter without her looking like a dominatrix.
The pauldron is a bit silly looking, but I like the rest of the armor. It just looks like rugged ranger type gear to me. But yeah, it seems like they have to add just that one embellished element to her costume just cause they can. Bigger and more is not always better.
That and she is supposed to be a part of a larger group of Demon Hunters. So yeah it doesn't seem she stands alone at all. Dialogue like that always risks making characters more one dimensional and less interesting to me. But the point of the trailer is the opposite of all that anyway. It's just to get everyone excited. Nothing more.
To be fair though, once you start playing D2 into Hell difficulty and all the Baal runs and all that shit, the game soon got that kind of feel to it anyway. It's only most intense when you're playing single player the first time through.
Preachin' to the choir, brother. I've always loved that Diablo's universe had more of minimalist feel to it. But most consumers' memories are too short to remember and appreciate all that. People just seem to want light tracers on everything, flamboyant aesthetics, and whatever else makes them feel like their characters are powerful and cool. Because the player is powerful and cool! Yeah! Right...
LOL The female Barb definitely takes a backseat to all this, doesn't she? She just has to mope back there while everything else rakes in all the coolness.
Blizzard officially have horrible writing in all directions from here on. Diablo, Warcraft, Starcraft. All shit, they can't even make a few lines without making me cringe.
Good thing I'm only here for the gameplay.
And since they gave us no inkling or promise of a release date of any kind for anything, there is no reason for anyone to be angry at them. Especially with how much information they give. The panels were really too short. Jay was rushing to get it all out.
I will just comment one little thing
Imo D2 failed too capture D1's feel when you're fightning a high density mob of monsters. In D1 you never looked very powerful cause you were allways struggling to cotain that huge crowd of monsters. Even if you're a spellcaster with very strong spells, you could shoot only limited amount. In the end that huge mass of megademons were allways frightening, even fater you beat it.
So, yeah, part of this feel was already lost in D2. But D3 is far worse...
The over the topness has cracked the shell of the high end gameplay and reached the very trailers. Oh well, D3 is nothing but gameplay to me. Diablo is universe died.
I just assumed that for Blizzard's own convention, it would be more than a class reveal and the "reveal" of PVP arenas.
Oh well, that's what you get when you assume (or set reasonable expectations).
Also, maybe the grid based system just lends itself better to "tactical" play..
I think it would be sick if it was like a reload system, and all her other spells were cooldown
Yea during the pannel they talked more about her history of being people who's family/friends were killed by demons. They go and recruit other people with the same expirience. Kinda similar to the Necromancer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmB140BKPII