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The Daily Grind: Would you have played a Diablo MMO?
A few weeks ago, Blizzard content designer Kevin Martens admitted that the studio once considered turning the Diablo IP loose on an MMORPG. It's off the table now, but it still got me wistful. I've been strangely attached to the Diablo franchise and its clones for a very long time. Seriously, it's not even possible to pry the Torchlight series or Titan Quest off my harddrive. But Diablo itself just has a compelling, gritty gloom to the world that would make an MMO version a welcome in a genre that's obsessed with bright and happy fantasy worlds. Massively's Brendan Drain once opined that Path of Exile is the sequel that Diablo II deserved, but is it MMO enough to count here? Would you have played a Diablo MMORPG, and what would you want it to look like? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Daily Grind: Would you play a Diablo MMO?
Whether or not this Blizzard teaser has anything to do with Diablo -- and/or Blizzard's next-gen MMO -- we have to wonder how many of you would be interested in playing an MMO version of Diablo. There's definitely a segment of you out there who would be completely fine with an MMO-style Diablo 2 complete with modernized graphics, but somehow we're thinking Blizzard would try a bit harder than that. Mechanically speaking, a Diablo MMO would probably be very different from its older brethren, but it also couldn't be too similar to World of Warcraft either. There would probably be some mechanical similarities and head-nods towards the games that came before it but for the most part we imagine the Diablo MMO as a very different experience.There's also the chance that a new Diablo game could be part singleplayer and part MMO, which would merely be an extension of previous games. So what do you think? Does any of this sound good to you or would you rather just play more World of Warcraft -- or even World of Starcraft -- instead?
Amidst speculation, Blizzard VP implies completely new game
Blizzard fans all over the internet have worked themselves up into a frenzy over a vague splash screen at the company's website -- a melting wall of ice adorned with rune or sigil-like markings. Everyone's speculating. Is it Diablo 3? Maybe it's just a promo for Wrath of the Lich King. After all, the ice motif seems to fit, right?Maybe not. During a Q&A session at GDC Paris 08, Blizzard VP Rob Pardo was asked to comment on "the new game." He replied saying, "So you want me to announce the game before the announcement?" That was a classic press conference or Q&A blunder; you're not supposed to accept the premise of an unwanted or hostile question!
Blizzard job postings show progress on new MMO
Monolithic super-developer Blizzard has put out a casting call on their company website for a Lead 3D Character Artist and a Lead 3D Environment Artist to work on a "next-gen MMO." Is it World of Starcraft? Is it a Diablo MMO? Is it a completely new IP? Is it the mythical Hydra (which could be any one of the above)? We don't know.Even though details are hidden behind the curtain, these job postings give outside observers a sense of the progress Blizzard has made on the mysterious project. This is probably the same project for which they hired a Lead Engine Programmer back in April or May, and it's safe to assume that they're about to move into the next phase of development -- building the game world (or worlds) and its inhabitants.Now if only they'd clue us in on whether or not those inhabitants are Terran, Zerg and Protoss.
