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Blizzard unveils Diablo III's Reaper of Souls' Westmarch
Westmarch, once spoken of only in whispers, is one of the new settings of Diablo III's upcoming Reaper of Souls expansion. The city was once beautiful and vibrant, but the events of the Diablo series have left it with an unsettling aura and a dwindling population. Blizzard Entertainment today offered an up-close look at Westmarch's design and implementation on the official Diablo III blog, showing off concept maps, points of interest, and some of the city's real-life location inspirations. Westmarch pulls elements from "the fog-laden cobblestone streets of London in the 1800s" and features tightly packed buildings, winding alleyways, and grisly visual cues as to the city's failed attempts at mounting a defense. The Survivor's Enclave is the one bright spot in this dismal world, a place where Westmarch's few living inhabitants can find rest and safety from the evils of the outside world. Reaper of Souls is due in 2014, or as Blizzard likes to call it, SoonTM.
Diablo III dev diary delves into the history of Westmarch
Diablo III's upcoming Reaper of Souls expansion will take players to a number of new locales across the world of Sanctum, such as the kingdom of Westmarch, the subject of Blizzard's latest dev post on the game's official site. Long-time Diablo fans probably know Westmarch best as the home of the Knights of Westmarch, the order from which Diablo II's Paladin hails, but there is much more to the realm's deep lore. Westmarch's history is one -- as is expected in the Diablo universe -- steeped in blood and conquest. The kingdom was founded by the Zakarum zealot Rakkis after a crusade that drove him across the Twin Seas and over the bodies of legions of conquered foes, but there is a second, "secret" history to this place. Near Westmarch is a "sprawl of fetid marshes," littered with the ruins of an ancient Nephalem civilization said to hold the power to ward against angels and demons alike. It was to these ruins that the now-mortal Tyrael took the Black Soulstone, and it was there that the former archangel Malthael, at that point neither angel nor demon, stole the Black Soulstone from its hiding place. And that, of course, is where the tale of Reaper of Souls begins. If you're a lore junkie looking for all the details, check out the full post on Diablo III's official site.
Diablo III dev blog demystifies the Mystic
Diablo III's latest dev blog unveils more tasty information about a new artisan NPC, the Mystic, coming to the game in the Reaper of Souls expansion. As many Diablo III fans are undoubtedly aware, Reaper of Souls will mark the introduction of a set of features, known colloquially as Loot 2.0, which aims to rebalance Diablo III's loot and item systems in an effort to make loot more interesting to players. The Mystic is an integral part of this effort thanks to her unique skills of enchanting and transmogrification. Through Enchantment, the Mystic is capable of rerolling a single property on a piece of equipment, making her the go-to artisan for those items that are almost-but-not-quite perfect. While you can choose only a single property to reroll on each item, that property can be rerolled as many times as you can afford. Don't worry about buyer's remorse, though; if the newly rolled property is worse than the old one, the Mystic can reverse the process. The Mystic is also the number one stylist in Sanctuary thanks to her transmogrification ability which, as World of Warcraft players know, allows players to replace an item's visual appearance with that of a different item. To get all the arcane details on Myriam the Mystic, you can check out the full post on Diablo III's official site.
BlizzCon 2013 schedule is now online
One of the major annual nerd pilgrimages is less than a month away because on the 7th and 8th of November, hundreds of Blizzard fans will be flocking to Anaheim, California for BlizzCon 2013. If you're one of those lucky pilgrims and you're looking to plan out your visit to Blizzard mecca, you're in luck because the convention schedule is now online. The opening ceremonies will kick off on Friday at 2:00 p.m. EDT, and throughout the next two days BlizzCon will be host to a slew of panels including the intriguing "World of Warcraft: What's Next," and exciting events such as the StarCraft II World Championship Series semi-finals and grand finals. For all of your scheduling needs, the list of events, locations, and a handy map await you at the BlizzCon site.
Diablo III polls players about expansion prices
Was there ever an innocent survey that didn't harbor dark agendas and terrible secrets? We're inclined to think "no," so a recent email survey of Diablo III players by Blizzard has raised a few eyebrows around these here parts. The studio is polling players to see what they think of potential pricing for different editions of Reaper of Souls as well as how they rank the different features that the expansion will bring. The two price tags mentioned as possibilities for Reaper of Souls are $29.99 for the standard edition and $49.99 for the collector's edition. The expansion is slated for a 2014 release.
Diablo III starts console digital downloads
Who needs boxes when you've got the convenience of digital downloads, am I right? I am always right; you need to learn that lesson right now. Well, console fans of Diablo III are not shackled to the box-and-chain any longer, as digital downloads for the game are available on both the Sony Entertainment Network and Xbox Live. The game is $59.99 on both sites and graciously allows you to purchase a few add-ons, such as an Infernal Helm or a Treasure Goblin.
Diablo III shutting down auction houses next March
The Diablo III auction houses are being prepped for demolition next year. Blizzard announced that it will be taking down both the gold and real-money auction houses on March 18, 2014, stating that "they ultimately undermine Diablo's core gameplay." The studio is giving a heads-up now so that players have enough time to prepare for the change, although specific details regarding the shutdown process are still forthcoming. This announcement comes as Blizzard has been making noise about an improved "Loot 2.0" system to put more of an emphasis on killing monsters for one's gear. The auction houses will come down at the same time, and after they do, players will be able to trade with each other only through the trade window. You can watch the developers explain their reasoning behind this decision after the jump.
Conan O'Brien spoofs Diablo III
Talk show comedian Conan O'Brien spent a couple of minutes discussing his experiences playing Diablo III on a recent show. While he calls the graphics and gameplay "great," O'Brien takes issue with the voices and dialogue. "They don't seem to suit the dark and violent tone," O'Brien complains. OK, so it's really just an excuse for him to show a few clips from the game while providing zany voiceovers. If you've played the game, perhaps you'll be amused by the following video. Team Coco forever?
Diablo III launches on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
With the game's first expansion already announced, you might be looking for a chance to play Diablo III in a different way. Does sitting around a television with your friends count? Because you can do that starting today, as the console version launches today on the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360. (It probably wouldn't fit well with the Wii U's catalogue anyway.) Now you can slay demons right alongside your friends in both body and spirit. Of course you can also play online, as with the PC version, or just go it alone as you rip through demon hordes. The game boasts a redesigned interface meant to take full advantage of the controller setup while still boasting all of the same content. So it might not tide you over if you've played through Diablo III multiple times, but if you'd like a refresher before the first expansion or just prefer the idea of a console experience, you can have that now.
Diablo III: Reaper of Souls loot designed to make auction house a 'last resort'
There's been no love lost between Diablo III players and the game's real-money auction house. And while Blizzard Entertainment has no plans to remove RMT from Diablo III, the studio's upcoming Reaper of Souls expansion features a redesigned loot system built to get players out of the trading game and back into the grind. In an interview with PC Gamer, lead content designer Kevin Martens explained that the team likes trading between players but lamented that the auction house has become the primary method through which players obtain items: It is fun to go buy something instantly, the instant gratification feel, that sugar high; however, it's not the core fantasy, it's not the most fun, and by the endgame, for a variety of reasons, [players] tend to check the auction house first and play the game second. According to Martens, the looting and enchanting systems in Reaper of Souls are designed to "cut the legs out from the auction house" and to create an environment in which "the most fun way to play the game becomes the best way to play the game." Lead writer Brian Kindregan echoed Martens' sentiments, noting, "We want the auction house to be your last resort, right?" For more information on Reaper of Souls, check out Blizzard's Gamescom 2013 presentation and the new cinematic trailer, posted last week.
Project Titan: A brief history of a game that doesn't exist
For the last several years, the MMO community has been abuzz with rumors regarding Blizzard Entertainment's Project Titan. Long reported to be a brand-new MMO based on an entirely original intellectual property, Titan was a top-secret project discussed only through occasional interviews, job postings, and hearsay. No footage ever slipped through the cracks; no early alpha build accidentally leaked to the web. Unfortunately, Project Titan as we knew it is no more. Rumors broke in May that development on the project had been restarted from scratch, and Blizzard offered comments that didn't so much as confirm those rumors as lend them a hefty amount of credence. Now it seems as though whatever we might have known about Titan may no longer apply, and whatever Blizzard had created so far may never see the light of day. With that in mind, let's take a little adventure through the rumorsphere and look back on the history of Project Titan and the stories surrounding it.
The Soapbox: Actually, that really isn't an MMO
In last week's edition of The Soapbox, Mike Foster argued that online gaming has evolved over the past few years and that the term MMO should be expanded to cover other online games like MOBAs. He examined the blurred dividing line between new online games and the classic MMOs of yesteryear, and he made the controversial argument that Call of Duty and League of Legends should now fall under the MMO umbrella. I found myself disagreeing with many of Mike's arguments and wanting to make additional points of my own, so this week I'd like to offer a few counter-points on the same topic for debate. The MMO market has certainly evolved since Massively was founded, with some pretty big innovations in gameplay and new ideas like the free-to-play business model taking hold. As much as people like to complain about a lack of innovation in the games industry, the same level of experimentation and evolution has hit industry-wide. Call of Duty has borrowed unlock and XP systems from the world of orcs and dragons, and League of Legends came from nowhere to be at the forefront of a global MOBA revolution, but neither of them is an MMO by any stretch of the imagination. In this in-depth opinion piece, I break down the definition arguments surrounding the term MMO, offer a reasoned view of where the line can and should be drawn, and look at why Massively covers games other than MMOs.
Gamescom 2013: Watch Blizzard's Diablo III presentation
Looking for Diablo III news from this week's Gamescom convention in Cologne? WoW Insider's got it, including a video of Blizzard's presentation and a break-down of the free features the company is giving gamers in its upcoming pre-expansion patch. And speaking of the Reaper of Souls expansion set, there are some fresh screenshots from the update on the Diablo III Facebook page. Head past the cut for the Gamescom video.
Diablo III PvP mode a 'tricky question' for Blizzard
Diablo III's long-awaited PvP mode might require a great deal more patience on behalf of the playerbase -- perhaps eternal patience. At Gamescom, Game Director Josh Mosqueira was cagey about the mode ever seeing the light of day: "That's a really tricky question to answer. It's got to be Blizzard quality." Late last year, Blizzard scrapped its current plans for a PvP mode in favor of starting over. Mosqueira said this week that the team is still struggling to overcome several obstacles in creating a new PvP mode, including a limited number of team members for the project, a desire to see PvP at all levels, and a problem with converting the existing PvE gameplay to work for PvP. "In Diablo, the core mechanics are really built around one character fighting scores of monsters, right?" Mosqueira said. "There's a lot of control, a lot of AOE, and some of that stuff starts to not necessarily break down, but it starts to fray at the edges when you're actually now focused on two people, or four people."
Gamescom 2013: Diablo III unveils its first expansion, Reaper of Souls
What happens when an angel gets ahold of a demon's soulstone in Diablo III? You probably don't want to know; it's not going to be pretty. The game's first expansion, Reaper of Souls, was announced today at Gamescom, and the fact that Malthael the angel possesses the soulstone harboring Diablo himself is all the justification you need for fighting him. This is a very bad thing. All right, the mechanical side of things does come into play. Even if you don't care about the lore or about fighting off fallen angels, you can still care about features like a refined loot system that focuses on providing less loot that's more likely to be useful instead of quite so much garbage. There's also a new class being added, the Crusader, who looks similar at a glance to Diablo II's Paladin. Add in a new NPC who can reallocate stats on gear and you've probably got all of the incentive you need to look forward to the expansion.
Blizzard trademark hints at next WoW or Diablo III expansion [Updated]
According to the ever-churning rumor mill, Blizzard Entertainment may be on the cusp of announcing a new expansion to World of Warcraft or Diablo III. The studio has just snagged a new trademark for The Dark Below and identified that trademark as "computer game software" and "downloadable electronic game." The trademark could be for a new game or unannounced IP, but it's more likely the title of an upcoming expansion to one of Blizzard's big existing titles. Smart money is on Diablo III, since Blizz did tease its August 21st Gamescom press conference by saying it would, "capture the attention of the Heavens, Burning Hells, and all the shadowed places that lie between." We also know that Blizzard plans to show off a brand new cinematic at Gamescom -- cinematics tend to come with either new games or new expansions. Any guesses on what The Dark Below might be? [Thanks to Sharvis for the tip!] [Update: Our sister site WoW Insider argues convincingly that this particular registration was merely a hoax.]
Activision Blizzard goes indie after CEO Kotick buys back the company
Activision Blizzard is set to split from parent company Vivendi after a deal has been made to buy back the company for just over $8 billion. Led by CEO Bobby Kotick and Chairman Brian Kelly, the split will see 439 shares (worth $5.83 billion) bought by Activision Blizzard itself, while an investment group led by Kotick and Kelly will purchase 172 million shares (worth $2.32 billion). Vivendi will still retain 83 million shares, or about 12 percent of the company. This puts Activision Blizzard in the "independent" category, which is an interesting label for one of the largest game publishers of our day. "We should emerge even stronger -- an independent company with a best-in-class franchise portfolio and the focus and flexibility to drive long-term shareholder value and expand our leadership position as one of the world's most important entertainment companies." Kotick said. "The transactions announced today will allow us to take advantage of attractive financing markets while still retaining more than $3 billion cash on hand to preserve financial stability."
Coming soon to a console near you: MMOs
Remember E3 2013? That huge video games conference thing from earlier in the summer? Weeks have passed since Microsoft and Sony squared off in the Los Angeles convention center (while Nintendo posted up at Best Buy and Ouya sulked in the parking lot), but the news made there continues to reverberate through the games industry. One curious trend seems to have been missed amid the clashing of proverbial titans: There sure are a lot of MMOs and online-focused games due on consoles this generation. And since MMOs are the business of Massively, we thought it might be fun to compile a quick list of all the ones we can find that are either already available on our current consoles or set for launch on the next batch. The list, as it turns out, is pretty extensive.
The Soapbox: On your deathbed, you will not regret gaming
In last week's edition of The Soapbox, Mike Foster reminded us that the grim specter of death comes to us all and asserted that when your time comes, "you will not wish you had spent more time gaming." Mike took the stance that gaming provides temporary joys that can't replace real-life experiences and that it's our inherent responsibility as human beings with finite lifespans to seek out those experiences. He argued that "gaming is a hobby and not a replacement for a life well-lived" and that it's not our gaming achievements but our real life ones that we'll proudly tell our grandchildren. I think we can all agree that it's important to have offline hobbies and interests that help you keep active, but I take exception to the notion that we might regret time spent gaming on our deathbeds. Published data on the top five regrets of the dying actually seems to directly refute this idea, and my life experiences have shown the exact opposite of some of the points Mike makes. MMOs have given me some experiences that I'll probably treasure for a lifetime, and gaming as a hobby has provided me with much more than just temporary joys and escapism; it's helped me discover talents I didn't know I possessed, given me the push I needed to get a good education, led me to employment, and put me in contact with lifelong friends. On my deathbed, I'll probably wish I'd spent more time gaming rather than less. In this opinion piece, I look at evidence that suggests we won't regret gaming on our deathbeds and make the case that gaming can be just as worthwhile as offline pursuits.
Blizzard brings out the Diablo III banhammer
If there is one particular group of fools that Blizzard Entertainment cannot suffer, it is nefarious tricksters attempting to sneak an advantage in its games through the use of hacks, bots, and other malicious cheats. The company has just confirmed its latest round of mass-bannings in Diablo III, and while no specific number or reasoning is given, the post leans heavily on the rules regarding botting and hacking. Reiterated in the ban-wave announcement are the things that Blizzard prohibits players from doing with third-party software, including automate gameplay, obtain information about the game that isn't normally available to players, modify D3's game files, and change the way the game interacts with Battle.net. Blizzard also noted that using hacks and bots isn't a victimless crime; third-party software can sometimes cause big technical issues for both the offender and other players. More info on Diablo III's exploitation policy is available on the official Blizzard support website.
