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E3 2014 round-up: Weird tales from Los Angeles
Had you been on the floor of the Los Angeles Convention Center this year, you would have heard one question, echoing from journalist to journalist: "This year feels a little ... weird, don't you think?" It's hard to put a finger on exactly why E3 2014 gave off a strange vibe, but darn it all, we're gonna try. Here are some of the most eccentric, the most peculiar, most "hmm"-inducing stories of E3:
Diablo 3 running at 900p on Xbox One; PS4 version locked at 1080p
Apart from adding enemies from Naughty Dog's The Last of Us in randomized dungeons, Diablo 3 on PS4 will also feature exclusive pixels. Senior Producer on the console version of Diablo 3, Julia Humphreys, confirmed that the game will run at 900p on Xbox One; the PS4 version had previously been confirmed to run natively at 1080p. Both versions will run at 60 frames per second. "We're prioritizing frame rate," Humphreys said regarding the quality difference. Diablo 3: Ultimate Evil Edition is coming to the Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360 and PS3 on August 19.
Last of Us-themed dungeon coming to Diablo 3 PS4
When Diablo 3: Ultimate Evil Edition debuts on the PlayStation 4, it will include an exclusive dungeon packed with enemies that should be familiar to fans of Naughty Dog's The Last of Us. Alongside the standard imps and other demonspawn, this dungeon will also be populated by fungus-riddled clickers. [Image: Sony]
Why F2P won't eliminate paid games
Champions RPG co-creator and former EA and Capcom marketer Steve Peterson has published a lengthy rebuke of conventional F2P-is-the-future wisdom. "The reality is that many game designs don't lend themselves to free-to-play monetization," Peterson writes. "Virtual items in story-centered games like Telltale's Walking Dead series would be ridiculous. Balance is a difficult issue for virtual items in many games, particularly as the variations of items multiply. Blizzard's massive problems with the Auction House in Diablo III show that." He goes on to cite DIII's premium buy-the-client price point as an example of how pay-up-front PC games remain a hugely profitable market, to say nothing of the fact that F2P has made little headway on consoles. "While free-to-play is a very successful business model, it's not the only business model that's succeeding these days," he explains. "Not all games lend themselves to the business model, and not all developers are prepared to deal with the issues involved. Some platforms are less suited to free-to-play games, and there's evidence to suggest that paid games are making a comeback on mobile. Some developers have complained about the model in very public ways. Free-to-play is a fine hammer, but not every game is a nail."
Diablo III keeping legendary drop rate increase
Blizzard game designer Travis Day brought some welcome news to Diablo III fans on the game's official forums last night. "Due to the overwhelming popularity of our anniversary buff we have decided to keep the increased legendary drop rate once the anniversary celebration ends," Day wrote. "Once the buff is disabled tomorrow morning, you will find that the new base line drop rates for legendary items will be the same as those you have all enjoyed for the last week."
Diablo 3 legendary drop rate increase now permanent
Diablo III recently celebrated the second anniversary of the game's release. As part of the celebration, players were given double Rift Fragments, as well as a 100% boost to the chance to find Legendary items in game, in the form of a buff applied from May 15 through May 22. Birthday celebrations are all well and good, but the Diablo III team has decided to go above and beyond with the anniversary rewards. If you enjoyed playing with increased drop rate buff over the week-long anniversary, there's some good news on the way. Blizzard has just made the drop rate increase permanent. While the double Rift Fragments have now been removed, the increased drop chance for Legendary items is staying put. The anniversary buff was overwhelmingly popular, warranting the decision to let the increase stick around. The anniversary buff has been disabled as of this morning, but Legendary items should be dropping at the bonus increased rate by default now -- keeping Sanctuary's defenders both happy, and a little more geared in the process.
Diablo 3 retains Legendary birthday buff, crowd goes wild
Blizzard realizes if you give a mouse a Legendary cookie, he's gonna want more Legendary cookies. So, "due to the overwhelming popularity" of last week's birthday buff, Diablo 3 will retain the doubled drop rate for Legendary items even when the buff ends today. Huzzah! That's for PC and Mac versions since that's where the buff was introduced, but we expect that'll probably change once the console clamor kicks in. Who knows how high the rate will be when Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls hits PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PS3 on August 19? [Image: Activision-Blizzard]
Here's Diablo 3's Reaper of Souls on the PS4
Blizzard has released a brief look at Diablo III's Reaper of Souls expansion on the PlayStation 4. The Ultimate Evil Edition is headed your way on August 19th, and you can see it in action via the video after the break.
Take a quick loot at Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls on PS4
Diablo 3 debuts on PS4 and Xbox One on August 19 in the Ultimate Evil Edition, which is also headed to PS3 and Xbox 360. If the thought gets you tingly in your legendaries, sit back and sip your morning cocoa with a minute or so of footage from the PS4 version. [Image: Activision-Blizzard]
Enjoy in-game buffs and a history lesson for Diablo 3's anniversary
Diablo 3 is celebrating its second anniversary this week with plenty of buffs for players, which makes it a great time to game. Anyone playing between now and May 22nd will receive double rift fragments and double legendary drops as they smash their way through Sanctuary. For gamers who are still trying to catch up on this Diablo thing, there's also a new entry in the game guide telling the story of Diablo. For anyone who hasn't played Diablo or Diablo 2 -- or hasn't played recently -- this will bring you up to date on the story up to the Reaper of Souls expansion. Of course, there's some retconning that has to happen to make the original Diablo fit in with the rest of the series, but it's still a good summary of events to date. But if you don't want to be burdened by story, never fear -- Diablo 3 is still good fun without knowing any of the history. And for this week, it's double the fun with double the legendaries.
Diablo III's Crusader at 70: Post-patch impressions
The Diablo III: Reaper of Souls expansion changed the game from top to bottom. With the extra 10 levels came an almost complete reimagining of how Diablo 3 would play: from the relentlessly on-rails story mode to the free-form adventure mode, from wheeling and dealing on the auction house for the items you wanted to hoping for those items to pop out of a freshly slain enemy. In the wake of the game's sweeping changes, the new Crusader class has been something of an afterthought for many. However, Blizzard hasn't been shy to make adjustments to the newest member of their demon-slaying team. A patch just two weeks after the expansion's launch brought major buffs to the Crusader. This week, another patch featured a long list of changes that revamped the class from top to bottom. If you're wondering whether you should invest the time to level a Crusader, join me past the break for my impressions. The class has come a long way in just seven weeks, and this latest patch has been a gamechanger.
Diablo 3 celebrates turning 2 years old with a birthday buff
Happy birthday, Diablo 3! Today marks the two-year anniversary of your arrival into this world, and in a few days time it will be the two-year anniversary of when anyone got to play you. Hooray! Aw, don't take any notice, Diablo 3. 15 million people came to your party, and that number's only going to rise when you make friends with PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in August. Now, to celebrate you reaching the ripe old age of 2, for a week Blizzard's giving PC and Mac players double Rift Fragments and twice as much chance of looting a Legendary item. That's a nice buff to keep running until 5AM PT/8AM ET on May 22, isn't it? So, make a wish, blow out your candles, and go play nice with Torchlight 2. [Image: Activision-Blizzard]
Double rift fragments and your chance to find legendaries in Diablo III this week
Diablo III is two years old today. To celebrate, Blizzard is doubling the chance to find legendary items and rift fragments. The promotion begins today at 3:00 p.m. EDT and ends next Thursday, May 22nd, at 8:00 a.m. EDT.
Diablo III: Reaper of Souls comes to consoles in August
Diablo III: Reaper of Souls will be making its way to consoles in just a few short months, on August 19. The console edition of the popular expansion allows you to play with up to four players on one TV screen. The console release, called the Ultimate Evil Edition, includes all content in the Reaper of Souls expansion set as well as Acts I through IV of the original release. In addition, players that pre-order the Ultimate Evil Edition will receive a pair of Infernal Pauldrons, wearable at level 1 and providing some pretty cool bonuses as well as just looking sharp. The Ultimate Evil Edition will be available for PS4, PS3, Xbox One and Xbox 360 consoles, with a suggested retail price of $59.99 USD for the PS4/Xbox One editions, and $39.99 for the PS3/Xbox 360 editions. Keep an eye out at your local retailers for more pre-order information, and get ready to storm Westmarch with your friends, from the comfort of your living room couch.
Diablo 3: Ultimate Evil Edition reaps into consoles in August
Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls - Ultimate Evil Edition is coming to PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PS3 on August 19, Blizzard announced this morning. The action-RPG's new console edition includes the Reaper of Souls expansion, and represents the debut of Diablo 3 on Microsoft and Sony's new systems. It's priced $60 on PS4 and Xbox One, $40 on Xbox 360 and PS3, and pre-orders include "Infernal Pauldrons" for players to equip and look all Infernal in. Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls launched for PC and Mac in March, and it rocketed up to 2.7 million sales in its first week. Our review said the game's new Loot 2.0 system has its biggest impact in the expansion's Adventure Mode. "Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls doesn't reinvent the wheel in the dungeon crawling genre – it reinvents Diablo 3 itself," wrote Joystiq's Xav de Matos. "Gone is the diabolical auction house, replaced with a better loot system that rewards a player's loyalty. "While Loot 2.0 is available as a free update for Diablo 3, it's Adventure Mode that helps Reaper of Souls stand above the original. With its emphasis on getting directly into the action with no interruption, Reaper of Souls brings Diablo 3 back to basics: A mouse-breaking, loot-craving killfest to Hell and back." [Image: Activision-Blizzard]
Diablo III's Reaper of Souls coming to consoles in August
Diablo III's Reaper of Souls expansion is coming to consoles on August 19th. "By summer's end you'll face off against Death himself," Blizzard says, "with up to four players banding together on a single TV screen." The Ultimate Evil edition will set you back $59.99 on the PS4 and Xbox One or $39.99 on the PS3 and Xbox 360.
First wave of BlizzCon tickets sold out
Tickets for BlizzCon 2014 have sold out! Well, the first round of tickets have, anyway. It's estimated that this first offering sold out in five to 10 seconds, according to our sister site WoW Insider. Past BlizzCons have seen similar ticket sales, and this year is already showing that Blizzard's still got it. If you happened to blink at any time yesterday, you can still try for round two this Saturday at 10:00 a.m. PDT (1:00 p.m. EDT).
Blizzard debuts Diablo 3's Theorycraft Thursdays
Theorycraft Thursdays is a new feature over on the Diablo 3 official website that highlights interesting player-submitted builds in the game. Today's inaugural post features an "Unholy" monk build from Diablo player ZiPS#1834, a fun attempt to turn the monk class on its head. ZiPS explains that the inspiration for the build came from "the idea to stack many 'Chance on Hit' effects with Life on Hit and a fair bit of Attack Speed," as well as a way to make the most of the Legendary effect from Andariel's Visage. The article details the list of active and passive abilities, plus items required to fit the build, and explains which abilities synergize well with each other and with different armor pieces. There are also a list of build variations, which offer suggestions on how to focus on different aspects of the build such as crowd control, high damage, or greed. If you're a Diablo 3 player who's interested in some outside-the-box builds for your monk, this would be a great place to start. I think it's fascinating that Theorycraft Thursdays has opened with such a unique idea, and I'm looking forward to seeing what its next installment brings.
Breakfast Topic: The features you want from other games
I've been playing a lot of Diablo 3 lately, which means that when I hop back into World of Warcraft I really miss how awesome my D3 character always looks. The art style of the two games is very different, and some players will like one more than the other -- but mostly I miss the ability to customize my look to be exactly what I want it to be. D3 has dyes -- including a vanishing dye that makes armor pieces invisible -- that lets you control the color of every piece of armor you wear. And as if that isn't enough, you can also transmogrify the look of armor or weapon into any other armor or weapon that you have ever had. I weep just thinking of the bag space that would be saved if I didn't have to hold on to every piece of armor with an interesting look or color. But for those who care less about transmog that's probably not a compelling feature set -- so tell us, readers, what features from other games (Blizzard or otherwise) do you wish World of Warcraft would adopt?
Diablo III: Reaper of Souls soundtrack available on iTunes
Sure, Diablo III: Reaper of Souls has the perfect soundtrack when you're playing Diablo III. But what can you do when you're not playing the game but you're just out reaping souls on your own time? You can't hum the songs; you'll just look like an idiot. Well, don't despair, because you can now purchase the expansion's soundtrack on iTunes and forever have access to the perfect reaping music in your day-to-day life. The full soundtrack can be purchased for $9.99 and contains 22 tracks with a total running time of just over an hour. Clips are available on the official page in case you just want a couple of tunes and aren't quite sure what they're called; at 22 tracks, though, it's almost more economical to just buy the whole thing.
