Diablo 3
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Blizzard's Wilson: Some Battle.net features to be 'monetized'
Speaking at yesterday's Diablo III Gameplay panel, Blizzard's Jay Wilson was asked one of the questions that's been hiding in the back of all of our brains, "Is Battle.Net going to remain free?"His response probably wasn't what you'd want to hear. "We are looking to monetize Battle.Net so that we get to keep making these games and updating features," said Wilson. "We kind of have to." He went on to say that they do recognize that everyone loves having it as a free service, and that they don't have a strong desire to make a subscription-based game. What does that mean for our beloved free online gaming service? We're hoping to find out when we talk to Blizzard bigwig Rob Pardo later this afternoon.
BlizzCon 2008: Diablo III Wizard cinematic and new screenshots
Here's the piping-hot new cinematic video for the Wizard class in Diablo III, straight from BlizzCon. This leads us to suspect that each class will get its own cinematic, possibly as they approach the Sanctuary instance near the beginning of the game. There are several Wizard-specific CGI moments and gameplay shots in a sort of "coming up this season on Diablo III" format.Below you can check out the new gallery of screenshots from Diablo III, featuring new shots of the Wizard, Barbarian, and Witch Doctor. Enjoy the goodies, and keep checking back for more info.%Gallery-34203%
BlizzCon press conference with Mike Morhaime
Mike Morhaime held a press conference earlier this afternoon, which WoW Insider was able to attend. I arrived a little late since it started before I finished up the UI panel liveblog, but I managed to catch a majority of the Q&A. Unlike the various panels, most of these questions were aimed at the philosophy and business model at Blizzard. How they've operated in the past, and how they'll operate in the future.BlizzCon itself came up a lot throughout the conference, the big question being will this BlizzCon be a letdown? There haven't been any major announcements. Announcements, sure, but nothing on the scale of Starcraft II or Diablo III. Mike Morhaime actually seemed most excited about this particular BlizzCon, because it isn't just showcasing one game. All three of their primary franchises have something new on the way, and fans of all of those games are in attendance. Beyond that, he believes the community is extremely important, and gatherings like BlizzCon are important as well. Blizzard themselves were blown away by just how many people were trying to attend the convention this time around. The number of hopefuls completely dwarfed both last year's BlizzCon and the more recent Worldwide Invitational. Will BlizzCon continue to be an annual event? Maybe. They'll focus on this weekend first, and then they'll start talking about next year once it's through.What I found most interesting, though? Morhaime was asked what the most unusual, off the wall concepts they had for a game that simply did not work out. He mentioned a game titled Nomad that Blizzard was developing after Starcraft was first released. A game they had never mentioned or announced until now. It was a post-apocalyptic style setting, but each day they sat down to work on it, it was with a little trepidation. Eventually they asked themselves, "If we were going to work on just one project today, would it be Nomad or would it be something else?" They went with something else. That something else was World of Warcraft.
Watch: Diablo 3's Wizard
We've always admired that certain finesse -- a commitment to craft, if you will -- about the wizard that's missing from the careless hacks of a barbarian. Well, just see for yourself.%Gallery-34209%
BlizzCon 2008: Opening ceremonies liveblog
10:55am: Waiting anxiously for the show to begin. The crowd is excited and ready for a big announcement. WoW movie announcement? Mobile game announcement? Your guess is as good as mine.More after the jump.Update: It's over, and the only real announcement we heard was that Diablo 3 has a new class: the Wizard. Stay tuned all day for more news from BlizzCon, including the WoW UI/Addons panel, a classes panel (always fun), and lots of news from the show floor. And have you seen the costume gallery yet?
Joystiq hands-on: Diablo 3 and the Wizard class
Click for full, hi-res gallery var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/Hands_on_with_Diablo_3_Wizard_class'; That's right, Diablo III. We jumped on one of the machines made available to the press, and hacked and blasted away until the intense stares stabbing daggers of "GIVE ME A TURN" forced us back. We'll spend a lot more time with this over the weekend, but for now here's the skinny.First up was the "Choose Your Class" screen, which made us pee our pants when we first saw it. Six classes! Right?! Well, no. That's a male and a female of each class. The male wizard was ghosted out and nonselectable for some reason, leaving (from left to right) female wizard, female Barbarian, male Barbarian, male Witch Doctor, and female Witch Doctor. The other classes will be revealed (we hope) this weekend, and they seem to look like (we think) an Amazon and an Assassin for the other two unrevealed classes.%Gallery-34203%
Diablo 3 Wizard class revealed [update]
Click for full, hi-res gallery Blizzard has revealed the third (of five total) classes for Diablo 3: the Wizard. According to the press release, "A wielder of the elements and a master manipulator of time, the wizard can hurl environment-shattering lightning bolts, channel explosive arcane energies, and create pockets of space outside the normal temporal flow." The class, along with Barbarian and Witch Doctor, will be playable this weekend at BlizzCon. Update: We originally stated that six classes were shown on the character select screen. A pox on us, it was just the male-female counterparts. Image of character select after the break.Update: Check out our hands-on of the game and the new Wizard class -- plus the first gameplay footage.%Gallery-34203%
BlizzCon 2008: All Blizzard games playable including Diablo 3
Though the WoW Insider team has arrived en masse to cover all things WoW at BlizzCon 2008, our eyes can't help but wander over what other shiny offerings Blizzard has to display. Our sister sites Joystiq and Big Download will be covering Starcraft II and Diablo 3 extensively, but having already been to the Anaheim Convention Center today to get our press badges we couldn't help but notice in the program (see above) that a playable demo of Diablo 3 will be available for the first time.Don't worry we won't let it distract us from -- is that the new class for Diablo 3? It's class weapon does what?? Shoot witches!? Sorry. What were we saying?
Diablo 3 playable at BlizzCon 2008
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/Diablo_3_will_be_playable_at_BlizzCon'; Our cohorts at WoW Insider just called to brag that, according to the official BlizzCon paperwork, Diablo 3 will be playable at demo stations this weekend. If you're one of the lucky ones to get through the ticketing process, we have a good feeling what line you'll be waiting in the longest. Stay tuned for more coverage from this weekend's Blizzard Extravaganza.Updates: Check out our hands-on with the newly-unveiled Wizard class.%Gallery-34203%%Gallery-26348%
WoW Insider's BlizzCon Bingo 2008
Our BlizzCon Bingo game is back for its second year -- last year whether you won or not depended on what you saw, but people mostly were able to complete the necessary five across, with or without the help of the free space. This year, things are a little tougher, mostly because we just don't know what Blizzard is going to do -- will they announce the third expansion? Will they announce a new IP? Will they announce anything, or just treat the whole weekend as a Wrath preview?Whatever happens, make sure you print out your bingo card before you go, and then throughout the weekend, cross off everything that you see on there. If, by the end of the weekend, you've nabbed five across, you win! And while last year, all you won was the satisfaction of seeing something cool, well heck, let's throw something else into the mix -- if you're the first person to personally show me a completed bingo card by the end of the convention, I'll have a prize waiting for you.And no cheating! Trust us, there'll be plenty of Paladin complaining at the Q&As -- you won't have to go do it yourself.
WoW Moviewatch: The Rumpus Machine
The Rumpus Machine is the latest offering from Oblivious Films, of The Grind fame. It's the story of what happens when an easily-frightened dwarf and his friends stumble upon a "metal pig" which seems to grant their every wish. It's not a follow-up to The Grind storyline, but rather a new, self-contained story. It's kinda like what O. Henry would have written if he'd only lightened up a bit. The moviemaking here is top notch and the storytelling is quite funny with everything from sexy dancing girls to throwback dungeons. Make sure you stick around throughout the entire credits roll for some final jokes at the end.Drew "Drewbie" Syring from Oblivious tells Moviewatch that Macheath made this film for the BlizzCon machinima contest and, for you Diablo III fans, "yes, that is really the real Deckard Cain who was kind enough to lend his voice talents to our production." How'd they manage it? Just watch it, you'll see.Updated: In case it wasn't clear to anyone who watched the film: The filmmakers want you to know that they got the actual voice actor for Deckard Cain to perform in their film.[Via Vimeo]If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.Previously on Moviewatch ...
Rumor: Diablo 3 will arrive before StarCraft 2
We don't know who the staffers of BattleForums are friends with at Blizzard, but suffice to say we want to meet them. The site says a source at the company let it slip that Diablo 3 would actually arrive before the previously announced StarCraft 2, saying: "[Starcraft 2] is still being worked on, but only by a minuscule [sic] amount of people compared to what [Blizzard] put on the Diablo 3 team."So, if true (and Blizzard is hardly going to confess), is this good news for you? Bad? Which Blizzard project has you popping in your Index Fingers of Steel VHS in anticipation?
Blizzcast #5 takes care of post-Worldwide Invitational 2008 business
The latest Blizzcast is live! This fifth outing is the post-Worldwide Invitational episode. The bulk of its running time is dedicated to Diablo 3. If you're interested in that pseudo-MMO, action-RPG goodness, then there is a ton of information in there. Diablo 3 Community Manager Bashiok interviews Lead Designer Jay Wilson about the game. It's detailed stuff (e.g., several minutes dedicated to Blizzard's reasons for abandoning the grid-like inventory management of the earlier Diablo games), so Blizzard fans should check it out.Of course, here at Massively we have a special interest in World of Warcraft. We're sad to report that Blizzcast #5 is a little light on WoW or Wrath of the Lich King discussion. Community Manager Nethaera participates in the first half of the podcast, and she talks a little bit about WotLK, but she mostly shares in the post-Diablo 3 announcement glee. One of Azeroth's millions of citizens? Check out our ongoing coverage of the World of Warcraft, and be sure to touch base with our sister site WoW Insider for all your Lich King needs!
BlizzCon 2008 panel list revealed
Now that the scramble for tickets is over, it remains for the wounded and battered veterans of the battle against the Fail Murloc to gird themselves and march forward, looking for succor where they can get it. Luckily, a list of panels for BlizzCon 2008 has been released, giving us something awesome to look forward to as we count down the days. For those of you who can't make it, be sure to check WoW Insider. We'll have liveblogs and notes from each WoW panel so you'll know exactly what was said and how it will affect your gameplaying experience. For the Diablo III and Starcraft II stuff, you'll be able to get the same treatment from our sister site, Joystiq. Check after the break for a complete list of panel titles.
BlizzCon tickets are sold out. Like, totally, for realz
Just stop hitting F5 because it's not going to make a difference now: BlizzCon tickets are sold out. Done, finished, finito, cashed. As thousands tried to grab one of the $100 tickets, the BlizzCon site buckled under the hordes of people, Orcs, Night Elves and Gnomes, but it's all over now.Blizzard says that the event will be broadcast on DirecTV, but if you just have to be there, we're sure tickets will soon be available on eBay and other fine second-hand websites. It might be time for Actilizzard to start thinking about holding this thing at the Los Angeles Convention Center (or someplace a little bigger than the Anaheim Convention Center), for the sake of all those sad Pandarens who couldn't get tickets.
Shockingly, Blizzard has 'plans beyond' Diablo III
var digg_url = 'http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/12/shockingly-blizzard-has-plans-beyond-diablo-iii/'; We rather like trilogies. Not only are they narratively neat, allowing us to indulge in our favorite characters and universes just long enough, but they bring things to a close before the roman numerals get all complicated with incomprehensible Vs an Ms and stuff. Letters for counting? Ridiculous!Despite this bothersome mental hurdle, developer Blizzard remains unrepentant when delving into the rich fantasy world it has crafted for Diablo. While the upcoming, artistically controversial three-I'd installment brings the trilogy's story of demonic overlords and highly uncomfortable facial jewelry to an end, it'll leave the portal open for future games, lead designer Jay Wilson tells MTV Multiplayer. "We're not saying this is the end of the 'Diablo' universe, but we are trying to bring this storyline to a close," says Wilson. "It's not just 'Diablo III' - we've got plans beyond."Oh, and don't even bother submitting "World of Diablo." The commenter above you already did.
'Bulk' of BlizzCon tickets sold out, remainder go on sale at 11pm ET tonight
As of 3:50 PM ET according to the World of Warcraft forums, Blizzard reinstated the BlizzCon ticket sales after "murloc failing" the first time earlier this week. But within 30 minutes the Blizzard store was listing the tickets as sold out ... then it came back up ... and now it's sold out again. Additionally, there are a few unverified reports of credit cards being double- and triple-charged without even receiving confirmation of a ticket.While you shake your Epic Fists of Anger (with +2 fire damage) at them for yet another botched launch, our calmer friends at WoW Insider remind us that Worldwide Invitational tickets sold in multiple rounds and that more BlizzCon tickets -- with hopefully less technical malfunction / malfeasance -- could be given out at a later date. For a more detailed chronicling of the BlizzCon ticket drama, check out WoW Insider.Update: A WoW forum poster is reporting that a billing service rep is telling her that the tickets are being sold in phases at the moment to keep up with order processes and that it's going to cycle between "sold out" and "available" repeatedly today until they really do sell out. When you're not busy refreshing the Blizzard store listing, practice typing in your account information really fast.Update 2: Blizzard has posted an official statement on their website: "The bulk of the BlizzCon tickets we had available were sold out within minutes of ticket sales going live again this afternoon. We have a small reserve of tickets left -- to make these available to some of you who might not have had a chance to purchase yet, we will be releasing the remaining reserve tickets for sale tonight, August 12, at 8:00 PM PDT. We appreciate the enthusiasm everyone has shown, and wish we were able to accommodate even more attendees at this year's BlizzCon."
What we're expecting from BlizzCon
As we announced earlier, BlizzCon tickets are on sale. Sort of. Kind of. If you can fight past the store servers. I know I've been getting nothing but the fail murloc pretty much all day. Still, I and the rest of WoW Insider's crack live team will be there come hell or high water, and we'll bring you the news you need to know. In the meantime, we're stuck here refreshing the Blizzard Store. To pass the time, we did a bit of speculation about what we might see in Anaheim on October 10th and 11th. Here's what we decided: What we're sure to see The Wrath of the Lich King Cinematic: Though we still have no solid announcement, Blizzard's already stated that they want to get Wrath out before 2008 is up. Considering that, they must have the opening cinematic pretty close to done. I would be surprised if we don't see it open the opening ceremony, to be completely honest. I'm expecting Arthas and/or a "rebel" Human Death Knight to feature prominently, as well as our first cinematic Gnome shot.
Diablo 3 lead: Necromancer, other classes could return
When Diablo 3's Witch Doctor class was revealed, many of you -- at least one-fourth, by our estimates -- decried the perceived loss of the D2 Necromancer. Keep hope alive, True Believers, because D3 lead designer Jay Wilson tells MTV Multiplayer that it's still possible he'll rise from the dead. Wilson admits that the dev team was divided on the topic of bringing back classes. "But after we've established Diablo 3 as its own game with its own type of gameplay and experiences," he said, "I wouldn't be opposed to looking at old classes ... We're looking out ahead of time at what our expansions are going to be, so we've got to keep room open for some of those other classes down the road." Wilson also said they designed the Witch Doctor so there would be room for the Necromancer. Now that we've got that settled, you can go back to complaining over the art style.
Diablo III art director leaves Blizzard, game's visual style to be 'maintained'
Blizzard has confirmed that Brian Morrisroe, the art director on Diablo III, has resigned from the company. Morrisroe was the driving for behind the game's fan-lamented visual style, but Blizzard assured MTV Multiplayer in an email that any outcry over color and rainbows in the world of Diablo had nothing to do with his departure."Regarding Brian, he recently resigned to form a startup technology company (outside the game industry)," the email read, continuing, "This change won't impact the game ... we're really pleased with the look and feel that Brian helped create for Diablo III, and the new person we bring onboard will work with the other artists on the team to maintain the art style moving forward." Funny – the job posting doesn't mention anything about "must own fire-retardant undergarments" or "must possess an ability to weather fans' lamentations over your use of a color palette." Oh well, whoever Blizzard hires will find out soon enough.[Via MTV]
