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Diablo was once considered for an MMO, but no longer
In many ways Diablo III seemed like the sort of game that would lead naturally into an MMO for the franchise. The online functionality is there, the options are there, and it's not as if Blizzard's big MMO didn't derive quite a bit from the framework of Diablo II, after all. But according to content designer Kevin Martens, there are no current plans to take the franchise into an MMO space, even though there were plans to do exactly that not too long ago. The original thinking was that Diablo III would be the sort of game that could evolve its setting to a point where an MMO felt organic, natural, and appropriate. However, a shift in corporate culture and overall development focus cut those plans short before they went much further than discussion. Seeing how players enjoy Diablo III and what they like about the game has resulted in a shift in focus with more future content for the game... but no MMO exploration.
Diablo III's lead designer says offline mode was 'wrong', reaffirms online requirement
If you've been holding out hope that Blizzard would cave in and offer an offline mode on the PC for Diablo III with its Reaper of Souls expansion, don't hold your breath. A recent dev interview really put the kibosh on that idea: Lead designer Kevin Martens stated pretty clearly that dividing the community into online and offline groups is not now, nor will it be, in the cards. When asked about the offline mode in Diablo II, he pointed out that the community back then was very unhappy about that division and added: "That was the wrong choice to allow people to play offline, and we still stand by that. And we think Internet access is widespread. If someone has no Internet access, then yeah, Diablo III is not the game for them." In the interview, Martens and Art Director Christian Lichtner also talked about the direction of Diablo's III and the game's economy sans auction house -- notably, that stockpiling items before the change won't give much of an advantage because the post 2.0 patch economy will be full of new items that can be acquired only through play.
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.
Blizzard interview: Leo Boyarsky and Kevin Martens on Diablo 3
We know that we've been fire-hosing Diablo 3 information on you, but keep those raincoats zipped because there's more incoming. In fact, we sat down with Leon Boyasrsky, lead world designer, and Kevin Martens, lead content artist, at BlizzCon. While they didn't drop any deafening secrets on us like ZOMG what the final class will be, they did go into further detail about the game.Read on through for the full interview, and imagine what it'll be like if Martens gets his dream wish and they stick a Sideshow Collectibles Barbarian statue inside the Collector's Edition of the game. The chances of that actually happening are pretty much zero, but still ... we can dream.%Gallery-70687%
