Diablo 3, Comics

[Boubouille]

Diablo 3 (Zomg !!!!)
I don't have time to answer all my mails lately (and if you think I forgot to answer something important, just mail again). This week end was a problem because I had to answer 17 mails about Diablo 3, it's not that I don't like the game, but I don't really see why everyone went berserk in the middle of august with absolutely nothing new about the game in the last month. I guess it's time for a short explanation.

Box art
A lot of site used a potential box art to announce that it would be shown at the Games Convention. This box art is a 2 years old fake and was first posted on a korean website in 2005. (And was reported on a lot of sites like kotaku.com)

Recruitment
A month ago, Blizzard confirmed that they were working on a secret project and updated the job application page with tons of things. Well ... It shows that they're working on a new game, which isn't very surprising since it's what they did for the past fifteen years, but I doubt they created enough content on Diablo 3 to show anything one month later at the Game Convention.

Registered domains
www.diablo3.eu is probably the most popular, because it is registered by Blizzard and shows a 403 error (like the WotLK page before the release). The only problem with that is the fact that www.diablo4.eu, www.starcraft3.eu, www.worldofwarcraft2.eu, and www.warcraft4.eu are also registered by Blizzard and shows a 403 error.

Hints from various artists
Richard A. Knaak hinted that he "wasn't writing for a dead game" when asked if his book could have an impact on Diablo 3 storyline.
There is a 2007 artwork of Diablo on Sonsofthestorms.com (Samwise Didier's site). If you check the previous artworks, you'll see covers from the books written by Knaak, we can assume it was made later. (And it was actually used on the Blizzcon brochure)

Conclusion
Diablo 3 is under development, of course. Why the hell wouldn't they use something as popular (and great) as Diablo to create new games ? But I don't see any reason to announce anything about an online game one month after WotLK, they'll probably just do it during one of the next Blizzcon. (and by the way, keep in mind that the Games Convention will have a WotLK trailer)

No more mails about it, please, however you're free to mail me to tell me that I'm nice.

Comics

[overneathe]

I love you Boub. One thing though and please right this in the review. That box art is from around 2005 because it is a moch cover which is obviously stated on the image itself. :]

[valeea]

you are nice

[Ama]

But I don't see any reason to announce anything about an online game one month after WotLK, they'll probably just do it during one of the next Blizzcon. (and by the way, keep in mind that the Games Convention will have a WotLK trailer)

erm, I maybe reading it wrong, but are you suggesting that D3 is another online game? and if so, may I ask why?

they announced SC2 at WWI, WotLK on Blizzcon, and upcoming GC in Leipzig is perfect place I guess to reveal their third project. if not, then why even admit that they're developing it?

[overneathe]

Diablo is not going MMO Boub, that I am certain. :]
RPG yes, most probably. Online play - of course. Online only? Never.

[Coocks]

No more mails about it, please, however you're free to mail me to tell me that I'm nice.

Your nice.

[Boubouille]

Diablo 3 will be an online game because huh ... that's the way diablo is ? :/ nobody cared about the offline Diablo 2. Of course it won't be a MMO.

And most important is, there is absolutely nothing for the moment saying that they will announce it at the GC. It's just some random guy who found diablo3.eu and went crazy.

[Ama]

And most important is, there is absolutely nothing for the moment saying that they will announce it at the GC. It's just some random guy who found diablo3.eu and went crazy.

you're funny, you know that? first time I heard about diablo3.eu, it was Blizzplanet actually, so unless you think about some other crazy guy, I'd say Medievaldragon is not crazier (<- can I say that?) than you was, back then WotLK site become forbidden.

[overneathe]

Diablo 3 will be an online game because huh ... that's the way diablo is ? :/ nobody cared about the offline Diablo 2. Of course it won't be a MMO.

And most important is, there is absolutely nothing for the moment saying that they will announce it at the GC. It's just some random guy who found diablo3.eu and went crazy.

I never actually played online. 2 years offline. :]
I support the lower statement completely tho.

[Deleted]

I can't see another free battle.net nor any product similar to WoW in the near future.
Imho Diablo 3 will be the next gen Blizzard MMO: WotLK in 2008, Lvl 90 in 2009, Lvl 100 (End of WoW) in 2010 and Diablo3 in 2011.

[robosatan]

WoW is dying, I don't mean we're going to need realm merges any time soon but the player base has probably peaked and will only see a decline from now on. With Age of Conan and Warhammer Online due for release in the not so distant future Blizzard need to start making their back up plan and personaly, I think it's going to be either a Diablo or Starcraft. Blizzard simply are making too much money out of monthly charges to focus on free multiplayer games like the current Diablo, Warcraft or Starcraft series.

If they choose to make a Diablo game I expect it'd be a lot like Dungeon and Dragons online. A purely instanced game that caters for both group and single play, with a considerable of number of instances but likely more lengthy than the DND Online ones. The problem I see with a Diablo MMO though is it would be too much like Warcraft and every other MMO at the moment. You see with the exception of a few *every* mmo released at the moment is fantasy based and even then, while I'd probably play a Diablo MMO, other than a new world and theme what can Blizzard actually do with Diablo that would be new? A lot of the core gameplay mechanics in WoW are taken from Diablo, while it would be fun, would it be different? And as I said earlier, Age of Conan and Warhammer Online are coming out pretty soon, so in my mind Blizzard will play their trump card, a Sci-Fi MMO or more specifically "Galaxy of Starcraft".

Ok, sure there have been Sci-Fi MMO's, but most... i mean... both of them sucked. Starwars galaxies has flopped and EVE Online while an MMO isn't really in the same genre. Not only will they have a lot of lore once SC2 and it's innevitable expansion are released, but it will also be completely different from 99% of the MMO's out there. With the love and nurturing Blizzard develop their games with, this game would once again steal the entire MMO market, you just can't beat being different to everybody when it comes parting gamers with their money.

Anyhow, that's why I don't think we'll see Diablo as an upcoming title for quite some time. Sci-Fi is just too much of a niché market for Blizzard to ignore at the moment, let's just hope it doesn't take too many WoW expansions to make!

[Juju]

All I'll say is a Diablo3 sounds good to me and I can't wait to try it out ;-)