Just a little lol @ blizzard

[FattyXP]

From the 15 year anniversary page for Diablo 3...:

9/9/1997
Diablo II announced and estimated to be released in 1998

One timeline bubble

Next timeline bubble:

3/31/2000
Diablo II beta begins

just lol.

and more recently:

6/28/2008
Diablo III announced at the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational in Paris, showing off the barbarian and witch doctor classes

9/20/2011
Diablo III beta test begins

Right on schedule! lol

[PizzaSHARK]

Haha, yep, that's about how things work.

I wanna see one for Valve. We've been waiting on Episode Three for how many years now?

[FattyXP]

The worst part is, they had something polished enough to show class previews and the like... and it took them 3 years to finally come out with the beta, which isn't even the full game either.
But honestly I see how the betas work for blizzard, they finish the game, then allow beta testing to work out the final bugs so they don't have to pay people, they get paid by us to bug test the game.

[Deleted]

Lol Guess they've been too busy with wow and expansions etc etc.

[FattyXP]

Lol Guess they've been too busy with wow and expansions etc etc.

Well during wow SC2 came out, and Diablo 3 is almost done... so they can't be that busy =-)
I think they just like milking the cow that much more, why come out with the next big thing when we keep paying for the same old same old? right?

They basically had subscriptions with D2, just do another banwave on maphacks or bots and wham, subscription fees. ie buying another copy of the game when you got banned, I'm not gunna lie, I personally bought 12 copies of the game because of EasyMap, lol.

[asharia]

wouldnt, with the speed technology moves these days, the coding and development they did 3 years ago be outdated by the time beta comes around?

[Skelington]

Lol Guess they've been too busy with wow and expansions etc etc.

Different teams make the games.

[FattyXP]

wouldnt, with the speed technology moves these days, the coding and development they did 3 years ago be outdated by the time beta comes around?

Art would be, but code is generally 'Universal' to a point. When you talk about DirectX, most of the time there isn't much change required to get something working in the newest version (major version I mean, like adding DX11 in wow), and then you just add a little bit more for the extra bells and whistles the new version has like shaders and whatnot.

It holds true for PC gaming, not so much for console gaming. You spend too long developing a console game and the only thing you can use if they come out with a new system is MAYBE the artwork, if its got enough definition for the new system. This actually happened to Shenmue I think, originally designed for the Saturn but ended up finally getting released for the Dreamcast.
We'll see how much that changes in the future with how much more like PC's consoles become... (IE like running DirectX or perhaps an Android powered console O.O)

[Lapetos]

Different teams make the games.

Woah shouldn't that be "Skelington knows different teams make the games". First time I've seen you post without mentioning yourslf in the third person!

[Arachnan]

I'd much rather wait some extra months/years and almost be guaranteed a great game, rather than rushing it out with tons of flaws still present.

"It's done when it's done."

You don't like Blizzard, and that's fine, but there's no need for another "lol blizzard sucks" thread.

[huangzhong9]

yeah, these things do take time...Luckily for them no matter how long it takes it will be the biggest thing since squeezable jelly bottles.

[Moucalgeon]

lol, thats pretty awesome. Though judging on what Metzen said in his interview about it being almost done, we can expect its release to be Soon(tm)

[PizzaSHARK]

Woah shouldn't that be "Skelington knows different teams make the games". First time I've seen you post without mentioning yourslf in the third person!

Skellington did not refer to himself at any point in that post. There'd be no need to include it; since he's posting it, it's logical to assume he's stating his opinion.

[inux94]

Blizzard time: Soon™

[FattyXP]

I'd much rather wait some extra months/years and almost be guaranteed a great game, rather than rushing it out with tons of flaws still present.

"It's done when it's done."

You don't like Blizzard, and that's fine, but there's no need for another "lol blizzard sucks" thread.

Its not a blizzard sucks thread bro, I'm a blizzard fanboy. Was just lol'n at how its taken 3 years to see a beta after the original announcement of the games.

[skylla05]

The worst part is, they had something polished enough to show class previews and the like... and it took them 3 years to finally come out with the beta, which isn't even the full game either.

It's extremely easy to take a model in a closed environment, spawn a couple mobs, fire off a few abilities, and have it look "finished".

It's a wondrous concept called editing. You should attend a live audience television show sometime, and see how unfinished/pieced together it seems. Honestly, for a lot of people it kills the effect of watching the show because you can see everything, you see casting calls, getting into position, actors waiting, multiple takes etc.

And I have to agree with your point. Blizzard should stop announcing games 3+ years in advance. But with how small their game library actually is, I understand why they do it.

[Caiada]

Its not a blizzard sucks thread bro, I'm a blizzard fanboy. Was just lol'n at how its taken 3 years to see a beta after the original announcement of the games.

Indeed, it's pretty funny. It's basically just like Valve Time, and for the most part, nobody faults their games either.

[Azidonis]

I hear they are changing the title of Diablo III...

They are changing it to Diablo III: Ghost.

[LegitNapkins]

Maybe they're just biding time to make more hype for it. Or the years of development are just trying to make it seem like an old nostalgia thing since the previous one is so old, giving it tons of more sales?

I know nothing of marketing though so hey.

[Baygon]

pretty sure Blizzard is aiming for a global release for Diablo 3 and since south korea arn't too keen on the gambling aspects of the game they arn't too keen on giving the game a rating, which is causing all these constant delays