Originally Posted by Blizzard Press Release

Diablo III is being developed as the definitive action role-playing game, and a true continuation of the Diablo series. Players will create a hero from one of five distinct classes, such as barbarian or witch doctor, each equipped with an array of spells and abilities. As these heroes adventure through rich and varied settings, unraveling an epic storyline and engaging in combat with hordes of monsters and challenging bosses, they’ll grow in experience and ability and acquire items of incredible power.

The game takes place on Sanctuary, a world of dark fantasy. Unbeknownst to most of its inhabitants, Sanctuary was saved some twenty years ago from the demonic forces of the underworld by a few brave and powerful heroes. Most of those warriors who directly faced Hell’s armies -- and were fortunate enough to survive -- went mad from their experiences. And most of the others have buried their haunted memories and pushed the horrors from their thoughts. In Diablo III, players will return to Sanctuary to confront evil in its many forms once again.

Diablo III will be a fitting sequel to Diablo II, with the easy interface, fast-paced action, and visceral gameplay that Diablo players have come to expect and enjoy. It will also include many new features that will take the Diablo action-RPG experience to the next level.

Features:

* Five powerful character classes to choose from, including the barbarian and witch doctor
* Brand-new 3D graphics engine enhanced with spectacular visual effects and Havok physics
* Numerous indoor and outdoor areas detailing new regions in the world of Sanctuary
* Interactive environments with dangerous traps and obstacles, and destructible elements
* Randomly generated worlds bolstered by scripted events for endless and dynamic gameplay
* Vast assortment of fiendish monsters, with unique attack patterns and behaviors
* New quest system and character-customization options for the ultimate action RPG experience
* Multiplayer functionality over Battle.net with support for cooperative and competitive play

Originally Posted by Blizzard's FAQ

What is Diablo III?
We’re developing Diablo III to be the definitive action role-playing game, and a true continuation of the Diablo series. Players will create a hero from one of five distinct classes, such as barbarian or witch doctor, each equipped with an array of spells and abilities. As these heroes adventure through rich and varied settings, unraveling an epic storyline and engaging in combat with hordes of monsters and challenging bosses, they’ll grow in experience and ability and acquire items of incredible power.

The game takes place on Sanctuary, a world of dark fantasy. Unbeknownst to most of its inhabitants, Sanctuary was saved some twenty years ago from the demonic forces of the underworld by a few brave and powerful heroes. Most of those warriors who directly faced Hell’s armies -- and were fortunate enough to survive -- went mad from their experiences. And most of the others have buried their haunted memories and pushed the horrors from their thoughts. In Diablo III, players will return to Sanctuary to confront evil in its many forms once again.

Diablo III will be a fitting sequel to Diablo II, with the easy interface, fast-paced action, and visceral gameplay that Diablo players have come to expect and enjoy. It will also include many new features that will take the Diablo action-RPG experience to the next level. We look forward to going into much more detail on our plans for Diablo III as development on the game progresses.

What’s new about Diablo III compared to the previous Diablo games?
Exciting new classes like the witch doctor bring new gameplay options to the table. Returning classes, like the barbarian, have been completely redone with new skills to give them a feel unique to Diablo III. New customization options will provide for an even greater level of character specialization than the previous Diablo games, allowing the player to create unique characters brimming with power.

Diablo III is powered by a new graphics engine that can display characters and hordes of monsters in lush, fully 3D environments. Powerful special-effects systems and Havok-powered physics allow the player to lay waste to Hell’s minions in spectacular ways.

Also, Diablo III builds on the random environments of the previous Diablo games by introducing a host of new ways to create random scripted events throughout the game. This creates a dense and exciting world alive with quests, NPCs, dynamic encounters, and viciously challenging new monsters and bosses. Diablo III’s environments add a great deal of interactivity to the game, including destructible elements and environmental obstacles that can be turned against your enemies.

In addition, Diablo III will benefit from Battle.net upgrades that will provide some exciting new features for players. Cooperative online play remains a primary focus, with multiple enhancements being planned to make connecting with your friends easier and cooperative gameplay even more fun. We’ll have more details on all these aspects as well as other exciting new features at a later date.

Can you give an overview of Diablo III’s storyline?
It has been twenty years since the events of Diablo II. Of those who faced the Lords of Hatred, Terror, and Destruction in the battle over the fate of Sanctuary, there are few still living who can bear to remember the horrors that the Prime Evils wrought upon the world. And of those who did not witness the terrible events firsthand, most believe the stories to be little more than myth. But something evil is stirring once again in Tristram, and it may already have claimed its first victim: Deckard Cain.

Will there be any other familiar faces in Diablo III (other than Deckard Cain)?
Yes. Players will encounter several new characters as well as a number of characters from the previous games.

Will players be visiting any familiar locations in Diablo III, such as Tristram?
Yes, definitely. Players will return to Tristram and certain other locations from the previous games, and they’ll be exploring new areas of Sanctuary as well.

How many character classes are included in Diablo III? What are they?
Five character classes will be included in the game, two of which, the barbarian and witch doctor, were revealed when the game was announced at the 2008 Blizzard Entertainment Worldwide Invitational. The other classes will be announced at a later date.

Will players be able to choose the gender of their character, regardless of class?
Yes. Players will be able to create male and female characters for all five classes.

Will Diablo III be playable over Battle.net? What new features can we expect?
Yes, Diablo III will be playable over Battle.net, and Battle.net will offer some exciting new features to enhance players’ Diablo III experience. We’ll announce specifics and go into much more detail at a later date.

Will there be a single-player component in addition to multiplayer?
Yes. In addition to battling the hordes of Hell cooperatively with friends over Battle.net, players will be able to adventure through the world of Diablo III solo. More details on both the single-player and multiplayer experience will be revealed at a later date.

What will questing be like in Diablo III? Will it be similar to Diablo II?
Our plans for the story and quest mechanics are still under wraps. We’ll go into detail on those elements of the game at a later date. We can say, however, that we expect to have class-based quests in addition to the main story-line quests.

TECHNICAL ASPECTS
What engine is Diablo III running on? What graphical enhancements are included?
Diablo III runs on a custom 3D game engine for rendering full-3D characters and environments. The 3D game engine not only simulates advanced animation sequences and sound effects, but also uses a custom physics engine that allows for realistic object dynamics and cloth simulation.

What are the system requirements for Diablo III?
We’ll announce specific system requirements at a later date.

RELEASE PLANS
When will Diablo III be released?
It’s too early to estimate Diablo III’s release date. As with all Blizzard Entertainment games, our goal is to create a game that is as fun, balanced, and polished as possible. We intend to take as much time developing Diablo III as is necessary to ensure the game meets our own high expectations and those of our players.

Will the game be released in multiple countries? Will the release be simultaneous? Which countries and what languages will Diablo III be localized in?
As with all of our games, our goal with Diablo III is to release the game simultaneously in as many regions as possible, and to localize the game in several languages. We’ll have more details to share about countries, languages, and specific dates as we get closer to release.

Will Diablo III be available on Windows and Mac simultaneously?
Yes. As with all of Blizzard Entertainment’s recent releases, Diablo III will ship for both Windows and Mac simultaneously.

How much will Diablo III cost? Where can I buy this game?
Pricing and availability for Diablo III will be determined and announced closer to the release of the game.

Originally Posted by G51 (Post 9036557)

hmm never really got into diablo or wow..warcraft 3 is great though.

Originally Posted by Kaji (Post 9036601)

That's nice, but this is a thread about D3.

Originally Posted by peteo (Post 9036852)

But boy when it finally comes out, stock the fridge, Disconnect the phone, buy a 7 pack of underwear and stay locked in for some jizzing-good-gaming.

Originally Posted by Da Madness (Post 9036865)

Actually he will....we all will...

Originally Posted by peteo (Post 9036852)

But boy when it finally comes out, stock the fridge, Disconnect the phone, buy a 7 pack of underwear and stay locked in for some jizzing-good-gaming.

Originally Posted by booksacool1 (Post 9037997)

I'm starting D2 again. Whos with me?

Originally Posted by ScrumpyJim (Post 9038201)

i'm sort of wondering if it'll work with vista x64. I dont have the disc anymore, but if i knew it worked. I'd grab another battle chest from JB or something. I loved diablo, even though I had like 3 bots going 24/7 by the time i quit.

Originally Posted by Warpy (Post 9038227)

I have never played any of the Diablo series, do you think I need to catch up before I play this when it is released?

Originally Posted by Warpy (Post 9038227)

I have never played any of the Diablo series, do you think I need to catch up before I play this when it is released?

Originally Posted by KenZomgWtfBbq (Post 9038243)

Does Diablo 2 have LAN coop play?

Originally Posted by booksacool1 (Post 9038258)

Does it ever. Only way to play.
Actually B.Net coop is even better.

Installing now.

Originally Posted by Eggbert69 (Post 9038265)

CORRECT! Nothing is better than LAN D2, especially when you play hardcore chars, makes for some intense moments :P
I might install it too. Anyone wanna create a bunch of chars on B.net and play?

Originally Posted by Eggbert69 (Post 9038265)

CORRECT! Nothing is better than LAN D2, especially when you play hardcore chars, makes for some intense moments :P
I might install it too. Anyone wanna create a bunch of chars on B.net and play?

EDIT: Are skill trees still only once-choosable? Or can you reset them now? Thats the only thing I don't like, hope they get a system like Titan Quest where you can reset it.

Originally Posted by CautionAU (Post 9038462)

If starcraft 2 and diablo III come out at the same time, I'm deferring from uni the year it comes out.

Originally Posted by Kurosaki (Post 9036773)

I just want the cow level...... :Paranoid:

Originally Posted by chriz (Post 9039460)

Barbarian looks shit for us.

You have to 'avoid' attacks and then strike back. Good luck on American servers.

Originally Posted by firthy (Post 9039338)

My wife isnt happy right now. She can see me up till daylight on the PC again. It happened with both D1 and D2 hehe...Nothing changes lol.

Originally Posted by Sephyre (Post 9039492)

Amateur vid of the crowd going nuts: http://youtube.com/watch?v=1qSs6QdNxCQ

Originally Posted by booksacool1 (Post 9037997)

I'm starting D2 again. Whos with me?

Originally Posted by iinsom (Post 9041049)

wow

best news ive heard in a long time.

To be honest, i used to bot pretty frequently on d2, but thats only after i found out you could make some cash on the side :)

Originally Posted by Iceickle (Post 9041094)

Yah me too. I was one of the 'founding members' of d2jsp, before njag went crazy and started charging. Did you know that was originally an OPEN SOURCE project???! Those were pre 1.10 days, that was when I quit playing seriously. Oh well, made a few hundred off the game I played for endless hours... not a bad result. Oh wtf? no more maphack! that is shit!!

And we can look forward to the same thing for D3!

*busily starts designing his own D3 bot* :lol: J/K!

For the love of god PLEASE MAKE IT DUPE PROOF! thats what killed D2 for me.

Originally Posted by trickma (Post 9041133)

Haha yeah, the good old Soj being used as currency due to excessive dupes was quite hilarious.

Never saw one drop, yet i had about 20 :lol:

Originally Posted by Slidey (Post 9041278)

Yeah, duping stuffed the game up for me also. Spent hours trying to MF all the best gear. Only then to find out you could dupe and suddenly i had a grandfather sword, 20 sojs etc...stopped playing a week after that all happened. Also never saw a SOJ drop and i used to have the best MF gear.

Originally Posted by break (Post 9041189)

As a WoW junkie in a high end raiding guild, a massive starcraft fan, and a massive d2 fan.... I have no idea how I'm going to manage a social life over the next year with WotLK, Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3 all being released.

Originally Posted by Sebstar (Post 9041391)

This is so strange! I played countless hours MFing with my Sorc and I have never seen a SoJ drop either! I started to imagine them to be some mythical item that only spawned once and was just duped...

Originally Posted by Iceickle (Post 9041462)

All the years I played D2, i never actually used a dupe (not through lack of trying, either!) They always seemed to be private. I seem to remember some sort of dupe involving gold? Maybe I used that one ... :)

I think I found a few SOJ's, but never any SOJ rings. Actually now that I think of it, when I saw the amount of white items with rediculous stats, thats when I decided to stop.

Me and a friend were teamed up in this game, combined accounts. He called me at 8am very excited one morning, "ZOMGZOMGZOMG! WE GOT A WINDFORCE!#@$&*#$" ... It was pretty early in the morning, i was too tired to care. "great thanks. now we are rich" *hangup*. the Windforce bow was the rarest item in the game at that point, pindlebot had pulled through :D i think our combined wealth was around 500soj rings at that point. livin the high life!!!

Originally Posted by funniboi (Post 9041644)

I've never played any diablo games before, but fuck me dead after browsing the official site, and watching the video, i want to play it!

from previous experience, was diablo 2 a "pay by the month" game like WoW, or was it like starcraft where you just buy the game and bang, away you go?


Man, this is just bloody awesome, because as a WoW player, I wasn't really impressed with the latest updates/news for WotlK.

Originally Posted by funniboi (Post 9041644)

I've never played any diablo games before, but fuck me dead after browsing the official site, and watching the video, i want to play it!

from previous experience, was diablo 2 a "pay by the month" game like WoW, or was it like starcraft where you just buy the game and bang, away you go?


Man, this is just bloody awesome, because as a WoW player, I wasn't really impressed with the latest updates/news for WotlK.

Originally Posted by funniboi (Post 9041644)

from previous experience, was diablo 2 a "pay by the month" game like WoW, or was it like starcraft where you just buy the game and bang, away you go?

Originally Posted by SaMbO (Post 9042815)

I know what you're saying sundrifter...
i give $15 you give me banana?

i've said it before and i'll say it again:
i'll happily pay for anti-cheat tools, updates, in game support.
Yes, it could have been done better in WoW but...
and it wasnt wow that started the whole pay to play online....

Originally Posted by iinsom (Post 9041589)

Ah, the ol faithful Stone Of Jordan

I used to run 4 bots at a time, Pindle, Baal, Rune, Meph

Used to get at least 2-3 decent drops a night, with 5+ high runes, was stashed around different accounts. I was rich in game terms

Originally Posted by Zylatis (Post 9042797)

I hope they ban you from playing D3

Originally Posted by n000b (Post 9042947)

Your a tool :thumbdn:

Originally Posted by kochyse (Post 9039285)

Am I the only one peeved by the way the environments look like WoW?

Interesting art style maybe, in some situations, but I want gritty, dammit, gritty. Hopefully all the blood soaked dungeons of hell just havne't been shown yet :S.

Originally Posted by Sebstar (Post 9042791)

Dupes didn't ruin D2. People running bots 24/7 did... You bot users should all be ashamed of yourselves.

Originally Posted by Iceickle (Post 9043411)

Care to explain why? I'm looking at this as a completely retarded comment right now.

Originally Posted by stedyedy (Post 9043545)

This has been posted in another in the other diablo 3 thread but i couldn't find it but i thought i would put more pictures up.

I thought Diablo 3 looked good but when i saw these altered pics i thought this is what Diablo should really look like i hope they change the art style a little bit.

Originally Posted by dave_dave_dave (Post 9043572)

I think the altered pictures look crap, all the color is washed out. I think blizzard are doing a fine job with the look of the game so far. :thumbup:

Originally Posted by Sebstar (Post 9043512)

Lol. I'm not even gonna bother with a response. You obviously have no problem with leaving bots running 24/7 that get you the best items without doing ANYTHING. It destroys the economy just as much as duping does, however over a longer period of time.

Originally Posted by ewok85 (Post 9043637)

Just change your monitors color calibration if you want a game in various shades of "shit-brown". Seems ok to me with a little bit of color and brightness to make things visible and interesting.

Originally Posted by water_ling (Post 9043558)

I want that 3-eyed Diablo as my wallpaper!

http://www.diablofans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9073
Too bad the version there is so tiny. =/

Originally Posted by Narcoticx2 (Post 9043648)

It would make sense though if they included it in the options
-A little colour
-Washed out greys
-mostly shit brown

What do you think?

Originally Posted by trickma (Post 9044686)

Does anyone want to lend me their orig d2 Cd key :p My mate lost his orig cd but still has his LoD and were keen to hit up bnet.

Originally Posted by SmEaGoLLuM! (Post 9044826)

Can't wait of course. Pity won't be out for a few years. Maybe 2010.

But why witch doctor? That's a warcraft universe class type.

Originally Posted by Sub.Zer0 (Post 9045348)

Finished LoD 3 times with the necromancer. Why is it a shit class?

Originally Posted by Iceickle (Post 9043411)

Snip

Originally Posted by Fettrix (Post 9045786)

So for those of us reliving D2LOD.. what realms are we all on?

Originally Posted by Haxman (Post 9045114)

except necro was a terrible class? cool in theory bad in execution.

Originally Posted by SaMbO (Post 9047203)

lol i ebay'd it years ago... dupes killed it for me
my brother gave me the stuff to gear out my barbarian... so i did... then i stopped playing a week later...
i did do the cow level properly though... shame i got wtfpwnd...

what was the thing you could get from the cow level that wasnt anywhere else in the game? d2fanbioskGO!
<3 yas

Originally Posted by sparz14 (Post 9049272)

us west :D :thumbup:

itd be nice if they had an Aussie realm in d3 tho

Originally Posted by SaMbO (Post 9047203)

lol i ebay'd it years ago... dupes killed it for me
my brother gave me the stuff to gear out my barbarian... so i did... then i stopped playing a week later...
i did do the cow level properly though... shame i got wtfpwnd...

what was the thing you could get from the cow level that wasnt anywhere else in the game? d2fanbioskGO!
<3 yas

Originally Posted by Cannula (Post 9050076)

Also hard without cheating as if the cow king is killed with you in the level you can not open the portal again and need another player to do so for you. ;)

Originally Posted by Cannula (Post 9050076)

Also hard without cheating as if the cow king is killed with you in the level you can not open the portal again and need another player to do so for you. ;)

Originally Posted by Slidey (Post 9050382)

Not entirely true. I thought it was only if you were in the same screen of the cow king dying would it block it for you..i remember doing heaps of runs, guys killing the king and me still being able to open the portal.

Originally Posted by h0uSe (Post 9049509)

Don't worry in a week you will be sick of it, i do it a few times each year. :)

Originally Posted by Slidey (Post 9050924)

Hello Matt,

The Diablo II key you lsited has been permanently restricted from playing realm games. The second offense detected witrh this key was back in August, 2006. You'll need to obtain and reinstall the game with a new Diablo II key if you wish to play on the closed realms.

Arrrg! Maybe they found a way of scanning for dupes. It wouldnt have been me playing back in August 2006, maybe someone got ahold of my CD key.
Id love to get back playing, ill have to source a key

Originally Posted by Fettrix (Post 9051264)

Doing the Grun method one can normaly attain 1-70(maybe more) within the span of 1 day.

Originally Posted by Sharpe (Post 9052043)

Why is diablo 2 so popular? I enjoyed it the one time I played it, but by the end it did get a little tedious. It was just constant clicking and no skill involved, mindless levelling up etc.

I'm not trolling, I am actually quite curious as to why people love it so much? Is it the atmosphere? The co-op online?

Originally Posted by mtw (Post 9052089)

Do uber trist and you can do 1-80 within 3 or 4 hours :)

Originally Posted by Sharpe (Post 9052043)

Why is diablo 2 so popular? I enjoyed it the one time I played it, but by the end it did get a little tedious. It was just constant clicking and no skill involved, mindless levelling up etc.

I'm not trolling, I am actually quite curious as to why people love it so much? Is it the atmosphere? The co-op online?

Originally Posted by solid_snake (Post 9053547)

http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/pos...les_Chart.html

lol!

:thumbup:

It was bound to happen.

Originally Posted by trickma (Post 9053606)

It's got everything. I think the main factors are the rich music, atmosphere, characters etc. It has everything a good story should and it's incredibly fun to play.

And yes online play is the only way to go :thumbup:



lol :p

Originally Posted by Jul1an (Post 9053733)

i wonder if anyone here has some spare d2 keys or they arent planning on playing, i gave my spare keys to someone on ocau and my friend wants to play now so im in need of another pair of keys because he's too poor to go and buy the battlechest haha.

Originally Posted by Jul1an (Post 9053733)

i wonder if anyone here has some spare d2 keys or they arent planning on playing, i gave my spare keys to someone on ocau and my friend wants to play now so im in need of another pair of keys because he's too poor to go and buy the battlechest haha.

Originally Posted by mojom@n (Post 9054946)

can some one please change the thread title to diablo 2 discussion as %90 of it has nothing to do with D3

Originally Posted by Fresh79 (Post 9055634)

I'm guessing Sorcerer on her own. Witch Doctor basically replaces Necro I guess.

Barbarian makes 3 classes. The other two - Rogue/Amazon type of class and who knows? I never cared much for Paladin but there is going to have to be some kinda of healer class.

Originally Posted by Fresh79 (Post 9055634)

I'm guessing Sorcerer on her own. Witch Doctor basically replaces Necro I guess.

Originally Posted by Tornhelm (Post 9055774)

Hopefully not. New classes are good, but losing my army of awesome undead minions is very bad.

Originally Posted by Jul1an (Post 9055686)

hopefully the classes will amount more than 5.

Originally Posted by curare (Post 9055827)

Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if we saw some cross-game classes. I can imagine a shaman type class being present and I'm pretty sure paladins will be back.

Originally Posted by trickma (Post 9056125)

The Witch Doctor is like a mix between Necro and shaman from what I've seen, i doubt they will have another "weird" in between type class.

Barb
Sorc or some dedicated spell caster
Amazon or some dedicated archer
Witch Doctor
Paladin or ? .. I think paladin will remain.

Originally Posted by omen_child (Post 9057152)

I'm hanging for a release date on this, however tenative.

A lot of the articles are saying that the game looks well advanced already - i wonder if it could be this year?

Originally Posted by omen_child (Post 9057152)

A lot of the articles are saying that the game looks well advanced already - i wonder if it could be this year?

Originally Posted by r-type (Post 9057261)

Starcraft 2 looked just as advanced when we first saw it a year ago, and there's still no release date in sight for that.

Originally Posted by Jul1an (Post 9057833)

Diablo 2 Can only last so long, thats why i have titan quest downloading aswell haha.

Originally Posted by omen_child (Post 9057152)

I'm hanging for a release date on this, however tenative.

A lot of the articles are saying that the game looks well advanced already - i wonder if it could be this year?

Originally Posted by Jul1an (Post 9057833)

Diablo 2 Can only last so long, thats why i have titan quest downloading aswell haha.

Originally Posted by Asgaldh (Post 9058222)

hmmm... who's that chic in the burning catheral?

Originally Posted by Tsudo (Post 9058238)

perhaps a replacement for deckard cain? he seems to be getting quite old these days

Originally Posted by TaroT (Post 9058374)

love titan quest multi and single but i,m trying to redo all my games like that and immortal throne and dungeon seige and diablo2...but do you think i can find lod disk....ghrrrr

plus with new video setup smooooth and fun :)
well not d2 thats butt ugly :)
As for when released...by xmas or i,m flying to blizard and nuking WOW headquarters to make room for D3 gear :)

Originally Posted by stedyedy (Post 9058364)

before, after