Diablo 3 Announced

[Felch]

Originally posted by FrostyBoy
For the record, Hellgate sucked balls. I hated it the moment I played.

Was it the bugs? I dug it at first, but don't really play much anymore.

[UnOrthOdOx]

Originally posted by Mr Snuggles

So, since Diablo III was never announced, no it was never abandoned or delayed. That does not mean, however, work had never occured on it until 2 years ago.

It may've been 3 or more. But there's no evidence at all to suggest work on Diablo III had started before Hellgate started development just 2 years after Diablo II's expansion came out. In fact, starting development immediately after Diablo II came out is not Blizzard's MO at all. They intentionally space out sequels to their games so as to not milk them dry.

You are wrong on that assumption when it pertains to the Diablo Franchise, and misinterpretting what I am saying.

Diablo was released in '97. Diablo II in 2000, LOD in '01. Supposedly Diablo III work started in 2001. 2002, The execs of Blizzard North leave and form Hellgate, supposedly unhappy with not having enough say in DiabloIII. 2004, Diablo III supposedly goes to qual testing QA says it sucks and needs a rebuild. More employees leave to form Castaway in '04, and the rumors of DIII surface. Blizzard North is disbanded in '05. The remaining employess of Blizzard North then go to work on The Burning Crusade, and one of the artists works on the card game.

So, you have roughly 40 employees working from 2001 through 04 on SOMETHING. What was it? IF the rumor were true and it was Diablo III, it would have released in 05-06 timeframe. Enough spacing from Diablo II to fit the pattern of Blizzard releases.

[Asher]

Supposedly Diablo III work started in 2001. 2002

This is what I'm contesting, but you just keep re-stating it like you think it makes it true?

[UnOrthOdOx]

I just want to hear what you think those 40 employees worked on for those 3 years. Since it can be proven it was no game Blizzard has released to date, and it most certainly was not the patching of LOD.

[Asher]

I had heard they were looped into World of Warcraft development. Look at the credits list of WoW and Burning Crusade, you'll see some Diablo II devs on there.

The other possibility is they worked on new IP that didn't work out.

I find it very hard to believe Blizzard would start work on Diablo III right after Diablo II finished...that's not how they roll.

[UnOrthOdOx]

Originally posted by Mr Snuggles
I had heard they were looped into World of Warcraft development. Look at the credits list of WoW and Burning Crusade, you'll see some Diablo II devs on there.

Yes, 5 appear on the credits of Burning Crusade. This can easily be explained by them joining to work on IT after Blizzard North disbanded.

NONE appear on WoW propper.

The other possibility is they worked on new IP that didn't work out.

As I stated was a possibility from the beginning

I find it very hard to believe Blizzard would start work on Diablo III right after Diablo II finished...that's not how they roll.

But it IS how the Diablo franchise and the Blizzard North division of Blizzard "rolled".

I don't KNOW it was Diablo III. I just happen to think it's more likely to be Diablo III than a new IP

[DrSpike]

I see a lot of 'my mate says-ing' from both of you. Do either of you have links to relevant Blizzard statements or other credible coverage?

If not then it comes down to trying to make inferences from credits on other games - a process so fraught with difficulty that neither of you should be making strong statements on what happened either way, but just giving your reading of the evidence we do have.

[UnOrthOdOx]

What amounts to "credible coverage"?

Kotaku news reporting D3 being trashed credible?

Numberous interviews? Job Bio's?

Blizzard announcing Blizzard North was working on 2 projects, one of which was cancelled, and a second of which got brought into Blizzard Proper when Blizzard North was disbanded?

http://diablo2.diablowiki.net/Diablo_3#2000:_Work_Begins_on_Diablo_III

Though, to be fair, not all the reference links there work still. (most notably, those that link to companies that no longer exist)

[DrSpike]

That's more like it. I think that the material in the 2000 section supports your argument more than Asher's.

[Asher]

I think it's a load of horse**** from a bunch of studios that wanted as much PR as possible to increase their exposure.

[DrSpike]

I had a sneaking suspicion you might say that, given that it runs counter to the position you have taken here.

As an independent observer I hereby decree that Unorthodox has done more to support his argument.

[Asher]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_III

Development on Diablo III began some time in 2005 when Blizzard North was still in operation. The original artistic design differed from that shown at Blizzard Worldwide Invitational 2008 demonstration, and had undergone three revisions before reaching the standards felt necessary by the team behind Diablo III. The development teams comprise fifty people. Most of the game mechanics and physics are complete and undergoing minor revisions. Most of the current and remaining development will focus on adding game content.[9]

Diablo III's lead designer is Jay Wilson, a former Relic Entertainment designer credited with work on Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War and Company of Heroes. Its lead world designer is Leonard Boyarsky, one of the six co-creators of Fallout.[10]

[LDiCesare]

Leonard Boyarski??

[Nikolai]

I foresee massive sales when this comes out. With public beta being only around half a year off, it's not that long to wait either.

[Asher]

Originally posted by DrSpike
That's more like it. I think that the material in the 2000 section supports your argument more than Asher's.

Straight from Blizzard themselves:

http://vault.ign.com/View.php?view=Articles.Detail&id=35

Development started on Diablo III in 2005 but it has since then undergone some major redesign. Currently, most of Act 1 is complete in terms of art and design, and the team has mostly moved on to Act 2. Four of the five classes are operational and at various levels of playability. The game is now “mostly” in production mode, which means the art style has been firmed up, they have a game play that they all like and enjoy, and they have moved on to building things or building tools which allow them to build things better.

Although much progress has been made, it is too early to pin down a release date and so all we can do is keep our ears to the ground and promise to keep you posted as soon as we hear the faintest rumblings in the distance.