Wizard Class Trailer (Video)

Posted October 10th, 2008 at 6:33:57 PM CDT by matt - 0 Blizzard has posted up a new trailer providing a more cinematic introduction to the Wizard class than the gameplay video we posted earlier today.

Check it out on our high quality stream.

Diablo Panel In-Depth Notes

Posted October 10th, 2008 at 6:19:02 PM CDT by matt - 2 We attended the Diablo panel at BlizzCon today and took some quick notes on what was discussed and addressed.

The Wizard
- Players want a blaster class - The glass cannon
- It's an iteration of the sorceress
- Went with "High Magic" - Time manipulation and physics.
- Not really "good or evil"
- It's all about channelling the power of the universe.
- She's super ambitious, smart and powerful
- She feels like her teachers are holding her back.

Skills
1) Magic missle
- This sets the tone.
- Reminiscent of old school pen and paper
- Functionallly like a firebolt - but more elemental
- Aesthetic is important, drives the decisions down the road.

2) Electrocute
- Like Chain Lighting
- Weather control is just one dispipline
- Controlling the weather feels epic

3) Slow Time
- Ambitious
- Part of the Reality Control Kit
- Books and movies manipulate time but not as often in RPG games
- Presented multiplayer challenges
- Bubble to deal with slow time

4) Disintegrate
- Classic pen and paper skill rarely seen in video
- Capture a feeling of untapped power
- Experiment with new gameplay
- Sweep with the mouse
- Does more damage the longer you heat up a target

Skill Systems - Jay Wilson
- Evolution of skill systems
- Goals for Diablo Skill System
- Rejected Skill system Ideas
- The Rune System

Diablo 1
- Skills were obtained from books
- Very simple systems
- Getting a skill from a random drop played well
- Low class differentiation
- Lack of customization
- Random nature made it difficult to balance

Diablo 2
- Skill Tree
- Strong differentiation
- Many different possible builds
- Encouraged players to focus on only a few skills
- Tree had unwanted skills
- Many skills didn't need 20 points
- No Respec

Patch 1.10 - synergies
- Allowed additional strategy in customizing your char build
- Lessened point saving but didn't eliminate
- Added additional complexity and confusion

World of Warcraft
- Talent system evolved from diablo 2
- Separated skill acquisition from customization
Works for Diablo:
- Point hoarding not valid
- More options as you build
- Respec
Doesn't work for diablo:
- Fewer Builds - less customization
- Low impact on character
- High Number of skills

Skill system needs and goals
- Simple to understand
- Compelling early game and late game
- Large variety of build possibilities
- Supportive of 6 active skills

What we tried
- Skill rings
- Radial Skill System
- Radial Beads
- Skill Wheel - might have spun
- Skill Cards - crazy complex
- Outer cards got combined to create inner cards
- Horadric skill cube
- Horadric skill cube 2.0 - now with more bacon
- Simplified advancement
- Basic version of the skill tree
- Tiered Skill System
- Progressive Skills
- Instead of spending points on skills, you spent points on upgrades
- Noone looked any different
- Schools and Specializations
- "Remember the 90s"
- Hex Advancement

What we learned
- Different but worse isn't better, better is better
- Two ideas we liked
- Randomly dropped skills
- Skill modification

Skill system today
- Evolution of d2 system
- Synergies integrated as new skills
- Skill runes (new system)
- Respec (not designed yet)

Major issues
- Intimidating Number of choices
- Payers end up with high number of skills
- No deep spending in signature skills = bad
- Assigning skills is unintuitive
- Don't want to drag (left click drag, left click assign makes for accidental purchase)
- Respec system to be designed
- Not final, but on the right track

Rune System
- Runes are a random drop
- Used across all classes
- Signification impact on skills
- System Encourages experimentation
- Uses elements we like from other systems we tried
- Random drops affecting skills

Rune example - Teleport
- Base
- Teleport with Striking Rune
- Teleport with Multistrike Rune

Example 2)
- Skull of flame base (lots of "explosions")
- Skull of flame with multistrike (bounces)
- Power rune (leaves flames on the ground that damage monsters)

Electrocute
- Base
- Multistrike (chains through the group of monsters)
- Lethality rune (Blows up monsters)

Special Effects - Julian Love
- Goal : visceral game play
- Effects play a major role

Skills should reinforce the "core vibe of the character"

Barbarian Skills
- Everything is essentially physical
- Physical Juggernaut
- Ancestral connection
- Hammer of ancients (he gets a God Hammer)

Witchdoctor skills
- Voodoo magic infusion
- An indirect caster (like tossing magical shrunken heads)
- Zombies
- Zombie dog pets
- Swarms
- Fire bats are channeled from the sky
- Plague of toads

Wizard Skills
- Two words: light show
- Artistically very bright attacks
- Arcane orb: defined a new kind of damage
- Users wanted lots of violence and power (not pretty light)
- Blizzard
- Pressure cooked
- Wanted to pay homage to the past
- Tried a cyclone
- Eventually created a big heavy slush storm
- Tornado
- WTF!!! 111one1 is it?
- Tornados didn't look good
- Created tornados made out of energy

Basic monster deaths
- Other have to the visceral equation
- Physical forces
- Damage flavoured deaths
- Critical Deaths
- Make the monsters explode

Crazy Monster deaths
- Special Deaths
- Crafted a few special monster deaths
- Skill driven deaths
- Burst of acid melts monsters to the floor
- Rare Deaths
- These guys blow up (Explosions are cool)

Questions from the audience

Q - Is there going to be a cow level
A - I think that's a secret

Q - Will you promote or prevent power leveling
A- It's a little early to call on that.

Q - Are runes class specific
A - Maybe

Huge Media Update; New Video, Screenshots & Concept Art

Posted October 10th, 2008 at 5:40:56 PM CDT by matt - 0 Thanks to BlizzCon, we're able to provide you with a ton of juicy new media. We'll start off with the 6 minute gameplay video showcasing the newly unveiled Wizard class.

Click here to watch the video from our high quality stream

Next up is 16 new screenshots and several new concept art pieces (also primarily featuring the Wizard). Check them out in our media section.

The flow of new information is constant and I've still got a pile of stuff to update so keep checking back over the next couple days for your fix of new Diablo III information. We'll have the class page for the Wizard up very soon.

New character class, the Wizard, revealed at Blizzcon 2008!

Posted October 10th, 2008 at 1:07:16 PM CDT by mike - 0 You wanted it and it's finally here! The third character class, the Wizard, was revealed today in a press release.

IRVINE, Calif. - October 10, 2008 - Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today offered the public the first-ever opportunity to play an early version of its highly anticipated action-role-playing game, Diablo III. Players at the BlizzCon 2008 gaming convention in Anaheim, California, adventured alongside fellow attendees, fighting the hordes of the Burning Hells in one of the game's early dungeons.

"Until now, no one outside the company has been able to play Diablo III -- we're excited to offer the first such opportunity to the gamers here at BlizzCon," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "We're working hard to make sure Diablo III lives up to the high standards of the first two games in the series, and we look forward to hearing what players think."

During the show, Blizzard Entertainment also unveiled the game's third playable class: the wizard. A wielder of the elements and a master manipulator of time, the wizard can hurl environment-shattering lightning bolts, channel explosive arcane energies, and create pockets of space outside the normal temporal flow. BlizzCon attendees were able to adventure as either the wizard or the previously unveiled barbarian or witch doctor, battling alone or with up to three other players through the catacombs beneath Tristram Cathedral to a final showdown with the Skeleton King.

New Video & Lunch With Blizzard (Audio)

Posted October 10th, 2008 at 7:59:43 AM CDT by matt - 1 New video of yesterday's visit to Blizzard HQ is up, click here to watch

Apologies in advance for this upcoming audio feature. The situation was very spur of the moment and our guys found themselves enjoying lunch at the Blizzard HQ with the likes of Jay Wilson, Leonard Boyarsky and Bashiok. They were allowed to record the 1 hour of conversation that transpired amidst the orchestra of noises common with public dining.

Mike has done his best to transcribe what was audible, you can read transcript here:
http://mmos.com/static/diablotranscription.txt

You can download the full audio file at:
http://mmos.com/static/audio/LunchConversation.mp3

On a side note, I got a kick out of this Diablo III T-shirt.