Blizzard Starting Diablo III Beta Slowly
by Craig Getting on September 2, 2011 3:46 PM ESTIn an investor webcast yesterday, Blizzard president Mike Morhaime confirmed that Diablo III would enter a closed beta “later this month,” though it appears some friends and family may already have access. According to MMOsite, Blizzard has also issued beta invitations to members of variousDiablo/Warcraft fansites.
If Diablo III releases in December 2011 (as has been speculated for a while now), Blizzard will have had four solid months of beta testing to iron out any major kinks. Beta participants will have access to all five character classes and roughly four hours worth of early-game content. A version of Diablo III’s controversial Auction House, which allows for player-to-player transactions of in-game items, will also be in the beta, though it’s not clear if this feature will be available at launch.
You can join the opt-in pool for the Diablo III beta through Battle.net. If you don’t receive an invitation, you can always keep an eye out for footage and screenshots that will surely flood the Internet over the weeks to come.
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gnesterenko - Tuesday, September 6, 2011 - link
This isn't an FPS where 10ms difference can mean victory over defeat or vice versa. It's an RPG. A PVE-centric RPG. You are complaing in the wrong forum.Posting from work, so need this disclaimer:
"The views expressed here are mine and do not reflect the official opinion of my employer or the organization through which the Internet was accessed."
cmdrdredd - Monday, September 5, 2011 - link
SO I don't have the right to play a game by myself? Unless I'm online I'm not doing it right? Screw that and quite frankly screw you. The industry has become so greedy it's only rivaled by Hollywood. Single player games are still a huge staple of the gaming scene, in fact I'd say more so than online.Ahnilated - Monday, September 5, 2011 - link
I agree 100%, no one tells me that I have to be online to play a game and that I have to play by their rules. If I want to cheat or play by myself and offline I should be able too. I don't care how they try to rationalize it, I will NOT buy a game that requires you to be online to play. There have been numerous examples where the game servers go down for over a week and people are screwed not being able to play.gnesterenko - Tuesday, September 6, 2011 - link
Don't worry. There will be hacked servers up running in no time and you can go right ahead and torrent the game as you painfully obviously wanted to. Just like WoW - plenty of pirate servers up for that - no reason to pay Blizzard anything for their massive investment. You just wont be able to play on Blizzards servers. So I dont follow what your problem is. Theres a place for everyone and everyone will be in their place.Posting from work, so need this disclaimer:
"The views expressed here are mine and do not reflect the official opinion of my employer or the organization through which the Internet was accessed."
prophet001 - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
Agree 100%. Except maybe the screw you part. lolv12v12 - Tuesday, September 6, 2011 - link
"RE: Art by AnnonymousCoward on Saturday, September 03, 2011D3 is not looking good.
-Constant Internet connection required.
-No mod community due to no offline mode.
-Bad art direction and overuse of special effects.
-Arcade-style health orbs.
-No attribute customization.
-No skill points.
-Paying real money for game advancement = cheating."
^^^^THIS 100%
I too agree 100%!!!^1000 I WILL NOT BUY A GAME REQUIRING ONLINE CONNECTION.
Come on people THINK DEEPER than just ^^^^... This all "online" stuff is about STUDYING your BEHAVIOR! Yes Blizz and other groups use these games and their demonstrated economies as actual UNIVERSITY level economics models... I know a professor that teaches a class about WoW and it's a highly sought after course! Marketing groups, GOVERNMENT and many other private sales & advertising groups use data gathered via these "games" to use in market prediction models for what people will want to "experience" next or what they'll more than likely purchase next, bc of XYZ,ABC factors. The DATA you and I provide for them (which we PAID them to collect) is worth literally BILLIONS of dollars vs. very expensive private 3rd groups that focus on the economics and logistics of the "consumer," aka SHOPPING CATTLE. "CONSUMER..." Listen to that; are you a MINDLESS "CONSUMER???" Or a PERSON with a CHOICE aka "customer."
Most of the news/internet/corp "media" refers to ALL of us as "CONSUMERS," just listen to any news post regarding the economy and shopping. They NEVER SAY "CUSTOMERS." "Consumer rights" groups???? CATTLE HAVE NO RIGHTS... Just keep shopping and spending your hard earned dollars +tax+tax+tax+taxes RISING THIS IS REAL PEOPLE! :-//// Lol.
I will NOT be purchasing Diablo III based on the many above listed issues aka "features." I've been playing Diablo since the Days I got a copy from a friend on a 1x Sony golden CDR in 1996-7! After 2 weeks, I went and purchased the WHOLE treasure cheat pack thing with all the expansions; I STILL play Diablo II to this day, which I purchased as well, even after a "trail" copy from a friend.... But sadly the GAME IS OVER for the "Diablo" series... The typical greed and corruption virus has infected another amazing start up and now they are
TOO BIG TO LISTEN to... CUSTOMERS! Hahah ain't that some shite? Blizzard's sorry ARSE is TOO BIG TO LISTEN to the CUSTOMERS who MADE YOU - YOU DUMB NERDS! No more of my cash for you!
Srsly wtf kind of "business" literally starts from the ground up making HARDCORE and seriously scary releases to then end up JUST LIKE the other "online only," "pay to cheat/front skills" mentality? Folks that cheated on DI/II servers were LAUGHED OFF THE SERVERS. Hell I know bc I was in a fscking BOTTING group; we had GODLY items all the time... Know what we did with them? GAVE THEM AWAY TO NOOBS as we upgraded... So what, some of them sold SOJs on ebay for $5... big whooooop. But now... "Diablo III" looks so dang graphically LAME and WoWified, it's a DEAD HORSE..... Blizzard you guys may be rich, but you're stupid asses regarding any shred of "humanity," respect, honesty, nor TRUST. GOOD Job MBA dorks... everyone hates you, ONLY your EGO and envious sellouts grovel to your patheticness... You'll die just like the rest of us... WITH NOTHING lol haha
gnesterenko - Tuesday, September 6, 2011 - link
Careful man, you aren't wearing your tinfoil hat.Seriously, if you think DIABLO is the main or worst venue of people collecting data about you then... well jesus don't ever actually read into all the ways they are collecting data about you because you probably will never want to leave the house again. Or pay bills. Or have a bank account. In fact, best to go out to live in the woods and always use only cash or barter for your economic interactions.
Don't get me wrong, I don't like it either. But I'm also a realist. This is the brave new world we live in. Adapt or get left behind.
Posting from work, so need this disclaimer:
"The views expressed here are mine and do not reflect the official opinion of my employer or the organization through which the Internet was accessed."
tunapez - Thursday, September 8, 2011 - link
"The views expressed here are mine and do not reflect the official opinion of my employer or the organization through which the Internet was accessed."You sure about that? You really do sound like you are somehow vested in this game.
wizdum - Tuesday, September 6, 2011 - link
The Auction House in D3 is absolutely no different than the Auction House in WoW or Diablo 2: eBay. All Blizzard is doing is bringing what happened anyway outside of the game, the selling of in-game items and character on eBay or MMOBay, into the game and incorporating it as a game experience. If you didn't realize people were selling items, gold, and characters on eBay since Diablo 2, you either didn't play WoW or Diablo 2, or you were too noob to realize you could go buy a Windforce, the strongest bow in D2, on eBay within weeks or Diablo 2 being released. I legitimately found a Windforce in D2, but at the same time I have no problem with people selling their stuff on eBay either. Also, keep in mind, you can't just buy Diablo 3 and then go buy a Godfather Colossus Blade with your Visa and use it in Act 1 normal mode. To even have the level requirement to wield the Godfather, you would have had to played through the entire game at least twice, and be on Hell mode to have the proper level reqs to equp it. So, you may call it 'cheating,' and maybe it is, but you can't 'cheat' unless you play through the game entirely in the first place. You all need to take a deep breath and enjoy what they are making for you. If you don't like it, I really don't give a fuck.. go play Torchlight.AnnonymousCoward - Wednesday, September 7, 2011 - link
"All Blizzard is doing is bringing what happened anyway outside of the game"Exactly: OUTSIDE of the game. That's the whole problem. The gold-based auction house is fine, because it complies within the game world. You trade with other warriors equipment you found for their gold, or vice versa. Once you introduce real dollars, it's suddenly cheating, because it has nothing to do with the game world.
"but you can't 'cheat' unless you play through the game entirely in the first place."
That doesn't make sense. All sorts of items will be for sale, not just super high level items.