Diablo 3 fans expecting a similar experience from the final game compared to the well-polished beta may be surprised, as game director Jay Wilson confirms some fairly major changes still going to the game.
This means the expected February release has possibly gone out the window, as Wilson admits it's "not quite there yet" but insists: "No one will remember if the game is late, only if it's great."
Speaking on the Diablo 3 blog, Wilson explains: "In addition to finishing and polishing the content of the game we're continuing to iterate on some of the core game systems."
"In addition we're working on major changes to the skill and rune systems that we're not ready to talk about, but I promise you we can't possibly ship without a finished skill and rune system."
The full details can be found at the Diablo 3 blog, but the biggest changes involve a revamped character attribute setup: the Defence, Attack and Precision stats are gone and replaced by core stats of Strength, Dexterity, Intellect and Vitality.
"This change makes the stats more intuitive and fixes some of the itemization issues we were running into," says Wilson.
"Our hope is that by embracing our iterative design process in which we question ourselves and our decisions, Diablo 3 won't just live up to our expectations, but will continue to do so a decade after it's released."
The highly-anticipated dungeon-delver was recently seemingly confirmed for consoles.
Comments
7 comments so far...
Imaduck on 20 Jan '12 said:
Frankly dudes I think you're killing your own hype and perhaps game. The problem with endlessly delaying a game is that for every day that goes by more games come out, new tech etc. So eventually there's a strong chance that when your game comes out, it'll feel dated as the ideas that were fresh 6-8years ago are now mouldy as f**k. Unless you intend to remake the whole thing each year of delays or something?
Still waiting on this with optimism, I'd luuuuurv Warcraft 4 but this should suffice. However, I've gone from "SWEET!
" to "hyped for this" to oh yeah this" to "maybe 1 day huh?". Basically, I've stopped following it intently as there's no point. Not great for marketing to drag things out like this. If you're going to reveal it, it should be on the home stretch.
The Icon on 20 Jan '12 said:
The most delayed game ever, at this point I wouldn't be suprised if it didnt get released till next year
corkscru74 on 20 Jan '12 said:
He's obviously never visited the CVG forums
laslowoodbine on 20 Jan '12 said:
Well I think they should be commended for their diligence. Some people will be happy playing a fully working title from launch rather then a messy patched game.
damoxuk on 20 Jan '12 said:
I'm a huge fan of Blizzard but even i'm beginning to feel slightly bored o the endlessly delaying of this game.
I literally still have my Game pre-order from Nov 2008 - when VAT was temporarily 15%
Had to change the card details twice in that time ffs
Imaduck on 20 Jan '12 said:
I've changed through 2 cards and built 2 PC's since I saw the first trailer
diablo3news on 22 Feb '12 said:
"good things come to those who wait" I think that is quite relevant here. Personally I would rather have the game delayed then release still buggy and not 100%
I agree with this but frankly blizzard could still delay this more and when it is finally released (Q2 this year hopefully http://bit.ly/wrhYw4) people will still buy and give it a go due to the amount of hype that surrounds it and also every D2 player will want to check out the sequel will they not ?