General Gaming Diablo IV - Information Thread, update: "Season of the Construct" announcement trailer (January 23)

[Paperclyp]

I’m very ok with it being pay for cosmetic stuff only. 

[JPDunks4]

I worry about the cosmetic model in loot games, cause if u don't find any really cool looking and interesting loot while playing and all the coolest stuff is just MTX, def takes away from the excitement of finding good loot. 

[XxEvil AshxX]

40 minutes ago, JPDunks4 said:

I worry about the cosmetic model in loot games, cause if u don't find any really cool looking and interesting loot while playing and all the coolest stuff is just MTX, def takes away from the excitement of finding good loot. 

 

Nothing like being lvl 80 in Path of Exile and still looking like you mixed and matched your armor at Goodwill.

[JPDunks4]

12 minutes ago, XxEvil AshxX said:

 

Nothing like being lvl 80 in Path of Exile and still looking like you mixed and matched your armor at Goodwill.

 

And the lvl 1 that spend $20 has a full exotic legendary looking set. 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

Report: Diablo 4 could be launching in April 2023, with preorders going live December | Windows Central

WWW.WINDOWSCENTRAL.COM

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From the seventh Circle of rumormill Hell.

 

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As discussed on today's XboxEra podcast, the team there revealed the possibility of Diablo 4 launching in April 2023. We can also tentatively corroborate the April 2023 launch window via our own proven sources, alongside some other details. 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

New preview videos from IGN:

 

 

 

 

[Brian]

Big Diablo 4 Announcement Planned for The Game Awards - Insider Gaming

INSIDER-GAMING.COM

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Diablo 4 will be having "big announcements" at The Game Awards which could be the release date or beta date.

 

[Brian]

 

[Firewithin]

any chance this will come to steam at all?

[Mr.Vic20]

2 minutes ago, Firewithin said:

any chance this will come to steam at all?

If you add the Game Pass EXE to Steam it will... 

[TwinIon]

The impressions from the recent hands on all seem very positive.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

Diablo 4 is the Diablo I've been waiting for | PC Gamer

WWW.PCGAMER.COM

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Blizzard's long-awaited sequel is extroadinarily satisfying to play within minutes.

 

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My sorceress is probably freezing. I've given her an arsenal of spells that make ice fly out of her hands, and one of them spawns a snowstorm directly above her head. I click and click while she does the actual work of casting frost spells at legions of demons from hell. If I were adventuring in the frigid Fractured Peaks, I'd invest in fire spells, but the gloves I found give my sorceress rank 1 frozen orb and her build would be nothing without it. So frost spells it is.

 

That's just how the math works out in Diablo 4(opens in new tab), the long-awaited Blizzard action-RPG that was announced way back in 2019. A few frost bolts and a frozen orb are enough to slow weak hellspawn down, but a blizzard and a frozen orb can freeze an elite one in place, teeing them up for critical damage. And if I can get the big guys frozen before I've drained over half my mana, they do even more damage—maybe even enough for a one-shot.

 

 

 

Diablo 4 gameplay preview: A window into Sanctuary’s woeful world | PCGamesN

WWW.PCGAMESN.COM

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Our Diablo 4 gameplay preview has proven one thing about the next chapter in Blizzard’s action RPG saga - Diablo is back, and it’s gore-geous

 

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I have been waiting for access to a Diablo 4 gameplay preview ever since the game was first announced. I have a vaguely cultish obsession with Lilith (trust me when I say I’d fit right into the D4 campaign), as well as an extensive history with all things Diablo. This action RPG series remains my favourite of all time, encompassing what I see as some of the best PC games ever made, and while I’ve only had a brief glimpse into the macabre world of Diablo 4, I’ve seen nothing yet to dampen my hype. Whisper it, but Blizzard might just have a hit on its hands – goodness knows it needs one.

 

As Diablo 4 opens, you’re met with the sound of the wind whistling through ancient, gnarled trees. Your character, riding a rather crestfallen horse, meanders through a montage of different environments, dismounting their miserable steed amid the frosted trees. As you push branches clear of your face your horse screeches in terror, running into the night, its neighs soon cut short by ominous crunching sounds and pitiful whinnying. You later discover that the beast has been gutted, its entrails scattered across the frozen ground beneath your fully customised character. Your torch spits and lets out one last crackle before succumbing to the blizzard, leaving you completely and utterly alone.

 

It’s a statement of intent. This is Diablo 4: it’s doom, and it’s gloom; it’s everything Diablo is supposed to be. There’s the darkness and grit that made Diablo 2 so special, and there’s a sense that every shadow is filled to bursting with something that wants to kill you – you can literally hear it (or them) squelching, growling, and plotting. As you traverse Sanctuary’s barren plains once more, it feels like you’ve stepped back in time to the good ol’ days of Diablo and Diablo 2. Gone are the shiny lasers and glistening halls of the High Heavens that alienated series veterans in Diablo 3 – this game isn’t about hope and glory, it’s about death, destruction, and chaos.

 

 

 

I've spent 10 hours with Diablo 4 and I'm sold - it's been worth the wait

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I had my doubts. I had questions circling in my head since I first played Diablo 4 at BlizzCon 2019 - was it really tha…

 

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I had my doubts. I had questions circling in my head since I first played Diablo 4 at BlizzCon 2019 - was it really that long ago? - and I've had questions about the need for a big new Diablo at all. But after 10 hours with it from the beginning of the game, I can see what kind of shape it's taking, and I like it. I like the tone, I like the mechanics, I like the world. There are some things I can't see but overall this is, plainly, the next generation of Diablo.

 

Curiously, it's the world that really stays with me most about it. Perhaps this shouldn't be a surprise given that an open-world is one of the big new things about Diablo 4, and at every PR-beat, Blizzard has told us how much it wants the world to feel dark, like the earlier Diablo games. Diablo 3 had a more cartoon edge to it, a kind of Warcrafty tinge.

 

And it's true, Diablo 4 does feel darker, not in a literal lighting sense, but in a moodier sense. It's grim and unsettling. It's dour and desaturated. It's a fantasy world that's always raining and windy - a grey-hued world of mud and weather-beaten people. A harsh world of harsh realities. I can't think of a better comparison than Game of Thrones in the North in this regard: an unflinching place where people don't smile much. It feels like that.

 

 

 

 

The Diablo 4 beta hasn’t convinced me yet, but I can’t wait to play more | GamesRadar+

WWW.GAMESRADAR.COM

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Devilishly good

 

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While Diablo 4’s beta offers plenty of delights, my greater curiosities remain beyond its scope. Sanctuary’s open world has the potential to tell powerful player-led stories, be it of betrayal in the players-versus-all Fields of Hatred mode, friendship through a rare encounter on the road, or triumph as players funnel into an instance to vanquish a colossal world boss. The Fields of Hatred mode isn’t part of the beta, while the player count in betas and previews remain controlled until the floodgates open on release day, meaning we’ll have to wait and see if Diablo 4 can tell those types of stories.

 

If the sleeping behemoth is to truly snatch its crown back from the likes of Path of Exile ahead of Grinding Gear Game’s own sequel, Blizzard will need to nail and support an evolving endgame. There are plans to provide enough content to keep players busy for "thousands of hours", though what it fully entails is currently limited to a relatively select few who got to playtest it previously.

 

Whether Diablo 4 is something I commit to upon release or move on after the campaign’s end remains to be seen, though the beta has left me devilishly excited to see more. For now, that’s enough.

 

 

 

 

Diablo 4 Hands-On Preview: We Played Act 1 and Hit Level 25 - IGN

WWW.IGN.COM

 

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It’s rare for a game to come along that I can’t stop thinking about, even when I’m not playing it. There are plenty of great games out there, don’t get me wrong, but a precious few keep running in my head even after I’ve walked away from my PC. As you’ve probably guessed by now, I can’t stop thinking about Diablo 4. Even in its current unfinished state – Blizzard wouldn’t let us capture our own gameplay footage, likely due to the placeholder audio in my build and other normal in-development stuff that doesn’t make for a pretty video, so you’re looking at b-roll they put together for us here – Diablo 4 is absolutely crammed with story, content, beauty, character customization, and so much more. I played roughly 12 hours of Act 1, bringing my Barbarian from a barely clothed level-1 bodybuilder to a decked-out, blunt-force-trauma-inducing level-25 powerhouse by the time I reached the end of this build’s content.

 

One of the first things that struck me in the first couple hours of Diablo 4 was just how much story there is. Relative to previous games in the series, you’ll spend a lot of time watching cutscenes of both the cinematic and in-game variety (the former are, per Blizzard tradition, always gorgeous, and the latter are impressively varied in both camera angle and length). If I’m being honest, I think the frequency of the cutscenes in the early game combined with the unavoidably lousy feeling of being at the lowest point on the power curve when you’re just starting out makes Diablo 4 feel a bit slow for the first hour or two. This isn’t really a complaint, though, as I applaud Blizzard’s effort to layer more story into Sanctuary. Making it feel more alive and filled with more history is a good thing. Besides, you’ll still spend an overwhelming amount of your time slaying monsters in combat.

 

 

 

Diablo 4 Designers Tip Endgame Content, Cross-Play as Proudest Achievements as Game Nears Completion - IGN

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Diablo 4 impressed the Hell out of me (pun intended). After I spent roughly 12 hours romping through Act 1 and reaching level 25 before I couldn't progress any further, Blizzard's latest dungeon-crawling action-RPG sequel had its hooks firmly into me. After I had to put it down, I spoke with lead designers Zaven Harouotunian and Angela Del Priore about their approach to the design of a franchise that is now over 25 years old. With the finish line of the project now in sight, I asked each of them about the contributions to the game that they're most proud of.

 

"[I'm most proud of] how we’re supporting multiple inputs and platforms all at the same time," said Del Priore, whose duties include UI and user experience design. "It makes the game more accessible and approachable. You’re choosing how you get to play. And it's not a simple thing to do. To design the entire game with an entire unified interface and interactions that work on keyboard and controller that support cross-progression on all the differnet consoles that we're launching on and support local [multiplayer] on consoles. I think the fact that we were able to do that is no small feat and I'm really proud of the team."

 

 

 

Diablo 4 Hands-On Preview - Redefining Hell - GameSpot

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Diablo IV is quick to differentiate itself from its predecessors in almost every way, while intelligently iterating on new series staples with ideas that put freedom of play at the center.

 

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From the moment I took my first steps onto the frigid mountaintops outside the city of Kyovashad in Diablo IV, it was clear that Blizzard was serious about responding to some of the complaints of Diablo III. While Diablo III contrasted pops of bright colors against the grotesque horrors of the world, Diablo IV is immediately more oppressive and dire in its presentation. Its hues are muted and gray, its world uninviting and harsh, its stories seemingly primed to expose the worst parts of its characters. And yet, it doesn't seek to leave everything of its former entry behind. In many ways, this early slice of Diablo IV offered a good sense of how most of the mechanical changes introduced in Diablo III, and more recently Diablo Immortal, have been smartly iterated on to maintain exciting action with the satisfaction of flexible character construction.

 

The opening moments of the preview we had access to, which encapsulated just one of the five regions that make up Diablo IV's massive map, were surprisingly slow and measured. After escaping a deadly snowstorm and suffering haunting visions, my Sorceress wandered upon a tiny village in need of aid. The villagers were gracious to receive my help and pointed me towards some enemies to dispatch, which was a straightforward task with a potent frost-based starting spell making quick work of most enemies. Upon returning, I was treated to a short cutscene of celebration, the camera swooping down and close to each character to provide a more intimate view of the party. It didn't take long for the sinister underpinning of the soiree to reveal itself, however, with the villagers poisoning me and quickly attempting to offer me up as sacrifice for Lillith--the creator of Diablo's world, Sanctuary, and main antagonist for this fourth main entry in the series. Suffice it to say that my Sorceress managed to just escape death and exact some well-deserved revenge for the deception, setting the stage for the overall tone of the story to come.

 

 

 

 

'Diablo 4' preview: a hell of a good time

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'Diablo 4' isn’t reinventing the genre with bold new ideas, but it refines some tenets to offer a shining example of what an ARPG should be.

 

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After just a few hours, Diablo 4 became one of my most anticipated games of 2023. After a few false starts, this feels like the return of the action roleplaying game (ARPG) in a big way, a big fun adventure that will win over not just Diablo fans, but draw in a bunch of new players, too.

 

The general vibe is closer to Diablo 2 than Diablo 3: things are dark, grim and the world feels a little brutal, especially as you start on a frozen peak, fighting for survival against the many many enemies the game throws your way. Slowly, you’ll turn the tide and become more powerful, and that’s the Diablo fantasy.

 

 

 

Diablo 4 Preview: Blizzard's New Diablo Game Is Hard to Put Down

COMICBOOK.COM

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On the surface, Diablo 4 looks a lot like Diablos before it. Despite other loot-filled imitators [...]

 

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On the surface, Diablo 4 looks a lot like Diablos before it. Despite other loot-filled imitators modeling games after the top-down, ability-slinging setup of Diablo, you instantly know what game this is once you see it. And to be fair to Diablo's legacy, much of what you've learned before does carry over and apply here, and like past games, it's quite difficult to put it down when you could do just one more dungeon, clear one more camp, open one more container. Diablo 4 does bring some notable changes to the Diablo dynamic, however, that left me wanting to see more during a hands-on preview of the game.

 

The preview of Diablo 4 consisted of three different class options: the Barbarian, Rogue, and Sorceress. Of those three, I spent the most time with the Barbarian with the mindset that, aside from preferring that one anyway, it'd offer a clearer, fewer-frills version of what Diablo 4 had to offer.

 

With the class decision taken care of, my first stop in Diablo 4 was not a battle nor a hub town – it was the game's skill tree. Diablo 4 does have entire skill trees as opposed to set skills that simply level up over time, and looking through one is equal parts overwhelming and inspiring. These skill trees wind through different "nodes" of sorts that become available as players level up through branches teem with active and passive skills ready to receive not just one but multiple points should players choose to allot them in that manner.

 

 

 

Diablo 4 is darker than its predecessor, and better for it - Polygon

WWW.POLYGON.COM

 

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Diablo 4 is depressing.

 

I don’t mean that the game makes me feel depressed when I play it, but that it exudes an overwhelming air of gloom. The world is dark and, in the opening areas, cold. And the more time I spent in Blizzard’s dark, cold, and somber world during my weekend preview of next year’s biggest action-RPG, I felt a distinct sense of place — something I’ve never felt in a Diablo game before.

 

Diablo 4 takes a familiar, Diablo 3-esque approach to gameplay but infuses it with a deep sense of sadness and hardship. I may be the one risking my life to slay the demons out in the cold, but the poor folks in town don’t seem much better off. Nobody is doing OK in this world, and that shines through clearly in the game’s opening hours.

 

 

 

Diablo 4’s skill tree is no longer that ancient, sick-ass hell tree

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Blizzard has changed D4’s skill tree multiple times since alpha

 

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Diablo 4’s skill tree, through which players allocate skill points to learn new talents and abilities, was once a totally sick, evil-looking, gnarled and blackened tree with, like, hellfire inside, and veins and blood pouring out the bottom. It looked badass. Playing the game’s beta this weekend, I was deeply conflicted to discover that the game’s skill tree is no longer that sick-ass literal tree.

 

Instead, Diablo 4 players can expect a more traditional video game menu interface when the action-RPG launches sometime next year. The skill tree is now a figurative tree, with nodes, straight connective lines, and branches overflowing with skills and modifiers. It now looks like a diagram carved into stone. Players will navigate the big board of skills with a mouse or analog stick, spending skill points earned by leveling up.

 

 

 

Diablo 4’s character creator does just enough

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You can customize your Barbarian and Necromancer beautifully, but only to a point

 

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Diablo 4 does character creation and customization better than any Diablo game to date, letting players design their class with beautiful details. A variety of hair styles, skin tones, colors, jewelry, and markings will let players create their own personal Barbarian, Necromancer, or Rogue — but only to a point.

 

The art direction of Diablo 4, which leans heavily on inspiration from medieval and Old Masters paintings, applies to character creation as well. While there are options for green-hued hairstyles and colorful body paint, custom characters in Diablo 4 look grounded and realistic — not like they’ve spawned from an episode of Monster Factory, or out of a Saints Row cutscene.

 

There are dozens of hair colors and skin tones, and in the preview build we played this weekend, four feminine and four masculine faces per class. (The game does not appear to actually use male/female descriptors for its characters, for what it’s worth.) That build also featured 10 unisex hair styles, including close-cropped pixie cuts, long flowing ponytails, tied-up dreadlocks, and tight, natural curls. Beyond that, there’s a lot of jewelry. A lot.

 

 

 

 

 

Diablo IV hands-on: A more expansive, customizable loot-filled adventure

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Journey through Sanctuary with even greater freedom to play and look how you want.

 

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Diablo III followed in the footsteps of series entries before it, introducing a new generation of dungeon crawlers to the hellish world of Sanctuary back in 2012. Since then, thanks to a loyal player base, they’ve kept the hack-’n-slash RPG party going with countless updates. But now it’s time for the future, and Blizzard is molding Diablo IV to deliver just that.

 

While the title looks to the past of both the real world and that of Sanctuary for inspiration, the upcoming sequel pushes the Diablo series in new ways. In an immense and gorgeous new landscape, you’ll encounter all-new elements to the Diablo formula that let you control the game’s direction even more while dealing with more darkness than ever. Ready your defenses. We’re returning to Sanctuary.

 

 

 

Diablo 4 Takes Bleakness to a New Level, Which Is Just Fine With Me

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Commentary: Be ready to be disturbed.

 

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The Diablo series has gone through some incredible highs and more than a few lows. 

 

Games like Diablo II: Resurrected received huge hype when announced but failed to win over fans upon release. Diablo Immortal was ridiculed since day one. Diablo 4, however, is another entry into the series with a lot of buzz, and the developer team has a grasp of the pressure on them as well as the legacy they have to live up to. 

 

Having spent 8 to 10 hours playing  Diablo 4 on the Xbox Series X, I can confirm the short amount of time I spent with the game was downright disturbing -- in a good way. The game's "Return to Darkness" tagline is more than a marketing ploy. It heralds a return to the bleak, dark world of Diablo that's been ensnaring gamers since the original's debut back in 1997. In those days having a game with a boss named Diablo was disturbing enough. In 2022, the envelope has to be pushed a bit more. 

 

 

 

‘Diablo IV’ hands-on: This feels worryingly good | Engadget

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We got the chance to play an early build of Diablo IV and came away surprised by how much we liked it..

 

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Diablo IV feels different. It feels like a game that was designed by people who love the history of this franchise as much as I do. That might not seem like much, but it’s refreshing when you consider Diablo III’s original lead designer called his Diablo II predecessor a “loser.”

 

“Certainly, there are a lot of things about Diablo II that we think are really cool and need to be in Diablo IV, particularly when you look at the depth of systems and itemization… and, as you noted, there are things about Diablo III like the smooth and seamless combat that we wanted to bring forward to Diablo IV,” game director Joe Shely tells me during a roundtable interview. Shely took over leadership of the Diablo IV team in the fall of 2021 after the game’s previous director, Luis Barriga, left Blizzard when California’s fair employment agency accused the studio of systemic gender discrimination and sexual harassment. “We think Diablo IV can be a place that welcomes players from any previous Diablo game and people who have never played a Diablo game.”

 

 

Diablo 4 Hands-On Preview: Delightfully Dreadful

GAMERANT.COM

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Diablo 4 is making smart changes to its staple mechanics while seemingly doubling down on its story and art style to craft an engrossing experience.

 

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Activision Blizzard has opened the floodgates of hell for one of its most anticipated games of next year with a hands-on preview of Diablo 4. However, before exploring the next installment of the Diablo franchise, it's important to see where the series is at in 2022 to understand where it is going. 2021 saw the release of Diablo 2: Resurrected, 2022 saw the release of Diablo Immortal on mobile devices, and now Blizzard is ushering in the next era of the franchise with Diablo 4.

 

With an ambitious three years almost completed, it’s clear that Blizzard’s goal is to bring Diablo back to the forefront of the company and bring the franchise to new audiences after a decade since its last release. However, it can be tough for Blizzard to try and one-up itself and improve everything about a 26-year-old franchise with its fourth iteration. However, our early preview proves that even the old guard of ARPGs can still iterate on what makes it great and improve where it needs to in order to bring Diablo back to the forefront of Blizzard. To do that, Blizzard started by looking at Diablo’s past as an inspiration for its future.

 

 

 

Diablo IV’s first hours provide welcome twists on a familiar formula

ARSTECHNICA.COM

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There’s a lot going on in the first 12 hours of the upcoming horror-fantasy RPG.

 

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It’s not a stretch to say that the Diablo series is one of the most influential role-playing game franchises of all time. As one of the early action-focused loot games, it offered a deeply compelling and satisfying take on the classic concept of the dungeon crawl. Its many sequels advanced its foundations of rewarding character growth and addictive loot collection. The Diablo games are still well-loved today, but other titles have picked up the baton and taken the genre in new directions.

 

So with the upcoming Diablo IV, developer Blizzard is seeking to reinvent the classic action RPG, taking the series’ first steps into a dark open world filled to the brim with gruesome violence. While staying true to the game’s isometric action-RPG and dark fantasy roots, Diablo IV brings a more ambitious and freeform adventure, with many new ways to customize your hero as you adventure across the land.

 

I was able to play over 12 hours of Diablo IV’s opening act in an early beta preview of the game, which showcased its expansive open world and gave a sample of how much power a budding adventurer can attain. It’s already apparent that Diablo IV is less about providing a series of linear dungeon crawls and more about opening the player to a wider world filled with monsters to fight and loot to collect.

 

 

Diablo IV’s Summons a Fresh New Hell With a Few Lessons From World of Warcraft

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In crafting a new dungeon-crawling experience, Diablo IV draws a few ideas from its sister title, World of Warcraft.

 

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Once again, Hell has come to Sanctuary. In the gap created by players utterly destroying the forces of Hell and Heaven in previous Diablo games, comes a new foe. Lilith, the Daughter of Hatred, Spawn of Mephisto, and Creator of Sanctuary has broken free from her prison. It’s up to you, the Traveler, to face off against Lilith and a host of beasts, undead, and magical foes.

 

You’re not going to be alone though. Diablo has learned from its sister title, World of Warcraft, pulling players into something that’s oddly close to a massively-multiplayer online game. Diablo III was always-online in its original PC release, and Diablo IV carries that idea forward. More importantly, other players will populate the world of Sanctuary, flowing around and through your own exploits.

 

It’s an odd addition. While playing an early demo of Diablo IV, I found myself in the first hub city of Kyovashad. While I was wandering around, I ran into a character named Rae. At first I assumed this was a named NPC, only to find none of the normal NPC interactions worked. No, this was in fact another player in the demo, camped out while likely scrolling through their inventory or checking their quest journal. That required a small adjustment on my part.

 

 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

[Moa]

This game has been looking weirdly promising throughout development. It's kind of making me believe that Blizzard is still capable of making something worthwhile but time will tell.

[Chris-]

Day fucking one.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

 

[Chris-]

[osxmatt]

Just in time for my paternity leave!

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

Pre-orders are now live for all editions except for the Limited Collector’s Box

 

Meet Your Maker on June 6—Pre-Purchase Diablo IV!

NEWS.BLIZZARD.COM

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All hell breaks loose on June 6, 2023! Prepare for your fated faceoff against Lilith, the Daughter of Hatred, by pre-purchasing any edition of Diablo IV, and tune in to our upcoming Developer Update livestream.

 

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Pre-Purchase the Diablo IV Ultimate Edition digitally and receive:

• Up to four days of Early Access to Diablo IV’s launch***
• Accelerated Seasonal Battle Pass Unlock in Diablo IV—includes a Premium Seasonal Battle Pass Unlock plus 20 Tier Skips and a cosmetic
• Wings of the Creator Emote in Diablo IV
• Hellborn Carapace Mount Armor in Diablo IV
• Temptation Mount in Diablo IV
• Early Access to the Open Beta*
• Light Bearer Mount in Diablo IV
• Inarius Wings and Inarius Murloc Pet in Diablo III**
• Amalgam of Rage Mount in World of Warcraft**
• Umber Winged Darkness Cosmetic Set in Diablo Immortal**
• Digital copy of Diablo IV game

 

Pre-Purchase the Diablo IV Digital Deluxe Edition and receive:

• Up to four days of Early Access to Diablo IV’s launch***
• Premium Seasonal Battle Pass Unlock in Diablo IV
• Hellborn Carapace Mount Armor in Diablo IV
• Temptation Mount in Diablo IV
• Early Access to the Open Beta*
• Light Bearer Mount in Diablo IV
• Inarius Wings and Inarius Murloc Pet in Diablo III**
• Amalgam of Rage Mount in World of Warcraft**
• Umber Winged Darkness Cosmetic Set in Diablo Immortal**
• Digital copy of Diablo IV game

 

Pre-Purchase the Diablo IV Standard Edition digitally and receive:

• Early Access to the Open Beta*
• Light Bearer Mount in Diablo IV
• Inarius Wings and Inarius Murloc Pet in Diablo III**
• Amalgam of Rage Mount in World of Warcraft**
• Umber Winged Darkness Cosmetic Set in Diablo Immortal**
• Digital copy of Diablo IV game

 

 

About the Limited Collector’s Box...

 

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Whether you’ve ingested one of Lilith’s Blood Petals or not, purchasing the Diablo IV Limited Collector’s Box from the Blizzard Gear Store is the telltale mark of a Daughter of Hatred devotee. Forged from Sanctuary’s most rarefied elements, a finite amount of Collector’s Boxes will be available on December 15 following our first Diablo IV Developer Update livestream, where we will showcase this item. Here’s what’s included:

• Candle of Creation
• Cloth Map of Sanctuary
• Diablo IV Collector’s Edition Art Book
• Occult Mousepad
• Pin of the Horadrim
• Two Matted Fine Art Prints Sized 18.54” x 10.79”

 

 

 

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Note: The Diablo IV Limited Collector’s Box does not include a copy of the game—this is a separate purchase.

 

OLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLO

 

[Guest]

35 minutes ago, osxmatt said:

Just in time for my paternity leave!

And people give me the business for humblebrags!

 

Congrats, bud. First on the sex, and second on the kid

[Chris-]

32 minutes ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

Pre-orders are now live for all editions except for the Limited Collector’s Box

 

Meet Your Maker on June 6—Pre-Purchase Diablo IV!

NEWS.BLIZZARD.COM

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All hell breaks loose on June 6, 2023! Prepare for your fated faceoff against Lilith, the Daughter of Hatred, by pre-purchasing any edition of Diablo IV, and tune in to our upcoming Developer Update livestream.

 

 

About the Limited Collector’s Box...

 

 

 

 

OLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLO

 

 

Ah man, I was roped in hook line and sinker until that last note. God damn lamo

[osxmatt]

22 minutes ago, sblfilms said:

And people give me the business for humblebrags!

 

Congrats, bud. First on the sex, and second on the kid

Thank you! It will probably be a bit different this time around since we’ll have a 4 year old, but I should be able to find some time here and there. 

[BloodyHell]

Definitely very near the top of the list of games I can’t wait for. Diablo is the only multiplayer game I get truly into (and StarCraft, but until we get something new…) This, FF16, Starfield, Dead Space, possibly Spider-Man 2. Jedi Survivor. Damn,  it’s gonna be a hype year. And, I expect we get an Elden Ring Expansion. I know I’m missing a bunch of stuff too. 2022 was really, really good, and 2023 is shaping up to eclipse that.

 

and if FF7Rebirth hits before 2024, it might be one of my favourite years of gaming ever.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

New interview with Eurogamer:

 

Quizzing Blizzard about Diablo 4

WWW.EUROGAMER.NET

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Season passes, the in-game shop, the shared world - there are still a lot of questions about Diablo 4. We put them to Blizzard in a brand new interview.

 

Quote

 

Please note, this interview was recorded before the allegations about Diablo 4's chaotic and mismanaged development aired, so I didn't have the opportunity to ask about it.

 

Earlier this week, I had the chance to play the beginning of Diablo 4, and I put around 10 hours into it. I came away very impressed. To be clear, there's a lot I didn't see - the whole shared world vision for the game wasn't particularly apparent because there weren't a lot of people playing it. But what I did see, I liked. There's more depth to this Diablo, and more space and freedom in it, than I think I've ever seen in a Diablo game. And the world it presents feels tangible and solid, like a real thing, with characters you will come to know and perhaps even care about. In short, it feels like a generational leap forwards for Diablo, as it should.

 

As part of the media opportunity, I had a chance to interview game director Joe Shely and lead class designer Adam Jackson, too, and what follows is the conversation we had about the game. There are some points of interest around the game's in-game shop and what will be sold there; the game's network performance and potential queues, what with it being an online game; and about how the game opens up to other players once you begin to complete areas in it. But there's plenty of other chatter besides.

 

 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

Washington Post's recent report regarding the chaos, mismanagement, and crunch ongoing at Blizzard for Diablo IV development:

 

Diablo IV devs work long hours, bracing for June 6, 2023 release date - The Washington Post

WWW.WASHINGTONPOST.COM

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"Diablo IV" is slated for a June 6, 2023 release. Mismanagement and disturbing script changes have contributed to delays, workers say.

 

Quote

 

Activision Blizzard employees developing the upcoming dark fantasy action role-playing game “Diablo IV” say it will be hard to meet a June 6, 2023, release date without working significant overtime, in a process they say has been plagued by mismanagement. The release date, which has not been announced publicly, comes in the same month that Microsoft’s proposed $68.7 billion acquisition is set to close. The company is incentivizing employees to “crunch,” an industry term referring to working late evenings and weekends outside of regular work hours, by promising them perks some workers say are paltry.

 

The best-selling Diablo series has not seen a new mainline installment since 2012, and fans have been eagerly anticipating the latest. Developers, in turn, have been afraid of disappointing gamers, and in interviews, they described a beleaguered process of trying to meet a release date that feels unlikely without many hours of overtime or cut features. The release date has already shifted multiple times, they said.

 

Fifteen current and former Blizzard employees spoke to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about company operations. They described a mounting sense of dissatisfaction and malaise among employees as they endured leadership changes at Activision Blizzard and on the “Diablo IV” team. The Diablo team has been losing talent for over a year, as employees look for more competitive wages and better work conditions elsewhere, according to employees. One group of about 20 developers working on one portion of the game saw about half of its members leave within a year, according to two former employees. Blizzard did not comment on attrition on the “Diablo IV” team.

 

 

[Remarkableriots]

Diablo 4 Will Not Have Item Sets At Launch

GAMERANT.COM

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One of the most iconic parts of the Diablo franchise won't be making its way to Diablo 4 at launch, as the game's set items have been postponed.

 

[legend]

I don't really like set items anyway. Diablo is cool because you can make custom builds and the very concept of sets is antithetical to that.

[Chris-]

3 hours ago, legend said:

I don't really like set items anyway. Diablo is cool because you can make custom builds and the very concept of sets is antithetical to that.

 

But if this is anything like D3 then sets will be absolutely crucial for the late-game grind.

[legend]

35 minutes ago, Chris- said:

 

But if this is anything like D3 then sets will be absolutely crucial for the late-game grind.

 

I didn't really like D3 though  

 

(I mean, it was fine. But it didn't grab me like D2 did back in the day)

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

1 hour ago, Chris- said:

 

But if this is anything like D3 then sets will be absolutely crucial for the late-game grind.

I looked but didn’t see the article mention how long sets would be delayed from the launch. if it’s not too long after launch then it may not be missed for very long by the majority of players. 
 

if it’s 3+ months after launch, then it may be a perfect thing for renewed interest in the game. 
 

that site also mentioned there’s a rumor that that D4’s release date will slip. So maybe the whole game gets delayed not because of sets, but just so happens that sets are now ready in time to be included at release. 

[Remarkableriots]

This is probably the most anticipated game I want and after a decade I still play Diablo 3. I haven't gotten Diablo 2 again yet but eventually I'll get that also. Any chance they will rerelease Diablo?

[DPCyric]

On 2/11/2023 at 7:20 PM, legend said:

 

I didn't really like D3 though  

 

(I mean, it was fine. But it didn't grab me like D2 did back in the day)

 

So I loved the original (played it on the PSOne of all places), D2 didn't grab me and D3 is my favorite.

[eventide11]

Pretty sure Blizzard released the mobile Diablo soley for the purpose of funding this game

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

 

Level cap for the beta is 25 and it will cover all campaign/side quests in Act 1.