If you have been following Diablo 3's release story, it is pretty clear that the Real Money Auction House is a has been a huge roadblock to getting Diablo 3 into the hands of the consumer.
People have speculated otherwise, but it is common knowledge, and generally accepted, that this is why the game is being delayed for so long.
If you're a regular reader, I apologize for the repetition in advance. Some of it you'll recognize, but there's a lot of new stuff.
The reason I'm doing this is because there's a lot of information scattered throughout the blog, and I wanted to make ONE POST that consolidated everything. So, I'm putting all of the pieces together here to create one comprehensive article of arguments that I can "sticky" to the front page.
The following is supporting evidence why I am fully convinced that the South Korean RMAH problems are the primary reason for the initial (and continued) delay of the Diablo 3 release.
Importance of Korean RMAH
On September 22, Blizzard management rushed to Korea to address sudden issues within the GRB approval process dealing with concerns over the RMAH and gambling.
Immediately the day after (September 23), Mike Morhaime published the “Soon” Was Too Soon -- Diablo III to Arrive in Early 2012 announcement.
This is key. Michael Morhaime, the Chief Executive Officer of Blizzard Entertainment made an unscheduled and rushed visit to Korea because of concerns regarding the RMAH & Gambling aspect of the game. He was also there with Robert Bridenbecker (VP of Online Technologies), Blizzard Korea Directors, and probably many other Senior Managers.
When the CEO of a major corporation gets involved in something, that's because it's extremely important and critical to the business (as well as the future of the business.)
Employees at the Blizzard US office very rarely even see Mike. He gets paid over $750k per year, and doesn't care about little things like rune decisions, polish, or minor bugs. His concerns consist of important and high level business decisions.
He didn't field questions by conference call, he didn't attend via video conference, he didn't get the Directors in Korea to handle it.. he jumped on a plane and traveled for over 15 hours.
So, the GRB delay was very very important to Blizzard. And when the CEO is involved, it's of the highest importance.
Immediately the day after, the release in all other countries was delayed. This was only made available in Korean newspapers, no one knew about this in NA/EU until I had made others aware of it. Unless Mike had jumped on a plane immediately after the press conference, there's a very strong chance that the Global Delay announcement was even made by Mike (remotely) while he was still physically located in South Korea.
So, yes. The decision to have the RMAH in the Korean game is EXTREMELY important to Blizzard and it did effect the launch in all other regions.
Battle.net Blogs & Articles
When that "Soon Was Too Soon" article was posted, did you know that this was the only time that Mike had ever published an article himself on the Battle.net front page?
Most articles are prepared well in advance; several days to several weeks. Upcoming announcements, new features, new contests.. all of these are published by "Blizzard Entertainment" and prepared many days ahead of time. They typically wait until certain days, do some last minute checks, and then click "Publish".
This was a very last minute post, made by Mike the CEO himself. Not only was this totally out of character, but so was his posting time: 5:30AM.
Even the "Diableard Challenge" was cancelled, because everything by this point was completely up in the air and they had no idea what the new worldwide release date was going to be now.
We Have Been Given More Time
In this blue post, Blizzard confirms that because of the delay, they now have more time to add new features and services. ..the fact that some changes or features were added only after the announcement of the postponement of the game in 2012.
Having moved the release date, our development team has been available to the additional time they are using is to finish the game, but also to add items that were not able to be included with the old date of issue (or better with the old forecast).
Having more time means having more content.
Unfortunately, there comes a moment when we must draw a sharp line and decide that the game should be released and that some features or changes are not necessary. Consider this very carefully and use all the powers of logic at your disposal.
The game was delayed. They now have time to add new features, new content, fix bugs, polish the game, adjust runes, balance characters.
Do you see the logic here? The runes, bug fixes or polish did not come BEFORE the delay, nor did they CAUSE the delay. There was "A DELAY", but now they have time to work on the runes, bugs, balancing, and polish. They also have more time to add NEW FEATURES and NEW CONTENT.
This means that it's NOT the runes, bugs, balancing, tweaking, or polish delaying the game. "Something else" delayed the game, but now they have time to work on all of those things.
And if they have so much extra time available to add NEW FEATURES and NEW CONTENT, doesn't that just speak volumes that there was nothing actually holding back the game? This means that the game was practically done, because now they can add NEW stuff. Because things are so open ended with the release date, they have so much extra time available that they can just add new features, services, and content.
If the game was delayed because of game-play issues, they would have been given extra time to correct those issues specifically. That's when they enter "crunch time", and work hard to get rid of those last minor issues. They wouldn't be using that time to add brand new features and content that would add new bugs, new balancing issues, and other new problems. No, they said that because of "THE DELAY", that they now had time to add new stuff. And because they made the distinction, "THE DELAY" has nothing to do with the game or game-play elements itself. That just leaves an external factor (or factors), without actually stating specifically what it is.
This should all be common sense.
Sometimes They're Not Good Sources
The best time to get useful or honest quotes or information from Blizzard is when the source is not paying attention, when they're answering another question (to which you can glean other information from), when they're caught off guard, or when they let something slip accidentally.
This is why a lot of the best or unannounced information comes from live interviews, unedited videos, or posts from Blizzard employees who reside outside of the US. Employees who work at Blizzard HQ are more careful about what they say or release. Those in other countries; not as much. (Where did that gigantic Product Slate, Subscribers, and Financials leak come from? Oh right, China.)
When a source is discussing a particular subject, they're very careful about what they say. They'll review their post, word and re-word it, and be very careful to make sure it's as ambiguous as possible. And when Bashiok is involved, his answers are very specifically ambiguous and open to interpretation. When he types, there's no commitment and no clear confirmation or denial. Just like any good politician.
You've seen this sort of ambiguous Blizzard response in the past. For example, in regards to the "rumors" that "Mists of Pandaria" was going to be the name of the next WOW expansion pack, and that the Pandaren were going to be in the game, Tom Chilton (Game Director and Lead Game Designer for World of Warcraft) said that this belief was only speculation and "wildly overhyped." And that, "if you look at traditionally how we've handled that race it's been in those secondary products because we haven't realized it in the world. Most of the time when we do anything panda-related it's going to be a comic book or a figurine or something like that."
Many users and gaming sites took this as a DENIAL that MoP was the next expansion pack or could have possibly involved the Pandaren in any way. Smarter people knew, though, that he was neither confirming nor denying anything. You might as well have just ignored everything he said, because he wasn't telling you anything.
Here is Bashiok's primary RMAH Korea post that he and others frequently link back to: Thank you for voicing your concerns, Starbird. I realize you and many other people are excited to play the game, and are probably feeling a bit let down that we haven’t yet announced a release date. While you bring up a number of points of speculation, I just want to cut right to it and state that the reason we don’t have a release date yet is because the game isn’t yet where we want it to be in terms of our quality standards. We aren’t holding it back on account of any one piece of the game, or for any other outside factors. While it is indeed playable from beginning to end, we’re still actively working on many individual game elements and the ways that they interact with one another, with a great deal of iterative tweaking, balancing, polishing, adjusting, redesigning, and retesting going on. We’re going to continue beta testing, and before too long that’s going to include a large influx of new invites.
Much of this iteration obviously takes place behind closed doors, so I can sympathize with the concerns about the lack of visible progress, and the sentiment that we should just go ahead and ship the game. Until we’re able to reveal more of the results, I can only assure you that we are indeed working on critical game systems that directly impact the core of the experience.
I also realize a lot of people were hoping for a release date announcement at the VGAs. We’re simply not going to be able to dispel or comment on release date rumors and speculation every time someone expects an announcement. We’ll be announcing a release date when we determine the game is ready, and not holding it back just to line it up with any particular game-industry event.
The bottom line is that development of our games and preparations for release are long and complicated. We’re just as excited to get the final version into your hands as you are to play it, but making sure it lives up to our quality standards will always be the most important factor in that process. What does he really say here though?
He says, that they don't have a release date because it's not ready yet. that they're not holding it back on account of only 1 piece of the game or 1 piece of some outside factor. that they're actively working on tweaking, balancing, polishing, etc. (But, all of that stuff that have been given extra time to work on since "the delay".) that he can only assure you that they're were working on game systems. that they'll announce when they're ready. and that development time of games is long and complicated. He doesn't confirm or deny anything; he says nothing. This can't be used as a source of information for anything, other than that they're working on the game still.
He even used a thesaurus for describing "the great deal" of the so many things going on in the development process: "tweaking, balancing, polishing, adjusting, redesigning, and retesting". That's the same thing! Seriously.. look up a thesaurus.. other than "testing", everything he said was the same thing but described differently.
And then there's this post from Bashiok later: "I don't know what translation you're reading but no where has it been stated the release of the game on a whole is delayed because of a GRB rating. Might it delay the game in Korea? I suppose no one knows, but we still have some time since the game is not finished. We're playing internal builds, the entire game, we'd know if it was. I'd know." What interests me is that he deleted it shortly after posting it. Read it over.. what is so seriously wrong with the post that he had to delete? Is it abusive or rude? Nope. Is he trolling? Nope.
Perhaps the problem with his post is that it wasn't ambiguous enough.
He says, Blizzard has not stated anywhere that the global release is delayed because of the GRB rating. the global release of the game is NOT DELAYED "ON A WHOLE" because of Korea. No one knows if the GRB rating in Korea will delay the game in Korea. They still have some time since the game is not finished. They're playing internal builds and the "entire game." (Hey, I thought it wasn't finished?) It's perfectly honest and truthful to say that the SK Ratings issue is not the reason for the delay of the game AS A WHOLE. For example, the SK issues might be the leading reason, might have caused the delay, but it's not the reason for the current delay. Right now, it's 99% of the reason, and 1% of the reason is all of the new bugs and features that they have added since the delay. It's all about wording. There's nothing dishonest or incorrect about what Bashiok is saying at all.
In either scenario though, you can't take it as a confirmation or denial.. it's too ambiguous.
After all, ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS.
And what kind of actions have been taken? The Book of Cain was postponed, even though it was published, done, and ready to ship. Forum posts were deleted (it's the deleted posts that are the most important). New forum pages were created. CEO and managers took an emergency trip to Korea. Every announcement or delay comes right after updates from the GRB. Timing of the delay announcements, and everything else listed in this post.
The Plot Thickens
So, here's a direct link to the original Bashiok post (mentioned above) that was deleted. As you can see, #225 and #227 are there, but #226 is gone.
If you go to the Diablofans Blizztracker, the full original entry is archived there.
But look at D3SANC's entry for Bashiok's post. (Scroll to the very bottom.)
No, you're not losing your mind. Bashiok's post has been heavily edited, with a significant portion of the original post cut out.
The thing is.. this is a deleted post, it's doesn't exist. Why would D3SANC go back and edit it to remove that certain paragraph from the post. The whole thing was deleted, they should have just removed the entire entry so that they're properly mirroring the forums.
I'm not sure what's going on here, so I asked D3SANC for a clarification. Apparently, they answer their emails within a couple minutes or it might take a couple hours at the very most. It's been a couple days now, and still nothing.
It's not unusual for Blizzard to ask fan sites to remove information that they don't want users to know about. But at this point, I have no explanation for why the entry was edited or cut out.. so, I have my suspicions but that's all they are.
Blizzard Wants It To Be A Global Release
If you are committed to a global release, then it has to be released in all countries simultaneously correct? If one country is having problems, then it needs to be delayed for all other countries.
During their Q2 2011 Financial Results in August, Activision Blizzard described Diablo 3 as a "global release". This is wording that has never been used before to describe any of their past games. It was announced publicly and to their shareholders.
They even developed a global version of the game. Back in October 2011, Robert Bridenbecker (VP of Online Technologies) described the game as their first "region free" game. As Robert explained, "When you buy Diablo 3, you're buying Diablo 3." You can play it anywhere in the world, it's not region locked, and players can select any server they want, and any language they want.
This game can be bought in any country and you can play it in any other country you want. When (or if) the Digital Pre-Downloads go up, it's going to be a worldwide global launch whether Blizzard actually wants it to or not. But, of course, it makes perfect sense for Blizzard to launch globally since they're producing a region free game.
In their "Soon is Too Soon" news release, they made a global announcement ("As we're announcing globally today..") In this announcement, they state that they were originally targeting the game for end of 2011 (end of Nov release date). This wasn't a specific country or regional announcement like they've done for WOW, Starcraft, and all previous games, this was a GLOBAL announcement and a global change that all countries needed to be aware of.
In that same announcement, they also stated that "Blizzard will use the additional time to extend the Diablo III closed beta test." Additional time to add more new services and features.. and more stalling to keep players busy. (More on this later.)
Zhydaris of Battle.net EU stated that they are intending on having a global release.
Blizzard Korea officially described Diablo 3 as a "Global Version" in their application for consideration.
Blizzard wants this game to be a global release. It's being developed as a global game, it's being sold as a global game, it's being described as a global game in official documentation, and Blizzard has described their intention to make it a global game. This piece alone, skipping all other supporting evidence, should be enough to show that Blizzard wants the game to launch simultaneously worldwide.
It could have still been launched globally this past November, if they had cut out the RMAH completely from the Korea launch knowing that there would have been issues with their new legislation. Instead, they delayed it, then they missed including RMAH related documentation in their approvals submissions, delayed again, then they offered to remove only the cash-out feature only, and it was delayed yet again. They really want a paid RMAH system within the Korean Diablo release.
Runes, Bug Fixes and More Layers of Polish
These are apparently the biggest issues holding back the release and what many users are constantly reiterating.
The list seems a awfully light don't you think? THESE are the reasons for the delay? That's it? What doesn't make sense is that the beta was already polished, there were very few bugs (and minor ones at that), and the rune system was ready.
Starcraft 2, on the other hand, was delayed because WOTLK was taking up the majority of the development team's time, Blizzard didn't want it to conflict with the MF2 launch, there were still stability issues (plus bugs & polish just like D3), and because the Battle.net service and the technology was not prepared. It was officially delayed because "essential" and "integral" parts of the game and Battle.net were missing.
However, Diablo has been delayed for several months because they still need to fix their runes, bugs, and add more polish. That must be a LOT of work.. the entire development team must be working on it. Gosh golly.. you know, they might even need to bring in more workers from other departments to help out. And, of course, Blizzard would never launch a game that has bugs in it.. World of Warcraft and Starcraft 2 have never had ANY bugs since launch. Melting videos cards was a "feature."
If they've been polishing the game over the past 5 months, as Bashiok has stated, why is it taking so long.. and where exactly IS this polish? I had thought polish were last minute additions and graphical tweaks to clean everything up. But, they're adding new features and new content.
If this is true that they're applying more layers of polish, it means that retail will be far more polished than the beta. How much do you want to bet it will still look the same?
How about the bugs? When the beta first came out, users were very impressed on how well polished and bug free the game was. Bugs only started happening AFTER Blizzard started adding new features (like Simple ToolTips) which only came AFTER some unknown delay. They were given more time to add new content, new assets, and new features that were all supposed to be added post-retail. So, the bugs you're seeing now are the ones that were supposed to be there a few months after launch. Except, there probably would have been more emphasis on correcting them more quickly. As beta players are seeing, the minor bugs currently in the beta are being fixed very slowly or not being fixed at all. Are they game breaking bugs? Nope. Game frequently crashing? Nope. Minor bugs? Yup. I'm willing to bet too that many of the beta bugs will also be present in retail. The same thing happened with all of their other games.
And finally, how about the big one: runes.
Jay Wilson already said that the Rune system was good enough to ship as is. The team has been experimenting with different rune systems, and Jay said that they're trying about 2-3 different ideas. If they're ready and the dev team likes them, they'll see how the players like them. However, they're just ideas and they are not a deal breaker. Jay said; "The system is already cool as it is, so if it does work (the new rune system), we'll just leave it as it is." Jay made it clear that the rune system would not hold back the release. They just have many options available right now, but they like the old system. They would like to test out new things, but most of these changes will be done post-retail just like the WOW talent system. How many iterations and tweaks has the talent tree undergone since launch?
Just last month, even Bashiok wrote that they'll go back to the original "totally awesome" system if they don't like the testing results of their other ideas. (This echoed exactly what Jay Wilson had stated months earlier.) "We actually have moved on from the previously discussed unattuned system. We've been trying many different ideas out, but we're not quite comfortable enough with any of them yet to invite you in and see what you think.
Let me also say that the old system wasn't broken, per-se, it just had a few issues we thought we could resolve. Runestones are a huge part of Diablo III, and we think it's worth trying out some alternatives and see if we can't improve it. But if all of our experiments fail we can easily go back to the original system, and it will still be totally awesome." Basically, they scrapped the unattuned system, they're experimenting with other new systems, but the old system is great and it's their primary fallback. The old system is also "totally awesome". Runes are ready, they're not going to hold back the game.
So what's left? Runes are done. There's no more polish needed. Bugs are new, but there's little time spent on them and they're only here now because they were given more time due to some other external delay. If that's the case, then the delay couldn't possibly be related to the bugs, polish, or runes.
More Stalling
(Much of this you can find in earlier posts.)
* Diablo 3 was supposed to be released late November.
* During Blizzcon 2010, Jay Wilson originally expected that the D3 beta would run for "six months" before release but this wasn't the beta you have now. It was going to be at least the first 3 acts.
* During Blizzcon 2009, users were able to play through the full Act 1 and Act 2, Act 3 was revealed, Act 4 was kept as a surprise for release, and in 2010 they were able to play the PVP portion. Based on Blizzard comments at the time, players were expecting that the beta would be Act 1, Act 2 and possibly a portion of Act 3 (since Jay Wilson confirmed that Act 4 would be the smallest Act.) Even Bashiok said in April 2011 that the beta would consist of the first 3 acts: "You’ve actually seen some of the first three Acts already, and we probably won’t be revealing too much more than what we’ve already shown." The last act(s) and additional difficulty levels were going to be "a surprise" saved for the retail.
* In 2011, the beta was shortened to a 2-3 month testing period and just a fraction of Act 1 because they only needed to test servers, network, and the new auction house systems. The plan was to release it before Christmas.
* Now, shouldn't the small beta size also be a major clue as to how much progress was really made to the game? The game was done, it was ready, they didn't need the full game to be tested by users for feedback, and instead they just released a very small tech demo. That's just how complete the game really was.
* On September 22, Blizzard C-Levels rushed to Korea to deal with the fallout of the GRB approval process and their questioning about the gambling aspects of the RMAH.
* On September 23, Blizzard immediately published their "Soon Was Too Soon -- Diablo III to Arrive in Early 2012" announcement. Coincidence?
* Right after Blizzcon, even the Book of Cain was suddenly pushed back from it's November 15 release date to an undecided time. This happened even though the Book of Cain was done, published, stocked, and ready to ship. Several copies were also sent out months before release to reviewers. This left many people completely baffled as to why it was pushed back.
* The GRB's "final decision" was about 1 week away. On Nov 21, Rob Pardo tweeted "time to get serious and work hard on Diablo 3" possibly indicating that they were getting close to crunchtime.
* On November 30 (or possibly Nov 29), Blizzard received an update from the GRB that they were still in deliberations and a final decision would probably be made by January.
* Suddenly, there was a huge explosion of Diablo information.
* On November 30, Blizzard announced the official release date (Dec 13) for the Book of Cain following several date changes over the previous months.
* On December 1 (the day after), the Global RMAH testing was announced. Blizzard also started releasing information on items and Artisans and new pages were published. All within a very short period of time, almost as if they were just waiting for weeks for someone to finally click "Publish."
* The "Day In a Life" series was originally supposed to be 3 interviews. After this announcement, the page was redesigned, new content was uploaded, and it was expanded to 5 employee interviews instead of 3.
* On December 5, Blizzard Korea also made an official update on the Korean Battle.net site about the delays of the game and the status updates on rating approvals. They stated that the Diablo 3 release was being held back because of issues with the GRB.
* On December 8, AUS Beta Key contest announced. Contest expires on Dec 31.
* On December 9, the long predicted "Battle.net Balance" system was announced.
* On Friday Dec 16, Blizzard received notification from the Korean GRB that more information was needed. The hearing was schedule for Dec 21 for their answer, however it was cancelled and postponed until Blizzard could provide proper data. (They were given 7 days to reply.)
* On Monday Dec 19, this news made front pages of Korean news sites.
* On this same day, a major wave of opt-in beta keys went out. The next day, Blizzard announced a new US-based beta giveaway which overlapped with the last week of Facebook giveaway. Also, the number of keys available didn't match per capita with the AU/NZ beta key contest. It expires Jan 23 2012. (More stalling.)
* On Dec 22, the SK GRB received Blizzard's resubmission for a rating, however they are excluding the "cashing-out" function of the Real Money Auction House this time around. Players will still be charged money, however, but the money will be stored as Battle.net Bucks instead which can only be used for Blizzard goods and services.
* The GRB's next "final decision" is scheduled for Wednesday, January 4.
Frequently Asked Questions
I'll leave this space open for FAQs. As the game and announcements progress, or if I realize that I missed anything in the post above, I'll update this document.
Q: Even Blizzard's new submission has the RMAH. Why can't they just leave the RMAH completely out of Korea so that it can finally launch?
A: Even though Korea represents a major portion of their sales and RMAH usage (they're in the top 10), it's not just about the money. If Korea does not have the RMAH implemented, it's going to be a logistical and account management nightmare for Blizzard. The game is region free, and Korean players could use the RMAH in other countries. Blizzard would then be supporting illegal gambling (and for minors.) It would be very bad for the company. It's much easier for them, and more lucrative, to wait. Their last resort is not to release D3 in Korea, and therefore make it illegal for users to play the game. That way, Blizzard is not held liable for user's actions, and the government must regulate it's use on their own.
Q: Why doesn't Blizzard just tell everyone what's going on?
A: Are you kidding me? "Hey, this game is being delayed because of one country. We really want the game there, because we make more money and it's easier for us so that we don't need to create a lot of new security systems. You could have been playing this game in November 2011, but this is all about us, not our players." Yeah, that will go over really well.
Q: Will I be a total douchebag if I don't read anything you've written, but then attempt to refute one of your claims and use that as proof that everything here is incorrect?
A: Yes. Only weak and unintelligent individuals will try to take one small part of a massive list of arguments, try to disprove it, and then use that single reference as "proof" that everything else is null and void. "You misspelled 'their'. How can I take any of this seriously? Since the spelling is wrong, the argument is wrong, and therefore EVERYTHING written is wrong. QED." Q: Wow, you collected a lot of stuff. It looks like Blizzard employees release a great deal of information about their games and inner-workings that no one knows about in the US. Where can I find this stuff myself?
A: First, go to "http://translate.google.com". Here are some sites to get you started:
Q: Hey, you missed that really important post where you or someone else discussed X and how it impacted Y. Can you please add it to the list?
A: Sure, just leave a comment with links, sources, proof, etc. If I missed anything, I'll add it to the list.
Q: There are some posts on the EU Battle.net forums from blue that mention a "global launch." What's all that about?
A: No one is supposed to know about that, and blue isn't supposed to be talking about it or mentioning it. A "global launch" for Diablo 3 hasn't been officially announced yet and Blizzard won't be announcing it until they get full approval from Korea. Blue forum posters shouldn't be assuming it will be a global launch, after all. That's the plan, but if it gets rejected, it won't be a simultaneous worldwide launch.
You should read the real article though to give feedback, and he will respond. The short story is that Blizzard has either posted that RMAH is holding the game up and then withdrawn said post. Or said nothing at all.
"I don't know what translation you're reading but no where has it been stated the release of the game on a whole is delayed because of a GRB rating. Might it delay the game in Korea? I suppose no one knows, but we still have some time since the game is not finished. We're playing internal builds, the entire game, we'd know if it was. I'd know."
To clarify, he is only stating that Blizzard never stated that GRB rating was delaying the game "on a whole." Don't get confused here.
Statements like these were retracted because they were not vague enough. Instead replaced with ones like this partial quote:
We aren’t holding it back on account of any one piece of the game, or for any other outside factors.
This says absolutely nothing. RMAH could be 99 percent of the holdup and this quote remains true.
Anyway that is the backstory. Even if you can't believe that RMAH is one of the only factors holding the game up, even after reading that article, it is a tough sell to say that RMAH is not a factor at all. That is just an extraordinary uphill battle at this point that I can't side with, even though I would like to. _______________________________________ THE REAL NEWS _______________________________________
This is the Korean GRB's response circa Jan 4th 2012.
The Game Rating Board, government agency responsible for approving and classifying video games, sees no end in sight for a decision an entire legion of fans anxiously awaits.
Though a ruling on the third and latest in the series of global bestseller Diablo was rumored to be due today, the board spokesman said Tuesday there were no signs suggesting a definitive answer.
“Committee members are conflicted about what to do with Diablo 3,” he said, “because of (its American developer) Blizzard’s information on the game’s ‘auction house’ feature.”
The virtual auction allows users to buy and sell items won during the game, which for many, including the board, resembles gambling. The controversial cashing-out feature, which would convert play money into real currency, was excluded in the most recent resubmission on Dec. 22 but continues to confound the process.
The next meeting was scheduled for Wednesday, but the spokesman cautioned fans against optimism, saying instead that reviews take place every Wednesday and Friday.
“As it is described in the (re)submission, committee members are still reluctant.”
Blizzard has dug a grave for itself by publicly committing to a simultaneous global, region-free launch for the first time in company history. Because every country will receive identical software, the Korean board’s decision is keeping the global game giant in chains.
“In principle, we are always committed to a global release,” said spokeswoman for Blizzard.
She declined to give a fixed date for the release, however. Some industry pundits say secrecy of release dates follows the norm of game software developers, often working until the last minute to change minute details, refusing to release anything less than their ideal version.
But in this case, the high-profile visit to Korea last September by Michael Morhaime, Blizzard’s CEO and co-founder, his meeting with the Game Rating Board members and the subsequent announcement the following day of a fresh delay, combine to fuel the blogosphere controversy.
Specialist blogs and websites are rife with posts about the reasons behind the repeated delays, most of them speculating that the Korean authorities are holding up the international release.
Diablo 3 has taken the U.S. video game publisher and developer Blizzard a decade to complete.
My personal opinion: Blizzard has chained themselves with there dedication to a global release. I think it may be time to remove Korea from the global release schedule as the game is practically 1.1 at this stage.
Problems encountered on beta are the result of Blizzard pressure testing the game, constantly withdrawing resources to find out how little they can support X number of people with. Blizzard's internal build is confirmed to have done away with the rubber banding and stuttering the player encounters trying to reload everything from Disk. Our beta is only maintained enough to run network tests on, while being patched only enough to maintain relevance. Having personally (My battletag is Medrea#1444) played the beta, I can tell you that outside of the obvious problems, the game itself is a buttery smooth and clean experience (Low, but not zero, bugs). The lagless combat is just as described, completely lag free as its client residency implies. The game formula is highly polished, and beta feedback forums are all about the dumbest things (music, this button should be closer to that button). Balance is a forever thing. And so on.
I understand that removing Korea from the release schedule will only promote Koreans purchasing NA accounts through shady retailers. But another option would be to remove the RMAH from Korea completely, however the same result will likely occur. However at this point, I feel that if a game that has had its cashing out ability completely removed, what is left to cut from RMAH? Blizzard does not want to cut RMAH out of everything because they need to use the fees generated from transactions to fund future support for the game.
UPDATED OPINION: A lot of debate has come and gone and people are often confusing "Major roadblock" with "the only thing." Consider this, with Korean RMAH a major hurdle that takes a lot of time to surmount, it is not a bad idea to send Diablo 3 through an additional development cycle. When the RMAH issue clears itself up, you of course still have to finish the development cycle. Blizzard is one of the last video game developers with strong post-release support. The game was shippable in November, but now that they have spare time they can now retool the game in a way where previously time was too constraining.
Thats why before RMAH we had all this Diablo 3 hype, and then it died out. And now it seems like it is starting back up again. What we will likely see happen is the GRB will grant the game a rating. Blizzard will then wrap up the current development cycle for the game. Then the beta will be updated to reflect the new cycle, and one last wave of beta invites. THEN we will hear about a release date.
Please discuss what alterations and solutions you think Blizzard could make to send this deal through. Please stay away from statements like:
"RMAH NOT A BIG DEAL BASHIOK SEZ SO"
They don't add anything to the discussion and quite frankly it is being blind to the evidence.
"Good fucking riddance to RMAH"
It is part of Blizzards fiscal future with Diablo 3 as they need the money from transactions to continue development for the game. Hoorahing the downfall of RMAH means in the very least a drastic cut in the support of future Diablo 3 content.
Standard TL rules also apply. Don't just say "No" or some two word response and then think your viewpoint is in any way meaningful for anybody other than yourself.
My Solution: Ship the game now. Patch in RMAH later.
______________________________________________ UPDATE Jan 5th (Edited) ______________________________________________
The game has been given a rating of 18+ If you can translate, please do so, I will give you credit and add it to the OP
EDIT: I cant speak Korean so bear with me here, I believe this article is actually stating that it is likely to get an 18+ rating in Korea as long as the cashing out feature is removed from the Korean RMAH.
If is official. Diablo 3 has been approved. The Korean version will ship without RMAH at all. RMAH will be patched into the game later. This should be a big sigh of relief for Blizzard especially now that the ball is entirely within their court.
I expect the game to take one final production cycle which will probably start and end with an announcement, an update to beta, and then a release date announcement (followed or preluded by more beta invites!). I would say to look for all of this to take place in approximately 2 weeks. Why 2 weeks? If Blizzard wants to maintain "Q1 2012" they have to release before the last day of March. In order to release by then and still have given "6-8 weeks of notice" then end of January to halfway through February is as good as it gets.
"Even though us in the Art team do not get a ton of information regarding delays, new game changes, tweaks or programming changes, I do know that the other departments are actually done. The art team has been done for some time now, but they have had us working on tweaking game graphics and artwork for future patches as part of the delay. As Jay Wilson mentioned, the game is actually done for the most part. But all I know is that we got an email stating the project was being delayed. There was no date specified or why it was delayed however. But we were given new assignments to work on since the project is already complete and has been since November.
What I do know is that the only thing that was being worked on was the rune system and class tweaks during the delay. They were also trying to make some changes to pvp. But the game was not delayed because of those changes. They came after when we got the emails it was being delayed. However, as I stated before, these changes were supposed to be for a patch after the game was released."
Q: Have you heard anything yet about the Korea GRB assisting with the delay? A: "No. As before, I never got an email or document stating what was holding the release date up. I do know that some of us brought it up during work, but I still do not know since only a select few get that kind of information."
Q: Any information on the release date? A: "We have not as of yet gotten any email at work about the release date, but we did get an email on Thursday which let us know that the project will be going Gold within the following weeks. Jay Wilson should be mentioning something about the release date this week. "
Q: Do you know how long it may take for the game to hit shelves once announced? A: "I did talk to my supervisor at work who mentioned that the retailers are on standby for instant delivery. Because of the pressure and delay, I think we should be forcing it out the door within weeks after the announcement. It should have already been out. Retailers and Investors are getting annoyed."
Q: What are you working on now? A: "They have us working on icons and artwork glitches for the game. But this is for a future patch once the other departments gather more bug fixes."
Q: Have you played Diablo 3? A: "I have played it up to Act 3 on Normal difficulty. Some of my coworkers have played through Hell difficulty. "
Q: What do you think of the game? A: "Well, it feels weird playing through it and always seeing the artwork that you have created for the game. For example, I would be flying through Act 2 and see the Pillar Artwork I designed and be completely unfocused because I feel it never looks right. So it does take a lot of fun out of the game for me and others who work on it. But from an outside view, I would say this game is going to be addictive and fun."
Korean RMAH problem has now come to terms. Earlier I predicted (or provided my own solution) that Blizzard would/should just submit a version of the game for Korea that was axed of the RMAH or at least the ability to cash out.
This has now come to pass. I have left the old RMAH news in the spoiler above, for anyone who wishes to browse it. Below I have provided a clarification on where I stand different from Daeity's Blog. + Show Spoiler +
Daeity's blog implied that Blizzard was simply waiting with a completely finished product. Waiting for South Korea to rate the game, while doing absolutely nothing to the game in the process.
I felt that if I was in Blizzard's shoes, this would be a very foolish route to take. I felt that Blizzard would take the game through one last development cycle while they wrap up South Korea. Either by dumping Korea from the launch completely, or stripping the game of its RMAH functions. I felt that neither solution was complete but Blizzard chose the latter.
Now that it is all over Blizzard has to finish what they started when Mike Morhaime snap announced "Soon was too soon." The final release date is now related to how big the holdover development cycle is.
For starters no runestone changes, skill advancement and character development is relatively untouched.
Identify scrolls were removed and now instead of right clicking a scroll and left clicking an item you just right click an item. Very minor.
Dedicated potion button is literally just UI placement and hotkey change. In fact it is a restriction because now you cant give up a skill for a power pot.
Mystic Artisan wasnt even changed, they just dumped it completely.
CoJ And Nephalem cube were just UI elements. Now instead of being a UI element in your inventory it is now a UI element on the artisan.
White items were removed from salvageable because of the complaints that there was just too much stuff to pick up, you wanted everything! This is a minor change, although I will grant that it helps to pace the game faster.
Stone of recall, instead of a UI element in your bags, its now on a bar, same thing.
Even the core character attributes, the most major thing about this patch, is just a means of making it so that all 5 characters dont pursue the exact same unclassed equipment. You still can't tweak them to your liking (which is fine), and for the most part one statistic (namely attack) ended up just being renamed to another (str,dex,or int whatever your class is). You are still getting loot, you are still equipping it based on almost the exact same rubric as before, just a new set of names to get used to.
What still needs to be changed because of these changes. In accordance to what Jay Wilson has stated he will change (namely runestones).
As runestones were previously a crafting material for enchantments, the associated drop rate, or dropping mechanic as a whole needs to be changed. This is about the biggest change that needs to happen.
A tuning pass over all equipment since the core skills were renamed. Included craftables.
A tuning pass over drop rates since Blizzard is no longer felled by the responsibility that anything that drops forces the player to run and pick it up.
These changes are extremely mild and we need an update on what the runestone changes are actually going to be. Jay Wilson said at Blizzcon that the runestone system they had in place was very good and perfectly fine to ship with. Now that it is quite literally the only thing left after minor changes to the UI and "where buttons are," its safe to say that SK had a huge impact on the final tone that the game undertook. Which I particularly enjoy.
On the bright side, this means that D3 is very nearly close to launch. With any foreign problems out of the way, and relatively small tweaks on the horizon, it looks like we might see a Q1 release.
That's the point. They CAN'T remove the RMAH from the Korean release because THERE IS NO KOREAN RELEASE. Only a Global version. If YOU can access the RMAH, then so can the average SK citizen.
I read both articles. Blizzard made a point of making D3 their First Global Game release and they don't want to go back on their word. Clearly, they've shot themselves in the foot because one way or another, a promise has to be broken. So far it's the release date.
I find it odd that they're only having problems with SK. IIRC, Germany has laws against violence in video games, forcing developers to replace the gore with something else. For example, Team Fortress 2 had blood and guts replaced with oil and mechanical parts. If D3 is a global release, then they will see gore as well as I do.
On January 05 2012 03:29 DrSeRRoD wrote: Wish they would just remove the damn RMAH and release the game and then implement it in an optional patch/download once everything is taken care of.
Seriously. The game hasn't been released yet so no one is stocking up on Uber items anyway. Let's start with the regular AH and see about the RMAH later.
On January 05 2012 03:25 Krowser wrote: That's the point. They CAN'T remove the RMAH from the Korean release because THERE IS NO KOREAN RELEASE. Only a Global version. If YOU can access the RMAH, then so can the average SK citizen.
I read both articles. Blizzard made a point of making D3 their First Global Game release and they don't want to go back on their word. Clearly, they've shot themselves in the foot because one way or another, a promise has to be broken. So far it's the release date.
I find it odd that they're only having problems with SK. IIRC, Germany has laws against violence in video games, forcing developers to replace the gore with something else. For example, Team Fortress 2 had blood and guts replaced with oil and mechanical parts. If D3 is a global release, then they will see gore as well as I do.
Interesting post, thanks.
Be careful.
While the game is region-free. The RMAH has been continuously stated as region locked.
A person in Europe can play with North Americans, but is bound to the European Real Money Auction House.
I think you know this, but are recognizing that people will just buy an account in NA anyway.
I read the thread and I disagree. I'm gonna take Blizzards side on this one. The release of the game as they have stated is not being delayed by the RMAH. If they wants to yhey could still release the game with out SK. Yeah they want a global release but this stuff happends and if the game is 100% done then thats not gonna be a big enough reason to delay potential profits.
Mike Morhain (sp?) has stated that they are still working on the game, although the game is flushed out, there are still balance changes and general game alterations that still need to be made before it can be released.
As you said, patch in the RMAH later, RELEASE NOAW!
Balance is a forever thing. WoW has been out for 7 years and they are still tweaking everything over and over and over.
Jay Wilson also has stated that the rune system and everything else is good enough to ship as it is. You can consider Jay Wilson to be the David Kim/Dustin Browder of Diablo 3.
Morhaime, the CEO of blizzard, doesnt get involved because of "runestones" or anything like that. When he gets involved, its business. The article I linked goes into this further. And provides links to Blizzards actions in conjunction to how the Korean RMAH debacle is unfolding.
Despite all of this, you still believe that RMAH has nothing to do with the delays and the game's already super polished state does?
If what you claim is true, then I guess a non-RMAH release for now would be the way to go, although I personally like a game that is complete in its fullest, with every feature that was announced.
If what you claim is not true, and they are still adding a bunch of stuff, it has to be A LOT of stuff if it is taking them so long. Maybe there are more reasons besides the 'polishing' AND RMAH issue?
All in all it seems to me that there is too little information we're dealing with atm. Another statement from blizzard would be appreciated. I can say for myself that I can wait a whole lot longer. I am definatly going to buy the game, but it's not like I am thinking about it every day, not like I did for starcraft anyway.
IMO shipping now with a statement that Koreans will not have a cash out feature is inviting koreans to skip the korean release of the game altogether and pick up a North American copy.
And thats what they were willing to deal with in the first place!
Also, South Korea has had MAJOR problems with Diablo 2 so using D2's trade scene as a reason for functioning RMAH doesnt work here.
There have been murders in South Korea committed because someone wouldnt give a magical sword back that they lent to someone else. This is about the time these administrative branches were being created for this sort of thing.
WoW simply did not have this problem because items are soulbound.
I can't believe Blizzard decides to make their first ever global release with the first time ever used in a game RMAH. How the hell didn't they think something controversial like that wouldn't cause a GLOBAL release problem.
The probability for delay with a global release with something like a first time in a game RMAH is as close to 1 as possible.
On January 05 2012 04:33 McNulty wrote: So when this gets sorted out we might see the game in no time? Thats kiiiiiiiiiinda, positive, if you look at it that way. =P
Yes thats the upside of everything.
The game will come released in a 1.1 state.
If you remember SC2's 1.0 state, patch 1.1 was sorely needed.
On January 05 2012 04:20 Medrea wrote: The problem is actually really tricky.
IMO shipping now with a statement that Koreans will not have a cash out feature is inviting koreans to skip the korean release of the game altogether and pick up a North American copy.
And thats what they were willing to deal with in the first place!
Also, South Korea has had MAJOR problems with Diablo 2 so using D2's trade scene as a reason for functioning RMAH doesnt work here.
There have been murders in South Korea committed because someone wouldnt give a magical sword back that they lent to someone else. This is about the time these administrative branches were being created for this sort of thing.
WoW simply did not have this problem because items are soulbound.
O.O
Holy shit that's crazy.
I wish Blizz would just give us a release date and either let Koreans buy NA copies or just take away their AH for the time being, they can include a major patch sometime later -_-''
I'm concerned that people have put so much thought into it. He's probably right about everything. But hey, it's a game and it'll be loads of fun when it's released.
You know what's not loads of fun though? Worrying about it. Just forget it exists until it's released and then go nuts on how great it is.
Thanks for the post, very informative. I don't follow D3 as religiously as I did when it was 1st announced and it's nice to get some sorely needed release date (delays) info.
Looking at current situation, we should be incredibly happy if the game gets released in April...because anything earlier is just not realistic anymore. Early 2012 my ***.
Really wondering who this person posting this "article" is? Some of his facts are a little questionable, and if someone could shed some light on how this person has come to know things that nobody else in the community is aware of, it might shed a little credibility onto the article.
For instance, "More Stalling"
* Diablo 3 was supposed to be released late November.
* During Blizzcon 2010, Jay Wilson originally expected that the D3 beta would run for "six months" before release but this wasn't the beta you have now. It was going to be at least the first 3 acts.
* During Blizzcon 2009, users were able to play through the full Act 1 and Act 2, Act 3 was revealed, Act 4 was kept as a surprise for release, and in 2010 they were able to play the PVP portion. Based on Blizzard comments at the time, players were expecting that the beta would be Act 1, Act 2 and possibly a portion of Act 3 (since Jay Wilson confirmed that Act 4 would be the smallest Act.) Even Bashiok said in April 2011 that the beta would consist of the first 3 acts: "You’ve actually seen some of the first three Acts already, and we probably won’t be revealing too much more than what we’ve already shown." The last act(s) and additional difficulty levels were going to be "a surprise" saved for the retail.
* In 2011, the beta was shortened to a 2-3 month testing period and just a fraction of Act 1 because they only needed to test servers, network, and the new auction house systems. The plan was to release it before Christmas.
* Now, shouldn't the small beta size also be a major clue as to how much progress was really made to the game? The game was done, it was ready, they didn't need the full game to be tested by users for feedback, and instead they just released a very small tech demo. That's just how complete the game really was.
* On September 22, Blizzard C-Levels rushed to Korea to deal with the fallout of the GRB approval process and their questioning about the gambling aspects of the RMAH.
* On September 23, Blizzard immediately published their "Soon Was Too Soon -- Diablo III to Arrive in Early 2012" announcement. Coincidence? "
????? You're telling me that people have played FULL Act 1 and Act 2 and have information about Act 3, and it is documented NOWHERE? ummm.... I was under the impression that there were no NDA's for after beta was released? Am I to understand that people out there have experienced 2 acts of the game and are still under NDA? Or is this a misquote?
Also, in regards to how complete the game actually is/was, and what blizzard is doing internally in the length of the beta, how in the hell does this person know that? Who is this guy? Or is this 100% pure speculation? Because if it is, he shouldn't be randomly throwing out timelines about Blizzard internal decisions that he has absolutely no idea about in order to suit his opinions, that seems a little off, and sensationalist conspiracy theorizing.
Gamescom had Act 2(?) available for play for anyone who waited in line for it. Long line.
A friend of mine went to Blizzcon 2009 and did in fact play through as much of these acts as he could. Only ten minutes per person though, but the act he played is not the act we have now.
So the information is out there, and it is also documented if you look hard enough for it. I won't link anything here for obviousm reasons.
All of those bullet points are corroborated either by blizzard themselves, or various sources throughout various Expo's like gamescom.
This most recent Gamescom made me super jealous because they got the chance to play the completed game. Although no one was allowed to sit in front of it for very long periods of time.
Also, in regards to how complete the game actually is/was, and what blizzard is doing internally in the length of the beta, how in the hell does this person know that? Who is this guy? Or is this 100% pure speculation? Because if it is, he shouldn't be randomly throwing out timelines about Blizzard internal decisions that he has absolutely no idea about in order to suit his opinions, that seems a little off, and sensationalist conspiracy theorizing.
No speculation. All facts. Otherwise I wouldnt have bothered to post any of it.
Right from Jay's mouth "Beta will last about 6 months," (shortened later even) if taking things from dev's mouths is speculation. Then yes I guess this is all speculation.
Mike Morhaime taking a 15 hour plane trip to Korea, verfied.
On January 05 2012 05:46 Medrea wrote: Gamescom had Act 2(?) available for play for anyone who waited in line for it. Long line.
A friend of mine went to Blizzcon 2009 and did in fact play through as much of these acts as he could. Only ten minutes per person though, but the act he played is not the act we have now.
So the information is out there, and it is also documented if you look hard enough for it. I won't link anything here for obviousm reasons.
All of those bullet points are corroborated either by blizzard themselves, or various sources throughout various Expo's like gamescom.
This most recent Gamescom made me super jealous because they got the chance to play the completed game. Although no one was allowed to sit in front of it for very long periods of time.
Seems a little unlegit is what i'm saying. Cite a source where someone might find said 'documented' information? Other than the OP's testimonial?
Just to clarify, i'm not trying to jump your shit about the article, because I actually agree with you on the overall point, but some of these facts just seem fishy.
On January 05 2012 05:46 Medrea wrote: Gamescom had Act 2(?) available for play for anyone who waited in line for it. Long line.
A friend of mine went to Blizzcon 2009 and did in fact play through as much of these acts as he could. Only ten minutes per person though, but the act he played is not the act we have now.
So the information is out there, and it is also documented if you look hard enough for it. I won't link anything here for obviousm reasons.
All of those bullet points are corroborated either by blizzard themselves, or various sources throughout various Expo's like gamescom.
This most recent Gamescom made me super jealous because they got the chance to play the completed game. Although no one was allowed to sit in front of it for very long periods of time.
Also, in regards to how complete the game actually is/was, and what blizzard is doing internally in the length of the beta, how in the hell does this person know that? Who is this guy? Or is this 100% pure speculation? Because if it is, he shouldn't be randomly throwing out timelines about Blizzard internal decisions that he has absolutely no idea about in order to suit his opinions, that seems a little off, and sensationalist conspiracy theorizing.
No speculation. All facts. Otherwise I wouldnt have bothered to post any of it.
Right from Jay's mouth "Beta will last about 6 months," (shortened later even) if taking things from dev's mouths is speculation. Then yes I guess this is all speculation.
Mike Morhaime taking a 15 hour plane trip to Korea, verfied.
Posting soon is too soon at 5:30 AM, verified.
Your'e addressing a common knowledge quote in an interview with Jay, I know the one you're referencing about the 6 month beta period.
What I was referring to was this...
"In 2011, the beta was shortened to a 2-3 month testing period and just a fraction of Act 1 because they only needed to test servers, network, and the new auction house systems. The plan was to release it before Christmas.
* Now, shouldn't the small beta size also be a major clue as to how much progress was really made to the game? The game was done, it was ready, they didn't need the full game to be tested by users for feedback, and instead they just released a very small tech demo. That's just how complete the game really was."
On January 05 2012 05:46 Medrea wrote: Gamescom had Act 2(?) available for play for anyone who waited in line for it. Long line.
A friend of mine went to Blizzcon 2009 and did in fact play through as much of these acts as he could. Only ten minutes per person though, but the act he played is not the act we have now.
So the information is out there, and it is also documented if you look hard enough for it. I won't link anything here for obviousm reasons.
All of those bullet points are corroborated either by blizzard themselves, or various sources throughout various Expo's like gamescom.
This most recent Gamescom made me super jealous because they got the chance to play the completed game. Although no one was allowed to sit in front of it for very long periods of time.
Seems a little unlegit is what i'm saying. Cite a source where someone might find said 'documented' information? Other than the OP's testimonial?
Just to clarify, i'm not trying to jump your shit about the article, because I actually agree with you on the overall point, but some of these facts just seem fishy.
I know, no hard feelings or anything.
Since its about the validity of the OP's article, I can corroborate it. Im sure my RL friend wouldnt lie to me about playing his favorite class (the monk) at Blizzcon in 2009. The playable demo at Gamescom is common knowledge at this point in time and I am sure a google search will validate what i am saying, or the video's will have been taken down.
As for the comings and goings of Mike Morhaime and various levels of management, this is documented in Korean newspapers where the news about D3 Korean RMAH is way way more popular.
"In 2011, the beta was shortened to a 2-3 month testing period and just a fraction of Act 1 because they only needed to test servers, network, and the new auction house systems. The plan was to release it before Christmas.
* Now, shouldn't the small beta size also be a major clue as to how much progress was really made to the game? The game was done, it was ready, they didn't need the full game to be tested by users for feedback, and instead they just released a very small tech demo. That's just how complete the game really was."
The first bullet point is verifiable from information Jay Wilson provided during Blizzcon. The second one is of course an editorial point, because that is what blogs are all about. Take it how you want.
I personally believe it because at Blizzcon testimonials indicated that not only was the game done, but they were playing every single difficulty as well.
On January 05 2012 04:33 McNulty wrote: So when this gets sorted out we might see the game in no time? Thats kiiiiiiiiiinda, positive, if you look at it that way. =P
Yes thats the upside of everything.
The game will come released in a 1.1 state.
If you remember SC2's 1.0 state, patch 1.1 was sorely needed.
?what? sc2 released in like a 1.3 state balance wise, it had 4-5 months to be patched/balanced from the entire community.. on the other hand, bnet 2.0 released in a .20 state, because it's a retarded idea that still fails to impress in the slightest more than a year after release. I can firmly say that I don't play custom games because they're too difficult to find, and the lack of a clan feature (which was present in WC3 I might effing add...) makes me not want to join teams. Blizzard's management is fucking retarded, they don't even milk customers the right way, they just milk retarded areas and annoy the customers, while not milking areas that would at least please the customers.. but hey, we get pandas in the next WoW expansion and a real money auction house... LOL. here's a big fuck you blizzard, fuck YOU.
On January 05 2012 04:33 McNulty wrote: So when this gets sorted out we might see the game in no time? Thats kiiiiiiiiiinda, positive, if you look at it that way. =P
Yes thats the upside of everything.
The game will come released in a 1.1 state.
If you remember SC2's 1.0 state, patch 1.1 was sorely needed.
?what? sc2 released in like a 1.3 state balance wise, it had 4-5 months to be patched/balanced from the entire community.. on the other hand, bnet 2.0 released in a .20 state, because it's a retarded idea that still fails to impress in the slightest more than a year after release. I can firmly say that I don't play custom games because they're too difficult to find, and the lack of a clan feature (which was present in WC3 I might effing add...) makes me not want to join teams. Blizzard's management is fucking retarded, they don't even milk customers the right way, they just milk retarded areas and annoy the customers, while not milking areas that would at least please the customers.. but hey, we get pandas in the next WoW expansion and a real money auction house... LOL. here's a big fuck you blizzard, fuck YOU.
Woahh woah woah, calm down. At least it's not EA Games.
What frustrates me know the ball is just the fact that they will not give us a release date. I don't care if it's in 1 month 5 months for 1 year I just want know the date that this day will come out. I am still hyped for the game but it's just very frustrating at this point.
First of all, I see a lot of people doesnt know 1 fact and Blizzard abuse this lack of knowledge... Game have to be finished (that means 100% done) just like it would be at the release when it goes into rating stage. Diablo 3 is done for about 2 months now, all the changes that are being implemented now, would be delivered as patch and now their are used as cover for the delay.
All ratings are set, diablo 3 got green light everywhere except Korea, but Bashiok will tell you that UI improvements are the reason for the delay... thanks god that cross-server play, lan, clan support or chat channels wasnt the reson to delay sc2 otherwise we would wait for sc2 for a long time...
At this point it is irrelevant how many of us have played beta since there are pixel perfect VoDs and streams of Diablo 3 everyday.
My beta battletag is "Medrea" I think you can find me. Not sure.
Beta is a buttery smooth experience after you get past the assets loading problem that is confirmed fixed internally.
As mentioned from the OP
Problems encountered on beta are the result of Blizzard pressure testing the game, constantly withdrawing resources to find out how little they can support X number of people with. Blizzard's internal build is confirmed to have done away with the rubber banding and stuttering the player encounters trying to reload everything from Disk. Our beta is only maintained enough to run network tests on, while being patched only enough to maintain relevance.
On January 05 2012 02:46 Medrea wrote: It is part of Blizzards fiscal future with Diablo 3 as they need the money from transactions to continue development for the game. Hoorahing the downfall of RMAH means in the very least a drastic cut in the support of future Diablo 3 content.
I don't think that this is true. They didn't need the RMAH money to maintain and patch the D2 servers, I'm not flaming Blizzard but I'm going to say that they're just after the extra cash.
The cold reality is that Activision Blizzard's shareholders are not satisfied that gamers spend only 60$ on one of their releases. A game from that company needs to find some way to generate extra revenue, it could be monthly subscription fees (WoW), map packs (CoD), pre-planned expansion packs (SC2) or even plastic accessories (Guitar/DJ Hero). In Diablo 3's case, they found a good idea in the RMAH and they have no intention of letting it go. Too bad this thing ended up biting them in the ass.
My solution: delay game further to patch up RMAH issues and/or talent issues, boss issues, difficulty issues, etc, etc. Not really a big deal to me if it's delayed even another year, would prefer a finished and polished game at a later date than an unfinished game that will take time to patch cool features in. They fucked up with sc2 not having chat channels at release and still haven't made an acceptable custom games list, or replays watchable with friends, or various other features which could be in and improving game quality. They can take all the time they want to improve their game, or ensure they can make a "global release". It's not a surprise that they aren't feeling pressure from those whining about the release taking so long. These people will probably get it whenever it comes out anyway...
On January 05 2012 02:46 Medrea wrote: It is part of Blizzards fiscal future with Diablo 3 as they need the money from transactions to continue development for the game. Hoorahing the downfall of RMAH means in the very least a drastic cut in the support of future Diablo 3 content.
I don't think that this is true. They didn't need the RMAH money to maintain and patch the D2 servers, I'm not flaming Blizzard but I'm going to say that they're just after the extra cash.
The cold reality is that Activision Blizzard's shareholders are not satisfied that gamers spend only 60$ on one of their releases. A game from that company needs to find some way to generate extra revenue, it could be monthly subscription fees (WoW), map packs (CoD), pre-planned expansion packs (SC2) or even plastic accessories (Guitar/DJ Hero). In Diablo 3's case, they found a good idea in the RMAH and they have no intention of letting it go. Too bad this thing ended up biting them in the ass.
This part is actually very interesting that you mention because of two things. One is that back then Blizzard was a much smaller company, and internet distribution in general was very small.
There are more people playing WoW than there are citizens in the entire country of Belgium now.
Also, depending on your level research, you will find that Blizzard has a hand in several online Diablo 2 item selling websites. Whether or not Blizzard condones the employees practice as a side business (the duping bug introduced in 1.13 has been described as "obvious."), or outright demands it, is up to you, and your level of tin hattery.
But blizzard's direct involvement with D2 item shops has been going on since the game was born.
That post was really painful to read, with the random uppercase words for EMPHASIS and the irrelevant information which he never really links to the RMAH. I'm disappointed that Diablo 3 will be delayed, but I'm not surprised it was because of the RMAH, as throwing money into the mix invites a lot of legal issues.
There are other blog (boy are there other blogs) that are along the same lines but this one is one of the more overarching blog posts in awhile.
Im not gonna point teamliquid to a blog and then you have to follow all 30 of the entries. Getting random TL posters to read a single spoiler is hard enough work.
I think it sucks the game is being delayed longer, but i think overall there is something positive in all of it
I've been waiting for diablo 3 for year, haven't gotten into the beta, and yet i've been wanting it for so long that i'm not too terribly upset
The extra time blizzard is getting to work on diablo 3 is like letting it simmer and increase in quality for a little bit before we finally get to experience it
I see a lot of posting about facts without any proof.
Fact: Diablo 3 will have cyborgs in the 4th act. The developers confirmed it. "The cyborgs will be an amazing inclusion."
See what I did there? I talked a lot of shit and linked nothing. Don't say "it's well documented." Find the documents. The burden of proof is on you, not random schmo reader. If you want to prove something, prove it. Quotes mean nothing without sources.
On January 05 2012 10:36 Shai wrote: I see a lot of posting about facts without any proof.
Fact: Diablo 3 will have cyborgs in the 4th act. The developers confirmed it. "The cyborgs will be an amazing inclusion."
See what I did there? I talked a lot of shit and linked nothing. Don't say "it's well documented." Find the documents. The burden of proof is on you, not random schmo reader. If you want to prove something, prove it. Quotes mean nothing without sources.
All sources are linked in the article I linked in the OP.
If you arent going to click on the article, I can't be certain you would click on the source even if I linked it myself, but I can be certain people will still complain about it anyway.
Haha i didnt know about any of this. Good news since i thought we would see a real 3 mounth beta before release, but it seems like we should be playing in 4-8 weeks.
Personally I don't think RMAH has its place in the game. I hate the money grubbing corporation blizzard has become (Activision). All of this trash just turns me off from the game.
The Diablo 3 hype is sooo gone. Blizzard destroyed their hype with this ridiculous beta. There was never a game from blizzard I wasn't hyped about. Wasn't a D2 Fan at all and won't be playing D3 for much. I've got a friend who played the shit out of D2 and he will gift me D3, so who cares about the game. GO SKYRIM, GO SWTOR
Dont know why everybody is making such a big hoorah out of this. Blizzard have always never released things when they didnt feel like it met expectations, sometimes even scrapping whole projects. Their products have always been money once released so i'll just patiently wait.
Seriously there are other things to do in life than play Diablo 3 right now you know?
Considering how many times I have seen Blizzard allude to the cause of delay not being RMAH, and the beta showing (partially) why that is the case, it makes me sad seeing this sort of thread on Team Liquid. I guess you can call me a masochist but I also check out the actual Diablo III forums and yeah... you do need some tylenol with the sheer lunacy of all the RMAH conspiracy theorisy threads.
Oh well, I guess no matter what is done, it will still spread. Oh and people, do not forget, the stress testing of Diablo III has not even begun, so there wont be a release date until after that.
Why post on TL forums. There are things to do in life than post on forums?
Oh well, I guess no matter what is done, it will still spread. Oh and people, do not forget, the stress testing of Diablo III has not even begun, so there wont be a release date until after that.
The entire point of the current non-internal beta is stress testing, and has been for months.
You dont need an entire userbase present to get an idea of how many you can support with however little equipment you are trying to get away with using.
Oh well, I guess no matter what is done, it will still spread. Oh and people, do not forget, the stress testing of Diablo III has not even begun, so there wont be a release date until after that.
The entire point of the current non-internal beta is stress testing, and has been for months.
You dont need an entire userbase present to get an idea of how many you can support with however little equipment you are trying to get away with using.
Except it has already been noted by Blizzard that there will be a large influx of beta testers (i.e. stress test). Also, testing servers and stress testing are two different things. Considering there is a cap on the server which has already been reached without new invites.
There already has been a large influx. This was about 4 weeks ago now they ramped up the beta invites dramatically. Beta is one big scaling test, the beta itself has been smooth running since it was put into peoples hands a long long time ago.
EDIT: Your still correct though. Im not saying otherwise!
On January 05 2012 14:18 Medrea wrote: There already has been a large influx. This was about 4 weeks ago now they ramped up the beta invites dramatically. Beta is one big scaling test, the beta itself has been smooth running since it was put into peoples hands a long long time ago.
There have been invites, but not on a large scale. Granted, the twitter /ANZ sweeptake has been finished. Also, the influx was noted after that period (and there were some invites but lots of server issues later December as well). But just from numbers alone, it has not increased by that much.
On January 05 2012 14:18 Medrea wrote: There already has been a large influx. This was about 4 weeks ago now they ramped up the beta invites dramatically. Beta is one big scaling test, the beta itself has been smooth running since it was put into peoples hands a long long time ago.
There have been invites, but not on a large scale. Granted, the twitter /ANZ sweeptake has been finished. Also, the influx was noted after that period (and there were some invites but lots of server issues later December as well). But just from numbers alone, it has not increased by that much.
Bah you managed to write a response faster than i thought. Yes that is all correct, I wasnt trying to correct or provide evidence to the contrary! I realized too late that what i said probably sounded like I was.
Also you can take whatever you want from the OP. Just realize that a flat out denial that Korean RMAH issues are holding the game from release is a very one sided challenge.
Haha, it is all good. I am just in a fighting mood, had to deal with too many idiots online today. You should see my long post I put on the threads; I think all the people got to me so decided to just post one long thread (granted, most wont read anything beyond three sentences).
Yeah I was just trying to make sure that people don't think you need an entire countries population's worth of testers in order to get a reading on how much overhead a system will generate.
That was it.
People also dont understand that beta distribution world wide is terrible, so people in Australia and new Zealand think the game is a cacophony of bad.
But getting that level of detail out there on Battle.net is impossible.
Us being upset about the release is just proof of its massive hype train and makes the higher-ups giggle a bit. They're going to wait until they want to release it and the hype will continue to grow and grow.
Edit: Also, they already excluded the RMAH in Korea, right? According to that article it's just the REGULAR AH holding up D3 in Korea atm.
Oh yeah I understand; I mean, if Blizzard really wanted a large scale, they would do open beta which would kill their servers. But they are more selective and control how many people they let in based on how many people are playing now, server cap, and how much is wanted to be tested.
Overall, the main reasons for the beta is to test the servers and RMAH (the overall feel of it is minor, same with bugs since they have internal testers for that). That is why when Bashiok mentioned a large influx, it sort of gives a hint to how many. It wont be hundreds of thousands, but it will be significantly higher than it already is (especially when you consider just how few people actually have the beta, I keep reminding myself and grateful I have the beta.
On January 05 2012 14:37 dcemuser wrote: The issue I have with this is why does it matter?
Us being upset about the release is just proof of its massive hype train and makes the higher-ups giggle a bit. They're going to wait until they want to release it and the hype will continue to grow and grow.
Edit: Also, they already excluded the RMAH in Korea, right? According to that article it's just the REGULAR AH holding up D3 in Korea atm.
What was submitted and reviewed was still a Real money Auction house, but it was stripped of its ability to cash out. You can enter in Blizzard Bucks, but you can never cash the money out to paypal or anything like that.
And THAT is what the committee still has not greenlighted because they feel it is still too close to gambling, even without the cashing out feature. (Remember you can still buy blizzard products with blizzard bucks, like WoW gametime).
It sucks but the early days of D3 might be when the RMAH sees the most traffic, and so they're unlikely to patch it in. The first <insert sick item> found by the speedrunners will probably go for serious cash, and semi-rare items will have inflated value as new l60's attempt to catch up. For Blizz to get the returns they want from release, the feature is probably needed.
Difficult situation for Blizz, especially since it can only hurt their sought-after image of putting the game/gamers before money (though there's plenty of evidence to the contrary - LAN anyone? SC2's region-locking?). Hope it's sorted out soon, and not the blizz definition.
Edit: Lol I said the same thing as the guy below, just with less filler =P GG sir.
A lot of you people are saying that Blizz should just release the game and add the RMAH later on. And that would be the best solution if Blizzard didn't lose a massive amount of money by doing that.
With RMAH, the money comes when a transaction occurs and you can only have a transaction when there are people interested in playing the game. And when is the interest in the game at its climax? Right at the launch, of course.
Let's face it, most people are not going to play this game for even a month. They play through normal, they might play through nightmare, but hell and inferno? That might even require some good gear like in d2 and is the average guy going to grind? Slap some mf and gf gear on your char and run for a few hours to maybe get good gear? I don't think so. They gonna buy some good stuff, all their favorite runes and gear, and by the time they clear inferno they're done with the game. Actually, I don't think even half of the people buying the game will beat inferno. They stop playing way before that. Not even going to try the other characters.
So the most money is made when the game is new, then the gamers will move on to another game. Only the guys that are real Diablo fans or have become addicted to the game (you couldn't believe how addicting the real money aspect is) will continue playing. And the money flows slower from there on. When the money flow becomes weak enough, it's time to release a new expansion. But that's another story.
The point I'm trying to make is that Blizzard is a money making machine. And there is nothing wrong with that, cause greed is good. If Bliz didn't make profit, there would be no SC2 and no D3 either. And profit is what makes the RMAH and Diablo 3 release tied together. To release the way RMAH later on, when most of the people that buy the game are not even playing the game, is a financial disaster. And to top this RMAH isn't just a way of making money, it's a way to get people addicted to the game.
RMAH isn't just some fun thing Blizz slapped to make the the game more fun. There is something even dangerous in the way it works, and if it does what it's supposed to do, it might change the way the whole gaming industry business model works. Yes, I actually think RMAH is that powerful a concept. It is such a brilliant and evil idea that, I am not at all surprised that SK is holding it back.
My Solution: Ship the game now. Patch in RMAH later.
Good fucking solution! Damn I've been waiting for the beta and they didn't give me any shit, now just release it in the next month and I'll be fucking happy to pay $100 for the damn collector edition you greedy bastard.
You do not even have to speak of the money Blizzard would lose if RMAG was not implemented. You can just look at the game itself and see why it would be a bad idea. it is the same reason why Blizzard, I forsee, would not add it to WoW. If you add the RMAH to a game after its release, you stand a good chance of oryally screwing over the economy.
You can potentially break the economy by adding it, since economies are very volatile and susceptible to outside influences.
I really do not understand why you keep believing the desire to make money is bad. These are gaming 'companies', their first and foremost desire is to make games to make money. If couldn't make money then they would be shut down. Do you really feel the games lose their specialness when money comes in? Or are you still that 5 year old who thinks the games are made just for your fun and your daddy will save you if anything bad happens? Get real.
The game is a game to their programmers but it actually is a product. And this doesn't change anything if the game is good. RMAH might actually be an issue but they said that the game was in shipping condition but they didn't feel that they were comfortable with it. This was in a blue post i've read it in diablofans i guess last week.
I really can't believe that you can QQ that much over just a speculation and what I consider a conspiracy theory. Even if it is true think it like this they have invested many millions of dollars in this game and they have promised shareholders that the game will be out at the end of 2011. Is this smart to postpone this? Believe me shareholders and bosses don't believe in postponing if there is money to be had right now.
On January 05 2012 17:48 Malkavian183 wrote: I really do not understand why you keep believing the desire to make money is bad. These are gaming 'companies', their first and foremost desire is to make games to make money. If couldn't make money then they would be shut down. Do you really feel the games lose their specialness when money comes in? Or are you still that 5 year old who thinks the games are made just for your fun and your daddy will save you if anything bad happens? Get real.
The game is a game to their programmers but it actually is a product. And this doesn't change anything if the game is good. RMAH might actually be an issue but they said that the game was in shipping condition but they didn't feel that they were comfortable with it. This was in a blue post i've read it in diablofans i guess last week.
I really can't believe that you can QQ that much over just a speculation and what I consider a conspiracy theory. Even if it is true think it like this they have invested many millions of dollars in this game and they have promised shareholders that the game will be out at the end of 2011. Is this smart to postpone this? Believe me shareholders and bosses don't believe in postponing if there is money to be had right now.
wow, what a conceited post. We understand the concept that shareholders want to make money, but there is more to their interest in blizzard than just short term return. Obviously they should care about long term growth and market cultivation, which they have been completely blowing off for a few WoW expansnios, and now with the release of RMAH. People will eventually abandon blizzard for a superior company that doesn't stick their middle finger up to their customers just because they can, and blizzard will suffer greatly from it. The fact that they're delaying the game doesn't show anything except that they're money grubbing for Korea, when they could easily just delay the Korean launch and ship everywhere else with this bullshit RMAH which is an insult to gamers worldwide. If they're being "guided by their shareholders" as you imply, then I'm glad I don't have any stock in their mother company because their board of directors is full of fucking retards.
I hate it when people say this, that developers make games to make money. Obviously they do, but they act out of line sometimes for no reason other than showing their power in the market, and it's retarded, arrogant, and down right ignorant, completely opposite of the blizzard which wrote BW
On January 05 2012 17:48 Malkavian183 wrote: I really do not understand why you keep believing the desire to make money is bad. These are gaming 'companies', their first and foremost desire is to make games to make money. If couldn't make money then they would be shut down. Do you really feel the games lose their specialness when money comes in? Or are you still that 5 year old who thinks the games are made just for your fun and your daddy will save you if anything bad happens? Get real.
The game is a game to their programmers but it actually is a product. And this doesn't change anything if the game is good. RMAH might actually be an issue but they said that the game was in shipping condition but they didn't feel that they were comfortable with it. This was in a blue post i've read it in diablofans i guess last week.
I really can't believe that you can QQ that much over just a speculation and what I consider a conspiracy theory. Even if it is true think it like this they have invested many millions of dollars in this game and they have promised shareholders that the game will be out at the end of 2011. Is this smart to postpone this? Believe me shareholders and bosses don't believe in postponing if there is money to be had right now.
wow, what a conceited post. We understand the concept that shareholders want to make money, but there is more to their interest in blizzard than just short term return. Obviously they should care about long term growth and market cultivation, which they have been completely blowing off for a few WoW expansnios, and now with the release of RMAH. People will eventually abandon blizzard for a superior company that doesn't stick their middle finger up to their customers just because they can, and blizzard will suffer greatly from it. The fact that they're delaying the game doesn't show anything except that they're money grubbing for Korea, when they could easily just delay the Korean launch and ship everywhere else with this bullshit RMAH which is an insult to gamers worldwide. If they're being "guided by their shareholders" as you imply, then I'm glad I don't have any stock in their mother company because their board of directors is full of fucking retards.
I hate it when people say this, that developers make games to make money. Obviously they do, but they act out of line sometimes for no reason other than showing their power in the market, and it's retarded, arrogant, and down right ignorant, completely opposite of the blizzard which wrote BW
I really do not see blizzard showing their middle finger. It is just people see them do this because they want to play the game. I also do not understand this extreme frustration. WC3 was delayed at least 2 years (3 if I remember right) and blizzard is again delaying this game because of design issues why is this strange to people is beyond me. And this Korean money grubbing issue is being denied again and again by people see "THEY R DELAY BCOUZ OF DİS" with no better argument than "OFC THEİR GONNA DENY". Really?
Showing power in the market, what power? These are gaming companies, Blizzard may be huge company for gaming purposes but they are in entertainment business and gaming is a small market in regards to other entertainment purposes and entertainment market isn't really huge next to industrial markets. Seriously...
They might be afraid of some idiot quitting his job to play D3 and sell drops while he or she has a family to support. Which considering Korea's history of gaming addiction and child neglecting is not really all that crazy.
Blizzard should just release the game with RMAH and simply disable the functionality for that account/session if a korean IP's is detected upon log in. If a korean is using a proxy/tunnel they are violating ToS and they can't be held legally responsible. At least until they can figure something out with the korean board.
This is almost too funny. I'm very glad the GRB is giving the finger to Blizzard.
The "no cash out" option that Blizzard is now pushing makes no economic sense. It appears to me that since money can only be put into the system and cannot really be taken out, the pool of money in the system can only increase, meaning that real money prices of items will only increase. Unless an economist corrects me, this sounds like a recipe for mega-inflation.
Theories that the GRB rating is delaying the game also makes no sense. Blizzard has never commited to a simultaneous global release. And while a simultaneous global release is better than not having a simultaneous global release, Blizzard has not committed to such releases in the past, and there is no reason to keep to one this time. There is no benefit to Blizzard.
However, I have no horse in this race, since I will never buy Diablo 3 because the RMAH destroys the whole point of playing the game, despite Diablo 2 being the game I've had the most fun ever playing.
I have the feeling that the transaction system behind RMAH is the biggest reason why this is so important. RMAH is probably just a testing ground for something bigger. The are operating with digital currency, so when Diablo 3 RMAH is working and all kinds of bugs have been fixed, they would be able to expand to their real application. Perhaps the next Paypal?
Edit: It makes more sense to go for a global release because of this. If you want to operate with digital currency, then you have to do it everywhere!
On January 05 2012 19:22 kochujang wrote: Edit: It makes more sense to go for a global release because of this. If you want to operate with digital currency, then you have to do it everywhere!
Umm... no.
I still see no reason why you have to release everywhere at the same time. Particularly, since they've stated that cross-selling between regional RMAHs is not possible.
Just bothers the hell out of me that the game is probably 100% polished and done by now and they wont release it because of RMAH. Some countries are never going to allow this and blizz needs to get over that.
On January 05 2012 20:27 Ryps wrote: Do Koreans even play Diablo games ? Arent they more into asian MMO's and that other asian RPGs ?
Looking at diablo 2 over the years korean diablo scene is very small comparing to us/eu, but Blizzard said that they give a promise that d3 will have worldwide release and they doesnt want to break the promise (to bad they break the "promise/word" that the game will be released in late 2011)
On January 05 2012 20:13 Dbars wrote: Just bothers the hell out of me that the game is probably 100% polished and done by now and they wont release it because of RMAH. Some countries are never going to allow this and blizz needs to get over that.
Completely unsubstantiated claim.
There is no benefit from Blizzard's point of view to delay the release of Diablo 3 over the Korean RMAH.
My Solution: Ship the game now. Patch in RMAH later.
Won't happen because then RMAH would have to compete with other gold-selling methods and why would Blizzard want that? Especially since they probably will take a larger cut and give less $ per gold than other services, because lets face it, RMAH is not as much a service for us but a way for Blizzard to make more money.
On January 05 2012 17:48 Malkavian183 wrote: I really do not understand why you keep believing the desire to make money is bad. These are gaming 'companies', their first and foremost desire is to make games to make money. If couldn't make money then they would be shut down. Do you really feel the games lose their specialness when money comes in? Or are you still that 5 year old who thinks the games are made just for your fun and your daddy will save you if anything bad happens? Get real.
The game is a game to their programmers but it actually is a product. And this doesn't change anything if the game is good. RMAH might actually be an issue but they said that the game was in shipping condition but they didn't feel that they were comfortable with it. This was in a blue post i've read it in diablofans i guess last week.
I really can't believe that you can QQ that much over just a speculation and what I consider a conspiracy theory. Even if it is true think it like this they have invested many millions of dollars in this game and they have promised shareholders that the game will be out at the end of 2011. Is this smart to postpone this? Believe me shareholders and bosses don't believe in postponing if there is money to be had right now.
wow, what a conceited post. We understand the concept that shareholders want to make money, but there is more to their interest in blizzard than just short term return. Obviously they should care about long term growth and market cultivation, which they have been completely blowing off for a few WoW expansnios, and now with the release of RMAH. People will eventually abandon blizzard for a superior company that doesn't stick their middle finger up to their customers just because they can, and blizzard will suffer greatly from it. The fact that they're delaying the game doesn't show anything except that they're money grubbing for Korea, when they could easily just delay the Korean launch and ship everywhere else with this bullshit RMAH which is an insult to gamers worldwide. If they're being "guided by their shareholders" as you imply, then I'm glad I don't have any stock in their mother company because their board of directors is full of fucking retards.
I hate it when people say this, that developers make games to make money. Obviously they do, but they act out of line sometimes for no reason other than showing their power in the market, and it's retarded, arrogant, and down right ignorant, completely opposite of the blizzard which wrote BW
Amen. I think Blizzard is changing or is changed already ? Money and growth of company is important, but so is the ideals of the company. I dont think blizzard would be this company if not for they dedications to fans. I bought every single blizzard game, not only because i enoyed every game they make, but mostly because i want to support they model. If they start focusing on money more then they should , well then i guess they will stop being No1 company for me.
If two incidents happen at the same time, they are not necessarily connected. Diablo 3 is still not ready for launch. As I followed the beta, some serious gameplay changes were implemented, even though the beta covers less than the first half of Act 1. The korean RMAH delay is a seperate issue.
I understand that people want to be able to blame the delays on something simple that they can see, but can someone please explain to me how it is that, knowing Starcraft 2 sold nearly 5 milllion copies, and knowing that diablo 3 will likely sell more than that (at $60 a copy that means something probably near $300 million in revenue), the ruling of one rating board in one country would be a sufficient reason for Blizzard's CEO to give their shareholders as to why the game wasn't out for the christmas season where (at least in this country) people tend to shell out a third of their income in a month's time? Again, I understand we want to be upset and don't know what to be upset at (and picking a random thing seems a good outlet for it) - but does this strike anyone else as somewhat ludicrous? I understand the shareholders were told the launch would be global - but if the launch was less than global and still made hundreds of millions of dollars, I doubt the shareholders would flee in droves because the company lied to them.
"Alright guys, I know we've been funding this project for nearly 10 years now, and we're definitely set up to make hundreds of millions of dollars right now - but let's just give Korea another 6 months to a year to make sure they're on board with this."
In a corporate environment where the earnings for the current year (or in some places, the current quarter) tend to be the only item of importance (and also, the main factor in determining bonuses for these executives we seem to want to believe enjoy keeping the game from us), can anyone explain why this idea possibly makes any sense at all?
Now we will know if the release date was directly related.
It's always been known that the two are related. The issue is that depending on your level of tin hattery, how big a piece of the pie the RMAH issue is.
All of it? Most of it? Some of it? None of it? (thats the hard one)
On January 05 2012 23:33 [F_]aths wrote: If two incidents happen at the same time, they are not necessarily connected. Diablo 3 is still not ready for launch. As I followed the beta, some serious gameplay changes were implemented, even though the beta covers less than the first half of Act 1. The korean RMAH delay is a seperate issue.
No big gameplay changes were made on beta. The biggest one was that monk got a new ability and removed an old one. An altar was moved to one spot in town to a spot slightly south and east of that spot. Everything else has just been minor balance.
A serious gameplay change would be something like, changed all classes to use mana, new talent tree! Items are now Soulbound.
On January 05 2012 23:33 [F_]aths wrote: If two incidents happen at the same time, they are not necessarily connected. Diablo 3 is still not ready for launch. As I followed the beta, some serious gameplay changes were implemented, even though the beta covers less than the first half of Act 1. The korean RMAH delay is a seperate issue.
Maybe but how often do two things need to happen at the same time before we can start drawing a correlation? OP's article pieces together about a half dozen events, sources included, that tie the release date to the RMAH issue.
When the president of the firm himself gets involved and then makes a 5:30 AM post about how the game is going to be delayed, a first for Mike, its hard to draw the conclusion he was just in Korea for the lulz. Im not saying such a standpoint is impossible. But I have linked a lot of sources and explanations and people who have done the same to show one side of the situation, can you do the same with that side?
Anyway, lets see what happens if the board has really decided to give the game an 18+ rating. I cannot read Korean.
Also the more sources you guys can dig up, either towards the OP or away from the OP, go ahead and link and I will add them to the OP.
On January 05 2012 23:54 Treehead wrote: I understand that people want to be able to blame the delays on something simple that they can see, but can someone please explain to me how it is that, knowing Starcraft 2 sold nearly 5 milllion copies, and knowing that diablo 3 will likely sell more than that (at $60 a copy that means something probably near $300 million in revenue), the ruling of one rating board in one country would be a sufficient reason for Blizzard's CEO to give their shareholders as to why the game wasn't out for the christmas season where (at least in this country) people tend to shell out a third of their income in a month's time? Again, I understand we want to be upset and don't know what to be upset at (and picking a random thing seems a good outlet for it) - but does this strike anyone else as somewhat ludicrous? I understand the shareholders were told the launch would be global - but if the launch was less than global and still made hundreds of millions of dollars, I doubt the shareholders would flee in droves because the company lied to them.
"Alright guys, I know we've been funding this project for nearly 10 years now, and we're definitely set up to make hundreds of millions of dollars right now - but let's just give Korea another 6 months to a year to make sure they're on board with this."
In a corporate environment where the earnings for the current year (or in some places, the current quarter) tend to be the only item of importance (and also, the main factor in determining bonuses for these executives we seem to want to believe enjoy keeping the game from us), can anyone explain why this idea possibly makes any sense at all?
Nope. I read some of the speculation. The assumptions and connections made sound like the sort unemployed people who have never worked in a corporate environment would make. Most of it is driven by high school/college students. I don't see any credible sources that is worthy of a citation.
More than one month in which a "Diablo III> ildanrakdoel six days of deliberation will be. <Diablo 3> is using the older '18 'is likely to receive. However, the currency (cash), the auction house is a deleted version of the cash exchange functions.
According to the 5th game industry, "Diablo III> Grading domestic Blizzard had hoped 18 years of age or older is expected to emerge as a guest. Geimmul Rating Board (hereinafter geimwi) Level Committee held in the coming six days of hearings on the "Diablo 3> will be determined by grade.
No version of the game on top of ten thousand days "Diablo III> If you served in the country, money is limited to the function of the auction house. Battle of cash with them to change into coin Blizzard Pass or to purchase items, but not cashed Battle coins is not constrained.
In this case, the domestic "Diablo III> impossible thing to get through the cash. Battle of the trading coin auction house obtained Battle.net, Blizzard Entertainment, the game's Pass in the service or game items, and related items are available only for purchase.
<Diablo 3> in the meantime money (cash) auction system was the subject of controversy in Korea. Last December 16 the first hearing on the Exchange system, you can not see why the game as demonstrated above Blizzard asked to submit additional materials. This version of Blizzard made by subtracting from the exchange functional, and above the game that you need a more thorough review to reflect the needs of the hearing committee once again mirwotda grading.
Meanwhile, the "Diablo III> nopahjija classification of interest in, the game of the grading results above go outside to prevent leaks members and those involved in hearing their mouth is known to be required. But it was a vain. Also opened six days before the hearing of <Diablo 3> Grading results of some of the public through the media because Microsoft.
anyway it says their version will NOT have cash out option,they can only use the virtual $$[coins in the beta] from RMAH and buy in-game stuff.
More than one month in which a "Diablo III> ildanrakdoel six days of deliberation will be. <Diablo 3> is using the older '18 'is likely to receive. However, the currency (cash), the auction house is a deleted version of the cash exchange functions.
According to the 5th game industry, "Diablo III> Grading domestic Blizzard had hoped 18 years of age or older is expected to emerge as a guest. Geimmul Rating Board (hereinafter geimwi) Level Committee held in the coming six days of hearings on the "Diablo 3> will be determined by grade.
No version of the game on top of ten thousand days "Diablo III> If you served in the country, money is limited to the function of the auction house. Battle of cash with them to change into coin Blizzard Pass or to purchase items, but not cashed Battle coins is not constrained.
In this case, the domestic "Diablo III> impossible thing to get through the cash. Battle of the trading coin auction house obtained Battle.net, Blizzard Entertainment, the game's Pass in the service or game items, and related items are available only for purchase.
<Diablo 3> in the meantime money (cash) auction system was the subject of controversy in Korea. Last December 16 the first hearing on the Exchange system, you can not see why the game as demonstrated above Blizzard asked to submit additional materials. This version of Blizzard made by subtracting from the exchange functional, and above the game that you need a more thorough review to reflect the needs of the hearing committee once again mirwotda grading.
Meanwhile, the "Diablo III> nopahjija classification of interest in, the game of the grading results above go outside to prevent leaks members and those involved in hearing their mouth is known to be required. But it was a vain. Also opened six days before the hearing of <Diablo 3> Grading results of some of the public through the media because Microsoft.
anyway it says their version will NOT have cash out option,they can only use the virtual $$[coins in the beta] from RMAH and buy in-game stuff.
That was pretty obvious whole time this is gonna happen, standard model of gambling is:
cash in - random chance - cash out
And by disabling cash out option it can not be used as gambling machine, problem fixed. If they would ask me it could have been solved in 10 min ^^
With that, I really hope they wont monetize too much shit in the game tho (microtransactions like that WoW 20$ mount). There isnt that much stuff on the blizzard store that you could resell.
On January 06 2012 01:12 CoFran wrote: With that, I really hope they wont monetize too much shit in the game tho (microtransactions like that WoW 20$ mount). There isnt that much stuff on the blizzard store that you could resell.
Just so it is clear. The Korean deliberation is only valid in Korea. Everyone elses RMAH will have a cash out function.
On January 05 2012 23:33 [F_]aths wrote: If two incidents happen at the same time, they are not necessarily connected. Diablo 3 is still not ready for launch. As I followed the beta, some serious gameplay changes were implemented, even though the beta covers less than the first half of Act 1. The korean RMAH delay is a seperate issue.
No big gameplay changes were made on beta. The biggest one was that monk got a new ability and removed an old one. An altar was moved to one spot in town to a spot slightly south and east of that spot. Everything else has just been minor balance.
A serious gameplay change would be something like, changed all classes to use mana, new talent tree! Items are now Soulbound.
In the early beta it was possible to use quite a lot of crafted items on level 1 chars. This was changed and is quite a big change. The altar was introduced during beta, disallowing changing active skills anytime, another big change. The damage of skills from caster classes was changed to be a percentage of weapon damage, this was quite a drastic change. Please inform yourself before you post.
Not visible in the beta: The website listed skills originally for level 7 runes which was later changed to level 4 runes, indicating that Blizzard still does major balance tuning regarding skills.
On January 06 2012 01:19 Medrea wrote: You can still equip a lot of craftables on level 1's. You are right about the percentage of weapon damage though and the original altar design though.
I could have done without that "Please inform yourself" crap though.
I agree, that was overly aggressive of me.
Only few items can be equipped by level 1 chars, so I save the yellow items dropped by Leoric to have at least some gear for new chars.
On January 06 2012 01:19 Medrea wrote: You can still equip a lot of craftables on level 1's. You are right about the percentage of weapon damage though and the original altar design though.
I could have done without that "Please inform yourself" crap though.
I agree, that was overly aggressive of me.
Only few items can be equipped by level 1 chars, so I save the yellow items dropped by Leoric to have at least some gear for new chars.
It's ok bro no hard feelings.
Only on teamliquid.net do you find people admitting incorrectness, and people apologizing.
Thank god we post on these glorious forums. I want a bro hug.
Blizzard experimented with unattuned runes in their internal tests but seem to have decided to stick without such runes. Jay Wilson (at Blizzcon) mentioned the possibility of random modifiers for runes. Wherever you look, Blizzard still is not sure about some important things.
The UI underwent several major revamps alone during beta. The hireling item requirements were changed, if I remember correctly the skills were changed a bit, too. For me, the beta still doesn't feel polished. The new videos to preview a character have gray (instead of black) backgrounds and are poorly clipped from the source (different shades of gray at some borders.) At the time the SC2 beta came out, the game looked almost finished except for the chat channels.
On January 05 2012 23:54 Treehead wrote: I understand that people want to be able to blame the delays on something simple that they can see, but can someone please explain to me how it is that, knowing Starcraft 2 sold nearly 5 milllion copies, and knowing that diablo 3 will likely sell more than that (at $60 a copy that means something probably near $300 million in revenue), the ruling of one rating board in one country would be a sufficient reason for Blizzard's CEO to give their shareholders as to why the game wasn't out for the christmas season where (at least in this country) people tend to shell out a third of their income in a month's time? Again, I understand we want to be upset and don't know what to be upset at (and picking a random thing seems a good outlet for it) - but does this strike anyone else as somewhat ludicrous? I understand the shareholders were told the launch would be global - but if the launch was less than global and still made hundreds of millions of dollars, I doubt the shareholders would flee in droves because the company lied to them.
"Alright guys, I know we've been funding this project for nearly 10 years now, and we're definitely set up to make hundreds of millions of dollars right now - but let's just give Korea another 6 months to a year to make sure they're on board with this."
In a corporate environment where the earnings for the current year (or in some places, the current quarter) tend to be the only item of importance (and also, the main factor in determining bonuses for these executives we seem to want to believe enjoy keeping the game from us), can anyone explain why this idea possibly makes any sense at all?
Nope. I read some of the speculation. The assumptions and connections made sound like the sort unemployed people who have never worked in a corporate environment would make. Most of it is driven by high school/college students. I don't see any credible sources that is worthy of a citation.
Well, since this is the only response to what I wrote, let me just restate the most important point - the Blizzard Execs lost the ability to request massive end-of-year bonuses, as corporate execs normally can do during years of large amounts of revenue (such as when a highly anticipated, very expensive product launches and is well-received). They would not do this for no reason. They would not do this because they were worried that it would be Game of the Year and have massive profits, but Korea might have a delayed launch. They would not do this because they are sticklers about game balance and want this to be the most meticulously balanced game ever created because they just like real good games. They would do this if they were worried the product they would have to release would be a magnificent blunder. There are companies out their making money off the backs and 8-year-olds in third world countries. If a company has massive demand for a product they are developing and doesn't cash in on that profit right away, you can be freaking sure it's for a good reason. Korea's launch being delayed or having to restate a position to shareholders (through a less than gloabl launch) of how to maximize profits, which for some reason the people in this thread seem to believe executives can't do, don't constitute good reasons.
Now, on the other hand, if you're worried shareholders or customers are going to think you can't deliver a competitive product for some reason or another, or that someone else is going to be able to deliver a far superior product (games in recent years have gotten much, much better than they were when Blizzard was working on WoW), or that they're going to lose the stranglehold on the gaming market that they got with WoW. Those are good reasons - potentially career-ending reasons.
On January 05 2012 23:33 [F_]aths wrote: If two incidents happen at the same time, they are not necessarily connected. Diablo 3 is still not ready for launch. As I followed the beta, some serious gameplay changes were implemented, even though the beta covers less than the first half of Act 1. The korean RMAH delay is a seperate issue.
Maybe but how often do two things need to happen at the same time before we can start drawing a correlation? OP's article pieces together about a half dozen events, sources included, that tie the release date to the RMAH issue.
When the president of the firm himself gets involved and then makes a 5:30 AM post about how the game is going to be delayed, a first for Mike, its hard to draw the conclusion he was just in Korea for the lulz. Im not saying such a standpoint is impossible. But I have linked a lot of sources and explanations and people who have done the same to show one side of the situation, can you do the same with that side?
Anyway, lets see what happens if the board has really decided to give the game an 18+ rating. I cannot read Korean.
Also the more sources you guys can dig up, either towards the OP or away from the OP, go ahead and link and I will add them to the OP.
Mike was in Korea to get the RMAH approved.
Diablo 3 isn't out because development isn't done.
More than one month in which a "Diablo III> ildanrakdoel six days of deliberation will be. <Diablo 3> is using the older '18 'is likely to receive. However, the currency (cash), the auction house is a deleted version of the cash exchange functions.
According to the 5th game industry, "Diablo III> Grading domestic Blizzard had hoped 18 years of age or older is expected to emerge as a guest. Geimmul Rating Board (hereinafter geimwi) Level Committee held in the coming six days of hearings on the "Diablo 3> will be determined by grade.
No version of the game on top of ten thousand days "Diablo III> If you served in the country, money is limited to the function of the auction house. Battle of cash with them to change into coin Blizzard Pass or to purchase items, but not cashed Battle coins is not constrained.
In this case, the domestic "Diablo III> impossible thing to get through the cash. Battle of the trading coin auction house obtained Battle.net, Blizzard Entertainment, the game's Pass in the service or game items, and related items are available only for purchase.
<Diablo 3> in the meantime money (cash) auction system was the subject of controversy in Korea. Last December 16 the first hearing on the Exchange system, you can not see why the game as demonstrated above Blizzard asked to submit additional materials. This version of Blizzard made by subtracting from the exchange functional, and above the game that you need a more thorough review to reflect the needs of the hearing committee once again mirwotda grading.
Meanwhile, the "Diablo III> nopahjija classification of interest in, the game of the grading results above go outside to prevent leaks members and those involved in hearing their mouth is known to be required. But it was a vain. Also opened six days before the hearing of <Diablo 3> Grading results of some of the public through the media because Microsoft.
anyway it says their version will NOT have cash out option,they can only use the virtual $$[coins in the beta] from RMAH and buy in-game stuff.
That was pretty obvious whole time this is gonna happen, standard model of gambling is:
cash in - random chance - cash out
And by disabling cash out option it can not be used as gambling machine, problem fixed. If they would ask me it could have been solved in 10 min ^^
If I were the GBR, I would then argue: a) It's still gambling as there is a random chance of being rewarded for spending money, even though the rewards are no longer monetary. b) The RMAH is specifically designed to encourage spending on digital items, which are not real, so we do not want to approve this unscrupulous scheme.
As a gamer, I would additionally argue that since money can only be put into the system and can only be used to trade items, real money item prices will skyrocket, as the total pool of money monotonically increases. This will lead to a financial disaster that will destroy the Korean RMAH economy, and I'm glad.
Are far are you guys (generally) from being able to ship a game that is polished? In other words is it still an early 2012 planned release? (which quarter is planned would be most appreciated, not month, but quarter).
Because the way it sounds, it's like if there's still a lot of job left and that can scare a bit the people eh!
Bashiok replies: We don't know. We were shooting for the end of 2011, and now we're shooting for first quarter 2012. As soon as we're sure of something (release date or otherwise) we'll be sure to let you know.
Sure, the GRB indecision could be (and probably is) one of the significant issues delaying the release of the game, but there are other significant issues that they feel need to be resolved before the game is released. They still haven't decided how runes are going to be implemented in the game. There is no information available about the current stats on legendary items. As well as new things that they are going to be adding in the next beta patch.
post #42 of the same thread Bashiok states Still, we're in the process of working on some rather large game system changes, some of which we'll be sharing shortly before or with the next beta patch.
Korean GRB is not the only problem holding back release. Regardless of whether the GRB allows the RMAH feature or considers it gambling, it will still be available in many other regions and since you can cash out via paypal there is nothing they can do to stop the transactions anyway (unless they want to violate international free trade policy by banning transactions from Blizzard to individuals which does not seem a very likely outcome).
Hopefully people can wait another 3 months before a significant announcement.
On January 05 2012 23:33 [F_]aths wrote: If two incidents happen at the same time, they are not necessarily connected. Diablo 3 is still not ready for launch. As I followed the beta, some serious gameplay changes were implemented, even though the beta covers less than the first half of Act 1. The korean RMAH delay is a seperate issue.
Maybe but how often do two things need to happen at the same time before we can start drawing a correlation? OP's article pieces together about a half dozen events, sources included, that tie the release date to the RMAH issue.
When the president of the firm himself gets involved and then makes a 5:30 AM post about how the game is going to be delayed, a first for Mike, its hard to draw the conclusion he was just in Korea for the lulz. Im not saying such a standpoint is impossible. But I have linked a lot of sources and explanations and people who have done the same to show one side of the situation, can you do the same with that side?
Anyway, lets see what happens if the board has really decided to give the game an 18+ rating. I cannot read Korean.
Also the more sources you guys can dig up, either towards the OP or away from the OP, go ahead and link and I will add them to the OP.
Mike was in Korea to get the RMAH approved.
Diablo 3 isn't out because development isn't done.
Not connected.
Please read the OP. You can't have a complete standpoint against something by just poking one bullet point out of place.
Anyway, it isnt about whether you believe it is the only thing holding the game up or not, it is more about following the largest block in a sequence of many. Not many are anticipating that the same day the GRB approves the game a release date will be released. And we definitely arent suspecting that the game's release date will be like 2 weeks away or anything like that (semi surprise launch).
Blizzard has a lot of people, and when the game is greenlighted for the homestretch many more will descend on the project to push it out the door. The RMAH is just a significant point in the games development, not the only one, or even the last one.
Timecycles are huge here, this isnt your high school book report. Blizzard can only release at the end of a timecycle.
On January 06 2012 01:47 Medrea wrote: Blizzards internal beta is a lot better than the external beta though. Wilson said the rune system is good enough to ship as is.
The last time I hear him say that (through a video only, I wish I could talk to Jay Wilson in person ...) it was in the sense that the rune system was ready to be shipped anyways but Blizzard still was going to try to improve it.
Because we have little actual information about the development process, we try to fill it what we know. We know about the troubles with the certification in Korea. We don't know about the wealth of other issues.
On January 06 2012 01:47 Medrea wrote: Blizzards internal beta is a lot better than the external beta though. Wilson said the rune system is good enough to ship as is.
The last time I hear him say that (through a video only, I wish I could talk to Jay Wilson in person ...) it was in the sense that the rune system was ready to be shipped anyways but Blizzard still was going to try to improve it.
Because we have little actual information about the development process, we try to fill it what we know. We know about the troubles with the certification in Korea. We don't know about the wealth of other issues.
Yeah. Here is how I see the future playing out.
GRB gives the go ahead.
Beta receives one last set of major revisions. As the final push has begun.
Two weeks. And a release date announcement.
Release.
Tin hatters will suspect it was RMAH alone holding it up all along, and blizzard delayed the announcement just to avoid the link. On the other side it is just a logical wrap up progression. It isnt like they are going to stop beta giveaways or close the beta on people that JUST got them.
As I sometimes do a little programming myself, I can only talk about the delay issue in general terms. Right now I am working on my musical key calculation tool (blog entry, which features the old version) and it proves to be much more complicated than expected. A single little feature holds me for days because it requires deeper changes in the program than expected. And during programming I constantly get new ideas. But the main issue is that I am still not 100% satisfied with the layout. It still looks to complicated. Some ideas I have are not so great when they are actually implemented.
The Diablo 3 challenge is much, much, much greater than my small application. I fully understand that Diablo 3 is delayed again and again alone because of the challenge to provide a polished game.
And I updated OP with information. It seems that article doesnt say they have given the green light, but it is likely to receive the greenlight. These are two different things.
What a bunch of useless speculation really. The 'conclusions' drawn in some points are just ludicrous like: blizzard execs don't get bonus -> must be something wrong with diablo!!! Perhaps you haven't considered there is a general movement against execs getting bonusses at the end of year being a hot issue for maybe three years already because of the crises? RMAH could play a reason but who cares really? It might simply have been one of the reasons that just tipped the scale, ie. there were other things they weren't happy with yet but decided to launch and patch later, but now they've decided to delay launch. Blizzard delaying is so common, I really wouldn't try to think too much of it..
On January 05 2012 23:33 [F_]aths wrote: If two incidents happen at the same time, they are not necessarily connected. Diablo 3 is still not ready for launch. As I followed the beta, some serious gameplay changes were implemented, even though the beta covers less than the first half of Act 1. The korean RMAH delay is a seperate issue.
Maybe but how often do two things need to happen at the same time before we can start drawing a correlation? OP's article pieces together about a half dozen events, sources included, that tie the release date to the RMAH issue.
When the president of the firm himself gets involved and then makes a 5:30 AM post about how the game is going to be delayed, a first for Mike, its hard to draw the conclusion he was just in Korea for the lulz. Im not saying such a standpoint is impossible. But I have linked a lot of sources and explanations and people who have done the same to show one side of the situation, can you do the same with that side?
Anyway, lets see what happens if the board has really decided to give the game an 18+ rating. I cannot read Korean.
Also the more sources you guys can dig up, either towards the OP or away from the OP, go ahead and link and I will add them to the OP.
Mike was in Korea to get the RMAH approved.
Diablo 3 isn't out because development isn't done.
Not connected.
Please read the OP. You can't have a complete standpoint against something by just poking one bullet point out of place.
Anyway, it isnt about whether you believe it is the only thing holding the game up or not, it is more about following the largest block in a sequence of many. Not many are anticipating that the same day the GRB approves the game a release date will be released. And we definitely arent suspecting that the game's release date will be like 2 weeks away or anything like that (semi surprise launch).
Blizzard has a lot of people, and when the game is greenlighted for the homestretch many more will descend on the project to push it out the door. The RMAH is just a significant point in the games development, not the only one, or even the last one.
Timecycles are huge here, this isnt your high school book report. Blizzard can only release at the end of a timecycle.
Keep making things up that contradicts what Bashiok has repeatedly said.
The game is not delayed because of the GRB. Unless Bashiok is a complete liar.
Is Blizzard delaying the release of a game for polish unheard of? More like it's the norm.
Is Blizzard delaying the release of a game for some mythical global release unheard of? Yes, it has never happened in reality.
On January 05 2012 23:33 [F_]aths wrote: If two incidents happen at the same time, they are not necessarily connected. Diablo 3 is still not ready for launch. As I followed the beta, some serious gameplay changes were implemented, even though the beta covers less than the first half of Act 1. The korean RMAH delay is a seperate issue.
Maybe but how often do two things need to happen at the same time before we can start drawing a correlation? OP's article pieces together about a half dozen events, sources included, that tie the release date to the RMAH issue.
When the president of the firm himself gets involved and then makes a 5:30 AM post about how the game is going to be delayed, a first for Mike, its hard to draw the conclusion he was just in Korea for the lulz. Im not saying such a standpoint is impossible. But I have linked a lot of sources and explanations and people who have done the same to show one side of the situation, can you do the same with that side?
Anyway, lets see what happens if the board has really decided to give the game an 18+ rating. I cannot read Korean.
Also the more sources you guys can dig up, either towards the OP or away from the OP, go ahead and link and I will add them to the OP.
Mike was in Korea to get the RMAH approved.
Diablo 3 isn't out because development isn't done.
Not connected.
Please read the OP. You can't have a complete standpoint against something by just poking one bullet point out of place.
Anyway, it isnt about whether you believe it is the only thing holding the game up or not, it is more about following the largest block in a sequence of many. Not many are anticipating that the same day the GRB approves the game a release date will be released. And we definitely arent suspecting that the game's release date will be like 2 weeks away or anything like that (semi surprise launch).
Blizzard has a lot of people, and when the game is greenlighted for the homestretch many more will descend on the project to push it out the door. The RMAH is just a significant point in the games development, not the only one, or even the last one.
Timecycles are huge here, this isnt your high school book report. Blizzard can only release at the end of a timecycle.
Keep making things up, that contradict what Bashiok has repeatedly said.
The game is not delayed because of the GRB. Unless Bashiok is a complete liar.
Is Blizzard delaying the release of a game for polish unheard of? More like it's the norm.
Is Blizzard delaying the release of a game for some mythical global release unheard of? Yes, it has never happened.
He hasn't said anything. Thats the problem. Bashiok is just a forum troll.
And no one is saying there arent bugs so Im not sure who you are talking to.
The Diablo 3 QA team is still doing alot of OT to get most of the bugs out. So I don't think the game is finished yet. I only know they are doing overtime. I can't comment on anything else.
WHAT?!?!? Are you claiming that Blizzard is in CRUNCH MODE right now?!?!?!?!??!?! You must be Mike Morhaime's direct family member to arrive at such an explosive piece of information.
On January 06 2012 23:00 Markwerf wrote: What a bunch of useless speculation really. The 'conclusions' drawn in some points are just ludicrous like: blizzard execs don't get bonus -> must be something wrong with diablo!!! Perhaps you haven't considered there is a general movement against execs getting bonusses at the end of year being a hot issue for maybe three years already because of the crises? RMAH could play a reason but who cares really? It might simply have been one of the reasons that just tipped the scale, ie. there were other things they weren't happy with yet but decided to launch and patch later, but now they've decided to delay launch. Blizzard delaying is so common, I really wouldn't try to think too much of it..
This sums up the article quite well. It's some guy and his crystal ball looking too deep into things, taking it upon himself to turn speculation into facts. What I really admire is the time taken to hunt down all these public forum posts and "announcements" that change month to month anyway, and hold blizzard to them as if they are not subject to change. I really believe you can't possibly know without being an insider, so the sherlock holmes act just makes me laugh.
Medrea is right; Bashiok is somewhat of a troll and instigator with the content he provides. I get the impression that he just roams the Blizzard halls and looks over shoulders of cubicle workers as they work, catching glimpses of stuff as he makes his way to the coffee room. After this, he takes a 45 minute dump while reading Nintendo Magazine. Around noon or so he returns to an empty office. This is prime time to sneak on their computers and go through their email now when they're all off for lunch, and report back to us of his findings in public forum posts. No one has spoken to him and cannot link his face to his online Bashiok screen name, they just call him that guy who works off in the corner. Now that's speculation for you.
On January 05 2012 23:33 [F_]aths wrote: If two incidents happen at the same time, they are not necessarily connected. Diablo 3 is still not ready for launch. As I followed the beta, some serious gameplay changes were implemented, even though the beta covers less than the first half of Act 1. The korean RMAH delay is a seperate issue.
Maybe but how often do two things need to happen at the same time before we can start drawing a correlation? OP's article pieces together about a half dozen events, sources included, that tie the release date to the RMAH issue.
When the president of the firm himself gets involved and then makes a 5:30 AM post about how the game is going to be delayed, a first for Mike, its hard to draw the conclusion he was just in Korea for the lulz. Im not saying such a standpoint is impossible. But I have linked a lot of sources and explanations and people who have done the same to show one side of the situation, can you do the same with that side?
Anyway, lets see what happens if the board has really decided to give the game an 18+ rating. I cannot read Korean.
Also the more sources you guys can dig up, either towards the OP or away from the OP, go ahead and link and I will add them to the OP.
Mike was in Korea to get the RMAH approved.
Diablo 3 isn't out because development isn't done.
Not connected.
Please read the OP. You can't have a complete standpoint against something by just poking one bullet point out of place.
Anyway, it isnt about whether you believe it is the only thing holding the game up or not, it is more about following the largest block in a sequence of many. Not many are anticipating that the same day the GRB approves the game a release date will be released. And we definitely arent suspecting that the game's release date will be like 2 weeks away or anything like that (semi surprise launch).
Blizzard has a lot of people, and when the game is greenlighted for the homestretch many more will descend on the project to push it out the door. The RMAH is just a significant point in the games development, not the only one, or even the last one.
Timecycles are huge here, this isnt your high school book report. Blizzard can only release at the end of a timecycle.
Keep making things up, that contradict what Bashiok has repeatedly said.
The game is not delayed because of the GRB. Unless Bashiok is a complete liar.
Is Blizzard delaying the release of a game for polish unheard of? More like it's the norm.
Is Blizzard delaying the release of a game for some mythical global release unheard of? Yes, it has never happened.
He hasn't said anything. Thats the problem. Bashiok is just a forum troll.
And no one is saying there arent bugs so Im not sure who you are talking to.
On January 06 2012 23:00 Markwerf wrote: What a bunch of useless speculation really. The 'conclusions' drawn in some points are just ludicrous like: blizzard execs don't get bonus -> must be something wrong with diablo!!! Perhaps you haven't considered there is a general movement against execs getting bonusses at the end of year being a hot issue for maybe three years already because of the crises? RMAH could play a reason but who cares really? It might simply have been one of the reasons that just tipped the scale, ie. there were other things they weren't happy with yet but decided to launch and patch later, but now they've decided to delay launch. Blizzard delaying is so common, I really wouldn't try to think too much of it..
This sums up the article quite well. It's some guy and his crystal ball looking too deep into things, taking it upon himself to turn speculation into facts. What I really admire is the time taken to hunt down all these public forum posts and "announcements" that change month to month anyway, and hold blizzard to them as if they are not subject to change. I really believe you can't possibly know without being an insider, so the sherlock holmes act just makes me laugh.
Medrea is right; Bashiok is somewhat of a troll and instigator with the content he provides. I get the impression that he just roams the Blizzard halls and looks over shoulders of cubicle workers as they work, catching glimpses of stuff as he makes his way to the coffee room. After this, he takes a 45 minute dump while reading Nintendo Magazine. Around noon or so he returns to an empty office. This is prime time to sneak on their computers and go through their email now when they're all off for lunch, and report back to us of his findings in public forum posts. No one has spoken to him and cannot link his face to his online Bashiok screen name, they just call him that guy who works off in the corner. Now that's speculation for you.
Bashiok is a punk.
His posts are always needlessly abrasive. And usually full of fluff rather than substance and information.
On January 05 2012 23:33 [F_]aths wrote: If two incidents happen at the same time, they are not necessarily connected. Diablo 3 is still not ready for launch. As I followed the beta, some serious gameplay changes were implemented, even though the beta covers less than the first half of Act 1. The korean RMAH delay is a seperate issue.
Maybe but how often do two things need to happen at the same time before we can start drawing a correlation? OP's article pieces together about a half dozen events, sources included, that tie the release date to the RMAH issue.
When the president of the firm himself gets involved and then makes a 5:30 AM post about how the game is going to be delayed, a first for Mike, its hard to draw the conclusion he was just in Korea for the lulz. Im not saying such a standpoint is impossible. But I have linked a lot of sources and explanations and people who have done the same to show one side of the situation, can you do the same with that side?
Anyway, lets see what happens if the board has really decided to give the game an 18+ rating. I cannot read Korean.
Also the more sources you guys can dig up, either towards the OP or away from the OP, go ahead and link and I will add them to the OP.
Mike was in Korea to get the RMAH approved.
Diablo 3 isn't out because development isn't done.
Not connected.
Please read the OP. You can't have a complete standpoint against something by just poking one bullet point out of place.
Anyway, it isnt about whether you believe it is the only thing holding the game up or not, it is more about following the largest block in a sequence of many. Not many are anticipating that the same day the GRB approves the game a release date will be released. And we definitely arent suspecting that the game's release date will be like 2 weeks away or anything like that (semi surprise launch).
Blizzard has a lot of people, and when the game is greenlighted for the homestretch many more will descend on the project to push it out the door. The RMAH is just a significant point in the games development, not the only one, or even the last one.
Timecycles are huge here, this isnt your high school book report. Blizzard can only release at the end of a timecycle.
Keep making things up, that contradict what Bashiok has repeatedly said.
The game is not delayed because of the GRB. Unless Bashiok is a complete liar.
Is Blizzard delaying the release of a game for polish unheard of? More like it's the norm.
Is Blizzard delaying the release of a game for some mythical global release unheard of? Yes, it has never happened.
He hasn't said anything. Thats the problem. Bashiok is just a forum troll.
And no one is saying there arent bugs so Im not sure who you are talking to.
And where are these sources for Blizzard committing to a simultaneous global release? Even in Somalia?
And I won't accept a statement like "ideally, if everything is ready, we would prefer to release Diablo 3 simultaneous around the globe" as "committing" to a simultaneous global release. It would need to be something like "We are committed and determined to release this game at the same time around the world".
On January 06 2012 23:00 Markwerf wrote: What a bunch of useless speculation really. The 'conclusions' drawn in some points are just ludicrous like: blizzard execs don't get bonus -> must be something wrong with diablo!!! Perhaps you haven't considered there is a general movement against execs getting bonusses at the end of year being a hot issue for maybe three years already because of the crises?
Are you suggesting that Blizzard executives don't want end-of-year bonuses because they're afraid the general public will rise up against the video game executives the same way they did the automaking and the banking executives? You realize, of course, that the whole reason people were upset is because those bonuses came while they were telling the government they were out of money, and thereby getting huge bailouts, right? This isn't one of those things where people are upset because someone has money and they want to have money, too - it's because they took the government's "relief funding" (which was taxpayer money) so that they didn't go out of businesses and then used it to give themselves bonuses for not going out of business. Or maybe you're referring to the oil executives who gave themselves a bonus after the good job they did flooding the Gulf Of Mexico with crude oil?
I think execs not taking a huge bonus means that they had a good reason to - which I can only equate to something wrong with diablo. But hey, maybe I'm wrong, maybe Mike Morhaime really was just nervous that, upon seeing the size of his bonus the stories would be posted on CNN "Video Game Developer Blizzard Executives Made Some Money!" and the global outcry would come about that someone who made video games would also have the audacity to be paid for it. Mothers would post death threats asking what these executives would like to tell their starving children who can't afford to buy a pair of shoes to put on their feet as they walk to their school which is located in the sewers. A few months into 2012, the government would issue a public statement calling Mike Morhaime a "tyrant" and the money that he made on this game "fiinancially abusive".
And then, hopefully before the end of First Quarter, Barack Obama would come on the airwaves and issue a statement saying that the government has taken action against Mike Morhaime by contracting a team of 25 adventurers to storm the Doom Fortress which Mike Morhaime's ahs been forced to summon to occupy the space where his home once was. The adventurers must be careful, though, as hordes of demons and magical beasts have come to inhabit the Fortress, and will keep the adventurers from reaching the CEO at all costs. The camera switches to an overview of Blizzard's Doom Fortress where a variety of ghouls and spirits can be seen floating about. At the top, the camera zooms in and shows from belowa 7-headed dragon with axes instead of hands which roars from the apex of the complex. Hanging from each of the heads is a locket containing a picture of the member of the Morhaime family that the head once was before the government forced his hand to fleshcraft them all into the beast the camera presents in order to defend himself. The camera zooms past the dragon and up to Mike Morhaime wearing a golden crown with jagged, irregular edges which jut out at odd angles set with ominously glowing gemstones. His business suit has been tailored to include tendrils of black leather with white stitching along the sides of each strip hanging from the cuffs and jutting out from his jacket. He stands in a wrinkled black cloak with red lining hanging from his back in front of a stone throne lined with the skulls of children and spattered with the blood of the innocent, and as the camera settles on Mike, his eyes suddenly turn red and he yells out "My demons will conquer all!" As the camera quickly pans back, the gates on the Fortress swing open and legions of green-tinged ghouls and transparent flowing wraiths pour from Blizzard's Doom Fortress to conquer the land of the living.
On January 07 2012 02:12 paralleluniverse wrote: And where are these sources for Blizzard committing to a simultaneous global release? Even in Somalia?
And I won't accept a statement like "ideally, if everything is ready, we would prefer to release Diablo 3 simultaneous around the globe" as "committing" to a simultaneous global release. It would need to be something like "We are committed and determined to release this game at the same time around the world".
Yea they have said it. Same time they announced that Diablo 3 would also be region free. Obviously it also has to be a global release if the game is region free.
Obviously it also has to be a global release if the game is region free.
Why?
If it wasn't, and NA got the game first. You can expect every EU and SK gamer out there would buy an NA copy of the game right away, which doesnt bode well for Battle.net
The OP points seem to have no basis in fact. Blizzard has a history of delaying games until they are fully polished, nearly bug free and of a quality that most developers cannot reach. I see no reason that the "world wide release" is causing any more issues that polish, AQ and bug fixing. They also do not commit to a date until they are 100% the game is comming out on that day. There is no reason to expect any different from Diablo 3.
On January 07 2012 02:12 paralleluniverse wrote: And where are these sources for Blizzard committing to a simultaneous global release? Even in Somalia?
And I won't accept a statement like "ideally, if everything is ready, we would prefer to release Diablo 3 simultaneous around the globe" as "committing" to a simultaneous global release. It would need to be something like "We are committed and determined to release this game at the same time around the world".
Yea they have said it. Same time they announced that Diablo 3 would also be region free. Obviously it also has to be a global release if the game is region free.
The game won't be region free, each region will have completelly diferent AHs, characters and RMAHs, and charactes in diferent realms are unable to interact with each other. But unlike SC2, and similar to D2, you will be able to choose which realm you want to play on and you will only be able to use the RMAH if you choose the realm where you are located. There's nothing in his quote that indicates that releasing the korean realm later is an impossibility, or even just it's RMAH.
In fact, isn't that what happened in Korea and China with WoW, and in China with SC2 as well? They have actually implied that a delayed korean release is possible.
Kind of makes me wonder... when the RMAH does get greenlighted in Korea and they announce the release date, the game should come out pretty soon after the announcement right? Like if they were to announce the games release date today I wouldn't be suprised if they gave a date like 2/6/12. At least I hope so.
On January 07 2012 02:12 paralleluniverse wrote: And where are these sources for Blizzard committing to a simultaneous global release? Even in Somalia?
And I won't accept a statement like "ideally, if everything is ready, we would prefer to release Diablo 3 simultaneous around the globe" as "committing" to a simultaneous global release. It would need to be something like "We are committed and determined to release this game at the same time around the world".
Yea they have said it. Same time they announced that Diablo 3 would also be region free. Obviously it also has to be a global release if the game is region free.
The game won't be region free, each region will have completelly diferent AHs, characters and RMAHs, and charactes in diferent realms are unable to interact with each other. But unlike SC2, and similar to D2, you will be able to choose which realm you want to play on and you will only be able to use the RMAH if you choose the realm where you are located. There's nothing in his quote that indicates that releasing the korean realm later is an impossibility, or even just it's RMAH.
In fact, isn't that what happened in Korea and China with WoW, and in China with SC2 as well? They have actually implied that a delayed korean release is possible.
Incorrect. Here is the statement from Robert Bridenbecker.
"You're just buying Diablo III. You can play it anywhere in the world. So you guys get to choose. Now what we will do is we will lock you down to a specific auction house. So for instance if you're a European national you'll have access to the European auction house, but you'll still be able to play in North America. You can participate in the gold auction house anywhere in the world, right, but you can only participate in the real money auction house in your native country."
As interpreted through Bashiok
Here is the video itself
Please refer to 10:38 for the start of this quote.
Region Locked RMAH, Region Free everything else.
So if you have a Korean friend, a Euro friend, and you live in the US. All three of you can play together. But your Auction House experience will be entirely different because you will not be able to trade on eachothers Auction houses.
On January 07 2012 02:12 paralleluniverse wrote: And where are these sources for Blizzard committing to a simultaneous global release? Even in Somalia?
And I won't accept a statement like "ideally, if everything is ready, we would prefer to release Diablo 3 simultaneous around the globe" as "committing" to a simultaneous global release. It would need to be something like "We are committed and determined to release this game at the same time around the world".
Yea they have said it. Same time they announced that Diablo 3 would also be region free. Obviously it also has to be a global release if the game is region free.
The game won't be region free, each region will have completelly diferent AHs, characters and RMAHs, and charactes in diferent realms are unable to interact with each other. But unlike SC2, and similar to D2, you will be able to choose which realm you want to play on and you will only be able to use the RMAH if you choose the realm where you are located. There's nothing in his quote that indicates that releasing the korean realm later is an impossibility, or even just it's RMAH.
In fact, isn't that what happened in Korea and China with WoW, and in China with SC2 as well? They have actually implied that a delayed korean release is possible.
Incorrect. Here is the statement from Robert Bridenbecker.
"You're just buying Diablo III. You can play it anywhere in the world. So you guys get to choose. Now what we will do is we will lock you down to a specific auction house. So for instance if you're a European national you'll have access to the European auction house, but you'll still be able to play in North America. You can participate in the gold auction house anywhere in the world, right, but you can only participate in the real money auction house in your native country."
I'm assuming you're not purposefully misquoting him to try to make your post factual. Let me go ahead and transcribe what he actually says in the video you linked:
"You're just buying Diablo III. You can play it anywhere in the world. So you guys get to choose. Now what we will do is we will lock you down to a specific auction house. So for instance if you're a European national you'll have access to the European auction house, but you'll still be able to play in North America. You can participate in the gold auction house anywhere in the world, right, but you can only participate in the real money auction house in your native country."
Which sort of makes the rest of your post baseless in its conclusions. But that's ok! I appreciate everyone trying to unravel the secrets, and it's fun for me to read, so keep at it.
Characters are still region based. Just like Diablo II. You could log in to USWest, or USEast, or Europe, or Asia, but you had different characters on each. There's no possibility of trading between regions.
Please answer my question then! Whether I can play with friends from other regions! Like I live in SEA. I make a Character in SEA. Can I play with my friend who stays in EU and has an EU Character? (play with my friend = go on boss runs with him etc.)
You can, but you'd need to log in to the EU region and create a character to begin playing with him, or he'd need to make one in your region. If you're on your character in SEA and he's on his in EU you'd be able to talk to each other using your BattleTag or Real ID, but that's it. You have to be on the same region to play together.
It's also more recent, made on 2011/12/20.
Edit: I just watched the video, from 10:30 on. He says you can play anywhere, having the NA client and playing in the EU server for example, he never states you can interact with people from other regions, that is not the same thing. You seem to be making a lot of assumptions in this whole thread.
Who knows for sure. Drysc is a massive forum troll, and its possible he has no idea what he is talking about, because it has happened quite often.
This is from the Vice President of Online Technologies only 2 months prior. Bashiok is just a forum presence.
Now if they are discretely moving away from Region Free gaming because of this Korea fiasco. This is of course the correct way to go about doing it.
"What are you talking about? We never said that?"
Edit: I just watched the video, from 10:30 on. He says you can play anywhere, having the NA client and playing in the EU server for example, he never states you can interact with people from other regions, that is not the same thing. You seem to be making a lot of assumptions in this whole thread.
I suppose. My take on what he says has been corroborated earlier though. You are correct in that it doesnt necessarily state that we can take characters here there and everywhere.
Also what assumptions? I assume nothing. I never have.
OK just to be clear because I think people are getting confused.
Thats not my blog in the OP. OK?
My standpoint is that while a large roadblock, it isnt the only gum in the works.
I suppose. My take on what he says has been corroborated earlier though.
Also what assumptions? I assume nothing. I never have.
You assumed that it was completelly region free, that it would have to be relesed globally and that the KR RMAH is the reason it is being delayed. Bashiok stated that the first assumption was wrong, unless you believe they furtively changed their minds and didn't want to tell anyone. The second assumption is related to the first one I guess, and the second one can't really be disproved completelly at the moment, but it is nothing more than an assumption, there is no evidence at all it is true.
People have speculated otherwise, but it is common knowledge, and generally accepted, that this is why the game is being delayed for so long.
If you are still not convinced read this article:
You clearly state the word of the Blog regarding the AH being the major roadblock is true and common knowledge, you can't say you don't completelly agree with it now. Or at least can't have expected people to believe you meant every word in the Blog to be the truth.
I suppose. My take on what he says has been corroborated earlier though.
Also what assumptions? I assume nothing. I never have.
You assumed that it was completelly region free, that it would have to be relesed globally and that the KR RMAH is the reason it is being delayed. Bashiok stated that the first assumption was wrong, unless you believe they furtively changed their minds and didn't want to tell anyone. The second assumption is related to the first one I guess, and the second one can't really be disproved completelly at the moment, but it is nothing more than an assumption, there is no evidence at all it is true.
Yeah, I agree.
A worldwide release of Diablo 3 is still the commitment of Blizzard. If you need a direct recent source for that I would have to defer to the Korean Times which stated that a spokeswoman said the company was dedicated to a global release, this is circa 2 or less days ago.
If you need earlier evidence well, Blizzard said a lot of things earlier. Just because its the same thing now doesnt make it any more or less relevant.
You clearly state the word of the Blog regarding the AH being the major roadblock is true and common knowledge, you can't say you don't completelly agree with it now. Or at least can't have expected people to believe you meant every word in the Blog to be the truth.
I never said it was true, though I did say it was common knowledge, and it most definitely is generally excepted. How far you trust in it is based on your level of tin-hattery. While I dont think Blizzard execs are reigning in the entire game based on Korea, it is a REALLY uphill battle to say that GRB has no implication in release delays.
I suppose. My take on what he says has been corroborated earlier though.
Also what assumptions? I assume nothing. I never have.
You assumed that it was completelly region free, that it would have to be relesed globally and that the KR RMAH is the reason it is being delayed. Bashiok stated that the first assumption was wrong, unless you believe they furtively changed their minds and didn't want to tell anyone. The second assumption is related to the first one I guess, and the second one can't really be disproved completelly at the moment, but it is nothing more than an assumption, there is no evidence at all it is true.
Yeah, I agree.
A worldwide release of Diablo 3 is still the commitment of Blizzard. If you need a direct recent source for that I would have to defer to the Korean Times which stated that a spokeswoman said the company was dedicated to a global release, this is circa 2 or less days ago.
If you need earlier evidence well, Blizzard said a lot of things earlier. Just because its the same thing now doesnt make it any more or less relevant.
I'm not saying they aren't dedicated to a global release, that is what they are trying to do. But they also implied they would release the game outside Korea first if the game was ready and they couldn't release it in Korea. The assumption was that it was impossible to not release it globally.
They were also dedicated to a December release, then to an early 2012 release, and now who knows what release date they are aiming for.
I suppose. My take on what he says has been corroborated earlier though.
Also what assumptions? I assume nothing. I never have.
You assumed that it was completelly region free, that it would have to be relesed globally and that the KR RMAH is the reason it is being delayed. Bashiok stated that the first assumption was wrong, unless you believe they furtively changed their minds and didn't want to tell anyone. The second assumption is related to the first one I guess, and the second one can't really be disproved completelly at the moment, but it is nothing more than an assumption, there is no evidence at all it is true.
Yeah, I agree.
A worldwide release of Diablo 3 is still the commitment of Blizzard. If you need a direct recent source for that I would have to defer to the Korean Times which stated that a spokeswoman said the company was dedicated to a global release, this is circa 2 or less days ago.
If you need earlier evidence well, Blizzard said a lot of things earlier. Just because its the same thing now doesnt make it any more or less relevant.
I'm not saying they aren't dedicated to a global release, that is what they are trying to do. But they also implied they would release the game outside Korea first if the game was ready and they couldn't release it in Korea. The assumption was that it was impossible to not release it globally.
They were also dedicated to a December release, then to an early 2012 release, and now who knows what release date they are aiming for.
I edited my post up above.
And pretty much yes. I agree and I see how Bridenbeckers words have confused so very very many people. Being as vague as possible is Blizzard's specialty and I totally fell for it.
You have to remember the reason this OP exists is not for my personal podium. I am just relaying the updates on the Korean RMAH situation. Teamliquid thread making policy stipulates that for such a thread I have to include my own personal opinion.
A LOT of people think its all about the Korean RMAH. Well let them think that, they may be right or wrong. I personally think it has some merit. And the timeline does indeed matchup, so I entertain the thought.
I suppose. My take on what he says has been corroborated earlier though.
Also what assumptions? I assume nothing. I never have.
You assumed that it was completelly region free, that it would have to be relesed globally and that the KR RMAH is the reason it is being delayed. Bashiok stated that the first assumption was wrong, unless you believe they furtively changed their minds and didn't want to tell anyone. The second assumption is related to the first one I guess, and the second one can't really be disproved completelly at the moment, but it is nothing more than an assumption, there is no evidence at all it is true.
Yeah, I agree.
A worldwide release of Diablo 3 is still the commitment of Blizzard. If you need a direct recent source for that I would have to defer to the Korean Times which stated that a spokeswoman said the company was dedicated to a global release, this is circa 2 or less days ago.
If you need earlier evidence well, Blizzard said a lot of things earlier. Just because its the same thing now doesnt make it any more or less relevant.
I'm not saying they aren't dedicated to a global release, that is what they are trying to do. But they also implied they would release the game outside Korea first if the game was ready and they couldn't release it in Korea. The assumption was that it was impossible to not release it globally.
They were also dedicated to a December release, then to an early 2012 release, and now who knows what release date they are aiming for.
I edited my post up above.
And pretty much yes. I agree and I see how Bridenbeckers words have confused so very very many people. Being as vague as possible is Blizzard's specialty and I totally fell for it.
You have to remember the reason this OP exists is not for my personal podium. I am just relaying the updates on the Korean RMAH situation. Teamliquid thread making policy stipulates that for such a thread I have to include my own personal opinion.
A LOT of people think its all about the Korean RMAH. Well let them think that, they may be right or wrong. I personally think it has some merit. And the timeline does indeed matchup, so I entertain the thought.
I know, and I do see how his words are confusing. I believed it would be region free at first myself. But you also must know that people will read your OP, believe it is the word of God or something and spread potential incorrect rumors that are just annoying (even if the part about the RMAH is correct, the part about being region free definatelly doesn't seem to be). The Blog writer isn't here to defend his work, so the only way to disprove it is going against you. Plus you did seem to defend it quite fervously at first, which makes it easy to get into discussions.
If the discussion started as the possibility of the RMAH affecting the release date, instead of the fact that it is, it could have been more productive, or at least feel less personal.
I did say to give feedback to the original author of the blog though, but I see your point.
I didn't..... want to discuss whether or not RMAH was holding the game. Beta forums are rife with that already, they have it covered. I even specified this in the OP but its possible I didnt take my own advice.
Maybe its that sweet banner at the top. People see sweet banners on TL and go "OOOOO OFFICIAL LOOKING"
Obviously it also has to be a global release if the game is region free.
Why?
If it wasn't, and NA got the game first. You can expect every EU and SK gamer out there would buy an NA copy of the game right away, which doesnt bode well for Battle.net
How does that not bode well for B.net? D2 was also not region locked, and I highly doubt that it caused any problems.
Theres no way that Diablo 3 will be realeased in February, Bashiok said that they aim for Q1 of 2012 but I doubt thats even possible, maybe really late march but thats bad date since march is Mass Effect 3 month...
On January 07 2012 19:01 Bulkers wrote: Theres no way that Diablo 3 will be realeased in February, Bashiok said that they aim for Q1 of 2012 but I doubt thats even possible, maybe really late march but thats bad date since march is Mass Effect 3 month...
On January 07 2012 19:01 Bulkers wrote: Theres no way that Diablo 3 will be realeased in February, Bashiok said that they aim for Q1 of 2012 but I doubt thats even possible, maybe really late march but thats bad date since march is Mass Effect 3 month...
It would be a bad date for ME3 not D3...
True.
As for Feb release, Bashiok stated that they announce release dates about 2 months ahead, so Feb is out. March is still very well possible.
I cant read the labels under the numbers, but I dont have to be able to, to say that nothing that Best Buy says has any bearing. They have to set a date for preorder purposes. And hyping the game up with a big display is good for business.
Also, Feburary?
On January 07 2012 23:14 Valashu wrote: RMAH/Paying to win is a flawed concept imo and Diablo is based around it
People paying extra money so they have better gear to gain an unfair advantage in both PvE and PvP
Not to break OP rules, I am just frustrated about this, why can't they just sell hats?
I want Diablo 3 to come out this month and I secretly hope RMAH gets worked on.
This happens in every online game anyway. WoW has no real money anything, and completely soulbounce loot. And that doesnt stop people from purchasing completely decked out characters.
Having it out in the open like this is good as it cuts down on the number of people scammed, ticket overhead, trivial lawsuits.
And if you are in asia RMAH will also cutdown on the number of murders and violent crime.
Just received this email re: my pre-order of collector's edition from Wal-Mart:
******** Thank you for your recent Walmart.com order. The release date of the item(s) listed below has changed. The revised arrival date is shown below.
While we are sorry for any inconvenience this delay may cause, please note that Wal-Mart does not control this release date, which is set by the manufacturer.
=========================================================== ORDER SUMMARY ------------------------------------------------------ Order Date: 18 DEC 2011 08:46 PM Order Number: [edited to delete this part, lol]
Description ------------------------------------------------------ Diablo III Collector's Edition (PC/ Mac) Original release date : 07 FEB 2012 New release date : 31 MAR 2012 Should arrive by : 06 APR 2012 Selected Shipping Method : Rush
On January 08 2012 03:01 Medrea wrote: Yeah i mean if you look at Battle net forums they are FILLED with emails just like that one.
Walmart. Best Buy. Target (lol) Every store that sells games.
But they dont actually mean anything. It is just a date they have to set when taking preorders.
Some people even got email notification that they're copy of Diablo 3 was waiting for them to be picked up.
I guess what I mean was that the "pretend" release date has changed... This is a new development, I believe.
Oh. Yeah they are required to have a release date posted. Im sure by now they will set whatever date generates the most hype as long as they have any sort of reasoning behind it.
I still dont understand how they can take this long and still not have key componenets like runes not hammered out yet. It's not even about polish for that, they can't even make up their minds.
On January 07 2012 19:01 Bulkers wrote: Theres no way that Diablo 3 will be realeased in February, Bashiok said that they aim for Q1 of 2012 but I doubt thats even possible, maybe really late march but thats bad date since march is Mass Effect 3 month...
It would be a bad date for ME3 not D3...
True, ME. is more for console gamers. But on PC, no one can defeat Blizz and their products.
On January 07 2012 19:01 Bulkers wrote: Theres no way that Diablo 3 will be realeased in February, Bashiok said that they aim for Q1 of 2012 but I doubt thats even possible, maybe really late march but thats bad date since march is Mass Effect 3 month...
It would be a bad date for ME3 not D3...
True, ME. is more for console gamers. But on PC, no one can defeat Blizz and their products.
Not really. Mass Effect was big on the PC too. Not saying that it's bigger than Diablo, but saying Mass Effect is more for console gamers is a bad statement.
On January 07 2012 23:14 Valashu wrote: RMAH/Paying to win is a flawed concept imo and Diablo is based around it
People paying extra money so they have better gear to gain an unfair advantage in both PvE and PvP
Not to break OP rules, I am just frustrated about this, why can't they just sell hats?
I want Diablo 3 to come out this month and I secretly hope RMAH gets worked on.
And how diffirent was diablo 2? RMAH is biggest feature of D3
Which in itself is a rather sad thing, if you ask me. A game should never be about making money but about having fun.
I dont see why the two have to be mutually exclusive.
They have to be mutually exclusive because the RMAH destroys fair competition in PvP and PvE, thereby reducing fun for people who take the game seriously.
It would be equivalent to buying better units with more HP and damage in SC2. Sure, you don't need to do it to win, but if you don't you are less likely to win, and if your a competitive player, such as a GM player, you will be obligated to buy it to stay competitive, or risk playing handicapped.
Then of course there will be people treating this like the share market, running statistical models and trading algorithms, turning the "game" into nothing but an unscrupulous profiteering opportunity.
The only way one can have "fun" in Diablo 3 is if one treated the game as seriously as Super Mario Galaxy with friends, and played it for this reason only.
If there wasnt an AH in the game Im sure I would use a different website to help me out with it anyway. Diablo 2's fun was all in the trading really but so many people were afraid of it. I assure you that if you get used to the feeling of trading items you will enjoy the game more than ever.
On January 08 2012 20:53 paralleluniverse wrote: It would be equivalent to buying better units with more HP and damage in SC2. Sure, you don't need to do it to win, but if you don't you are less likely to win, and if your a competitive player, such as a GM player, you will be obligated to buy it to stay competitive, or risk playing handicapped.
No.
You can't get better units on your own, no matter how many games you play. You can play enough Diablo and compete with anyone. If you think that there won't be competitive people who haven't spent a cent, you're delusional.
Blizzard should really just drop Korea from the global release. If they're going to be a huge pain in the ass that's their problem, their release can be separate from everyone else.
If there wasnt an AH in the game Im sure I would use a different website to help me out with it anyway. Diablo 2's fun was all in the trading really but so many people were afraid of it. I assure you that if you get used to the feeling of trading items you will enjoy the game more than ever.
God I always had a hard time trading. People just kept waiting and waiting for me to give them more in exchange... That was like talking to a retarded kid about his stupidity... And don't get me wrong I always gave enough stuff in exchange. And I mostly traded low-end gear, so wasting so much more time for a stupid PGM is ridiculous x_x. AH will solve all my problems regarding trading.
Anyway, to the topic. I can't think of any game that was released 2-3 weeks after the release date reveal. And I don't really believe in this whole conspiracy theory about Bashiok being this evil guy, or an uninformed guy. Midnight release in some shops sounds fishy though, so... after all I hope I'm wrong.
If there wasnt an AH in the game Im sure I would use a different website to help me out with it anyway. Diablo 2's fun was all in the trading really but so many people were afraid of it. I assure you that if you get used to the feeling of trading items you will enjoy the game more than ever.
God I always had a hard time trading. People just kept waiting and waiting for me to give them more in exchange... That was like talking to a retarded kid about his stupidity... And don't get me wrong I always gave enough stuff in exchange. And I mostly traded low-end gear, so wasting so much more time for a stupid PGM is ridiculous x_x. AH will solve all my problems regarding trading.
Anyway, to the topic. I can't think of any game that was released 2-3 weeks after the release date reveal. And I don't really believe in this whole conspiracy theory about Bashiok being this evil guy, or an uninformed guy. Midnight release in some shops sounds fishy though, so... after all I hope I'm wrong.
Oh direct trading was awful. You had to do it on forums for sure.
why are ppl against RMAH i mean i dont like it either but its a better system than stupid D2jsp which is unofficial and a stupid rip-offing website which can ruin the game economy pretty bad.
Without RMAH ppl will turn to D2JSP anyway which is even worse for the game overall imo.
On January 05 2012 23:54 Treehead wrote: I understand that people want to be able to blame the delays on something simple that they can see, but can someone please explain to me how it is that, knowing Starcraft 2 sold nearly 5 milllion copies, and knowing that diablo 3 will likely sell more than that (at $60 a copy that means something probably near $300 million in revenue), the ruling of one rating board in one country would be a sufficient reason for Blizzard's CEO to give their shareholders as to why the game wasn't out for the christmas season where (at least in this country) people tend to shell out a third of their income in a month's time? Again, I understand we want to be upset and don't know what to be upset at (and picking a random thing seems a good outlet for it) - but does this strike anyone else as somewhat ludicrous? I understand the shareholders were told the launch would be global - but if the launch was less than global and still made hundreds of millions of dollars, I doubt the shareholders would flee in droves because the company lied to them.
"Alright guys, I know we've been funding this project for nearly 10 years now, and we're definitely set up to make hundreds of millions of dollars right now - but let's just give Korea another 6 months to a year to make sure they're on board with this."
In a corporate environment where the earnings for the current year (or in some places, the current quarter) tend to be the only item of importance (and also, the main factor in determining bonuses for these executives we seem to want to believe enjoy keeping the game from us), can anyone explain why this idea possibly makes any sense at all?
Because they still get insane revenue from WoW subs every month... and if I was them, I would be worried about that taking a HEAVY hit when diablo 3 comes out... and that's why 'game ain't ready yet'.... The problem with Korea is a minor bump nothing more.. the real delay is a business decision by blizzard... /tin foil hat on
On January 09 2012 13:08 Khaine wrote: Isn't this a good thing?
Delays means they're perfecting the game! Be happy o my brothers!
With that attitude they should never release the game. There is always something to perfect.
I'm usually patient with developers and like when they take their time. But diablo 3 has taken this to a whole new level. The game was announced almost 4 years ago. That is way too long ago.
I hope Blizzard will never announce games that early again.
I like that there is no word of Titan out yet despite there is "evidence" that the game has been "worked on to some degree" as of 2007.
On January 05 2012 23:54 Treehead wrote: I understand that people want to be able to blame the delays on something simple that they can see, but can someone please explain to me how it is that, knowing Starcraft 2 sold nearly 5 milllion copies, and knowing that diablo 3 will likely sell more than that (at $60 a copy that means something probably near $300 million in revenue), the ruling of one rating board in one country would be a sufficient reason for Blizzard's CEO to give their shareholders as to why the game wasn't out for the christmas season where (at least in this country) people tend to shell out a third of their income in a month's time? Again, I understand we want to be upset and don't know what to be upset at (and picking a random thing seems a good outlet for it) - but does this strike anyone else as somewhat ludicrous? I understand the shareholders were told the launch would be global - but if the launch was less than global and still made hundreds of millions of dollars, I doubt the shareholders would flee in droves because the company lied to them.
"Alright guys, I know we've been funding this project for nearly 10 years now, and we're definitely set up to make hundreds of millions of dollars right now - but let's just give Korea another 6 months to a year to make sure they're on board with this."
In a corporate environment where the earnings for the current year (or in some places, the current quarter) tend to be the only item of importance (and also, the main factor in determining bonuses for these executives we seem to want to believe enjoy keeping the game from us), can anyone explain why this idea possibly makes any sense at all?
Because they still get insane revenue from WoW subs every month... and if I was them, I would be worried about that taking a HEAVY hit when diablo 3 comes out... and that's why 'game ain't ready yet'.... The problem with Korea is a minor bump nothing more.. the real delay is a business decision by blizzard... /tin foil hat on
If Blizzard is going to lose WoW subscriptions to Diablo 3, I fail to see how they would be able to minimize this loss by delaying the game. Nor is there anything to suggest the reason they are delaying the game is because of this conspiracy theory you've given.
Even if you don't have the best of the best stuff, it will be possible to finish the inferno part. Then you can start farming. Ok you will take more time to kill mobs but still you can do it.
I am not gonna buy from RMAH (at least i dont plan to yet), because the feeling of looting an "omgwtfbbq item" is by far what is fun in the game. Buying it from rmah will be like a gift when i was 7, i played with it non stop for 2 or 3 weeks and then get bored...
That is not fake, but means nothing. Its not gonna be Feb 1st, thats for sure.
Much interesting though is that german diablo fan-site has information that Blizzard has booked some shipment german warehouse for D3 game boxes in 7th and 8th week of the year, meaning game will be probably released late Feb/early Mar. Along with evidence that manuals and boxes are printed, this is very interesting. Blizzard booked warehouse in Nov and then cancelled, so its not 100%, but come on, they are making boxes and CEs already!
Since the beta was originally supposed to run 6 months and it started in september, so I'd say mid-late february is a solid date The game was announced back in summer, 2008, so they've been working on it over 3 and a half years, should be enought do get everything done
On January 09 2012 16:41 paralleluniverse wrote: Seeing as how what remains of the Diablo 3 fanbase mostly supports the RMAH dogmatically, it's interesting to see you're getting slaughtered in the following poll I made: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=301467
Feel free to make your opinions known in that thread.
That OP confuses the hell out of me.
Agree with item/gold buying?
What about item/gold buying? Being able to? People actually doing it? It being formally sanctioned by Blizzard as opposed to not?
I mean its a given part of the game. There is nothing you can do!
It might as well say "Do you agree with gravity" to me.
I wonder if bliz will balance the dropchance for legandaries so actual human players (not bots) or chinese farmers will be able to find legendaries at all. It seems to me that either way they do it, it will turn out bad. Either the market gets flooded with legendaries because of all farmers and bots or the only way you will ever see a legendary is the RMAH because the drop rates have been so nerfed.
Botting will be hard since the client doesnt know what the next block looks like until they close in on it. Or if outdoors, they dont know what elements the outdoor area has been populated with.
There really isnt anything stopping people from playing the game a whole lot though.
Isnt the RMAH locked to your region ? So theoretically someone from china not got on EU RMAH ? Sure if they have someone in europe to buy EU version and register them then just send the acc info to china. But im hoping blizzard will actually try to somehow prevent/block that kind of thing. I want my EU moneyzzzz
On January 10 2012 03:57 Knuppe wrote: I wonder if bliz will balance the dropchance for legandaries so actual human players (not bots) or chinese farmers will be able to find legendaries at all. It seems to me that either way they do it, it will turn out bad. Either the market gets flooded with legendaries because of all farmers and bots or the only way you will ever see a legendary is the RMAH because the drop rates have been so nerfed.
I think I am sticking to hardcore tbh.
I like the fact they have already made clear boss-running will not be worth it anymore (at least not nearly as much as in D2?) From what i could tell from playing the Beta at least, "first-kills" of bosses give a massive increased chance of good drops. Sometimes upto 3 rares on FK, yet pretty much only Magic items on kills afterwards. So apparently clearing whole areas will be more rewarding, which i persoanlly like alot. I have always enjoyed this in D2 aswell but it felt a bit pointless exp wise mainly. D3 should be less aimed at gaining experience though anyhow.
+1 to sticking to hardcore, have been mainly playing HC aswell @ Diablo 2. Am still now and then actually, starting from scratch after ladder-resets with friends never gets old for me... untill Diablo 3 get released. =) Though i have no idea yet how smart it is to switch over from softcore to hardcore fairly quick. I will probably find out the hard way.... T_T
Ontopic;
Bashiok about SK GRB's slacking :
This can only end in disappointment. When a final decision is rendered and game still isn't released, finally people will realize the two weren't linked, as stated. But then the game still won't be out, so still no one is happy. I suppose those are just the ups and downs you have to expect when following something so closely.
And a few days ago;
Bashiok:
Our official target is still "early 2012".
Then yesterday;
Blizzard Quote:
We probably won’t end beta until shortly before release, and traditionally we’ve tried to announce release dates about two months before release. I couldn’t speculate how invites might ramp up or down when the beta finally comes to a close, it definitely is not coming to a close yet though. Bashiok did say there was a strong possibility of a demo after release. We’ll probably make a trial edition at some point. It’s sort of a demo I suppose, but it’s a bit better because it’s essentially the full game just with locks put on certain areas. So you’d be able to jump into multiplayer games with your friends, but maybe you wouldn’t be able to play beyond a certain place and wouldn’t have access to all the game systems (certainly not auction houses) but if you choose to buy the game all that stuff just unlocks.
tl;dr : nothing concrete as usual, but at least it'll be done "soon" ™ right...
I am not sure Diablo 3 will have ladder or ladder resets at all.
Telling the new generation of gamers that they have to start from scratch in order to get access to the new items and stuff is not going to go over well.
On January 10 2012 05:50 Medrea wrote: I am not sure Diablo 3 will have ladder or ladder resets at all.
Telling the new generation of gamers that they have to start from scratch in order to get access to the new items and stuff is not going to go over well.
I'm fairly sure there won't be ladder at D3, at least not at release. but most likely never) Hence i said D3 will be less aimed at gaining experience. =) It has pro's & con's I guess but as always time will tell how it will pan out, knowing Blizzard it'll be fine eventually and any Diablo fan will be playing this game for quite some time !
Feel free to make your opinions known in that thread.
My opinion is that it is a shit poll that proves nothing.
There is not enough options, the place it is posted is not representative, the question is already biased.
1. There is enough options. Yes or no forms a completely exhaustive and mutually exclusive set. 2. No voluntary poll is representative. 3. The question is not biased. The question is not "do you agree with the money-grubbing, game-destroying, RMAH in Diablo 3?". That would be a biased question. The question is simply "Do you agree with item/gold buying in RPG/MMORPGs?".
Feel free to make your opinions known in that thread.
My opinion is that it is a shit poll that proves nothing.
There is not enough options, the place it is posted is not representative, the question is already biased.
1. There is enough options. Yes or no forms a completely exhaustive and mutually exclusive set. 2. No voluntary poll is representative. 3. The question is not biased. The question is not "do you agree with the money-grubbing, game-destroying, RMAH in Diablo 3?". That would be a biased question. The question is simply "Do you agree with item/gold buying in RPG/MMORPGs?".
Well seriously, I wonder if anyone who actually played the old school blizzard's game can rejoice himself from the RMAH and the growing arrival of non free services in most games. But at some point you got to accept that the video games are not what they used to be - a little scene for a few young male because that is what it was - but more like one of the biggest entertainment business.
On January 10 2012 20:24 paralleluniverse wrote: As I've been saying all alone, the game is NOT delayed because of the GRB, it's delayed because the isn't done.
Their even going to release information about NEW game systems soon.
Not that I don't believe you but no one has evidence for or against RMAH - Korea delaying the release so it's pointless to even discuss the reasons for the game not being released.
All we have is the information from Blizzard and they will never ever, even if it was the ONLY reason, say that the game is being delayed due to RMAH-beeing-seen-as-gambling in Korea and they want to resolve that issue.
Even if Mike "the man" Morhaime stepped out of the shadows on a live Twitch.tv broadcast saying "it's not the RMAH in Korea delaying the game" the interwebz would still go crazy about the current situation in Korea and Diablo 3.
On January 10 2012 21:47 frontliner2 wrote: I'm getting fed up with Blizzard. This is like SC2 all over again.
Expect a release late 2008. sorry no release before christmas 2008 sorry no release in 2009 sorry no release early 2010
and then finally in 2010 almost august we get release :S
It's worth it I guess but the wait is wack
In finance and economics, there's something called the "rational expectations" hypothesis. Loosely speaking, it asserts that investors are rational and take into account all information in making expectations about the future.
If you are a rational agent, taking into account all information about Blizzard's release patterns, you should expect a lot of delays.
On January 10 2012 21:47 frontliner2 wrote: I'm getting fed up with Blizzard. This is like SC2 all over again.
Expect a release late 2008. sorry no release before christmas 2008 sorry no release in 2009 sorry no release early 2010
and then finally in 2010 almost august we get release :S
It's worth it I guess but the wait is wack
In finance and economics, there's something called the "rational expectations" hypothesis. Loosely speaking, it asserts that investors are rational and take into account all information in making expectations about the future.
If you are a rational agent, taking into account all information about Blizzard's release patterns, you should expect a lot of delays.
You are right, but Im still VERY suprised to see this.
Yes, Blizzard are known for their delays and great work, but they are also professionals in marketing and no matter when they release game or how many times it was delayed you can always saj "GJ well played".
BUT this time around D3 that is nothing but sloppy job. Too early opened beta caused hype that eventually just fade away (first weeks massive streaming, later perry much nothing), beta patches chaning not even available skills from 326% dmg to 325% dmg people are only making fun of, constant messages "we are almost done" followed by "expect game system changes in next weeks" at the same time - this all sure hurts game. I dont care Im fan, but Im just saying that if you compare how much was SC2 campaign attractive for casual player/buyer and how much must be D3 campaign attractive, you can not describe it ain any other word than just "sloppy and bad".
SC2 campaign was amazing. Battle reports + Blizzard making even more glory and hype spreading "Terrible, terrible damage" famous quotes, good beta timing when sttreaming stayed until game release + even some tournaments ended with "Make... no... mistake. War... is... coming" I still have dreams about (:D) but so far D3 campaign failed in everything. I just hope they will have even more amazing teaser video - not that it could ever affect me buying CE, but its always nice to see some THIS amazing job
I have a feeling the game changes are going to be fairly minor.
This one is likely to be filled with the changes that blizzard had planned to make the game 1.1
In order to be a deal breaker we would have to see something like "Runestones gone! New talent trees" or maybe "This just in, combat based around collectable cards!"
Nah we will probably see Blizzard commit to a runestone design (they have several fully fleshed out, they just need to choose one, and tell us about it). And a lot of skill revamps and redesigns.
On January 10 2012 21:47 frontliner2 wrote: I'm getting fed up with Blizzard. This is like SC2 all over again.
Expect a release late 2008. sorry no release before christmas 2008 sorry no release in 2009 sorry no release early 2010
and then finally in 2010 almost august we get release :S
It's worth it I guess but the wait is wack
I never expected SC2 in 2008 tbh, the game was announced in 2007 Blizzard always takes around 3 years.
What annoys me for D3 is that they were on a roll for a release, launching Beta, shit load of info etc etc. like SC2 and then suddenly they just chose to stop the hype ? What the fuck ? How could they miss their shot so badly.
On January 11 2012 22:10 iminh wrote: it's the biggest electronic store in France(FNAC) so i think it's pretty legit
No, it is not. Retailers will know the date when Blizzard announces it publicly. Til then, its just speculation, guesses and baits.
Yeap spot on . I work for gaming retailer , and i can tell that we dont know the date . We can guess :p by reading etc... Honesty as i said before , im tired the hype its gone a long time ago .
I am kinda sick of these "RMAH or not" debates. Its not a 100 percent or 0 percent thing. No need for extreme standpoints. Korean RMAH can be a large portion for the delay, a delay where they take the opportunity to make some major revisions to the game, which in turns becomes the final cycle that needs to be completed.
But 9 out of 10 people cant comprehend what a development cycle is so they have to dumb it down by not telling us anything.
Retailers can say whatever the fuck they want. Retailers have been telling people that their copy of Diablo 3 is sitting in the store waiting for them so they can hook customers into the store to buy more crap.
I think Blizzard should simply give up on original RMAH idea in Korea, IMO they have absolutely no chance with real money cash out, real life goods, virtual stuff or anything.
Nobody is saying _D3 is gamble, poker isnt either. Those are games you can play with friends just for fun. Or you can turn it into cash in-luck-cash out (any game or sport/political/whatever event can) scenario and then it has possibility to be used as gambling tool, it just depends on how people use it. But since koreans have so strict politics about it, they will never allow game that can be used as on-line virtual casino even if you could be only winning virtual Blizzcon tickets, even if only 1 out of 10k koreans would use it that way and all others were playing just for fun maybe ocasionally paying for some (in my personal opinion you cant call it gambling unless you are buying items with purpose of making profit from lucky random drops, if you just buy whatever you want to have fun thats totally normal, no difference from paying for ticket to cinema).
On January 11 2012 22:26 Overpowered wrote: No, it is not. Retailers will know the date when Blizzard announces it publicly. Til then, its just speculation, guesses and baits.
100% this.
Fans of D3 who keeps up to date with TL.net/Blizzard site, r/diablo, or the diablo twitter, will most likely know the release date as fast as any store will.
So keep you eyes on those 4 and you will know the correct release date the same day as its announced.
On January 11 2012 02:00 Toppp wrote: Title is misleading, makes it sound like its going to be delayed worldwide, while it's likely only going to be delayed in Korea.
did you read the post at all? T_T
anyway, finally got a beta through the blizzard twitter contest, quite excited :D
On January 12 2012 08:29 IntoTheheart wrote: I'd rather them fix everything they thought was wrong and not ship out an incomplete product from their perspective.
Did you read the thread? The only thing apparently missing is approval of RMAH in South Korea.
On January 12 2012 08:29 IntoTheheart wrote: I'd rather them fix everything they thought was wrong and not ship out an incomplete product from their perspective.
Did you read the thread? The only thing apparently missing is approval of RMAH in South Korea.
Funnily enough I did, must've forgotten what it was about. T_T
On January 12 2012 08:29 IntoTheheart wrote: I'd rather them fix everything they thought was wrong and not ship out an incomplete product from their perspective.
The only thing apparently missing is approval of RMAH in South Korea.
I think calling it the only thing missing is a little stretch.
It's easier to say that because of the Korean RMAH, Blizzard decided to take the opportunity to put the game through another development cycle. You cant start a cycle without completing it.
But yeah, as Blizzard you can't tell people that. Not directly anyway.
When the GRB ends its deliberations we will no doubt see Blizzard up the hype again.
I am not saying that the day the GRB gives the game a rating we will see a release date. I am just saying that when a rating does occur Blizzard will at least know what the fuck they are gonna do.
EDIT: I should maybe update the OP with this opinion.
OK done
What we will likely see happen is the GRB will grant the game a rating. Blizzard will then wrap up the current development cycle for the game. Then the beta will be updated to reflect the new cycle, and one last wave of beta invites. THEN we will hear about a release date.
Its entirely possible for a product to be shippable one moment, then unfinished the next.
The sheer desperation and the loony conspiracy theories is utterly pathetic.
Blizzard does not give release dates until they are sure the game is ready and complete. Those of us who have waited for any Blizzard game in the past are not surprised.
On January 12 2012 08:29 IntoTheheart wrote: I'd rather them fix everything they thought was wrong and not ship out an incomplete product from their perspective.
The only thing apparently missing is approval of RMAH in South Korea.
I think calling it the only thing missing is a little stretch.
It's easier to say that because of the Korean RMAH, Blizzard decided to take the opportunity to put the game through another development cycle. You cant start a cycle without completing it.
But yeah, as Blizzard you can't tell people that. Not directly anyway.
When the GRB ends its deliberations we will no doubt see Blizzard up the hype again.
I am not saying that the day the GRB gives the game a rating we will see a release date. I am just saying that when a rating does occur Blizzard will at least know what the fuck they are gonna do.
EDIT: I should maybe update the OP with this opinion.
OK done
What we will likely see happen is the GRB will grant the game a rating. Blizzard will then wrap up the current development cycle for the game. Then the beta will be updated to reflect the new cycle, and one last wave of beta invites. THEN we will hear about a release date.
Its entirely possible for a product to be shippable one moment, then unfinished the next.
The sheer desperation and the loony conspiracy theories is utterly pathetic.
Blizzard does not give release dates until they are sure the game is ready and complete. Those of us who have waited for any Blizzard game in the past are not surprised.
This is not unusual.
This is normal.
You think it's a conspiracy that Blizzard wants Korea one of the most plugged in countries of the world to be part of their new RMAH system and get their cut from a LOT of accounts? I mean I am not buying it hook line and sinker but to say that its a loony conspiracy theory is just close minded and even a little ignorant. It's not a very hard stretch of imagination. We aren't talking about just the sale of the accounts. With big business going through daily if the RMAH is slashed in Korea it's a pretty big deal for bliz. I don't know about you but I sure as would hold the boat up to try and get Korea onboard.
Going out on a limb and saying this is true(which again who knows), it hurts the little naive kid in me to think the game would be held up for this reason. Blizzard has been around since I was a whee boy and this, "commercial" attitude saddens me. It makes sense, it just makes me frown a little.
The sheer desperation and the loony conspiracy theories is utterly pathetic.
Blizzard does not give release dates until they are sure the game is ready and complete. Those of us who have waited for any Blizzard game in the past are not surprised.
This is not unusual.
This is normal.
You think it's a conspiracy that Blizzard wants Korea one of the most plugged in countries of the world to be part of their new RMAH system and get their cut from a LOT of accounts? I mean I am not buying it hook line and sinker but to say that its a loony conspiracy theory is just close minded and even a little ignorant. It's not a very hard stretch of imagination. We aren't talking about just the sale of the accounts. With big business going through daily if the RMAH is slashed in Korea it's a pretty big deal for bliz. I don't know about you but I sure as would hold the boat up to try and get Korea onboard.
Going out on a limb and saying this is true(which again who knows), it hurts the little naive kid in me to think the game would be held up for this reason. Blizzard has been around since I was a whee boy and this, "commercial" attitude saddens me. It makes sense, it just makes me frown a little.
No evidence.
Conspiracy theories wouldn't be conspiracy theories if they had even a shred of evidence to support them.
Given that the Korean RMAH has no rating, I fail to see how delaying the worldwide release would maximize their profits. Put another way, why is it not better to release a completed game to the rest of the world now and release the game in Korea once it gets a rating there?
Firstly, there's not enough information to confirm/deny. I expect only Mike Morhaime and a few high-ups in Blizz have all the facts to authoritatively decide this issue for us, and I highly doubt they will do so in a thread on TL (or anywhere tbh).
That said, I can imagine that the korea RMAH issue has an influence on the release, but it seems farfetched to me that it's the only blocking issue
Let's say issues in Korea really did delay the game...would they have the balls to announce a release date within the next week and risk that kind of speculation when they've said the opposite? Or do you think they'd assume people would care more about a date finally being nailed down than pointing the finger at blizzard? I'd think they'd do it anyway if they were able to announce a date very soon.
'If they were just up front with us from the start i think a lot of the problems with the community would've been avoided. Since korea finally gave it a rating im expecting it to still make their Q1 estimate for the launch, since the game was finished around September since they were planning a late November release
On January 13 2012 16:10 iDiablo wrote: 'If they were just up front with us from the start i think a lot of the problems with the community would've been avoided. Since korea finally gave it a rating im expecting it to still make their Q1 estimate for the launch, since the game was finished around September since they were planning a late November release
Ya I dont think they would have EVER said publically they'd push for a late 2011 release unless it was at least plausible. To delay it possibly to april would be insane and imply something major went wrong. (I say april because I"ve heard specualtion about that date.)
No RMAH in Korea, and Diablo 3 finally gets a rating there.
This changes the state of play. Since there is no region locking, and since it is possible to play on any server with a client in any language, it would be very heartening to see the Korean servers turned into an international server because all the players around the world who are against the RMAH may gravitate towards it.
The idea of a server that has a diverse and international playerbase, while being completely free of the unfair and game-destroying RMAH sounds like an almost utopian concept.
No RMAH in Korea, and Diablo 3 finally gets a rating there.
This changes the state of play. Since there is no region locking, and since it is possible to play on any server with a client in any language, it would be very heartening to see the Korean servers turned into an international server because all the players around the world who are against the RMAH may gravitate towards it.
The idea of a server that has a diverse and international playerbase, while being completely free of the unfair and game-destroying RMAH sounds like an almost utopian concept.
No RMAH in Korea, and Diablo 3 finally gets a rating there.
This changes the state of play. Since there is no region locking, and since it is possible to play on any server with a client in any language, it would be very heartening to see the Korean servers turned into an international server because all the players around the world who are against the RMAH may gravitate towards it.
The idea of a server that has a diverse and international playerbase, while being completely free of the unfair and game-destroying RMAH sounds like an almost utopian concept.
I'm very pleased.
it will be patched in later
They can't patch it in without submitting it for review.
Thanks for this comprehensive write-up. This helped clear up a lot of things for me since I, admittedly, haven't been keeping up. Normally people wouldn't take time to read through everything you wrote, but I read it all and again I thank you. I don't have much to add to the interpretation itself, but I suppose I could offer up some disappointment - as I thought D3 would be out by now
No RMAH in Korea, and Diablo 3 finally gets a rating there.
This changes the state of play. Since there is no region locking, and since it is possible to play on any server with a client in any language, it would be very heartening to see the Korean servers turned into an international server because all the players around the world who are against the RMAH may gravitate towards it.
The idea of a server that has a diverse and international playerbase, while being completely free of the unfair and game-destroying RMAH sounds like an almost utopian concept.
I'm very pleased.
It's not like Blizzard haven't thought about that "little" issue right there.
The game being region free causes bigger problems for Blizzard than people seeing Korean servers as safe heaven for RMAH free play.
How about Koreans playing on NA/EU accounts and using RMAH?
I think they will make a Korean version which is isolated from the rest of the world.
Not until, if, they get an approval will there be a completely region free Diablo 3.
I am glad they got Korea sorted out, but man. This is why i hate conspiracy theories; there is no winning at all. The game's release date wont be announced for a while. So, these are the claims that can be made. If the release date came out within a week, than the conspiracy theoriest will claim it to be the proof that it was in fact korea holding it up.
On the other hand, if it does not come for a while (which I foresee being the case). Than it will simply be claimed that Blizzard does not want us to know it was Korea so they held off the release date. Due to an argument being made based on no evidence, it is able to survive because there was no real basis to begin with.
In the end, people will believe what they want. And even though it has been pointed out that Korea was not holding back the games release, even with Blizzard stating that more than once. There will still be others believing it.
On January 13 2012 17:55 Nilrem wrote: I am glad they got Korea sorted out, but man. This is why i hate conspiracy theories; there is no winning at all. The game's release date wont be announced for a while. So, these are the claims that can be made. If the release date came out within a week, than the conspiracy theoriest will claim it to be the proof that it was in fact korea holding it up.
On the other hand, if it does not come for a while (which I foresee being the case). Than it will simply be claimed that Blizzard does not want us to know it was Korea so they held off the release date. Due to an argument being made based on no evidence, it is able to survive because there was no real basis to begin with.
In the end, people will believe what they want. And even though it has been pointed out that Korea was not holding back the games release, even with Blizzard stating that more than once. There will still be others believing it.
And how would we even know the truth? Assume Korea was holding the release back and just for arguments sake assume Korea was the ONLY reason.
Do you expect an official statement from Blizzard saying:
"We have some problems with Korea rating regarding RMAH since it is considered potentially as gambling. When we sort those problems out we will continue with our plan to have a global release."
The conspiracy theorists are about just as right as anyone else because there are some things Blizzard will never, and don't have to, share with the community so there is nothing else to do but to speculate.
On January 13 2012 17:55 Nilrem wrote: I am glad they got Korea sorted out, but man. This is why i hate conspiracy theories; there is no winning at all. The game's release date wont be announced for a while. So, these are the claims that can be made. If the release date came out within a week, than the conspiracy theoriest will claim it to be the proof that it was in fact korea holding it up.
On the other hand, if it does not come for a while (which I foresee being the case). Than it will simply be claimed that Blizzard does not want us to know it was Korea so they held off the release date. Due to an argument being made based on no evidence, it is able to survive because there was no real basis to begin with.
In the end, people will believe what they want. And even though it has been pointed out that Korea was not holding back the games release, even with Blizzard stating that more than once. There will still be others believing it.
And how would we even know the truth? Assume Korea was holding the release back and just for arguments sake assume Korea was the ONLY reason.
Do you expect an official statement from Blizzard saying:
"We have some problems with Korea rating regarding RMAH since it is considered potentially as gambling. When we sort those problems out we will continue with our plan to have a global release."
The conspiracy theorists are about just as right as anyone else because there are some things Blizzard will never, and don't have to, share with the community so there is nothing else to do but to speculate.
Except Blizzard has made claims against such a belief. Stating that it is just as valid or the same is simply not the case. Now, one can claim they are lying which I doubt. I say that because companies like Blizzard tend to avoid lying because it is very bad PR. So they stick with either keeping quiet or saying things without making concrete claims.
On January 13 2012 16:34 paralleluniverse wrote: The idea of a server that has a diverse and international playerbase, while being completely free of the unfair and game-destroying RMAH sounds like an almost utopian concept.
I'm very pleased.
Yeah except the RMAH isn't unfair and it isn't game-destroying either. Realize you're just part of a vocal minority, and quite frankly, its incessant whining is getting on my nerves.
For the purposes of obtaining items there is absolutely no difference between the gold based AH and the cash based AH. If you have the resources, you can buy any items you want. The only difference is that you need to grind the gold in-game, which any monkey can do providing they invest the time. Some people have more money than time, and the real money AH simply levels out the playing field for them. RMAH whiners aren't worried about not having items for themselves, they are just worried other people might have these items, too. Where I'm from, we call such people assholes
No RMAH in Korea, and Diablo 3 finally gets a rating there.
This changes the state of play. Since there is no region locking, and since it is possible to play on any server with a client in any language, it would be very heartening to see the Korean servers turned into an international server because all the players around the world who are against the RMAH may gravitate towards it.
The idea of a server that has a diverse and international playerbase, while being completely free of the unfair and game-destroying RMAH sounds like an almost utopian concept.
I'm very pleased.
It's not like Blizzard haven't thought about that "little" issue right there.
The game being region free causes bigger problems for Blizzard than people seeing Korean servers as safe heaven for RMAH free play.
How about Koreans playing on NA/EU accounts and using RMAH?
I think they will make a Korean version which is isolated from the rest of the world.
Not until, if, they get an approval will there be a completely region free Diablo 3.
RMAHs are region locked.
So Europeans can play on American servers but can't use the American RMAH.
Under the current plan for Diablo 3, my suggestion will be possible. But it's also possible that Blizzard does something to deliberately kill the idea.
No RMAH in Korea, and Diablo 3 finally gets a rating there.
This changes the state of play. Since there is no region locking, and since it is possible to play on any server with a client in any language, it would be very heartening to see the Korean servers turned into an international server because all the players around the world who are against the RMAH may gravitate towards it.
The idea of a server that has a diverse and international playerbase, while being completely free of the unfair and game-destroying RMAH sounds like an almost utopian concept.
I'm very pleased.
It's not like Blizzard haven't thought about that "little" issue right there.
The game being region free causes bigger problems for Blizzard than people seeing Korean servers as safe heaven for RMAH free play.
How about Koreans playing on NA/EU accounts and using RMAH?
I think they will make a Korean version which is isolated from the rest of the world.
Not until, if, they get an approval will there be a completely region free Diablo 3.
RMAHs are region locked.
So Europeans can play on American servers but can't use the American RMAH.
Under the current plan for Diablo 3, my suggestion will be possible. But it's also possible that Blizzard does something to deliberately kill the idea.
Europeans can play on American servers and can use American RMAH. Koreans will be able to play on American servers and use RMAH there.
Koreans wont be able to access RMAH at all. There's already gaming organizations in South Korea controlling when/how much you can play depending on your age. Every blizzard account is linked to a username and an IP address. Every of theses accounts will be blocked to prevent using RMAH from a SK home-based computer. They're very strict about this... I think theses kinds of actions are totally needed in a country where video games are deeply incorporated into their life. For example, since Starcraft 1 isin't IP account bound with name & age.. all the Koreans Starcraft1 servers are shutting down from midnight to 6AM to prevent Koreans from playing during those times. If they don't want Koreans to be able to access the RMAH, then trust me.. you wont see Koreans on the RMAH. The only workaround this would be if someone outside Korea would buy the desired item to end up trading it to someone living in Korea and then get paid via a third-party website.
Anyway, I understand Blizzard making a big deal about RMAH because most of their maintenance money will come from RMAH micro-transactions. What I don't understand is why is there players making a big deal about it? If you're so hardcore that you feel like RMAH is unfair... then go play Hardcore and quit your whine.
No RMAH in Korea, and Diablo 3 finally gets a rating there.
This changes the state of play. Since there is no region locking, and since it is possible to play on any server with a client in any language, it would be very heartening to see the Korean servers turned into an international server because all the players around the world who are against the RMAH may gravitate towards it.
The idea of a server that has a diverse and international playerbase, while being completely free of the unfair and game-destroying RMAH sounds like an almost utopian concept.
I'm very pleased.
It's not like Blizzard haven't thought about that "little" issue right there.
The game being region free causes bigger problems for Blizzard than people seeing Korean servers as safe heaven for RMAH free play.
How about Koreans playing on NA/EU accounts and using RMAH?
I think they will make a Korean version which is isolated from the rest of the world.
Not until, if, they get an approval will there be a completely region free Diablo 3.
No RMAH in Korea, and Diablo 3 finally gets a rating there.
This changes the state of play. Since there is no region locking, and since it is possible to play on any server with a client in any language, it would be very heartening to see the Korean servers turned into an international server because all the players around the world who are against the RMAH may gravitate towards it.
The idea of a server that has a diverse and international playerbase, while being completely free of the unfair and game-destroying RMAH sounds like an almost utopian concept.
I'm very pleased.
Good luck playing on Korea from Europe with acceptable delay...
No RMAH in Korea, and Diablo 3 finally gets a rating there.
This changes the state of play. Since there is no region locking, and since it is possible to play on any server with a client in any language, it would be very heartening to see the Korean servers turned into an international server because all the players around the world who are against the RMAH may gravitate towards it.
The idea of a server that has a diverse and international playerbase, while being completely free of the unfair and game-destroying RMAH sounds like an almost utopian concept.
I'm very pleased.
If there's no RMAH on this "international server," you're just going to have an underground network of transactions anyway. The irony of it being a virtual utopia is present because that's exactly what it likely won't be.
And to be fair, the mass of people who are against the RMAH in their region will either play hardcore, or simply just ignore it altogether and remain in their region. Playing with people who they can't communicate with over in korea or internationally is far worse than playing with people who have slightly better items because of a RMAH presence...
If is official. Diablo 3 has been approved. The Korean version will ship without RMAH at all. RMAH will be patched into the game later. This should be a big sigh of relief for Blizzard especially now that the ball is entirely within their court.
I expect the game to take one final production cycle which will probably start and end with an announcement, an update to beta, and then a release date announcement (followed or preluded by more beta invites!). I would say to look for all of this to take place in approximately 2 weeks. Why 2 weeks? If Blizzard wants to maintain "Q1 2012" they have to release before the last day of March. In order to release by then and still have given "6-8 weeks of notice" then end of January to halfway through February is as good as it gets.
Just wanted to extend a sincere thank you for maintaining this OP so well. I haven't been able to keep up with all the drama as it occurs, but I am very very anxious for Diablo 3, and it was much easier to keep up with this OP then it was to wade through all the bs news articles that appear everytime something Diablo 3 related happens.
On January 13 2012 17:55 Nilrem wrote: I am glad they got Korea sorted out, but man. This is why i hate conspiracy theories; there is no winning at all. The game's release date wont be announced for a while. So, these are the claims that can be made. If the release date came out within a week, than the conspiracy theoriest will claim it to be the proof that it was in fact korea holding it up.
On the other hand, if it does not come for a while (which I foresee being the case). Than it will simply be claimed that Blizzard does not want us to know it was Korea so they held off the release date. Due to an argument being made based on no evidence, it is able to survive because there was no real basis to begin with.
In the end, people will believe what they want. And even though it has been pointed out that Korea was not holding back the games release, even with Blizzard stating that more than once. There will still be others believing it.
Exactly, Bashiok worded it like this earlier this week;
This can only end in disappointment. When a final decision is rendered and game still isn't released, finally people will realize the two weren't linked, as stated. But then the game still won't be out, so still no one is happy. I suppose those are just the ups and downs you have to expect when following something so closely.
I will simply switch to Hardcore mode whenever it seems reasonable ( might be hard to judge at first ^^ ) myself to dodge RMAH. And if shady stuff like JSP does pop up to fill the gap ( which is very likely ) i will just pick my friends wisely I guess and try to stay "untainted" as you will. Either way, it's great that everyone can play the game the way they like "soon" ™ which is all that counts really. =)
No RMAH in Korea, and Diablo 3 finally gets a rating there.
This changes the state of play. Since there is no region locking, and since it is possible to play on any server with a client in any language, it would be very heartening to see the Korean servers turned into an international server because all the players around the world who are against the RMAH may gravitate towards it.
The idea of a server that has a diverse and international playerbase, while being completely free of the unfair and game-destroying RMAH sounds like an almost utopian concept.
I'm very pleased.
The South Koreans will use 3rd party trading sites harder than you can imagine. Probably even harder than westerners will use RMAH.
And also South Koreans themselves will gravitate towards the NA region rather than stay in Korea because of RMAH. To restate, South Koreans can purchase an NA copy of the game, and access NA RMAH. They cannot do this with the Korean version.
This is assuming that Blizzard doesnt IP block NA accounts residing in South Korea. Which could happen.
Hell SK practically invented the idea of RMAH.
Hardcore mode wont be free of RMAH or trading either, items arent character bound, so of course 3rd party trading is going to happen.
If is official. Diablo 3 has been approved. The Korean version will ship without RMAH at all. RMAH will be patched into the game later. This should be a big sigh of relief for Blizzard especially now that the ball is entirely within their court.
I expect the game to take one final production cycle which will probably start and end with an announcement, an update to beta, and then a release date announcement (followed or preluded by more beta invites!). I would say to look for all of this to take place in approximately 2 weeks. Why 2 weeks? If Blizzard wants to maintain "Q1 2012" they have to release before the last day of March. In order to release by then and still have given "6-8 weeks of notice" then end of January to halfway through February is as good as it gets.
Just wanted to extend a sincere thank you for maintaining this OP so well. I haven't been able to keep up with all the drama as it occurs, but I am very very anxious for Diablo 3, and it was much easier to keep up with this OP then it was to wade through all the bs news articles that appear everytime something Diablo 3 related happens.
No problemo! Im going to keep following the release of D3 like this right up until a date is announced. Soon i will ask a moderator to change the title of the thread.
People dont realize one thing - Korea rating undoubtedly caused last year delay which was announced in Sep ("Soon was too Soon - Diablo to arrive in early 2012"), but was not holding the release now. Its good it wont be causing any problems til expansion, but dont expect release date next week. The fact that this is sorted out allows Blizzard to focus on logistics in Korea, some changes to their battle.net infrastructure and so on.
Blizzard is already printing manuals for the game, so the game is coming out relatively soon (in Blizzard time of course :D ), they are close to their "content lock" deadline and they cannot delay much longer. Hopefully we will get some more info on state of the game in JWs article late next week.
With WoW, Blizzard can get away with just about any stupidity shitty they want. In a way, they are doing their fans a service by even 'wasting' their time creating games such as SC2/D3. Arguably, they are diverting resources from making their next non-WoW mmorpg.
I made a bet with a stupid friend of mine, we guessed Diablo 3 release dates and whoever gets the closest gets some money. He went for 12th of November, I abused the system and went for the 11th. I swear if I lose this bet...
No RMAH in Korea, and Diablo 3 finally gets a rating there.
This changes the state of play. Since there is no region locking, and since it is possible to play on any server with a client in any language, it would be very heartening to see the Korean servers turned into an international server because all the players around the world who are against the RMAH may gravitate towards it.
The idea of a server that has a diverse and international playerbase, while being completely free of the unfair and game-destroying RMAH sounds like an almost utopian concept.
I'm very pleased.
If there's no RMAH on this "international server," you're just going to have an underground network of transactions anyway. The irony of it being a virtual utopia is present because that's exactly what it likely won't be.
And to be fair, the mass of people who are against the RMAH in their region will either play hardcore, or simply just ignore it altogether and remain in their region. Playing with people who they can't communicate with over in korea or internationally is far worse than playing with people who have slightly better items because of a RMAH presence...
I would prefer to pay on a server with some cheaters (who would likely be banned), as opposed to a server where everyone is a cheater.
But it seems the idea won't be coming true, as the Korean RMAH uses Blizzard Balance.
[...] I would additionally argue that since money can only be put into the system and can only be used to trade items, real money item prices will skyrocket, as the total pool of money monotonically increases. This will lead to a financial disaster that will destroy the Korean RMAH economy, and I'm glad.
While the Blizzard Balance is slightly modified in some unrevealed way, the same prediction apply as long as money can be put, which it obviously can be, and as long as money can't be taken out, which is the requirement that led to a rating in the first place.
On January 15 2012 16:15 Meta wrote: I'm moving to Korea in a month and I sincerely hope this ordeal doesn't fuck with my ability to play D3 with my friends back in the states.
It won't affect your ability to play with your friends. Cross server play is implemented from the start, only thing it would affect is you not being able to access the NA RMAH and vice versa when they patch it in for KR servers.
Ugh I guess good news, but this wait is getting a bit annoying. Back when they said "end of 2011" was the goal, I predicted the game would be out March 28th, which I thought was giving them plenty of breathing room. But at this point, it seems like the end of June might be more reasonable =/
On January 15 2012 16:15 Meta wrote: I'm moving to Korea in a month and I sincerely hope this ordeal doesn't fuck with my ability to play D3 with my friends back in the states.
It won't affect your ability to play with your friends. Cross server play is implemented from the start, only thing it would affect is you not being able to access the NA RMAH and vice versa when they patch it in for KR servers.
Assuming he bought a North American copy of the game he should still be able to use the NA RMAH even while in Korea. But knows for sure.
On January 15 2012 16:15 Meta wrote: I'm moving to Korea in a month and I sincerely hope this ordeal doesn't fuck with my ability to play D3 with my friends back in the states.
It won't affect your ability to play with your friends. Cross server play is implemented from the start, only thing it would affect is you not being able to access the NA RMAH and vice versa when they patch it in for KR servers.
Assuming he bought a North American copy of the game he should still be able to use the NA RMAH even while in Korea. But knows for sure.
From what I've read it seems you will only be able to access the RMAH in your region.
On January 15 2012 16:15 Meta wrote: I'm moving to Korea in a month and I sincerely hope this ordeal doesn't fuck with my ability to play D3 with my friends back in the states.
It won't affect your ability to play with your friends. Cross server play is implemented from the start, only thing it would affect is you not being able to access the NA RMAH and vice versa when they patch it in for KR servers.
Assuming he bought a North American copy of the game he should still be able to use the NA RMAH even while in Korea. But knows for sure.
From what I've read it seems you will only be able to access the RMAH in your region.
Exactly. Your region is defined by what copy of the game you bought. Not what IP you are connecting from.
On January 15 2012 16:15 Meta wrote: I'm moving to Korea in a month and I sincerely hope this ordeal doesn't fuck with my ability to play D3 with my friends back in the states.
It won't affect your ability to play with your friends. Cross server play is implemented from the start, only thing it would affect is you not being able to access the NA RMAH and vice versa when they patch it in for KR servers.
Assuming he bought a North American copy of the game he should still be able to use the NA RMAH even while in Korea. But knows for sure.
From what I've read it seems you will only be able to access the RMAH in your region.
Exactly. Your region is defined by what copy of the game you bought. Not what IP you are connecting from.
Do you have any confirmation on that? From what I remember they stated they didn't even want to say how they were defining each region to prefend abuse. I always assumed it would be by the IP, like the store, or even something more complicated.
Edit: In their words:
12/20/2011 08:16 PMPosted by Mith How does one get assigned a home region?
That's not something we're ready to discuss, and obviously we'll need to choose the information we do give carefully. Circumventing this wouldn't just be a 'fun trick on Blizzard' it would very possibly be a violation of serious trade laws, so we have to take it seriously.
On January 15 2012 16:15 Meta wrote: I'm moving to Korea in a month and I sincerely hope this ordeal doesn't fuck with my ability to play D3 with my friends back in the states.
It won't affect your ability to play with your friends. Cross server play is implemented from the start, only thing it would affect is you not being able to access the NA RMAH and vice versa when they patch it in for KR servers.
Assuming he bought a North American copy of the game he should still be able to use the NA RMAH even while in Korea. But knows for sure.
From what I've read it seems you will only be able to access the RMAH in your region.
Exactly. Your region is defined by what copy of the game you bought. Not what IP you are connecting from.
There are no strong information on how your RMAH is determined. I'm not sure it depends on where you buy your box... how would WoW annual pass be processed ? If it is based on the version of wow you are playing this is gonna make a ton of issues (are there smaller distinction like UK pounds ?).
The whole process can be more about a subscription method, when you buy diablo 3 you then set up your account/profile for it and then you put a country. Blizzard can then make you accept agreement for what you are sending are right informations and they are not responsible if your country doesn't accept the RMAH (and you put another country), Then you are locked and if you want to switch you must send a proof or something.
They could go by IP, people who use proxy to go around that are a very minor population (few know how and oinly some of them would want to do it).
Or they could do a liitle of this and that and make it complex.
Chronoboost D3! Seriously though, I'd rather they delay the product to get everything worked out so they release a quality game. Unless it ends up like Duke Nukem Forever, in which case the whole world would revolt. No pressure!
On January 17 2012 00:53 Maggost wrote: I really want to play Diablo 3, Starcraft 2 is making me hostile because it's so damn hard.
I saw some bestbuy sign some weeks ago saying that the game will be released 1st February, does someone knows the real date or it's not posted yet?
seriously dude you gotta stop buying into that crap it was fake like every other time. use your head a bit unit blizz says something everything else is bs
On January 17 2012 06:28 ChuCky.Ca wrote: seriously dude you gotta stop buying into that crap it was fake like every other time. use your head a bit unit blizz says something everything else is bs
Supposedly, Jay Wilson is going to be posting a status update sometime today. Also...there's a new patch they are pushing out & wiping all current beta characters.
So today might be a good day information wise, once the official update shows up... and the data miners get a look at what changes were made behind the scenes after the patch hits.
Here's a post I made on B.net regarding the recent Wilson post. Clearly the level of maturity is quite lower than over here.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who realised that Blizzard has really big shoes to fill by creating Diablo 3. (My bet is these shoes are called Massive demonic slippers of Armageddon )
With today's post by Mr. Wilson, I think the process behind the game creation is clear. I admit I hopped on the conspiracy theorist wagon with the RMAH issue but we should really just listen to the blue posts and calm down.
So, what happened?
Back in November, the game was pretty good, good enough for a release but with all the pressure from everyone, especially from us, the customers, that they decided to bump it up another notch. I have played every Blizzard game since Warcraft 1 (I was 10, I'm 24 as of last Nov.) and I swear they have never released a bad or even an average game. Blizzard games kick !@#! (This is not open for debate).
So I bet that when Nov. 2011 came around, JUST like they said, they weren't satisfied that Diablo 3 would boot as many rear ends as they wanted to, and the delay was announced. They tried a barrowful of different and new ideas, tested them in the Beta and the general reaction was ''hmm, that's kinda cool''.
Personally, I am Very happy with the new system changes.
...Except the ID scrolls, I really liked the feeling of unwrapping my present
The Cauldron and the Cube, I'm glad they are out because I LOVED returning to town to sell my newest ''harvest''. Doing it on the run is convenient but I think it's important to have these little pauses between the intense combat. Coming back to town is like taking a breath of fresh air. These dungeons can NOT smell good.
The stone of recall, I'm glad it's called Town Portal once again.
As for the stats, I'm also happy they have their old names back.
===============================================
And just so you know how much I want this game to come out, I lost faith for a moment that my favorite game company wasn't leading us on.
But more importantly, me and my friend have reserved 2 days of vacation, to be plugged into an epic LAN weekend. We have already discussed the menu for those 4 days, we discussed the living room arrangements (I'm brigning over my 47'' tv to his house, he has a 50''). He's installing his surround sound. We even have a discusting alcohol shot (A prairie chicken) planned out that will be taken by the both of us every time someone dies. Hardcore is cool but restarting a new character after 2 days of constant playing sucks too much, so we got the next best thing.
Yes, we're insane, and we wanna play some Diablo 3 ASAP!
On January 20 2012 20:15 Knuppe wrote: Yeah, 3 months to remove a NPC and some changes to the UI.
Makes perfect sense.
oh and btw guys. Changing the ID-mechanic, showing stats directly and making dedicated potion slot is 100% for consoles you do realize this, yes?
It is so damn obvious the console-guys are really messing things up even if I do agree with some of the changes.
That is not obvious, nor is it true.
The gameplay changes are much deeper than you suggest. The development of the console version does not delay the PC version. The console version will not be a direct port of the PC/Mac version of Diablo 3; for example, skills need to be changed because you cannot point on the screen with a gamepad like you can with a mouse.
On January 20 2012 20:15 Knuppe wrote: Yeah, 3 months to remove a NPC and some changes to the UI.
Makes perfect sense.
oh and btw guys. Changing the ID-mechanic, showing stats directly and making dedicated potion slot is 100% for consoles you do realize this, yes?
It is so damn obvious the console-guys are really messing things up even if I do agree with some of the changes.
That is not obvious, nor is it true.
The gameplay changes are much deeper than you suggest. The development of the console version does not delay the PC version. The console version will not be a direct port of the PC/Mac version of Diablo 3; for example, skills need to be changed because you cannot point on the screen with a gamepad like you can with a mouse.
This.
The console version won't be a port. I'm 99% sure that they'll overhaul UI/systems to suit the console's needs. So I highly doubt that the console version has any impact on the PC/Mac one.
edit: apart from the fact that people from the console team are helping the pc/mac team atm, so it's only positive?
On January 20 2012 19:48 [F_]aths wrote: Medrea, I hope the recently announced core changes convinced you that the D3 release delay is not related to the korean RMAH issue.
It already happened. As in, SK RMAH delayed the game and set the game on a new dev cycle that still has to finish even when SK RMAH is resolved. They arent going to release a majorly unfinished product afterall -.-
These current changes are very minor. Just take a look. Most changes are just button placement changes. You may think removal of the Nephalem Cube is major but consider that the only change is that now instead of a button on your inventory it is now a button on the artisan. An example of a major change would have been a graphical overhaul. Another act. And so forth.
Unless that is actually what you mean. The current D3 release delay is not related to Korean RMAH. In which case I agree.
South Korean game rating board has concluded and all that is left is to finish the current development cycle. That is why I had the current thread title renamed. But I was sort of hoping this post would sit still until the actual beta patch 10 notes were posted but it seems they are having issues with it.
I updated the OP nonetheless. Really everyone should be relieved. Even the "core" attributes change were pretty minor. Also all of the changes are already done on internal beta and we are just waiting for monday to come around so we can test them on closed external beta. This means that a Q1 release is very possible.
I think I am going to keep making well maintained OP's for the rest of Diablo 3. This was fun.
On January 20 2012 19:48 [F_]aths wrote: Medrea, I hope the recently announced core changes convinced you that the D3 release delay is not related to the korean RMAH issue.
It already happened. As in, SK RMAH delayed the game and set the game on a new dev cycle that still has to finish even when SK RMAH is resolved. They arent going to release a majorly unfinished product afterall -.-
These current changes are very minor. Just take a look. Most changes are just button placement changes. You may think removal of the Nephalem Cube is major but consider that the only change is that now instead of a button on your inventory it is now a button on the artisan. An example of a major change would have been a graphical overhaul. Another act. And so forth.
Unless that is actually what you mean. The current D3 release delay is not related to Korean RMAH. In which case I agree.
South Korean game rating board has concluded and all that is left is to finish the current development cycle. That is why I had the current thread title renamed. But I was sort of hoping this post would sit still until the actual beta patch 10 notes were posted but it seems they are having issues with it.
I updated the OP nonetheless. Really everyone should be relieved. Even the "core" attributes change were pretty minor. Also all of the changes are already done on internal beta and we are just waiting for monday to come around so we can test them on closed external beta. This means that a Q1 release is very possible.
I think I am going to keep making well maintained OP's for the rest of Diablo 3. This was fun.
These changes were from the new devopment cycle prior the the whole RMAH conspiracy. Considering the remarks on the very first delay allowed for the addition of content and changes which all happened after the fact. Granted, these "minor" changes are not all that were done, nor were they all done all at once. With the mixture of changes that resulted from external comments (such as the skills that are to be altered) as well as internal comments (the potion change).
Funny thing is, I knew this was going to happen. I remember making a post that even with how things played out, people will still believe (against what Blues has stated) that is was the RMAH. Thatis beside the point, if someones mind did not change at this point, they will still continue to believe the conspiracy theory till the end.
On January 20 2012 19:48 [F_]aths wrote: Medrea, I hope the recently announced core changes convinced you that the D3 release delay is not related to the korean RMAH issue.
It already happened. As in, SK RMAH delayed the game and set the game on a new dev cycle that still has to finish even when SK RMAH is resolved. They arent going to release a majorly unfinished product afterall -.-
These current changes are very minor. Just take a look. Most changes are just button placement changes.
I think it's rather quite the opposite, the changes are huge. With the new core stats system, all items need to be created again. With the new "white items should be worthless" motto they also need to use different algorithms to create the items. Set items and unique items probably need to be overhauled manually.
The mystic artisan gets removed, requiring again a look at item randomization. The crafting system at the blacksmith also needs an overhaul because white items are no longer salvageable.
While some changes are quite small, others will require to basically re-create the complete item content (except for the artwork.)
On January 22 2012 19:18 Medrea wrote: You may think removal of the Nephalem Cube is major but consider that the only change is that now instead of a button on your inventory it is now a button on the artisan. An example of a major change would have been a graphical overhaul. Another act. And so forth.
Unless that is actually what you mean. The current D3 release delay is not related to Korean RMAH. In which case I agree.
South Korean game rating board has concluded and all that is left is to finish the current development cycle. That is why I had the current thread title renamed. But I was sort of hoping this post would sit still until the actual beta patch 10 notes were posted but it seems they are having issues with it.
I updated the OP nonetheless. Really everyone should be relieved. Even the "core" attributes change were pretty minor. Also all of the changes are already done on internal beta and we are just waiting for monday to come around so we can test them on closed external beta. This means that a Q1 release is very possible.
I think I am going to keep making well maintained OP's for the rest of Diablo 3. This was fun.
With or without issues in South Korea, other issues keep D3 from being released. That is why I think it's valid to state that the RMAH issue or the rating issue did not affect the D3 release – the game wasn't finished, anyways.
On January 20 2012 19:48 [F_]aths wrote: Medrea, I hope the recently announced core changes convinced you that the D3 release delay is not related to the korean RMAH issue.
It already happened. As in, SK RMAH delayed the game and set the game on a new dev cycle that still has to finish even when SK RMAH is resolved. They arent going to release a majorly unfinished product afterall -.-
These current changes are very minor. Just take a look. Most changes are just button placement changes.
I think it's rather quite the opposite, the changes are huge. With the new core stats system, all items need to be created again. With the new "white items should be worthless" motto they also need to use different algorithms to create the items. Set items and unique items probably need to be overhauled manually.
The mystic artisan gets removed, requiring again a look at item randomization. The crafting system at the blacksmith also needs an overhaul because white items are no longer salvageable.
While some changes are quite small, others will require to basically re-create the complete item content (except for the artwork.)
On January 22 2012 19:18 Medrea wrote: You may think removal of the Nephalem Cube is major but consider that the only change is that now instead of a button on your inventory it is now a button on the artisan. An example of a major change would have been a graphical overhaul. Another act. And so forth.
Unless that is actually what you mean. The current D3 release delay is not related to Korean RMAH. In which case I agree.
South Korean game rating board has concluded and all that is left is to finish the current development cycle. That is why I had the current thread title renamed. But I was sort of hoping this post would sit still until the actual beta patch 10 notes were posted but it seems they are having issues with it.
I updated the OP nonetheless. Really everyone should be relieved. Even the "core" attributes change were pretty minor. Also all of the changes are already done on internal beta and we are just waiting for monday to come around so we can test them on closed external beta. This means that a Q1 release is very possible.
I think I am going to keep making well maintained OP's for the rest of Diablo 3. This was fun.
With or without issues in South Korea, other issues keep D3 from being released. That is why I think it's valid to state that the RMAH issue or the rating issue did not affect the D3 release – the game wasn't finished, anyways.
Well, you are entitled to your opinion, and I respect you posting constructively about it. And not like a complete idiot like someone else.
Jay Wilson was sure of a Novemberish release and posted about what was then the current system and said it was completely shippable (as well as again at Blizzcon "sooner than you think"), from the attributes to the runestones, pretty much all of it. The "soon was too soon" article really floored everyone because it was a complete 180 from what Jay had been letting on up until that point, and it came from Mike Morhaime to boot, who has absolutely nothing to do with game design.
EDIT: Also I have been getting this a lot, but I am not deaity, the guy who wrote the blog. I am convinced people still think that. That isnt me, nor do I agree with the full blog. I never advertised that I did. I am not a full tin-hatter. I have clarified this three times over this thread but people still think I am the blog writer. Yeah South Korean game rating was a big roadblock, but Ive stated many times it was never the only one. It was just a problem that had the potential to be the last. But people have to post stupid two liners saying "I told you so haha you are wrong lolololz" anyway.
I dont understand why they would have to tune drop rates when they got rid of salvaging whites because too much of it was dropping anyway. Seems like that solved itself. Even the core stats/artisan change is relatively minor since that is just a tuning pass (WoW has been out for 7+years and has had a million tuning passes and none of them really held the game up). I swear Blizzard has built a machine that does it for them by now. And they are done with it now.
Either way, its in the past. I spoilered it for a reason dontcha know? Im waiting for patch 10 to rear its head.
With or without issues in South Korea, other issues keep D3 from being released. That is why I think it's valid to state that the RMAH issue or the rating issue did not affect the D3 release – the game wasn't finished, anyways.
Now that I take a second look at this I think I see what you are saying. Just a different take on the same information. Yes there have always been other things wrong with D3. SK game rating was just the one that had the potential to be the biggest/last, and more importantly not under Blizzard's control. Which I can't understate.
Sigh... I wonder when this game will finally come out.
So far Blizzard is keeping on track with Q1 2012. At least thats what they are telling investors and Activision. If the game has to be pushed beyond March Blizzard will have to come out with another article:
"Not Only Was Soon Too Soon but Evidently Tardy as Hell Was Too Soon as Well"
Sigh... I wonder when this game will finally come out.
So far Blizzard is keeping on track with Q1 2012. At least thats what they are telling investors and Activision. If the game has to be pushed beyond March Blizzard will have to come out with another article:
"Not Only Was Soon Too Soon but Evidently Tardy as Hell Was Too Soon as Well"
I think officially it is early 2012, but only Blizzard knows what that means. :D
Sigh... I wonder when this game will finally come out.
So far Blizzard is keeping on track with Q1 2012. At least thats what they are telling investors and Activision. If the game has to be pushed beyond March Blizzard will have to come out with another article:
"Not Only Was Soon Too Soon but Evidently Tardy as Hell Was Too Soon as Well"
I think officially it is early 2012, but only Blizzard knows what that means. :D
There was a moment when Bashiok mentioned Q1 but than retracted that and reiterated the claim that it is in for "early 2012". In the end, it is a rather arbitrary time-period so we shall see.