If you have been following Diablo 3's release story, it is pretty clear that the Real Money Auction House
People have speculated otherwise, but it is common knowledge, and generally accepted, that this is why the game is being delayed for so long.
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If you are still not convinced read this article:
http://daeity.blogspot.com/2011/12/diablo-delay-debate.html
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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 The short story is that Blizzard has either posted that RMAH is holding the game up and then withdrawn said post.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.
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:
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.
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THE REAL NEWS
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This is the Korean GRB's response circa Jan 4th 2012.
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2012/01/123_102230.html
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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.
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UPDATE Jan 5th (Edited)
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I am being told that this collection of unholy moonrunes known as "Korean"
http://www.thisisgame.com/board/view.php?id=1063261&category=auto
says that the gameboard approved a version of the RMAH for Koreans, but stripped of its cashing out feature.
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.
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UPDATE Jan:6th
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Clarification that no decision has been made.
http://www.dualshockers.com/2012/01/06/diablo-iii-rating-in-korea-delayed-for-the-fourth-time/
If you think the outrage and/or tin-hattery is big in the west. It's even worse in Korea.
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UPDATE Jan:12th
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http://www.inven.co.kr/webzine/news/?news=41568
People have been saying that a rating from the GRB has now come to pass and it has been given a rating of M.
Waiting for confirmation.
http://www.grb.or.kr/Statistics/Popup/Pop_ReasonInfo.aspx?app=44341
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UPDATE Jan:12th
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DIABLO 3 APPROVED!!
http://diablo3markets.incgamers.com/blog/comments/south-korea-finally-approves-diablo-3
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.
http://www.grb.or.kr/statistics/popup/pop_reasoninfo.aspx?app=44341
http://www.grb.or.kr/Statistics/Popup/Pop_StatisticsDetails.aspx?app=44341&type=00
http://www.inven.co.kr/webzine/news/?news=41568
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http://daeity.blogspot.com/2011/12/diablo-delay-debate.html
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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:
http://kr.battle.net
http://eu.battle.net
http://thisisgame.com
http://diablo3.playforum.net
http://www.inven.co.kr
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.
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:
http://kr.battle.net
http://eu.battle.net
http://thisisgame.com
http://diablo3.playforum.net
http://www.inven.co.kr
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.
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THE REAL NEWS
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This is the Korean GRB's response circa Jan 4th 2012.
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2012/01/123_102230.html
+ Show Spoiler +
By Kwaak Je-yup
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.
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.
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UPDATE Jan 5th (Edited)
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I am being told that this collection of unholy moonrunes known as "Korean"
http://www.thisisgame.com/board/view.php?id=1063261&category=auto
says that the gameboard approved a version of the RMAH for Koreans, but stripped of its cashing out feature.
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.
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UPDATE Jan:6th
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Clarification that no decision has been made.
http://www.dualshockers.com/2012/01/06/diablo-iii-rating-in-korea-delayed-for-the-fourth-time/
If you think the outrage and/or tin-hattery is big in the west. It's even worse in Korea.
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UPDATE Jan:12th
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http://www.inven.co.kr/webzine/news/?news=41568
People have been saying that a rating from the GRB has now come to pass and it has been given a rating of M.
Waiting for confirmation.
http://www.grb.or.kr/Statistics/Popup/Pop_ReasonInfo.aspx?app=44341
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UPDATE Jan:12th
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DIABLO 3 APPROVED!!
http://diablo3markets.incgamers.com/blog/comments/south-korea-finally-approves-diablo-3
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.
http://www.grb.or.kr/statistics/popup/pop_reasoninfo.aspx?app=44341
http://www.grb.or.kr/Statistics/Popup/Pop_StatisticsDetails.aspx?app=44341&type=00
http://www.inven.co.kr/webzine/news/?news=41568
+ Show Spoiler +
Uncorroborated Employee interview
"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."
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.
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.
PATCH 10 Preview
These changes are extremely minor. Dont be fooled by the shinies.
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/4325959/Systems_Changes-1_19_2012
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.