To a poster who complained about the obscuring visual fireworks created by various Diablo 2 skills, Bashiok explained the D3 Team’s design philosophy.

Keeping the visuals distinct and “readable” is an extremely important focus for us, and as has been stated quite a few times, relates to a lot of the art style and direction choices.

You need to be able to read the scene, tell monster and player apart, and not have it turn into a mess of spell effects. While we’re really aiming for over-the-top skills and effects, it’s going to be a constant goal (and likely struggle) to keep those in line so that in a multiplayer game it’s going to retain its readability.

It’s fine for things to get chaotic, it will happen and we want there to be mass-mayhem and slaughter, but we’re trying to keep the game playable even during the chaos. It’s a balance.

Other fans are hungry for more content, and are already wondering if we’ll see the goods at Blizzcon. Will we get a gameplay movie? Bashiok deals with one such fellow with Roper-ian grace, acknowledging, inspiring, and redirecting him so smoothly he never even feels the PR knife slide in.

Well, you’ll just have to wait and see!

In the more immediate future a few of us are heading out to Leipzig for GC next week. We’ll be joining our friends from the Blizzard Europe office to meet and greet the fans. If you happen to be passing through Germany and also happen to have a ticket to the convention, be sure to stop by and say hello.

Other forum goes are not so easily put off, and a follow up question is quickly posed, asking what sort of information we’ll see released to coincide with that major German gaming event. Not a whole lot, apparently:

From what I gather I think I would equate it more to our presences at similar booth-style conventions, ComicCon and GenCon Indy in years past, for instance. We have a booth, usually some gaming stations set up, and we talk with people about the games and hold interviews. I fully expect some good interviews with Jay to come out of it, but I would more or less expect that to be the main focus of information coming out of the show regarding Diablo III.

Stop by and say hi though. I think I may be the only Blizzard person there with a goatee, so I should be easy to spot. I’m scheduled to be there every day to chat up fans about the game.

Source: Diii.com

There has been some controversy regarding Bashioks hint at there being a Beta key in the goodie bags at BlizzCon and now he want to withdraw that, while still keeping the door open anyway?

I think the wording in my original post got some people thinking I was hinting that any included beta key would undoubtedly be used for a Diablo III beta.

That was not my intent, and as I said any beta key we give out on those cards could be used for any purpose deemed necessary. If the Wrath of the Lich King beta is still going after BlizzCon and we want more testers, then it could be used for that if we wanted.

My original post was only meant to say that regardless of what a beta key is used for, you should still attend as you won’t be disappointed.

There has been no release date announced, shared, hinted at, or otherwise imagined. Retailers may have dates in their computers which someone at their company made up, none of them have anything to them other than best-guess work. This is how video game pre-orders work.

…there’s no standard announcement-to-release formula.

The Cowlevel of Diablo 2 is one of the least kept secrets in the history of in-game easteregss ever. Its been (ab)used to the ridiculous by millions of avid Diablo 2 players and if you are one of those that just cant stand the “moo” or tons of marching cows with halberds, well…you are not alone as Blizzards own Bashiok seem to hate them as well.

Yeah, who doesn’t like fighting cows running around with halberds?

I disliked the secret cow level from a design standpoint though. It actually angered me that it existed at one point, maybe it kind of still does.

I’m not a designer, at all, but in my opinion and from a design standpoint I think the secret cow level was a failure. For a long time it was one of the most lucrative ways to level, and one of the best places to MF. For an easter egg, something fun and whimsical, to overshadow the entire rest of the game was a huge problem, and one that existed for far too long. It was a fun idea, a cool nod to the rumors that spawned it, but in execution it was just… game breaking in some ways.

It did not take long for the gloombugs to argue this point and give a bashing on how the 1.10 patch for Diablo 2 nerfed the cashcow (pun intended) to which Bashiok had this response.

Well of course, everyone wants everything made easier for them, and that’s effectively what it was. This barrel of fish that not only acted as cheesy way to pull the slot machine lever, but almost rendered the rest of the game unnecessary.

The oversight, I believe, existed in the requirement for the current difficulty to be beaten as well as the Cow King kill. It’s easy enough to avoid the King or just have the level opened by other characters, and I can only guess that the amount of replay potential of the actual game was extremely undervalued.

Apperently someone had the guts to ask Bashiok if it really mattered where you leveled up, which suggest that it was a player that could not care much about the story of the game, but rather the buzz of finding the coolest stuff and climb the ladder of level land. Bashiok did however give a response even to this silly question.

Because you’re playing a game, and it should be respected that you’re playing that game. The cow level was not part of the game, it was an easter egg that made leveling and item finding far easier than the actual game. I’m inclined to almost call it cheating.

Some quick questions and answers from the community answered by Bashiok.

Will the acts be separate, or all blur together?

Act transitions haven’t really been discussed externally. It would be cool to have something a bit more engaging; however, I think the Diablo II style zoom-zoom to the next act …worked.

Can characters fall or be pushed off the edge of a level?

No. Unless it’s part of a special event or something.

Can we filter B.net games by mod being used?

We’ve never supported and don’t intend to support “mods” for Diablo II or III.

If there are forest landscapes like the Kurast jungle, can we clear them out or will they be pre-defined paths like in D2?

We haven’t announced/shown any locations beyond those on the website.

(more…)

Some quotes from Bashiok on the complaints som gloombuggers have had regarding the barbarian character being to “magical”:

I don’t get that feeling while playing one. I think the Hammer of the Ancients ability is definitely magical to some extent, he’s effectively summoning a giant hammer to smash an enemy.

I kind of fill in my own blanks as to where it’s coming from and it feels very natural to me and the Barbarian “kit”. I kind of see it as - and like the idea of - the barbarian … I guess drawing upon the power of his ancestors. It feels very Norse, very mythological, and somehow tied to a family bloodline of great and powerful warriors. Summoning the power of a giant hammer? Hell yeah! If a barb is going to do anything magical, it’s going to be so he can use a big *** ethereal hammer.

Someone responded “But if you have the magical ability to hit so hard you break the rock beneath you, WHY ARE YOU HITTING A ROCK?”" to which Bashiok unleased his response:

Because it looks cool, and it’s a very physical and apparent way to get the basic mechanic of a “crowd control” skill across.

I don’t see anything “magical” about it either. Is it realistic? No, but why should it be? Immersion and reality aren’t intrinsically tied.

I doubt that will be the last we will hear about this, the gloombuggers tend to go on for ever with their nags…

A recent thread regarding playing in singleplayer or multiplayer first led to this response from Bashiok, the always present Blizzard representative:

One thing that seems to be a fairly consistent experience for a lot of people when they first picked up Diablo II was their introduction to Battle.net. And it wasn’t generally a positive one.

Most people, including myself, went home and installed the game and started playing. Over maybe a few weeks or months they’ve finished the game maybe a few times, they had a ton of fun, but they keep playing and trying to find more items.

One day while loading up the game they notice the “Battle.net” button and decide to click it… and, their characters aren’t there. They have to start over. Any of us would have gladly played on Battle.net (in passworded games if necessary) just to have that online/trading option for their character available to them. It felt like a lot of wasted time to find the actual game, which was on Battle.net.

While “starting over” is something almost every Diablo II player is going to do any way, the lack of on-screen instruction or indication as to what the different systems meant left a bad taste.

To help avoid that type of situation we’re going to try to find ways to encourage Battle.net character creation first and foremost.

A topic regarding the possibility to add weapons markers on bosses as one fight them to make it more fun and enjoyable was replied to by Bashiok. The answer was neither positive or negative, regardless which side of the discussion you belonged.

For boss fights we don’t really want to just start throwing “damage decals” on them. It can very easily be too subtle if you’re fighting a smaller boss or one that has odd geometry to it, and it can also end up that no matter the flavor, style, and cool look to a boss you just end up fighting a big gory mess.

Also we think that we can go a lot further than just simple decals and get something much cooler out of a boss fight. So what we hope to do for at least the bosses where it makes sense is to show more apparent and visually noticeable damage states. Instead of a blood splatter they may actually lose a limb, or a piece or armor, or - like the Thousand Pounder - may transform in some dramatic way changing how the fight progresses. We want to go a lot further than just showing sword slashes and instead use dramatic and noticeable (which can be difficult in a game like this) ways to indicate a boss’ current state.

Speaking of battle damage though, and I don’t think this came across in the gameplay video or any of the screenshots as of yet, but when an enemy dies a critical death it actually drenches your hero in blood if you’re within proximity of the spray. It’s awesome.

After a member commented on the effects on loosing a limb and how it might make the boss easier to fight he quickly replied:

It was just an example I made up, I don’t know if the loss of a limb would actually happen or make sense for a fight.

Blizzard community guru and gossip/newsmonger for Diablo 3 posted some information regarding the ability to kill other players without their approval, also known as PK’ing, will not be an option in Diablo 3. PvP, or Player versus player vill instead be focused on to satisfy players bloodlust.

We’re - in general - not big fans of griefing for any game. It’s really only “fun” for one person, and that definition of fun isn’t generally something we’re going to want to encourage. It’s far more positive to encourage and support meaningful and skillful options and systems within a game, than a mechanic for people to instantly turn against one another for no meaningful gameplay reasons.

I definitely remember running with my friends, and someone toggles it, and bam everyone is dead and your one friend is laughing. Ok, ok, good joke I guess, and then you run back and *bam*, you’ve toggled it to get them back. After a while everyone usually agrees to a truce because it’s just a waste of time. But I also remember running with random players and losing extremely nice items because of it, not cool. I’m sure that it was a feature that was right up some people’s alleys, I won’t deny there are some that would enjoy nothing more than to see others frustrated, but is that truly something that should be encouraged through design - if not directly opposed?

We have a large focus on cooperative play for Diablo III, and the mechanics and design decisions related to multiplayer are likely going to be based on supporting and encouraging it as much as possible, and not breaking it down.

That doesn’t mean that PvP won’t have its own focus, but those are details and features we aren’t yet discussing.

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On diii.net Flux has taken time to organise a series of replies posted by Bashiok on the battle.net forums which answer a few questions, but also raise some more. Here is Flux’s summary:

Bashiok only made one post on battle.net today, but he used it to cover a lot of ground. I’ll briefly summarize the questions, while quoting his answers in full:

How can other characters get over that broken bridge the Barbarian leaped in the WWI gameplay?

	Blizzard Quote:
	While the crumbling bridge could be taken quite literally, it was intended to get the idea across that Diablo III will have more interactive and responsive environmental hazards. Of course if such obstacles existed in the way they were displayed every class would need some way to proceed. At this time we aren’t announcing any additional class abilities though.

Is the Tristram dungeon shown in the demo a dungeon we’ll see in the game?

	Blizzard Quote:
	It used the same “tile set” as the Tristram Cathedral dungeon including a specially made entry room. It was a static and specifically crafted dungeon especially for the demo, so yes it includes the look for Tristram Cathedral, but it’s not a true piece of the game as you would play through it.

What will the remaining characters be? New or returning?

	Blizzard Quote:
	Hey, are you kind of kid who reads the last page of a mystery first? Who pesters the magician to tell you his tricks? Who sneaks downstairs to peek at his Christmas presents? Nooooo… of course you’re not. That’s why I’m noooot goooonna teeeeell yoooou!

No class-specific equipment?

	Blizzard Quote:
	What I said was: “… we don’t plan nor have any armor items at the moment that are class specific - although the bonuses and stats may be better suited to a certain class - anyone can pick up any chest/shoulder/leg/etc item and wear it. However, there are some weapons/off-hand items that are class specific.” No changes to this yet, there just weren’t any drops that were class specific. We essentially “hand placed” every drop that happened in the video. We knew people were going to dissect and scrutinize every detail, and everything that drops in that video was purposefully and specifically chosen to be dropped… everything. Fun fact: I played as the female barbarian for the recording.

The decapitation by Siegebreaker in the demo; in the game or just a special for the demo?

	Blizzard Quote:
	Well the way we imagined the final fight going down when thinking about the flow of the presentation was to have a few heroes killed off, and thought it would be cooler to see someone get ripped in half by a giant demon than just fall down. While it was an event made for the presentation it could definitely be worked in to the actual end-product. We try not to spend time on anything that can’t be incorporated in some way. If there’s a mockup or some cool flavor added in somewhere to show something off, we want to build it so that it can actually be used.

Are outdoor areas random or static?

	Blizzard Quote:
	They’re for the most part static. With the outdoor environments we felt we could get a lot more out of them by crafting large and visually impressive scenes, which random map generation really just doesn’t allow for all that well. By that same token one of the main goals with Diablo III is to flesh out Sanctuary, to make it feel more like you’re in this living and breathing world. With towns shifting around everywhere you do sort of lose a sense of cohesion, and an attachment to the places you’re visiting. On a very slight technical note - for random map generation you’re essentially creating a bunch of rooms that can all fit together in various ways. It works quite well for a dungeon which is essentially a series of rooms any way. For an outdoor environment though it tends to make it either fairly bland, or fairly linear just by how the edges have to line up. You’re either running zig-zag patterns to find the map edges, or you’re running down a narrow pathway. Neither are extremely compelling, and at the same time you’re losing the visual grandness that could come from a fully hand-crafted and artistically realized environment. That said, the outdoor areas aren’t completely static.

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On Diablofans.com they have gathered a few questions to let Bashiok, the Diablo 3 community manager, answer as good as he can. There are some interesting things in that post and I’ll repeat it here for you.

Bashiok rolls his engines to answer a few concerns from the Diablo III Gameplay Video.

Q u o t e:
Here are some smaller information I gathered from watching Diablo 3’s gameplay video. Some may be obvious but have not been posted, so here it goes!

Undead Comes Back for Revenge

http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/9…orsc813de9.jpg

At 8:13 of gameplay, an already dead creature comes back to life. A zombie of the undead!

Bashiok: This is the detached torso of a Walking Corpse. After death the torso of the Walking Corpse has a chance to survive, detaching itself and crawling after the hero.

Q u o t e:
Critters

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/5…ers1409zl6.jpg

14:09 of Gameplay - Besides from there being cute bunnies in Diablo 3, critters don’t die. Man, I always liked killing critters in Starcraft. This image is the Witch Doctor throwing a random fire ball which directly hits a critter, but the critter receives no effect.

Bashiok: This was unfortunately a bug that existed in the build that was being used to record the gameplay video. Those critters die, and there’s nothing more satisfying than seeing a bunny corpse flung across the screen. It just wasn’t working for the demo, which stinks.

Q u o t e:
Leader doesn’t die until new spawns come?

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/2…die1525jy4.jpg

15:25 of Gameplay - That same leader of the post above this one, leads the Witch Doctor and Barbarian to the hill where it was the supposedly “nasty trap” they got caught into. But this leader was not able to get hit or damaged in any way until after the new enemy spawns came.

Frozen

http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/4…zen1530nx5.jpg

15:30 of Gameplay - The Witch Doctor and Barbarian are frozen by the same group leader. It shows 2 red effects on the bottom left of the screen, one looking image looking like a time thing (forgot what its called lol) which may show how long the effect lasts or just slows target down, and second being ice image, which is for the completely frozen effect. Also when frozen, your whole skill bar goes red. (Frozen effect seems dangerous for Hardcore players !)

Bashiok: It was a scripted event to pretty much have a cool way to introduce the female Witch Doctor and Barbarian, so yeah, it wasn’t necessarily indicative of something that would show up in the actual game.

Q u o t e:
Jumping/Dodging?

http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/1…ing1653kl5.jpg

16:53 of Gameplay - During the end of gameplay, the Siegebreaker Assault Beast boss makes his entrance by slamming through the wall, charging against the players. They all jumped. Either its automatic jump reflexes, which seems kind of weird, or theres a jumping button.

Another part when the jumping is really seen as, what’s really going on?
http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/8…ain1738rc5.jpg
The Siegebreaker charges at the Witch Doctor at 17:38 of gameplay. The Witch Doctor clearly dodges the attack somehow. I would assume, this cannot be automatic reflexes because that would make no sense. Just let him stomp on the damn player, or are the players really dodging somehow?

Bashiok: This is a knock back effect when the Siegebreaker would use its “charge” type ability. It effectively damages your character and pushes them away from the charging path.

Bashiok: Aw, of course we care! A large part of my job is specifically to ensure that the valid concerns, comments, and critiques are brought to the appropriate people’s attention. That doesn’t mean that every idea or suggestion is something we agree with, or are going to base changes on though. There’s a point where, as a game designer, you have to stick to your guns and know that your choices and direction are what’s best for the game and ultimately those that will be playing it. There’s a point where you have to be confident that you’re making the right decisions. So at the end of the day you’re staying true to your vision and design, and doing what’s best for the game.

A good example of us paying attention though was the concern and thread about corpses not sticking around long enough. I read that thread, brought it up, and some discussion was happening on it. Later our lead tech artist Julian was reading through the replies, and got some ideas of how we may want to keep corpses on screen a little longer. Now we’re playing around with some changes that shouldn’t have a huge performance hit, while still keeping the corpses on screen for variable amounts of time. Hopefully it works out.

Would any experimentation for corpse decay have happened had it not been brought up on the forums? I don’t know, maybe, but we’re not just dismissing good, valid, and well reasoned concerns.

As I said not every suggestion, comment, or idea is going to be considered, but we’re definitely watching and reading.

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