Solivagant has written another great post about the comparison between Diablo 3 and Fallout 3 which I find to be a very nice post well worth reading and pondering upon. What do you think?

I’ve received a lot of feedback regarding a post I made on my Destructoid blog, more positive than negative so I decided to continue that line of thought and further compare Diablo 3 and Fallout 3.

I started my post by stating that everything that I’d seen on June 28 got me interested in Diablo 3. Everything that I’ve seen since then has only gotten me even more interested.

Specifically, Leonard Boyarsky’s involvement as Lead World Designer. His title means that he’s the guy in charge of making sure the storyline holds up, in charge of all the details and tales that, as I mentioned in my previous post, kept running backstage while chaos erupted in the forefront in the previous games.

While you were mass clicking some miniboss, somewhere in the gameworld an NPC kept waiting for you to come back, ready to present you with your next quest. This NPC had a name, a personality, a backstory, a personal agenda.

But you barely got to know any of it.

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IGN managed to get an interview with Leonard Boyarsky, the game’s lead world designer, on the importance of lore in the game and the decision to give the character classes voices, among other things.

Australia,  July 24, 2008 - BlizzCon is likely to be the gaming world’s next chance to see some more on the highly anticipated Diablo III, but to tide you over just a little, we had a quick chat with Leonard Boyarsky, the game’s lead world designer, on the importance of lore in the game and the decision to give the character classes voices, among other things.
IGN: What do you do as the lead world designer, and what have you worked on in the past in that respect?
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Diablofans.com are quick with the latest Diablo 3 news as always. This time they report about a first view of the Diablo 3 collectible series! Here is what they report:

Sideshow Collectibles and Blizzard Entertainment are proud to introduce the Diablo III Collectible series with this epic first release. The Barbarian Statue depicts the warrior class in fine form, wielding dual-axes in the heat of battle. Each piece is hand-cast in high quality polystone, individually finished and hand-painted to exacting standards, complete with individually assigned edition numbers on the bottom side of the base. Don’t miss this opportunity to begin your Diablo III collection with the limited edition Barbarian Statue.

There will be two editions: The normal one and the Exclusive. The Sideshow Exclusive version of the Diablo III Overthrown Polystone Diorama includes a unique feature available nowhere else: Interchangeable helmeted head for alternate display!

Within the world of Sanctuary in the Kingdom of Khanduras, barbarians are an ancient class of legendary warriors. Barbarians are known for their immense size, relentless fury and two-weapon fighting techniques and dwell upon their sacred Mount Arreat. Though once misunderstood to be simple and aggressive invaders, they are a noble, proud people, upholding great tradition - protecting Mount Arreat and the mysterious artifact it holds.

License: Diablo III
Product Type: Polystone Diorama
Product Size: 18″ H (457.2mm) x 12.5″ W (317.5mm) x 13″ D (330.2mm)*
Product Weight: 15.00 lbs (6.8 kg)*

Blizzard Guru have a  nice post about the possibility that we are seeing a new class in one of the screenshots from Blizzard that seem to be hinting towards a druid-like class….what do you  think, are they right or wrong?

With the release of the new PC Powerplay preview of Diablo 3, rumours have begun to pop up on a few sites of a possible new class in one of the screenshots. While two of the classes are currently known, there are three that are being speculated on from Sorceresses, Bow Users, Druids, Necromancers as well as a myriad of other classes.

The first instance of what could have been a new class was seen in the Art Trailer from the website, which portrayed a female that could possibly be a druid or an NPC.

Looking at the laters PC Powerplay Review, the last page has a screenshot in the bottom left. Zoomed in he screenshot can be seen below.

Pointing out a few key things on this character being played, one can see the following.

The character appears to be wearing a cloak with a hood.
The character has two claws, one on each of the arms.
At 1 and 4 on the image below is what appears to be horns on the hood/helmet.
At 2 and 3 on the image below, there is possibility of small animal skulls seen.

Feel free to pop by our forums and speculate on this topic.

EDIT: Update: Some are speculating that this is Blizzard teasing us by having two monsters fight each other, and the image is of a dark occultist after the transformation:

http://us.media.blizzard.com/1901200114/_images/screenshots/ss4-hires.jpg

Both Blizzard Guru and Hellgate Guru report about a 5 page article in the australian gaming magazine PC Powerplay (#155) about Diablo 3 and thanks to a Blizzard Guru forum member we also have scans of the article presented below. As usual the ever nagging complaints about the graphics are adressed as well as some information on item randomization, health globes and new classes.

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