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None yet, hopefully something hinted or given at the Diablo conference that's on soon. I'm expecting mid-late 2021.
Live gameplay if anyone wants to watch: https://www.twitch.tv/wolfcryer
Only for the next few minutes or so, as I think these are timed demos so you can make way for others.
Only for the next few minutes or so, as I think these are timed demos so you can make way for others.
Some pictures of the game panels and UI: https://imgur.com/a/lovNkya
About that map, it's about only half the size of the map... maybe 40% total of what there is on the base "ground level" outside world.
About that map, it's about only half the size of the map... maybe 40% total of what there is on the base "ground level" outside world.
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Probably mid-late 2021 realistically, but hopefully sooner. No official date yet.
From the "Unveiled" Q&A on at the moment they just said: "We're not coming out soon, not even Blizzard 'Soon'."
So... probably a while
Totally agree; I'd rather they took their time and got it right the first time than just shove it out the door to hit a deadline, or it'll just quickly fizzle and burn out, and even worse, it may hinder future Diablo projects if they get another poorly received Diablo product.
Reddit had a private Q&A with two of the developers, some interesting stuff in it! Added a bunch of new bits and bobs to the notes spoilers in the first post if anyone wants to check it out.
I'd imagine it's just that it's pre-alpha / alpha. There's lots of graphical issues I noticed, like it doesn't appear to use any anti-aliasing, the lightning is off on monsters like some just aren't reacting to light sources, and there's clipping and camera issues. Can't imagine they'd release the game like that, and I'd hope that in 18 months or so (or whenever the game comes out) it'll have came on a long way. But yeah the direction they are taking looks great and I'm glad they've gone back to "serious mode" with the tone of the game, and as per that Reddit Q&A I mentioned above, they are aiming for a slightly slower Diablo 3 pace with a world as grimey and putrid as Diablo 1 and 2.
Here's some HD screenshots though: https://imgur.com/a/0YxKLSd
I'd imagine it's just that it's pre-alpha / alpha. There's lots of graphical issues I noticed, like it doesn't appear to use any anti-aliasing, the lightning is off on monsters like some just aren't reacting to light sources, and there's clipping and camera issues. Can't imagine they'd release the game like that, and I'd hope that in 18 months or so (or whenever the game comes out) it'll have came on a long way. But yeah the direction they are taking looks great and I'm glad they've gone back to "serious mode" with the tone of the game, and as per that Reddit Q&A I mentioned above, they are aiming for a slightly slower Diablo 3 pace with a world as grimey and putrid as Diablo 1 and 2.
Here's some HD screenshots though: https://imgur.com/a/0YxKLSd
Still coming out! They had it at Blizzcon and the Demon Hunter was playable to test, but there's no release date for it still.
Maybe, maybe not. I've no doubt we'll fight her at some point, but Lilith is a complicated character; she may even come to our aid at some point. You've got the Prime Evils, such as Diablo, and Lesser Evils, like Azmodan and Belial from Diablo 3, who are quite simply 100% evil to the core; but Lilith is more like 70% evil 30% good. She's the mother of the Nephalem (the characters we play in all Diablo games) and she created Sanctuary, the mortal realm where humanity and the Nephalem live, from the Worldstone with Inarius (an angel that fell in love with her, and her with him) who shared her vision to create a world where angels and demons could live together in peace outside of the Eternal Conflict (the never-ending battle between Heaven and Hell). She wanted to end the Eternal Conflict by other more peaceful means rather than simply exterminating one side as is Diablo, Baal, and Mephisto's vision (the Prime Evils).
She's a really interesting character with a lot of layers and depth, and her being the central point of the game will make for a potentially very interesting story in Diablo 4.
I've updated the original post with a bunch of new info taken from all the interviews I've watched from the major streamers like wolfcryer, Rhykker, Quin69, etc, that they've done with the developers (see the "Detailed Game Information" spoiler).
Some new bits and bobs below from the systems panel also that just finished.
Here's some screenshots I took
Some new bits and bobs below from the systems panel also that just finished.
Here's some screenshots I took
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Whoops, sorry, yeah it should have said Diablo 3. I've not seen Mortar on the demos or any gameplay, but I've definitely seen Frozen, and it looks identical - 5 or 6 patches of circular ice with a ball in the middle that starts wobbling and eventually blows up. The difference this time is they've stated that lots of skills for every class have an innate "Unstoppable" effect which instantly removes any crowd control and makes you temporarily immune, so it shouldn't be rage inducing as it is in Diablo 3... hopefully!
I was/am very concerned that David Kim stated that they want to "simply stats" and if this was 6 months or less from release I'd be very worried. I'm more optimistic though with how vocal they've been at Blizzcon though in that they want to hear feedback from the community, and stated that seeing a working demo in this state allows us and them to provide feedback to each other since we can see a working prototype rather than just imaging what it looks like, as well as providing major feedback updates every 2 to 3 months.
I'm concerned with a couple of areas, one is definitely itemisation which will make-or-break the game, but my concern is heavily tempered right now since we're 2.5~ years away from release and there's plenty of time to give feedback to the developers it that window, provided they are willing to listen. Totally get people are remaining very pessimistic though, especially after Diablo 3 and Blizzards history of not being vocal enough with the community.
I'm concerned with a couple of areas, one is definitely itemisation which will make-or-break the game, but my concern is heavily tempered right now since we're 2.5~ years away from release and there's plenty of time to give feedback to the developers it that window, provided they are willing to listen. Totally get people are remaining very pessimistic though, especially after Diablo 3 and Blizzards history of not being vocal enough with the community.
There's some stuff on this that they've been basically working on it for 3 years already, and due to that, have been and will continue to work on PS4 and Xbox One for now. They may port it later, and release it for both the next gen and current gen. See OP for more info in the release date bit
Gotta say im excited for this.... the Art style looks like they reskinned the engine from D3 with a more darker grittier D2'esque skin, which imho is not a bad thing as lets be honest D3 engine was pretty damn good.
My main hopes are like @flibby , better deeper itemisation and also better endgame, i was talking to my brother @Smudge about this and he's of the same opinion that the skill tree's need to be better than D3 and deeper, and the endgame as well.
From all i have read it sounds promising, i would imagine the game is fairly basic at the moment, they know what classes they want, they know the story they want, the lore etc, and art style, but they are probably nowhere near finished on actual game play mechanics, core skills etc.
One thing i liked about D3 was at the start you had a lowly 3dps weapon and by endgame you was wielding weapons around 4k dps, i hope we get similar, and not stuff just doing overinflated numbers right off the bat, which im guessing wont happen as Blizz is pretty good normally with progression itemisation.
As someone else pointed out the game looks slow what we have seen so far, but this is probably early into the game, like D3 as you progressed generally you unlocked skills and or stats / items that would increase your moving and clearing speed, so im not overly worried about the perceived slowness of the game right now.
One thing D3 had that D2 never had the chance to have is a lot of core streaming community, people that live and breathe the game, yes D2 had a lot of theorycrafters as well, but with D3 and the popular nature of Youtube, Twitch etc theirs a lot of higher profile streamers playing this game, i just hope Blizz engages these people to help make the game be the best it can be, and id actually like to see them do a good alpha and beta of the game on the way to full release, to really home in on what people do and dont want.
The dungeon stuff with keys sound great, almost liked they ripped it out of Wow Mythic dungeons, and lets be honest, it will add a new layer of complexity to the game, which will be a good thing. There is nothing wrong with taking systems from other games if those systems are good and popular and actually are engaging and work.
Glad there is no AH and Microtransactions are supposedly limited to cosmetics, tbh i wouldn't be against POE levels of Cash shop, a lot of the stuff is QOL items and fluff, which suits me fine as i rarely buy any of this stuff.
The Druid looked good fun, they have said 5 classes right? we have seen 3, Barb, Druid and Sorceror, guesses on last 2? im guessing a Necromancer and a Paladin / Crusader type. They'll no doubt add expansions and DLC with more classes along the way.
I just hope that we have an engaging story mode, and then something like D3's end game modes that keep you logging in for more, and they dont balance the game around full sets of gear as that got really stale for game play, would rather have a bazillion legendaries with unique stats that make you really angst over what you pick and choose to use
Nice post!
Totally agree on the art style; looks quite like a re-skinned Diablo 3. They said it's a brand new engine, and it could well be, but it seems like they've pulled in most of the assets from Diablo 3 and have tweaked it a bit and put a demo out - not necessarily a bad thing as it's super early in development, and I'm glad we got to see a bit of their vision for D4.
Also yeah the Druid looks super fun with some awesome looking skills (both design wise and aesthetics), and talents that promote stuff like shapeshifting a lot to maintain buffs and weird combinations between different shapeshifts and their reaction to skills based on your form.
For the other 2 classes... I'd imagine one of them will definitely have to be a "bow/crossbow" type, and the other I'm expecting to be the "holy" type. So I'm thinking a Rogue/Amazon/Assassin and then a Crusader/Paladin/Monk. Not sure which of those specific classes they might pick from those archetypes, but definitely one from each. Will be interesting to see what they pick though!
Yeah their cinematic are amazing as usual. I wish they'd make a movie! Totally feel your pain with Diablo 3 too; I think lots of us got burned by Blizzard and I can totally understand the fans' pessimism and dubiousness to any Diablo project that Blizzard do, especially with the added sting of Diablo Immortal last year which just seemed to rub it in. Myself? I'm staying cautiously optimistic as I like their approach so far to Diablo 4 and the game looks like it's good some good footing but they badly need to work on that itemisation or it'll fall flat again when it comes out. Still, lots of time until release for them to change things! It'll be interesting to see their first update next year (as they've said we're getting quarterly major updates on progress).
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Luis Barriga (Diablo 4 Game Director) released an "open letter" about current hot-topics and what they are discussing internally since Blizzcon and the initial feedback from it. They know itemisation is major focus and they are listening to feedback, and David Kim (Lead Systems Designer) will be doing another post in a few weeks about it, with a major update coming in February 2020. Here's a snippet from the story, and a link the article.
It sounds positive and I'm glad they are paying attention to people's feedback. It's a refreshing approach to see Blizzard doing this as normally they are really closed off from their community.
It sounds positive and I'm glad they are paying attention to people's feedback. It's a refreshing approach to see Blizzard doing this as normally they are really closed off from their community.
Luis Barriga said:
David Kim shared a new update today.
TLDR:
Personally I hope they remove Ancient items, although this is from a Diablo 3 perspective (assuming the hierarchy of items carries over into Diablo 4). I just don't think they're needed and are "cheap" chase items. It's good they are having items make less of an impact than they are in Diablo 3, but the majority of this came from sets and their insane multipliers to skills. Looking forward to an itemisation update though, and really glad to hear they are working on rares being viable.
TLDR:
Personally I hope they remove Ancient items, although this is from a Diablo 3 perspective (assuming the hierarchy of items carries over into Diablo 4). I just don't think they're needed and are "cheap" chase items. It's good they are having items make less of an impact than they are in Diablo 3, but the majority of this came from sets and their insane multipliers to skills. Looking forward to an itemisation update though, and really glad to hear they are working on rares being viable.
David Kim said:
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They've released part 2 of the system design talk, and they've made some good strides in listening to the community with regards to the changes. I'm really glad to see ancient legendaries gone, and that they are making rares as useful as possible.
https://news.blizzard.com/en-gb/diablo3/23230076/system-design-in-diablo-iv-part-ii
Here's some key parts:
https://news.blizzard.com/en-gb/diablo3/23230076/system-design-in-diablo-iv-part-ii
Here's some key parts:
There's a new quarterly update:
Introduction to Quarterly Updates
UI Design, Controller Support, and Co-Op
Monster Family & Design Highlight: Cannibal Tribes
Introduction to Quarterly Updates
UI Design, Controller Support, and Co-Op
Monster Family & Design Highlight: Cannibal Tribes
New quarterly update for June:
Introduction
Team Playtest
A Word About Blockout
Storytelling
Open World
Multiplayer
Items and Progression
Other Thoughts
There's some nice insights into how they are creating the world in this game update. The blockout information was interesting, as was their approach on storytelling and how they are using real-time cutscenes to keep the players emerged. They cover a lot of information that they are using for the game, and how they use play-test data from the beta to improve aspects. The multiplayer stuff was interesting, and I'm glad they stated that:
"We find that the game stops feeling like Diablo and the world feels less dangerous when you see other players too often or in too high numbers."
Itemisation is definitely improving from the screenshots they gave and the direction they state they are taking. There's good presence from the community managers on reddit also and they discussed that itemisation is very much still a work in progress, and the article states they'll have a juicier big update on itemisation later in the year.
Introduction
Team Playtest
A Word About Blockout
Storytelling
Open World
Multiplayer
Items and Progression
Other Thoughts
There's some nice insights into how they are creating the world in this game update. The blockout information was interesting, as was their approach on storytelling and how they are using real-time cutscenes to keep the players emerged. They cover a lot of information that they are using for the game, and how they use play-test data from the beta to improve aspects. The multiplayer stuff was interesting, and I'm glad they stated that:
"We find that the game stops feeling like Diablo and the world feels less dangerous when you see other players too often or in too high numbers."
Itemisation is definitely improving from the screenshots they gave and the direction they state they are taking. There's good presence from the community managers on reddit also and they discussed that itemisation is very much still a work in progress, and the article states they'll have a juicier big update on itemisation later in the year.
The same could be said of any company really once that scale tips from "making games as it's our passion and vision" toward "making the most amount of money". I'm not defending Blizzard at all, and I wish publishers would stop just maximising every ounce of profit at the expense of passion as their products lose whatever soul was being put into them. It's why I lost confidence in Blizzard a long time ago to make a good Diablo game, and why I'm starting to lose confidence in Grinding Gear with Path of Exile, and also why I'm now looking at companies like Eleventh Hour with Last Epoch to delivery quality ARPG's where greed doesn't seem hasn't completely corrupted them to a point where their product suffers as a result.