Actually, I agree. I forgot about Vampires: The Masqurade--Bloodlines (its full offical title, I think). I liked that game a whole lot, and it was one of the (relatively) few games I even finished. (Then again, I finished Titan Quest even though I despised it. Don't ask me why, I couldn't say.) As I recall, and it's been a few years, there was a moderate twitch factor in Vampires (not surprising when the engine was based on that of Half Life II, IIRC), though it did not completely dominate over character stats. That was my major gripe about Oblivion--although it had a lot of RPG-like stats, it was really a melee FPS and the ability to press keys quickly mattered far more than your character stats. So I guess there are a lot of elements that go to determining whether or not a game is a good RPG and my statement may have been a little too categorial (again, it is just my personal opinion). It helped that Vampires had a terrific plot (unlike Oblivion, where the main plot was utterly banal, generic, and uninteresting); I still remember the Vampires quest that required you to explore a haunted, abandoned hotel--it was utterly brilliant. In general, though, I still prefer RPG combat that is either turn based (like the original Fallouts) or can be easily paused to issue orders (like Baldur's Gate and KOTOR).

Well look at it this way; Blizzard's fanbase has been screaming for a Diablo 3 and a Starcraft 2 for a decade now. Given how things usually roll in the gaming industry, can you really fault a developer for giving people what they want?

I will play Diablo 3 with much enthusiasm...when it is finally released Q4 2013.

Judeing by the screens anything later than 2009 release would be strange. Most of the framework seems to be in place. Itll be fun, it won't be inovative, just DII with better graphics - that isn't an insult either considering D2 is one of the biggest PC games EVER.

Interesting Fun Fact: One of the lead artist on the D3 team was once a fellow Stardockian, doing most of the in-game GC1 cutscenes and modeling the original alien portraits. IIRC, the male Altarian was actually a self-portrait to learn how to model the human head (sans the fancy glowing face tatoos) 

And yes, we've known about the game for some time   Sorry guys.

considering the development startet 4 years ago that doesn't surprise me

Don't you mean dis-improvement? From decent macro level gameplay (except for casters, who were micro hell) to an even worse micro small group focus... bleh!

Anyway, I'm looking forward to finding out what happened to the world of Sanctuary after the destruction of the Worldstone, big time!

Blizzard isn't an inventive game desingner anymore. They just refine even they say that they follow Sid Meier's rule (1/3 of each: old, improved and new)
Still D3 looks good and gory (something wow lacks)
Trying to buy D2 here but for some reason i cant get Blizzard store account working. Contacted support but no idea when i get an answer.

Barbarian seems to be based on WC3 Tauren Chieftain and Wow's warrior.
Witch doctor? Duh, no idea were they got the ideas.
Any guesses what are the other classes? I think we get somekinda rogue and a wizard type plus one hybrid like WD

Or maybe the barbarian is just the same barbarian from D2

Witch doctors seem to be a replacement for the necromancer. Unfortunate since necros were my favorite class in D2.

Diablo 3 looks like it'll be fun to play. Especially multiplayer co-op with a group of friends.

Out of Blizzard's 3 main franchises, Diablo is probably the one that I've played the least of, since I played and beat the first one, but didn't get too far into D2. It's still a fun franchise and I enjoy the lore and background behind the world of Diablo. Yes, I read all of the lore-related material that came with the manuals and I still remember some of it too.:) It seems like this third installment will definitely be enjoyable. Bigger battles, bigger effects, and bigger bosses. It'll definitely be fun to play through.

Blizz said WD doesn't replace Necro but then their promises are rather vague... as is their support for stuff.

And concerning Barbarian, i forgot to mention i meant the skills. Didn't Blizzard say that the skills are redone?

Witch doctor seems more like the druid.

More like a mix of the druid and the necro.

I didn't see the witch doctor transforming into a bear though ;D

The only thing that disappoints me is that we have to wait 1-2 more years til it's release :>

Wouldn't it be beyond awesomeness if Diablo 3 could get on Impulse???

But i suppose thats not ever gonna happen (:(

Classic RPG's are really a niche market and I feel a similar way about flight simulations (combat ones). These games usually take more time to make while also having a smaller amount of people that enjoy them.

There is room for both action RPG's and classic ones and maybe one day a big company will take up the torch again. For now I think we have to keep our eyes open for small independent games of this nature.

Unfortunately gaming is similar to Hollywood in many respects now. Though this doesn't mean there aren't cool things going on out there.

It's the fanboys, I tell you. They spread their opinions saying that Blizzard games are the best. That why so many people are into Diablo.

Yeah, this must be it. I guess if people started spreading the word that Shack Fu was th e best people would start playing it.

Dude I enjoyed D2. So I cant wait. At least the Barbarian is still there WOOT! I did also enjoy the Necro too. Jesus this topic created a firestorm lol. Oh well... Diablo 3 and Gal Civ 3 to look forward too!

The sad part about this is they may well be released about the same time - but at least Stardock says up front GC3 is several years away. If we see D3 before June 2010, I'll be pretty surprized, despite the fact they officially announced the game and had a fairly involved demo video.

I read somewhere in a recent Q&A session that Blizzard tends to announce their projects 1-2 years before they're released. So I wouldn't expect a D3 release until either late '09 or early '10. I'm expecting SC2 to be an early '09 release, but I would be pleasantly surprised if it turned out to be late '08.

Regarding Blizzard "fanboys", Blizzard does not have "fanboys". This isn't a console war where people blindly follow while bashing. Blizzard has had near two decades to gather their customer base and develop the reputation that they have now. Considering the relatively few number of games from their three main franchises and the level of success that they've achieved, it shows that they are consistent in the quality of their games and also in the wide audience that those games appeal to. Blizzard games aren't a passing fad, and they didn't gain their reputation from building on just hype, but rather quality in all areas.

Also, when people pass on positive opinions about a product/service, that's called "word of mouth". The opinion on Blizzard's products wouldn't be what it is today if they didn't actually deliver an enjoyable gaming experience.

Wait your saying that because Blizzard is a compuuter company they dont have "fanboys"?
I personally think that D3 will be an amazing game but this is coming from a total blizzard fanboy. I have played every game Blizzard since the original warcraft oncluding wow for a while. Blizzard has created some of the most memorable charcters, worlds, and stories that have ever been told through gaming or any entertainment medium.   

Regarding fans of blizzard, IMO it's something they've earnt. Almost every blizzard game I've played I've really enjoyed, and thought was great at the time, hence why they are one of the few companies I hold in very high regard. Bioware is the other, with them having come out with numerous games which I've found are all amazing (baldurs gate 2, nwn, jade empire). I'm a bit sad with bioware atm because they've joined with EA (meaning I get treated as a potential pirate if I buy their games), and blizzard haven't really wowed me with WoW (it's just too repetitive for my liking - little story, and the quests all involving killing something or running from A to B, while having to wait for respawns, or having enemies you just killed respawn on you, or having to wait half a day to get enough players for a group run only for one to leave and force the run to be aborted, etc. etc.). That said I still look forward to any new games from them, and assuming decent reviews I am highly likely to then purchase that game once I have the hardware capable of playing it.

Well, by saying that Blizzard doesn't have any "fanboys", I meant the kind that blindly follows and defends a company without really looking at it critically. Console fanboys is what I had in mind. That's also the connotation that I got from his post up there when he claims that Blizzard's games are only held in high esteem because of the "fanboys". I took his comment to mean that Blizzard fans must be blind and have the lowest standards in order to consider Blizzard games to be good; no offense to those who are actually blind.

Like maudlin said, Blizzard does have fans and loyal customers, which is due to the quality of their games. I've also enjoyed Bioware's games too. Blizzard and Bioware are two developers that have consistently delivered a quality end product, in my opinion.

I also remembered that Blizzard also knows how to cater to their fans ala Level 70/80 Tauren Chieftain.

That is the exact description of a Blizzard fanboy. Just look at all the stupid conventions they hold, which the main purpose is to glorify themselves. People dress up like idiots, and pratically memorize obscure Blizzard stuff. That is the definition of a fanboy.



They will be soon. Blizzard games most certainly do build up on hype. Look at Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3. More hype than you can possibly imagine. I'm betting that these games will be disappointment, and that Blizzard will fade away.  

Another reason that Blizzard games are stupid is that they refuse to try anything new. They claim that is "disrupts" the "feel" of the game. Look at Galciv. Galciv 2 had major changes from Galciv 1, and it was just as good, and a whole lot better. Since Blizzard won't change anything, people are eventually going to say, "Okay I'm sick of these games being copies of each other with so-called 'better' graphics, so I'm gonna play something else."

Companies need to try something new, or the game will probably not be as popular. Look at the old Rollercoaster Tycoon games. RCT2 was a big disappointment because it was exactly like RCT1 will no major changes, which is the same scenario as Starcraft 1 and Starcraft 2. But then, major changes were made to RCT3, and it was a major hit. Bottom line, new ideas are good.


Etrius

Gamespot says it Diablo 3 releases 12/31/08.
Don't know how much credit that can stand on, but we will see.



If it isn't broken, don't fix it.