Diablo – the action role-playing hack and slash video game that set the benchmark for many RPG games that followed! It pushed face-paced and real-time action up front. Gamers battle through sixteen dungeon levels to face Diablo, Lord of Terror. Diablo 3 is the latest addition to the franchise.
Diablo 2 – the sequel is born
The dark fantasy mortal realm of Khanduras and town of Tristram re-emerged in 2000 with Diablo 2. The new game’s enhanced functionality brought offerings of more Classes, environments, loot, abilities, and combat.
Diablo 3 – emergence of a new concept
Diablo 3 arrived in 2012, bringing significant functionality and controversial design differences that remain to this day. Blizzard introduced game-changing patches and an expansion pack. This has created a much-improved game.
Story and cinematography
Both versions include a cinematic lead-in before each act. Diablo 2 focused on the actions of the Wanderer, and building anticipation. This enabled the player to own their story through the gameplay more than through the cinematic element. Diablo 3’s cinematography focused on Leah’s tale. Following a good deal of character development, disappointment occurred for some when she emerged as an antagonist in Act 4.
Soundtrack
Both games feature solid soundtracks. However, many veteran gamers prefer Matt Uelmen’s haunting and high-verb score of soft choir, low piano key play and guitar riffs for Diablo 1 and 2.
Tone
Diablo 2’s tone was dark – a sombre world of innumerable evils and putrid foe, all unified in creating a lingering sense of horror. A game possessing textured and unique atmospherics with a storyline that keeps out of your way. Conversely, Diablo 3’s tone is lighter and more abstract. Graphical cues are similar to the World of Warcraft, with rounder shapes, softer edges and more intense colors. Some argue this has created a less distinctive art style more reminiscent of familiar MMOs.
Loot, algorithm and legendary items
A focal point of the earlier games, loot could be found in chests, be bought at stores of varying kinds, or be collected from a fallen foe. There were thousands of possible combinations of magical effects.
The rarity and power algorithm of Diablo 2 was sufficiently well balanced to make rare and legendary items uncommon enough to enhance value, but not so available as to become dull or lose importance. You could also penny-pinch, sell items at stores and save your gold to buy more desired items at shops or “gamble” on an item of unknown value at specific vendors.
The Auction House and shops
Conversely, Diablo 3 started out loot-starved upon its original release. Hours of play did not organically provide a single legendary item, with purchase in the broken economy of the Auction House the only viable option. Blizzard later ditched the Auction House, making item drops notably more generous. This made it commonplace in later levels to have several legendary items fall from a single slain foe, devaluing them.
Shops became somewhat redundant in Diablo 3. Almost everything sells for a similar low price, with mostly lower-end item availability. This makes crafting your only viable non-combat option for better loot.
Mechanics
Many minor mechanics of Diablo 2 were removed in 3 – like keys to unlock certain chests, and needing lots of town portal and identify scrolls, and of having some kind of risk/reward or trade for identifying items. Diablo 3 did away with all this, making the idea of identifying rather pointless.
Potions, and stamina
Diablo 2 had a plethora of potions, including some for stamina and thawing that were rather useless. Diablo 3 removed potions, save for the cool-down-based potion. It also incentivised passive skill build and item-based restoration and introduced health orbs from slain foe.
The stamina bar
The most puzzling mechanic introduced in Diablo 2 was the stamina bar. It became a limiter to progression. Standing, walking, and drinking stamina potions refilled it but running drained it. Blizzard removed the bar in Diablo 3.
Every level gained in Diablo 2 provided attribute points to permanently enhance the core statistics of your character. This was also so with the skill tree, where you needed to spend points to gain skills and unlock new ones at specific milestones. Diablo 3 did away with the choice of progression almost entirely and made skills switchable on-the-fly once unlocked by level only. However, this makes every character at each level somewhat identical, save for load-out and equipment.
Skill variants
Diablo 3 introduced a broader selection of skill variants. It also simplified stats into core attributes, while Diablo 2 gets into the nitty-gritty of what each item does.
Weapons
In Diablo 2, weapons were generally your default attack, and you would use them as expected. Your weapon was your mana-free backup attack for all classes, and a primary need for melee builds. In Diablo 3 you have a growing set of mana-free abilities that convert items into other things. A spear transforms into a lightning strike and a mace into a fireball. This singlehandedly makes your weapon the essential element of your entire character.
Determining actual damage in Diablo 3 is left somewhat to chance. The player is left trusting the game’s “up or down” arrow to know if their character will be improved, rather than examining an item’s particular effects.
Diablo Vs Diablo 2
Jewels, runes, and charms
Diablo 2’s slotted item fillers such as jewels, as well as runes and other items, were more and varied. These were simplified in Diablo 3 for a five-color gem system. In Diablo 2 you would tailor your equipment load-out around your permanently developed character. In Diablo 3 you tailor your character ability load-out around your all-powerful weaponry and equipment.
Technology and engine
Diablo 3 has benefitted from more advanced design tools, engines, and a wealth of experience and know-how. It has higher frame rates, resolutions and true polygonal graphics. The result is a more visually pleasing and responsive game. Work on the UI and key mapping has allowed for more abilities through a single button press. This compares to the frantic F-key or mouse wheel manipulation found with Diablo 2, which also has low-res 2d sprites and fixed resolutions operating at a choppy 25 frames per second.
Diablo 2 and 3 Summary
Diablo 3’s necessary account setup and shared storage have streamlined the game. It is always online (even when playing solo), admittedly has no mod-ability, but is better at preventing cheating. The UI, click hotspots and hotkeys are improved, and the game is slicker and new-player friendly. It is much more focused on end-game activities. Diablo 2 was more modifiable and tweakable and could be played offline but had an older, open engine that made cheating easier. However, old-school Diablo 2 adepts tend to prefer the game’s more honest and grimmer, authentic past.
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Which game do you prefer and why? Let us know in the comments below!
Posted by7 years ago
Archived
Below is a comprehensive list of what exactly makes D3 so bad:
Extremely dumbed down from D2, with insulting amounts of hand-holding present everywhere. This ranges from autostats, all skills enabled, no skill levels, freespecing, restricted skill choices without elective mode enabled, simple skill tooltips, removal of almost all combat mechanic affixes, no weapon swap, 4 socketables vs the hundreds of D2, generic/boring legendaries, etc.
Lack of social support - poorly implemented chat channels, automatched game joining only, ghost town effect (similar to SC2's major problem with Bnet 2.0), 4 player limit = even less socializing.
Cheesy B-movie story-telling, cliche one-dimensional characters, corny voice-acting, non-sensical/comical actions by villains, predictable twists and plotline.
Lack of diverse character types within and among classes - no more physical/caster/hybrid - all character types now rely on weapon damage like physical characters in D2. This destroys a huge amount of itemization/gearing choices, as there's no longer a deviation between decentralized gear (caster) vs centralized gear (physical) vs a build that needs to balance the two (hybrid). In D3, there are no more physical barbs (frenzy/ww), caster barbs (singer), or hybrid barbs (BvC), there are only barbs that all base their gear on weapon damage (physical).
DRM online only - no offline single player, no lan support. Laggy servers, and all the same issues of botting, duping, spamming, and trade exploits present in a game that's over a decade old.
Crappy UI that's designed by a console developer - convoluted to navigate, clunky, and inefficient at utilizing screen space.
Approx FOUR times less legendaries (uniques/runewords) in the game than D2:
9 chest pieces vs 37 uniques + 14 runewords
18 swords vs 35 uniques + 26 runewords
6 shields vs 22 uniques + 8 runewords
7 helms vs 23 uniques + 5 runewords
7 bows vs 19 uniques + 16 runewords It's actually more like 20x less if you consider that all but 1-2 legendaries per category are completely worthless - low/mid-level legendaries are unusable due to a general lack of utility mechanics present in the game, and no way to upgrade the base item to the next type (which would increase base damage or defense).
4 gems vs 7 gems + 8 unique jewels + 33 runes + a NEAR LIMITLESS variety of magic/rare jewels.
Legendaries are generic, boring, and don't have the flavor that D2 uniques/runewords did. Legendaries hardly seem to have themes or any effort done to them anymore, and most are just cookie-cutter molds that have been pasted onto every Legendary item type. Randomization of 1-3 entire affixes also makes the item much less iconic or powerful than before.
Lack of combat mechanic affixes compared to D2: % CTC Skill on Striking % CTC Skill on Struck % CTC Skill on Attack % CTC Skill on Death % CTC Skill on Level Up % CTC Skill on Striking % CTC Skill when you kill an enemy Aura on Equipped +Skill (off-class) +Skill (class) Charged Skill Fires Explosive Arrows or Bolts Fires Magic Arrows or Bolts Knockback Slain Monsters Rest in Peace % Crushing Blow % Open Wounds % Hit Causes Monsters to Flee Freezes Target Cold Damage (Slows Target) % Slows Target Cannot Be Frozen Drain Life Hit Blinds Target % Reanimate as (Monster Type) Displays Full Set Aura Natalya's Permanent Fade State Trang Oul's Permanent Vampire State
vs D3: % Fear % Stun % Slow % Immobilize % Chill % Freeze % Knockback % Blind
And stun, slow, immobilize, chill, and freeze all pretty much do the same thing..
The removal of attack rating (accuracy), faster hit recover, and faster block rate equates to a severe loss of having to balance such stats on gear, and represents yet another dumbing down of the decisions you make in the game.
Much weaker bonuses on items in general aside from pure stats - less attack speed, less damage reduction, less run/walk speed = items feeling much less powerful than before and gear choices becoming much less meaningful or strategic. Set items also have extremely weak, almost laughable bonuses.
Inferno mode is broken. It's not more difficult, it's just cheap. 1/2-shots everywhere, melee is severely handicapped. A number of retarded monster affixes that should never have been put in. Most builds except for a select few aren't even viable. There's no semblance of strategy, just having the best gear possible and dumb luck in not hitting the wrong champions. Since when did Diablo change from a game where you mow down monsters and feel like a god, to one where you repeatedly get cheap-shotted over and over again in a boring grind?
Quests feel a lot more forced and non-optional than in D2.
RMAH diminishes the sense of achievement of finding items. Spending hours finding a great item just doesn't feel as rewarding when you know you can find something similar at the RMAH for a couple of cents. Although buying items with money was prevalent in D2, at least it was hidden away and not endorsed for all players to see and use.
Farming has shifted from item finding to gold finding - mainly due to the rarity of legendaries, the low cost of legendaries, as well as gold being a readily attainable universal currency. However, gold finding is considerably less fun than item finding. To give a comparison: D2 was like playing the slot machine, each pull of the lever and you had a chance at something amazing. D3 is like going to work everyday, earning a paycheck, then buying what you want with the money.
Outdoors feel a lot more linear, which is amplified by their completely static nature - there's less vast open areas with less monsters at a time compared to D2 = less opportunities to kill hoards of enemies at once. The cow level - which was one of the most iconic vast open areas with hundreds of monsters, has been reduced to ponyville - a cramped twisty area with few monsters.
No ethereal or superior items, no ability to create items with such properties or transmute it onto items you own, no gambling, no charms, no way to reroll item affixes. Mystic used to be able to do this, then got scrapped. All this just represents more dumbing down of features.
A late game character doesn't feel sufficiently stronger than an early game character. In D2, you felt weak in the early stages of the game, and like a complete badass in the later stages. Yet in D3, every spell is over-the-top and makes you feel powerful even 5 minutes into the game. Increased attack/cast speed are at much lower values than from D2 and inferno difficulty actually makes you feel a lot weaker than you did in the mid game.
Lack of character uniqueness/identity/ownership - all builds are freely changeable, many builds in the late game are similar or identical - no character permanence + lack of customizability = lack of character attachment.
Lack of in-depth customization - skills only have 1 level each so it's impossible to specialize in certain skills to the extent you could before. You can't specialize in builds that aren't predetermined for you through the passive trait system. Because there are no points to allocate, there's no more tinkering with unique builds, thinking about your build, or calculating your allocation of skill points/synergies. Although stats played a lesser extent (due to most people putting enough str to wear gear, and rest into vit), removing stats still removed some unique build options such as pure dex amazons, pure energy sorcs, pure str barbs, half/half varieties of the aforementioned, and max block vs 50% block vs passive block depending on dex allocations.
Lack of good PvP support - not even in the game yet, but when it does eventually arrive, it will suck. There's no 1v1s, no 2v2s, no in-game pk/pvp, no true team on team matches - only continuous-respawning deathmatch style matches on a timer. Furthermore, players are automatched by skill, so even players that are doing well will never truly feel like they are as there's nothing to show for it without a rating system. RMAH also pretty much equates to buying power.
No immersion or horror atmosphere - minimap with blinking dots and arrows, text messages and numbers popping up on screen for each attack or effect, annoying and repetitive character dialog every step of the way. Horror atmosphere is almost non-existent. Sure there's 'gore', but the abundance of a bright colors, the cartoony almost surreal nature of the game, and the well-lit dungeons make it impossible for the game to scare you.
Low replayability - no point in making more than 1 character for each class. All unique builds can be tried out in the timespan of a few minutes, instead of a few weeks. Unique builds aren't practical in Inferno. Not enough depth in customization. Not enough depth in itemization. Bad pvp = low incentive to find loot. Bland loot = low incentive to find loot. Gold farming = low incentive to find loot. Low social support = less fun while playing. After beating inferno, is there even a point in continuing to play a game that's no longer fun?
Face it, this game is dying. People are leaving in droves after running through the game and reaching max level. This game is just too dumbed down and too badly designed to have enough replayability to support it for the years to come in the same way D2 did. This isn't an action 'RPG', this is an action beat-em-up - this is Gauntlet Legends online. And don't you dare think that any of these issues are because 'an ARPG can't do well in modern times'. It can. And it's a darn shame that it very well could have, had Blizzard not hired that clown of a director Jay Wilson who ran the series into the ground. I'm done with D3, and my respect for Blizzard has suffered a large blow. Somewhere along the way, Blizzard simply lost respect for their customers, and it's just not right.
254 comments
Posted by3 years ago
Archived
Hey guys, so I took the time to create a full summary of all informations we have for the future of Diablo 3. (Took me around 15 hours, but it was a lot of fun) The whole post is subdivided in 4 sections:
Facts
Hints for a Diablo 3 Expansion 2
Hints against a Diablo 3 Expansion 2
Rumours
FACTS:
Blizzard's Leaked Product Schedule: 2010 there was a screenshot about Blizzard's plan for the future, which contains a D3X2 on the list. (https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/blizzard-product-slate-leaked.jpg). Blizzard never explicitly confirmed that this was an official document, but they didn't deny it either and the dates and products listed all checked out over time, though there were delays (of course). Why is this Product Schedule not a fake document?
Rob Pardo (Ex-Employee of Blizzard Entertainment (Diablo 3 team)) commented on the hopes to release Diablo 3 in 2011 in a February 2011 interview: “We really, really hope so.”..”.. And, we’re crossing our fingers, maybe it will be this year.” (Source: http://www.diablowiki.net/Diablo_III_release_date) Since we know that Diablo 3 did not hit 2011, it got delayed by a few months. But the list clearly said, that it was planned for 2011. (The official release was 15th may 2012).
According to Josh Mosqueira at GDC 2015, Reaper of Souls was also supposed to launch at November 2013 which would kinda confirm that this document is not just a fake. Why ? If you look on the document, you can see 1,5 years between release of D3 and RoS. Josh Mosqueira confirmed that Reaper of Souls was supposed to release at November 2013. (D3 release (May 2012) -> RoS release (November 2013) = 1,5 years). (Source: 2:45 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWYEWRrFgUY) Obviously Blizzard tried to focus on the plan to release D3X1 after 1,5 years of D3 release.
There is also a quote from an interview with Jay Wilson (2008): '.. We’re looking out ahead of time at what our expansions are going to be..” (Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/2457456/diablo-iii-necromancer/) Jay Wilson clearly said 'expansionS' in plural. It is not confirmed that we will see a second expansion. But obviously, there were 2 expansions planned before Diablo 3 was released. But we all know that Blizzard can change their plans. So this is definitly not an evidence that we will see a second expansion, but it is a hint that we can’t ignore.
Blizzard's 'Diablo' series has its 20th anniversary this year (First Diablo game release: December 31, 1996)
Blizzard's Diablo games have always been announced in Europe (D2 in London (ECTS), D3 in France (WWI), D3 RoS in Germany (Gamescom). Is the new Diablo project going to be announced in Europe again instead at Blizzcon 2016 ?
Blizzard is still looking into PvP mode for the future:
2014: Alex Mayberry (ex Lead Producer Diablo 3) said in an interview in 2014: 'It’s something we still talk about, I mean I don’t think a week goes by without us discussing it. But with Reaper, we wanted to build on what we’d achieved with Diablo 3 and taking the game to that next level. 'PvP, if we do it, we’d have to go all in. That’s why it’s not in Reaper. But we’ll continue to look at it and, if we find a good solution, we’ll start down that road. Right now it’s sitting there on hold.' (Source: http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/03/24/diablo-3-developer-gives-update-on-pvp)
2014: Josh Mosqueira (current Game Director Diablo 3) said in an interview in 2014: “So one of the questions that we really want to start really thinking about in PvP is how can we get that Diablo experience: not just from a high level but especially from a low level,” To the question,'Can Blizzard ever make PvP in Diablo, or is this mental challenge one that might never be solved to their satisfaction?' he answered: “That’s a really tricky question to answer. It’s got to be Blizzard quality.” (Source: http://www.pcgamesn.com/diablo/diablo-3s-game-director-problem-pvp-its-got-be-blizzard-quality)
2015: Josh Mosqueira said that they are still looking into PvP and they didnt figure out yet how to make a fun PvP experience. - GDC 2015 (Source: 58:10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWYEWRrFgUY)
2015: There may be no trading in the future - Josh Mosqueira at GDC 2015 (Source: 58:47 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWYEWRrFgUY)
2016: John Yang & Don Vu left the Diablo team and work at the WoW Legion team. Leonard Boyarski (World Lead Designer) left Blizzard Entertainment
2016: A Blizzard Employee said on a live stream, that he is wondering why the community reacts to the changes in the diablo team that critical, because Blizzard does such team changes all the time (-> John Yang & Don Vu moved to WoW team). (No source, since there is no VoD of the stream. I was there, that’s why I didn’t put it in the rumour section and call it as a fact)
2015-2016: Blizzard is hiring for a new unannounced project in the diablo universe
HINTS FOR A DIABLO 3 EXPANSION 2:
Less than 1 month after Reaper of Souls release Blizzard were asking Diablo 3 players how interested they would be in playing a second expansion to the game. Another Diablo 3 expansion certainly sounds logical given the success of the first expansion, Reaper of Souls, which shifted 2.7 million units in its first week on sale. (Source: http://www.gamespot.com/articles/blizzard-gauging-players-interest-in-another-diablo-3-expansion/1100-6419243/)
Diablo 3 community asked for the Necromancer & Druid class since release of D3. Blizzard maybe answered that request by introducing the Necromancer hero in Heroes of the Storm. This could be a hint for a new class in Diablo 3 in the future. Here is also an interesting quote from an interview with Jay Wilson (2008): 'We are trying to design [the Witch Doctor] class so that if we did bring back the Necromancer, there’s room for him. We’re looking out ahead of time at what our expansions are going to be, so we’ve got to keep room open for some of those other classes down the road.” (Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/2457456/diablo-iii-necromancer/)
There was a question in the Q/A panel at Blizzcon 2013, if there will be a second expansion for Diablo 3. Josh Mosqueira (Game Director Diablo 3) answered: 'Maybe' - Blizzcon 2013 (Source: 9:23 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAly99GvJIY)
There are no Blizzard game series titles above 3 yet. (Warcraft 3, Diablo 3, Starcraft 2..). A second expansion for Diablo 3 would make more sense.
Open story at the end of Reaper of Souls after killing Malthael
No real ending cinematic at the end of the Reaper of Souls story like it was in Diablo 1, Diablo 2, Diablo 2 LoD & Diablo 3
Still a lot of improvement space for Diablo 3: Paragon system still needs to be fixed. Game is no longer about finding epic loot. Instead, its about killing monsters & leveling paragons. The Diablo 3 team fixed all class sets to be worth to play somehow, there are a ton of different playstyles for all classes (not talking about efficiency here). We have the Kanai Cube that can be upgraded in the future with unlimited more options (In my opinion, the perfect preperation for the runewords feature from Diablo 2 for example).
It would be a perfect low effort cash grab for Blizzard
Blizzard invested so much time & passion in the past 2 years to improve Diablo 3, that it wouldn’t make sense to just drop the Diablo 3 project without planning for future content. Why would they invest the time for Diablo 3 when they are going to create a new game ? That would be kinda senseless.
The last Patch 2.4.1 was the last patch after a few patches without any new content. Are they waiting for new content for the next expansion ? Josh Mosqueira clearly says at the beginning of the Diablo 3 panel at Blizzcon 2015, that they are not done yet. 'We are not done yet. We have so much more to give you guys for Reaper of Souls..' - Josh Mosqueira at Blizzcon 2015 (Source: 5:01 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAlityci0UA)
'Few things to note:
As of 2.4.1, there are images for new Torment difficulties https://imgur.com/PQfBsow
Devil's Hand, which is a name that has been tossed around since the early days of RoS, received new graphics https://imgur.com/wcVdeDs Devil’s Hand was a game mode besides Story & Adventure mode. Wyatt Chang revealed what Devils Hand was supposed to be at the Reaper of Souls Launch party in March 2014 (Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9Rpsi8sNsI)
3. There are numerous (translated) Bnet Microstransaction Store icons in the English client now: https://imgur.com/M8mTJhN - https://imgur.com/jyDKu4v (These are just a few, there are 13 total) 4. There is also a new 'Act' icon graphic (The shield looking icon) - https://imgur.com/4DZcmuo We dont know if its a new act or a new game mode for a future patch or expansion. (Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/Diablo/comments/4jcy7w/is_anyone_hoping_that_they_announce_a_new/d35xj46)
'Making Diablo 4 is a huge gamble. Diablo 3 spawned a lot of isometric ARPGs like Torchlight and PoE that D4 will have to contend with. Also there is the chance that it will be too different from D3 and it will naturally have a lot less hype than D3 since people will see it as 'another Diablo game' rather than a revival of the greatest game of all time' (m00fire on reddit)
There are still unused icons since the datamined infos of RoS Beta in 2013, for example: Items: Charms, Normal & Legendary: http://i.imgur.com/75NK9Mw.jpg Character portraits: - http://i.imgur.com/klLdqcS.png More here: http://www.diablofans.com/forums/diablo-iii-general-forums/diablo-iii-general-discussion/77326-spoilers-ahead-reaper-of-souls-beta-datamining
It would be crazy to not make another expansion from the marketing sight.
As of June 30, 2014, Diablo III and Reaper of Souls had combined sales worldwide of more than 20 million copies.
As of June 30, 2015, the game's had sold 30 million units. 10 million sold units in one year alone! (Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2015/08/05/believe-it-or-not-diablo-3-is-now-the-10th-best-selling-video-game-of-all-time/#4146e7932267)
Brian Kindregan (Lead Writer Diablo 3 Reaper of Souls) tweeted at 1st January 2016: “Happy new year, y'all. May 2016 be everything you desire.” A fan asked: “even a diablo xpack? :D” Of course Brian Kindregan can’t answer this question, but he clicked the “like” button on this tweet. (Source: https://twitter.com/Kengax/status/682970918902185984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) This is obviously not a confirmation for a D3X2, but its definitly a hint.
Skovos was originally intended to appear in Diablo III, but was cut as it didn't seem to fit in. (Source: http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Skovos_Isles) http://www.buffed.de/screenshots/original/2015/08/d3_skovos_konzept_01-buffed.jpg http://www.buffed.de/screenshots/original/2015/08/d3_skovos_konzept_02-buffed.jpg http://www.buffed.de/screenshots/original/2015/08/d3_skovos_konzept_03-buffed.jpg http://www.buffed.de/screenshots/original/2015/08/d3_skovos_konzept_04-buffed.jpg http://www.buffed.de/screenshots/original/2015/08/d3_skovos_konzept_05-buffed.jpg http://www.buffed.de/screenshots/original/2015/08/d3_skovos_konzept_06-buffed.jpg http://www.buffed.de/screenshots/original/2015/08/d3_skovos_konzept_07-buffed.jpg Here is also a Druid concept from an early Diablo 3 development stage: http://www.buffed.de/screenshots/original/2015/08/d3_druiden_konzept-buffed.jpg Couldnt the Skovos Isles content still be an option for a future expansion ?
Some may say, with the new areas “Greyhollow Islands” (Patch 2.4), “Eternal Woods” (Patch 2.4), “Royal Quarters” (Patch 2.4), “Ruins of Sescheron” (Patch 2.3), “The Cesspools” (Patch 2.1), Blizzard gave us content from a cancelled second expansion. Quote from diablo.blizzpro.com: “So that raises the question, did Blizzard cancel a second expansion only to release it’s features through content patches? If you want my honest opinion, I say no and there’s a couple of reasons why I say that. One of the reasons being it doesn’t make sense from a story standpoint, why would the next expansion consist of new zones and areas that exist in places that are already in the game? Why would we be going back to Leoric’s Manor, Act III, and Act V? (Source: http://diablo.blizzpro.com/2016/01/22/hells-heart-future-diablo/)
Quote from diablo.blizzpro.com: “It’s absence from Blizzcon 2015 could be for multiple reasons but Blizzard had a lot of game announcements to cover with Overwatch bursting into the scene, new Hearthstone content, Legacy of the Void announcements, and WoW’s new expansion. 2015 was just simply not the year for Diablo to be in the spotlight, but I have a feeling that 2016 will be a strong year for it…” (Source: http://diablo.blizzpro.com/2016/01/22/hells-heart-future-diablo/)
HINTS AGAINST A DIABLO 3 EXPANSION 2:
“Diablo 2 didn’t have two expansions, why should Diablo 3 have two expansions ?”
“The free content that was released for D3 is from a scrapped expansion (like the new areas and kanai's cube).”
“Diablo 3 had a horrid release, and they want to get away from that and start anew. They might not be able to improve Diablo 3 much more on it's current engine.”
3 people left the Diablo 3 team, which is a hint that they give up the Diablo 3 project (Diablo 3 turns into maintenance mode)
Leonard Boyarski - World Lead Designer (left Blizzard)
John Yang - Game Designer (moved to WoW Legion team)
Don Vu - System Designer (moved to WoW Legion team)
“The Diablo job listings stating that Blizzard is looking for help making their next hit game. Additionally it was for developing a lighting system (one that's not used in Diablo 3)”
In the description of the job posting for the free positions in the diablo team, it clearly says: Unannounced Project for Blizzard's next hit game! 'Blizzard's next hit game' this could be a hint that its not an expansion, but a completly new game in the diablo universe.
“When looking at the job openings for the “unannounced project”, there are some requirements that don't sound needed for D3 but more for a next gen game:
First Character Artist: If you look closely to requirements it says: “Demonstrated proficiency with current surfacing techniques and PBR workflows” PBR stands for Physically Based Rendering, it's a modern technique used for realistic looking engines which use ray tracing (a modern approach to simulating real light). This kind of workflows are not normaly used for cartoony art (aka Diablo 3) since they try to be as realistic as possible.
RUMOURS:
At Blizzcon 2015 a Blizzard Employee said, that at next Blizzcon (2016) “Diablo fans are going to lose their shit' (He was promptly fired after that.) There is no evidence that he said that. What we know is, that he tweeted the following information 1 day after Blizzcon 2015: ”I won't get into the details, but I am now unemployed.” (Source: https://twitter.com/3Stonekegs/status/664644435586580480)
Quote from a player on the Official Diablo 3 Forums: “I remember reading an article about last Blizzcon from one of the players/blogers/streamers (I can't remember which one was it), and he mentioned that every time he talked to D3 devs and asked the about how little time they got and how little attention Blizz is giving to D3 they all answered 'just be a little more patient' with a sinister smile, so it seems like something big might be in the works.” (Source: http://eu.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/17288989229?page=2#28)
PvP soon? Right before Blizzcon 2015, a Modding Expert found the following data files that confirms a 2nd Expansion: 'I found X2_ZPVP_CATH_01.wrl under DataBaseWorlds” The “X”-prefix has always been the indicator for an eXpansion. You can also see the “PVP”-prefix, which may be a hint for PvP in the next expansion! “.. nobody knows really whats going inside Blizzard HQ, we have however some strong indicators it will be released at later date.” (Source: A forum I’m not allowed to link. You can copy-paste the quote on google to find the original thread though.) Last time Blizzard answered a question regarding to PvP was March 2015, where Josh Mosqueira said, that they are still looking into PvP and they didnt figure out yet how to make a fun PvP experience. (Source: 58:10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWYEWRrFgUY) PvP was one of the most requested features since Diablo 3 release. There is obviously a possibility that we will see PvP in the future.
Edit: deleted from the 'Hints against a D3X2:
2. Graphics Engine Engineer. “Knowledge of DirectX 10+ or OpenGL APIs” Diablo 3 runs on DirectX 9.0c, you would need to hire someone with knowledge of that version to keep backwards compatibility with improvements. (Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/Diablo/comments/4hk7ra/the_unannounced_diablo_project_may_not_be_an/)
Diablo 2 Lod
because the job post isn't for the unannounced project part of d3