Darnoc said:
There was an article link posted last week in a thread here that mentioned that they had in fact started d3, but were unhappy with how it was developing, so they were going to start over; I wouldn't expect d3 to be announced within the next year at least..
Ok people, let's use some common sense.
1. There is absolutely no reason for Blizzard to put in ANY more work into D2 if there is no D3. They are clearly not making any more money off of D2 (no monthly usage fee), so they (being a company, which has to make money, and pay the salaries of anyone working on D2) would put absolutely no effort into a 1.11 patch unless they had another reason to do so. Now on the other hand, these forums were full of people grumbling about "Blizzard doesn't pay attention to D2 anymore, blah blah"--the most hardcore veteran and loyal fans were grumbling. Now people may or may not like the patch, but they can't argue with
a) it really didn't fix very many bugs (nothing that was making the game unplayable), so it's not very likely that it was put out to fix game bugs, and
b) it showed everyone Blizzard still cares. Since, like I said, there is absolutely zero financial incentive for them to do anything about D2 unless D3 is in the works, I would say this new patch by its existence confirms that D3 is progressing in its development cycle. I personally would not be suprised at all if they make some announcement about D3 at BlizzCon, now that the D2 community is freshly abuzz with the 1.11 patch.
2. The 1.11 patch has definitely generated more excitement in the gaming world about the Diablo franchise. Just as at this point any tabloid that prints anythint about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie will sell copies even if they have nothing to say, so is the incentive to blabber in pretend-knowledge about D3 at an all time high. Therefore, please maintain a huge rock of salt when considering the validity of anybody's claims about this.
3. With the exception of StarCraft Ghost, Blizzard has generally not been stupid enough (like other game makers) to announce projects years and years in advance and build up buzz that turns to resentment and dissatisfaction by the time the game actually comes out. They have been pretty darn good about keeping their mouths shut and then dropping the bomb big time (example: 1.11 patch for which there was at best about a one-week warning). Taken in context of point 1 above (no financial incentive to work on D2 unless D3 coming out) I think they would not say anything about D3 or SC2 or WOWX to anyone before the BlizzCon. They are 100% likely to make some huge announcement at BlizzCon, or maybe even multiple ones, and would definitely NOT take away their own thunder by leaking anything to anybody. Given point 1 above I think they will have something to say about D3--if they have WOWX, for example, it should be close to being available (e.g. probably for the Holiday season). However, it is not too early for them to show some cool teaser movie for D3 even if it's only coming out for Xmas 2006 (or later). Given that they released 1.11 patch right before BlizzCon I think likelihood of this is enormously high and would bet ***Real World Money*** on this.
EDIT:
4. Large games take years (~3-4) to develop, and as much as $20,000,000 or more. A company like Blizzard would have multiple teams developing at anyone time, and any game company (or Hollywood studio) in their position would both be investing time and effort into sequels as well as brand new development. There is almost no way in which a spectacularly successful game which has already had one spectacularly successful sequel would not get another. It's a matter of time, not a matter of yes or no. Starcraft may have been an experiment (even that obviously has a "seque" coming with Starcraft Ghost), but Diablo is already an established franchise.
Think about this stuff people, and stop taking any rumors, even if published in ever-so-reliable online tabloids, as fact.
EDIT: As a personal note you guys have some strange ideas about "confirmed" and "proof." I saw a post here about two weeks ago that made me want to cry about how "1.11 --> 1+1+1 = 3 --> therefore D3 is coming." If that's considered proof, that depressingly explains in my head how people challenge evolution because it's a "theory." The Earth orbiting the Sun is a theory too, and as a PhD student in the sciences it is quite depressing to me to realize the majority of the population has no remote concept of what constitutes proof, guesswork, confirmation, conjecture etc. Reading something in an online tabloid is not confirmation, and numerology is not proof. In reality that is.
