We got the official announcement earlier today, but it left many questions unanswered. Since then the CMs have been filling in some of the blanks via Twitter and the B.net forums.
[blue]Can I grab the digital starter edition at 00:01 on launch and play that until the mail man arrives with my CE ~10 hours later? –ukJSN
Sure, if you want to buy the game twice. –Bashiok
why not launch it at 12 est? I’m sure all est would be ok with the pdt getting to play “3 hours early” -_- 3 am is late –Adeklis
Problem is stores won’t sell them copies at 9pm. : –Bashiok
Oh blizzard, making all east coast midnight release sales irrelevant. Still can’t wait to play, late night it is! –JimmyTrowbridge
It’s going to be a fun 3 hours… :*( –Bashiok
not be rude, but isn’t that a bit obnoxious for EST? People can buy their game at 12 EST but can’t play till 4am? –Adrenovore
The reverse is EDT players could actually play and level for 3 hours ahead of PDT players. Which is quite a bit more unfair. –Bashiok
maybe it’s to early but is there any news when we’ll be able to decrypt the downloaded files (pre-order) and wait with ready instal –myzyptlik
The digital pre-order will unlock at your region’s midnight launch time. Unlock, install, download day one patch, play. –Bashiok
btw is there a way to preload diablo 3?i ordered the Collectors Edition through Gamestop, is there anyway of preloading the client? –Jenkinsx
Decrypting and installing the digital version vs installing from a disc takes around the same amount of time. –Bashiok[/blue]
What if you’re a player from one of the North America regions who wants to play on EU Either for the 10 hour headstart, or because they’ve got friends in Europe who you want to play with. You can’t buy a physical copy of the game 10 hours early in the US (though East Coast players could buy a copy, install, and connect to the EU servers 3 hours before the US servers go live?). KayDee quoted Bashiok’s tweet that US digital download sales couldn’t start early on the EU servers, but what if you buy a digital copy from the UK D3 store? Wouldn’t that work on the EU servers as soon as they go live?
Click through for details about the staggered launch times for A/NZ players, and why they won’t be getting any release date events.
From down under comes details about the staggered times for the servers to unlock for Oz and NZ players courtesy of CM Arcagnion.
[blue]We can confirm the timings for server unlock on the 15th May are:
New Zealand Standard Time: 7:00 PM
Australian Eastern Standard Time: 5:00 PM
Australian Central Standard Time: 4:30 PM
Australian Western Standard Time: 3:00 PM
You can also pick up the game from your favourite retailer on the 15th beginning at 9 AM local time.[source]http://diablo.incgamers.com/wp-admin/post-new.php[/source][/blue]
While the ANZers have to wait until the afternoon of the 15th, they’re still starting exactly when players in the US and other non-EU regions are, and they don’t even have to stay up all night to do it. On the down side, there aren’t any launch events are planned in the SEA region, due to the time difference.
[blue]An event when the game is not playable wouldn’t be so epic, so no ANZ middnight launch is planned. –Blizzard_ANZ[/blue]