Media Coverage: 2010

All the Media Coverage from 2010, archived to keep the page size reasonable. See the main media coverage page for up to date material.

Media Coverage Archive:
2008 - 2009 - 2010

Contents

December 2010

• Other: December 31, 2010 -- Visiting the blog of the biggest Diablo merchandise collector on earth. More odd stuff than you can imagine, on display.

• Commentary: December 27, 2010 -- Revisiting debates on two issues Blizzcon resolved; a "sexy" character in D3 and the mysterious burning tower that turned out to be Bastion's Keep.

Diablo, by Glowei.

• Picture: December 23, 2010 -- Christmas artwork featuring a demonic, Barbarian Santa Claus. The image was previously used for December in the 2010 Diablo III calendar.

• Picture: December 22, 2010 -- The "Encounters" page debuts on Blizzard's Diablo III site, plus numerous new screenshots. The page is just general info on combat, but the images are nice.

• Blue Post: December 21, 2010 -- Bashiok brings a year end surprise with news that all of the attributes in Diablo III have been completely reworked. No more strength, dexterity, etc. The attributes have all new names and combined, more complicated functions. Check the wiki articles for mfull details on the five new attributes: Attack, Precision, Vitality, Defense, and Willpower.

• Picture: December 15, 2010 -- New Artwork of Diablo courtesy of Glowei, with the full image from this year's Blizzcon program cover.

• Picture: December 12, 2010 -- High quality photos of the game interface pop up, taken at the Korean Gstar expo.

• Other: December 9, 2010 -- Blizzard continues to leak like a proverbial sieve, as a rough cut of the ending cinematic for the first SC2 expansion pops up online. The cheesiness of the movie's plot provokes a huge fan discussion of the declining (?) quality of Blizzard's game storytelling.

• Commentary: December 6, 2010 -- Fan vote reveals strong support for all new characters in the expansion. If a D2 char must return, the Paladin and Necromancer are neck and neck in popularity, with the Druid a strong third option.

• Blue Post: December 3, 2010 -- Bashiok comments on gore, decapitations, and Diablo III's planned M-mature rating.

• Blue Post: December 2, 2010 -- @Diablo comments on damage types and explains the difference between poison and disease damage.

• Other: December 2, 2010 -- Blizzard product release date schedule chart is leaked on a Chinese MMO site. Rumors swirl about heads rolling in their Chinese offices, and while Blizzard never officially confirms or denies the document, the subsequent confirmation of codename "Titan" for their next gen MMO provide strong supporting evidence for the legitimacy of the chart.
  • Full details in the Release Date article.

November 2010

• Picture: November 30, 2010 -- A jigsaw collection of screenshots maps out the very short Highlands Passage level from the Blizzcon 2010 demo build.

• Blue Post: November 30, 2010 -- @Diablo shares a lot of info about how the ladder ranking system might work.

• Picture: November 28, 2010 -- Nice collection of concept arts showing the evolution of the Demon Hunter class design.

• Blue Post: November 25, 2010 -- Bashiok shares some new info on the ever-changing Class-Specific Weapon issues of Diablo III.

• Video: November 22, 2010 -- Ninja gameplay footage from Korea. Good picture, terrible action.

• Other: November 16, 2010 -- Blizzard's long-rumored Diablo console project confirmed by job postings on Blizzard.com.

• Picture: November 14, 2010 -- New artwork showing the Witch Doctor's "tentacle armor", by Trent Kanuiga.

• Blue Post: November 12, 2010 -- Bashiok answers some questions about the Demon Hunter's pistol crossbows.

• Blue Post: November 12, 2010 -- Bashiok says Item Sets will probably wind up being an end game item.

• Interview: November 10, 2010 -- A WoW producer talks about WoW's PvP influence on Diablo III's Arenas, and kicks off a huge fan debate about what lacked in WoW's PvP and how D3 is not repeating its mistakes.

• Interview: November 7, 2010 -- Interview with Battle.net lead Greg Canessa on future plans for the service.

• Blue Post: November 3, 2010 -- Bashiok argues against "skill hording" as a game strategy, and for easy respecs. A day later he gave some more replies on this subject. Then later that day, he tried playing a Barbarian and Wizard without spending any skill points and reported back on his findings.

• Blue Post: November 2, 2010 -- Bashiok reveals that the male Barbarian will probably have his backstory changed, making him just another new adventurer instead of the D2 barbarian returned. Fans strongly dislike the idea, but came to understand it better after reflection.

October 2010

Diablo is the joker.

• Other: The Diablo 3 Poker Set is revealed. Full details here, with high quality scans of the new artwork on the cards added a week later.

• Blue Post: October 27, 2010 -- Bashiok discusses the offline single player mode of Diablo III and why they'll be doing all they can to discourage players from using it.

• Blue Post: October 27, 2010 -- Bashiok defends Blizzard's "endless iteration" game design approach.

• Blue Post: October 27, 2010 -- Bashiok on respecing traits and why the Lucky trait is cool.

Blizzcon 2010

BlizzCon 2010 took place October 22-23, 2010, at the Anaheim Convention Center. The D3 developers told us this would be the "biggest Blizzcon ever" in terms of Diablo II information, and it was indeed quite mighty with the Demon Hunter's debut, Arena Battles, the Talisman, traits, the new skill trees, and much more. Check the Blizzcon 2010 news category to see every single news item related to Blizzcon; this Media Coverage page archives the items with substantial content.

Panels

Though fans were upset at the math of 3 Diablo panels vs. 8 WoW and 7 SC2 at Blizzcon, the content and depth of the two Diablo III content panels was exceptional. The Open Q&A was less useful, but such events are always full of "noob" questions of little value to fans who have been following the game closely.

• Gameplay Panel Blizzcon 2010
• Crafting Sanctuary
• Open Q&A Panel

Blizzcon 2010 Diablo III Developer Interviews

• Jay Wilson video interview with Direct TV live from the show.
• Jay Wilson video interview with Diablo 3 ESP, fully transcribed by Diii.net.
• Jay Wilson video interview with G4TV.
• Jay Wilson interview from the Blizzcon program covers the Demon Hunter, skills/traits, and the battle arena.
• Jay Wilson interview with GamePlanet.
• Leonard Boyarsky video interview with Game Pron.
• Leonard Boyarsky video interview with Direct TV.
• Julian Love and Jason Bender video interview with Gamespot.
• Julian Love video interview with Atomix. Full transcript by Diii.net.
• Julian Love interview with Diii.net. Covers the Blizzcon demo, fan reactions, and more.
• Julian Love interview with SlashDot.
• Julian Love interview with GameOnMac.
• Jason Bender and Christian Lichtner interview with VG247.
• Jason Bender and Christian Lichtner interview with BlizzPlanet.
• Christian Lichtner and Jason Bender interview with The Escapist.
• Leonard Boyarsky and Dave Adams interview with AusGamers.
• Kevin Martens and Alex Mayberry interview with GameUK.

Blizzcon 2010 Hands-On Reports

PvM Demo Reports:

• Diii.net's mega Quests & Dungeons report.
• Diii.net's mega Barbarian report.
• Diii.net's mega Demon Hunter report.
• Diii.net's mega Monk report.
• Diii.net's mega Witch Doctor report.
• Diii.net's mega Wizard report.

• SlashDot offers a very detailed write up.
• VGChartz with a good first-timer report.
• Gameplanet NZ gives a thorough report.
• Telegraph UK with a short report.
• PC Gamer's hands-on report.
• Ten Ton Hammer briefly covers the Demon Hunter.
• ShackNews with a short report.
• VideoGamer with a brief report.
• Kotaku covers the Demon Hunter quickly.
• 1up.com with a short write-up.
• FileFront's Demon Hunter article is quick and to the point.
• Joystiq writes briefly about the PvM and PvP.
• GameInformer covers the Demon Hunter briefly.
• FearNet offers a first time report.

Battle Arena Reports:

• Diii.net's Arena report covers everything in ridiculous detail.
• Diii.net's quick PvP notes and Arena screenshots.
• ShackNews short PvP discussion.
• Gamespot short PvP discussion.
• Diablo Source short PvP discussion.
• Warcry.com short PvP discussion.
• Kotaku short PvP discussion.
• Warcry's PvP report.

Screenshots and Movies

• The Demon Hunter's debut cinematic.
• Blizzard's official 14 minute gameplay movie. Includes much PvM, Demon Hunter and multiplayer, plus Battle Arena footage.

• Fan-recorded 15 minutes of PvP action.
• Another 15 minutes of PvP, this one with much better play.

• Demon Hunter screenshots. Second batch. Third batch. Other non-DH screenshots.
• Battle Arena screenshots. Second batch from the Press kit.
• New assorted artwork. New monster artwork.

October, Pre-Blizzcon

• Other: October 22, 2010 -- The eve of Blizzcon 2010! The team at diablo.incgamers.com posts coverage and updates for the event, also collected nicely in the section above.

• Blue Post: October 19, 2010 -- Rounding out the final gear set preview before Blizzcon 2010 is the male Barbarian.

• Commentary: October 15, 2010 -- D2 gear sets vs. D3 gear sets spawns a huge debate about how the armor *should* look.

• Blue Post: October 14, 2010 -- Blizzard riles up more fans with a preview of the gear set for the male Wizard, fanning the flames of the previous controversy with the character design. Much criticism and fan remixes ensue. More remixes and even fan art. Finally, a fan vote reveals... a lot of ambivalence, tending towards disapproval.

• Blue Post: October 13, 2010 -- The female Witch Doctor is shown sporting an interesting mask in this gear set preview. A fan remix a few days later creates more debate.

• Commentary: October 13, 2010 -- Diablo III have Pentagrams]? Blizzard has been removing many elements of real world culture and religion from WoW and D3, including crosses and pentagrams. Is this a bad thing?

• Commentary: October 12, 2010 -- Artisan's upgrade pace debated, with dozens of useful reader comments.

• Blue Post: October 8, 2010 -- Bashiok confirms that Act IV will be a finale, like it was in Diablo II, and thus will be the shortest of the acts.

• Blue Post: October 7, 2010 -- Blizzard showcases a gear set for the female Barbarian. Discussion of her face's evolution to a prettier, softer form was debated. Most fans approved of the change, as a vote proves.

• Blue Post: October 7, 2010 -- Bashiok argues at length] against death penalties in Diablo III.

• Picture: October 6, 2010 -- The next of the gear set previews continues with the female Wizard.

• Blue Post: October 6, 2010 -- Bashiok explains why they're happy with the current state of Fury, arrived at after long experimentation.

• Interview: October 1, 2010 -- Diablo creator Dave Brevik interviewed on Diablo I.

September 2010

• Blue Post: September 30, 2010 -- Blizzard ramps up the excitement for Diablo III @ Blizzcon 2010 by posting sneak peaks of character gear sets (note: not the same as item sets) starting with the male Witch Doctor. A later post compares his facial evolution, from concept art to the final game look.

Class-specific weapon confusion.

• Blue Post: September 29, 2010 -- Another Bashiok post on class-specific weapons stirs up the usual confusion and controversy. With a follow-up 2 days later. And a fan vote showing general disapproval of class-specific weapons.

• Interview: September 25, 2010 -- Jay Wilson @ CVG.

• Blue Post: September 21, 2010 -- One of the biggest announcements of the year was made, when Bashiok revealed that Diablo III's maximum level was going to be 60. This change was explained and discussed in numerous posts, on the 21st, more on the 22nd, more end game stuff on the 22nd, achievements on the 23rd, why not more levels just for fun on the 26th, and another discussion on October 13th.
  • A site vote on Diii.net found nearly 50% of readers very supportive of the Clvl 60 change, with just 16% opposing it.

• Blue Post: September 18, 2010 -- Bashiok engages a long debate about respecs and replayability in D2 and D3.

• Blue Post: September 18, 2010 -- Bashiok drops a bombshell and reveals that passive skills are out of the Diablo III skill trees. (Not until Blizzcon were traits explained.)

• Other: September 10, 2010 -- Blizzard updates the Diablo III page with information about the new health system.

• Blue Post: September 9, 2010 -- All characters will have relaxed stances in town; the Monk's aggressive one in a recent video was just a WiP.

• Blue Post: September 8, 2010 -- Bashiok sprinkles some information about new rune effects and Flux relays an "unofficial" conversation with Bashiok regarding the recent skill rune changes.

• Commentary: September 7, 2010 -- Comparing video game graphics to works of art; the more realistic ones are not the most popular or ageless. Hence Blizzard's stylized artistic approach, as exemplified by Diablo III.

• Blue Post: September 4, 2010 -- Haunt grows ghostlier. Bashiok offers another graphical update about a skill we've never really seen.

• Blue Post: September 3, 2010 -- Bashiok on weapon options, dual-wielding vs. two-handed vs. one-handed weapon options.

August 2010

• Other: August 30, 2010 -- Blizzard updates the Diablo III website with a page detailing the new crafting system.

• Interview: August 28, 2010 -- GamesTM magazine interviews Blizzard lore/story/art guy Chris Metzen.

• Blue Post: August 26, 2010 -- Bashiok explains why there's not a "pick up everything" button in Diablo III.

• Blue Post: August 25, 2010 -- Bashiok shares many details about gems and upgrading. He returns with more updates the next day.

• Other: August 24, 2010 -- A Blizzard art show debuts at an art gallery in Taiwan.

• Blue Post: August 24, 2010 -- Bashiok crushes the hopes of fans that ask about retroactive machinima-style class trailers for the Barbarian and Witch Doctor, saying that (while being a nice idea) it would be a poor use of resources.

• Blue Post: August 21, 2010 -- Bashiok adds details to the new info about Armor Dyes, just revealed by Jay Wilson at Gamescom.

• Blue Post: August 21, 2010 -- Bashiok argues that low-res character models on the official site don't matter.

• Blue Post: August 21, 2010 -- Bashiok gives new details about D3's planned Facebook integration.

• Blue Post: August 20, 2010 -- Bashiok confirms no DPS charts will be displayed in Diablo III. Though weapons list their DPS, along with min-max damage.

• Blue Post: August 19, 2010 --Bashiok on improved chat controls and the red target outline.

Gamescom 2010

The Gamescom show in Cologne, Germany ran from August 18-21, and featured a ton of new Diablo III news. Earlier in the month Blizzard had promised to reveal a new Diablo III feature at the show, and they held a press conference as soon as the show began to present the Artisans, as well as the concept of crafting from recipes using materials obtained from the salvage cube. Gamescom 2010 also brought new interviews, screenshots, artwork, and more.

Jay Wilson Interviews

The Blacksmith.

• Jay Wilson speaks with 4players.de from Gamescom.
• Jay Wilson speaks with in.Diablo.de from Gamescom.
• Jay Wilson speaks with Diablo3.net.pl from Gamescom.
• Jay Wilson speaks with Gamona from Gamescom.
• Jay Wilson speaks with Gamespot.au from Gamescom.
• Jay Wilson speaks with Tweakers.net from Gamescom.
• Jay Wilson speaks with PCGames.de from Gamescom.
• Jay Wilson speaks with G4TV from Gamescom.
• Jay Wilson speaks with Eurogamer from Gamescom.

Artisan Infos

• The Artisan introduction video narrated by Jay Wilson. Also video of his live narration from the show.

• The official Artisan FAQ is released. A week later, a fairly low-info official Crafting page is added to the official site.

• Bashiok answers over a dozen questions about Artisans and their likely effect on the game economy.

• Bashiok with more answers about crafting and salvaging.

• General gaming site coverage of the Artisan presentation. Destructoid, Play.tm, Digital Spy, IncGamers, IGN, GamePlanetNZ, NeoSeeker, G4TV, The Escapist, Gamespot, Mtv, GameBlend, ExoPhase, Joystiq, Device Mag, and God is a Geek.

Hands-On Play Reports

• Judge Hype reports on some play time. (French translation.)
• Another hands-on report. (From an event in Austin, Texas, but it's the same weekend and the same game demo build.)
• Two more lengthy fan hands-on reports.
• A third hands-on report from the event.

Screenshots and Visuals

• The Artisan introduction video narrated by Jay Wilson. Also video of his live narration from the show.

• High quality fan-shot video of a Monk working through the demo.

• A second ninja-video, of much lower quality.

• Six Artisan screenshots feature the Blacksmith.
• Three new combat action screenshots.

• Photos of Blizzard's booth and the Diablo III demo machines from Gamescom.

August, Pre-Gamescom

• Blue Post: August 11, 2010 -- Bashiok provides information about Health Globes and monster nomenclature.

• Blue Post: August 10, 2010 -- Bashiok on adjusting the difficulty curve through hell and into the end game.

• Blue Post: August 6, 2010 -- Changes to resource systems for the Barbarian and Wizard are commented on by Bashiok. Balls of Fury get tossed out and we say goodbye to Instability.

• Blue Post: August 4, 2010 -- Bashiok shoots down a "4th difficulty" suggestion and says they've got bigger and better ideas to spice up the end game.

• Blue Post: August 4, 2010 -- Bashiok confirms a new skill for the Witch Doctor called Poison Dart.

July 2010

• Blue Post: July 30, 2010 -- A community poll finds that most fans would want their name used for an item in the game, though "No to using fan names in games." comes in a very strong second. (A handful of of prominent Diablo 2 fansite people had their online handles used for Mercenary Names in Diablo 2, setting precedent.)

Diablo as an SC2 Easter Egg.

• Blue Post: July 28, 2010 -- The best Starcraft 2 Easter Egg is found; a burning Diablo on one of the single player mission levels. A Deckard Cain Easter Egg is found the next day.

• Other: July 27, 2010 -- StarCraft 2's launch day blows up.

• Other: July 26, 2010 -- Ordering information for the streaming feed from BlizzCon 2010 is posted.

• Blue Post: July 26, 2010 -- Bashiok provides a teasing photo of the Diablo "monster wall." Much fan analysis ensues.

• Blue Post: July 24, 2010 -- Bashiok discusses character appearance change, and why skills can't change it entirely.

• Blue Post: July 24, 2010 -- Blizzard tweets about melee weapon types, and turns it into a fifth character tease.

• Blue Post: July 23, 2010 -- Blizzard announces that they will attend the GamesCom show in Cologne, Germany, August 22-23. It takes several more weeks of Bashiok teasing before it's confirmed that Diablo 3 will be one of the playable titles.

• Blue Post: July 23, 2010 -- The D3 Team debates "staffs" vs. "staves" for the plural of staff. Most fans clearly prefer "staves," judging by the comments.

• Blue Post: July 22, 2010 -- Blizzard tweets a tease about glowing dungeon entrances/exits. Bashiok elaborates in a forum follow-up a few days later.

• Blue Post: July 22, 2010 -- The Starcraft 2 Diablo-themed Easter Eggs continue, with a burning Terran Marine.

• Other: July 20, 2010 -- An interview with Diablo 2 soundtrack composer Matt Uelmen confirms a "recording of the Diablo 3 soundtrack" rumor from five years before.

• Blue Post: July 18, 2010 -- Diablo decals are found for StarCraft 2 over B.net, the first Diablo-related Easter Egg in SC2. (But not the last.)

• Blue Post: July 17, 2010 -- Blizzard teases that the Witch Doctor's armor will vary more than expected.

• Blue Post: July 16, 2010 -- Blizzard announces their new/updated plans for Real ID on Battle.net, with the wildly-unpopular mandatory "post with your real name" features removed.

• Interview: July 16, 2010 -- Matt Uelmen interview with GamaSutra covers his time working on the music of D1, D2, and WoW.

• Blue Post: July 14, 2010 -- A shared stash is still planned for Diablo 3, but has not been implemented into the game yet.

• Other: July 14, 2010 -- Fans vote the Witch Doctor their least anticipated Diablo 3 character.

• Blue Post: July 12, 2010 -- Blizzard debates demon anatomy and loin cloth-wearing.

• Blue Post: July 9, 2010 -- @Diablo teases that Wizard spell Disintegrate has very odd effects with Runestones.

• Other: July 8, 2010 -- The Diablo 2 Tenth Anniversary Community Mosaic Project kicks off. Official page here: Diablo 2010 Anniversary Mosaic.

• Blue Post: July 7, 2010 -- An @Diablo tweet about a "memorable" returning D2 monster sets off a deluge of speculation.

Penny Arcade weighs in on Real ID.

• Blue Post: July 7, 2010 -- The Real ID B.net forum debacle begins with the official announcement and much angry user feedback, over two very busy days.

1. Dozens and dozens of opinion pieces ensue, along with Blizzard explanations.
2. A community vote reveals overwhelming opposition.
3. Rumors of intense internal opposition surface.
4. Penny Arcade weighs in.
5. The EFF voices their opposition.
6. And Blizzard quickly buckles under the combined weight of the criticism and rescinds the real names on the forums requirement.

• Blue Post: July 6, 2010 -- The most epic Barbarian armor completed? A few days later, Bashiok explains that "epic armor" refers to the appearance being the coolest of all armor options, not necessarily the best statistically.

• Blue Post: July 4, 2010 -- Recent tweets on the 4 player max for co-op, and animal-themed armors. Follow-ups explain the 4 player max and explain that the animal themes are cosmetic.

• Blue Post: July 2, 2010 -- Bashiok confirms that Mercs are still in the game, and that skill runes still do cool things.

• Blue Post: July 1, 2010 -- Bashiok takes back all of his June comments about max skill caps, and teases a "99 vs. 100" max level debate.

June 2010

• Blue Post: June 30, 2010 -- Blizzard's CMs welcome Lylirra, a new CM covering WoW and D3, to the fold.

• Blue Post: June 30, 2010 -- G4TV posts a nice open letter to Diablo 2 on its tenth anniversary. Inspired by this, numerous fans add their own open letters in the forums.

• Blue Post: June 29, 2010 -- Blizzard adds a single page and one old photoshopped image to "celebrate" Diablo II's tenth anniversary.

• Blue Post: June 29, 2010 -- The Motley Fool interviews Blizzard COO Thomas Tippl.

• Commentary: June 28, 2010 -- The Real ID pushback really kicks into gear, with a scathing editorial by MMORPG guru Lum the Mad.

The Sand Golem.

• Blue Post: June 26, 2010 -- Bashiok gives a short, but positive, game development progress report.

• Other: June 24, 2010 -- Blizzard announces their 2010 Fan Fiction contest.

• Blue Post: June 20, 2010 -- Bashiok on characters sharing skills and the gameplay pros/cons.

• Blue Post: June 19, 2010 -- Bashiok announces that skill caps will increase by 5/10/15 with each difficulty level. And then takes it all back a couple of weeks later.

• Blue Post: June 18, 2010 -- Bashiok on Fury, skills, and potions.

• Commentary: June 17, 2010 -- Bashiok on new info... eventually. Plus commentary and discussion about Blizzard's PR strategy of limited info release, and why it's unlikely to change anytime soon.

• Blue Post: June 17, 2010 -- Real ID on B.net draws closer to going live, and the controversy begins to brew.

• Picture: June 15, 2010 -- Nine new pieces of concept art, from the Blizzard Museum.

• Interview: June 14, 2010 -- A new interview with Lawrence Jubler, one of the key Diablo 3 soundtrack composers.

• Blue Post: June 11, 2010 -- Bashiok gives vague comments on destructibles and achievements.

• Blue Post: June 10, 2010 -- Blizzard will not show their games at E3 this year, or perhaps ever again. The Twitter feed confirmed this a few days later, but said just wait for BlizzCon in October!

• Blue Post: June 9, 2010 -- Bashiok teases the eventual reveal of numerous new systems in Diablo 3. But he can't say anything about any of them yet.

• Blue Post: June 9, 2010 -- Bashiok says that item durability is "probably" returning in Diablo 3. The function of durability as a gold sink was followed up the next day.

• Blue Post: June 8, 2010 -- Bashiok confirms that the fifth character was the last to be designed. (Early concepts were thrown out and rebooted from scratch.)

• Blue Post: June 8, 2010 -- Bashiok's birthday caricature is a gift to everyone.

• Other: June 2, 2010 -- The first round of Blizzcon tickets went on sale... and were gone in minutes. The same was true of the second batch, three days later.

May 2010

• Blue Post: May 29, 2010 -- Bashiok rebuts a bunch of anti-SC2 arguments, in terms of what they say about Diablo 3 and the B.net experience.

• Interview: May 29, 2010 -- Blizzard's Frank Pearce interviewed about SC2, B.net, and D3.

• Blue Post: May 28, 2010 -- Bashiok unveils the newest skill rune names: Crimson, Indigo, Obsidian, Golden, Alabaster. All five types of skill runes are known, but only one of the new names is definitely tied to a function, at this point.

• Blue Post: May 27, 2010 -- Bashiok on Blizzard's future plans for non-English online info about Diablo 3.

• Blue Post: May 27, 2010 -- Bashiok with new info on skill rune changes and design goals.

Amazing fan-made Diablo 3 level.

• Blue Post: May 26, 2010 -- Amazingly high quality fan-made Diablo 3 level in the Unreal engine, copied from concept art. Making of info added a few days later.

• Interview: May 23, 2010 -- Jeff Strain interviewed about his early work on the Diablo franchise.

• Interview: May 22, 2010 -- Bill Roper interviewed on the creation of Diablo 1 and 2, and his first reactions to Diablo 3.

• Other: May 22, 2010 -- Jay Mohr is confirmed as the BlizzCon 2010 host.

• Other: May 20, 2010 -- Diablo 2's Ten Year Anniversary Fansite Mosaic project announced.

• Blue Post: May 20, 2010 -- New Diablo artwork from the BlizzCon 2010 logo.

• Blue Post: May 20 -- Bashiok on misleading screen resolution comparisons and forum (mis)behavior.

• Blue Post: May 18, 2010 -- Bashiok on higher resolutions and visual reflections.

• Blue Post: May 15, 2010 -- Bashiok on a major team playtest that went "really well."

• Blue Post: May 15, 2010 -- Bashiok on palette and texture-shifting on Diablo 3 monsters.

• Blue Post: May 14, 2010 -- Bashiok on Line of Sight in Diablo 3.

• Blue Post: May 12, 2010 -- Bashiok reveals some secrets about the creation of the Archivist, one of the 2009 April Fool's Day jokes.

Monk poses dramatically.

• Picture: May 12, 2010 -- New Barbarian and Monk concept art is released.

• Blue Post: May 12, 2010 -- Bashiok relays information about Haunt's temporary graphics and the improvements in store for it during development

• Blue Post: May 11, 2010 -- Even Playboy Bunnies can't make a Diablo 3 release date appear.

• Blue Post: May 11, 2010 -- Bashiok's chocolate race car cake draws closer to reality.

• Other: May 10, 2010 -- Mac users support Blizzard because Blizzard supports them. And their numbers are growing.

• Blue Post: May 8, 2010 -- Bashiok on the Witch Doctor's Haunt and shiny boss effects.

• Other: May 7, 2010 -- Transcript and discussion of the First Quarter Activision/Blizzard conference call.

• Blue Post: May 6, 2010 -- Bashiok on PvP in D3, which isn't much in the game yet, but will be for launch.

• Other: May 5, 2010 -- Blizzard announces their upcoming Battle.net Real ID Facebook integration. The first ominous shot in the war that became the Real ID controversy/disaster of July 2010.

• Blue Post: May 5, 2010 -- Bashiok confirms that Diablo 3 will have a lost of monsters.

• Commentary: May 5, 2010 -- Interesting debate about why/how the needs of Eastern and Western RPG players differ so greatly.

• Other: May 4, 2010 -- Starcraft 2 gets a release date: July 27, 2010.

• Blue Post: May 1, 2010 -- Bashiok on skill training systems and why Diablo 3 will not include such a game mechanic.

April 2010

• Picture: April 28, 2010 -- Ars Technica tours Blizzard's Campus in Irvine and posts a huge photo gallery of their trip. (Many more views of Blizzard's Campus can be seen in the Blizzard HQ gallery.)

• Blue Post: April 27, 2010 -- Bashiok confirms that there is no zoom in Diablo 3 and explains why fans won't even miss it.

• Picture: April 24, 2010 -- Blizzard debuts a sortable gallery showing off concept art for their three ongoing game worlds. No new Diablo 3 pieces are included.

• Picture: April 23, 2010 -- A fan-made sculpture of the Dune Thresher impresses all who behold it.

• Blue Post: April 22, 2010 -- Bashiok joins a long discussion on the interactions between skills and skill runes in Diablo 3.

• Blue Post: April 22, 2010 -- Bashiok on zooming in and custom monster death animations.

• Blue Post: April 21, 2010 -- Bashiok on why there are no designed "builds" for the Diablo 3 characters.

• Blue Post: April 21, 2010 -- Blizzard announces that they've banned more than 320,000 Warcraft 3 and Diablo 2 accounts for using hacks on Battle.net.

• Blue Post: April 19, 2010 -- Bashiok on why there are no charms in Diablo 3, plus info on the graphics for the Monk's Exploding Palm skill. He returns a day later to substantially revise his Exploding Palm graphics comments, after receiving a correction from one of the designers.

• Blue Post: April 16, 2010 -- Bashiok on paying to resurrect HC characters (not happening) and the new RMT WoW mount.

• Blue Post: April 14, 2010 -- Bashiok on shrines, attributes, and pretty graphics.

Tomb Vipers.

• Other: April 13, 2010 -- News breaks that SC2 will require a monthly fee to play online in Russia. Most fans choose not to believe that this is a harbinger of D3's hypothetical online fees.

• Other: April 9, 2010 -- What do casual fans think about the fifth character? A question on Blizzard's Diablo Facebook page brings out the hordes.

• Commentary: April 3, 2010 -- Is the weird design of the new Tomb Viper a sign of a larger game theme? Or just a weird snake/man hybrid monster?

• Blue Post: April 1, 2010 -- April kicks off with the usual blitz of Blizzard April Fool's Day jokes and features. Their first movement comes on March 31st, with a Diablo-style teaser image. This year's crop includes, B.net Neural Interface, Deckard Cain GPS Voice Pack, Xtreme Gamer Blanket and Diablo 3 Body Pillow, plus B.net matchmaking, new Blizzard mobile games, the WoW EPEeN, and the mystery scrambled poem. A later post provides a nice wrap up of other gaming-related AFD activities around the Internet.

• Other: April 1, 2010 -- Diii.net breaks the sad news that BlizzCon 2010 is already sold out, before tickets have even officially gone on sale. Better luck next year.

• Picture: April 1, 2010 -- The first two Diablo 3 jigsaw images debut, showing outdoor areas from the WWI 2008 Gameplay movie. Both are awesome, and were enormously difficult to create.

March 2010

• Blue Post: March 31, 2010 -- Bashiok on Wizards, Mana, and Instability.

• Commentary: March 27, 2010 -- Fan debate breaks out on the issue of paying to beta test. A community vote is held, in which most players say they would not pay for the privilege.

• Blue Post: March 25, 2010 -- Blizzcon 2010 is announced for October 22-23, 2010, once again in the Anaheim Convention Center.

• Picture: March 23, 2010 -- The female Witch Doctor in-game animated model is added to the official site. Also, five new Witch Doctor screenshots are released. Fan reaction to the female WD's look is largely positive.

• Blue Post: March 23, 2010 -- Blizzard announces that the v1.13 patch and ladder reset will take place on the 24th. The patch is released, with the full readme.txt. Direct download links and largely positive early player feedback.

• Blue Post: March 18, 2010 -- Is the Female Witch Doctor too Sexy? Blue post turning into a major debate about how the characters should be presented; realism vs. eye candy.

• Blue Post: March 17, 2010 -- Blizzard on Armor Types and voting for Blizzard in a developer vs developer voting match.

• Interview: March 17, 2010 -- Jay Wilson on Game Development. Possibly a Google translate of a Chinese industry conference where Jay Wilson made his contribution by talking about the seven shared development points of making a video game.

• Blue Post: March 16, 2010 -- Diablo 3's Trading System will fix everything, according to Bashiok. Item trades, gold selling and many other topics discussed.

• Blue Post: March 16, -- 2010 Blizzard @ PAX East: D3 Staying home, unfortunately. No Diablo 3 gameplay at PAX East.

The Burning Tower.

• Blue Post: March 15, 2010 -- Blizzard announces that the D2 v1.13 patch and ladder reset are coming soon. More info on the coming patch and future patches was added a few days later.

• Interview: March 13, 2010 -- Rob Pardo learns from design mistakes in an article by Shacknews. Stuff like the D2 gold economy is a lesson learned and not repeated.

• Interview: March 12, 2010 -- Blizzard Composer Russel Brower interviewed by CVG, and he says they will take the music wider and further in Diablo III.

• Blue Post: March 12, 2010 -- Bashiok discusses class-specific weapon concepts in Diablo 3. Much more follow up a few days later.

• Blue Post: March 11, 2010 -- Shields, pets and healing discussed in blue posts by Bashiok.

• Commentary: March 10, -- 2010 The mysterious burning tower is explored by Flux, who brings up screenshots and facts from various sources. The Burning Tower also has a wiki article.

• Other: March 9, 2010 -- A community vote measures the popularity of the various characters, showing a fairly even distribution of fans amongst the four so far revealed: Barbarian 24.22%, Wizard 21.06%, Witch Doctor 16.9%, Monk 16.17%, Undecided. More infos, plz 12.54%, Fifth character will be the coolest 9.11%.

• Picture: March 9, 2010 -- New Artwork, and new better versions of older known artwork. Sons of the Storm has released new batches.

• Other: March 7, 2010 -- More D3 Previews on the Jace Hall Show, but since it's a humour show, it;s nothing real and as such nothing major.

• Blue Post: March 5, 2010 -- Bashiok on random monsters and scripted events.

• Other: March 5, 2010 -- Activision fires Infinity Ward studio heads responsible for the mega-popular Modern Warfare 2. The question is, does this mean they can do similar things with Blizzard employees and people like Mike Morhaime.

• Blue Post: March 4, 2010 -- Bashiok on dungeon entrances and deadly traps.

• Blue Post: March 3, 2010 -- Bashiok confirms that Diablo 3 is aiming for an M-rating.

• Other: March 3, 2010 -- Blizzard confirms the first working hack against the Blizzard Authenticator.

Pouty male Wizard = controversy.

• Picture: March 3, 2010 -- Blizzard adds the in-game animation of the male Wizard to their character page, sparking immediate complaints that he looks "effeminate," "wimpy" and "submissive." Detailed analysis of the various character models shows that almost all of them have a similar pose, and it was further pointed out that no one objected to the male wizard's look when playing him at BlizzCon 2009. A community vote ultimately showed strongly mixed opinions on his look.

• Blue Post: March 3, 2010 -- Bashiok made several lengthy posts on D3's economy in late February and early March, with ramifications for BoE, BoP, and BoA. Also see this one, and this one, and the discussion on the issue from Blizzcast #13.

• Commentary: March 2, 2010 -- Diablo 3 will not be released in 2010 and why it's irresponsible for sites to speculate from ignorance.

• Blue Post: March 2, 2010 -- Bashiok on mana globes, NPC conversations, and the UI.

February 2010

• Blue Post: February 28, 2010 -- Bashiok on game difficulty and PUGs. Great fan debate about whether any D3 content should "require" more than one person ensued.

• Blue Post: February 27, 2010 -- Bashiok on Blizzard beta machine selection requirements.

• Blue Post: February 26, 2010 -- Bashiok on screen-shaking and other game special effects.

• Interview: February 25, 2010 -- Blizzcast #13 goes live with Diablo 3 commentary on "phasing," respes, non-mana resources, randomness in the game, gold/item durability (which may return?), and BoE item issues.

• Blue Post: February 25, 2010 -- Bashiok weighs in on class-specific weapons, and issue that always excites great player discussion. He returned to this issue a week later, with news that some of the class restrictions had been lifted.

• Commentary: February 24, 2010 -- Diablo 3's quests debated and compared to other RPGs.

• Other: February 24, 2010 -- v1.13b goes live on the patch test realm.

• Blue Post: February 23, 2010 -- Bashiok confirms that Diablo 2 hacks will never be fixed permanently.

• Blue Post: February 20, 2010 -- Bashiok on D3's music and unrevealed item enchanting system.

• Blue Post: February 18, 2010 -- Bashiok confirms that there will be complete gender equality in Diablo 3. After fans raise some objections, he returns with some more explanations.

• Other: February 17, 2010 -- The Starcraft 2 beta test gets underway.

• Blue Post: February 16, 2010 -- Female Barbarian in-game animation added to the official Diablo 3 page. Also a new piece of female barb concept art, and six new screenshots.

• Blue Post: February 16, 2010 -- Bashiok comments on the "must always be connected" aspect of Starcraft 2 play, and confirms that it can be played offline. Diablo 3 should work the same way.

• Blue Post: February 12, 2010 -- New monster and city concept artwork added to the gallery.

• Picture: February 11, 2010 -- Tomb Viper artwork by Brom is revealed in a photo. More about Tomb Vipers.

• Other: February 10, 2010 -- Activision/Blizzard Q4 2009 conference call coverage. Business over pleasure. Transcript of Mike Morhaime's talk about Blizzard (no mention of D3) here. Financial analysis of the news here.

• Commentary: February 10, 2010 -- Are there new/mysterious monsters in the artwork on the character pages? A closer look reveals... uncertain results.

• Blue Post: February 10, 2010 -- Bashiok on the megasized shoulderpads (pauldroons) the Diablo 3 character concept art sports.

• Video: February 10, 2010 -- Blizzard releases a preview movie showing off some of the new features of Battle.net 2.0. Discussion and analysis followed a few days later.

• Blue Post: February 9, 2010 -- A Bashiok post on the topic sets off another endless weapon switch hotkey argument/debate.

• Blue Post: February 9, 2010 -- Bashiok on Necromancer and Paladins perhaps showing up as NPCs, and more on the Female Monk's design.

• Picture: February 9, 2010 -- Female Monk concept art revealed in high quality.

• Picture: February 6, 2010 -- Female Monk design criticism. A fan photoshops the female monk some more skin, and much debate ensues.

Female monk concept art.

• Blue Post: February 5, 2010 -- Bashiok confirms the Female Monk pics from the Jace Hall show, and promises HQ versions "soon."

• Blue Post: February 5, 2010 -- The first look at the female monk in concept art, from the Jace Hall show. Outtakes from the show were posted a week later.

• Blue Post: February 5, 2010 -- Diii.net's vote for the best fan-art of the female monk semi-finals. The official version won big in the finals, vs. the top 3 pieces of fan art.

• Blue Post: February 5, 2010 -- Bashiok on D3's character animations and another sneak preview of the Jace Hall show.

• Other: February 4, 2010 -- Blizzcon 2010 date set for October 22-23 at the Anaheim Convention Center... but it's just a rumor, and is wiped away a day later.

• Picture: February 3, 2010 -- Original artwork by Brom that the Diablo 2 box was based on debuts in the Blizzard art gallery.

• Blue Post: February 3, 2010 -- Bashiok on character heights and Blizzcast coming not-soon.

• Blue Post: February 1, 2010 -- Three new screenshots added to the official site.

January 2010

• Blue Post: January 30, 2010 -- Bashiok on shared party skills, "griefing" in Diablo 3, and the employment benefits of being a forum slut.

• Video: January 30, 2010 -- Diablo 3 humor featured in Episode 1 of the Jace Hall show. No female monk reveal (that came in the next weeks' show). The D3 content was teased in a trailer a week earlier,

• Blue Post: January 27, 2010 -- Bashiok on Diablo 3's evolving world lore and story, and real world influences upon them.

• Commentary: January 27, 2010 -- Is Diablo 3 the new Duke Nukem Forever, with endless delays before release (or cancellation?)

• Picture: January 26, 2010 -- Blizzard's Female Monk Art Challenge "nontest" announced by Bashiok. More entries posted a few days later, and the final batch a week later. Voting began in early February, with the final five selected later in the month, and a final vote.

• Blue Post: January 26, 2010 -- Bashiok jokingly confirms that the Monk is so overpowered no other characters will be developed.

• Interview: January 23, 2010 -- Blizzard CEO Paul Sams interviewed by GamesIndustry.bz.

• Blue Post: January 22, 2010 -- Bashiok again explains why there will not be any guns in Diablo 3.

• Blue Post: January 22, 2010 -- Bashiok on hard to see item drops and how Diablo 3 will work around that issue.

• Blue Post: January 20, 2010 -- Bashiok on the "naked" female wizard, what she'll look like in her unarmored, starting gear, and how that look has recently been improved. Another post the next day shared more details, and a screenshot.

• Blue Post: January 16, 2010 -- Bashiok on the size of the D3 Team and the female Monk development process.

• Blue Post: January 15, 2010 -- Blizzard updates the game lore with retcon adjustments to the Timeline and Deckard Cain's Journal.

• Blue Post: January 14, 2010 -- Blizzard on Mongrels and Waypoints.

• Blue Post: January 7, 2010 -- Bashiok on generating Fury and other resources in a brand new game.

• Blue Post: January 6, 2010 -- Bashiok gets snarky about OP Monks, release dates, and Witch Doctors vs. Necromancers.

• Blue Post: January 6, 2010 -- Bashiok on release date issues and the fun (or not) of expansion classes.

• Blue Post: January 4, 2010 -- Bashiok on the Monk's resource system and those of other characters.

Newer & Older News

Newer and older headlines and articles are archived on the Media Coverage Archive pages:

• Media Coverage: 2008
• Media Coverage: 2009
• Media Coverage: 2011