nite244

Notes from Blizzcon #DiabloV unrecorded Diablo Partner / creators interview, my comments in () CLASSES - three confirmed: Demon Hunter, Monk, Plague Knight (new) - "more classes than other Diablo games" (D2 has 8, D4 soon 9) BUILDS - "deferred complexity" towards endgame: easy onboarding for leveling/campaign, opens up later - (D2-style inventory and itemization from what we can tell so far) - (we saw all the D2 rarities, runes, etc.) COMBAT - fast-paced, speedy flow that still allows room for tactics - "embrace crunchy ARPG gameplay" - D3-inspired (still unrivaled in the genre) LORE & WORLD - 100 years "Golden Age" after D4, then Diablo won, world overrun by demons (sounds cool) - desolate, grim & dark setting - no towns, lone survivors - you build a caravan that grows with deep characters as you go, offers craftsmen etc. - "we'll learn how we lost" (Diablo front and center from the start) - aspiration: "best campaign ever", D4: LoH as the role model (which was badass) - fog of war continuously shrouds the world again for "constant adventure & discovery" (vs. D4's one-and-done map exploration) - co-op: easy to jump in and play together (I expect crossplay D4-style again) - (seems like not full open-world this time) ENGINE - evolved from D4 - can do a lot more to support a modern game DEVELOPMENT - how to avoid repeat of D4-spaghetti-code disaster: they have new and improved development processes, built on D4-foundations, this time they have a clear vision from the start (that was my question, my expectation is that this is true and the game won't be born crippled like D4 because the dev cycle is much more focused instead of starting over multiple times) - "a lot of the team worked on D4" (the best point, we have fresh & now-experienced people instead of a decade of brain drain between games, that's usually how good sequels are made) - communication: ramped up during D4: LoH, probably even more than that - "get out of the way of what players want", e.g. overlay map can be expected from day 1 (and most likely other long-overdue D4 upgrades like stash, UI, endgame, etc.) - D5 announcement early enough to gather community feedback for launch starting NOW - (What about D4: this was mostly not part of this interview but they're not done yet, looks like we still have years of development ahead of us, some key devs are still on D4 for now, potentially leading straight into D5 or even beyond) NOT ASKED/TALKED ABOUT - PvP (I don't expect much) - D4 transmogs carrying over to D5 (highly unlikely) - endgame systems/content - competitive systems VERDICT - I see reason for optimism, the team is young and JUST dealt with all building a modern ARPG, feedback/problems from D4 etc. for years and it's all in recent memory. Building on that foundation sets HIGH expectations for the next game vs. decade-long wait between D2-D3 or D3-D4 - Plenty of D4's problems are beyond saving (e.g. stash, dev processes, bug fiesta...) because they are so architecturally ingrained, taking the existing momentum to a blank slate project seems like a smart move - They are seemingly going for the "greatest hits": D3 classes & combat, D2 items (incl. runes), modern D4 co-op - if that works out it could be great - For now it's wait & see until we get more info, alpha/beta announcements, blog posts, etc. - I expect D4-style playtests (alphas 2027/early 2028, closed beta mid 2028, open beta late 2028/early 2029)