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Diablo III coming May 15

us.battle.net

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Re: Diablo III coming May 15

#4

Post by arien »

H_E_Pennypacker wrote: post #2

sign of beta?

Betas (open, and closed too, to a degree) these days seem more like, "let's subtly have people try our product for free, get hooked and generate buzz while at it". It's the same as a free trial (although calling it like this has less positive response, it seems). Just another marketing stunt, long gone are the days where beta was used strictly for testing.

On the Web 2.0 environment, who started this? Was it Google with Gmail, or was there something else before?

Also, lately, at least in the MMO scene, going gold doesn't mean that the game is polished and ready for release, it just means that you're ready to charge customers.

Re: Diablo III coming May 15

#6

Post by TheCapn »

kahawe wrote: post #5

Are there any news on bringing it to consoles? Wikipedia[0] just says they are probably still working on it but there are no confirmations one way or the other... [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_3#Console_development

I don't have a source on me (Work blocks sites that I could link to) but they have confirmed that there is a console port coming. I believe they have a small dedicated team to the port.

Re: Diablo III coming May 15

#7

Post by Darkstar »

arien wrote: post #4
H_E_Pennypacker wrote: post #2

sign of beta?

Betas (open, and closed too, to a degree) these days seem more like, "let's subtly have people try our product for free, get hooked and generate buzz while at it". It's the same as a free trial (although calling it like this has less positive response, it seems). Just another marketing stunt, long gone are the days where beta was used strictly for testing. On the Web 2.0 environment, who started this? Was it Google w…

While I would normally agree with you, Blizzard games have always had polish. They do continue to balance the game for years afterwards but you rarely find bugs that would make you say it wasn't ready for prime time.

Re: Diablo III coming May 15

#8

Post by TheCapn »

fredoliveira wrote: post #3
H_E_Pennypacker wrote: post #2

sign of beta?

A beta has been running for a few months already (edit: since September 2011). You can sign-up for it (although I assume it is way too late for that now) on your battle.net settings page.

I think he's ramblin' off on a joke regarding how reddit.com/r/diablo took every single ounce of change in regards to Diablo as a "sign of the beta" or more recently "sign of release date".

If twitter of any blizz guy was updated? SIgn of the beta. New picture on the website? Sign of the beta. A sneeze came from 4th floor blizzard HQ? Sign of the beta.

Re: Diablo III coming May 15

#9

Post by TheCapn »

arien wrote: post #4
H_E_Pennypacker wrote: post #2

sign of beta?

Betas (open, and closed too, to a degree) these days seem more like, "let's subtly have people try our product for free, get hooked and generate buzz while at it". It's the same as a free trial (although calling it like this has less positive response, it seems). Just another marketing stunt, long gone are the days where beta was used strictly for testing. On the Web 2.0 environment, who started this? Was it Google w…

You're right and you're wrong.

Blizzard DOES use the beta for hype. With SC2 they gave beta keys to preorders to help generate revenue and interest prior to launch. Not a lot of participants actually know the reason for a beta and actually use it as an excuse to play the game early but Blizzard already knows this.

Blizzard's job of releasing a public/invite beta is to test:

A) How the game functions on the boat-load of machine configurations available. When you sign up for beta invite on battle.net you need to create a "profile" of yourself by uploading your PC specs. Blizzard has always provided games that can run on a low end machine with features and graphical tweaks that still allow it to look good on a new machine. For me SC2 had to run on low/medium on my 2 year old laptop but with my new PC it runs on Ultra with great effects!

B) Network stability. B.net2.0 is rather new and they need to test the matching functionality as well as load test the servers for every reason under the sun. Having willing participants allows them to hit all these goals while still generating the hype.

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