2/4 Chat Log

BillRoper: Hello everyone and welcome to teh chat!
BillRoper: Hello everyone and welcome to the chat!

ScottC2: OK, while we get ready to go, go ahead and start submitting your questions
ScottC2: Please type your questions out loud - don't whisper to the Speakers ;-)
ScottC2: Have you broken any ground on the Barbarian class yet?

BlizzNo: The Barbarian character has been substantially modelled and looks awesome! I'm sure that it will be one of the better characters. We're about ready to start animating him.

ScottC2: When can we expect to see a Diablo II forum?

BillRoper: We are currently working on a redesign of both the Blizzard.com and Battle.net sites, which includes the forums. We are not exactly sure what we are going to do with D2 as of yet. As the redesign continues, we will be addressing each of the sections.

ScottC2: Have there been any improvements made in the Necromancer character?

BlizzNo: Yes there has. His appearance has been changed, and you should start seeing screenshots soon. He looks great and is a really exciting character.

ScottC2: When can we expect to see the next Diablo II designer diary on GameSpot?

BillRoper: The next GameSpot Diary entry should be up in about two weeks and will be focusing on the Cinematic team.

ScottC2: Will there be banks in Diablo II?

BlizzNo: There will not be banks as such, but we're considering extending the Guild House concept to include storage for individuals. We have not, however, come to a final decision on this.

ScottC2: What's the current status of Diablo II?

BillRoper: We have completed content for the first two areas and are feverishly creating area three. Characters are walking through and reflecting in brackish water and it is amazingly creepy. We have been starting to play multiplayer and it is awesome!

ScottC2: Will it be possible to use two skills at the same time?

BlizzNo: There is a type of skill that is a passive skill; that is, you don't have to take any action for the skill to work. These can be combined with the regular skills. (An example of a passive skill might be dodge for the Amazon.)

ScottC2: Will you be releasing any new Diablo II news before E3?

BillRoper: We will be updating the D2 page as we get new characters in screenshots and so on, but we are saving some pretty big stuff for E3. We want to be sure to really blow everyone away at the show!

ScottC2: How do guild houses and channel trading work?

BlizzNo: We're not sure yet! Guild houses will be like a separate game that is persistent, meaning you can return to it over and over and store your stuff there... Channel trading will work like in-game trading, but will be done through the chat channels.

ScottC2: Will there be truly unique items?

BillRoper: We have the ability in Diablo II to set rarity on items not only within a single game, but also across all of Battle.net, so basically it will come down to what is fun. We intend to have greater degrees of rarity so that certain items are VERY valuable.

ScottC2: Besides mana and health, what other potions and elixers will there be in Diablo II?

BlizzNo: We have various exploding potions, poison gas potions, oils like in Hellfire that temporarily improve weapons, and some unique suprises.

ScottC2: Are the fan site drawings truly random?

BlizzNo: You can see several on the websites, but some include Ice Storm, Blaze, and Meteor (which is particularly spectacular.) Her spells are divided into Fire, Ice, and Lightning categories.

ScottC2: How do you pick the questions during these fan site chats?

BillRoper: The drawing is done through a spreadsheet that randomly generates the winner everytime. We definitely do not play favorites on who we pick.

ScottC2: What are some examples of the Sorceress's spells?

BillRoper: We try to get questions emailed in ahead of time as well as take questions during the chat. Obviously, there are some questions we do not address if, for example, they are asked by multiple people...
BillRoper: or if they are something we can't talk about (like what are your unannounced projects).

ScottC2: Will there be an equivalent to the Hell difficulty setting?

BlizzNo: There will be difficulty settings. (If you're referring to dungeon levels in Hell, yes, there will be that as well.)

ScottC2: Will any more servers be added to Battle.net?

BillRoper: Yes, we are putting up servers in Korea as we speak and will continue to expand the service as the year continues.

ScottC2: Will all characters be able to run?

BlizzNo: Yes, though not necessarily at the same speed. Running will also be limited in some as-yet undetermined way. (for example, by draining mana.)

ScottC2: When will the next random interview be?

BillRoper: The next interview winner will be chosen February 25th (and announced), with the interview appearing on March 1st.

ScottC2: How will the transitions between acts work?

BlizzNo: We will not make you actually travel the hundreds of miles between acts. Instead, we will provide cinematics that provide back-story and other information between acts.

ScottC2: What is the approximate minumum number of hours required to finish the single player game?

BillRoper: No real idea since all the areas have yet to be completed, but I wouldn't plan on going anywhere once you buy the game for quite a while... ;)

ScottC2: Will games still have the option of being password protected?
ScottC2: Can fan sites still sign up for the random interviews?

BlizzNo: Yep. Also, we will give the creator of the game some control of who enters, though we haven't decided on the details yet.
BlizzNo: Oops, that was an answer to the first question.
BlizzNo: Obviously.

BillRoper: Yes, they just need to email Tony Gervase at tgervase@blizzard.com, but keep in mind that the next several interviews are going to be focused on Diablo II.

ScottC2: Can you hire NPCs?

BillRoper: that was for the second question...
BillRoper: Obviously ;)

BlizzNo: Yes, each act will allow you to hire some NPCs that are there for that purpose specifically. They will have various abilities and costs, but will pretty much be there to fight along side you.

ScottC2: Will players be able to see each others' auto-maps?

BillRoper: Although players will only be able to see what is in their own area on the map, they will be able to signal each other through the map (don't ask how yet, it isn't implemented)...

ScottC2: Are you only going to support Glide in Diablo II?
ScottC2: Approximately how many cinematics will be in Diablo II?

BlizzNo: We haven't decided yet on what 3D APIs we will support. We apologize for the lack of information on this topic as I know a lot of you are very interested in this. We will be deciding this very shortly.

BillRoper: We are currently planning on somewhere around 30 minutes of cinematics spanned across the 4 CDs. We have our entire film department dedicated to these, and they are going to be our best stuff yet.

ScottC2: Will you be able to store items in buildings?

BlizzNo: Yes, in guild houses. Not in the games themselves, however. (If a player loses his connection, we don't want them losing their items as well!)

ScottC2: Will there be any changes at Blizzard as a result of the sale to Havas?

BillRoper: Yes, we are currently working on our bad french accents and getting drop shipments of Fromage and Evian. Seriously, we expect it to be great for us, especially in regards to increasing our presence in Europe. We're VERY excited about working with Havas.

ScottC2: How big are the acts compared to the original Diablo?

BlizzNo: This is tough to answer as it's kind of comparing apples and oranges. In terms of total square footage of space, they are much bigger, but you can run, so.... The acts are enormous, but are not all the same size. Each one has many, many looks.

ScottC2: Will there be a Secret Cow Level in Diablo II?

BillRoper: If I told you, it wouldn't be secret now, would it... ;)

ScottC2: How many players will multiplayer games support?

BlizzNo: Right now, we're thinking about 8 people for a regular game. There may be duel arenas that allow more OR less, however. All of this will be decided based on what's the most fun to play.

ScottC2: Are you aware of the Warcraft III petition?

BillRoper: We have seen the petition that is asking Blizzard to FINALLY tell us if they are or are not working on Warcraft III. Both Shlonglor and I already signed it, so we'll see if they tell us :).

ScottC2: Will Diablo II have a similar storyline to Diablo?

There was a server split here, and these next few questions are based on personal notes.  Transcript may not be verbatim.

ScottC2: Have you started work on Diablo 2 packaging yet?

BlizzNo: No.

ScottC2: Will there be a beta test?

BlizzNo: We don't know yet. Keep up to date on the webpage.

ScottC2: How large will d2 be?

BlizzNo: About 13 feet - that is, 4 cd's.

ScottC2: How will hired NPC's interact?

BlizzNo: You will be able to give basic commands for attack and movement, but most will be automatic.

ScottC2: Have you decided on a price for Diablo 2?

BlizzNo: Should be around $50 in stores.

ScottC2: Who, from Blizzard North, is in the chat?

BlizzNo: Max Schaefer was typing, with Matt Householder and Mike Huang accompanying.

ScottC2: Will there be voxware in d2?

BlizzNo: Maybe, but don't count on it.

ScottC2: How will you control golems?

BlizzNo: [Talks about iron golem] Basically, the same way as NPC's, except golems will be more automatic.

ScottC2: How much hard drive space will be required for d2?

BlizzNo: We hope to use varying amounts, so those with more HD space won't have to hit the cd so many times.

ScottC2: Will there be loading between acts?

BlizzNo: There will be cd switching between acts.

ScottC2: Can you kill hired NPCs and take your money back?

BlizzNo: No, you will be hiring from their "guild." Nice try though.

ScottC2: Will there be arrows and bolts, or just arrows?

BillRoper: Yes. There will also be magic arrows and bolts.

Chat Log Resumes Here

BlizzNo2: Not only will there be both arrows and bolts, but there will also be magic arrows and bolts of various kinds.

ScottC: NOTE: We'll be extending this chat an extra 5 minutes due to the netsplit earlier.
ScottC: Will there be weather effects?

BillRoper: We are looking at having rain in the game, and it will be an ambient weather effect (it will not effect characters abilities or movement).

ScottC: How will travel to different towns be restricted?

BlizzNo2: You will have to go from one town to the next in a linear fashion the first time through. After that, you'll be able to travel between them all freely. It's pretty much like D1 in that respect.

ScottC: Will there be a zoom-in feature?

BillRoper: Yes, and it will be smooth zoom in the 3Dfx version.

ScottC: Can the Amazon fire multiple arrows at once?

BlizzNo2: Yes, the Amazon has a multi-shot skill that shoots multiple arrows depending on the skill level. She also has a strafe skill that targets multiple monsters in the vicinity, also depending on skill level.

ScottC: Will there be ladder rankings for players in Diablo II?
ScottC: NOTE: We'll be able to take just 2 more questions.

BillRoper: We are working on being able to rank each character class so that, for example, we can tell who is the most powerful Sorceress in the world. Exactly what makes up the ranking is still under discussion.

ScottC: What are your plans for Diablo II web page updates?

BlizzNo2: In addition to the sporadic major and minor updates, we are going to start a Screenshot of the Week feature.

ScottC: Last question: When will the fan site ftp be updated?

BlizzNo2: We're hopefully going to put up around 5 new screenies next week.
BlizzNo2: Thanks everyone for coming! We look forward to the next chat!

BillRoper: Our next chat will be on Diablo and General Blizzard questions, so start thinking about them for next time. See you on Battle.net!

ScottC: Thanks for coming everybody!