January's News

  • New Info. (1/30)

I have made a thorough scan of the video, hunting for new pieces of information.  Looking as things were clicked I noticed a few things.  The skill button that appears to be an arrow is Normal Attack, the arrows that looks broken is Kick, and the button that looks like the phases of the moon is the skill button for the Throw command.  I also noticed a few new skills that have been unrecorded, and have updated each character's section accordingly. 

  • Thoughts on the Gamestar Video... (1/30)

Well, I have downloaded and seen the Gamestar Video, and I have only one word to explain it all: "breathtaking!"  Diablo II is looking to be a true work of art, and seeing it like this only makes me more anxious to get my claws on it.  I've written my thoughts on the video here, so please feel free to look at them.  Be sure you download this video, you'll absolutely love it.  There's also new entries in the Diablo II Info section, check them out as well.

  • Here are those Screenshots. (1/30)

Here are the screenshots from the Gamestar Article, delivered piping hot and fresh to your browser:

I hope you enjoy them.  Tomorrow I hope to tell more about the Gamestar video (I'm downloading it as we speak).  Remember, if you want it, it's in the downloads section, last entry.

  • New Preview and Video! (1/29)

Rejoice!  We have new information, alas, it is in German.  Gamestar magazine has released a lengthy preview of the game containing all new pics (which we will post later) and a little new info.  Click here for an English translation from Sundawn of the Diablo Guild Index, and here it is for those of you fluent in German...

However, the catch of the day so to speak for this article is the movie that comes with it.  The video has over 9 minutes(!) of gameplay and shows some never before seen things like the trading room, the Paladin's skill tree and some spells.  It's in the downloads section, but it's over 80 megs so beware.

  • Site Updates... (1/28)

The crew here at ShadowSpiral Diablo II have been working overtime to glitz up our site some.  We've added a few extras to the way the site's presented and made a few coding streamlines under the hood.  If you don't see the logo, navigation bar, or poll box pop up just wait a few moments, they'll appear.  The page is set to keep those elements invisible until they all load.

There will be more updates as time goes by, most of them will probably be graphical in nature.  Just stand by and watch as things change and hopefully get better.  As always, you can email the WebMaster if you don't like the look of things or you run into problems with the page.  Thanks for your visit, we look forward to your next one.

  • Focus on Blizzard North... (1/27)

POV Magazine has recently done an interview with the guys and gals at Blizzard North, the makers of Diablo and Diablo II.  The article is full of quotes and really gets into the crew at Blizzard North. 

  • Find the Lost Winners. (1/27)

A recent e-mail from Blizzard tells us that 5 of the StarCraft Season 3 plaque-winners have not yet claimed their plaques and Blizzard doesn't have their addresses on file.  If
[B&G]MeToO, [B&G]Leon, [HoK]newhohoman, [HoK]Hi~Se_Ri, and Lovely_Waiter could please go to the Live Tech Support channel on B.Net, Blizzard would be happy to send them their winner's rewards.  You can also e-mail support@blizzard.com if the Live Tech Support channel isn't currently active.

  • Diablo II for PlayStation. (1/26)

Well, some good news to Diablo II fans who don't own computers but do own PlayStations, the UK-based Climax Group is in negotiation to produce Diablo II for the PlayStation.  The entire article from Power Mag can be read here.  Hopefully PSX-users can see a Diablo II port sometime after its release.

The Graveyard has been elected to have this month's ten-question interview with Blizzard.  This is all part of Blizzard's new policy of allowing randomly picked fansites a ten-question interview each month until Diablo II is released.  We can only hope that we'll be picked soon as we anticipate this month's interview.

  • PcParadox Preview. (1/24)

The guys and gals over at PcParadox have completed a Diablo II preview.  This one doesn't have any new info or screenshots, however.  I also wanted to take a moment to agree with CaptainSmack of Graveyard fame on a point, even though these previews are rehashed over and over again, they do serve a point.  Some people will always be new to the Diablo II scene, and it's our job as WebMasters to tell them everything that's happening.

Well, it seems that Gamespot has decided the Game of the Year for 1998.  The entire listing of awards can be found here.  Their pick for Game of the Year was quite interesting, they picked LucasArts' Grim Fandango.  Now, I haven't purchased this game, but I did play the demo, it was very good game.  Perhaps not my pick for this prestigious award, but a very good game still.

  • Diablo II Release Date Rumor... (1/21)

It has come down the pipeline from the Unofficial Diablo II Site that a rumored release date is sometime in September ‘99, after this year's ECTS.  Normally I wouldn't post any kind of rumor about the release date, but this one seemed a little relevant, at least worthy of a mention, as so many games are released after shows like ECTS.  We will keep you posted on further developments.

  • Diablo II and other 3D Engines. (1/19)

Blizzard's Mike Huang has given the official word on 3dfx being in Diablo II, as well as saying that Blizzard is leaving the door open for other 3D engines such as Permedia, OpenGL, and others. 

  • Baldur's Gate vs. Diablo II. (1/19)

I have written a small rant called "Baldur's Gate vs. Diablo II" about the differences between the most hotly talked about games of ‘99.  You can read the rant by clicking the above link.  Remember that any and all rants are merely statements of opinion that may or may not be supported by factual information.  It's not an attack against anyone's views, or against Black Isle or Blizzard.

  • Almost Time for Another Designer Diary. (1/18)

According to the date it's almost time for another one of Gamespot's Designer Diaries.  I'm glad, it's about time we had some real Diablo II news to report on, this lack of news can be a real killer.

  • The Release Date Problem... (1/17)

What is this with these "official" release dates?  Over at the Unofficial Diablo II Site I saw a story from a person who had gone to Babbages, the salesperson there had told this gamer that Diablo would be out in March ‘99.  This is highly unlikely, unlikely enough for me to call it a downright lie.  The earliest Diablo II could be released is Summer ‘99, which means a June release.  This is direct, official information from Blizzard, as they have set no firm release date. 

As we have it now, Diablo II may be released anywhere from June ‘99 to December ‘99.  And even these are estimated dates, the game could undergo any number of setbacks, pushing into the year 2000.  Though I truly think it will be released sometime this year, it won't be released in March or April or anytime like that.  If you want to preorder it from any one of these companies than feel free to do so, just don't get your hopes up for an early release like that.  If a set release date is ever established by Blizzard, we will let you know.

  • PCAction Diablo II Preview. (1/16)

The February 1999 edition of PCAction contains a nice interview about Diablo II, though it brooks no additional info it's a nice read regardless.  This preview contains a great splash panel of screenshots which I mean to scan and post on this site as soon as I get the scanner up and working again.

  • VoxWare Issues... (1/15)

Well, it looks like the newest edition of ShadowFactor's Battlefield Communicator is including the often spoke-of VoxWare technology, the same technology that Blizzard is planning to implement for Diablo II.  For those who don't know, VoxWare is an audio application that allows seamless, real-time communication inside the game engine.  More on this soon...

  • Blizzard's Unannounced Games. (1/13)

It's been said that Blizzard's unannounced plans are due to be announced sometime in Febuary.  This game (or games) are also supposed to be of a completely different genre than Blizzard has done before, this could prove interesting.

Battle.Net, the multiplayer connection most Blizzard games use, has grown with the release of the latest addition to its ranks, Brood War.  Here is the email that arrived in most WebMaster's inboxes today:

    Blizzard's online game service usage surges as players jockey for position on StarCraft: Brood War ladder

    IRVINE, Jan. 12, 1999 - Following last week's announcement of the first-ever StarCraft: Brood War tournament, Blizzard Entertainment's free online game service Battle.net over the weekend experienced its highest usage figures. Nearly 500,000 games of Brood War were played from Friday to Sunday as players tried to rack up the necessary 10 open play wins to be eligible to compete in the tournament's regular season. More than 38,000 players have met the criteria to participate in the Season 1 competition.

    Blizzard is providing more than $20,000 in cash and prizes to recognize the world's top players. To qualify for the StarCraft: Brood War Championship, which is scheduled to take place later this year, players must be one of the top sixteen finalists in regular season play. Regular season qualifications span three months culminated by a finals competition to determine the players that will advance to the world championship.

    Said Mike Morhaime, president of Blizzard Entertainment, "Early participation in the StarCraft: Brood War ladder indicates that the tournament is on track to be the largest online event of its kind ever. More importantly, however, is that the competition is attracting the best players from around the world, which will create a true test of talents as the list of ladder players is eventually pared down to 16 gamers for the world championship."

  • Blizzard Changes Hands. (1/12)

The sale of Cendent's software division (Blizzard, Sierra, and Knowledge Adventure) is finally complete.  Now, Havas Inc. controls these companies, but the sale will have no effect on Blizzard's upcoming titles.  So don't worry, Diablo II has not been cancelled.

Since Diablo II news is a little slow of late, I thought I would give everyone an in depth analysis of a game that proves to be direct competition to Diablo II.  Of course, this is the game everyone's been buzzing about: Baldur's Gate.  I recently purchased the game and installed it to get a looksee at what may be Diablo II's greatest challenge for 99's RPG of the year.

First off, I will say that Baldur's Gate is a wonderful game, based on the same AD&D myth and lands we all know and love.  It plays great and offers many wonderful branching quests and scenarios.  The multiplayer is very well done and very fun, there's nothing quite like bashing Gibberlings in a party of friends.

But, I did notice a few problems with the game.  Firstly, you are more or less forced to adventure in a party, and if this isn't to your liking than you're out of luck.  The game can be quite difficult at lower levels, and sometimes is lacking in the action department.

Is Baldur's Gate a good game?  Yes, it is amazingly well done and fun to play.  Will Baldur's Gate make Diablo II obsolete?  I stick with my old opinions on this one, of course it won't.  So why all the competition?  These two games aren't really in the same vein, they offer different things to different players.  I enjoy playing Baldur's Gate as much I will enjoy playing Diablo II, so I won't say one is better than the other, there are both excellent games.  Those are my words, take them for what you will...

  • Blizzard Presence on Battle.Net. (1/9)

Blizzard's Max Schaefer has recently been putting informative posts on the Battle.Net board.  The first post dealt with architecture in Diablo II, stating:

    "We indeed were inspired in part by the temples at Petra. Also, for those interested, check out the Lycian tombs in southern Turkey. We're architecture junkies!"

The second post dealt with the artificial release dates that have been given, Blizard has this to say:

    "The stores make those things up. The release date is still "sometime in 1999." Some stores have even made up subtitles for Diablo II. (For example, Diablo II: Mephisto's Revenge.) I don't know where they get that stuff. We've NEVER given an exact release date for Diablo II."

Check out both of these posts on Battle.Net, it's nice to see Blizzard communicating directly with the people on those boards.

While cruising other information sites, trolling for news, I ran into an announcement for a new Diablo II site specializing in the area of spells called The Green Portal, it is hosted by The Graveyard Network.  This site is one of the small family of specialty sites that deal with limited aspects of Diablo II in amazing detail (like Diablo II Darkness, a site devoted to Diablo II's various monsters).

I like seeing sites like this pop up, it takes multiple sites like these to truly traverse the numinous expansion of ideas Diablo II gives us.  Congratulations to the guys over at The Green Portal for a job well done.

  • GamesMania Poll... (1/5)

GamesMania has put up a poll about RPG's.  The poll is entitled "What's the number one RPG now?", and has the selections: Fallout 2, Ultima Online, Baldur's Gate, or (seriously) Diablo II Will Destroy Them All!  So everyone go vote and make sure that it comes true.

  • Blizzard's New Paladin Render. (1/4)

It seems that Blizzard has a beautiful new render of the Paladin up on their Official Page.  I grabbed the largest chunk of it for viewing, but to see it in its full glory check the main page out.

The Graveyard has had an interview with Glynnis Talken, who was responsible for the voice of Diablo's Rogue, Gillian the Barmaid, and Sarah Kerrigan of StarCraft fame.  The interview goes in-depth on her possible role in Diablo, so check it out here.

Well, Happy New Year's from everybody here at ShadowSpiral Diablo II.  We hope this has been a good year for everyone, we know its been a great year for Diablo II info and sneak-peeks.  But what does 1999 have in store for us?  Well, we'll have a new layout finished by the end of this month, and may be moving to a completely different URL.  We will keep you posted on developments such as that.

Anyway, December's news is now in the News Archive, and this will start a whole new year of posts.  We hope you'll keep stopping by to get the latest updates.  If there's anything anyone thinks I need to add to the site, or if anyone has any comments, don't hesitate to email me.

 

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Skill of the Week

Iron Maiden
Harkening back to an inquisitional torture, the Iron Maiden curse causes all damage an enemy does to you to be returned to that enemy as well.  Part of the Necromancer´s Curses, it is a powerful addition to his arsenal.

Counter courtesy of
TheCounter.com


 
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