September´s News

  • Jobs at Blizzard. (9/30)

Blizzard just posted on both their main site and Battle.net about several job opportunities that are now open.  These are serious jobs, and the skills required will actually have to be met.  But, wouldn´t be great to have a job at the company whose games seem to all be golden this day and age?  See if you have what it takes for a cushy job at Blizzard. 

  • Gamecenter´s Shifting... (9/30)

A very strange thing that DiabloII.net found in the latest Gamecenter article that has quite conflicting views of Diablo II in it.  On the good side, it says at the end that Diablo II is so good that "You might want to reserve your copy!"  However, somewhere else in the article is a passage referring to it as a "Cold One" and says "Diablo II is in danger of losing some of its appeal. At the E3 trade show in May, the game had surprisingly little buzz going for it. Meanwhile, competitors are busy shipping their Diablo II-killers."  Both of these sayings are in the Fall Harvest `99, so you can find them and wonder for yourself what´s going on there. 

  • Of Ladders. (9/30)

In a small dicussion of Ladder games for the upcoming three Blizzard games (WarCraft II: BNE, WarCraft III, and Diablo II), we found out which games will take the Ladder importance in this post by GFrazier:

    Right now the Focus is Warcraft III, when Warcraft II BNE goes gold, it will be War2 BNE, afterwards it will be Diablo II with some Warcraft III mixed in.

Of course, given the head-to-head nature of the WarCraft games, this probably isn´t a bad thing for Diablo II, which is more of a cooperative style game. 

                - Landarth (Newstracker)
                 

  • Gameprix Preview... (9/30)

There´s a small preview of Diablo II over at Gameprix.  It hasn´t got any new information really, but it´s great for a review of what has happened so far and has a bio for each character.  See it here. 

  • Offical Post - Release Date... (9/30)

Blizzard´s Max Schaefer appeared on the Diablo II Suggestions Forum to help with the worry than many gamers have gotten from their local software retailers.  Here´s what Max said in this post:

    "No magazine or vendor knows the release date, because the release date is solely dependent on finishing the game.

    We are striving for release this year, and I have every confidence we will achieve that goal. That being said, we WILL NOT release the game until it is ready, and we WILL release it as soon as it is ready."

This what Blizzard has maintained for a long time, and will continue to maintain until the game is released.  Remember that there is no offical release date as of yet, only a rough one that is subject to change at any time.  You can see the various release date projections as well as our estimates at the Compendium. 

  • Battle.net Problems. (9/30)

Twi bits of related news have appeared on the main Battle.net forum.  The first deals with the patch that was released yesterday, it appears as if the patch causes latency meters to display incorrectly, making most of them red all of the time.  Secondly, a massive fiber cutting accident has occured somewhere, severing the OC-192 lines that connect the East and West coastal regions.  Without these lines the connection to Battle.net for many east coast users will be severly impaired.  These lines are expected to be back up today. 

  • Gamecenter´s Harvest... (9/30)

Gamecenter recently unvieled their Fall Harvest `99, which includes Diablo II.  The information is short and rather general, so nothing new in that department.  It also have a few screenshots, all of them previous SSOTW´s, so no new pics either. 

  • Small Change. (9/29)

In a small amount of section reconstruction we have moved the fire character sections from our Compendium over to the Diablo II Info section.  Other than that, it´s business as usual. 

  • Susan Wooley Q&A... (9/29)

The people over at the Diablo Labyrinth sent in several questions to Blizzard´s Susan Wooley, and here is her responses and their questions: 

    Q: Are you planning on releasing any more screenshots of Battle.net's new interface before the beta starts in October?

    Susan: We'll continue to release new screens as we finalize areas. I'll ask Tony to put BN screens on the list.

    Q: Do you have any updated images of the Diablo 2 action figures that are being worked on?

    Susan: No updated images of action figures yet. The final sculpts are being worked on now.

    Q: Will you be continuing with the Diablo 2 Fansite chat program anymore?

    Susan: We will have a Diablo chat in about 6 weeks. We are going to start trading off Diablo II and Warcraft III now."
  • Battle.net Patch. (9/29)

Blizzard has released  Battle.net patch 1.06 that will download whenever you connect to Battle.net.  This patch is only for Battle.net, and doesn´t affect StarCraft or Diablo gameplay.  Here are the changes it makes:

    "The Battle.net 1.06 upgrade patch for Starcraft and Brood War is now available. This patch adds new functionality to the Battle.net interface that was required to make Starcraft compatible with Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition.

    This patch includes the following changes:

    - Adds command completion to Battle.net chat. It can be accessed by pressing the <tab> key.

    - Fixes some minor Battle.net issues.

    - Displays cancel dialog in situations when server is busy.

    This patch provides an upgrade to Battle.net ONLY and does not affect Starcraft game play in any way.

You can find the official announcement here, in the War Room. 

  • Blizzard North in the Forums... (9/29)

Mike Huang and Eric Sexton (a Diablo II artist) appeared in DiabloII.net´s forum to answer some questions.  In regards to the flame near one of the Bone Mages, Eric replied:

    It is a fire arrow from the Burning Dead archer at the bottom center of the screen. You can just see his head and the tip of his bow.

And when asked who was playing which characters in the screenshot, Mr. Huang says:

    "Eric was the Amazon, Peter was the Necromancer and I was the Barbarian."

That solves a few mysteries and still leaves a few unsolved.  A big question is the green explosion near the Barbarian.  Is it a thrown poison potion, perhaps by the Necromancer? 

  • Screenshot of the Week. (9/28)

Blizzard has unveiled the latest Screenshot of the Week, a shot that´s one of their best so far.  It features a Barbarian, Necromancer, and Amazon as friends in a battle.  Plus, at the bottom-left corner of the shot is look at what might be the newest design for the Town Portal.  You can see it here: 

Mike Huang made a post on the Diablo II Suggestions Forum in response to someone saying that Blizzard needed to update the official Diablo II FAQ.  Basically, Mr. Huang assured us a new FAQ was indeed underway.  You can read his post here. 

                - Landarth (Newstracker)
                 

  • Peter Hu at DiabloII.net... (9/26)

Peter Hu recently paid a visit to DiabloII.net´s forum, where he made the following posts.  The first is about a personal anecdote on the difficulty of Diablo II:

    "Mike (Huang) spent about an hour fighting just one of our sub bosses. His Paladin prevailed in the end, but he's lucky he wasn't playing hardcore! Hmmm... the balance there might need to be adjusted, unless of course you guys are looking for a challenge?"

Mike Huang himself through his own perspective into this, explaining what happened:

    "Actually, it was a Barbarian, and yes, it was an imbalance on the monster side of things -- We had changed a few stats which made the sub-boss have on the order of 15 to 30 times the number of hit points he should have had."

A very frightening thing to imagine, but a balancing issue they´ll no doubt fix soon.  Mr. Hu´s next post deals with the issue of being able to cast spells at a lower skill level, something he went over a few days ago:

    "Since it occurred to me that my post regarding variable level skills might be taken out of context, I thought I'd clarify: I don't think that being able to set your casting level for skills would add to the game more than it would detract from it. However, I do think that the idea that the poster had was a good one and that it was at least worth thinking about. As I'm not actually working on skills, it was pretty much just an opinion on my part :)

    Oh, and for those who think that too much of the game has been revealed by the (might I add excellent) fansite coverage -- rest easy, there are plenty of surprises in store. Muhahaha, etc."

A good amount of news here, and even some information and praise. 

                - Landarth (Newstracker)
                 

  • Newsletter Sent. (9/26)

The latest edition of the ShadowSpiral Newsletter has just shipped and should be arriving in everyone´s in-boxes as we speak.  We hope you enjoy our newsletter, and please send us your questions, comments, or suggestions. 

  • Blizzard in Time Magazine. (9/25)

Our favorite game creators, Blizzard Entertainment, recently got mentioned in one of America´s most popular publication, Time Magazine.  You can find that article in the September 22nd issue of Time Magazine. 

  • A Voice in the Darkness. (9/25)

A strange turn of events: a heretofore unknown employee of Blizzard, namely Peter Hu, has been at the task of answering questions on the Diablo II Suggestions Forum.  His first post addresses being able to reduce your skill level to use lower level skills:

    I agree, it is a good idea in one sense, however it has to be balanced vs. the cost of having additional complexity in the interface. Also it raises additional issues during balancing... who do you balance the game for: the average gamer who will not use the feature or the "power" gamer who will be min/maxing it? As it stands, you will typically have the option of using your lower level spells in situations where you feel that you can get away with them. Hopefully this would cause players to switch between a greater variety of spells rather than using specific spells "to death."

In his next post his is replying to this post by Varaya:

    "Thanks for your opinion Varaya. We do have a way to limit the number of players that can join your game at create time. We probably will not add that to the in-game interface, which is complicated enough as it is.

    Regarding the PK issue, there are lots of different opinions here. However we are all against one-hit kills."

Mr. Hu had some other posts, but they were just one-liners to clear things up or lighten the mood of the forum, which has of late been a little over-stressed with the PK debate raging on.  It´s great to see Blizzard taking some much interest in what is happening there. 

  • Poll Imbalance... (9/25)

On an EverQuest site, namely EQHaven.com, there seems to be a peculiar imbalance on their poll.  The poll asks "If all the new RPGs Launch tomorrow what would you do?"  The current results show that Diablo II leads the poll with 1,096 votes while its closest contender, EverQuest, has only 156 votes to its name.  Feel free to vote if you like, but I´m sure the results of this poll will be judged imbalanced. 

  • An Apology. (9/24)

I would like to apologize for the site not getting updated in a timely fashion.  I had several server-related problems, and I thought the index file had been refreshed with a new copy when it actually had not.  The update for the Gamespot Preview didn´t make the trip, and I was late in catching the mistake.  We here at ShadowSpiral Diablo II are devoted to what we do, and we try very hard to keep constantly updated.  Sorry for not being timely, I hope its a rare occurance. 

  • Gamespot Preview... (9/24)

The third part of Gamespot´s ongoing Diablo II preview come out today, it is over Diablo II characters.  While this preview is a great read, it didn´t really have a lot of new information, most of it being a compiled source for the characters.  You can read the preview here.  The preview did have a new screenshot, which can be seen below: 

One of the most inherently delicate issues in Diablo II is that of PK´ing, and the factions who represent both sides of the issue are multifaceted and varied.  Some only wish to kill, others have numerous reasons, such as the want for realism.  This post by Felix the Cat (post not shown because of its length) demonstrates the more honorable side of the Pro-PK arguement, to which Mike Huang replied in his post:

    You do make some compelling points. I should probably point out that until the game ships, everything is extremely subject to change. Meaning, all the points I've illustrated today are true for todays version, but might not be true for the beta or final version of the game. Obviouly, the pk issue is a very delicate issue, and we are trying to work something out that would be good for pks and others alike, and are open to suggestions (after all, this is what the forum is for).

Makes you realize that while the game is still under development, your suggestions and input will indeed make a difference.  If there´s something you feel a need to say or change about Diablo II, then make yourself heard. 

  • On the Beta´s Delay. (9/24)

A series of compelling posts by Max Schaefer goes into how the Beta will work and why the delay is actually good for the game, meaning that it could concievably be released sooner than anticipated:

    "Here's why it makes the game come out earlier. If we had released the beta, we would have had to split the code base into two seperate projects: the final game, and the beta. Any b.net changes or bugs we find during the beta would have to be fixed simultaneously on both the beta (to support the ongoing games) and in the final game code we are running in the office. This has the inevitable effect of delaying the progress the non-beta artists and programmers are making. Integrating all of the beta changes into the final code at a later date is not an option; changes and bug fixes need to be made immediately, or they have to be investigated and tested all over again. By finishing the rest of the game before we release the beta, we prevent the delays that this would cause.

    Additionally, when the beta comes out, it is only natural that the good folks here at Blizzard North will be paying extra attention to the response to the beta, and not concentrating on all the work we have yet to do. This way, we get all of our major work out of the way, and can concentrate on, and participate in, the beta test.

    When I said earlier that the game would come out earlier this way, I meant it would come out earlier than if we hadn't delayed the beta. We still anticipate a December release, although we will release it sooner if we can (obviously!)

And here Mr. Schaefer outlines how many slots will be open for the Beta, which is more than we expected given the previous information:

    "We will have 1000 spots reserved in the beta for the public. Additionally, there will be all of Blizzard plus additional betas going to selected companies and individuals. (Don't ask, you wont get one. The signup is the only way.)

    This amount will tell us what we need to know about the performance of individual servers and server groups.

    We are preparing, however, for massive amounts of D2 players following the release. Unless the sales exceed even our most optimistic estimates, there will be more than adequate hardware in place. If sales do exceed our optimistic estimates, we'll simply put more servers in place. We have the technology.

    As an aside to anyone reading this, thank you for your support in our decision to delay the beta. It is now clear that we have made the right decision. Allowing our whole team to focus on the non-beta portions of the game has already payed great dividends. Though we are working insane hours, the quality of the resulting product and the pace of our progress have lifted morale throughout our company. We are anxious to get the game out to you all, and are doing literally everything in our power to do so.

I know this will help me sleep better, knowing that the Beta Delay issue is well to be, and there is an increased number of Beta openings. 

  • Neutrality and the Party... (9/23)

Everyone´s favorite answer-man, Mike Huang, goes in depth on the Neutral setting in this post:

    "It's not a loophole at all.

    Neutral and Friendly are essentially the same thing. The difference being that in Neutral, you aren't partied with the person, and thus are not sharing experience.

    Neutral and Friendly still do NO DAMAGE to other players.

    ONLY by being hostile can you hurt others."

New info for this setting, it clears up some matter people were having problems with.  This post deals with the Party system and how messages will be relayed to the characters when a player becomes hostile to another:

    "Yes, you can check what your relations are with other players in your game in the Party Screen.

    I don't think messages about hostility are broadcast to anyone else (which leaves the door open for secret alliances).

    Death notices about players, are broadcast to everyone in the game with the name of whatever killed them -- whether it be player, monster or trap. "

This is good, as it allows a certain element of mystery to be added to the whole affair.  And for those of you confused by the whole thing, Mr. Huang offers this post to clear some matters up:

    "<heavy sigh>
    This issue needs much clairification.

    In first post, I describe the situation as myself being the target, and Sir_Osis being the PK.

    If Sir_Osis wants to PK me, he has to declare his hostility in town.

    When he does this, my relationship to him (and only him) changes to hostile automatically, no matter where I am. (It's only fair, right, to give me a chance to defend myself against him).

    So, in effect, I am hostile (and can damage Sir_Osis) but unless I go back to town and change my relationship to hostile with the other players in the game, the only person I can hurt in that game is Sir_Osis. (unless someone else in the game who is in town targets me as hostile).

    So, nothing in those two posts is contradictory."

A good basic example of the Party System at work.  This should show Blizzard´s detractors that they do indeed maintain a presence on the forums. 

                - Landarth (Newstracker)
                 

  • Time Delay Update. (9/23)

This post by Mike Huang was added to the ongoing thread based on the Time Delay problem and its resolution.  Here´s what was said:

    One thing slipped my mind in my previous posts: You can only change to hostile in town. Which prevents people from ambushing you without fair warning.

This changes the scenario somewhat, and the doubts PK advocates had when the announcement was made have returned in rare form.  If you like or dislike these additions, make your feelings known in the Diablo II Suggestions Forum.  You can see Mr. Huang´s actual post here. 

  • Time Delay Question... (9/23)

Mike Huang made a post on the Diablo II Suggestions Forum today relating to the time-delay effect people were talking about when you became hostile to another player.  Here´s what he said:

    I have no idea where all this talk of a twenty second delay before going hostile came from. I suspect it is probably a misinterpretation of a suggestion someone posted, but nevertheless, it doesn't exist.  There is no delay between switching from friendly to hostile.

This means that there is no pausing effect when another player becomes hostile to you, and they can start attacking you right away.  This has caused mixed feelings about the whole relationship settings in Diablo II.  Here´s what Mr. Huang said in response to doubts about the settings:

    The point is to make it clear what the intentions are of the players you are playing with. Once I see the message "Sir_Osis has expressed hostility towards you", I know my life is in danger, and I know I have the following actions I can take to prevent my death:

    1. I can ignore the message and continue on my way (my relationship with you has already changed to hostile, so I can damage you back, should you attack me.

    2. I can Town portal back to town, where I will be safe and can deposit my money, thus making any further attempt for you to kill me relatively worthless, since you won't get anything from me -- my gold is in the bank, and my equipment is on my corpse).

    3. I can leave the game and start up a password protected one.

    I don't think anyone who hasn't played the game has any sense of just how large (in terms of game squares) Act I is, let alone the rest of the world of Diablo II. If you join a game, you start off with no idea where the other character can be, and it will take time to figure out where the other player is. Also keep in mind that you can specify level restrictions on your game to keep out guys who are way higher level than you, effectively leveling the player killing field.

You can see the first post here and the response post down the thread here. 

                - Landarth (Newstracker)
                 

  • Pondering the Word. (9/22)

There has recently been a stir about the words on the Diablo II retail box, words that have been translated as "Malum Suneresu."  The phrase itself seems to be Latin, but Blizzard won´t reveal the meaning of the words until the game has been released.  Of course, this won´t stop many people from delving into the mystery of this strange phrase.  We are leading an exploration into it ourselves, so stay tuned for our results. 

                - Landarth (Newstracker)
                 

  • DirectX 7.0 Available... (9/22)

Microsoft has released DirectX 7.0 today, and has made it available for download.  DirectX is a very popular set of drivers that many Windows-native games need to have.  You can find the download at Microsoft´s site, as well as in our Downloads section. 

  • Official Blizzard Posts. (9/22)

Several posts by Blizzard represenatives have appeared in the forums.  Here is the first one by the ever-popular Mike Huang:

    The Intellimouse Explorer is the only one supported with the 5 button configuration. Your standard Intellimouse will function as a normal mouse for the game.

You can see this post here.  The next post is by Max Schaefer, telling people who think Blizzard doesn´t particupate enough in the forums why this is so:

    We've already given out quite a bit of information on the game, in different formats. We have interviews with gaming sites (and fansites) on a pretty regular basis and host fansite chats on a regular basis. Every week, we release a new screenshot for a game that isn't even in beta yet. How many other games can say the same? A lot of the things that people want to know have been diseminated to the public through various means already, and there's plenty of knowledgeable people on this forum who post answers to the more common questions, and there's no reason, if the answer is correct, to echo their words in an "official Blizzard response". And of course, there are the questions that we can't (or won't) answer.

You can see this post here. 

  • Diablo II Box Info... (9/21)

Yegg´s Tavern has e-mailed Blizzard PR asking about the Diablo II Box.  Here´s what they had to say:

    "a) Is it possible to show us an image of the back, or are you wanting to keep something for yourselves (which i could understand completely)?

    I'm sorry, but not at this time ...

    b) The writing on the sides of the front face, Malum Sanebesa, could I ask what that means?

    We are going to wait until the game is completed and has shipped to reveal the "official" wording and translation. I think that by springing the translation at the time of shipment will only add to the excitement over the completed product and hopefully increase momentum as the game hits the store shelves."

So that mysterious saying will remain a mystery.  That is, unless someone comes up with a good translation for the phrase.  It sounds Latin to me, but that´s just a guess. 

                - Landarth (Newstracker)
                 

  • Screenshot of the Week. (9/21)

The Screenshot of the Week is here in all its glory.  This time we are treated to the Paladin making use of one of his combat skills, namely Zeal.  See it here: 

A post on the Diablo II Suggestions Forum by Max Schaefer confirms the annoucement of a delayed beta test.  You can read the post here. 

                - Landarth (Newstracker)
                 

  • Beta Test Delay... (9/20)

An e-mail from Blizzard´s Tony Gervase arrived today, telling us that the Beta Test has been delayed until the end of October as to allow them to concentrate on Act III and the Finale.  While this is indeed sad news, Blizzard´s devotion to Diablo II knows no bounds, and all can be assured that this move is for the best.  As a result, our Compendium section has been updated with the new info. 

  • Diablo II Vote. (9/19)

There´s a new vote between all of Blizzard´s latest game over at Infoceptor, once a StarCraft only site that is now broadening its horizons to include all Blizzard´s games.  Stop by and vote for your favorite, and if we can let´s try to put Diablo II where it deserves to be... at the top. 

  • Major Updates... (9/18)

In light of the Gamespot Preview there have been major updates to this site.  You can find updates to all the Act section in our Diablo II Info section, as well as in our Compendium.  We aren´t finished yet though, and more updates are yet to come. 

  • Preview is Up! (9/17)

The second part of Gamespot´s ongoing Diablo II preview is up and viewable here.  I must say that it is one of the most in-depth previews I have seen yet, with lots of new information and screenshots we are still analyzing and placing into the various sections.  For now, enjoy these Screenshots the preview brought us:

We´ll have the other sections updated tomorrow morning, and the updates will be on a truly monumental scale.  Hope to see you then. 

                - Landarth (Newstracker)
                - Darkk (WebMaster)
                 

  • Upcoming Preview. (9/17)

Just wanted to remind our viewers that the second part of the Gamespot Diablo II preview is due out today, although it might be delayed a day or two.  We are watching for it very closely, and as soon as it´s up we´ll analyze it. 

                - Landarth (Newstracker)
                 

  • EAX and A3D... (9/16)

It´s been a busy day on on the forums, and here´s yet another informative post by Mike Huang:

    Yes, we will have A3D support as well as support for EAX.

This means that Diablo II will have 3D sound, a great way to create a powerfully immersive environment. 

                - Landarth (Newstracker)
                 

  • Official Posts... (9/16)

There´s an official post by Mike Huang in the Diablo II Suggestions Forum regarding Area of Effect type spells and their effect on friendly players:

    I see a number of posts concerning splash damage and area effect spells. Those spells will not harm players that are friendly (in the same party). I hope this clarifies things.

You can see the actual post here.  Also, Mr. Huang clears up some of the questions on Relationship settings:

    'Neutral' is what we call the default setting, when you join a game. 'Party/Friendly' is when you join a party. 'Hostile' is when your intentions are to damage the other player. If you decide to go hostile against another player, their relationship to you also changes to hostile automatically. Only hostile players can harm others. An example is in order: Player "MastaPKer" wants to kill another player -- we'll call him "Newbie". MastaPKer sets his relationship with Newbie to "hostile". Automatically, Newbie is notified that MastaPKer has gone hostile towards him, and Newbie's relationship against MastaPKer is set to hostile. If Newbie sets his relationship to neutral (which he shouldn't do unless he wants to get pounded) against MastaPKer, he will still take damage from MastaPKer because MastaPKer still has his relationship against Newbie set to hostile. MastaPKer, on the other hand will not take damage from Newbie unless Newbie changes his relationship against MastaPKer to hostile.

You can see this post here.  Finally, he clears up an issue concerning 5-button mice:

    The Intellimouse Explorer by Microsoft is the only mouse that currently supports the five button configuration. Here are the keys:

    Left Mouse: Skill 1/Attack/Move
    Right Mouse: Skill 2
    The middle mouse button will Highlight items on the ground.
    The small thumb button: Run
    The large thumb button: Stand

You can see this post here. 

                - Landarth (Newstracker)
                 

  • Official Box Art. (9/16)

Blizzard has posted a wonderfully full-sized shot of the box art as was seen about a week ago.  You can see this shot below:

We´ve added a new part to our Diablo II Info section called the Diablo II Dictionary.  It is a dictionary of terms, phrases, and other sayings used in both Diablo II-related forums and by Diablo veterans.  It is meant as a resource for those new to the scene, but contains many things some experienced gamers might not know.  We hope it can help with some Diablo II questions. 

  • Waiting is the Hardest Part... (9/15)

In the most recent issue of PC Gamer, a small table chart called "Waiting is the Hardest Part" appeared on page 52.  It lists 99´s most anticipated games, and Diablo II took the chart with 18% of the vote.  Following close behind it was Team Fortress 2 with 17% of the vote.  They were the two highest scorers, with the third place pick, C&C: Tiberian Sun, having only 9% of the vote. 

  • Diablo II Forum Troubles. (9/15)

The Diablo II Suggestions Forum appears to be malfunctioning, stalling when you try to post.  It should be up and running again soon. 

                - Landarth (Newstracker)
                 

  • Australian Preview... (9/15)

There´s a small preview of Diablo II at Hyperactive, an Australian gaming site.  The preview doesn´t have any new information or screenshots, but its good catch-up material for those new to the Diablo II scene.  You can find that preview here. 

  • Favorite RPG Vote. (9/15)

There´s a vote at Gamers Central where you can choose your favorite RPG, but only Diablo (and not Diablo II) is one of the choices.  But, feel free to vote for your choice anway, and hopefully we will see Diablo rise to the occasion and storm the poll.  It is, in our opinion, the best RPG listed. 

  • Blizzard Addresses IPX... (9/14)

A Forum-goer on DiabloII.net´s Forum inquired about IPX.SPX support for Diablo II and recieved an answer from Blizzad´s Mike Huang.  Here is that answer:

    Is there really a reason for IPX/SPX any longer?IPX/SPX is often used in LAN games, and for LAN games, it should be just as easy to setup a TCP/IP network as it is to setup an IPX/SPX one. If there is much demand for IPX/SPX in this day and age, we will probably consider it.

    Just because IPX/SPX does not appear on the finalized list, does not rule it out, it just means that we are still not sure about it.

There it is, as of now no IPX/SPX support for Diablo II.  Of course, as Mr. Huang points out, this could easily change. 

  • Diablo II Preview on Movies. (9/14)

A while back it was mentioned that copies of the "The Corruptor" would contain a quick Diablo II trailer.  It seems as though DiabloII.net has managed to get their hands on a Quicktime copy of the trailer, which is now available in our Downloads section too.  The trailer doesn´t contain anything new in terms of gameplay footage, most of it is taken from the E3 Cinematic or the trailer released on the StarCraft: Brood Wars CD.  However, there was a brief snippet of info some people might like:

    "Mention "The Corruptor" and save $10 on select Blizzard Games. Call 1-800-953-SNOW. Offer Expires 12/31/99"

Wonder if there´s a secret message in that? 

                - Landarth (Newstracker)
                 

  • Fansite Interview at Yegg´s... (9/14)

Yegg´s Tavern, the site that won this month´s random Interview with Bill Roper, has posted the interview on their site here.  While the interview didn´t have a great deal of new information, there were a few good bits to be had.  Check our Compendium for the latest updates. 

                - Landarth (Newstracker)
                 

  • We´ve Archived the Old News. (9/14)

The older news for September has been placed in our News Archive, so if you feel you´ve missed some of this month´s exciting news then head that way and catch up on the past. 

  • Screenshot of the Week... (9/14)

It´s Tuesday, and it brings with it another great SSOTW from the latest build of Diablo II.  Today´s screenshot is espicially interesting, see it below: 

There seems to be a new preview over at PCArena, though sadly there´s no new information nor screenshots to be had.  It is, however a good recap of Diablo II if you´re new to the scene, and had an excellent array of previously seen shots.  You can find that preview here. 

  • Layout Changes. (9/13)

The entire staff here at ShadowSpiral Diablo II is pooling ideas and resources together to create a better, more intuitive, and up-to-date layout for this site.  As a result, you may notice a few changes before the really big change that´s in the works.  Also, there might be a few sporadic errors, but if we find them we´ll get them under control ASAP.  As always, visitor input is always welcome.  If you have any ideas for things you would like see out of the new layout, as well as things you would like to change, just send us the word through e-mail or via our Message Board. 

  • Diablo II in PvP. (9/13)

Diablo II has appeared in PvP, an online cartoon.  Today´s issue was particularly good is you´re a Diablo II fan worried about the advent of WarCraft III.  Anyway, the cartoon his here, so enjoy. 

  • Dutch Magazine Preview... (9/12)

A Dutch Magazine, Hoog Spel, has run a small preview of Diablo II.  Although so far no new information has been reported, any Dutch viewers can feel free to send in an English translation.  Also, there were screenshots in the preview, but it is unknown if they are new or not. 

The fourteenth edition of the ShadowSpiral Diablo II newsletter has been shipped.  Let us know if you haven´t recieved your copy of the newsletter or you have any problems with it.  We will make sure to remedy it or send you your copy. 

  • ShadowSpiral Contest! (9/12)

We here at ShadowSpiral Diablo II have officially begun a contest that will run for the rest of Septermber.  It is a fan fiction contest, and the person who submits the story that the ShadowSpiral Staff finds the best will be given a free copy of Diablo II when it is released.  We will also have a few other prizes too.  For more information, visit our Contests section. 

                - The ShadowSpiral Staff
                 

  • Liber Fictionarum Update. (9/11)

The next addition to the Magus Cycle has been added to our Liber Fictionarum section.  This story is called The Trial of the Necromancers and it deals with the exile of the Necromantic mages from the Brotherhood of the Vizjerei.  We hope you enjoy this addition and all of the other stories on our site, and if you have any questions or comments please send us an e-mail or use the Message Board. 

  • Spanish Translation. (9/11)

The Interview with Bill Roper that appeared on Meristation.com has been translated.  It´s a short translation and interview (no more than a question really), so we though we would post it as a news post and not in the Articles archive: 

    ECTS Diablo II may be released within a month and a half

    It was one of the big absences from the convention but we were able to talk with its producer Bill Roper.

    Since one of the most anticipated games is D2, one of the necessary tasks we had to complete at ECTS was to find out when the game will be released.

    Bill Roper, father of Diablo and D2, attended to us in his usual kind and generous manner and, new in his appearance this year, this great big guy was sporting much longer hair than we remembered. The question was a direct one and sent his way right after the greeting, "Hey Bill, where is your game?" Bill responded that it was practicaly done and because of that reason they hadn't brought it to the convention and also they didn't want to take the spotlight off WCIII. But within two weeks , around Sept. 20th, D2 would begin final beta testing and Bill hopes that within a month later it would begin the massive commercialization. Finally it seems clear that D2 will be released before Christmas but it should then by competing with an unexpected rival, Nox from Westwood Studios, an eventuality that could have been prevented had it been released previously."
  • Community Update... (9/11)

A new guild site, the Diablo II Lords, has been added to our Community section.  This is an excellent and quickly growing guild with a very nice site.  It is run by Lord Nightshade, and if you´re interested in belonging to a guild give them a try. 

  • Spanish Interview. (9/11)

A Spanish site, Meristation.com, has released an interview with Bill Roper that they had at the latest ECTS.  If anyone knows Spanish and wants to read it, it is here.  Also, if anyone has good Spanish to English translation skills, then feel free to send us a translation of the article. 

There´s a little song available from PC.IGN.COM that´s pretty funny at times.  You can hear it from this download. 

                - Landarth (Newstracker)
                 

  • The MGL Chat. (9/9)

The MGL chat has come and gone.  It brought a nice look into the Blizzard family,  but no new Diablo II info.  It seems as though the Blizzard spokesman for the chat, Brian Love, was told to head off Diablo II-related questions at the pass.  Of course, we didn´t have high expectations for the chat, but it was still a letdown. 

                - Landarth (Newstracker)
                 

  • Gamespot News... (9/9)

Two pieces of info concerning Gamespot.  First off, they have a poll asking for people´s impressions of the just-announced WarCraft III project.  Though this isn´t Diablo II-related, WarCraft III is at the top recent happenings at Blizzard.  Also, don´t forget that the 17th will bring on the second part of Gamespot´s Diablo II preview, hopefully with new screenshots and info. 

                - Landarth (Newstracker)
                 

  • Three More Shots. (9/9)

SilentBob released three new shots today that he took at the latest ECTS, but unfortunately all three of them were very blurry.  Anyway, you can see all three of them below: 

There is a chat with Blizzard´s Brian Love today, on the MacGamer´s Ledge forum.  The chat seems to be open to all, so you can be sure ShadowSpiral Diablo II will be in attendance.  You can go here for more details.  Thanks to the Diablo II Realm for the info. 

                - Landarth (Newstracker)
                 

  • Introducing Landarth. (9/9)

The ShadowSpiral Staff would like to take a moment and formally introduce our new Newstracker, Landarth.  In his short two days as our official Newstracker (see Site Info), he has worked very hard and has already earned our acclaim.  Having run a Diablo II fansite of his own, he knows the ropes, and his addition to our staff makes this site even better.  Expect to see a lot more posts by him in the future. 

  • Havas Buying Eidos... (9/9)

A news snippet on Adrenaline Vault says that Havas (the same company that owns Blizzard and Sierra) could be buying Eidos (of Tomb Raider fame).  We´re not sure if this will go through, some such buyouts don´t, but it seems possible.  You can see the news post here. 

  • Retail Box Confirmed. (9/8)

Yegg´s Tavern won out the e-mail race to get Blizzard to respond to the recent box art that appear at EBWorld.  It appears as though the box art is indeed legitimate, here´s what Blizzard PR had to say:

    The box shot that EB is using is the most accurate reflection of the eventual box for Diablo II. However, the box has not been finalized and may be subject to changes.

You can see that box art here. 

                - Landarth (Newstracker)
                 

  • The Diablo II Retail Box? (9/8)

It seems that EBWorld has a copy of the Diablo II box on a their site as a promotion for buying the game (it says $49.99 and is due out 11/16/99).  The box looks strangely authentic and might possibly be the true box art.  You can see the promo here on EBWorld.  We are checking in to see if this box picture is legitimate or not. 

WebMaster´s Note: Also, allow me to introduce the newest member of the ShadowSpiral Diablo II staff, our Newstracker Landarth.

                - Landarth (Newstracker)
                 

  • Death of a Legacy. (9/8)

It appears many Diablo II sites are folding as we approach the final hurdles on the way to the game.  The newest to fall is Diablo II Inferno, a very old site once ran by Deathknight.  The Diablo II Inferno was a good site, run by a dedicated staff, and we are very sorry to see them go. 

  • A Few Updates... (9/7)

There were a few minor updates made to the site over the past two weeks which may have been lost in the shuffle of events.  I would just like to point them out so anyone who missed them can look them up.  Our Compendium section has been updated with a new announced ETA and a new ShadowSpiral guess for the ETA.  There are also revised system requirements and beta test in there.

We have updated our Barbarian section with skill icon for Bash, and have also added "Bone Mage" to our growing Beastiary.  And, in case you missed it, we´ve added a new feature to Diablo II Info called the ShadowSpiral Virtual User Interface, a interactive screenshot you can explore.  We will be adding others like it to explore the various elements of Diablo II.  We hope you enjoy our site, and please feel free to let us know what you think. 

  • Screenshot of the Week... (9/7)

Here´s Blizzard´s latest offering of the SSOTW, and it´s a great one at that: 

While  ECTS is mostly concentrating on the advent of WarCraft III, we were able to snag a few Diablo II pictures.  They are relatively blurry and of low quality, but they are new.  See them below: 

War3.Net is offering a copy of Diablo II, when it is released, in a contest random drawing.  One catch to the contest is that you have to name your favorite site along with your vote.  We hope we rank up there enough to be named by some people.  Anyway, go here to register yourself. 

  • Blizzard, Preoccupied? (9/5)

A question has appeared on the Battle.net forums, they appear to be concerned that WarCraft III will begin to slow down the production of Diablo II.  GFrazier is here to calm those concerns in this official post: 

    "No Warcraft III has not slowed down Diablo II. Diablo II is Blizzard north. Warcraft III Blizzard South."
  • Community Update... (9/5)

Two good updates to our Community section.  First off we have Necrodon´s Diablo II Page, a great Diablo II site run by Necrodon.  The site expertly laid out and assembled, and should prove to be a very good addition.  The second, BlizzardEmpire, has returned.  It´s run by our good friend Landarth, and as always is an excellent site. 

  • ShadowSpiral Virtual UI. (9/5)

We´ve finished the ShadowSpiral Virtual User Interface, a nice addition that will allow adepts and novices a chance to explore Diablo II´s user interface.  You can find the Virtual User Interface from our Diablo II Info section as well.  Please let the user interface download, though, as it is a little large.  We hope you enjoy it, and feel free to e-mail us if you have any problems. 

  • WarCraft III! (9/5)

What a wonderful thing to hear, the unannounced project has official come up as WarCraft III!  Old hands at WarCraft I and II remember it as a pinnacle of RTS gaming, along with its futuristic brother, StarCraft.  In any case, you can view more about WarCraft III at Gamecenter´s full preview of it, which is here.  Also, for the skeptical among us, here is the official Blizzard press release for WarCraft III.  I also want to hand a ton of thanks to all the people at Blizzard, WarCraft III sounds like a awesome game, and I´m sure the Community is mobilizing construction for Fansites already.  Who knows, there might even be one in the works for us. 

  • ECTS is Near... (9/4)

The ECTS show is near, and there´s an article at Gamespot UK covering it.  You can see the article here, and it covers what Blizzard will be doing at this ECTS.  Diablo II will be there, of course, as will the unannounced project that has everyone in suspense. 

  • The Moving Comet. (9/3)

Yes, it appears that the comet on the rendered shot on Blizzard´s main page is moving, making its way across the sky.  No idea what this might signify though... the newer rendered shot has been added to the older shot. 

So, what is happening on 9/5/99?  The answer: the European Consumer Trade Show.  It is at this show that Blizzard will be announcing their unannounced projects.  The bets are on the table as to what it might be.  As for our opinion, we´re going to take a chance and say it´s some kind of futuristic RPG.  What do you think, let us know? 

  • A Hardcore Death. (9/3)

Resident spokesman Mike Huang explains what happens when a "Hardcore" character dies in this post on the Diablo II Suggestions Forum: 

    If you look on the battle.net interface, you will notice that your character is depicted on the screen. For Hardcore players that die, they can re-logon to battle.net with that character and will appear on the chracter depiction as ghost. They will not be able to create or join games, they will just be able to access the battle.net chat channels.
  • Yegg´s Wins Interview... (9/3)

The word has come in from Blizzard´s Tony Gervase that Yegg´s Tavern, a venerable Diablo II site, has won the Monthly Interview for September.  Due to Bill Roper´s schedule, however, that interview won´t occur until later this month.  Congradulations, Yegg´s Tavern. 

  • Blizzard Page Change. (9/3)

Blizzard´s main page has changed recently, now bearing a beautiful rendered shot of a falling star or comet with the ominous words: "The World Will Change" and beneath it the date of 9/5/99.  What could this message mean?  We are voting that 9/5/99 is the day of Diablo II Beta Test signups, a day that, at least for us, for definately change our world and sleeping habits.  Of course it could be anything, stay tuned for more. 

Blizzard answer-man Mike Huang is having a difficult time with "Hardcore", a recent addition to character generation that makes death permenant for characters who choose it as an option.  Here´s what he has to say in in this post:

    "The reason that the hardcore box is there at character creation is because that character will remain a hardcore character until the day they die."

And also this post on whether disconnecting will affect "Hardcore":

    "Disconnecting will leave you in the game vulnerable temporarily. So, if you're getting chomped by monsters and you dc, more than likely your character will die rather than be saved.

    In hardcore mode, we will probably add a waiting period before you can quit out.

    We definitely will take a look at this in the beta."

Definately sounds like an interesting and difficult way to play.  If Diablo II has difficulty setting, then "Hardcore" will add a whole new dimension to the game.  Imagine taking on Diablo in the highest difficulty with only one life to live. 

  • Changes at Havas... (9/3)

Havas, the company who bought Sierra and Blizzard from Cendent, is preparing to do some major reorginazation with their companies.  More than likely this won´t case an noticeable changes in the company, but we will keep you posted on the details. 

It has come down from Tony Gervase of Blizzard PR that the E3 cinematic will be included on the Beta CD is its full, letterbox version.  Although this cinema can be downloaded right now (see our Downloads section), it is still good to hear it.  It is an excellent cinema and if you haven´t seen it yet you definately should. 

  • Bill Roper Interview... (9/2)

There´s an interview with Bill Roper over at GameStrategy.Com, which you can read here.  The interview is a very good read, with a few new pieces of information.  For example: he confirmed that Guild Halls will maintain a unique list of character names, meaning that people with more than one character can join seperate guilds.  It also confirmed a set of system requirements, which Mr. Roper said were a Pentium II 200 and 32 MB RAM, of course he said this wasn´t the requirements, and that it could change at any time. 

  • Official Posts. (9/2)

There were several official posts today, given by Blizzard´s Mike Huang.  Here´s the first on a question about NPC speech with dialog:

    "They will have audible speech as well as dialogue boxes. Part of the confusion may lie in the fact that we were currently recording the voices when we did the Gamespot preview, so a lot of the NPCs didn't have voices yet, and only dialogue boxes appeared."

You can see the post here.  Also this post on DiabloII.net´s Forum, concerning the new option saw in the Gamespot preview known as "Hardcore" (see Screenshot #165):

    The hardcore option is a more difficult way of playing the game. Taking it's cue from the old classic dungeon hack type games, you only have one life. Once you die, that's it, the character is gone forever (or rather, if you log on again, you appear in b.net as a ghost). You cannot be resurrected, it is a permanent death.

    I want to re-emphasize that this is for the extreme, hardcore gamer, the one that thinks they know everything about the game and consider themselves a true expert in the game. The monsters aren't any more difficult or easier than normal mode, but there
    are no second chances, and you've got to have guts, knowing that everytime you play, you stand a chance of losing your character permanently.

    It is definitely not for the faint of heart.

    This may be an option that only unlocks after if you've solved the game, or not. It hasn't been decided yet. There will be ample warning when you click on the check box what hardcore signifies.

    Okay, so now you're wondering what do I get out of hardcore that I can't get out of normal?

    #1 You get a colorful red name in battle.net. (the color may change, we haven't decided yet)

    #2 Upon killing certain bosses you will recieve a title. This is the only way currently to obtain a title.

    #3 Hardcore will be a ladder type.

You can see this post directly here.  Lots of new info from these official posts, and the answers to a few burning questions.  More to come soon. 

  • Diablo II Info Update... (9/2)

The first is a series of updates, we have updated the Act I section of our Diablo II Info section.  This update deals mainly with the quests we´ve uncovered through the interviews with the PCXL winners and the Gamespot preview that occured yesterday.  More updates are on the way. 

  • New Preview at Gamespot. (9/1)

There´s a brand new preview over at Gamespot, complete with new information and screenshots.  It´s seven pages in length and can be seen here.  As always, the newest info is detailed in our Compendium, and the new screenshots featured in the preview are viewable in our Screenshots section and below:

There were also some MP3 sound clips by Matt Uelman available from the preview.  Since the Gamespot FTP was severely bogged down, we took the liberty of copying these clips from them and placing them on our servers.  You can hear them below (also in our Downloads section):

We will have a great deal more on this massive preview very soon.  A great deal of thanks go out to Landarth, without whom we would have never known about this preview. 

  • Is It the Beta? (9/1)

Well, according to Mike Huang, the build of Diablo II the PCXL winners are playing is not yet the beta build.  Here are his words (click here for his original post): 

    "Not quite the same build. We still don't have a beta build yet, so what the PCXL winners were playing was a current pre-beta build, which had most of the features that the beta will have, but there are still bugs to fix and balancing to be done before we can go with a beta build of the game."
  • New Rendered Shot. (9/1)

Looks like we forgot the rendered shot that always accompanies the SSOTW.  In any case, you can view this excellent shot below: 

The month of August has come and gone, and has since been placed in our News Archive section.  If you feel you´ve missed something from the month of August, just head to the archive and select it under the 1999 months.  This month promises to be exciting and quite full of news, as we are almost assured it will be the month of the Beta Test. 

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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.

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