Blizzard’s Battle.Net balance is live
The Battle.net balance will let players convert cash into Blizzard bucks, which can be used to buy Blizzardy bits like World of Warcraft game time, realm transfers and name changes, or even digital downloads of StarCraft 2 and Diablo 2. A post on the Battle.Net site says that the Battle.Net Balance is now up and running for everyone with a Battle.Net account.
It’s also a very important piece of infrastructure that’ll prop up Diablo 3′s in-game auction house. The system will let you put the profits you’ve made selling off useless loot towards other Blizzard game services. We can expect to see Battle.Net balance syncing up with the Blizzard Arcade in future. That could let players charge for mods they’ve made using StarCraft 2′s editing tools. That’s set to arrive alongside StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm.
StarCraft 2 season five lock incoming, season six to start later this month
StarCraft 2 season five is drawing to a close. The leaderboards will go into lockdown on Tuesday February 14, so you’ll want to make that final push for the top spot pretty soon. You’ll still be able to play during the lock down of course, and your wins and losses will be tracked, but your wins won’t affect your final season five placement.
Diablo 3 loses companion pets and scrolls of reforging
Typically, developers reveal more features the closer a game gets to release. The wizards at Blizzard are taking the opposite approach with Diabo 3. They’re zapping any anything that isn’t quite perfect so they can concentrate on polishing everything else to a mirror sheen.
The latest victims of their feature cull are companion scrolls and scrolls of reforging. The first ability would summon a critter to run around looting gold for you, but that’s now gone. Blizzard community manager, Nethaera, explains why on the Blizzard forums. “The companion pets felt like they were mandatory to maximize play efficiency and some of the pets were too cutesy for the gritty, dark world of Sanctuary.” In a way, he’s right. The little rats were adorable.
Blizzcon 2012 cancelled, will return in 2013
Blizzard have announced that their massive annual convention won’t be happening this year. Instead, they’ll be devoting more time to finishing their many projects. “In light of our jam-packed schedule, we’ve decided to hold the next BlizzCon in 2013,” Blizzard say in a statement on Battle.net, mentioning that they’re currently “heavily focused on getting Diablo III, Mists of Pandaria, and Heart of the Swarm into players’ hands as soon as possible.”
Blizzard looking for dev to “facilitate product placement” in next-gen MMO
A job listing on Blizzard.com spotted by a member of NeoGAF suggests that Blizzard are planning to include product placement in their new MMO.
The job listing for a franchise development producer. Among the job requirements, one requires that applicants be able to “work with major consumer brands to facilitate product placement and licensing within the world of Blizzard Entertainment’s next-gen MMO that enhances the gameplay experience.”
It’s hard to remember an occasion when product placement in a game has especially enhanced anything, but the inclusion of modern products would suggest a contemporary or futuristic setting for Blizzard’s next MMO, codenamed Project Titan.
Diablo 3 gets major changes, “no one will remember if the game is late, only if it’s great”
If you thought Diablo 3 was polished up and ready for release, think again. Game director Jay Wilson has posted a long list of big changes Blizzard are planning for the beta, some of which involve major overhauls of the character stats system. Wilson recognises the frustration of fans that have been waiting for Diablo 3 for years, but insists that the changes will be worth it.
“We’ve been called out for messing around with systems too much, that the game is good as-is and we should just release it,” he says on the Diablo 3 blog. “I think that’s a fair argument to make, but I also think it’s incorrect. No one will remember if the game is late, only if it’s great.”
We’ve played it and it already feels great, but Blizzard are looking to streamline every game system so that there are no unnecessary stats, NPCs and abilities left. That means they’ll be making a few controversial decisions along the way. “we’re going to be iterating on designs we’ve had in place for a long time, making changes to systems you’ve spent a lot of time theorycrafting, and removing features you may have come to associate with the core of the experience,” says Wilson.
StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm voice recording underway
The voice actor who plays Kerrigan, Tricia Helfer, has been teasing StarCraft 2 fans on Twitter confiring that voice recording is underway for StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm.
“Voicing some #Starcraft today. Kerrigan/Queen is so fun. Bet some of you wish I’d take a pic of the script : )” she tweeted, before posting a picture of the script, facing away from the camera. Darn.
Heart of the Swarm was playable at last year’s Blizzcon, and a finished script suggests that it’s pretty far into development. It’s set to be released alongside the Blizzard Arcade and some updated StarCraft 2 mod tools. Find out more about the new units and characters that will be added by the expansion in our Blizzcon 2011 coverage.
Meanwhile, here’s that picture of the Kerrigan recording sessions, straight from the StarCraft 2 studios. Thanks to Scott for the heads up.
Diablo 3 drops real-money auction house in South Korea to secure official classification
Diablo 3 has been causing controversy with South Korea’s ratings board for ages. Diablo 3′s real money auction house has been the main source of the problem. The idea of playing for financial gain conflicted with South Korea’s stern anti-gambling ethos, but the problem has now been resolved. Dualshockers noticed the appearance of an official 18 rating for Diablo 3 on the South Korean game rating board site. Blizzard have had to make concessions to guarantee the rating, however.
World of Warcraft to get cross-realm raids with patch 4.3.2, expansion prices lowered
A post on Battle.net mentions that patch 4.3.2 for World of Warcraft will give players the ability to form raid groups using the Real ID party feature. Whatever realm you and your friends are on, you’ll be able to invite each other into a single cross-realm group and then take on any classic dungeon or raid together. This’ll work with the raid finder, but you won’t be able to run Dragon Soul on normal or heroic yet.
Blizzard launches Diablo 15th anniversary site, declares Diablo III “almost done”
Diablo III’s road to completion has been long and fraught with lengthy periods of radio silence. Granted, while disappointing, it’s not altogether surprising, given that Blizzard is one of the few remaining practitioners of the ancient art of “When it’s done.” Fortunately, we may finally be approaching a light at the end of the randomly generated tunnel. So said Jay Wilson in a celebratory video on the newly launched Diablo 15th anniversary website:
“We are almost done with Diablo III, and that’s a fitting celebration of the 15th year anniversary for Diablo. So, we are getting it to you as soon as we can.”
Fingers crossed, then, that Blizzard’s able to hit the “early 2012″ mark. I don’t know if my poor heart can go another cold, Diablo-less winter without bursting like a brittle, brittle loot pinata. But instead of totally rad swords, it’s filled with longing.
Real money auction house puts Diablo III’s Korean release in jeopardy
Sure, the devil himself, Lord of Hell and probable pioneer of the Snuggie, is a pretty bad dude, but you know what’s even worse? Gambling. Or at least, that’s how South Korea’s Game Rating Board sees it. And so, the board’s opted to delay making a definitive statement on Diablo III and its controversial real money auction house for a third time. Without a rating, even the baddest big red monster this side of the Kool-Aid man is out of luck. Obviously, this doesn’t exactly bode well for the game’s eventual release.
Total War: Shogun 2 – PC Gamer UK’s strategy game of the year
We elevate the Total War games beyond simply being good strategy games because we believe they’re story-engines: that not only do they offer deep and difficult decisions about how to paint the map your colour, but they also entertain you with your own genius.
Diablo III’s Battle.net Balance goes live
In a flurry of alliteration, Blizzard’s Battle.net Balance has finally been unleashed. The service allows gamers to add funds to their account using online transaction services such as PayPal, and it’s being tested in the Diablo III beta. The account also gives gamers somewhere to store hard-earned cash accumulated in Diablo III’s auction house.
The big question is whether or not gamers will be able to withdraw funds from their Battle.net Balances into the real world. According to Blizzard’s FAQ, this will be allowed “in certain regions”, but a fee will be charged. It’s also optional in Diablo III’s auction house, so you can still purchase items via traditional methods like PayPay and credit cards. Blizzard states that standard auction house fees will be applied to transactions regardless of where they’ve come from.
Opinion: Why World of Warcraft’s new talent system doesn’t go far enough
I don’t envy the World of Warcraft development team. They’ve got a population of 10+ million players to please, a relentless stream of expansion packs and patches to deliver, and a vast array of content to refresh and balance. It’s a hard job. Right now – they’re taking on one of the hardest jobs possible: introducing fundamental change to the core mechanics of the game – the talent system – in an attempt to improve it.
The new talent system let you assign points into a tree of abilities every level or so. Instead, you’re given a menu of abilities that unlock at pre-defined intervals, and at those intervals you’ll pick one from three. It feels, immediately, less RPG-y that by not assigning points every level (or in Cata, every other level) you’re making less choices. But, I do agree with Ghostcrawler who pointed out in his blog that “you will have more choices that *matter*.”
Blizzard tackle World of Warcraft talent revamp criticisms, say old model is “unfixable”
Blizzard is fed up with talent trees. Mists of Pandaria, then, is going to kick off a talent deforestation of such magnitude that it’ll have even Smokey Bear reconsidering his career path. In talent trees’ place, Blizzard’s implementing a much simpler system that – unsurprisingly – has many players up in arms. Lead system designer Greg Street, however, promises that this isn’t just “change for change’s sake.” There’s a method to the madness.
