It has been sometime since we got an update from Blizzard regarding Diablo 3.  So to waste my time, I started my own speculations on what other classes that Blizzard might implement in Diablo 3.

Ranger

The classic range damage dealer class, a counter part of Amazon from Diablo 2 as one might say. Proficient with ranged weapons, these hunters ca either hunt alone or followed by their faithful beast companion . Living off in the forest, they hone their hunting skills and stalk their preys with silently till they strike it down with a precise shot. But this time, they will face the greatest hunt of all time. Armies of Evil are here and tracking down their leader are more perilous than any woodland.

I first thought about the ranger class because he would compensate the lack of a  physical range damage dealer in the game. I do expect bow and crossbows to drop in the game and who else is more fitting to use them other than the ranger. They would have the range capability of an Amazon with powerful companion like the Druid.

Clerics

Do not let the name fool you. While some may practice a pacifist life of praying to their Gods, other are not afraid to stand up to protect their beliefs with their fist. Trained in combat, they can excel in fighting while at the same time provide support spells to themselves and their allies. Having one in the party would boost the party’s power tremendously. A Cleric know little spells that would harm a human but against undead or demons, is like putting a child against an orge. These demons would not stand a chance against the cleric’s holy might and blessed steels.

Try to imagine the Warrior Priest in the MMO, Warhammer and you will get the rough idea of what they are capable of. They are the paladin class of Diablo 3, filling in the role of buffer. Not to mention we will have a hybrid melee caster class with the Cleric around.

Rogue

While Demons are spreading over the world, everyone will be affected by it. That even includes individuals that makes a living outside of the law. It is the perfect time to do some thieving with all the chaos that is risen by untold evils but their wealth will be for naught if they become underlings of Evils. With their livelihood threatened, they are not going to sit around and let the demons pocket their loot! And afterall, they may find some treasures during their adventure.

A rogue nicely fit in the overall class rooster. Having the Barbarians as the brute force melee, the Rogue will have a different side where they rely on taking oppurtunity and sneak attacks to win. No method is too dirty to ensure a victory.

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This thought surely have crossed your mind once while. With the games going multi platform, you would wish some exclusives will be releasing the next expansion on your favorite platform. Most of us would own both PC and consoles taking the best of both worlds, some would rather stick to one only. Here I am going to say out my thoughts.

Development time

Developing games has always been a nightmare, especially for the PC. There is a multitude of hardware and software that the user has and the game must at least be working on most of them. Not only the developer need to make sure they get it working on the PC, users as well need to do some tweaking if they found out for some reason their installation is not working or their game is not working smooth enough.

As for consoles, it is a matter of within the construct of machine. The specifications are the same for all of them so what works for one will definitely works for all. This gives the developer less time to trying make the game work and more time optimizing it.

Patching

And the above point also lead to one disastrous thing, patching the game. Usually games require patch for 2 main reason, adding new content and fixing the game. While both PC and console need their fixes, console are easier to fix than their PC counterpart. The same reason would be the different configuration of the PC.

So the patch for PC might come later than the console as there are more things to fix and more testing to be done before it is released on the public. And most of the time patches always causes problems that the developer might not foresee. The consoles does that too but less. And not to mention they are easier to hot fix than the PC.

Online platform

The Xbox 360 have their Xbox live and PS3 got their PSN. Both online console have their online platform readily there. So there is no real need to develop an online platform for the game from scratch. This saves development time too.

But can Blizzard make use of these platform to integrate with their current Battle.net? The console online platform are made by others so Blizzard have limited control over them. Not to mention Blizzard came out with a new Battle.net(2.0) that lets them combine their Starcraft, Diablo and Warcraft all into one online platform. So a new build of the game is almost neccessary needed to make sure it runs properly on the console’s online platform.

Game controller vs Keyboard and mouse

That will be the biggest drawback. The first Diablo was develop with a console counterpart but Diablo 2 did not have it’s console port and it was popular to be one of those heavy clicking hack and slash games. And with the new Diablo 3 UI that was shown, it will be pretty hard for Diablo 3 to reconfigure itself to fit a game controller. I can’t imagine using the joystick to navigate while spamming the A button to attack then using a combination of D-Pad + buttons to cast my spells. The game controller also limits the readily function that you might be able to set.

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There were rumours that a new class would soon be unveiled at the end of March, so when the Archivist was announced on April 1st, fans were excited to find out more but were quickly shot down as they go through the details of the class. It was obviously an April Fools joke. But it could have still be fun if it was the real deal.

So, just what is the Archivist?

Remember the Paladin from Diablo 2? Well, from what I read, the Archivist originates from the same place as the Paladins of WestMarch. Though from the same background, they are not the usual warriors/spellcasters kind of heroes. The Archivist are actually scholars equipped with Ancient Knowledge of Light.

Yes! These are basically Nerds in the ancient universe of Diablo. Don’t think that they are just your ordinary Nerds though, they have awesome cool skills and they can really kick ass!! Have a look at the skills below:

Lorenado:

Tornado + Ancient Papers = Monster Killing Papercuts!!

Quest Bolt:

Monster Thinking: Look! Man! Me Kill Man!
*Hit by a Quest Bolt*
Monster no longer can think.

Shush

Archivist: (Super Pissed) SHHH! NO TALKING IN THE LIBRARY!!
*BOOM*
Archivist: (Sh*t I just shouted myself) Uh..oh…
*BOOM*

And the best thing is, they have even got special dialogues which no other character has!

Even if this is an April Fool joke, the character is still very interesting. I do hope blizzard will add this character in as an easter egg/bonus or something.

Check it out now at the Diablo 3’s official site:

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Btw, in case you didn’t notice the hint from Blizzard when the character was released:
1) the character is released on 1/4/2009
2) it’s the only character that comes with specially designed player interface, with funny icon and Brain Power Globe instead of Mana/Energy Globe
3) it’s the only character with special diagloues, even some that has nothing to do with the game
4) He’s the only character who dies in all the skill video: 1 hit KO by a zombie, and blew up after using Shush.

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It has been a week since the new Battle.net platform have been launched and here is my little review about it.

A few days after it’s release, I register myself early thinking that I need to reserve my login ID. It turns out that you will be using your email as your login ID so it will always be unique. Being concerned that I have to type my long email just to login, I simply registered myself using my gmail rather than my hotmail account. After filling in the forms, there was a little check box asking if I wanted to recieve mails about their news which is checked by default and another check box asking if you want to participate in any beta testing Blizzard might have. Gleefully I checked the tick box and thinking that it should also be checked by default.

After the registration, I found myself in the landing page. For now it is particullary empty and simple. So I started to add my World of Warcraft account into it. The merging process was quite simple and easy as it only ask for your login details and after clicking of a few Next button, it is already done. So far I only got one game to be added as my past experiance with Diablo 2, Starcraft and Warcraft 3 are played solely in cyber cafes. So I never got to try the downloadable games that you owned and registered.

Then I straight away login into my warcraft account. I thought my login details would still be the same but it seems that I now have to use my Battle.net account to login rather than my current World of Warcraft account. But everything as smooth as there were no error occured on my or the server’s side after the account merging.

Blizzard have really made sure that everything is running well and the account transistion is perfect. Though I never got to try the game download, I never had any problems so far regarding the new Battle.net. I do however feel the need to secure my PC more as now that all your Blizzard games is under one roof, the risk of you losing it all is bigger. But that should not stop you from registering an account. You can head over to the Create an account page or head over to Battle.net FAQ for more enquiries.

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Once a while I would wonder how Blizzard could come out with great games. Not only their games has great and unique gameplay mechanics, but having a rich storyline as the backdrop is also what drives us to play. Each level unfolds beautifully about the turmoils of the land and you would desperately take command of your hero and army and try to retake them from destruction’s hand.

And now is your chance to go meet and get to know the lore masters behind the series that made Blizzard a success it is today. Your ticket into it is as write simple as writing a story. Blizzard is holding a Global Creative Writing Contest and winners will get a trip to visit their headquarters in Southern California. Plus when the winner return home, not only he brings back bragging rights but also a replica of the Frostmourne Sword. Seven other runner up will get a signed signed copies of the Diablo Archive, Warcraft Archive, StarCraft Archive, and the Warcraft War of the Ancients Archive.

Opportunity do comes out once a while and it is up to you to seize it. Getting into Blizzard was never this easy (other than having a great resume to join them or a knack of breaking into offices).The contest details are here. Flight ticket and a meal will be provided by them. So all you need is your thinking cap, pen with paper and your passport ready incase you win the contest. Be sure to read up on the official rules and hope your country is listed in there (Mine is missing).

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