No Diablo 3 PvP at launch, patched in later

For many moons, "when it's done" was the only release date Blizzard would give for Diablo III. However, now it's "targeting" a Q2 launch, Blizzard's preparing to ship before it's done, cutting out the PvP mode to fix it up and patch it in after launch.

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For many moons, "when it's done" was the only release date Blizzard would give for Diablo III--comforting, but slightly frustrating. However, now it's "targeting" a Q2 launch, Blizzard is preparing to ship the game before it's done, cutting out the PvP Arena mode to fix it up and patch it in after launch.

Diablo III game director Jay Wilson wrote in a blog post, "We wanted to let you know that we've made the difficult decision to hold back the PvP Arena system and release it in a patch following the game's launch."

"After a lot of consideration and discussion, we ultimately felt that delaying the whole game purely for PvP would just be punishing to everyone who's waiting to enjoy the campaign and core solo/co-op content, all of which is just about complete."

We got to play Arena PvP way back at BlizzCon in October 2010, and were pretty pleased with it, but evidently it's still not up to Blizzard's standards.

When PvP does "ultimately" launch, Wilson wrote, "it will add multiple Arena maps with themed locations and layouts, PvP-centric achievements, and a matchmaking system," along with a "personal progression system."

From The Chatty
  • reply
    March 12, 2012 5:30 AM

    Alice O'Connor posted a new article, No Diablo 3 PvP at launch, patched in later.

    For many moons, "when it's done" was the only release date Blizzard would give for Diablo III. However, now it's "targeting" a Q2 launch, Blizzard's preparing to ship before it's done, cutting out the PvP mode to fix it up and patch it in after launch.

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      March 12, 2012 5:33 AM

      Charge us 39.99 for the pvp expansion

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        March 12, 2012 8:17 AM

        lol i bet it will be a tier system....

        19.99 for Bronze with no perks
        29.99 for Silver and you get a special PvP gear for one class
        39.99 for Gold and you get PvP gear for unlimited characters
        59.99 for Diamond and you get the gear and a year of WoW lol

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          March 12, 2012 8:31 AM

          As if Blizzard would sell a year of WoW for $60. They'd definitely give you a WoW mount or pet though.

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            March 12, 2012 9:18 AM

            They had a deal recently, pay for a year sub of WoW and get D3 for free, I wouldn't put it past them!.

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          March 12, 2012 11:32 AM

          Okay I will take that bet. $50 bucks sound good to you?

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        March 12, 2012 1:49 PM

        Has Blizzard ever wronged you this way? Why would you assume they will start now?

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      March 12, 2012 5:34 AM

      Personally, I'm happy to hear that. I'm not much for Diablo PvP.

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      March 12, 2012 5:56 AM

      Blizzard or GTA team, which is worse for being slow as hell!?

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      March 12, 2012 6:00 AM

      Man I was hoping this was a release date announcement post. Grrrr

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      March 12, 2012 6:46 AM

      just release the fucking game NOW assholes

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      March 12, 2012 6:50 AM

      Hopefully the final game is worth the wait. Personally I'm only interested in the SP/ co-op part of the game so I'm glad to hear they are not waiting on the pvp to release the game.

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      March 12, 2012 8:14 AM

      So what I get out of this... is that we get single player and co-op at launch.... then have to deal with a year of a broken PvP system until they get it patched for the 15th time.... Thanks Blizzard... why dont you slow your damn roll and do the game right all in one package.....

      PvP will start out with people in BEAST MODE gear setups and I just think Blizzard is gonna hurt the game....

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        March 12, 2012 9:15 AM

        yeah Blizzard why don't you just sit on that completed single-player campaign until you finish properly tweaking and balancing the PvP portion of the game

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          March 12, 2012 9:16 AM

          sounds like a solid business plan

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        March 12, 2012 9:25 AM

        The pvp system isn't even going be balanced anyway, they've said they're not doing any balance changes for pvp at all. It's an afterthought and finally being treated as such.

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          March 12, 2012 9:32 AM

          Well, it's a Blizzard afterthought.

          Blizzard afterthoughts are entire games for the rest of the industry.

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            March 12, 2012 11:33 AM

            Yeah but look at the WoW arena. Hardly every been balanced and definitely takes a back seat to PvE balance.

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              March 12, 2012 12:46 PM

              That's exactly what Diablo 3 PvP will be. Only difference is they're stating upfront: you won't get E-Sport balance out of D3 PvP and coop play is the overriding design principle for the entire game.

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              March 12, 2012 12:53 PM

              I don't know, I think WoW PvP is pretty well balanced, all things considered. "Unbalanced" would be Quake 1 where one player had the SNG and the other player had the RL.

              WoW "unbalanced" is like "well, this group only wins 40% of the games they play against this other group". It's mostly just whining.

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                March 12, 2012 12:58 PM

                WoW imbalances tend to get bent out of shape based on 1-3% differences in effectiveness.

                Also, I think it'll be easier to balance when you're just looking at a bunch of dps classes. While they're not going to make it a goal, I wouldn't be surprised if it's pretty good.

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                March 12, 2012 1:39 PM

                I have not played in maybe 9 or so months so things could have changed but I played primarily arena pvp from tbc up until part way through the latest expansions first season. I played enough arena that I am sure if I had used that time to go back to school I could be a doctor by now.

                When talking about arena balance you have to know what window we are talking about as things change expansion to expansion, patch to patch. It seemed to me often times there were imbalances that heavily influenced matches for people at the top of the ladder. Problem is its tough to balance with all the pve stuff. And stacking things you don't plan for like a specific burst damage spec with haste buffs, with 20% increased damage from a teammate, with the best dps trinket, with with the second best dps trinket because they have human racial, with a legendary, with the set bonus, etc etc

                Or just combinations of teams with too much control, too much burst, too much mana drain abilities, too many escapes from control, whatever. It's hard to plan for all the combos and specs that are out there plus the gear variation. On top of that you have 2s, 3s, and 5s. And let's not forget some arena maps favor specific classes or teams.

                And when a prto pally is doing the most dps in an arena match, something is wrong.

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                  March 12, 2012 1:40 PM

                  Prot pally I mean

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                  March 12, 2012 3:51 PM

                  [deleted]

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                    March 13, 2012 6:12 PM

                    I didn't give examples of what is imbalanced, I gave examples of why it IS HARD to balance it and that the balance also frequently changes. If you want to talk about specific imbalances over the years we can do that. But pretty much at almost anytime, there have been balance issues.

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              March 12, 2012 9:04 PM

              bahahahaaa

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          March 12, 2012 1:51 PM

          I've always thought of WoW balance as rock paper scissors anyway. WoW arena felt a lot like it to me. Bring the wrong weapon(s) to the battle and you lose, with some skill swaying it either direction.

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            March 12, 2012 1:57 PM

            Problem is the metagame, some setups are only countered by contrived combos that can't otherwise survive in the tournament landscape.

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            March 12, 2012 3:14 PM

            That's basically true at the same skill levels. The rock paper scissors doesn't matter as much when one team is quite a bit better than others. Then there is luck based on the arena level and crits/resists etc

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        March 13, 2012 8:29 AM

        What you should get out of this is that you get single player, co-op, and no PvP at launch, then a couple of months later you get a fully completed PvP system that doesn't require 15 patches because Blizzard decided to release what was done and focus on what wasn't.

        I'm sorry.... I meant to use..... more ellipses in my post..... to make you feel..... more comfortable....

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      March 12, 2012 8:17 AM

      We report you decide!

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      March 12, 2012 8:54 AM

      Cool. I don't give a shit about PVP so the sooner the better. :D

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      March 12, 2012 9:06 AM

      When the PvP patch is ultimately ready, it will add multiple Arena maps with themed locations and layouts, PvP-centric achievements, and a matchmaking system that will help you and your team get into fairly matched games quickly and easily. We’ll also be adding a personal progression system that will reward you for successfully bashing in the other team’s skulls.

      http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/4574895

      Sounds like they want to do a fuckton of stuff for pvp, and don't want to just throw something in to check the pvp box.

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        March 12, 2012 11:36 AM

        You and I both know that people will rage anyway, just because.

        I'm just excited that they're even hinting that they are going to release. Cutting features is proof that they're trying to make a date. I don't like PvP in the old Diablo games either. I would consider it in D3 depending on how it's implemented.

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      March 12, 2012 9:18 AM

      sounds fine. co-op and single player PvE loot zerg ahoy !!!

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      March 12, 2012 11:25 AM

      While I'm sure a lot of people are excited about the PVP, everyone is excited for the core game. The wait for the PVP can be filled with playing the game. The wait for the game however, would just be filled with frustration, so I think they made the right call.

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      March 12, 2012 1:42 PM

      Preorder still active

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      March 12, 2012 8:20 PM

      Don't care, need the game to come out, if that means PvP isn't in at launch, that's just fine. The beta is fun, but it really just makes me want to play the whole game that much more.

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      March 12, 2012 8:52 PM

      lol. Did they outsource this game to 3DRealms or something because they've been building this forever and they still can't get it done.

      I don't really care either way but I imagine that for those who have been eagerly anticipating this game there has been a lot of frustration.

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        March 13, 2012 8:33 AM

        Do you remember how long Diablo 2 was in development after it was announced? Four years. How long between Diablo 3's announcement and its release? Four years. Starcraft 2? Announced 2007, released 2010, but in development long before it was announced. It's pretty much par for the course for any blizzard game, but that's why they're so good - they take the time to do it right.

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