CVG - Bill Roper on Diablo 3

CVG has posted this excerpt from an interview with Bill Roper, former Blizzard developer and now CEO of Flagship Studios. They ask him what he would do if he were in charge of developing the sequel to the grandfather of all action RPG's, Diablo2:

"It would be that challenge of giving the Diablo players the things that they'd expect... I think with Diablo, for example, the camera angle is a big part of it. I think with the Diablo series there is a level of expectation about only using the mouse to move.

"I think people that are hardcore Diablo fanatics... people that, if you are making Diablo 3, you are making that game very, very specifically for. There are some things that they are going to want.

To be honest, the way that Blizzard is approaching StarCraft II is really smart. They're saying, 'OK, what do the millions of StarCraft fans very specifically want from a StarCraft experience? Great, well that's what we're going to give them. Yes we're going to do updates, yes we're going to create the units, yes there's new technologies'. [But] you look at StarCraft II, and right away you feel comfortable. "

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More information.

Not completely turning the gameplay upside-down for a sequel to a popular game?

Imagine that.

I remember the pre Deus Ex Invisible War days when this was automatic.

dang,this is just a "what if". I thought there was something about a real sequel.

*kicks tin can*

Guess It's my own fault for not knowing who's-who of all these game designer celebs.

Sorry, Sammy--Diablo 3 is still in the rumors only stage--I've heard everything from it'll be announced at (Next Big Game Conference) to the whole project's been scrapped and started over form square one and everything in between.

Didn't mean to tantalize ya.

Sidenote: I think Roper's given more interviews than God at this point--he's got to be planning on escaping to a Tibetan monastery or something after Hellgate finally ships.

For Diablo 3, it's got to be a matter of when, and in what form, not if.

Blizzard knows that making it would be like planting a grove of money trees, even if (especially if?) it's essentially Diablo 2 with upgraded graphics. While I won't say a Diablo-inspired MMORPG wouldn't be cool, if one's made I hope it doesn't take the place of a point and click D3.

I suppose one challenge with Diablo 3 in the form of a true continuation of the series is the issue of classes. Which classes return, if any? Are their skills identical to Diablo 2's(which could invite "Diablo 2-1/2" criticisms) or reworked entirely(which may alienate longtime fans). I think I'd prefer all-new classes that are similar in that they match a certain archetype; melee class, caster class, summoning class, sneaky class, healer/buffer, range weapon class etc, but maybe with a different twist that could influence their skills, possibly like some of the kits of D&D. This could also add some interesting back-story to the classes.

I'm looking forward to D3 in whatever form it takes though, just to see how they handle it.

I don't think that Diablo 3 is an automatic. I would think that Blizzard will want to be careful that they don't make a game that cannibalizes World of Warcraft in some way.

World of Diablo!

I think with Diablo III, theyre going to go full-on new classes. In full-on 3D, of course.

doctor_kaz said:

I don't think that Diablo 3 is an automatic. I would think that Blizzard will want to be careful that they don't make a game that cannibalizes World of Warcraft in some way.

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That... and there's no way that they are going to let Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 "compete" with each other. I wouldn't expect a Diablo 3 announcement until (long) after Starcraft 2 is released. It wouldn't make any sense if Blizzard would wait almost a decade for two sequels to its successful franchises only to have both products battle over the attention of gamers at the same time in a narrow timeframe. Blizzard have proven to be smarter than that. They'll do them one at a time. One after another. Nice and slooooowly. Build up the hype. Sell 10 millions. Repeat with next franchise. Rinse. Repeat. GOTO 10 .

Yeah, there could definitely be some overlap in the fanbase, both Warcraft and Diablo being fantasy oriented, not to mention Starcraft 2--and that may explain the long long wait. They're going to have to come up with the Perfect Storm on classes and so forth--and if they shake it up too much ( i.e. no Necromancer or Paladin, etc) I just don't know whether the hardcore players will be able to make the transition. Though really, everything they've done over the years has been embraced by the fans--maybe because they did it so well or maybe because the changes were really just incremental improvements.

What I think would be cool is for Blizzard to contract Flagship like Bioware did Obsidian. But it looks like Flagship will have their hands full with Hellgate for the foreseeable future.

I think that another thing working against a Diablo 3 is just the fact that the Diablo Clone genre is hopelessly oversaturated and it's going to be very hard to come up with a game that will remain faithful to its predecessors while separating itself from the rest of the pack.

doctor_kaz said:

I don't think that Diablo 3 is an automatic. I would think that Blizzard will want to be careful that they don't make a game that cannibalizes World of Warcraft in some way.

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I still see it as an automatic, but I don't pretend it's coming out this year or next, for some of the reasons given by others. I don't think they can just wait until WOW peters out though. They're going to want to cash in on people who actually REMEMBER and have nostalgia about Diablo 1 & 2. I think they're smarter than to wait so long that they pull a Duke Nukem Forever. Duke Who?? Who's that?

And as for cannibalization, WOW is an MMORPG, Starcraft is an RTS, and Diablo3 as a true sequel would be neither of those. I play WOW but I certainly wouldn't cancel my account if Diablo3 came out tomorrow. I'd play both. I'd even play Starcraft2 if I didn't hate real-time strategy games. My point is that there are enough gamers out there with different tastes to keep Blizzard rolling in the dough if they just release quality games that aren't direct competitors in terms of gameplay. (yes, World of Diablo would be a mistake unless interest in WOW has waned to the point that they're down to like 5 servers.)

With regard to the clones, I personally haven't played any that have felt a thing like Diablo. Maybe you're right though. D3 may need to be something that's a bit different. Just don't make it a first person turn based shooter is all I ask.

Diablo 3 is entering the realm of unmakeable. Many people Fallout is also in that realm, thus Bethesda is feeling the pressure.

Diablo 3 is entering the realm of unmakeable. Many people feel Fallout is also in that realm, thus Bethesda is feeling the pressure.

I think it's going a bit far to consider D3 unmakeable. Certainly they can make it. In fact if they do it as most people would like to see it, it should be easier to make than hoping for success from a new formula. I don't think it's a stretch to say that most people would be satisfied with nothing more from Diablo 3 than more of the same, only prettier.

The reason Bethesda is feeling so much heat about Fallout3 is that they're trying to reinvent the wheel when it was suitably round to begin with.

What I mean by unmakeable is that the final product, no matter how good it is, will be a failure critically and commercially because the previous games in the series have reached "legend" status. Legend as in the memory of the game is stronger than what the actual gameplay was like.

So, people will not be pleased no matter what.

Yes, I may be going a bit far with my predictions but it is only because I want to see Diablo 3 and Fallout 3 be good games.

I think Bethesda is facing this with Fallout.