Diablo III: Reaper of Souls - New Expansion Announced

Couchpotato

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Blizzard officially announces the first expansion for Diablo III called Diablo III: Reaper of Souls. I also have a new cinematic trailer, and a new gameplay video.

COLOGNE, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The defeat of Diablo, Lord of Terror, should have given rise to an age of hope. Instead, it has drawn out a shadowy being of immense power, whose malevolent purpose is yet to be revealed. Announced today at gamescom, Diablo® III: Reaper of Souls, the upcoming expansion to Diablo III, opens a dark and terrifying new chapter in the ongoing conflict over the mortal realm of Sanctuary.

Malthael, the fallen Archangel of Wisdom, vanished after the events depicted at the end of Diablo II: Lord of Destruction®. In Reaper of Souls, he returns as the Angel of Death and seizes the Black Soulstone, which contains the essence of the Prime Evil. It now falls to the players to track down Malthael and stop him before he unleashes irreversible havoc on the world.

Fortunately, a new hero is ready to join the cause and bring Malthael to justice—the Crusader. Driven by a centuries-long quest to cleanse the corruption blighting their beloved Zakarum faith, Crusaders are warriors of righteousness who have been hardened through relentless, brutal combat with the foul evils plaguing eastern Sanctuary. In addition to wearing immensely heavy armor and wielding a wide range of cruel and punishing weapons, this new playable class in Reaper of Souls uses battle magic to strengthen allies and weaken foes. A natural walking tank, the Crusader adds power and versatility to any party of adventurers.
More information.
 
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Looks good. I would still like to see a ladder (FYI: D2 expansion was released on 2001, ladder was introduced in late 2003) with no RMAH/AH, a lobby similar to the one in D2, a proper PvP system and last but not least - talents, what gave D2 unmatched replay value was the fact that you could experiment with countless builds, D3's oversimplified system just doesn't allow that.

The game has the potential of becoming a great end-game experience, and Blizzard seems to be listening, so hopefully they'll keep improving it. What worries me is that they are taking their time, but then again.. it's Blizzard, they always do.

As for the class, I don't care for it, would rather see a Necromancer, or the Druid.
 
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When it first came out I didn't even want to play or finish the game. I may have to give the game another chance. Who knows I might get some enjoyment after calming down down,:fingerscrossed:
 
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When it first came out I didn't even want to play of finish the game. I may have to give the game another chance. Who knows I might get some enjoyment after calming down down,:fingerscrossed:
Sure, but I suggest that you wait for the expansion and/or Loot 2.0, right now the game is an Auction House simulator. :p
 
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Sure, but I suggest that you wait for the expansion and/or Loot 2.0, right now the game is an Auction House simulator. :p
If they got rid of the Auction House simulator I wouldn't miss it.;) It's one of the features I despised from the beggining.
 
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Really? Another Diablo? Isn't that sort of yesterday's stuff? D1 was cool, D2 had already gotten old for me. Just mindless hackfests with respaw. *shrug* Not care.
 
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Sounds great.

I had expected 2 classes - but I'm not going to complain, as Paladin is exactly what I wanted.

The Paragon changes with stat allocation sound great - because it might mean an incentive to replay with the same class, depending on how they implement it.

I don't like that it's supposed to be "infinite" - because then you'll never get the chance to finish a character. That might make for a grindy and pointless levelling experience post-cap. Hope they change their minds about that. Otherwise, it would mean one less distinction between the average MMO and Diablo. One of the best things about Diablo versus an MMO is that it actually ends and you don't invest your entire life in it.

Loot 2.0 I expected in a patch - and I hope it's coming before 2014. Based on the screenshots, it seems they've done significant things to legendaries - which is the most important thing to fix. So that's nice.

Love what they're saying of having it darker - which is more in tone with the original Diablo.

All in all, I'm really excited for this. Just hate that I have to wait so long.
 
I would have liked 2 extra classes, but the pala^H^H^H^Hcrusader does look fun.

My prediction of Malthael was correct.. but sad that he seems to be just yet another bad guy. Rather boring really (very LoD). I wanted to see a twist where in his years of wandering Pandemonium he finally found the wisdom he was searching for and now seeks to finally get off the sidelines and act against Tyrial. But no. Take one vaguely interesting character and throw off most of what makes him interesting in the name of just providing another baddy to go against. Hey ho. I'll still enjoy it. :)
 
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Loot 2.0 I expected in a patch - and I hope it's coming before 2014. Based on the screenshots, it seems they've done significant things to legendaries - which is the most important thing to fix. So that's nice.

They confirmed that all the loot 2.0 will be released in a patch before the expansion, even if you won't buy the expansion. They said they're also releasing loot runs in a patch for free.
 
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I approve of the new class. Loot 2.0 sounds good too, I may need to revisit D3 when the time comes.
 
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Also.. price.

Their last expansion, heart of the swarm, was meant to be 'priced like an expansion pack'. It wasn't. Even this long after release it's more expensive than some full games.
 
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At least they retconned the silly ending where the stone falls down from heaven and nobody gives a damn.

I like the angel story arc, it has been much more interesting than the boring primal evil soap opera thing.
 
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At least they retconned the silly ending where the stone falls down from heaven and nobody gives a damn.

I like the angel story arc, it has been much more interesting than the boring primal evil soap opera thing.

I don't know man, maybe he's been CORRUPTED.
 
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Still bitching about story in a Diablo game? ;)

Not exactly its strength - but it's still miles ahead of the other ARPGs that came out around the same time.
 
Bitchin'? As a narrative designer and storyteller, my concern is story first and foremost, so excuse me if I'm interested in that aspect the most.

Naturally I do not expect a deep story from a game like D3, but I'm expecting a level of integrity and a storytelling that has no holes and meets some standards (both general ones and the standards of its predecessors), but the D3 devs managed to screw up even the minimum expectations a billion times over.

I realize it's too late to save the day with the expansion from a story/narrative POV, and that I should not expect much from a Diablo game, but even the simplest games can have good to great story, setting, and storytelling. D3 doesn't.
 
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Story ? Read the story of Blizzard's early game "VBlackhawk", and then we'll discuss fiurther on … In my opinion, Blizzard was *never* good in storytelling … To call a male person "Galadriel" is just outright wrong (readable in the handbook of "Blackhawk").
In English-speaking territories it was launched as "Blackthorne", by the way.
I have the PC version of it.
 
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