Blizzard - One "Frontline" Release for 2009

Edge Online reports Blizzard COO Paul Sams said during an earnings call they intended to have "one frontline release per year", which has obviously lead to speculation about whether StarCraft 2 or Diablo 3 is due this year - SC2 looking the more likely, it seems.
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Oh yeah. Bring on the Terrans. I can't wait to see the awesome CG intro.

Yes, that's what Blizzard does best in the industry, isn't it? I'm really looking forward to Diablo 3, too.

I know all these titles it look like sequelitis, but I don't care.

Originally Posted by Thaurin
Yes, that's what Blizzard does best in the industry, isn't it? I'm really looking forward to Diablo 3, too.

I know all these titles it look like sequelitis, but I don't care.

Yeah, I'm also overly-exited about D3. So excited that I bought one of their D3 T-shirts. It looks awesome btw. I'll wear it with pride.

Originally Posted by danutz_plusplus
Yeah, I'm also overly-exited about D3. So excited that I bought one of their D3 T-shirts. It looks awesome btw. I'll wear it with pride.

Originally Posted by JDR13

Yeah, yeah. I know.
But I don't care.
I admit: I'm a big Blizzard fanboy.

Similar to what I said in the DA thread - just because Blizzard don't make 'true RPGs' doesn't mean they don't make great games that can be enjoyed (immensely) for what they are.

As a brief aside, I was unable to enjoy Oblivion for what it was, because it felt like the C&C was missing. Nearly every quest had obvious alternate solutions that just could not be implemented. Compare that to Diablo, a game that actually has less C&C than Oblivion - at no point did I feel like it was 'missing'.

Anyway, SC2 and D3 will likely be great fun.

Originally Posted by Badesumofu
As a brief aside, I was unable to enjoy Oblivion for what it was, because it felt like the C&C was missing. Nearly every quest had obvious alternate solutions that just could not be implemented. Compare that to Diablo, a game that actually has less C&C than Oblivion - at no point did I feel like it was 'missing'.

That's probably because (to me) Diablo is more about clearing every nook and cranny of the map and finding out if something nice drops in the meantime, instead of doing quests. Of course there is motivation from the quests, but it's mostly from making your way to the bad guy, killing him and getting the artifact that he holds so you can get to the next quest. There is no pretense of depth or interesting story (except for the cool CG videos) in the quests, but more so in the itemization and character progression. You don't need C&C for that other than the fact that if you invest your skill points in the wrong way, you've effectively gimped your character.

I'm looking forward to a new starcraft, I hope they do another warcraft strategy game at some point as well, they were always so far ahead of the rest of the market.

Hmmm . . . I might dig out warcraft III again, been ages since I've played anything like that.

Originally Posted by danutz_plusplus
Yeah, yeah. I know.
But I don't care.
I admit: I'm a big Blizzard fanboy.

Blizzard fanbois are usually very much so assholes with short tempers.
I support Sacred 2!

Originally Posted by Toothpaste
Blizzard fanbois are usually very much so assholes with short tempers.
I support Sacred 2!

I can assure you I'm no asshole or have a short temper. At least I don't think so. I'm more of a fanboy in the good sense of the word(love everything they do. they almost never do wrong imo)
And I did not like Sacred 2. It felt very mediocre for me. Especially the awful voice-acting. God they were awful. Though I did somewhat enjoy the first Sacred.

Count me out in either case. Could care less about click-fest 3 or starclick-fest 2. The first, too mindless, the second too twitchy for my body (as pretty much any RTS).

I have always thought blizzard games to be very mediocre. I played wc3 battlechest through few years ago and after finishing it I was mostly happy it was over. After a good start the game started to feel like a job.

Heh.. one a year might be their intention, but I bet they slip

Screw Starcraft. Bring on Diablo 3!

Screw Diablo 3. Bring on Starcraft 2!

i second that, though i think starcraft 2 will less live up to its predecessors than diablo 3 will. i hope i'm wrong however.

Originally Posted by Benedict
Hmmm . . . I might dig out warcraft III again, been ages since I've played anything like that.

You might want to check out the open beta for Dawn of War II. It cribs quite a few key elements from WCIII, such as a powerful hero with item slots and spell-like abilities that can't be attached to a unit, small units that earn experience so that you want to keep them alive, and small scale, tactical-focus combat that rewards micro management.

Considering they said that they will release 1 "frontline" game every year, we might just get Diablo 3 by 2010. God I hope it won't be pushed back to 2011. That's way too much of a time to wait. But I'd probably be too busy with SC2 to notice it's missing in action.

World of Hydra in 2012.