Blizzard on Everything. Mixed Bag No. 16
My dear friends, it's another mix with you. In the coming days, I hope to finish a few more posts and properly cover BlizzCon, but for now, I'm presenting you with this small collection of news. Much of it is dedicated to the upcoming exhibition, various devices, and other related stuff. However, there will also be a couple of game-related news and some other goodies. So let's go!..
BlizzCon 2011. Already today!
To begin with - BlizzCon. This year it will take place on October 21 and 22, i.e., on Friday and Saturday. The venue remains the same: Anaheim, California. The event program, as usual, is quite rich, but I will focus on those moments that will be particularly interesting to the Diablo fans.
BlizzCon:
Friday, October 21:
• 23:00 - 23:49 - Forum "Game Principles and Mechanics"
Saturday, October 22:
• 0:00 - 0:49 - Forum "Active and Passive Skills, Runes"
• 3:30 - 4:30 - Section "Game World"
• 3:45 - 4:45 - Section "Gameplay and Auctions" (main stage)
• 21:00 - 22:00 - Story of the Game (round table)
• 22:30 - 23:30 - Questions and Answers (main stage)
• 23:00 - 23:49 - Forum "Equipment and Items"
Sunday, October 23:
• 1:00 - 1:49 - Forum "Universe and Story"
• 2:00 - 3:00 - Videos and Trailers (round table)
• 2:00 - 3:00 - Section "Game World"
All this is given in Moscow time, which is 11 hours ahead of Anaheim time (though the official site displays some questionable time in Russian, so please correct me if I'm wrong). All game fans clearly won't have time to sleep during these days. So stock up on cola and energy drinks. I won't recommend anything harmful. :-D
Small but mighty.
One more piece of news - and again about BlizzCon. Recently, I wrote about the archangel Michael from the sixth "Heroes". Now I will mention another archangel - Tyrael. Every year, attendees of the exhibition receive coveted "chests" full of useful loot. This year, the filling is a mini-Tyrael figurine made in a cartoon style. The little archangel seems to float above the table, leaning on his little sword, and will serve as a nice souvenir for all fans of the series. Such a winged device.
Continuing the topic of goodies. Surely you've heard the good news that the Book of Cain has returned to the pre-order listings on Amazon.com. It had previously disappeared from the site, but is now available for pre-order again. Everyone interested can look here. The book costs about 3 (excluding shipping) and is distinguished by intelligence and wit. If you still don't know what to treat yourself with while waiting for the game, this book can definitely lighten your burden. It will be available for sale at the end of November. Get ready, stock up your wallets and patience; the book is certainly worth spending on! Here is what Jean-Baptiste Monge, one of the artists who worked on the book, says about this publication:
Jean-Baptiste: "A few months ago, I was working on a wonderful and highly anticipated Book of Cain - an art book about the Universe of [Diablo III](/games?search=Diablo III), which will be published by Insight Editions. When Blizzard wrote to me with the offer to work on it, I was very happy. I had played Diablo for years and am a huge fan of the game, so the circle came full circle: at first, I spent hours in front of the monitor like a complete fool. Then I, like a fool, spent hours drawing monsters. Ha! And when I found out who I'd be working with on the art book, my excitement knew no bounds. Just think: Brom, Adrian Smith, Iain McCaig, and many other wonderful artists."
In addition, there are rumors about another book about the Universe of Diablo, but little is known about it yet: the author is listed as Nate Kenyon, and the book itself will be released on March 27, 2012. For approximately
Outfit +2 to Fanaticism Aura.
And if I haven't convinced you enough to save money yet, then this news will surely do the trick. None of us are surprised by game shirts and various bandanas anymore, so our German friends from **Gaya Entertainment** have gone beyond ordinary T-shirts and offer their visitors items like The Lady of Pain socks, hoodies with game logos, and other amusing merchandise. You can believe me, there’s plenty to choose from. For example, I was keenly interested in the top item in the listing. Demon Hunters of all countries - dress up!
Now that we’ve spent a decent amount (or at least planned a couple of purchases for the soul), let's return to the game itself. Just the other day, the cunning temptresses at Blizzard uploaded a couple of shots from the game cutscene depicting the frightened Leah and what scared her. The scares were accompanied by a cheerful and joyful verse:
Blizzard:
Pleasure's pain is stronger.
The truth is hidden by the veil of lies.
Destruction in the Kingdom of Heaven.
The end has come for all men.
However, if we translate it very meticulously and accurately, the meaning still comes out a bit different:
Human pleasures open the door to pain,
And truths are hidden under the veil of lies.
And the time will come for the devil's will,
When the shroud of death awaits all humankind.
Man’s pleasures give way to [pain](/games?search=pain).
His truths are buried in the shroud of lies.
It is this time when Hell shall reign.
While all of man dies.
Well, something like that. In general, evil little verses that predict quick doom for all heroes. The community, of course, immediately began to guess at the coffee grounds, what this creature is and what it's called. Speculations went as far as the citizens reaching an agreement that Azmodan and his sworn friend Belial were not the limits of possibilities, as they also suggested that
darkness would inhabit Leah, and either she would turn into Diablo herself or give birth to little diablos.
I have no idea how close any of this is to the truth, but it's interesting to ponder.
The new ink "Bulging Eye-2000" from Diablo!
Leah and the monster she encountered.
As usual, fans continue to have fun on the forums. Even while playing the beta and gaining access to considerable amounts of information, they continue to criticize Blizzard over various little things. For example, they are incredibly unhappy with the color of unique items: they want the old pale gold color back. Bashiok comes to the rescue:
Bashiok: "We believe that the orange color is much easier to distinguish from other colors. Not everyone has awesome monitors with great color reproduction, not everyone plays in a dark room, and not everyone's contrast settings are good. We made many decisions to make [Diablo III](/games?search=Diablo III) a worthy successor to the series, but the gold color, apart from nostalgia, doesn't provide any benefits: it's harder to read and hence was discarded."
Question: "Make it dark gold. If you can't see the difference between a rare and a unique item, maybe you need to adjust your eyes!"
Bashiok: "Yeah, I can totally see how the FAQ would look like..
Question: "I have difficulty distinguishing rare and legendary items, what should I do?"
Answer: "Well, if you can't see the difference, buy new eyes, loser! Although no, we have a better idea: tell us your account, and we will ban you forcefully, got it? GET LOST! Dark gold! Dark gold! Dark gold!"
Personally, I have nothing against orange; it really looks better. And although I love the golden uniques from the second part with all my heart, they did indeed look a lot like rares. And trust me, my eyes are well-trained!
Rocket? Wild bullet? My dear fellow, it's just an ordinary arrow!
Another fan, thoroughly studying all runes and skills, raised a question regarding the rockets of the Demon Hunter. I remind you that some runes, when inserted into active ranged skills, transform ordinary arrows and projectiles into ground-demon class rockets. This sparked a discussion.
Question: "Where did the Huntress suddenly get rockets from? Did she time travel to the future and there steal ammunition from the Terminator?"
Bashiok: "We very carefully recreated the atmosphere of Gothic and Renaissance in the game, while trying to expand the limits of perception at the same time. If we track the technical side, rockets were used by people approximately since the 13th century. This is just the era of the Middle Ages transitioning into the Renaissance, just like the Gothic architecture that is so prevalent in Diablo. So by using human history as a base, we do not go beyond its boundaries and we don’t do anything fantastic. We often use the term “projectile”, but in the modern world, it implies the presence of a guidance system and other technical bonuses.
Returning to the game, I would like to note that the "rockets" in [Diablo III](/games?search=Diablo III) are merely "alchemical fireworks". In the game world, there is no gunpowder, but there is magic, reagents, and a couple of clever minds capable of assembling something interesting for their arsenal.
There are no grenade launchers in the game. Yes, we use the word "rocket", but in fact, if you take a close look at the action of the skill, you will find that there are not even any rockets in the usual understanding of the word. Because they don’t exist. Of course, one could use the term "projectile", but the word "rocket" better reflects the explosive-nuclear nature of the skill."
So if any of you doubt the fantasy of the game Universe, I can state: it’s unnecessary!
And as always, to finish, a few pictures await you. I decided not to show off and present to your attention a few fan arts. My hellish eye hasn't spotted anything like this yet, so take a look. One picture for a tease, the rest are under a spoiler. Enjoy your meal! ;)
Huntress. With her arrival, the Fallen have little time left...
Actually, that's all from me. BlizzCon is about to start, for which I have been mentally preparing for two weeks, so it seems I have every chance to survive several non-stop days-nights-and-again-days. Wish me to survive. And as always, your comments, thoughts, and corrections are always welcome. Until next time! ;)
Text and translation - me.
Sources:
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