Razer DeathAdder Driver Download

http://www.razersupport.com/index.php?_m=downloads&_a=viewdownload&downloaditemid=446

I'm streaming @ random time

You can join me play pc games... http://www.twitch.tv/kyncesy

I beat Far Cry 3. now, whats next?

Far Cry 3 was amazing. The graphics is breathtaking, the ambient, the sound effects, the environment is really at the top. I highly recommend this game because of the long campaign which is not boring at all. The fact that this game is one of the best game of 2012. The only thing I don't like about this game is that it does not have the best multiplayer experience as most players reviewed it.

Diablo 3 PVP - your expectations?

Most of the d3 players out there are just hoping for the pvp to come out. Moldran already just have heard a rumor that pvp will be on december or the following year. The PVP arena might be a major impact to d3 players who already quit playing it since the last few months of release. Hopefully, this coming year.

How to kill Ghom as a Barb 1.0.4 Patch

You maybe searching the web to look for a proper way to kill Ghom right this very moment. I got a good news and a bad news for you. The good news is that I might help you with that. Bad news is that you need to have proper equipment to do this build compared with the recent "Overpower" skill building which is easier compared with my build.

First, I'm going to list down the specs you will need to kill ghom with this build.

1. DPS (25k unbuffed STR based damage, attack speed, weapon damage percentage)
- I recommend for you to use two handed weapons because it gives ton of damage compared with one handed weapon.

2. Life (30k to 40k HP is good)

3. All Resistance (60% to 70% Reduction will do)

Skills you will need (can be customized):

Active:

a. Bash: Punish Rune
b. Rend: Blood Bath Rune (Required to work this build)
c. Wrath of the Berserker: Insanity Rune (Required to work this build)
d. Warcry: Impunity Rune (Required to work this build)
e. Battle Rage: Marauder's Rage Rune
f. Ignore Pain: Ignorance is Bliss Rune (Required to work this build)

Passive:

g. Weapon Master
h. Tough as Nails
i. Superstition (Required to work this build)

This build is proven working by some players out there. I've posting a video below to clarify how this works. Essentially, when Ignore Pain is active you can use rend to instantly replenish your health and gain a 5 secs immunity to most of the attacks.

Killing Diablo Normal Difficulty

I've been inactive since last month because of busy schedules and hopefully this month I can make more diablo 3 videos. I wonder when will be the launch of the PVP system.

I'm planning to produce 2 gaming videos every week

You can add me through facebook to know more about the updates. https://www.facebook.com/neokynce

Just Checking FPS

The Walking Dead Game - Part 3

Inferno farming update

The Walking Dead Game - Episode Two - Part 2

The Walking Dead Game - Episode Two - Part 1

Farming Treasure Goblin - Act One - Inferno - Diablo 3

Another Hotfix June 19! Diablo 3

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/6214196/

900+ All Resistance Problem? Diablo 3

Many diablo 3 players are very tired farming for gears that could possibly make their all resistance stats improve. The way to make this up to 900+ all resistance is to go to AH and look for cheaper version of 60 to 70 or even 50+ all resistance stats which is good enough if you have all gears having this stats. 100k for each gear should be fair.

How to survive in Inferno? Diablo 3 Tips

First thing you need to know about diablo 3 is that it's not all about overall damage or dps. All statistics written of your character information is very crucial for your survival especially inferno difficulty. The key things that you need to keep in mind is that in order to gain the best gears is to budget every single gold you have.

When starting the game, your goal is to farm for gold and items that could be sold in the auction house to earn more gold. Upgrading your blacksmith is not very useful on early game. Try to budget your gold coins to purchase needed gears. Vitality is one of the most important stats you will need. All resistance is your highest priority in Inferno difficulty and also blocking chance. You can obtain blocking chance from shield and also some selected legendary or set helm (need to check diablo site for more info about this stat).

A quick update about barbarian builds. Barbarian should not use only two handed weapon in inferno, its recommended to use shield which has great blocking chance and all resistance option. I noticed that some of the players die quickly because they prefer to build their classes with their primary stats instead of concentrating on all resistance stats as well as vitality stats.

How to fix "Item Not Found", How to Delete

All you need to do is to download 7-zip application and then use this program to rename the file that has the problem.

1. Download 7 zip

2. Open 7 zip

3. Find the File and Select it

4. Open the file tab

5. Click Rename

6. Rename the file to anything you want

7. Close 7 zip

8. Delete the renamed file

DONE!

Leave a comment if you want assistance

SELLING AND TRADING GEMS/CRAFTING SCROLLS!

I would like to inform you guys that I am selling Gems and Crafting Scrolls.

Since I'm still late hell difficulty, I'll be selling my armor set as well as my weapon when I reach lvl 60.

I'll update this blog if there are legendary discounted items that I would like to sell in the future. You guys can also comment below if you have something to offer or trade. I want to buy str/vit/attackspeed options equipment.


Available so far:

Radiant
Perfect
Flawless

Crafting Scrolls

Rakanoth d3 SOLO KILLING

How to change warcraft or dota resolution to widescreen - 14 inch widescreen

I noticed that there are a lot of people looking for a solution on how to set your game to your desired resolution without going to game settings or if the game you want to play doesn't have the settings you wanted especially for widescreen laptops. Most of the later games out there don't support the following resolution and the only thing you can do is to alter this by manually digging into your windows reg file.

rpcqt.dll not found error, rpcqt.dll access denied - how to fix this annoying error

First things first, there are two scenarios which is related to this. The first one is when your anti virus detected that your rpcqt is a treat to your system, the first thing your anti virus would do is to prevent it (quarantine). The second scenario is when your anti virus automatically or you manually/accidentally removed the file because your anti virus suggested you to do it without knowledge of what this file does. Basically, this file is a windows file which is used by your system. The only thing you can do about it is to remove this annoying error from your startup.

Yesterday's update!

Killing Belial with my buddies!

How to kill King Leoric

First thing you need to understand about leoric is that he has blinking or teleporting abilities which can easily backstab you even if you are running away from him. To counter leoric's teleporting ability is to use any kind of teleporting skills like barb's leap. Make sure to reserve leap everytime you plan to attack him or counter attack him. Cleaving is important in order for you to get free drop potions from skeletons minions which is essential for your survival. Make sure everytime you attack leoric, your potion is fully cooldown incase you need it.

Comment subscribe to my youtube channel, I'll be uploading more awesome videos soon!

Rohan PH - Level Craze! Highest Level

Diablo 3 - Azmodan (Inferno) Kill Video World First

World First! its been a week of gameplay since the official release date of Diablo 3 :)

Also you can check my other games here

Just recently created a new Rohan PH account

The long wait is finally over, rohan PH new server is up - May 24th! at 7PM...

Where to buy Diablo 3 in the Philippines? DVD PACKAGE!

I've just noticed this advertisement from google about a site selling diablo 3. Its called lazada.ph, I don't know if this site is truly legit but I searched the web and found out that there is one complain but it isn't a major complain either. He also reviewed the site are legitimate. The only way to check it is by going to http://www.lazada.com.ph/Diablo-3-SEA-Edition-25321.html?gclid=CNyws-rOjrACFcmi4god3HnMqQ or you can see it on google ads everywhere.

Game of the Year - 2011 - Best Story Game - PC

Since this week I'm a bit lazy posting article based content. Next week, I'll try to work on gameplay documentaries for the first time.

Gamer of the Day Goes to Force - D3 Commentary

This video is a pre-recorded live stream

Warning! SPOILERS DETECTED!

Diablo 3 Released!

All servers are now live! you can now play the whole content of the game! you can check it out here is the link:  http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/5422320/Diablo_III_Now_Live%E2%80%94Evil_is_Back-5_15_2012#blog

Dota 2 Tips for Beginners Vol.1

Since this blog is all about technicalities about gaming, I would like to share a simple and easy way when starting to play dota 2. I've played the game recently and managed to be able to compete with other players that are already been playing this game a very long time. Since Dota 2 is like Warcraft Mod: Dota, it is easier if you already knew how to play warcraft mod which is dota.

First thing you need to do is to look for a hero that suites your skills. If you are great on supporting heroes, you should be able to assist your team mates by choosing intelligence heroes that offers support skills like enhancement or stunning abilities. You need to keep in mind that Dota is a strategy game, you need to calculate time, and also damage numbers which is very helpful when ganking enemy heroes successfully.

PewDiePie - Horror Gameplay Screams! Amnesia Custom

The funniest youtuber ever! :D I think this guy play horror games as much like me :D

Click here to subscribe to  PewDiePie

MechWarrior Online Register Now!

2012 - The age of gaming rush! It's been a decade since MechWarrior 4 and now, you will be alarmed! If you want to reserve a pilot name, go to http://mwomercs.com. Since the game is still warming up for close beta, visit my website more often for more updates and possibly a gameplay preview of the upcoming MechWarrior Online Launch!

How To Get Backlink By Blog Commenting - How To Find Blogs To Comment From!

I just find this very useful to those who aren't skilled with blog commenting techniques. This is only to show you how to find blogs that allows commenting functionality the easiest way possible.

Leave a comment if you want more tricks and tips about backlinking, I have a bunch of backlinks, profile backlinking websites that are high Page Rank or PR.

Brookelyn - Ubisoft Frag Doll Gamer Girl of the day!

What do you think? :)

How to obtain fresh content to post to your blog?

Mainly, the key factors in obtaining or making content is very easy to do if you know where to look and what to look for. The first thing you need to know is where to obtain. There are a lot of different ways to obtain content. The most common one is to manually typed in ideas that pops out your head but it takes a lot of concentration and time. The other way is to integrate contents from different sites and then make your own interpretations but it also needs a lot of time to do.

So, why do you need to know every single way on how to get content? It is because you have the advantage to make content easy and consistent without spending a lot of time if you are busy doing other stuff. As every blogging knows, copying is not tolerated by the search engines because they don't want copied content, they want fresh ones that are generated manually or crafted unique.

Raigor Stonehoof - Earthshaker Hero Guide

General Play-style: Support-Stunner, Clash Killer

Raigor is known as the best support hero for hitters. It's because of his combination stuns and overpowered AOE damage nukes (especially late game). This beast holds stun abilities which is basically good for clashing and disabling enemy heroes for a while. The stun effect can also barricade enemy heroes perfectly.

In the late game stages, Earthshaker's rage can over cast enemies by his stun combination skills that are powerful enough to wipe out every single enemy hero on sight. One Skill Wipe Out - Echo Slam!

Zoe Flower - Game Designer, SlantSix Games Gamer of the Day!

Check Zoe's Website: http://www.1up.com/do/my1Up?publicUserId=4746239

How to Apply for ClickBank Affiliate Program - Step by Step Guide

ClickBank is a widely known digital affiliate marketplace for internet marketers. ClickBank offers many affiliate opportunities on a large scale of categories. At the marketplace tab of ClickBank, you can search for key terms of what digital products you want to place or give a review about it. The niche that are included are from arts, entertainment, games, self-help, home & garden, or even reference.

Kirsten Kearney - Girl Gamer of the Day!

Freelance Computer and Video Game Journalist

Alright folks! she is a Girl Gamer as you can see :P

Diablo III Evil is Back TV Spot

The Lord of Terror has begun his demonic crusade to shackle YouTube viewers into unholy slavery. Watch it now, and prepare for the end of days to begin on 05.15.12.

Rizzrak - Goblin Shredder Hero Guide

GENERAL PLAY-STYLE: Support-Slow, Armor-Tanker, Pure Damage Dealer

Shredder is basically a Tank, Support, Killer Type of hero. Rizzrak is one of the most versatile hero in the battlegrounds. The key factors on how to make the Goblin Shredder overpower the enemies are his mobility capabilities (Dagger and Timber Chain Skill combination), Pure Damage Skills and Slow (his Ultimate or SS).

Rizzrak can be a good support in terms of his slow capabilities and great follow up mobility. The Goblin Shredder is a Mid-Early Hero. He can overpower enemy heroes at early game as well as mid games. The reason why I didn't rank Shredder as Late Game Hero is because enemy heroes can significantly increase their HP Points at late game stages of the game and that can affect Goblin Shredder's Pure Damage Skills.

Buy items using Real Currency - Diablo 3 Auction House

Along with the start of the beta test, the tester is given 50 bucks to show how the auction house works. The early testing was to insure that the auction house meets the highest standards and to make it more accessible as much as to make it secure.

Diablo 3 Items Preview

All die hard Diablo 3 fanatic out there! You might be thinking what Diablo 3 items look like when servers are up. I'm going to show you a quick preview of the in-game items available (the stats might change)

The items are categorized according to its purpose. For Armor components - head, shoulders, torso, wrists, hands, waist, legs, feet. Jewelry items are basically for amulets and rings. 

Silent Hill 4 - 3D Analyze Settings WORKING

3D Analyze is basically an application to provide lacking elements of your integrated graphics (for example: shader model problems, textures and etc..)

First step is to download 3d analyze from http://www.filetransit.com/download.php?id=63051

When you are done downloading... the next step is to extract the file from a specific folder that you want. After that, click 3danalyze exe file to launch the application. Obviously, you need the Silent Hill 4 game installed in your computer in order for you to play the game.

In the 3D analyze settings, click select and then locate the Silent Hill 4 exe which can be found on your programs folder. Before you click RUN, set the 3D analyze first.

Pro Flight Simulator Review - Flight Realistic Simulator

To appreciate just what's occurring in the minds of flight followers and aficionados, to start with we need to study just what a flying simulation genuinely is. Flying emulators can be grouped as software program applications used to reproduce and simulate genuine aircraft flying encounter with all its features as well as components.

There are several assorted flying simulation software packages available on the market today and also people will look into Pro Flight Simulator, which has definitely been considered one of the most effective selections in regards to price and also quality. It is fairly low-cost as well as delivers lots of exceptional functions, jets and airplane, incorporating helicopters, military and also business airplanes.

The excellent of simulation application is typically determined by its potential to recreate the flying encounter as lifelike and also true-to-life as possible. Pro Flight Sim suits completely in to that model as well as by having its potentials to recreate various weather conditions it makes you practice different urgent scenarios and potential disasters. In such conditions the software are going to automatically recognize your closest airport and grant you all instructions essential to land easily; based on climate, volume of pressure, wind, climates and other crucial variables. Download NOW!

Backup Games On Most Famous Consoles - Game Copy Wizard Review

Most of the games out there are almost impossible to copy because of the built protection. The only way to copy your favorite PS3, Wii, Xbox 360 or other gaming platform is to use this impressively developed software that can easily copy and backup.

Game Copy Wizard features:

• Can backup games from consoles
• Can backup video or music DVDs
• Able to create video DVDs from the media files
• The most advance security penetration capabilities

You can just click Download to get Game Copy Wizard

How Powerful Internet Marketing is - DotComSecrets X Review

So you are looking for a home-based business, that's good! That is something especially today's economic downfall and the troubles that we're in. Everybody is looking for a way of some kind to secure the future of their families, putting the kids on college and into a university. So, A home-based business this days is definitely a lot of people are seeking for. There's a known guru right now - Russell Brunson - A good guy, very intelligent and founded a company called DotComSecrets.

Click Here! to go to Dotcomsecrets X and start generating passive income!

Crysis 3, Gameplay Mechanics Preview Spring 2013

Crysis 3 will be released in Spring 2013! This is a sneak preview of the gameplay mechanics, enjoy :)

Crysis 3 is one of the most popular first person shooter games since the release of the first one. The game will be a merged effect coming from the original and the Crysis 2 elements. Back from Crysis 1, it's based on jungle type environment and the second Crysis which is generally metallic looking design. Next year 2013, the next level of Crysis will be more on the two sequel elements combined together.

Best way to get traffic, forum traffic, blog commenting

I have a list of blogs and forums sites that you might want to get traffic from.


please leave a comment if you want more links :)

all of the followings links are dofollow so don't worry!

also, it's auto confirm by the administrator

Pudge - The Butcher Hero Guide

General Play-style: Nuker, Tanker [High HP but small Base Armor], Support


One of the most effective ganking hero in Dota. Pudge's main role in-game is to gank enemy heroes carefully, reaping enemies one by one by dragging them into his "Rot" range. The Butcher is also known for his powerful combination abilities which can easily overkill enemies instantly without notice.

Pudge Funny Quotes - Dota 2

Source: Facebook
More: Dota Updates
More Games?: PC Game Reviews

Best Horror Adventure Games for PC

The listed games are only based on my opinion, please don't contradict about it here. Also, all the games listed are PC games, best horror games of all time, best  PC horror games of all time.

1. Silent Hill 2
2. Amnesia: The Dark Descent
3. Silent Hill 3
4. Silent Hill 4
5. Dead Space 2
6. Doom 3
7. Metro 2033
8. F.E.A.R.
9. Condemned: Criminal Origins
10. Penumbra: Overture

Update: 4/15/2012

Check more games: Gaming Page

Ish'kafel - Dark Seer Hero Guide

General Play-style: Support, Tanker, AOE Nuker

Early game you have the advantage of nuking "Ion Shell" to the enemy which can be a powerful weapon against "Low HP" targets especially agi type heroes (because lesser HP, Magic Defense than int heroes or str heroes)

As you progress through the game you will need better damage based items nuke items or armor. If you want to be a killer-type hero, you will need item variations which can exceedingly kill your opponent with one nuke using "Dagon" (Level 1 - early game)

How to build a full size view website template

Full Size View Website | Client's Lease Website | Ebay Template Image

Far Cry 3 Multiplayer: Worth Howling About?

Source: Gamespot
More: Documentaries

Client Finder * Local marketing Titan Review

I've used the software and it's actually easy to configure and navigate. This is only an update to my current post which is a negative feedback about the software. Right now, I don't have anything more to say about Local Marketing Titan. It is actually smooth, fast and above all good looking interface that makes it easy to configure even if you are not very good at technical tasks.

Half Life - One

Gameplay: The most interesting pc games I've ever played back in the days where there are no serious graphics card requirements! Also, this game had been one of the best FPS of all time. Half Life got a lot of good reviews  in the past because of the story line of course.

Graphics: The awesomeness of the game is highly at its peek but speaking of the graphics currently, this game might not be good looking right now but for the time Half Life became a sensation.

Story: The main character of the game is Dr. Gordon Freeman, a theoretical physicist. I won't bother much of the story details because you might want to play this game and I don't want to spoil the fun! :D

Rating: 9/10

Source: Facebook
More: Documentaries

Warning! VMOBILE is NOT a scam BUT!...

Some of you might knew already about VMobile and already heard about their too good to be true offers. Well, this program primarily sells prepaid load as well as enhancing their popularity to businesses to gain more sales. VMobile is legitimate but do not depend on people saying that VMobile can easily generate 30k income per day without a sweat! It is possible but it takes a long time! This program is only for those who excels on social marketing techniques.

People advertised VMobile because they can earn referrals and gradual generation overtime. VMobile is also been advertised by several high authority media. VMobile is not a Quick Rich Scheme! Don't Get Excited!


More: Diablo III
Gaming Rig? PC Gaming System

Do People Want Touch on Laptop Screens?

Recent user testing shows that people want touch as part of their laptop computing experience. These research findings from Intel counter longstanding notions about touch-enabled displays on clamshell computers.

Touch on vertical screens, such as laptops, has been thought to result in so-called "gorilla arm," a term engineers have coined to describe what happens when people use touch interfaces for lengthy periods.

"Touchscreen on the display is ergonomically terrible for longer interactions," Avi Greengart of Current Analysis said to Wired in 2010. In user testing conducted by Intel in Brazil, China, Italy and the United States, however, people embraced touch on laptop displays.

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City - Restrictions Guide by mash3735

I have beaten the game several times and im sure others have. I spent time thinking of a way to make the campaign very challenging, and fun at he same time. I have not tried this myself as of yet but i will soon. this challenge is basically a big restriction on what can and cannot be used in the story. they are as follows: WEAPON LOADOUT: players must use default weapons for each character. Lupo & Spectre must use the basic assault rifle. Vector and Bertha must use the basic smg. Four Eyes and Beltway must use the pump action shotgun. all characters may only use uss issued pistol. ABILITIES: Active abilities are forbidden. 

Only passive abilities may be used. PICKUPS: Ammo may only be picked up if an enemy drops it. Grenades may be picked up. weapons from fallen enemies may be picked up. Ammo crates may NOT be used unless there is a boss fight. First aid sprays (FAS) and anti viral sprays (AVS) may not be picked up. Intel may be picked up. Weapon caches may not be used. HEALING: 

New Blizzard Kidzz Series to Offer the Most Epic Learning Experiences . . . Ever!

Games can be incredibly useful tools to teach players valuable skills and life lessons. To help young gamers take learning “to the max™,” we’re launching Blizzard Kidzz: a suite of educational games set in the Blizzard game universes. Blizzard Kidzz games will cover important subjects for gamers aged 6 and up, including mathematics, reading/writing, science, history, and more! Visit the Blizzard Kidzz preview page now for screenshots, game descriptions, and preorder information!

Source: Diablo III
More: Team Kynce
Gaming Rig? PC Gaming System

Why Diablo II Still Rules

Unmodded and running at 800 x 600 resolution, Diablo II: Lord of Destruction is still my favorite action role-playing game. I've tried many other Diablo-style games since, from Titan Quest to Dungeon Siege to Torchlight (made by several of Diablo's creators) to Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, some of which improved on Blizzard's design with less restrictive skill systems, better interfaces, more advanced visuals and added conveniences for travel, item storage and looting. But I've never played one and thought, without a doubt, that as a whole it established a higher standard than what Blizzard North achieved in the very early 2000s.

A lot of that has to do with gameplay, but what still stands out inDiablo II is the mood. The soundtrack in particular, its cascades of reverberating guitar, pounding drums and heavy, sawing strings lends Diablo II its unsettling atmosphere to a greater degree than any other aspect of the game. It's a tone of piercing loneliness, of mounting terror as you proceed step by step, map by map through increasingly bizarre, twisted and violent realms, fighting bigger, nastier enemies armed with devastating ways to kill you.

Check Out the New Blizzard Facebook Timelines

We’ve recently converted our Facebook pages for Blizzard, Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo to the new timeline format, and we hope that you’ll join us in making the most of our community connections there.

Since we launched our Facebook pages, we've had the pleasure of sharing a plethora of stories, BlizzCasts, artwork, and videos with a thriving Facebook community, but we're not done yet. We encourage you to browse through our company and franchise histories, “like” our pages so that you’ll see updates from us in your own feeds, and share your favorite milestones from Blizzard’s past on our Facebook walls.

Source: Diablo III

More: Team Kynce

Ridge Racer Unbounded Review

Let's get it out of the way at the top of the show. Ridge Racer Unbounded is Ridge Racer in name only. This game has about as much in common with Ridge Racer as Forza 4, or Hot Pursuit, or any other racer you'd care to name. As such, you can forget about ludicrously over-the-top powerslide mechanics. You can also forget about gleaming cities, winding mountain paths and beachside runs under an azure sky. About the only thing you can depend on is a suitably ravey soundtrack, with a number of old Ridge Racer tracks, as well as the now obligatory dubstep.

Dota 2 Heroes: Earthshaker

Valve's Dota 2 has been in beta testing for a quite a while now, steadily adding more players and gaining popularity on Steam. There's still no release date or pricing structure, so while we wait, here's a look at Earthshaker, a strength hero.

While Earthshaker is big, he's not exactly a hero that can absorb a lot of damage. Instead, he relies on spells to impact a fight. The first ability you'll want to learn is Fissure, which blasts out a wall of rock that stuns and damages enemies. Not only that, but the rock wall sticks around for a while, serving as a physical barrier. You can use it to block off parts of the map, cutting off an opponent's escape so you and a teammate can score a kill, or saving a teammate by stopping their pursuers. Just be careful that you don't accidentally trap a friendly hero in a bad spot, because then you're probably going to get yelled and / or laughed at.

Has Dragon's Crown Been Cancelled?

You've heard of Vanillaware, haven't you? The Japanese development studio, founded back in 2002, has been responsible for a few cult favorites in our industry, including GrimGrimoire, Odin Sphere, Muramasa: The Demon Blade and Grand Knights History. And its upcoming title, Dragon's Crown, has garnered a lot of positive attention since it was announced last year.

However, possibly distressing news about Dragon's Crown has surfaced. An enterprising reader of Podcast Beyond, Matt Donnelley, reached out to IGN today to let us know that Amazon.com has cancelled his pre-order of the game. "We're writing to let you know the items listed below will not be released by the supplier on the expected date," Amazon notes in the e-mail Mr. Donnelley forwarded to IGN. "As a result, we cancelled them from your order and your credit card wasn't charged."

In-Development – Class Skill Videos, Continued

Our series of blogs covering Diablo III’s class skills continues this week. Much like the last two updates, we’ll show off videos of core class skills, unmodified by runes, and then add them to the skills page on the Diablo III website.

Doing battle with the Burning Hells means fighting fire with fire, and this week’s videos are all about destruction. We’ve got skills to tear through demonic invaders with summoned zombies and locusts, pepper them with knives and arrows, warp their minds, blow their bodies apart, and more.

Watch, enjoy, and remember: heroes use every tool at their disposal in the pursuit of victory.

We’ll return with more videos soon.


Barbarian
Whirlwind

Demon Hunter
Fan of Knives
Sentry

Monk
Way of the Hundred Fists
Tempest Rush

Witch Doctor
Fetish Army
Locust Swarm
Mass Confusion
Wall of Zombies

Wizard
Explosive Blast

Source: Diablo III

Call of Duty Creative Strategist Resigns

Robert Bowling leaves Activision.

Call of Duty creative strategist Robert Bowling has left Activision. In a post on his Twitter account, Bowling wrote "Today, I resign from my position as Creative Strategist of Call of Duty, as a lead of Infinity Ward, and as an employee of Activision."

Bowling has been a long-time member of Infinity Ward and previously served as the company's community manager. As creative strategist for the Call of Duty series, Bowling has been the spokesperson for the series, playing an integral role in the franchise's media campaigns and announcements.

Assassin's Creed III: The Unstoppable Force

Scattered amidst the rocks, shrubs and trees of Bunker Hill, the American colonists attempt to mount an attack against superior numbers. Their ranks lack discipline, as each soldier fires his wildly inaccurate musket at will, with no order or coordination amongst the troops. Cannon fire rains down from the heavens, forcing the rag tag rebels to dash for cover. It is here that an assassin seeks his prey - a British commander atop an opposing peak. The only thing in his way - thousands of patient, professional soldiers. The British keep their formation, enduring the inaccurate, infrequent shots from their foes as they load their muskets. They wait for the order to fire. A tense few seconds tick by as the trained army ready their weapons. Almost as a battle cry, the infantry is given order to fire from across the valley. The hillside lights up as hundreds if not thousands of firearms erupt, tearing into the American militia.

This Should Look Good Build For PVP Barbs :)

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/barbarian#WdkXiV!UVT!caaccb

Big List of Game Release Dates

Check IGN's List of Game Releases!

As of March 5, 2012

2012

March 2012
03/06 – Mass Effect 3 (360, PS3, PC)
03/06 – MLB 12: The Show (PS3, Vita)
03/06 – MLB 2K12 (360, PS3, Wii)
03/06 – Street Fighter x Tekken (360, PS3)
03/06 – Top Gun: Hard Lock (360, PS3, PC)
03/06 – Unit 13 (Vita)
03/11 – Mario Party 9 (Wii)
03/13 – Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations (360, PS3)
03/13 – Ridge Racer (Vita)
03/13 – Silent Hill: Downpour (360, PS3)
03/13 – Tales of Graces F (PS3)
03/20 – Armored Core V (360, PS3)
03/20 – Ninja Gaiden III (360, PS3)*
03/20 – Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City (360, PS3, PC)
03/20 – Silent Hill HD Collection (360, PS3)
03/23 – Kid Icarus: Uprising (3DS)
03/27 – Silent Hill: Book of Memories (Vita)

What Do You Think of the Diablo III Beta?

Have you been playing Blizzard's beta for Diablo III? We want your thoughts.

Are you one of the lucky gamers who has been playing Blizzard's beta for Diablo III? If so, we want to know what you think!

You can tell us whatever you like, but any or all of the following would be good to touch on:

• Does it live up to expectations?
• What do you like most about it?
• What you like least about it?
• What do you think of the new skill system?
• How about the skill runes?
• The enemies?
• The visuals?
• The sound?

How is Blizzard Going to Prevent Oversupply?

There is a lot of discussion about the real money AH, but one of the largest problems from my perspective
seems to be the lack of any way to take items out of the "economy". What method is there to prevent the market from becoming terminally over saturated with superpowered items?

Things never soulbind to your character, so every powerful item you buy is going to eventually be able to be resold, which means that it is never removed from circulation. This is a game that is going to be played around the clock by millions of people around the globe. They will find items at a truly staggering rate, and those items will never need to go away.

How are they going to maintain value? I know the crafting system destroys items, but this really is only a factor for the lower tier gear because you'd never destroy some of the best gear in the game.

Source: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/3881714796

Making Real Money From Diablo 3

Lets face it. People will be buying items for real money. Having said that, there is a potential to make significant real money from Diablo3. Lets roll with the punches and figure out ways to make real money here.

Does anyone have any ideas, comments, opportunities, restrictions on how to make money in D3. Will a jeweller or mystic be able to sell their gems and enchants on the AH for real cash?

Feel free to add any other comments related to how to make money in D3

I feel the real money aspect is going to get out of control, however I do not want this to be a flame thread.

Keep in mind there will be no mods in D3.

Source: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/3730063018

Skill and Rune Changes

Last August we held a Diablo III press tour, and it was with a small group of fansites that I first revealed significant changes were still in store for the rune system. Since then, we’ve been hard at work on the rune and skill systems, and today we’d like to share details on the changes you’ll see in Beta patch 13. We’re confident that these changes will make Diablo III a better game, and to help illustrate why, I'll start with a high-level explanation of our goals for these systems as well as the feedback we were responding to in making these changes.

I'll start with the skill system. Our high-level goal with this system has always been to give players a great degree of power to customize their characters. We believe we accomplished that early on by abolishing skill trees and moving toward an open-ended system where skills, rune variants, and passives are chosen at-will by the player in a flexible customization system.

That goal and the system have been great successes, but the amount of customization we have available doesn’t mean anything if it’s not useful in combat situations. Combat depth is another one of our goals; Diablo III is designed to be a modern action game, built on the mantra of “easy to learn, difficult to master.” What that means for the player is picking a set of skills and abilities that work together, and then executing them in ways that lead to success: the wholesale slaughter of the demonic invasion. With that combat-depth goal in mind, we’ve been internally categorizing the skills since the inception of the system. Many of you could probably identify what these categories were if we asked, and some players have even mapped out what they are fairly accurately.

For every class we essentially created three common types of abilities, and then a handful of class-specific ability types. All classes have skills that fit into categories we call Primary Attack, Secondary Attack, and Defensive. Primary Attack skills are frequently used abilities that typically generate resources. Secondary Attacks are more powerful attacks that are limited in use through resource cost or cooldown. Defensive abilities are used to escape or control the flow of combat. Beyond that, classes have unique categories, like armor spells for the wizard or mantras for the monk. We used this methodology to help us design the classes and their skills, but we weren’t exposing this to the player despite the fact that these categories would give the player, like they did our own team, a better understanding of how the classes work.

One of our other goals is to ensure our game controls and interfaces are easy to use so that players spend their time trying to master game mechanics rather than fighting an interface. Giving players complete freedom to choose “anything” with no direction as to how our systems are intended to work was a failure in our design. There was also a detached relationship between the bottom-bar UI and the skill system. We have six skill slots, and six spots to put skills, but the two interfaces didn't really interact, and stocking abilities in your interface felt awkward.

To fix these issues, we focused on two core changes: (1) exposing the skill design intent by categorizing the skills and (2) linking skill selection directly to the bottom-bar UI to make assigning skills a clearer process. When viewing the skill screen, you’ll be presented with your six skill selection slots; each of these correspond directly to your bottom bar, and each will provide a specific list of skills from which to choose. By providing a clear-cut guide on how to best maximize your build potential, we hope to cover that “easy to learn” half of the mantra.

(A Nightmare-level monk choosing skills and runes from the specified categories)

You may already be fuming because you’re a “difficult to master” type of person, but before you run to the forums, we have you covered. In the Gameplay options, we’ve added an ‘Elective Mode’ for the skill system. With this checkbox ticked you’ll be able to place any skill in any skill slot, as freely as you could before. The Elective Mode option is available at any time with no requirements or need to unlock it. We hope the new, more guided interface will give you an in-game heads up as to the intent of each skill -- and maybe even be the way you play through the game in Normal -- but if you eventually have a build that simply can’t be accomplished the way we’ve laid things out, you’re free to pop on Elective Mode and take the skills you want.

(This screenshot depicts an 'Elective Mode' build made entirely of Primary and Secondary skills. Note that the skill slot names do not accurately reflect from which category a skill is selected in Elective Mode.)


While the skill system is largely unchanged save for some UI improvements and the helpful new (but optional) skill categories, we’ve been working to make some rather intense changes to the runestone system. Before we get too far, it’s probably best to clarify our terms: First, they’re now called skill runes, and they’re called skill runes because they’re no longer a physical item, but built directly into the skill system. Let’s back up, though, and go through some of the problems we were encountering and how this final design is intended to resolve those issues.

Our goal with the rune system has always been to provide additional character customization by allowing players to augment or completely alter their skills in new and significant ways. Originally, we tied this in to the itemization system because it felt like a good fit, as Diablo is all about the item drops. But with around 120 base skills, that meant there were around 600 rune variants; on top of that, each variant had five quality levels each, meaning ultimately there would be something like 3,000 different runes in the game… and we knew we were heading toward a problem.

Diablo is certainly about the items, but later in the game, having to juggle all of those various runes was not only un-fun, it was a serious and tedious inventory problem. We went through a number of different iterations, some of which we fully implemented and tested, to try to solve these fundamental issues while still keeping the customization intact. Ultimately we developed, implemented, and have been playing and testing a new system which we’re confident hits all of the desired mechanics and solves all of the related issues – and that’s what I’m going to talk about today and what you’ll see in Beta patch 13.

(A mid-20's demon hunter choosing a skill and its rune variant)

With the new skill rune system, you’ll be unlocking new skills as you level up just like you always have… but in addition you’ll also be unlocking skill runes. Now, when you open the skill window, you’ll choose which skills you want in which slots, the skill rune variants you’d like, and your passives. All of this is done directly through the UI, and all of the options from the skill, skill rune, and passive systems are unlocked through character leveling progression, leading to a cleaner overall integration of these systems. Just as we set different skills to unlock at specific levels, skill rune choices unlock at different levels as well.

Another thing we strive for in our games is “concentrated coolness,” and while rune quality levels made sense when we were attempting to itemize them throughout the game, they make far less sense as runes are unlocked through the UI. We didn’t want to get back into a situation where you’re clicking a button to pump points into skills. It’s far more concentrated (and cool) when your rune choices have a single and powerful benefit to your skill choice. The new skill rune system does not have ranks, and we’ve instead made each around the equivalent to what the rank 4 or 5 rune was previously. One click, you make your rune choice, and you get an explosive benefit to that skill. That feels a lot cooler.

Runes have been by far the biggest design hurdle we’ve had in the game, and as you know we’ve been continually iterating on them. We fully expect that some of you will be disappointed that runes won’t be part of the itemization system. Internally, it took us a long time to let go of that notion too and stop trying to force them into being items, and instead embrace the intent of the system. Integrating runes with the skill system directly gave us a bunch of great benefits, and even without runes we’re launching with more item types than Diablo II had. We knew we were making the right choice by letting go of runes as items and focusing on the core objective of the system: to customize your skills in awesome ways.


Before I wrap up, I did want to cover that one of the added benefits of the new system is that you’ll be unlocking something every level all the way up to the level cap (60). Now, with each level you’ll unlock at least one new skill or rune, and in most cases you’ll be unlocking three or four. The most immediately exciting part of that system is that skill runes begin unlocking at level 6, which means that players in the beta test will finally be able to play around with some rune variants.

(The above image depicts a potential level 13 witch doctor build in beta with skill rune choices)

Phew. Well, there you have it -- the new skill and rune systems! We strongly believe that these changes are going to make for a better Diablo III, and we’re looking forward to you trying it out in patch 13, which should be live any minute now (if it isn’t already). As always, we’d love to hear your feedback on your experiences with these changes. To help center the conversation on these changes to a single location, we’re going to lock comments on this blog and encourage you to post in a thread we’re specifically making to discuss this: Skill and Rune Changes Discussion.

Source: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/4475014/Skill_and_Rune_Changes-2_18_2012#blog

You Will Die. We Promise.

At BlizzCon 2011, the Diablo III Gameplay panel included this video from 3D Artist Kevin K. Griffith, Environment Artist Nate Bowden, Senior Artist Nick Eberle, and 3D Artist Richie Marella. In the video, they try to answer the question: “How hard is this game going to be in Nightmare difficulty (and above)?”

Check out their answers, accompanied by exclusive gameplay footage, right here:  VIDEO LINK

Diablo 3 - "Harder than Hell" Inferno Difficulty

Diablo III Launching May 15 - Digital Pre-Sales Now Open

The End of Days approaches…. Diablo III is set to launch on May 15, 2012, and you can be ready to play the minute the servers go live by pre-purchasing the game digitally on Battle.net today. Simply complete the digital pre-sale process, and your account will be flagged for automatic access to Diablo III when it launches at 12:01 a.m. PDT on May 15.

If you would rather play Diablo III for FREE, the World of Warcraft Annual Pass is still available for a limited time... but don’t delay, because the Annual Pass offer ends at 12:01 a.m. PDT on May 1, 2012.

Check out the official press release for further details on the upcoming launch of Diablo III, or head to the Diablo III pre-sales page on Battle.net to pre-purchase your digital copy now.

Source: http://sea.blizzard.com/en-sg/news/?d=2012-3#152052

DIABLO 3 TARGETING VS DIABLO 2

in d2, if you held down a skill with nothing selected, nothing continued to be selected even if you moused over ANYTHING. this allowed for more accurate shooting when it was needed.

now in d3 its the opposite, (holding down a skill does not effect selecting, you always select w.e ur mouse is hovering over) and whats worse is that the hit boxes are too large making it not only less accurate, but there being no way to turn it off.

fighting a group of monsters and want to firebomb all of them? ok aim in the middle of the pack. but there is a space in there, and attempting to get in that space targets one of the guys, so instead of shooting where you want to, it shoots at the center of that guy. the problem happens, when shooting at the center of that guy only hits him and maybe a cpl others, when shooting at that space would hit them all (with a skill like firebomb)


please give us a force no target system again

edit: please help me make the d3 community more aware of this issue so blizz knows how much this matters to us!

if you agree, also please help this get highly rated so there is higher potential this gets fixed!

Source: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/4254455831

BETA TEST SERVER UPDATE - 3/20/12

Update 6:50 p.m. PDT: We currently anticipate that maintenance will conclude between approximately 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. PDT. We apologize for the inconvenience and (as always) thank you for your patience.

----

Update 5:30 p.m. PDT: We've extended maintenance in order to perform additional testing. We're currently working to bring the Diablo III test servers live at this time, but do not have a precise ETA for when they'll be available.

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We are currently in the process of performing a small server update and will be bringing the Diablo III beta offline for maintenance shortly. We anticipate that downtime as a result of this update will be minimal, lasting for approximately 1 hour.

Source: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/4216984766

Popular Post Concerning - NEPHALEM VALOR BUFF

We’re working hard on balancing and testing Diablo III, and one of the major components is making sure that the end game experience is fun and exciting. We’d like to share a few of our goals for end game:

• We have an enormous number of skill build combinations, and we want a lot of those skill builds to be viable and interesting
• While there are millions of skill builds available to players, we don’t want players swapping skills regularly to beat specific encounters as they come up
• We don’t want repeatedly running specific three-minute chunks of the game to be the most efficient way to acquire gear for your character
• While a three-minute run shouldn’t be the most efficient, we also don’t want you to feel like it’s a two-hour commitment every time you sit down to play
• Bosses should still feel worth killing

Nephalem Valor is one of the major new systems in Diablo III and it kicks in at level 60. Keep in mind that this is still in testing and we’re still working out the details. Here’s how it currently works internally: Rare and Champion packs already have great loot on them. By killing a Rare or Champion pack, not only do you get their loot, but you’ll also receive a buff granting you increased magic find and gold find. However, if you change a skill, skill rune, passive, or leave the game, the buff disappears. As an extra reward, if you kill a boss while this buff is active, you’ll receive extra loot drops from that boss.

The exact amount of magic find and gold find provided by the buff is still being reviewed, as is the amount of extra loot you get from a boss while the buff is active. We’re also playing around with whether or not the buff stacks, what the duration should be, and whether or not it should persist through death. We want to make sure the buff is strong enough to make staying in your current game more rewarding than creating a new game. At the same time, if the buff is too strong, it risks making shorter play sessions feel not worthwhile.

We expect this system will encourage players to stick with a skill build of their choice, select an area of the game they enjoy, and sweep it for rare and champion packs on their way to a boss, finishing off a run with a boss that’ll be worth killing. If you wanted a shorter play session you could be done at that point, but if you have more time, the path of least resistance would ideally be to stay in the same game and make your way towards the next boss.

Source: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/4241234476

In-Development – Class Skill Videos, Continued

The darkness is rising, but you have many, many tools to fight it. As promised in the previous skills blog, we are revealing more videos highlighting Diablo III’s powerful class skills.

Some of these skills are previously unseen; others are familiar abilities that we’ve presented before; still others have been slightly tweaked from their original function. The videos listed below show skills that are unmodified by skill runes; they’re all depicted in their ‘basic’ form.

These videos will also find their way to the skills page. Expect more updates in the weeks to come.

Barbarian
Call of the Ancients
Seismic Slam

Demon Hunter
Companion
Evasive Fire
Rapid Fire

Monk
Crippling Wave
Inner Sanctuary
Wave of Light

Witch Doctor
Sacrifice
Spirit Barrage

Wizard
Archon
Blizzard

Source: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/4612390/In-Development_%E2%80%93_Class_Skill_Videos_Continued-3_13_2012#blog

Difficulty Levels & Builds - Diablo III Gameplay & Auction House

Check this out guys! :) Really awesome preview of the harder difficulties!

Diablo 3 Skill-Video - Barbarian - Call Of The Ancients

I could still remember where the idea of the skill taken :)

Diablo III PvP Update

As we’re counting down the days until we’re ready to announce a release date for Diablo III, we’ve come to realize that the PvP game and systems aren’t yet living up to our standards. Today, 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.

While we work on making sure PvP lives up to its full potential, we hope you’ll find some consolation in the fact that soon, you’ll be having a blast leveling characters, finding items, learning the classes, and perfecting builds…and that when the Arenas do arrive, you’ll be all the better prepared for battle.

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.

We know a lot of you are looking forward to PvP, and we’ll be focusing our post-launch efforts on making sure the Arenas are as brutal, bloody, fast-paced, and awesome as we know they can be. In the meantime, we’re in the process of putting the finishing touches on what we think is a truly epic campaign and co-op experience for launch.

We’ll have a lot more info to share on the PvP system in the future, and we look forward to the moment we can get the game into your hands.

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

Diablo III Launching May 15 – Digital Pre-Sales NOW OPEN

The End of Days approaches…. Diablo III will be unleashed from the Burning Hells on May 15, 2012, and you can be ready to play the minute the servers go live by pre-purchasing the game digitally on Battle.net today.

Beginning May 15, players around the world will be able to return to Tristram to discover the dark secrets of a fallen star and begin their quest to save Sanctuary from the impending demonic invasion. To secure your place as a barbarian, monk, demon hunter, witch doctor, or wizard right now, simply log in to your Battle.net account, and then purchase and download* Diablo III, and you’ll be ready to play when the game launches.

World of Warcraft players interested in getting Diablo III for free can still get in on the World of Warcraft Annual Pass, but the promotion will be ending at 12:01 a.m. PDT on May 1, 2012. When you sign up for the Annual Pass and make a 1-year commitment to World of Warcraft, you’ll receive a free digital copy of Diablo III, an exclusive World of Warcraft in-game mount (Tyrael’s Charger), as well as access to the upcoming World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria beta test. Learn more at the Annual Pass signup page.

For more details on the May 15 release of Diablo III, be sure to hit the official press release, or head to our new Diablo III game page to learn more about the game and pre-purchase your digital copy.

*When you pre-purchase Diablo III, you will be able to download an encrypted version of the game that will be unlocked upon release on May 15.

Source: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/4612389

Blizzard Insider #43 -- May 15: Evil is Back

The End of Days approaches as Diablo III is set to launch on May 15. To better prepare you for the defense of the mortal realms, the Blizzard Film Department recently unveiled the game’s intro cinematic at the Spike Video Games Award Show. The opening cinematic depicts the Eternal Conflict -- the ongoing struggle between the angels of the High Heavens and the demons of the Burning Hells -- and sets the stage for your arrival in Act I of Diablo III.

To get an inside look at the development process behind this newest cinematic footage, Blizzard Insider recently sat down with Vice President of Art and Cinematic Development Nick Carpenter and 2D Art Director Chris Thunig. If you haven’t seen the Diablo III intro cinematic yet, watch it now, and then read on to get the behind-the-scenes details and exclusive developer’s commentary on the Blizzard Film Department’s latest creation.




Insider: When you begin creating a new cinematic, where do the storyline and script come from?

Nick Carpenter: We have a fairly standard process in place. It starts when the game teams and the story leads meet to discuss everyone’s basic expectations, as well as the main themes and motifs of the game. We often go into this meeting knowing the major ‘tent poles’ of the storyline, and can start building out the other story details from there. In the case of Diablo III, we knew how the game would begin -- with the falling star crashing into the cathedral at New Tristram -- and we also knew how the game would eventually end [but we won’t talk about that just yet]. So we began by setting up the story with the intro and outro in mind, and those early meetings were really about creating the middle of the story which would connect the two end points.

Chris Thunig: Even after the initial story has taken shape, creating the cinematics remains a very fluid process. Good ideas can come from anywhere at any time, even very late in production, so we’re always on the lookout for ways to tweak things for the better. I don’t want to spoil the story, so I won’t go into too much detail, but I will say that we revisited the Act IV cinematic when the animators had some ideas about the way in which one of the characters performed a certain action, and how it needed a greater sense of defiance and heroism. We all agreed and decided to make changes to the action, even though we had progressed far into production at that point.


Once you have a rough idea of the story, how do you set about turning that idea into a cinematic?

Nick Carpenter: In addition to storyboarding all our ideas, we also focus a lot of time on the ‘animatics’ -- moving 2D storyboards that give a sense of timing and pacing. We also like to score our animatics with music from other movies to enhance the sense of the mood at atmosphere that we’re ultimately aiming for. As Blizzard gets bigger, it becomes more and more important to avoid what we call the ‘grand reveal,’ which is keeping your work to yourself until it’s almost 100% done. By that point, it’s far too late to incorporate feedback, and there’s always plenty of valuable feedback. A much better approach comes from building rough versions of the footage early and sharing with as many teams as possible as soon as possible. Animatics are very effective in that regard. We can build them quickly and still convey a lot of the elements and emotions we hope to capture in the final footage.


Insider: How does the 2D animatic evolve into 3D footage?

Chris Thunig: Once we have the animatic in a place where we like it, we start blocking things out in 3D and layering in sound. Animators and artists start with simple skeletons and rough backgrounds to flesh out the space. The first 3D animatic is often called the ‘slap comp’ and from it we get a sense for how the cinematic is evolving into 3D space. The slap comp goes out to many teams for feedback, and another round of iteration begins in which we start layering in more features, piece by piece. Details begin to emerge through rendering and painting, and eventually we start doing very subtle things, like supporting facial animations with muscle movement. These later stages can be very time consuming, which is why the earlier rounds of feedback are so vital. It’s important to start building all the meticulous details on top of a foundation that works.



How do you go about bringing specific characters to life? Where do all the details come from?

Chris Thunig: We use lots of real world reference. Early in the process various members of the team will act out the cinematic scenes on camera. This process works a lot like shooting live action, where actors take cues from directors and we get tons of takes. We even use props, as things like football shoulder pads can give actors a sense for the weight and bulk of angelic armor. People tend to move differently with costumes on, and you see this in their gestures and body language. All this footage goes to the artists and animators to use as reference.

When it comes time to create and animate the characters for the cinematic it’s a matter of getting the software to live up to the artistry. To aid the process we will sometimes look for reference to realize even seemingly trivial things. I remember we found a Blizzard employee with a haircut similar to Leah’s and we put her in front of a fan so the artists could study how her hair moves in the wind. Long render hours and many iterations later we head into the final polishing stage where a lot of tweaking and detailing takes place, and we try and give it that extra push that makes it a Blizzard-quality piece.


Were there any ideas for the intro cinematic that didn’t make the cut?

Nick Carpenter: Earlier versions of the cinematic were much more focused on the characters talking back and forth, mostly about the Eternal Conflict. We ultimately decided it was better to ‘show not tell,’ so we moved away from this direction and instead came up with the idea of establishing the Eternal Conflict by flashing back to it. We loved the concept of angels pouring down from the sky like a waterfall of diamonds into an ocean of demons, but there was no way we could create such sequences and still ship the game on time; it was essentially like adding another entire cinematic relatively late in the schedule.

That’s where the idea of the 2D animations originated. Here, we could show the same backstory in the context of a macabre, living storybook where the images come to life on the page. Through the constraint of time, we came up with the unique ‘storybook’ look for which I think the Diablo III cinematics will be remembered. This storybook grounds the sequence as a flashback -- without explicitly explaining that it’s a flashback -- and it even gives the viewer the sense that they are witnessing events with the weight of an epic, almost mythological past.


What technologies were used to create the intro cinematic?

Nick Carpenter: We use Pixar’s RenderMan as our primary rendering tool. It’s very good at displacing surfaces and adding both realistic motion blur and depth of field. During the development of StarCraft II’s cinematics it felt at times as though RenderMan was leading us, but for Diablo III we were able to apply what we learned during StarCraft II and get back in the driver’s seat. We also used VRay for matte painting passes, which is the modern equivalent of how 2D painters used to draw environment layers on sheets of glass to create a sense of depth.

Also, if you look closely at the 2D storybook sections of the Diablo III intro cinematic, you’ll notice that we took the fibers in the parchment and separated them at different z-depths in AfterEffects to create a 3D effect, almost like a star field.



Insider: How does creating cinematics for games differ from creating other forms of animation?

Chris Thunig: Much like animation studios, we are also focused on telling a story through moving artwork, but we differ in that we’re also building the story alongside a game development team. Most animation studios don’t have that dynamic, and staying in synch with the game team can be a creative process that works in both directions. For example, the Cinematics team first built Azmodan for the Black Soulstone cinematic. We then sent his model over to the game team to be designed for gameplay. On another occasion, the Dev team sent us the environment that will serve as the setting of Act IV, and we used those assets to build the set pieces for the Act IV cinematic. Some ideas come from us and some ideas come from them, but ultimately we’re both building the same story arc, and it’s important everything fits together just right.


Insider: Do you think we’ll ever see a full-length theatrical movie from Blizzard Cinematics?

Nick Carpenter: If you look at the way Blizzard’s cinematics have evolved over the years, it’s a good guess that we’re likely headed in that direction. We get this question a lot, and it’s too early to tip our hands on anything specific, but, for now, I can say that we definitely hear you.


Thanks for your time. Is there anything else you’d like to share before you go?

Nick Carpenter/Chris Thunig: I just want to thank everyone involved! Diablo III was one of our biggest challenges yet. It was a labor of love and we can’t wait for everyone to see the story unfold in the final game.

Source: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/4664619

Sword of Justice Issue #3 Now Available

From the explosive team of Aaron Williams (North 40) and Joseph Lacroix (L'Encyclopédie du mal) comes Diablo: Sword of Justice.

A horrific plague of madness is spreading throughout the Dreadlands, transforming its victims into bloodthirsty savages. The only hope of stopping the affliction before it consumes mankind may lie with Jacob, a wanted fugitive whose destiny is bound to the Archangel Tyrael's legendary Sword of Justice.



Jacob’s struggle to elude a group of deranged kinsmen hunting him for the crime of murder continues in issue #3 of the Sword of Justice comic series. As his enemies close in, Jacob taps into the true potential of Tyrael's enchanted blade. Yet with his newfound power comes a difficult choice: to pursue freedom, or to return to his plague-ridden home of Staalbreak and face his troubling past.

Source: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/4678499/Sword_of_Justice_Issue_3_Now_Available-3_22_2012#blog

Diablo 3 Beta - Barbarian Let's Play: ForceBarb - Part 1

Diablo 3: Monk Full Gameplay Trailer Blizzcon 09 [HQ HD]

Official Diablo 3 Release Date

Finally! May 15, 2012! Diablo 3 Official Release Date!

Finally! May 15, 2012! @ here