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Games Entertainment

Diablo II Expansion Announced 76

Fiwer wrote in with some interesting news with the only game I'll run windows for (god I wish they'd release a Linux port). They've announced an expansion pack that will probably be out next summer. Will feature Act V, as well as 2 new classes: Asassin and Druid. You can read the story on DiabloII.net or the Game Center Version (which has more screenshots, but requires you to click through one page-at-a-time. I hate that. I'm still wandering around as a sorceress named CmdrTaco (currently in Hell Act 3) and running into quite a few Slashdot folks out there. Not that its got me a stone of jordan *grin*
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Diablo II Expansion Announced

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  • Hmmm... Taco bitches and moans about every QuickTime piece of media that come out 'cuase he can't see it on Linux, but somehow gets his Win32 version of Diablo II running under Linux?
  • GNOME or KDE? NO port is specific to either of those 2 monstrosities. All of Loki's stuff uses SDL for example. As for poor sales, sure. But if any company could weather it, Blizzard could. As for the free version, don't make me laugh. Most of the free versions of games require the data files from the original. If you mean someone writing a version of the game from scratch, gimme a break... As for zealots, eh? I have yet to see one zealot claim they DON'T want Diablo 2 for Linux, so quite what you mean by this comment is beyond me...

    ---

  • Who needs a port? It runs in Windows 98 just fine.
  • Yeah, I agree with what you are saying... If playing games helps you blow off steam and do your job better then go for it! There was a study done a few years ago about lost productivity due to workplace game playing (and general non-work related activites---goofing off) that claimed it was costing business billions each year, meanwhile another study came out claiming the opposite and went so far as to say that game playing helped people (as you say) to get more done, enjoy being at work,etc...

    I am just the opposite. I like to plan out my projects and work on them in well structured chunks without a lot of break time during the day. One interesting study would be to see how well "mixed" groups of developers (all-business vs. take-a-break types) get along? Probably a difficult study to do!

    --8<--

  • I know that many are familiar with these arguements made by "prudes" like myself. And maybe I am a wet blanket, in the minority. So be it.

    After listening to the history of the "great war" (WWI) on PBS, I really got a sense of the immensity of lost life and human suffering. It was really 'hell' on earth for for those fighting it. 'Hell' is not a playground.

    The problem I have with Diablo is that it trivializes murder and mayhem. Maybe it is a morality play between 'good' and end 'evil', but it doesn't place battle in the right perspective - something that could (and likely) have an ultimate finality. In real war there are no 'spells', 'magic potions', or reincarnation for a second life.

    Maybe they could make a game that if you character dies, then your computer kills you. Maybe there could be a wrist/leg strap that you need to put on before you can play the game. Then, if your character dies, your computer sends 1000 volts of high amperage current through you. Do you think that they would sell a lot of titles?

    There will always be war and rumors of war. But there needs to be reflection on the values that are taking place in a game like 'Diablo'. Maybe if there was more respect for human life, we could improve the 'real world' relationships we have around us. And live in peace with our enemies. Now that's something to be valued.

  • Well, I don't know about "little kids," but I play on Open Battle.net occasionally because I want to be able to play my character in Single-player when regular Battle.net crashes, which it inevitably does. Of course, whenever I use regular Battle.net, it also causes my computer to crash when I leave the game, but even if that were not true, I'd still avoid it. Too much lag for a modem luser like me.

    ccg

  • Am I the only person who remembers the Loki quote that porting is free? I seem to remember that Loki did the actual port for free, and then paid royalties on the sales to the company who owned the game. The only risk involved would possibly be theft of source code, and no one at loki would be stupid enough to let that out.
    I think Blizzards problem was that they were unwilling to let anyone else do porting for them because they were concerned with the quality of the final product.
    treke
  • I think they meant "one new act that takes place in the Barbarian Highlands"
  • I thought the same thing just a few weeks ago. But then my friends got the game and it is now a complete blast. We play TCP/IP together and talk on the phone while we play. It brought new life into Diablo 2.
  • Get real jack-ass, its a game!

    No shit. If you can't see the intentional humour in my post, you need to lighten up...

  • I've played D2 for over thirty hours...this week. Now on ActII, Nightmare, huh, what was the question?

    --
  • Is anybody working on porting Diablo 2 over?
  • by Anonymous Coward
    CmdrTaco is a FUCKING HYPOCRITE. He claims not to be able to view QuickTime movies, and refuses to link to them on the site for that reason, but he'll boot into Windows to play D2. Thus, he CAN view QT, but he chooses not to.
  • > I don't recall Diablo II being touted for Windows 2000....

    "touted"? Do you mean supported? Hmm, looks like you may need to rethink your ink.

    From the Blizzard website (pay particular attention to the first line):

    Single-Player PC System Requirements
    Requires the Full Version of Diablo II

    Windows® 2000*, 95, 98 or NT 4.0 Service Pack 5
    Pentium® 233 or equivalent
    32 MB RAM
    4X CD-ROM drive
    DirectX(TM) compatible video card
  • If you don't think helping small businesses compete in an age of mega-mergers and multi-national conglomerate monoliths counts as real work, then what, pray tell, does? Going to work for Electronic Arts?

    Video game development is some of the hardest work you can choose. Long hours, low(er) pay, and the risk of gambling that your title is going to be one of the few that succeeeds out of thousands of releases each year.

    That said, I'm a bit sad that you think writing a video game deserves more respect than helping small businesses compete in an age of mega-mergers and multinational conglomerates.

  • That's the closest relation I can think of. It's the 17-years later, scaled up game in the style of of the coin-op... 8-player Gauntlet, where the characters can pick up, buy, sell, and trade powerups and other items that improve their effectiveness, and spend 10 seconds per map getting beat up while your PC tries to load animation...
  • My favorite is when my Paladin finds something labelled "Undesecrated Grave". So whaddaya think the first thing he does is? :-)

    Diablo II is a good game, but if it had any sort of real role-playing (IMHO, a Paladin should not get rewarded for this sort of behavior!) it'd be tons better.

    Ah, whaddaya want from a glitzy Rogue clone?

  • test
  • I agree that there should be more quests but COME ON, its fine considering how hard and cool they are. The last quests is to kill diablo... you didnt die once trying to beat that?! Wow you must have spent a lot of time in act 3. I blazed through all the other acts and got to act 4 when i was lvl 18!
  • I believe Taco said that he was in Hell Act3. Some people refer to Hell as being Act4, but since he said Hell Act3, he probably means, Hell difficulty, Act3. If he's on hell difficulty, he's beaten normal difficulty and nightmare difficulty and have probably seen each of the movies twice already. Unless you just bought the game, chances are, you've already seen all 5 movies :)

    The next catch...
  • 'Nuff said.

    -Vel
  • People without hours a day to play soon find hours a day to play. Your family, job, and friends will all be there when you finish, scout's honor.
  • I play games all the time, after work, during work, before work. Mostly Tribes. It's a great stress-reliever, and I find (in the case of Tribes) that the contact with other computer geeks is sometimes nice.

    I know what you're thinking...

    "If he's playing video games he must not be doing his job very well"

    and

    "how can anybody mistake playing a computer game with other people for actual human contact?"

    To that, I say;

    • If you're good at your job it shouldn't take you forty hours a week. If you're really good it shouldn't take you more than twenty.

    • Of course it's not the same as meeting face-to-face, silly. But it is the closest thing I have to being able to hang out with my friends at work.

    As for getting sick of computers because of my job, well sure. Don't we all? The fact is, I can't avoid them, so I might as well try to enjoy them.
  • Scared of poor sales?
    Yes.
    Scared that the profits won't cover porting costs?
    Yes.
    Scared that someone will only code a 'free' version anyway - which most users will go for, thereby making all their effort a waste of time?
    Yes.
    Scared of supporting all the different distros? Scared to choose between KDE and Gnome? Scared of the zealots whom they can never satisfy, no matter what they do?
    Yes.

    And who can blame them?


    <O O&gt
    ( \/ )
    X X
  • No. Normally I play singleplayer to avoid the lag. Sometimes I'll go to Open Battle.net if I want to ask about something or find someone else to play. My college friends and I at first would play in Open Battle.net, but now we just make our own TCP/IP games. Before, our connections were too unreliable to host, but now all my friends have DSL.

    Anyway, the point is, I can reuse a character between singleplayer, Open Battle.net, and hosted games.
  • I know what you mean about taking structured chunks of time to do things. If it's something like writing Perl or doing dev work that takes actual concentration, I usually have to take 9-12 hours of uninterrupted time (no phone calls, Tribes, or emails) to accomplish anything. Most of my projects don't require that much focus, but some do.

  • What I liked is the "I'll put my soldiers at your disposal" line after you kill Blood Raven--sure you get one for free (who refuses to talk to you), but the rest you have to pay for. Could have finished Act 1 in like 20 minutes if the entire band of soldiers actually came with me and helped kill off the baddies...
    --
  • D2 is great because it's so much like nethack.
    --
  • How is this a troll? It's a true statement.

    Have any of you PLAYED Diablo II in Windows? System crashes? Other problems? I didn't think so.

  • I usually stick to FPS, but any game that CmdrTaco would support MS to play must be good. How does Diablo II compare to other MMP online games like Everquest and do people without hours a day to play get anything out of the experience?
  • by KRW ( 125628 )
    This would be a great port for Loki ....
  • by rongen ( 103161 ) on Saturday September 02, 2000 @10:30AM (#808928) Homepage

    Maybe this should be an "ask slashdot" question but I was wondering how much time the average gamer who mainly works with computers spends playing games after work (or during work)? (this is the second games-related story on slashdot lately, isn't it?).

    I'll be the first to admit that I am "on the computer" too much already so even when I find a game I like that I can run on Linux (I don't have a 3d card or anything) I ussually don't end up playing it too often.

    What do you people think? Do those who work with computers all day find they play these games all night or is it mostly people who are in non-computer related jobs that spend hours gaming?

    --8<--

  • by MattW ( 97290 ) <matt@ender.com> on Saturday September 02, 2000 @10:33AM (#808929) Homepage
    And hopefully, battle.net will actually work normally by then. I'm probably not the only one who would pay to get reliable service there. Not only am I tired of lag (on a fast box and a T1), but I'm annoyed at their architecture, which lets Duriel mow you down before the tomb of tal rasha even loads.

    If you were concerned you might not have a life because you play it too much, check out the auctionwatch [diabloii.net] info about what in-game items are selling for on E-bay.

  • What the hell? Act 4 only had three quests. I don't think I died once. We're supposed to wait six more months for only one act? It had better be hard.

    I hope Blizzard is working on something damn cool besides this. Diablo 2 is just our Pac Man or Asteroids... fun & addicting, but just as shallow, compared to what we're capable of.

  • See subject. Well, can it?

  • by Anonymous Coward
    note to blizzard, playing diablo on a 21" monitor looks like somebody puked on my screen. And in the forest, they puked spinach.

    We have to give credit where credit is due. Game concept and design are what make it addictive.

    Artwork looks like crap but its probably hard to do when your drawing monsters with an icon editor.

    Programming absolutely sucks. The game crashes all the time, bnet is a joke. And dont give me the crap about having so many users, I doubt a hosted game takes up that much resource, and if it does, you should have made it more distributed. There is no reason why you couldnt have spread a realm across lots of cheap boxes

    When I go from a game like "ground control" to d2 its feels like pulled my amiga 1000 out of the closet, dusted it off, and started playing "fairy tale". Usually when you take three years to develop a sequel game it ends up looking better.
  • Well Diablo 2 isn't a MMP game so its a different game experience. I think the limit is 8 players in a game.

    And yes you can play it for only 30-60 min and get something out of it, unlike EQ which required you to play for 3-4 hours IMHO to get anytihng out of it.
  • Duh, no.

    He only boots into a Win32 like operating system to play Diablo II.

    READ dammit!

    If this thing runs fine under WINE, then of course it's another matter. (I did manage to get Unreal to work under WINE once)
  • http://www.infoceptor.com had this story a long time ago.

    Often wrong but never in doubt.
    I am Jack9.
  • The two new character classes were discovered and leaked well in advance by Infoceptor [infoceptor.com]. Apparently, the names of all the classes and skills were lying around in plain text inside the MPQ archive, so it was discovered and announced that there would be an expansion featuring these classes.
    ---------------------
  • by coolo ( 11682 ) on Saturday September 02, 2000 @11:10AM (#808937) Homepage
    I'm playing Diablo II only using wine
    and it works perfectly (the single player
    mode I'm using at least - the multiuser
    mode was fixed two weeks ago though).

    I wanted to post this once, but abstained
    as you need a crack - wine can't get the
    copy protection to run. Other than that,
    it works just great.

    BTW: I'm using the stock wine that comes
    with the Caldera LTP ;-)
  • if you would have started playing just a week after the game was released (as in my case) you still would have no chance of catching up (getting on the ladder). A friend of mine started playing a character two months ago, and has put about an average of 6-8 hours per day into playing him on bnet and he's still 15 levels off of the ladder.
  • I'm working on a Hacker's Guide to Writing English. It should be online soon. Basically, I cover the most common spelling and grammatical mistakes and how to avoid them. For example, the word is "DEFINITELY," not "definately," "definitly," "defenetly," "defenatly," and so on.

    As soon as it's online, I'll submit a link to Slashdot.

    Hope this helps,
    ccg
  • I was using Gnome/KDE as a general example (not just ports of games, so I was going off-topic), rather than a specific thing - but point taken.
    Blizzard certainly could withstand poor sales, but why should they? They are a business, after all. It makes good business sense to let someone else be the pioneer and prove the platform viable. Though you could argue for Loki being the pioneers.
    Free versions: Freecraft.
    There are also open 3D engines being produced. There is no lack of talent amongst OSS coders, occasional lack of direction admittedly.
    Zealots: It seems that I'm taking a more extreme viewpoint of zealotry than you here. A non-zealot wouldn't have a problem dual-booting and playing the Windows versions (impoverised students excepted). A zealot will complain that the Linux version is released months after the Windows version. They'll complain that it doesn't run as fast, that their mouse isn't as smooth, any whiny point they can. The more extreme ones will complain about potential security holes and/or bugs which they can't fix without the source. Why should Blizzard put up with any nonsense?


    <O O&gt
    ( \/ )
    X X
  • If he can boot Windows to play D2 then he can boot Windows to view QT files. This is the point Rombuu was making. Why does he deny himself the functionality he obviously craves?
    It is a strange case of double-standards.


    <O O&gt
    ( \/ )
    X X
  • by scrytch ( 9198 ) <chuck@myrealbox.com> on Saturday September 02, 2000 @12:39PM (#808942)
    Watch out, the CNet review contains pretty much a complete giveaway of the ending of Diablo2, so if you haven't finished it yet (e.g. Taco) then I'd hold off on reading the review. As for screenshots, only thing that's going to look different is the cinematics anyway ... and snow on the rigidly square-tiled square-walled "outdoor" environments.
  • You may want to sign the Tuxg ames petition [tuxgames.com] for the game. There are currently over 2200 signatures for Diablo 2, but the more there are the more chance there could be to convince someone up top at Blizzard to port it.
  • What exactly is your point? People do not base their moral values on computer games. Contrary to what Tipper Gore and friends believe, the overwhelming majority of people, including children, have no difficulty separating fantasy and reality.

    But there needs to be reflection on the values that are taking place in a game like 'Diablo'.

    If you insist on searching for moral values in Diablo, the primary moral is that good defeats evil.

  • The press release here: http://www.blizzard.com/press/00090 3d2exp.shtml [blizzard.com] says "One new act set in the Barbarian Highlands" I assume an "act set" is something like another 4 acts.
  • no, it's not a legal reason to use a crack!
  • Well I have, and it locked up (yes the num lock & caps lock keys do NOT respond) Win 2K all the time! I don't have any other software installed on this machine! Machine configuration?

    866Mhz, Intel 840 chipset, 512MB 800Mhz Rambus, 32MB Matrox G400 MAX, SB Live!, and an Ultra 160 controller with 2 18GB 160 disks. With all of the latest drivers installed. This computer runs Linux just fine.

    For those who are wondering why I went this route one simply has to look at the Dell product line. A vendor that I must purchase from.
  • Exaxtly. My friends and I used to call the first Diablo 'Nethack 4.0'... Although, now that I scratched my D2 play disk, now I'm back to playing Nethack. By the way, I know it's been out for a while, but if you haven't checked out the latest version of Nethack [nethack.org], You really should. The gameplay has been improved drastically.
  • For the most part it's a game...
    Anyone expecting to be able to go on quests and get magic powers need a reality check.
    Then.. so do people who think a Queen can beat up a knight...
    Thies are games.. pure and simple...
    Real war is bloody... discusting.. and horrific...
    World War II was worse than normal due to a certen ruler killing off his own people...
    But WWI probably fair the norm...

    But I suspect the Golf War dose more preception damage than Diablo II...
    Diablo II.. a game where your risk your carricters life... occasionally die... and yet you know it's fantacy...

    The Golf War.. were we lob bombs from a distence (a bit off shore) and basicly anilate our enemys with out a single risk to ourselfs.

    It may not have been so clean as this but thats what we get on the news...

    In Quake II (I've never played Diablo) you get to face people suffering. See blood... It's a very messy busness.

    During the Golf War I saw a body count and didn't care... numbers.. mattered not one bit...

    I cought myself reading the manual trying to find a way to save people in Quake II... It can't be done...

    There is nothing clean about the depiction of death in thies games.
    It is fun becouse you risk nothing.
    But you do walk away with something...
    A sence that... had this been real... I could never do it...

    I think.. with my experence with FPS I've become more sensitive to the horrors of war..
    That is something no PBS documentry could give me.. and something news covrage never dare produce.

    Next time I see a body count.. I won't be so calous...

    In role playing... people get into there carricters... people become the carricter...
    When that carricter dies... they feel it in a very personal way... becouse for that moment they are that carricter...
    Once the carricter dies the player snaps back to reality...

    It's not like real death.. not as harsh... but it's a great deal more personal.. more real.. than watching the 6pm news.
  • They say theay will relese the expansion next summer. Is this this with or without delays?
  • Do those who work with computers all day find they play these games all night or is it mostly people who are in non-computer related jobs that spend hours gaming?

    I think you're driving at a truth there - most computer professionals don't really have that much time for gaming. On the other hand, we do tend to have plenty of money for playtime, so picking up a game box just for a couple of hours of amusement, cutscenes and maybe a little play-through on "don't hurt me" difficulty is something you can do strictly on impulse. And some of us have kids.

    But the bottom line is - it doesn't really matter whether this is a huge area for Linux or a tiny one. PC Gaming is Microsoft's last stand. If we can do something to advance the cause there, we will, and that includes buying Linux editions of games, or throwing in the odd hack just to keep things moving.
    --
  • Except for work, I only play games. And talk to people on variouses mushes, but those are games, too :)
  • by weave ( 48069 ) on Saturday September 02, 2000 @10:46AM (#808953) Journal
    Here you are, going out into all kinds of shit, and risking your ass, to save those pathetic villagers.

    And are they grateful? Oh yeah, maybe giving you a trinket or something or a whopping 10% discount in their shops. Oh boy...

    I mean, like, I retrieve a tool for the blacksmith in act 1 and she imbues it and that's it. Just once. Oh, thanks a lot. Er, how about making me whatever I want so I can save your friends and family while you sit here nice and comfy in your village, eh??

    Oh, and gee wiz. My stash is a bit small so I'm forced to sell all the great stuff I find at rip-off prices. Nice of you to profit from me almost getting myself killed and hauling this great loot back. How about allowing me to rent a PS Storage Shed for my loot for free?!

    But seriously, what a GREAT game. I mean, who really needs logic? Without having it the way it is, it wouldn't be the same!

  • Blizzard, while putting out some of the coolest games, are a scared of trying anything on Linux. For a company with such talented developers, you'd think they'd have some balls. I would kill (particularly my noisy bastard neighbours) for a Starcraft port to Linux...

    But no, they sit on their asses because they're scared... Poor babies...

    ---

  • It's different from MMP games like EQ and UO because it does not take place in one persistant world. Your character goes with you from game to game. Each game can have 1-8 people in it, and the world map is randomly generated. In short, D2 is more centered around character advancement and item collection than impact on the world. (because there is no single "world")
    -- Fester
  • Was it just me or was Diablo II incredibly boring and repetitive after a few hours? I couldn't bear to actually finish it because it kept lulling me off to sleep...

    And how exactly did they spend all those years from when the original released? It was nearly the same game!

  • We cannot allow this game to be released. It will turn children into Satanists, who will then be inspired to wear black and commit atrocities like the one last April. [tripod.com]
  • by weave ( 48069 ) on Saturday September 02, 2000 @10:53AM (#808958) Journal
    I am in charge of a 25-person computer support department at a large 2-year college..

    So I'm playing away at d2 and set my ICQ away message saying what server I am in.

    So in pops one of my staff that is two levels of supervision below me, walks up to me, and out comes flying a whole lotta great shit. 40,000 gold pieces, great armor, weapons, gems, etc, etc... It was a shower of goodies just pouring out from his character!

    What a PERFECT way to brown nose the big boss! I always have hated it when staff tries to talk to me like they care and roll on the BS compliments and all. But THIS dude, yeah baby. It worked.

    Then again, he still ain't getting a raise, but I *was* appreciative! :-) :-)

  • Interesting. Would this be a legal way to use a crack? Because it makes interoperability happen between operating systems :)

    BTW, you just gave me a reason to try that game. Thanks. I will be looking forward to sacrificing most of my free time for this :)

    (Oh yeah, moderators, mod the parent up please)
  • Anyone else thinks nethack is much more interesting? (I can't stand games where you have to click frantically every few seconds.)
  • ... does this mean we will see you on the Jerry Springer show soon?
  • Yeah, but they allow you to slaughter nameless baddies without questioning your morals. Imagine if the villagers made you get a hunting license and only allowed you to take out demons based on what season it was. And luckily there is no CNN standing by to show the villagers the unethical treatment of the poor little carvers as your Necromancer mercilessly explodes their corpses or raises them from the dead without so much as a release form... Get real jack-ass, its a game!
  • This is a bit offtopic, but I'm glad to see that you're finally being frank about Windows and Diablo II, Taco. So I'm withdrawing my previous gripes.

    I actually have the Diablo II Collector's Edtion, but I haven't played it yet. I've been really busy lately, and I need to make sure that when I start playing, I'll have lots of free time. Unfortunately, everyone else will have leveled so early on that I have no chance of catching up... oh well.

    ---------///----------
    All generalizations are false.

  • Wasn't the "Golf War" just recently with Tiger Woods and that other guy having to do a tie-breaker?

  • Then you could be playing warcraft. Or Warcraft 3.

    Too bad the games don't combine.

    How's the Sims?

    -Ben
  • 'course, consider the fact that you're about the umpteenth "adventurer" to come around their camp. they sell you stuff, but you make them buy back what was probably their old weapons, and they don't raise an eyebrow when you loot their crypt, mausoleum, and what's left of their monastery.

    personally i just wonder how i manage to kill a cloud of gnats with a spear, then they drop a chain mail. strong bugs.
  • personally i just wonder how i manage to kill a cloud of gnats with a spear, then they drop a chain mail. strong bugs.
    And then, if you're a barbarian, you loot their corpse to find a potion or item that was previously unseen.

    The big benefit of searching corpses for potions/items is that they're no longer raisable by shamen. Same holds true if your paladin uses Redemption; ya get the life/mana, and they can't come back to life.

  • Unfortunately, you can't play on Battle.Net with a cracked DII binary - the servers check the game version somehow and refuses to talk to modified binaries.
  • Hell, I didn't want the help of the one I got, but there was no way to get rid of her. Well, eventually she fell in battle. My point was just that she shouldn't offer help if she's not going to give it for free; she should have said "I'd send some troops with you, but we're hard pressed to defend the camp as it is" or something like that...
    --
  • I don't recall Diablo II being touted for Windows 2000....
  • How is CmdrTaco meeting all of these people if there are only 8 people per server? Do you keep your possessions and attributes as you move from server to server? Can you play off of the network to advance your character?
  • Each server as such is just a game created on blizzards master server. All your characters abilities, and items so transfer whenever you enter a new game.

    As to playing off network to advance there are two types of characters. Realms characters which are stored on blizzard's servers to prevent hacking, and open characters which are stored on your machine but you can play offline, over a lan, or on battle.net with. Realms and open characters cannot play together though.

Get hold of portable property. -- Charles Dickens, "Great Expectations"

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