Jay Wilson on Battle Net 2, Pricing and Releases - blizzardguru.com

UGO has an article up with Jay Wilson, this time detailing some details of the multiplayer aspects of the game and how they will run.

The most exciting changes we discussed related to the new and improved Battle.net. Most of what’s going to happen is still in the planning stages, but fans can in general expect to see more integration between game and community. No one will be forced to sign on to Battle.net to play Diablo III, but characters created offline will not be playable online in the interests of limiting any potential for cheating the system.


As for community features, the recently announced Achievements for Diablo III (and StarCraft II) will also tie into the redesigned Battle.net. There are additional plans to streamline item-sharing between different characters, one suggestion being to allow items to be traded or sent through whispers. Fans can also probably expect to see voice chat in Diablo III, though modders and modding tools will not be officially supported due to the game’s random nature.

Pricing for the game is still being decided, but don’t expect to pay subscription fees for access to Battle.net. Sure, there’s always the possibility that different membership tiers will be introduced later on, but nothing we heard during our chat suggested that the team has anything other than a free-to-play model in mind for Diablo III’s online play.

As for the possibility of a console port, there’s nothing new to report. Wilson recycled the comment that’s been circulating, that Diablo III would be the “easiest” of Blizzard’s games to port. But that should not be read as confirmation that the team is working on any such port; as it is, they have their hands full trying to deliver on fan expectations for the confirmed PC release.

From the sound of things, fans may as well settle in for a healthy wait. With so many design decisions still being squared away on a weekly basis, development for Diablo III is moving along nicely but the game is nowhere near finished. Blizzard will have a presence at Leipzig in two weeks, so expect a bit more news then. Perhaps even word on another of those mystery classes. For now, we remain pumped to take on the faceless hoards armed with nothing more than a party of allies, a massive loot hoard and a potent selection of spells and abilities.

Enjoy