How long has Blizzard been working on DIII?

[Wirt]

In the recent article http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/07/31/diablo-iii-designer-talks-colors/ I read the following:
'When Wilson joined the project two and-a-half years ago'.

I didn't know Blizzard already worked on it at least that long. Anybody knows how long Blizzard worked on DI and DII before release?

Wirt

[Grawner]

well, i heard rumours about it, at least 5 years ago.. rumours are rumours, but it turned out, that they had some thruth..

[ThulRasha]

It's no rumour when people working on the project say so. It might be a lie, but it's no rumour :p

I assume it's the truth though, but if they have been working with a team of 50 people on it for 5 years is a different question.

[Grawner]

well, did they work on the project 5 years ago? 'cause i didn't know that, i never got the rumour confirmed, therefore, for me, it was still a rumor ;)

[mouseman]

They were already doing preliminary work on Diablo III before releasing LoD, in the year 2000. Nothing major, though.

When "the big four" departed 2003, it was a huge blow to Diablo III. The game went almost entirely back to the drawing board in 2005 when Blizzard North was merged with Irvine.

This comes from ex-blizzard employers from different interviews / WWI panels, which I don't have time to give sources to right now.

However, some interviews say that they have been working on it actively since 2004 so apparently not everything was scratched in 2005.

The way I see it, Diablo III has had at least 3 to 4 years of active development with the same staff. Plus there's a huge thought-process before it that probably speed things up because they already had lots of ideas to work with.

Simply put, Diablo III has been on the works longer than most games need to be published. Then again, Diablo III isn't most games. Hopefully we will get a fully polished product, instead of similar marks of rushed product as we can see in Diablo I and Diablo II.

[Wurmer]

Simply put, Diablo III has been on the works longer than most games need to be published. Then again, Diablo III isn't most games. Hopefully we will get a fully polished product, instead of similar marks of rushed product as we can see in Diablo I and Diablo II.

You got that right mate.....

[ciphernemo]

There's no way to tell how many hours they've invested into it over that period of time. A developer can assign any number of people with any number of hours per day/week/month on any project. So they could have been investing hundreds of man-hours into it every month since 2003, 2004, 2005, etc., or they could have been casually investing far less.

Only Blizzard employees would know for sure unless they conveyed that information in an interview (which is unlikely).

[Flux]

What mouseman said on the time scale is accurate.

If only there were a massively-researched article that covered this very topic (http://www.diablowiki.net/Diablo_3_History), with timelines and numerous quotes and such. Oh wait...

[mince pies]

Apparently they had been working on it for five or so years then scrapped everything what they had and started over. Not sure when though.

[ThulRasha]

Not sure when though.

Are you teasing Flux, or posted at the same time perhaps? :p

a massively-researched article that covered this very topic (http://www.diablowiki.net/Diablo_3_History)

So they have been working on it for 8 years already. Well that really means very little I think, perhaps only 1 or 2 people were bussy with it in 2000, and during 2003-2005 probably nothing happened at all.

[stillman]

Plus, it might be a couple more years or w/e before we get our tremoring hands on d3. From the impressions I get of the recent Blizzard interviews, it seems they still have a ton of issues up in the air and undecided upon. Now, they could just be lying, not wanting to spill any secrets. Plus, I don't know how long it would take them to finalize their ideas on what goes into the game and how long it takes to test it all.

I think they're going to rock our colective wolrds. I'll bet much time is going into making the game hack/dupeproof. Can you imagine a world without dupes? That alone would increase the playability by years.

[Wirt]

@ Flux: ahh thanks fot that link, it has it all.

Wirt

[Wormnet]

Diablo III was in the works by Blizzard North almost 6 years now... I would even say 7 years. HQ didn't think it was fun enough and I'm certain there was dispute over the designs (just like the disputes that happened for Diablo 2). Blizzard North was forced to come down to HQ so that HQ could keep a close eye on the team and a lot of people left.

A few people went to Arena.net to make GuildWars. It is said that the skills in GuildWars was an idea that evolved from Diablo 1 (but didn't have time to implement, they only have 1 skill per class).

Another group started Flagship Studios to continue on their idea for Diablo 3 but they created an entirely new IP and a new online service (Pingo). Which leads to believe that what we see in Hellgate:London (in terms of gameplay) would have been in Diablo 3.

And so Blizzard reworked it into what we see today. It's practically a new build entirely. This build has been in the works for 2-and-a-half years... if not 3 already.

[entranced]

I'll bet much time is going into making the game hack/dupeproof. Can you imagine a world without dupes? That alone would increase the playability by years.


Maybe i'm just cynical but i wouldn't hold my breath. Remember their promises that D2 "closed" realms would be hack-proof and dupe-proof? Pretty funny in hindsight. :)

[Frenzied Muffin]

Am I the only one that remembers getting Diablo II (when no xpack was out) and inside the box with the cd's was a advertisement for World of Warcraft?

D2 came out June 29, 2000

WoW came out November 23, 2004

[NKlint]

You may be thinking Warcraft III, since there was a WC3 teaser trailer also.

[LuckyNumber]

Am I the only one that remembers getting Diablo II (when no xpack was out) and inside the box with the cd's was a advertisement for World of Warcraft?

D2 came out June 29, 2000

WoW came out November 23, 2004

Yep it was warcraft III im pretty sure of it. In fact I am certain since I still have the box