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It probably won’t surprise anyone to find out that Blizzard is still fiddling with Diablo III. After all, this is the developer who has basically ignored every single deadline that they’ve ever set. These days, they don’t even bother with deadlines. But even for Blizzard, the list of upcoming Systems Changes that game director Jay Wilson posted on the Blizzard blog yesterday seems a bit absurd. However, Wilson does do a pretty good job of defending their decision: “While working on Diablo III we’ve been called out for messing around with systems too much, that the game is good as-is and we should just release it,” he said. “I think that’s a fair argument to make, but I also think it’s incorrect. Our job isn’t just to put out a game; it’s to release the next Diablo game. No one will remember if the game is late, only if it’s great.” 
I think a lot of people will probably be concerned that Blizzard is using the word “remove” so much when describing their changes, but I think this is a very intelligent way to streamline the game. If Blizzard can capture the core elements of the Diablo series and edit out any superfluous garbage, the game itself will be significantly stronger. Hopefully I won’t regret saying that when Blizzard actually releases the game. By Josh Engen |