Diablo III: Reaper of Souls Previews and Interviews

Despite the fact that it was already a couple of weeks ago, Gamescom continues to be the focal point of a lot of information about Blizzard’s Diablo III: Reaper of Souls expansion pack and the future of Diablo III in general.

Eurogamer starts us off with a commentary-laden preview:

“In the territories where we do not have an Auction House the number of account compromises is completely out of whack with the rest of the world,” Mosqueira says, to my surprise. “So the Auction House is serving that intended purpose of providing a safe environment for players in which to trade.”

But at what cost? Diablo 3’s Auction House at best saves time, but at worst it renders extended gameplay somewhat redundant. Why bother slaving away for hours on end and smashing a never ending stream of monsters in the face if all you’re going to get for your trouble is a pile of useless tat and, perhaps, an item that at first glance looks like it might be useful but upon closer inspection just doesn’t quite cut it? And in any case, whatever you find out in the dangerous world of Sanctuary, the Auction House is bound to have a better piece of equipment just a click away.

It’s reassuring, then, to hear both Josh and Kevin acknowledge this problem, and it’s exciting to hear them suggest a solution: Loot 2.0.

Then we stop by Gamereactor for another commentary/fact piece:

During the conceptual phase of development, Mosqueira and his team used the phrase “haunted apocalypse” to define many of their ideas.

“We really wanted to feel Westmarch, something evil has happened here, and the city has become more than just a ghost town, where the dead are just hiding in the shadows and ready to come out at you. I think one of the magical things about Diablo is that gothic setting, that sort of feeling that it’s a world that’s barely lit by candlelight, and that you’re the brave adventurer going forward into that darkness. I think Westmarch is a great, great platform/setting, for us to deliver that,” the game director told us.

Lichtner then added: “It really goes back to the basics of what we feel Diablo is really about. And also in Westmarch we also have the opportunity to have a seamless integration of the exteriors and the interiors, so as you go through the city and fight, you’ll be able to go inside of the buildings, fight monsters or do whatever, and then walk out again and continue your struggle to fight evil through those streets.”

Before heading over to this informative post on the official forums that seeks to round up “everything we know”:

Loot 2.0:

‘Smart Drops’ System:

– Items drop less frequently.
– When they do, they have a real purpose instead of being screen-clutter.
– Rare (yellow) and Legendary (orange) items can roll as a ‘Smart Drop’.
– Smart Drop rolls mean that their stats are adjusted for the class your are currently playing.

Creafting Reagents:
– Common (white) items will now be used as a crafting reagent.

Transmogrify Appearances:
– Magical (blue) items will now be used for transmogrification looks.

Other:
– More meaningful legendary drops.
– Legendaries will be build-changers.
– Legendaries will drop across all difficulty-levels, with appropriate ilvls.
– Many looted items will be exclusively BoA.

And, finally, we conclude with this audio interview featuring senior level designer Matthew Berger, conducted by Video Game Sophistry.