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On January 06 2012 00:48 andrewlt wrote:Show nested quote +On January 05 2012 23:54 Treehead wrote:
I understand that people want to be able to blame the delays on something simple that they can see, but can someone please explain to me how it is that, knowing Starcraft 2 sold nearly 5 milllion copies, and knowing that diablo 3 will likely sell more than that (at $60 a copy that means something probably near $300 million in revenue), the ruling of one rating board in one country would be a sufficient reason for Blizzard's CEO to give their shareholders as to why the game wasn't out for the christmas season where (at least in this country) people tend to shell out a third of their income in a month's time? Again, I understand we want to be upset and don't know what to be upset at (and picking a random thing seems a good outlet for it) - but does this strike anyone else as somewhat ludicrous? I understand the shareholders were told the launch would be global - but if the launch was less than global and still made hundreds of millions of dollars, I doubt the shareholders would flee in droves because the company lied to them.
"Alright guys, I know we've been funding this project for nearly 10 years now, and we're definitely set up to make hundreds of millions of dollars right now - but let's just give Korea another 6 months to a year to make sure they're on board with this."
In a corporate environment where the earnings for the current year (or in some places, the current quarter) tend to be the only item of importance (and also, the main factor in determining bonuses for these executives we seem to want to believe enjoy keeping the game from us), can anyone explain why this idea possibly makes any sense at all? Nope. I read some of the speculation. The assumptions and connections made sound like the sort unemployed people who have never worked in a corporate environment would make. Most of it is driven by high school/college students. I don't see any credible sources that is worthy of a citation.
Well, since this is the only response to what I wrote, let me just restate the most important point - the Blizzard Execs lost the ability to request massive end-of-year bonuses, as corporate execs normally can do during years of large amounts of revenue (such as when a highly anticipated, very expensive product launches and is well-received). They would not do this for no reason. They would not do this because they were worried that it would be Game of the Year and have massive profits, but Korea might have a delayed launch. They would not do this because they are sticklers about game balance and want this to be the most meticulously balanced game ever created because they just like real good games. They would do this if they were worried the product they would have to release would be a magnificent blunder. There are companies out their making money off the backs and 8-year-olds in third world countries. If a company has massive demand for a product they are developing and doesn't cash in on that profit right away, you can be freaking sure it's for a good reason. Korea's launch being delayed or having to restate a position to shareholders (through a less than gloabl launch) of how to maximize profits, which for some reason the people in this thread seem to believe executives can't do, don't constitute good reasons.
Now, on the other hand, if you're worried shareholders or customers are going to think you can't deliver a competitive product for some reason or another, or that someone else is going to be able to deliver a far superior product (games in recent years have gotten much, much better than they were when Blizzard was working on WoW), or that they're going to lose the stranglehold on the gaming market that they got with WoW. Those are good reasons - potentially career-ending reasons.
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On January 06 2012 00:18 Medrea wrote:Show nested quote +On January 05 2012 23:33 [F_]aths wrote:
If two incidents happen at the same time, they are not necessarily connected. Diablo 3 is still not ready for launch. As I followed the beta, some serious gameplay changes were implemented, even though the beta covers less than the first half of Act 1. The korean RMAH delay is a seperate issue. Maybe but how often do two things need to happen at the same time before we can start drawing a correlation? OP's article pieces together about a half dozen events, sources included, that tie the release date to the RMAH issue. When the president of the firm himself gets involved and then makes a 5:30 AM post about how the game is going to be delayed, a first for Mike, its hard to draw the conclusion he was just in Korea for the lulz. Im not saying such a standpoint is impossible. But I have linked a lot of sources and explanations and people who have done the same to show one side of the situation, can you do the same with that side? Anyway, lets see what happens if the board has really decided to give the game an 18+ rating. I cannot read Korean. Also the more sources you guys can dig up, either towards the OP or away from the OP, go ahead and link and I will add them to the OP.
Mike was in Korea to get the RMAH approved.
Diablo 3 isn't out because development isn't done.
Not connected.
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On January 06 2012 00:59 Sek-Kuar wrote:Show nested quote +On January 06 2012 00:56 justiceknight wrote:lol used google translation + Show Spoiler +More than one month in which a "Diablo III> ildanrakdoel six days of deliberation will be. <Diablo 3> is using the older '18 'is likely to receive. However, the currency (cash), the auction house is a deleted version of the cash exchange functions.
According to the 5th game industry, "Diablo III> Grading domestic Blizzard had hoped 18 years of age or older is expected to emerge as a guest. Geimmul Rating Board (hereinafter geimwi) Level Committee held in the coming six days of hearings on the "Diablo 3> will be determined by grade.
No version of the game on top of ten thousand days "Diablo III> If you served in the country, money is limited to the function of the auction house. Battle of cash with them to change into coin Blizzard Pass or to purchase items, but not cashed Battle coins is not constrained.
In this case, the domestic "Diablo III> impossible thing to get through the cash. Battle of the trading coin auction house obtained Battle.net, Blizzard Entertainment, the game's Pass in the service or game items, and related items are available only for purchase.
<Diablo 3> in the meantime money (cash) auction system was the subject of controversy in Korea. Last December 16 the first hearing on the Exchange system, you can not see why the game as demonstrated above Blizzard asked to submit additional materials. This version of Blizzard made by subtracting from the exchange functional, and above the game that you need a more thorough review to reflect the needs of the hearing committee once again mirwotda grading.
Meanwhile, the "Diablo III> nopahjija classification of interest in, the game of the grading results above go outside to prevent leaks members and those involved in hearing their mouth is known to be required. But it was a vain. Also opened six days before the hearing of <Diablo 3> Grading results of some of the public through the media because Microsoft. anyway it says their version will NOT have cash out option,they can only use the virtual $$[coins in the beta] from RMAH and buy in-game stuff. That was pretty obvious whole time this is gonna happen, standard model of gambling is: cash in - random chance - cash out And by disabling cash out option it can not be used as gambling machine, problem fixed. If they would ask me it could have been solved in 10 min ^^
If I were the GBR, I would then argue:
a) It's still gambling as there is a random chance of being rewarded for spending money, even though the rewards are no longer monetary.
b) The RMAH is specifically designed to encourage spending on digital items, which are not real, so we do not want to approve this unscrupulous scheme.
As a gamer, I would additionally argue that since money can only be put into the system and can only be used to trade items, real money item prices will skyrocket, as the total pool of money monotonically increases. This will lead to a financial disaster that will destroy the Korean RMAH economy, and I'm glad.
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They are still shooting for the first of this year (ending March 31st), so I am not that worried.
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/3871117694?page=4
post #69
Are far are you guys (generally) from being able to ship a game that is polished? In other words is it still an early 2012 planned release? (which quarter is planned would be most appreciated, not month, but quarter).
Because the way it sounds, it's like if there's still a lot of job left and that can scare a bit the people eh!
Bashiok replies:
We don't know. We were shooting for the end of 2011, and now we're shooting for first quarter 2012. As soon as we're sure of something (release date or otherwise) we'll be sure to let you know.
Sure, the GRB indecision could be (and probably is) one of the significant issues delaying the release of the game, but there are other significant issues that they feel need to be resolved before the game is released. They still haven't decided how runes are going to be implemented in the game. There is no information available about the current stats on legendary items. As well as new things that they are going to be adding in the next beta patch.
post #42 of the same thread Bashiok states
Still, we're in the process of working on some rather large game system changes, some of which we'll be sharing shortly before or with the next beta patch.
Korean GRB is not the only problem holding back release. Regardless of whether the GRB allows the RMAH feature or considers it gambling, it will still be available in many other regions and since you can cash out via paypal there is nothing they can do to stop the transactions anyway (unless they want to violate international free trade policy by banning transactions from Blizzard to individuals which does not seem a very likely outcome).
Hopefully people can wait another 3 months before a significant announcement.
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On January 06 2012 20:14 paralleluniverse wrote:Show nested quote +On January 06 2012 00:18 Medrea wrote:On January 05 2012 23:33 [F_]aths wrote:
If two incidents happen at the same time, they are not necessarily connected. Diablo 3 is still not ready for launch. As I followed the beta, some serious gameplay changes were implemented, even though the beta covers less than the first half of Act 1. The korean RMAH delay is a seperate issue. Maybe but how often do two things need to happen at the same time before we can start drawing a correlation? OP's article pieces together about a half dozen events, sources included, that tie the release date to the RMAH issue. When the president of the firm himself gets involved and then makes a 5:30 AM post about how the game is going to be delayed, a first for Mike, its hard to draw the conclusion he was just in Korea for the lulz. Im not saying such a standpoint is impossible. But I have linked a lot of sources and explanations and people who have done the same to show one side of the situation, can you do the same with that side? Anyway, lets see what happens if the board has really decided to give the game an 18+ rating. I cannot read Korean. Also the more sources you guys can dig up, either towards the OP or away from the OP, go ahead and link and I will add them to the OP. Mike was in Korea to get the RMAH approved. Diablo 3 isn't out because development isn't done. Not connected.
Please read the OP. You can't have a complete standpoint against something by just poking one bullet point out of place.
Anyway, it isnt about whether you believe it is the only thing holding the game up or not, it is more about following the largest block in a sequence of many. Not many are anticipating that the same day the GRB approves the game a release date will be released. And we definitely arent suspecting that the game's release date will be like 2 weeks away or anything like that (semi surprise launch).
Blizzard has a lot of people, and when the game is greenlighted for the homestretch many more will descend on the project to push it out the door. The RMAH is just a significant point in the games development, not the only one, or even the last one.
Timecycles are huge here, this isnt your high school book report. Blizzard can only release at the end of a timecycle.
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On January 06 2012 01:47 Medrea wrote:
Blizzards internal beta is a lot better than the external beta though. Wilson said the rune system is good enough to ship as is. The last time I hear him say that (through a video only, I wish I could talk to Jay Wilson in person ...) it was in the sense that the rune system was ready to be shipped anyways but Blizzard still was going to try to improve it.
Because we have little actual information about the development process, we try to fill it what we know. We know about the troubles with the certification in Korea. We don't know about the wealth of other issues.
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On January 06 2012 21:59 [F_]aths wrote:Show nested quote +On January 06 2012 01:47 Medrea wrote:
Blizzards internal beta is a lot better than the external beta though. Wilson said the rune system is good enough to ship as is. The last time I hear him say that (through a video only, I wish I could talk to Jay Wilson in person ...) it was in the sense that the rune system was ready to be shipped anyways but Blizzard still was going to try to improve it. Because we have little actual information about the development process, we try to fill it what we know. We know about the troubles with the certification in Korea. We don't know about the wealth of other issues.
Yeah. Here is how I see the future playing out.
GRB gives the go ahead.
Beta receives one last set of major revisions. As the final push has begun.
Two weeks. And a release date announcement.
Release.
Tin hatters will suspect it was RMAH alone holding it up all along, and blizzard delayed the announcement just to avoid the link. On the other side it is just a logical wrap up progression. It isnt like they are going to stop beta giveaways or close the beta on people that JUST got them.
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As I sometimes do a little programming myself, I can only talk about the delay issue in general terms. Right now I am working on my musical key calculation tool (blog entry, which features the old version) and it proves to be much more complicated than expected. A single little feature holds me for days because it requires deeper changes in the program than expected. And during programming I constantly get new ideas. But the main issue is that I am still not 100% satisfied with the layout. It still looks to complicated. Some ideas I have are not so great when they are actually implemented.
The Diablo 3 challenge is much, much, much greater than my small application. I fully understand that Diablo 3 is delayed again and again alone because of the challenge to provide a polished game.
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![[image loading]](http://assets.diylol.com/hfs/724/3e4/52d/resized/conspiracy-keanu-meme-generator-what-if-it-s-delayed-because-they-re-actually-polishing-the-game-cd2ca0.jpg)
but srsly, yesterday korea agreed for action house without pay out option.
So what's keeping Blizzard from announcing release date?
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If you are going to meme, at least spoiler it.
And I updated OP with information. It seems that article doesnt say they have given the green light, but it is likely to receive the greenlight. These are two different things.
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What a bunch of useless speculation really. The 'conclusions' drawn in some points are just ludicrous like: blizzard execs don't get bonus -> must be something wrong with diablo!!! Perhaps you haven't considered there is a general movement against execs getting bonusses at the end of year being a hot issue for maybe three years already because of the crises?
RMAH could play a reason but who cares really? It might simply have been one of the reasons that just tipped the scale, ie. there were other things they weren't happy with yet but decided to launch and patch later, but now they've decided to delay launch. Blizzard delaying is so common, I really wouldn't try to think too much of it..
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On January 06 2012 21:38 Medrea wrote:Show nested quote +On January 06 2012 20:14 paralleluniverse wrote:On January 06 2012 00:18 Medrea wrote:On January 05 2012 23:33 [F_]aths wrote:
If two incidents happen at the same time, they are not necessarily connected. Diablo 3 is still not ready for launch. As I followed the beta, some serious gameplay changes were implemented, even though the beta covers less than the first half of Act 1. The korean RMAH delay is a seperate issue. Maybe but how often do two things need to happen at the same time before we can start drawing a correlation? OP's article pieces together about a half dozen events, sources included, that tie the release date to the RMAH issue. When the president of the firm himself gets involved and then makes a 5:30 AM post about how the game is going to be delayed, a first for Mike, its hard to draw the conclusion he was just in Korea for the lulz. Im not saying such a standpoint is impossible. But I have linked a lot of sources and explanations and people who have done the same to show one side of the situation, can you do the same with that side? Anyway, lets see what happens if the board has really decided to give the game an 18+ rating. I cannot read Korean. Also the more sources you guys can dig up, either towards the OP or away from the OP, go ahead and link and I will add them to the OP. Mike was in Korea to get the RMAH approved. Diablo 3 isn't out because development isn't done. Not connected. Please read the OP. You can't have a complete standpoint against something by just poking one bullet point out of place. Anyway, it isnt about whether you believe it is the only thing holding the game up or not, it is more about following the largest block in a sequence of many. Not many are anticipating that the same day the GRB approves the game a release date will be released. And we definitely arent suspecting that the game's release date will be like 2 weeks away or anything like that (semi surprise launch). Blizzard has a lot of people, and when the game is greenlighted for the homestretch many more will descend on the project to push it out the door. The RMAH is just a significant point in the games development, not the only one, or even the last one. Timecycles are huge here, this isnt your high school book report. Blizzard can only release at the end of a timecycle.
Keep making things up that contradicts what Bashiok has repeatedly said.
The game is not delayed because of the GRB. Unless Bashiok is a complete liar.
Is Blizzard delaying the release of a game for polish unheard of? More like it's the norm.
Is Blizzard delaying the release of a game for some mythical global release unheard of? Yes, it has never happened in reality.
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On January 06 2012 23:13 paralleluniverse wrote:Show nested quote +On January 06 2012 21:38 Medrea wrote:On January 06 2012 20:14 paralleluniverse wrote:On January 06 2012 00:18 Medrea wrote:On January 05 2012 23:33 [F_]aths wrote:
If two incidents happen at the same time, they are not necessarily connected. Diablo 3 is still not ready for launch. As I followed the beta, some serious gameplay changes were implemented, even though the beta covers less than the first half of Act 1. The korean RMAH delay is a seperate issue. Maybe but how often do two things need to happen at the same time before we can start drawing a correlation? OP's article pieces together about a half dozen events, sources included, that tie the release date to the RMAH issue. When the president of the firm himself gets involved and then makes a 5:30 AM post about how the game is going to be delayed, a first for Mike, its hard to draw the conclusion he was just in Korea for the lulz. Im not saying such a standpoint is impossible. But I have linked a lot of sources and explanations and people who have done the same to show one side of the situation, can you do the same with that side? Anyway, lets see what happens if the board has really decided to give the game an 18+ rating. I cannot read Korean. Also the more sources you guys can dig up, either towards the OP or away from the OP, go ahead and link and I will add them to the OP. Mike was in Korea to get the RMAH approved. Diablo 3 isn't out because development isn't done. Not connected. Please read the OP. You can't have a complete standpoint against something by just poking one bullet point out of place. Anyway, it isnt about whether you believe it is the only thing holding the game up or not, it is more about following the largest block in a sequence of many. Not many are anticipating that the same day the GRB approves the game a release date will be released. And we definitely arent suspecting that the game's release date will be like 2 weeks away or anything like that (semi surprise launch). Blizzard has a lot of people, and when the game is greenlighted for the homestretch many more will descend on the project to push it out the door. The RMAH is just a significant point in the games development, not the only one, or even the last one. Timecycles are huge here, this isnt your high school book report. Blizzard can only release at the end of a timecycle. Keep making things up, that contradict what Bashiok has repeatedly said. The game is not delayed because of the GRB. Unless Bashiok is a complete liar. Is Blizzard delaying the release of a game for polish unheard of? More like it's the norm. Is Blizzard delaying the release of a game for some mythical global release unheard of? Yes, it has never happened.
He hasn't said anything. Thats the problem. Bashiok is just a forum troll.
And no one is saying there arent bugs so Im not sure who you are talking to.
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The Diablo 3 QA team is still doing alot of OT to get most of the bugs out. So I don't think the game is finished yet. I only know they are doing overtime. I can't comment on anything else.
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WHAT?!?!? Are you claiming that Blizzard is in CRUNCH MODE right now?!?!?!?!??!?! You must be Mike Morhaime's direct family member to arrive at such an explosive piece of information.
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On January 06 2012 23:00 Markwerf wrote:
What a bunch of useless speculation really. The 'conclusions' drawn in some points are just ludicrous like: blizzard execs don't get bonus -> must be something wrong with diablo!!! Perhaps you haven't considered there is a general movement against execs getting bonusses at the end of year being a hot issue for maybe three years already because of the crises?
RMAH could play a reason but who cares really? It might simply have been one of the reasons that just tipped the scale, ie. there were other things they weren't happy with yet but decided to launch and patch later, but now they've decided to delay launch. Blizzard delaying is so common, I really wouldn't try to think too much of it..
This sums up the article quite well. It's some guy and his crystal ball looking too deep into things, taking it upon himself to turn speculation into facts. What I really admire is the time taken to hunt down all these public forum posts and "announcements" that change month to month anyway, and hold blizzard to them as if they are not subject to change. I really believe you can't possibly know without being an insider, so the sherlock holmes act just makes me laugh.
Medrea is right; Bashiok is somewhat of a troll and instigator with the content he provides. I get the impression that he just roams the Blizzard halls and looks over shoulders of cubicle workers as they work, catching glimpses of stuff as he makes his way to the coffee room. After this, he takes a 45 minute dump while reading Nintendo Magazine. Around noon or so he returns to an empty office. This is prime time to sneak on their computers and go through their email now when they're all off for lunch, and report back to us of his findings in public forum posts. No one has spoken to him and cannot link his face to his online Bashiok screen name, they just call him that guy who works off in the corner. Now that's speculation for you.
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Bashiok is the same person as Drysc.
If that rings a bell for anyone. Probably not a big surprise to most.
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Thanks, this is actually a clarification on an earlier article i linked. I will update the OP now.
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On January 06 2012 23:15 Medrea wrote:Show nested quote +On January 06 2012 23:13 paralleluniverse wrote:On January 06 2012 21:38 Medrea wrote:On January 06 2012 20:14 paralleluniverse wrote:On January 06 2012 00:18 Medrea wrote:On January 05 2012 23:33 [F_]aths wrote:
If two incidents happen at the same time, they are not necessarily connected. Diablo 3 is still not ready for launch. As I followed the beta, some serious gameplay changes were implemented, even though the beta covers less than the first half of Act 1. The korean RMAH delay is a seperate issue. Maybe but how often do two things need to happen at the same time before we can start drawing a correlation? OP's article pieces together about a half dozen events, sources included, that tie the release date to the RMAH issue. When the president of the firm himself gets involved and then makes a 5:30 AM post about how the game is going to be delayed, a first for Mike, its hard to draw the conclusion he was just in Korea for the lulz. Im not saying such a standpoint is impossible. But I have linked a lot of sources and explanations and people who have done the same to show one side of the situation, can you do the same with that side? Anyway, lets see what happens if the board has really decided to give the game an 18+ rating. I cannot read Korean. Also the more sources you guys can dig up, either towards the OP or away from the OP, go ahead and link and I will add them to the OP. Mike was in Korea to get the RMAH approved. Diablo 3 isn't out because development isn't done. Not connected. Please read the OP. You can't have a complete standpoint against something by just poking one bullet point out of place. Anyway, it isnt about whether you believe it is the only thing holding the game up or not, it is more about following the largest block in a sequence of many. Not many are anticipating that the same day the GRB approves the game a release date will be released. And we definitely arent suspecting that the game's release date will be like 2 weeks away or anything like that (semi surprise launch). Blizzard has a lot of people, and when the game is greenlighted for the homestretch many more will descend on the project to push it out the door. The RMAH is just a significant point in the games development, not the only one, or even the last one. Timecycles are huge here, this isnt your high school book report. Blizzard can only release at the end of a timecycle. Keep making things up, that contradict what Bashiok has repeatedly said. The game is not delayed because of the GRB. Unless Bashiok is a complete liar. Is Blizzard delaying the release of a game for polish unheard of? More like it's the norm. Is Blizzard delaying the release of a game for some mythical global release unheard of? Yes, it has never happened. He hasn't said anything. Thats the problem. Bashiok is just a forum troll. And no one is saying there arent bugs so Im not sure who you are talking to.
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/3866566627?page=4#67
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EPT
