d3 Diablo 1 Anniversary Event Guide

[Starym 3,800]

 

January is coming, with it the Diablo anniversary event is being added to D3 and so we took a look at the event and all it has to offer. You can check out our guide below, covering where to find the event, which transmogs, banner cosmetics, pets, portrait frames and achievements it will have to offer:

https://www.icy-veins.com/d3/diablo-anniversary-event-complete-guide

   

[Valhalen 1,484]

Man, I wish we'd get the Classic Butcher as a skin for Heroes of the Storm.

[Valks 2,375]

7 minutes ago, Valhalen said:

Man, I wish we'd get the Classic Butcher as a skin for Heroes of the Storm.

Just a super, super low poly skin. I'd be down for it.

[ZTARCRAFT 0]

Each dungeon level should be made to look like it does in Diablo 1, from what iv'e seen so far on the ptr is that each dungeon level looks like a normal Diablo 3 dungeon other than the visual filter that was added for this event. Blizzard should make it so that it's like a completely different Act with the classic Tristram town, and cutscenes, it would be badass.

[Valks 2,375]

On 11/12/2016 at 9:44 PM, ZTARCRAFT said:

Each dungeon level should be made to look like it does in Diablo 1, from what iv'e seen so far on the ptr is that each dungeon level looks like a normal Diablo 3 dungeon other than the visual filter that was added for this event. Blizzard should make it so that it's like a completely different Act with the classic Tristram town, and cutscenes, it would be badass.

I do wonder how much work it takes to directly port something over from D1 to D3. I'm not great with stuff like this, so I honestly have 0 idea :p

[Marvus 7]

On 11/12/2016 at 10:44 PM, ZTARCRAFT said:

Each dungeon level should be made to look like it does in Diablo 1, from what iv'e seen so far on the ptr is that each dungeon level looks like a normal Diablo 3 dungeon other than the visual filter that was added for this event. Blizzard should make it so that it's like a completely different Act with the classic Tristram town, and cutscenes, it would be badass.

They mostly reused the assets of D3 wtih only minor changes to some monster appearence, in terms of visuals. i wouldn't say I was amazed with this decision but I can understand that for an anniversary event it would be a waste of time and resources to recreate D1 in D3 (and much more to recreate it as a standalone) and it is an adequate reminder for those who played the original of what it felt like (at least I got all the good vibes with the sounds, the items, etc), so I'd prefer they work on the new content they announced rather than working on a full recreation of D1 and by it further delaying content that is already late.

[Valks 2,375]

2 minutes ago, Marvus said:

They mostly reused the assets of D3 wtih only minor changes to some monster appearence, in terms of visuals. i wouldn't say I was amazed with this decision but I can understand that for an anniversary event it would be a waste of time and resources to recreate D1 in D3 (and much more to recreate it as a standalone) and it is an adequate reminder for those who played the original of what it felt like (at least I got all the good vibes with the sounds, the items, etc), so I'd prefer they work on the new content they announced rather than working on a full recreation of D1 and by it further delaying content that is already late.

Very fair point, tbh. If they put a huge amount of resources into D1 event, especially given how much hiring they have done of late for Diablo, we may be delaying something huge (expansion/D4). I'd rather have either of those earlier than the event :p

[Marvus 7]

8 minutes ago, Blainie said:

I do wonder how much work it takes to directly port something over from D1 to D3. I'm not great with stuff like this, so I honestly have 0 idea :p

It probably would look horrible if you directly grab assets from D1 to D3, at least because the resolution they were intended to be used with. Also, D1 was a 2D game and everything was drawn for that so it would be clunky, to say the least, to reuse them in D3. As it stands, they would be better off recreating everything and if they don't make money from that then there is not much reason why should they invest that much resource in it.

[Marvus 7]

3 minutes ago, Blainie said:

Very fair point, tbh. If they put a huge amount of resources into D1 event, especially given how much hiring they have done of late for Diablo, we may be delaying something huge (expansion/D4). I'd rather have either of those earlier than the event :p

Yeah, the unannounced content is probably there too, although I'd think that those who were hired for that aren't exactly in the same team as the current developers of D3 and creating (or recreating) something in D3 would eat up resources from that part. Also, on the note of something huge, I don't see them coming out with an expansion at this point. Although I may be wrong, they were releasing content that seemed to be part of a scrapped expansion (mostly cosmetic/new regions), they will release a new character without expansion and these seems to be just drops to keep up the interest for the title until they have something to present, which, if it is a new game and they still hiring senior members (like a senior game designer for content/narrative), will be rather far down the road and we may not be seeing anything from it in this decade (which I hope not will be the case and we'll hear from it in the next 1-2 years).

[Valks 2,375]

1 hour ago, Marvus said:

It probably would look horrible if you directly grab assets from D1 to D3, at least because the resolution they were intended to be used with. Also, D1 was a 2D game and everything was drawn for that so it would be clunky, to say the least, to reuse them in D3. As it stands, they would be better off recreating everything and if they don't make money from that then there is not much reason why should they invest that much resource in it.

Yeah, when we interviewed some of the developers, they seemed very set on the idea of recreation for D3, rather than simply pasting D1 into D3.

[Marvus 7]

1 hour ago, Blainie said:

Yeah, when we interviewed some of the developers, they seemed very set on the idea of recreation for D3, rather than simply pasting D1 into D3.

I don't know, it seems a bit too generous term for what we got on the PTR. Maybe calling it a "recreation" was a mistake on their part because if we're looking at it this way, then it is disappointing in almost every corner. If they were to call it an "homage" or something like that then maybe the fans had reasonable expectations towards it and didn't get that much negative feedback already even though it isn't even out yet.

[Valks 2,375]

1 hour ago, Marvus said:

I don't know, it seems a bit too generous term for what we got on the PTR. Maybe calling it a "recreation" was a mistake on their part because if we're looking at it this way, then it is disappointing in almost every corner. If they were to call it an "homage" or something like that then maybe the fans had reasonable expectations towards it and didn't get that much negative feedback already even though it isn't even out yet.

I do wonder if over-hyping the announcement has caused this, though. Like, let's be honest, people were expecting a huge announcement. I heard talk of it "MUST" be Diablo 4, it "MUST" be X. I mean, people were expecting one of the biggest announcements at Blizzcon to be for Diablo, so no matter what Blizzard did, it wouldn't be enough. I'd say a fair number of people went into that event testing thinking "This isn't D4", "This isn't a remaster". 

Know what I mean? It was almost doomed to be criticised hard, no matter what. 

[Marvus 7]

On 11/14/2016 at 4:29 PM, Blainie said:

I do wonder if over-hyping the announcement has caused this, though. Like, let's be honest, people were expecting a huge announcement. I heard talk of it "MUST" be Diablo 4, it "MUST" be X. I mean, people were expecting one of the biggest announcements at Blizzcon to be for Diablo, so no matter what Blizzard did, it wouldn't be enough. I'd say a fair number of people went into that event testing thinking "This isn't D4", "This isn't a remaster". 

Know what I mean? It was almost doomed to be criticised hard, no matter what. 

Yeah, it was, but I think that is because it is Blizzard and people are always expecting to be amazed by their work. About the hype part, I think maybe this video summarizes well what happened, and although I do think that it was mostly the community's doing, Blizzard could have handled it much better.

 

[Valks 2,375]

On 16.11.2016 at 11:32 AM, Marvus said:

Yeah, it was, but I think that is because it is Blizzard and people are always expecting to be amazed by their work. About the hype part, I think maybe this video summarizes well what happened, and although I do think that it was mostly the community's doing, Blizzard could have handled it much better.

Definitely agree and, on the video, was an interesting watch. I do wonder if Diablo-hype is basically just doomed for a while until they announce D4, basically. 

[PCakes 0]

I started playing this on the PTR and I'm wondering if the only way to play through all 16 levels of the labyrinth is to do so in one sitting. Seems crazy that there is no way to save my progress of completion, only having my character progress saved. Am I missing something? I can't even leave the game running or I'll be disconnected after inactivity.

[Marvus 7]

On 11/19/2016 at 4:02 PM, Blainie said:

Definitely agree and, on the video, was an interesting watch. I do wonder if Diablo-hype is basically just doomed for a while until they announce D4, basically. 

Probably, at least if we by the loudest people, although usually those are the ones that are disappointed, so there is a chance that even a D4 announcement can get similar results by that standard :)

 

9 hours ago, PCakes said:

I started playing this on the PTR and I'm wondering if the only way to play through all 16 levels of the labyrinth is to do so in one sitting. Seems crazy that there is no way to save my progress of completion, only having my character progress saved. Am I missing something? I can't even leave the game running or I'll be disconnected after inactivity.

No, you're not missing anything. Although the original Diablo had save functionality and you could unlock different routes these things aren't there in this homage. On the other hand, it isn't that long either. You can rush through it within half an hour and I don't see anyone spending more than two hours even if you're going everywhere/killing everything. It's not ideal, of course, especially if you count this as a remake, but if you play is as a D1 themed rift or something like that, you'll probably get the hang of it :)

[Valks 2,375]

19 minutes ago, Marvus said:

Probably, at least if we by the loudest people, although usually those are the ones that are disappointed, so there is a chance that even a D4 announcement can get similar results by that standard :)

I feel like, if even a D4 announcement can't generate hype properly, Blizzard might as well just throw their hands up in their air in desperation and make a new game. 

[Marvus 7]

2 minutes ago, Blainie said:

I feel like, if even a D4 announcement can't generate hype properly, Blizzard might as well just throw their hands up in their air in desperation and make a new game. 

Oh, no, I meant that there is a probability that there would be negative feedback even for a D4 announcement. Not getting any hype (not even negative) may as well mean the end of the franchise in this form, since that means that people not interested enough in it even to hate on it at least. I hope that we'll not getting to this point and there will be a next game in the franchise (I would even love a SC2-style Diablo-themed game :))

[Valks 2,375]

16 minutes ago, Marvus said:

Oh, no, I meant that there is a probability that there would be negative feedback even for a D4 announcement. Not getting any hype (not even negative) may as well mean the end of the franchise in this form, since that means that people not interested enough in it even to hate on it at least. I hope that we'll not getting to this point and there will be a next game in the franchise (I would even love a SC2-style Diablo-themed game :))

I'm still hoping for a Diablo MMO, tbh. 3-way faction system of Angels, Demons and Nephalem. I'd so be down for this.