As we were saying... look at his expression... O_o, would you trust him to send you to the darkest places and the deepest corners of hell? would you trust him to guide you through the demons that await in the every day traffic?! How bout doing quests IRL, on your steel mount AND under the direct instruction of Sir Last of the Horadrim, Deckard Cain? Rejoice cuz that time is closer than you might think :D
(the staff here at "The Horadric Newb", think they might have found Deackard Cain IRL. And we have the picture to prove it ! /wink )
... still ...
Deckard Cain GPS Voice Pack !!!
Find yourself bored with your GPS navigation system? Ever find yourself drifting to sleep at the wheel, endangering the life of your minions, from it's listless tone? Catch yourself aiming your next Fire Bomb directly at that Onestar button?
Well, fury no more! Blizzard's finally got the solution for all of us. They're releasing the first of countless official GPS Voice Packs from our favorite game characters, starting with the one and only Deckard Cain.
What better way to get where you're going than by following the carefully considered directions of everyone's favorite antediluvian archivist from the Diablo series, Deckard Cain? He's not just the last of the Horadrim... he's the first of a new line of officially licensed Blizzard Entertainment GPS Voice Packs, coming soon to the online Blizzard Store !
They've done it again. I don't know about you, but I'm running out to my local online Blizzard retailer to get me one of these immediately.
DECKARD CAIN TOLD US ABOUT:
"Diablo III Beta: How Low Can It Go (PC)"Get your mousing fingers ready: the Diablo III beta is upon us. Its predecessors didn't require much of a computer to play on; however, games tend to get more demanding as time goes by. But as we found while testing with the Diablo III beta, you don't need to run out and upgrade aging rigs to powerhouses to get the most out of the upcoming game. If we haven't mentioned the word "beta" enough yet - keep in mind that performance can change between this version of the game and the final.
Blizzard kept the number of settings you can adjust to a minimum in the Diablo III beta. We could adjust textures, shadows, and physics settings. A pair of bars at the bottom of the settings page let you adjust draw distances for clutter, but they didn't seem to affect performance much. FSAA, while available in the menu, was nonfunctional--again, keep in mind, this is a beta, and these settings may change in the future.
Blizzard kept the number of settings you can adjust to a minimum in the Diablo III beta. We could adjust textures, shadows, and physics settings. A pair of bars at the bottom of the settings page let you adjust draw distances for clutter, but they didn't seem to affect performance much. FSAA, while available in the menu, was nonfunctional--again, keep in mind, this is a beta, and these settings may change in the future.
(source and more info @gamespot)
In practice, only the weakest computers will need to have their graphical settings adjusted. Any modern computer built in the past two years will be able to run the Diablo III beta with everything maxed out, and at extremely high resolutions, provided it doesn't have onboard graphics or a bargain-bin video card. (source:gamespot) "In our performance tests, we could still run with maximum settings, although at slightly lower resolutions, on four-year-old computers outfitted with the slowest of Core 2 Duos and a middling-for-its-time GeForce 8600 GTS."
Again, these performance stats apply only to the beta version of the game and are subject to change. However, if the performance of the final version of the game doesn't deviate much from the beta, it's possible that the game could run extremely well at high settings on computers that are a few years old. Maybe not surprising coming from Blizzard, a company that typically makes sure its game scale well to a variety of different hardware setups, but good news nonetheless.
DECKARD CAIN TOLD US ABOUT:
"How Many Clicks Does It Take To Get To the End of the Diablo III Beta?"Michael Fahey, on his most popular http://kotaku.com, takes BETA testing to a whole different level in this most amusing and amazingly written article about... well, the title is indeed expressive enough, so here are a dew cuts from the original and hope you'll hop on over to the man and give it a full read :D
"All you do is click!" "It's a total click-fest!" "Don't make me click your ass!" Yes, we've heard the criticism over the Diablo franchise for its simple mouse-driven mechanics, but is it really a million mouse-clicks to victory? Why don't we ask wise old Mr. Owl?
Oh yeah, because wise old Mr. Owl has proven over the span of countless Tootsie Roll Pop commercials that he's just a giant winged asshole in a stupid hat. He'd click twice and then eat the rest of the beta, the jerk.
Instead, I decided to count the mouse clicks it took to get to the end of the beta test myself, because I'm slightly less of an asshole and my hats are much more impressive.
So without further ado...
...more ado. I can't just throw the number out there without giving you folks a little background on the process I used. That would be completely irresponsible and put several paragraphs of well-intentioned words out of work, so here's what I did."
...more ado. I can't just throw the number out there without giving you folks a little background on the process I used. That would be completely irresponsible and put several paragraphs of well-intentioned words out of work, so here's what I did."
Diablo III Beta Test Barbarian Run Through Mouse Clicks (Normal Difficulty): 9,067
Surprised? Truth be told, this was a much smaller number than I imagined it would be, but then I also imagined getting carpal tunnel and a few days off work. Unfortunately the Barbarian's massive area-of-effect attacks cut down the number of mouse clicks considerably, even when figuring in all of clicking I did emptying out my inventory every five minutes to make room for more loot (oh yes, I had to loot everything).
The number in my head (the mouse click number, not the other ones wandering about up there) actually totaled in the tens of thousands, but I attribute that to the poor exercise regime of my clicking fingers.
I mean hell, writing up this article (image editing included) only took 47 mouse clicks. That's just lazy.
(source and more info @kotaku.com)
"Hunt for a Chance to Win Over $35,000 in Prizes and a Killer Gaming Rig"
Intel and Blizzard are sponsoring a scavenger hunt trivia contest thing that can win you tickets to Blizzcon. I tried it twice and found it a nice way to promote a contest. Got WoW, Diablo clues (which meant random guessing for me atm), but you can get a small glimpse of the lore thru every question and see some nice artwork from the game.
If you can’t be arsed with the contest clicking and just want to see the artwork, we’ve got that covered thanks to incgamers.com, who grabbed all the images and posted them in a forum thread.
The jungle concept art above is new and it seems to be called the Torajan Jungle. Might be an indication we’ll actually get some jungle areas in the game? Or maybe not until one of the expansions? We’ve seen other jungle concept art before, so clearly the devs have given it some thought (Act III - D2). Other suggested areas are:
Caldeum (witch BTW I hope will be magnificent)
Ivgorod mountains
and Dreadlands
More such coverage on D3 areas and maps soon to come on a separate page on our blog. Meanwhile enjoy and hf ^^.
THIS WEEK'S DIABLOFANS BETA CONTEST WINNER HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED
"08 oct, 12:45 AM GMT
The thread will be closed tonight and we will discuss the posts and decide a winner. Hopefully by tomorrow. We have a LOT to look through."(source and more info @ this link)
The guise @ diablofans had indeed a lot of work to do but kept to their promise, even tho they ran almost 2 days late and to my own amazement as well as other ppl's disappointment, they chose this:
Grats Calavera666 and have a great time in there ! And the most sincere grats to all the rest of the participants that should have won instead of this joke.
Meanwhile, here's some of the feedback that this most peculiar result (I mean seriously... compare it to the other posts) has brought as well as our best wishes to the participants of this week's CAPTION contest that ended with a non-caption win.
Rajahten wrote:
Hey, not to be rude or anything, but I really don't understand the caption. Can you explain it? I know who lucy is, but wtf is she doing??
lordertai wrote:
Your caption is retarded and you dont deserve to win it compared to many many others that put the time and the creativity into theirs. Have a good day.
Atrumentis wrote:
Your caption is hilarious I love it you deserve it
Tonikor wrote:
I like your drawings brah... But most of your d3 beta submissions look abit forced, as if you want to dish out as much as you can as fast as you can. Abit like throwing a plate of spaguetti on a wall and see what sticks.
...and the reply
Calavera666 wrote:
Whoa thanks! I love Spaguetti!!
Just for the awesomeness of your comment, I'll be uploading double the ammount of entries!!
Some of our favorite picks from the past week's collection are:
#1
what we had thought to be a clear winner!!
...and much much more. Still the barb one and the rating-bomb captions were insanely awesome. Grats to all listed here too ;) and keep up the good work :p. Maybe this week the guise at diablofans will get an actual system up to avoid making such poor choices on future entries ! At the same time you can check a few of our own entries on the main page, in the BETA contests thread.
...the transforming wife...
...that has already started and is going strong! We here at the Horadric Newb will refrain from participation but you can still check out this great thread and have a shot at it...
AND, the one that is at this time in our top 3 HN's choice
"I know i'm not gonna be winning any key, but at least I'll say what i think about the last week contest winner and stick it to the man."
DECKARD CAIN TOLD US ABOUT:
"Diablo III Beta Key Sweepstakes - 2000 keys going out over 8 weeks "The official blue posts states:
To help clear up some concerns regarding the recently-announced Diablo III Beta Key Sweepstakes, we've put together a quick FAQ featuring the most common questions that we've seen from the community.
Q. Why did you replace the opt-in with a sweepstakes on Facebook?
A. The Diablo III Beta Key opt-in has not been replaced. The sweepstakes is simply an additional way for us to randomly give out keys to our Facebook followers. We'll still be sending out beta invites to players who have opted-in, as normal.
Q. Why Facebook?
A. When we release important news and announcements about Diablo III, Facebook is among the ways we get the message out. Since a significant portion of our players have Facebook accounts, we'd like to encourage them to follow us so that they can stay up-to-date on the latest Diablo news and events.
If you already follow us on Facebook, but seem to miss our posts, be sure to mark any updates from us that you like as a "Top Story." This will increase the chance that Diablo-related posts will appear in your Facebook feed. Every news item and story that goes out on our site we also send out on Facebook, so it's a great way to keep up on Diablo goings-on.
Q. Why is my country unable to participate in the sweepstakes?
A. Unfortunately, some countries have laws or restrictions which prevent us from making contests available to their residents. The beta opt-in is still running, however, and does not have the same rules and limitations. If you're unable to participate in the Facebook sweepstakes we encourage you to sign up for the opt-in through Battle.net Account Management: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/3435025
Q. Do I need a Facebook account to enter this promotion?
A. No. While entering with a Facebook account will provide you with some additional benefits, such as sharing if you've won with your friends, you don't need an account to participate. If you'd like to enter, but don’t have a Facebook account (and don't want one), you can click on the "Alternate Method of Entry" link at the bottom of the official rules page: http://apps.facebook.com/diabloiiibetasweeps/contests/159910/rules
Q. The contest states that Facebook will not be given my personal information. What do you guys need it for?
A. If you're selected as a random winner, we'll need your name and email address to ensure that you receive your beta key. We will not use this information for any other purpose.
As for Facebook application itself, while it will request access to your Friends List, it will not generate any unwanted notifications, messages, or wall posts. The request will simply allow the application to show you your friends list in case you want to let them know about the sweepstakes.
For additional information, please feel free to check out our privacy policy: http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/about/privacy.html
Q. When exactly will the weekly drawings be held?
A. Drawings will be held every Monday, starting October 17th. We'll gather up all of the entries submitted before 11:59 p.m. each Monday and then randomly select 200 qualified winners from that pool to receive a beta key. Out of those 200 winners, 50 of them will receive two keys, sent to the email provided in the entry form. Winners will be removed from the entry pool and the process will repeat again the following Monday for 8 weeks.
Please note that if you are randomly selected as a winner, it may take a few days before you are notified and receive your beta key via email. In the meantime, we ask that players please refrain from posting on Facebook or the official forums about whether or not they've been selected.
However, every country is still able to participate in the Beta Opt-in, so if you don't have that set up on your Battle.net account, be sure to update your settings!
ELIGIBILITY:
BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT, INC., A DELAWARE CORPORATION (referred to herein as “SPONSOR") IS THE SPONSOR OF THIS SWEEPSTAKES. THIS SWEEPSTAKES (THE “SWEEPSTAKES”) IS OPEN ONLY TO RESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES (EXCLUDING THE U.S. TERRITORIES AND POSSESSIONS), CANADA (EXCLUDING THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC), MEXICO, ARGENTINA, THE UNITED KINGDOM, GERMANY, AUSTRIA, ITALY, TURKEY, SWITZERLAND, HUNGARY, FRANCE, BELGIUM, LUXEMBOURG, SWEDEN, FINLAND, NORWAY, SPAIN, POLAND, SERBIA, CROATIA, BULGARIA, CZECH REPUBLIC, BELARUS, UKRAINE, RUSSIA, IRELAND AND TAIWAN, WHO ARE OF THE AGE OF MAJORITY AS OF OCTOBER 11, 2011, AND WHO ARE NOT RESIDENTS OF THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC, CANADA. IF YOU DO NOT MEET THESE REQUIREMENTS, YOU ARE NOT ELIGIBLE TO ENTER OR WIN A PRIZE IN THIS SWEEPSTAKES. Sponsor directors, officers and employees of Sponsor, its respective parents, affiliate companies, subsidiaries, agents, professional advisors, advertising and promotional agencies (collectively, “Released Parties”), and immediate families (spouse, parent, child, sibling and their respective spouses, regardless of where they reside) and household members, whether or not related, of each are not eligible to enter or win any prizes. All applicable laws and regulations apply. Sweepstakes is void where prohibited. Limit one entry per drawing during Sweepstakes, and an individual entrant may only win one prize during the Sweepstakes.
Official sweepstakes page: https://www.facebook.com/Diablo?sk=app_6009294086
Everything you'd want to know about the world of Sanctuary can also be found here, on the official Blizzard Diablo 3 site.
