Maybe there's already a thread about this already, but i didn't find one so I created a new one.

Just post whichever item that existed in D2/LoD that you hope will make an appearance in Diablo III.

For me it's Harlequin Crest Shako, and perhaps Buriza.

Imagine a Demon Hunter dualwielding a onehanded version of Buriza. (or not)

We don't comment on speculation or rumors.

---

Q u o t e:
Bashiok, I think a good amount of people believe d3 will be very easy. And I can't blame them for thinking it. The only footage we've seen is of demos that don't really represent how the game will turn out at all. In the demos, it seems like every class has basically infinite resources and not a big problem with dying - more like what to expect in act 1 and act 2 normal difficulty (which I think exactly what it is). But my point is, the content that's been shown affects how people feel about the game.

---

Spot on.

We specifically make people pretty invincible in our show demos because it sucks to wait 30 minutes to 3 hours (literally) to get to play for your 15 minutes and die and spend precious time getting back to the action. That same issue doesn't exist for a release product, of course, so we can have actual real balance of progression. Not the god-mode of a show floor demo.

Aside from that I think Diablo II eases people into the game pretty well, my Mom has played it and had fun. We maybe take that easing-in a tiny bit further in Diablo III, but overall we ramp up quickly and to very difficult and beyond through Nightmare, Hell, etc.

Without talking about the beta build too much, difficulty will be one of many things people will get no real sense of before release. But, it's in our best interest and the longevity of the game to ensure that it's challenging for the people that reach it. What would be the point of having multiple increasingly tough difficulty levels if to not ramp up how hard the game is? Of course whether we hit those difficulty marks right out of the gate is another issue.

In addition to all the other benefits that we believe ultimately come from having everyone online such as an active, centralized community, a popular arena system, accessible character storage, etc. etc. Diablo III is built on a client/server architecture, which means not all the data for the game or mechanics reside on the client (your computer).

This is not too unlike World of Warcraft where the world itself, the art, the sounds, etc. are on your machine, but all of the NPC’s and enemies are controlled by the server. Diablo III doesn’t function in all of the exact same ways, but things like monster randomization, dungeon randomization, item drops, the outcomes of combat, among others, are all handled and verified by the client talking to the server, and vice versa.

We’ve learned a lot from this type of architecture from World of Warcraft, and the added security and oversight it provides. It allows a great deal of control over the game at all times for all players, so if we know there’s an issue or bug we can usually address it right then and there through a live hotfix. Hotfixes can’t be used for everything, we’re still going to have client patches, but we’re definitely looking forward to being able to deliver a consistently high quality experience to all players simultaneously through processes like hotfixes.

In addition there are some pretty intense security concerns. While there’s never a fool proof solution to stopping hack and cheats, we’ve found that a strict client/server architecture is a huge barrier for their development and use.

Ultimately we made the decision to make the game client/server based because of the security and quality it can provide to those playing, and as a bonus it reinforces a lot of our ideals for a thriving online community.