Diablo III Likely To Be Delayed, Again

Earlier today, Jay Wilson on the official Diablo III blog responded to comments made on the Diablo III beta, particularly those that demanded that Blizzard release Diablo III sooner than later:

While working on Diablo III we've been called out for messing around with systems too much, that the game is good as-is and we should just release it. I think that's a fair argument to make, but I also think it's incorrect. Our job isn't just to put out a game, it's to release the next Diablo game. No one will remember if the game is late, only if it's great. We trust in our ability to put out a great game, but we're not quite there yet.

In general, there are several gameplay changes the team wants to make, but none of these are quick and simple changes, including those for "crafting, items, core attributes, and inventory" as well as "major changes to the skill and rune system that we're not ready to talk about yet":

There’s a lot of work left to be done, though. We’re constantly tuning and making balance changes; it’s a massive task. Some of these changes can be seen in the beta, like changes to item rarity, the levels at which we introduce affixes, and how many affixes enemies can roll up. Some you can’t see in the beta, like balancing the difficulty of the entire game for four different difficulty levels, adding tons of new affixes, creating legendary items, filling out crafting recipes and itemization, working on achievements, and implementing Battle.net features.

Here's a quick breakdown of some the minor changes:

– No more scrolls of identification. A simple right-click on an unidentified item will reveal its true name, so that you don't need to keep a physical item around just for identification.

– The fifth quick slot button is becoming a dedicated potion button.

– The Mystic artisan has been removed, perhaps to be released some time down the pipeline, since the customization system surrounding was "just the socket and gem system with a different name".

– The Cauldron of Jordan and Nephalem Cube have also been removed. With the town portal-conjuring Stone of Recall, now just called Town Portal, there's just no need for these items.

– The Blacksmith artisan will salvage items.

– The common (white) items will no longer be salvageable.

– The core character attributes have been re-distributed between Strength (for Barbarians), Dexterity (for Demon Hunter and Monk), Intellect (for Wizard and Witch Doctor), and Vitality (for health).

– Character stats will be shown alongside the inventory UI.