Diablo III to Launch Without PvP

[News Portal]

Blizzard has announced that due to quality concerns the PvP aspect of [app=4089]Diablo III[/app] will be missing from the game at launch.

The American developer is now planning to add the player-versus-player competitive mode to the eagerly-anticipated dungeon crawler in a post-release patch – this update will include a selection of Arena maps, a match-making system, and a slew of new PvP-related achievements...

Read full article by James Cottee

[shlaimon]

will single player still require internet connection?

[Bluefire]

*snickers*

[flabcab]

PvP DLC?

I've never heard of Blizzard deciding to patch a feature of there game later in life because it isn't ready. They would just hold back the initial release until it was all up to scratch.

I normally ignore all the negativity but maybe this is a sign of Activision influence.

[Drakand]

looking at Blizzards history, i've got no doubt this decision was made with intention of releasing a top quality production!

Their reasoning makes sense.

[InAUGral]

PvP in a Diablo game? Could be.............interesting.

[Bluefire]

honestly as long as they introduce a way to do 2-4 player on LAN without requiring internet connection I could care less about pvp...
Otherwise its a big headache of hosting your own private servers which will probably require another box :7

[fozzie_wopkins]

I understand that they are doing this for quality and all, but this is dangerously close to making people pay for an unfinished game.

[krapma]

Yeah, adding full-on pvp to D3 is a big deal and they want to get it right without delaying the core game. Sounds good to me.

[SomeXspeC]

It's obvious that Activision are pushing them to get it out ASAP, so many features have been removed or will be added at a later date that were supposed to be in at launch. Quite frankly it is disappointing and I'm starting to believe that Diablo III will not live up to the quality we've come to expect from Blizzard.

I really do hope whoever's bright idea to agree with the merger/sell out to Acitivision regrets it.

Let's just hope it doesn't end up a bare shell when it's released.

[skitzor]

I normally ignore all the negativity but maybe this is a sign of Activision influence.

if Activision had a real influence, it would be released with a non-finished version of PvP.

PvP in a Diablo game? Could be.............interesting.

there was PvP in Diablo 2. there wasn't any special arenas or anything, but you could go "hostile" with people in the game. people tended to just make PvP games.

there must be a reason why they aren't pushing back the date. maybe they think by the time it finally hits stores, they will have finished/almost finished PvP, and they just want it to go gold.

I would much prefer them remove it than release it unfinished. and I guess with the PvP module, maybe they think not a very large % of people will use it in the first few weeks, so what's the point making everyone wait?

[Syncourt]

What exactly do they need to remove it for? If it's anything like D2 then it would just be going hostile and having completely unbalanced fights with the other players.

Is D3 doing some sort of Guild Wars separate pve/pvp skills type thing?

Not including arenas, pvp modes ect. fair enough but why remove the actual ability to pvp?

Not that I exactly plan to PvP, am just curious.

[Mythor]

PvP in a Diablo game? Could be.............interesting.

there was PvP in Diablo 2. there wasn't any special arenas or anything, but you could go "hostile" with people in the game. people tended to just make PvP games.

Isn't that much the same as it was in the first, too? Was certainly bunches of PvP in number 2, both with or without consent. Heaps of people even created builds specifically tuned to PvP encounters.

What exactly do they need to remove it for? If it's anything like D2 then it would just be going hostile and having completely unbalanced fights with the other players.

Pretty sure they've said, rather emphatically, that they're doing away with the PK sort of nonsense from D2 and PvP will be consensual only.
In any event assuming they're not going to make any progress since D2 is a bit silly, isn't it?

If they're planning on launching without PvP that tells me they've already got a release window in mind, if not a specific date. They've obviously looked at what they'd like to have as their baseline PvP and realised it won't be ready for that window/date so they're going to strip that out of the release version and polish it up for the inevitable updates.

Which I'm totally okay with. Like others have said, better to release it without PvP than a half-assed implementation. It also gives them the opportunity to add meaningful content to the game in updates to spur continued sales...
It's not Activision applying pressure it's just Blizzard being more business savvy now. They know they're not going to lose sales by holding PvP back and adding it later gives them an easy way to grab a bunch of headlines when they do.

[Syncourt]

Pretty sure they've said, rather emphatically, that they're doing away with the PK sort of nonsense from D2 and PvP will be consensual only.
In any event assuming they're not going to make any progress since D2 is a bit silly, isn't it?

How is removing an option classed as progression? I mean, I did do some occasional on-the-spot friendly PvP with my friends after a town run. I won't exactly be leaving our game and going to a PvP server just for a quick friendly duel or 2.

Progression would be simply making the other person go hostile as well before being allowed to fight. Or just adding a duel option.

[psychofruiterer]

LOL , very interesting, i already lost faith in Blizzard after the big reveal of the next wow xpack being pandas.... now they are gunna shoehorn pvp into d3 AFTER it is released, knowing full well it is impossible to balance, just like wow.

The cynic in me is telling me that it has been decided this way so that it gets reviewed on the single player experience and said reviews don't get bogged down by "the pvp sucks, it's unbalanced and horribly broken", which would likely be the case.