Diablo II: Resurrected principal director Rob Gallerani and project lead Michael Bukowski discussed details about the game with several press and fansite members on Monday, Sept 13 (just 10 days before the launch).

  • The team wants to focus on perfecting the core game for launch, but hinted at ideas they may add to the game post-launch: class balance, new items, etc.
  • Ladder-specific content has been unlocked so that single player and non-ladder benefits from it: Runewords, for example.
  • The team decided not to make changes to the Stamina bar as it would break the game in ways. There is gear with run/walk stats and stamina potions.
  • In consoles, you can toggle Run/Walk by pressing down the left-stick in your controller. As you might have seen in my early access videos, you can use a controller plugged to your PC and the game’s HUD will automatically switch to console mode when you press any controller button.
  • Act II presented a problem where the original game showed pillows in the harem as painted over the ground, and D2R has individual 3D pillows. What happens when a sword item is on the ground colliding with 3D pillows? The physics, and how to match a 2D game pretending to be 3D. (VentureBeat)
  • Auras presented a challenge as it clipped with grass and rocks or treasure chests.
  • In consoles, teleport works better by the game picking a default spot to teleport to.
  • D2R is considered a live service. The team will continue to support the game.
  • Act VI is not on the table, but he said he will never deny it either and it is not off the table either.
  • Things they are willing to do post-launch if the community reaction to launch is good: new builds, new runewords, new items.
  • You can play Uber Diablo offline, and you only need one Stone of Jordan offline to summon Uber Diablo. The Team is going to monitor Uber Diablo and the economy of Stone of Jordan ring and take action if they think it is necessary in multiplayer. (Inven.co.kr)
  • The team is considering new content, but currently focusing on shipping the game and server stability.
  • New ladder content is not excluded, but nothing to announce at the moment.
  • Quality-of-Life changes that might be added post-launch: stack gems and potions — but not official. It is merely in discussion internally. There is room for more Quality-of-Life changes in the future.
  • Lag and latency issues will be monitored, and they will make changes and improvements if the need arises.
  • Method of storing items in Global Battle.net has been improved, as well as the method of trading to prevent cheating. The team will continuously monitor this and make changes where needed.
  • Cross-play is being considered, but not official at the moment. The team is open to the possibility of cross-play. It is under internal discussion.
  • Translation is loose, but there seems to be a system that keeps multiple records between each ladder season that players can feel proud of. This sounds like a sort of achievement system or maybe displaying who were the top players in each season filtered year after year.
  • Currently, they plan to hold 6-month ladder seasons. But there can be continuous adjustments, so this means they are open for shorter seasons. Not final.

CONSOLES

  • Players can now invite their friends to their game directly or through a Party Finder to join other players from Sanctuary. we implemented additional options for the Party Finder function. In this way, players can better coordinate and find other people on the same missions.
  • The improvements provided by Xbox Series X | S cannot be underestimated. Quality of life features such as fast resume in offline play allow players to switch from another game to this one seamlessly, saving the current state of the game at any time. Additionally, players will be able to load the game itself and zones faster.

All sites I could find that interviewed Diablo II: Resurrected principal director Rob Gallerani and project lead Michael Bukowski. I was invited to a group interview, but sadly, I couldn’t attend the Zoom event.

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BlizzCon 2019 Panel Transcripts