[kiwi_2005]

Received email today, more info on the beta.

Diablo III Beta Announcement :

http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company...a:d3-interview

Now that the internal testing is nearing completion, what aspects of the game do you hope to focus on during the beta test?

Kevin Martens: Polish, polish, polish. In particular, we***8217;re going to keep refining our approach to the game***8217;s action-storytelling. We want the player to experience the story, instead of just being told the story by NPCs, so we***8217;re moving a lot of the dialogue into the gameplay and leaving the quest hubs with just the bare, essential details needed to keep the plot moving. One example of this kind of a change can be found when players first get to New Tristram. When they arrive, they find the town under siege by a horde of zombies, and the guards need help fending off the attack before they can open the gates. One of the conversations between the player and the guards used to take place before the main zombie attack, but it now takes place during the attack. That subtle change took a short conversation and moved it into the action of the game, which made it more impactful and intense. Ultimately, we want the story to feel ambient and organic, instead of something that only happens between battles.