Blizzard CEO Promises Diablo III Improvements

Mike Morhaime, co-founder and director of Blizzard Entertainment, explains in a forum post how the login problems started with the introduction of Diablo III. He also explains how the studio wants to keep the game interesting.

Mike Morhaime placed a long blue post on the Battle.net forum, Blizzard Entertainment’s online hub. The director, who also founded the company in 1991, discusses the problems players experienced immediately after the introduction of Diablo III. Players complained about the infamous error 37, which prevented players from logging into the Battle.net servers.

Morhaime explains in the post that the problems arose because of insufficient server capacity. The interest exceeded even Blizzard’s highest expectations. The company had estimated the server capacity it would require based on interest in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, Blizzard’s best-selling game up to that point. Blizzard also looked at the presale of Diablo III. Morhaime, however, fully admits that the estimate was too low. Diablo III broke Cataclysm’s sales record and became the fastest-selling PC game ever, resulting in login problems.

Morhaime not only looks back, but also what Blizzard has in store for Diablo III. Morhaime also acknowledges that there is room for improvement. For example, the director acknowledges that the game needs more, better and more diverse Legendary items and promises that they will also be found in the game with the upcoming Patch 1.0.4. Morhaime also wants to improve the ‘build diversity’ in the game. That was a major goal of Jay Wilson, who was in charge of the Diablo III team. Blizzard wants very different game characters to be created in the RPG, even though there are only five playable classes in Diablo III. Blizzard wants to change that by improving skills that are now rarely used by players.

The director also discusses controversial options such as the real money auction house and the obligation to be connected to the internet while playing. With regard to these subjects, however, the director leaves it at explanation; Blizzard does not take any measures for this.