Diablo III Starter Edition Is Now Free

[Gahars]

Blizzard has just announced that the Starter Edition for Diablo III will now be completely free. It's not the full package, though; players can only access to the first level and work their way up to level 13. Also, achievements will not be unlocked and the Auction House will be inaccessible.

GamesRadar

I appreciate the gesture, Blizzard, but it's all so limited. That really Dia-blows.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

...So it's basically just a Diablo III demo?

I think someone just Error 37'd at Blizzard.

 

[BORTZ]

Blizzard has just announced that the Starter Edition for Diablo III will now be completely free. It's not the full package, though; players can only access to the first level and work their way up to level 13. Also, achievements will not be unlocked and the Auction House will be inaccessible.

GamesRadar

I appreciate the gesture, Blizzard, but the it's all so limited. That really Dia-blows.

You and your puns. Gets me every time.

 

[Lanlan]

Cool. Thanks for the heads-up. Now I can experience the suck of D3 firsthand.

 

[omgpwn666]

Pretty bad ass if you really just wanted a feel of the game to see how you feel about it.

 

[DiscostewSM]

So, they can now experience why the game is bad?

 

[rehevkor]

Cool beans, I quite wanted to check D3 out, and since I apparently can't pirate it this'll do.

 

[Dingoo-fan 32]

Good way to test the game, before buying it (or not)

 

[MelodieOctavia]

So...basically the same content that was in the open beta?

 

[Gahars]

So...basically the same content that was in the open beta?

Going by the original article, that seems to be the case, yeah.

 

[Issac]

...So it's basically just a Diablo III demo?

I think someone just Error 37'd at Blizzard.

Couldn't have said it better myself. Only blizzard can give out a demo and make some people think blizz is a generous company doing something awesome for the gamers. (You can now play this demo for FREE! derp..)

 

[Hells Malice]

If they wanted people to BUY the game they should have released a demo where you could play something like a level 30 character for a few quests in part of Act 1 that doesn't suck.

Based on the first 13 levels i'd never buy the game, it's fucking boring.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

If they wanted people to BUY the game they should have released a demo where you could play something like a level 30 character for a few quests in part of Act 1 that doesn't suck.

Based on the first 13 levels i'd never buy the game, it's fucking boring.

Actually if they wanted people to buy the game they should make it fucking work first.

 

[MelodieOctavia]

If they wanted people to BUY the game they should have released a demo where you could play something like a level 30 character for a few quests in part of Act 1 that doesn't suck.

Based on the first 13 levels i'd never buy the game, it's fucking boring.

Actually if they wanted people to buy the game they should make it fucking work first.

Or they could, you know, make a true offline mode. Just make the gear you get offline incompatible with online mode. I'm sure that would be a healthy compromise for everyone.

 

[Deleted member 194275]

Ok, I've never played the game, and I should try it to make my own opinion, but, the more I read about Diablo III, less I want to try it.

 

[ThatDudeWithTheFood]

Ok, I've never played the game, and I should try it to make my own opinion, but, the more I read about Diablo III, less I want to try it.

Exactly man.
So many bad things.

Who is gonna guess how long until the full game is F2P?

 

[Psionic Roshambo]

Ok, I've never played the game, and I should try it to make my own opinion, but, the more I read about Diablo III, less I want to try it.

Exactly man.
So many bad things.

Who is gonna guess how long until the full game is F2P?

If they go completely F2P I want some or all of my money back, I bought it digitally from Blizzard so I paid full price.

The game can be fixed but as it stands right now, its just a boring mess once you start getting into Inferno.

 

[Hells Malice]

there isn't anything wrong with the game itself, really.
As far as games go it's basically standard. Some bugs, and some balancing issues...welcome to multiplayer RPGs.

the only flaw the game really has, is gear differentiation and how there isn't any. It's way too easy to gear up. you don't need a 2H staff anymore as a wizard, you can use a fucking broadsword if it has higher DPS. You can even use a bow. There's very few class specific items and most aren't worth bothering to get.
Armour is the same.
It sounded like a good idea on paper but what it did is made gearing incredibly boring and unrewarding. The AH made obtaining better gear too easy. Using an actual currency system is also a hindrance to shit.
Basically, they took Diablo 2 and added a whole lot of bad features that don't work.

Sure they changed a lot for the better, like how you can easily go to most any part of the story specifically, or the companion system. That stuff is good. The skill system took a giant hit for creativity and depth, but it ain't a bad system either.

They'd basically have to remove the AH to really improve anything.

 

[Rydian]

Diablo II had 21 client/balance patches over a total of 11 fucking years.

Compared to that, Diablo III's still a baby.

 

[MelodieOctavia]

Ok, I've never played the game, and I should try it to make my own opinion, but, the more I read about Diablo III, less I want to try it.

Exactly man.
So many bad things.

Who is gonna guess how long until the full game is F2P?

Most likely never. It's not an MMO, and the content is finite. Short even. Most people will play until they beat it a few times on Normal. Less will make it through Nightmare, even less through Hell, and only the most dedicated players will get through Inferno.

All in all Diablo III has a very small amount of replayability compared to your average MMO. A fully F2P version would never work.