In the past, multiplayer in the Diablo games was a dicey proposition thanks to the constant threat of griefing from seemingly friendly players who could turn hostile at any moment. By contrast, Diablo III’s player-versus-player gameplay will be predominantly focused in the separate arena, where teams of four can do battle with each other. Due to the sheer number of skills, runes, and random gear, the development team at Blizzard isn’t even going to attempt to balance this mode for e-sports, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a nice addition to the main story mode of the game.

While PVP was revealed at BlizzCon 2010, this year’s showing was a little different. The basic setup was the same: four against four in a small arena, with health orbs placed at strategic locations. The playable BlizzCon demo was using pre-built characters loaded out with some great gear and a specific set of skills, but thankfully, in the final version of the game you’ll be able to bring in your own campaign characters. There will be matchmaking and some form of ranking with its own progression system, but that doesn’t appear to be linked to earning gold, experience, or items that you can bring back into your campaign.

What was different, however, was the ruleset for the game. Last year, matches were a series of games with no respawns. It was last team standing, and those that died were forced to spectate. This year, respawns were enabled and victory went to the team with the most kills at the end of our playtime. It's not clear if both modes will be available in the final game.

As the skill system in Diablo III has been changed from Diablo II--where each skill is unlocked as you level up--the limitation is now placed on the amount of skills you can equip at once. Because of this, the game and by extension its PVP multiplayer feel closer to Guild Wars than Diablo II or even World of Warcraft. You’re free to set up your loadout prior to joining a match, but once you’re in, you cannot swap your skills and runes.

This year’s outing was a bit more hectic than the previous demo, because teams didn’t spawn together and players could respawn at any time in various places around the arena. This resulted in a confusing experience where it was hard to ever really stop and take stock of the situation. Instead, it forced me to sort of always be running around and hunting for respawning enemies. Again, it's not known if these specific rules will be in place in the final game, or what kind of options you'll have for setting match specifics before you jump in.

The toughest part about previewing a game mode like this is that most of the enjoyment in a game like Diablo comes from building your own character and learning it thoroughly as you progress through the game. I had a lot of fun, but it was hard to jump right into high-level PVP without hours and hours of learning the ropes through the campaign.

In the past, multiplayer in the Diablo games was a dicey proposition thanks to the constant threat of griefing from seemingly friendly players who could turn hostile at any moment. By contrast, Diablo III’s player-versus-player gameplay will be predominantly focused in the separate arena, where teams of four can do battle with each other. Due to the sheer number of skills, runes, and random gear, the development team at Blizzard isn’t even going to attempt to balance this mode for e-sports, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a nice addition to the main story mode of the game.

While PVP was revealed at BlizzCon 2010, this year’s showing was a little different. The basic setup was the same: four against four in a small arena, with health orbs placed at strategic locations. The playable BlizzCon demo was using pre-built characters loaded out with some great gear and a specific set of skills, but thankfully, in the final version of the game you’ll be able to bring in your own campaign characters. There will be matchmaking and some form of ranking with its own progression system, but that doesn’t appear to be linked to earning gold, experience, or items that you can bring back into your campaign.

What was different, however, was the ruleset for the game. Last year, matches were a series of games with no respawns. It was last team standing, and those that died were forced to spectate. This year, respawns were enabled and victory went to the team with the most kills at the end of our playtime. It's not clear if both modes will be available in the final game.

As the skill system in Diablo III has been changed from Diablo II--where each skill is unlocked as you level up--the limitation is now placed on the amount of skills you can equip at once. Because of this, the game and by extension its PVP multiplayer feel closer to Guild Wars than Diablo II or even World of Warcraft. You’re free to set up your loadout prior to joining a match, but once you’re in, you cannot swap your skills and runes.

This year’s outing was a bit more hectic than the previous demo, because teams didn’t spawn together and players could respawn at any time in various places around the arena. This resulted in a confusing experience where it was hard to ever really stop and take stock of the situation. Instead, it forced me to sort of always be running around and hunting for respawning enemies. Again, it's not known if these specific rules will be in place in the final game, or what kind of options you'll have for setting match specifics before you jump in.

The toughest part about previewing a game mode like this is that most of the enjoyment in a game like Diablo comes from building your own character and learning it thoroughly as you progress through the game. I had a lot of fun, but it was hard to jump right into high-level PVP without hours and hours of learning the ropes through the campaign.

Cant wait!!

I'm not big into php but this seems cool.

Your assessment sounds fair enough, Brian. Hopefully it feels more manageable when the game comes out. A large part of what will keep me coming back to this game will be the PvP so I can only hope.
 
It's Blizzard, though, so I have no doubt that they will have their shit together. They've yet to give me a reason to doubt them.

No way Blizzard can top Magicka's pvp. by this point. They've waited far too long to release Diablo 3.

BLEEEEEAAAAHYY WHATS HE GONNNA SAAAAYYY ON THE FRRROOONNNTT PAAAAGGGGEE.

Swcheeet.

crappy tack-on, end of story. Diablo is a bout hordes of enemies, loot, and massive bosses. This is neither of those things.

Fix wow pvp first.

Really, no balancing, I always thought PvP in WoW was constantly being balance and rebalanced or am I wrong?

Because I am pretty sure there are more skills and classes they would need to balance to make WoW fair than than D3.

@Cogzwell said:

crappy tack-on, end of story. Diablo is a bout hordes of enemies, loot, and massive bosses. This is neither of those things.

You can't say that till you've played it. You never know, this could be a really fun addition/distraction from all of the enemies, loot and massive bosses!

It was by far the best thing to play on the show floor. I had a blast even though I was on teams that lost. I think it was mostly because I did so well myself that I didn't feel like I was getting beat.

Just to let you know Brian, Last years PvP was 3v3. This year there was 2v2, 3v3, and 4v4. Most of the time they just set you up into groups of 4 to make the line go quicker.

I will agree that by not picking the skills you had to spend half of the practice time reading what the skills did and how they would work well together.

@solidlife said:

Fix wow pvp first.

Blizzard will always balance their RPGs around PVE.

If you want PVP, go play Starcraft 2 or Warcraft 3.

@project343 said:

@solidlife said:

Fix wow pvp first.

Blizzard will always balance their RPGs around PVE.

If you want PVP, go play Starcraft 2 or Warcraft 3.

WoW has always seemed to be balanced more around PVP then PVE. Although I haven't played in over a year maybe that's changed?

Looks like it will be carebear pvp then, totally not surprised.

@avidwriter said:

WoW has always seemed to be balanced more around PVP then PVE. Although I haven't played in over a year maybe that's changed?

Nearly every Blizzcon WoW panel Q&A I've watched over the years has brought up PVP balance via some raging fan. Blizzard's response is always that they balance around PVE first.

@Dixperiken: good call duder

@quirkwood: There's less randomness in WoW PvP I feel. Gear is consistent, and you know exactly what level of pvp gear players will have access to at different tiers. Gear in Diablo, even named legendaries, is highly randomized. You'd basically have to be incredibly lucky, have immense amounts of time, or wade heavily into the auction house (and probably spend real money) to really get that perfect pvp set. I'm kind of glad that they prefer to keep it a casual side mode, rather than force players into that kind of commitment.

Besides, as a hardcore player, I'd like to be able to pvp some too without a permanent death. So I like that it's a side game mode that isn't taken too seriously.

What is the Brian Leahy doing on the Giant Bomb? *sniff sniff* I smell something fishy. IS GIANT BOMB SEEKING HELP FOR THEIR PLANS OF WORLD DOMINATION?!

@jakob187 said:

What is the Brian Leahy doing on the Giant Bomb? *sniff sniff* I smell something fishy. IS GIANT BOMB SEEKING HELP FOR THEIR PLANS OF WORLD DOMINATION?!

Yeah, when did this happen? If Leahy is going to start working for Giant Bomb, maybe we will get some Quick Looks from someone who can properly play a game. :P

Upsetting to see that there is no real focus on balancing the PVP in D3 for E-Sports or any kind of serious competitive scene. I can only assume that very cookie cutter builds will be prevalent in D3's PVP, although, it's pretty similar in WoW which is constantly balanced. It'll also be upsetting to see dominant classes in PVP.

On a brighter note, at least I'll be able to MF for hours on end and actually have opportunities to make tangible money off of it.

@TehJedicake: do you mean twinking because I don't think higher lvl players will be helping people lvl up in pvp somehow

@Gilsham: No, I mean carebear as in there will be no death penalty. Death in pvp will be super forgiving, there will be no risk.

I don't see how a dungeon crawler could possibly offer good pvp, so I think it's good that blizzard isn't wasting time on anything more than a "see who can get the most kills!" mode.

PvE is all I'll ever play in this game.

@solidlife: Not the same team, dude.

@quirkwood: @project343: Actually, they put a lot of effort into balancing WoW PvP. However, WoW PvP is balanced for group-PvP, not duels or 1 on 1s. Some classes have strengths that may overpower other classes, though. There have been several PvP balancing fixes that have had negative impacts on PvE gameplay.

As for how balanced it actually is - it seems popular enough, there was an eSports tournament for WoW at Blizzcon... but personally, I'm not at all interested in PvP in that game, so I can't say how active it is, or how balanced it is.

I never got into it but I thought the fun of the PVP in 2 was LAN play with friends, like in a dorm or college house? It's possible Blizzard has missed the point with this mode. Or they are trying to morph it into something more valuable (to them) with respect to their online auction house.

Die-ablo!

Chaps, I am loving it how I can click on a screenshot and it is full screen. Thank you!

@TehJedicake said:

Looks like it will be carebear pvp then, totally not surprised.

Dude, you hate carebear pvp too? Hell yeah. Bro-five!

They can't even get WoW PvP to work. How are they going to do Diablo 3 PvP, especially with an real money auction house?

I think I am gonna stick with PVE but i will give it a try.

This will be so much nicer! I hated playing online when people would hostile you and hunt you down..