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Attributes

2016-03-03T18:09:49Z

DeathTBO: /* Strength */

{{BC}}
Diablo III's core '''Attributes''' are '''[[Strength]]''', '''[[Dexterity]]''', '''[[Intelligence]]''', and '''[[Vitality]]'''. Different classes get different bonuses from these attributes. Each one can be broken down into other, more fundamental attributes.

Examples of other attributes are Armor, Crit Chance, and Attack Speed. Many more exist, and they are described in this article.

A player's attributes can be increased by their gear or talents. Not all items can have every type of attribute.

==Core Attributes==
[[File:New-stats-paperdoll.jpg|thumb|300px|Stats are now incorporated into the inventory/paper doll display.]]
This lists the four core attributes and their precise effects, as of patch 1.0.2.<ref>http://blackrabbit2999.blogspot.com/2012/05/diablo-3-game-mechanics-complete-guide.html</ref>

===Strength===
[[Strength]] governs how much [[Armor]] a character has and increases [[Barbarian]]'s and [[Crusader]]'s [[damage]] dealt. 
'''Each point of Strength gives:'''
* +1 [[Armor]].
* +1% damage for [[Barbarian]]s.

===Dexterity===
[[Dexterity]] governs the chance that a character will [[Dodge]] an attack and increases [[Demon Hunter]]'s and [[Monk]]'s [[damage]] dealt. 
'''Each point of Dexterity gives:'''
* +1% damage for [[Demon Hunter]]s and [[Monk]]s.
* +''x''% to [[Dodge]] chance:
{|
|-
! Dexterity !! Increase per point !! Total dodge chance
|-
| 1–100 || +0.1% || ''Dex'' × 0.1%
|-
| 101–500 || +0.025% || (''Dex'' – 100) × 0.025% + 10.0%
|-
| 501–1000 || +0.02% || (''Dex'' – 500) × 0.02% + 20.0%
|-
| 1001–8000 || +0.01% || (''Dex'' – 1000) × 0.01% + 30.0%
|}

===Intelligence===
[[Intelligence]] increases a character's [[Resistances]] and increases [[Wizard]]'s and [[Witch Doctor]]'s [[damage]] dealt. 
'''Each point of Intellect gives:'''
* +0.1 to all [[Resistances]].
* +1% damage for [[Witch Doctor]]s and [[Wizard]]s.

===Vitality===
[[Vitality]] governs the amount of [[Life]] a character has. 
'''Each point of Vitality gives:'''
* +''x'' Life
** If player level < 35, ''x'' = 10.
** If player level ≥ 35, ''x'' = ''Level'' − 25.
At level 60, each point of vitality adds 35 life. This does not include 36 base life and +4 life per level.
* Total Life is calculated as follows:
** If player level < 35, ''Life'' = ''Vitality'' × 10 + ''Level'' × 4 + 36
** If player level ≥ 35, ''Life'' = ''Vitality'' × (''Level'' − 25) + ''Level'' × 4 + 36

==Other Attributes==
====Armor====
Armor reduces all damage done to the player by a percentage, including magical damage.
:''Reduction'' = (''Armor''/(''Armor'' + ''Mlvl'' × 50)) × 100%,
where ''Mlvl'' is the level of the attacking monster.

====Resistances====
Resistances reduce all damage of a certain type (Physical, Cold, Fire, Lightning, Poison, or Arcane/Holy) done to the player by a percentage. It is comparable to Armor, though each point is worth ten times as much.
:''Reduction'' = (''Resistance''/(''Resistance'' + ''Mlvl'' × 5)) × 100%,
where ''Mlvl'' is the level of the attacking monster.

====Critical Hit Chance====
When a player attacks, they have a chance of hitting with a significantly higher damage than usual. This chance is their "crit" chance. Players have a base of 5% crit hit chance, with a crit damage of 150% normal damage. Items with +Critical Hit Chance can be found.

====Critical Hit Damage====
This is the amount of damage that a critical hit does. The base is 150% of normal damage. Items with +Critical Hit Damage can be found.

==Core Attribute Changes==
The core attributes have undergone significant changes since conception. The Diablo 3 beta had a fifth attribute named willpower, which no longer exists.

===Attribute changes in 2012===
On Janruary 19, 2012, [[Diablo III]] Game Director [[Jay Wilson]] made a lengthy blog post on various upcoming system changes[http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/4325959/Systems_Changes-1_19_2012#blog] in Diablo III. These changes included a complete overhaul on the attribute system.

[[Strength]] and [[Dexterity]] made a comeback while [[Vitality]] stayed the same. A new attribute was introduced to the game - [[Intelligence]]. Stats that came with the old attributes have been moved onto item affixes. +[[Armor]] and +Physical Resist is taking over [[Defense]] and +[[Critical Hit|Chance to critically hit]] will replace [[Precision]].

[[Itemization]] was the main reason behind the attribute overhaul. With the old attribute system, almost every item was useful to every class. For example, Barbarian's equipment was as useful when used by the Wizard and vice-versa (except for the class-based items). The new attributes specifically targets stats at classes to reduce item overlap and diversify the item pool. In addition, character stats are now displayed on the inventory interface.

===Attribute changes in 2010===
Originally, each attribute affected more character properties in Diablo III than in [[Diablo I|D1]] or [[Diablo II|D2]]. This was part of the [[D3 Team]]'s design goal; to make all of the attributes useful to all of the classes. On December 20, 2010, that changed when D3 Community Manager [[Bashiok]] made an announcement[http://forums.battle.net/thread.html?topicId=27795769376&pageNo=1&sid=3000#0]on the Battle.net forums of the new attribute system in which each core attribute affects a single property.

This change wasn't as controversial as the [[Attributes#No Customizable Attributes|pre-set attribute]] announcement, but Bashiok's post did generate a lively [http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=788501 26-page debate]in the forums. Bashiok made several points in favor of the change, and several less-favorable points were made in the forum. The debate is distilled here:

====Pros====
* None of the old attributes helped control [[resource]] management.
* Easier to make all attributes valuable to all classes.
* Before, in some cases it was not obvious what attribute affected a particular skill.
* Makes core attributes simple and straightforward to understand.
* Makes game balance easier.
* Makes valuing item stats easier.
* No character has a primary attribute.

====Cons====
* It wasn't ''that'' confusing, especially with pre-set attributes.
* Feels like a dumbing-down of the game.
* Having all attributes equally valuable to all classes is not always beneficial.
* No character has a primary attribute.
* The attribute names are uninspiring.

===Old Attribute System===
See the respective pages on [[Attack]], [[Precision]], [[Defense]] and [[Vitality]] (didn't change) to see how the attributes used to look like in the beta (before the attribute changes in 2012).

{|
| [[Image:Character_sheet_2010.jpg|thumb|250px|[[BlizzCon]] 2010 when str/dex/vit/will were last seen.▼]]
| [[Image:Interface-char-beta-sml.jpg|thumb|250px|Clvl 13 Wizard in the Diablo 3 beta (2011) before the stat overhaul.▲]]
|}

===Even Older Attribute System===
See the respective pages on [[Strength#Development|Strength]], [[Dexterity#Development|Dexterity]], [[Vitality#Development|Vitality]], and [[Willpower]] (renamed from [[Energy]] in [[Diablo II|D2]]) to see what attributes originally looked like.

==No Customizable Attributes==
The biggest change about attributes in Diablo III is that they will no longer be player-assigned on level up. This means that two "[[naked]]" characters of the same class and of the same level will have the exact same attack, precision, vitality, defense, and willpower, as well as the same hit points, resource value, damage, and etc. Except that they won't, since differences in their [[skills]], [[skillrunes]], and [[traits]], not to mention [[equipment]], including [[charms]]/[[talisman]], will make them very different.

Though this seems a settled issue as of late 2010, it was highly-controversial when it was first revealed, back in late 2009. Jay Wilson explained it, as best he could in those days long before charms, the talisman, gems, or traits had been revealed. [http://g4tv.com/games/pc/28197/diablo-iii/articles/68225/BlizzCon-2009-Diablo-III-Game-Director-Interview/]

<blue>Jay Wilson: Stat progression as a system is very difficult for a lot of players to understand because you get these 5 points, but you don’t exactly know where to put them or what benefit you’re getting with them. You might make some obvious choices, for example, with Diablo II’s Sorceress, you might put all of your points into energy because that’s the obvious choice, right? Except that for almost every build out there, you’ve just made the wrong choice. Any system where you have to go up onto the Internet to figure out what the right answer is, is not a good customization system. Any system where there’s a “right” answer is not a good system for customization. The truth is, with stat point systems, they are simple math. It’s not hard to figure out what the absolute best choice is so we decided we didn’t want that as a customization system.

With that being said, we do have another system we’re working on. The specific intent of it is to capture the imagination of what stat point spending was supposed to do, which is, “I want to be stronger. I want to be tougher.” These kind of simple ideas are not contextualized well within a skill system. The skill system is about what the player is doing, not higher ideals about what their character is. So, we’re going to work on a system that really satisfies that feeling, but is way easier to understand and also has some true customization to it.</blue>

==Pre-Set Attributes Removed==
Much digital ink has been spilled on this issue, since it was revealed at Blizzcon, in October 2008. (The first word came from an interview by Diii.net, and immediately resulted in a [http://forums.diii.net/showthread.php?t=699000 30-page forum thread].) Some portion of that hew and cry was spurred by an initial misunderstanding; reporters assumed items would still have strength, dexterity, and other attribute requirements (they do not), but even with that issue clarified shortly after, the topic of pre-set attributes has remained a contentious one.

There are a variety of arguments on each side of the issue. The debate was nicely encapsulated in an [[On the Drawing Board]] column about pre-set attributes, from which the following bullet points are taken: [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/on-the-drawing-board-4-preset-attributes]

===Pros===
* Manual setting is no longer needed, as there are no stat requirements on [[item]]s any more.
* It's beginner friendly. New players won't ruin their characters with poor stat allocation.
* Attributes were largely irrelevant in D2, since all characters with the same build used identical equipment and stat allocation. {{iw|Category:D2_strategy Typical D2 guide}} advice, "Enough strength for your heaviest item, then all the rest into vitality."
* Enables easier/better game balancing for the developers, since they can know about how powerful characters will be.
* Prevents twinking and other exploits by low level characters.
* World of Warcraft uses auto-attributes, and it's the most popular RPG ever.
* No need for attribute [[respec]]s, which would otherwise have to be incorporated since skill respecs will be.
* It boosts the importance of items, since those and skills are what differentiates characters.
* High level characters can use the items they find, since they won't, for example, be built with far too little strength for that cool new item they just found.
* It respects traditional RPG philosophy of archetype characters in the sense of how a physical and mental ability of a class is supposed to be depending on its role. A Barbarian with ''very high'' Willpower or a Wizard with ''too much'' Strength really makes no sense from roleplaying perspective in a fantasy game.
* It completely eliminates situations when people find a better items with more points in stat X and realize that they have one or more unnecessary invested points ''right now'' in stat X just because of these new items and those points ''could be'' relocated in other stat for better purpose. Maybe later on they will need those ''permanently invested points'' in stat X, but not ''right now''. The problem is that it will never end, until they will find all items perfect and reroll their characters.
* Rerolling is fun but rerolling ''because of'' messed stats is not fun.

===Cons===
* Reduced Character Variety. Unusual and non-cookie cutter builds need to allocate their attributes differently.
* We won’t be noobs forever. Why gimp a major aspect of game play individuality when it won't be necessary once gamers have some experience?
* No Attributes = No skill required. If players want to mainline strength and ignore vitality because they're good enough to survive with fewer hit points, or vice versa so they can play with a weaker, specialized build, why take away that option?
* Rerolling is fun. Making new characters is a hallmark of the Diablo series. This isn't WoW where one high level character takes months to build, and then lasts forever with respecs.
* What about [[hardcore]]? Hardcore characters want/need to be built very differently than softcore, since death is forever.

===Blizzard's Response===
The [[D3 Team]] never issued a formal, multi-point rebuttal, but they have commented on this issue a few times, being careful not to give away their plans for stat customization via systems, such as gems, traits, and the talisman, that they weren't yet ready to reveal.[ [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/diiinet-jay-wilson-video-interview/]]

<blue>Jay Wilson: For the most part attribute spending in Diablo II was a great way, when you didn’t know how to play the game, to break your character. Most people didn’t know where to put them and when they found out the answer was always kind of weird like "Put 5 points in Energy and then all the rest of the points in Vitality."</blue>

The longest comment came from D3 Community Manager [[Bashiok]] who offered a detailed argument in a forum post in December 2008. [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/the-next-gen-attributesystem/]

<blue>Loss of character customization: 
With the current skill system, runes, and item affixes, as well as other unmentionables, there’s not going to be any issue with not having enough customization. If there is, bottom line, we’ll add more. We’re not going to release a game we’re not happy with, and a lack of character customization options would make us unhappy. But, even right now we have a lot more variety and ability to customize a character than Diablo II had.

Odd character builds: 
Similarly is being able to create “off-spec” builds, or characters that aren’t just cookie cutter ideals of the class you’re playing. This is important to the game, and we will ensure that it doesn't get "tuned out" of the game. ...Manual attributes were not what made them possible in Diablo II. The ability to make these types of characters relies solely on the complexity and diversity of the the options available to steer your character, and not that they come in the form of a "+" button.

Less feeling of level up achievement: 
The loss of a feeling of a leveling achievement is actually something we recognize and intend to address.

We've always assigned our own points in Diablo games: 
The nostalgia of simply having points, and spending them on base stats is probably the most difficult. Liking something because it’s familiar is difficult to argue with, but it’s also probably the easiest to overcome. Since we can’t force your memories out of you, we just have to make the best game we can and hope you realize that manual attribute assignment isn’t the best, most engaging or entertaining form of character customization possible, and that we’re offering an even deeper and richer game without those buttons.</blue>

Though this issue continues to emerge in comments and forum posts, the Diablo 3 team has shown no inclination to undo their changes to this aspect of the game.

==References==
<references/>

{{Template:Items navbox}}
[[category:basics]]
[[category:character]]
[[category:statistics]]
[[category:attributes]]

Art controversy

2015-04-11T00:37:53Z

DeathTBO: /* The End of the Art Controversy? */

The '''art controversy''' of [[Diablo III]] started with [[WWI 2008]], when a considerable number of Diablo fans found the colour of Diablo 3's palette as initially revealed to be "too colourful". Many fans referenced the bright colors and tinted lightning so common in World of Warcraft and felt Diablo 3 was reminiscent of that and "too cartoonish."

Diablo 3's final version art direction was completed during the summer of 2007 after extensive iterative testing, tweaking, and editing. [http://www.ausgamers.com/features/read/2662371]

==Fan Reactions==
[[Image:Art_controversy_09.jpg|center|thumb|600px|One Diablo fan's artistic inspiration from the [[WWI 2008]] reveal.]]

This is what Blizzard said in regards to the Diablo III art direction in the [http://www.diii.net/articles/668952/lore-amp-environmental-art-panel-video Lore & Environmental Art Panel:]
::''Skip to about the 21:00 mark to hear it. To paraphrase, the designers talk about how their memories of D1 and D2 were that they were dark and gritty, but that when they actually looked back through the games they found much more color than they expected. They also say that they looked at horror movies and noticed how the color was used effectively to create mood, and that they're following that design path with Diablo III.''
 
 

===How it "Should" Look===
A lot of discussion started up about the colour of the environments in the [http://forums.diii.net/showthread.php?t=669266 community forums], where some fans utterly hated the new colours, some didn't care as long as they got D3, and some liked it. Fan-made [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photo_manipulation#Photoshopping photoshopped] images popped up with no colour, higher contrast, more "grit", or even the odd blood stain. More pictures have been posted in the [http://www.diii.net/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=553 Controversy Gallery] since then. Naturally, effects such as rainbows were done away with as the point of all these images is to make the pictures more grey and "dark". Some variants just enhance a few aspects, while some go all-out. A very strong fear for just "re-making World of WarCraft" is prevalent.

'''Sample of arguments:'''
* The art should be nowhere near the art of [http://www.worldofwar.net/ World of Warcraft].
* Art should not look "cartoonish" at all. Less pastel with bold lines and defined contours. More realism.
* Darker environment with more realistic gothic creepy dark influences.
* Less colour in the environment.
* No rainbows!
* Add the '[[light radius]]' of Diablo 1 and Diablo 2.
* Equipment should be more realistic, with smaller shoulder plates as a main focus point.

<center>
<gallery>
Image:Art_controversy_01.jpg|Colour, brightness, details and "grit".
Image:Art_controversy_02.jpg|Darker, more red ambient light, "creepier" with more blood.
Image:Art_controversy_03.jpg|Light radius and line-of-sight light.
Image:Art_controversy_04.jpg|Rainbows? An upset fan exclaims disappointment.
Image:Art_controversy_05.jpg|One suggested colour change. Red.
Image:Art_controversy_06.jpg|Dungeon with more "gothic" colours and detail. Necromancer's choice.
Image:Art_controversy_07.jpg|Outdoor colour change, more contrast, less pastel.
Image:Art_controversy_08.jpg|Rainy weather, and darker.
</gallery>
</center>
 
 

===The Petitions===
Together with the first few photoshopped images, petitions started to appear on the net with the demand that Blizzard should change the art design, similar to what they did with [http://www.starcraftwire.net/wiki/Terran Terrans in StarCraft II]. Petition signature count 2008-08-07:
*[http://www.petitiononline.com/d3color/petition.html Petition Against colour 1] - Closed
*[http://www.petitiononline.com/DIII/petition.html Petition Against colour 2] - 1,873
*[http://www.petitiononline.com/d3art/petition.html Petition Against colour 3] - 54,138 (60,654 2009-07-01)
*[http://www.petitiononline.com/d3israd/petition.html Petition to support Blizzard] - 815
One of the petitions against the new art direction got quite popular, and Blizzard originally did not comment on it. There were also petitions starting to support Blizzard's decision. The number of signatures on the different petitions are probably not an accurate guideline for what fans think however, as the fans who do like the current direction would be less vocal than those who are unhappy.
 
 

===Responses to Complaints===
Popular web comic site [http://www.penny-arcade.com/ Penny Arcade] commented[http://www.penny-arcade.com/2008/8/6/] on the controversy, as well as presenting a comic[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/8/6/] about the issue.

::We tried to imagine the sort of person who takes world-class design, changes the contrast, and then calls themselves the artist. It wasn't especially difficult.

[[Image:Angst.jpg|center|frame|Penny Arcade responded with a comic named 'Anguish.jpg'.]]
 
 

==Blizzard's Response==
Blizzard seemed to be prepared for some sort of onslaught against the colours well before the actual [[WWI 2008]] reveal, and started talking about the importance of colour in the [[WWI 2008: D3 Lore and Environmental Art Panel|D3 Lore and Environmental Art Panel]] before the petitions even started.

::[http://www.diii.net/articles/668952/lore-amp-environmental-art-panel-video Video comment by Flux:]
::''Skip to about the 21:00 mark to hear it. To paraphrase, the designers talk about how their memories of D1 and D2 were that they were dark and gritty, but that when they actually looked back through the games they found much more color than they expected. They also say that they looked at horror movies and noticed how the color was used effectively to create mood, and that they're following that design path with Diablo III.''

The reactions from fans might have been a bit stronger than they initially thought though, as they started out in the beginning of July to avoiding replying to the petition itself. It's unlikely Blizzard didn't know about the uproar, considering several websites such as [http://www.slashgear.com/diablo-iii-producer-under-fire-for-adding-color-0312386.php Slashgear], [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080703.WBwgtgameblog030120080703084156/WBStory/WBwgtgameblog0301 The Globe and Mail] and the largest [http://www.diii.net/n/669078/too-colorful Diablo 3 fansite], all featured reports on the reactions.

::[http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/07/02/diablo-iii-art-direction/ Keith Lee replies:]
::''A great analogy is like in 'Lord of the Rings' — not everything is dark. [...] We don't want everything to look the same and that’s really what we're trying to aim for. [...]What we also tried to do is create very clean textures so that you can really focus. It's a stylized feel and in that sense, it's very sort of a Blizzard philosophy. It's just really pushing the envelope in terms of the visuals so that everyone is excited about how everything looks. We think that 'Diablo III' is going to be better in so many different ways. We're just building and improving upon the the first and second 'Diablo' games.''

::''We're very involved, because everyone's very passionate about our games. Blizzard employees, we spend a lot of time actually iterating on [the game], and so in terms of the next phase, what we'll try to do is a proof on concept on lot of different gameplay aspects. And we really want to get as much feedback as possible so that we can improve on the game and ensure that we meet Blizzard quality for our fans and for ourselves as players.''

Later in July, a few mainstream sites got the opportunity to talk to Blizzard in NYC, where art direction, and direct replies to some petition pictures were made by Jay Wilson.

::[http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/08/04/diablo-iii-designer-turns-tables/ Jay Wilson judges fan pics:]
::''[[Jay Wilson]]: The key thing to remember here is that this has been Photoshopped. This isn’t created by the engine. Though it looks really cool, it's almost impossible to do in a 3D engine because you can’t have lighting that smart and run on systems that are reasonable. If we could do that, we probably would in a few of the dungeons.''

::''Now in terms of the actual texturing, this texturing, where they grayed out everything and it's very flat and the monsters are all kind of a similar tone — that does not play well. It's very boring to run through more than a couple of times, and it's very difficult to tell creatures apart and pop them out of the environment. So those things don't really work for us. A lot of the lighting stuff I think is very cool, but it's also not very doable for us.''

[[Image:Rainbowkick.jpg|thumb|220px|right|Fun with Rainbows]]
At [[BlizzCon 2009]] in one of the Diablo III panels discussing animation for the monk, attendees got an exclusive first look at the Monk's Rainbow Kick. It was of course a tongue in cheek reference to the controversy and was greeted with much cheering and whooping.

==Ex-Blizzard Response==

Since virtually everyone who created Diablo I and Diablo II have since left the company (most before or when [[Blizzard North]] closed in 2005), and the project was begun almost entirely from scratch at Blizzard Irvine in 2005, there's very little continuity between D3 and the previous games in the series. This is not very noticeable in the gameplay, but it's quite clear in the visuals and art design/style, which is what spurred the whole Art Controversy in the first place.

Most of the designers of D1 and D2 have refrained from making any comments on the look or style of D3, and when they have commented they've been fairly positive. [[Bill Roper]], however, took a different, more candid approach when asked about Diablo 3 in a few interviews in early 2009. Bill spoke at length on this issue with IncGamers.com [http://www.incgamers.com/Interviews/175/bill-roper-talks/2]

::''IncGamers.com: To go further back in your career, you worked on Diablo, and that's coming up on a third sequel. How do you think it's been handled?

::'''Bill Roper:''' Ultimately they're going to do a great job, because Blizzard always does a great job on products. I was interested by the big explosion that happened online when they released the first gameplay footage and screenshots, when that vocal minority was outraged that it didn't have that dark, gothic, gritty look. But that actually made sense, because it's not Blizzard North doing it anymore. That's the art style that the guys down at Irvine do. So it looks to me as what I would've expected from those guys, handling the Diablo universe. I always thought that was a real strength between having development teams in Irvine and San Mateo. Blizzard North had a different art direction, a different style, and different thought processes towards mechanics that were all very solid, and allowed the Diablo games to expand out on their own in a lot of different ways. I think that what you're seeing now is that mechanic being taken over by the guys in Irvine because it's involves them now, and so it's going to have that flavour. I want it to be great because I love Diablo, and I want another one.

::''IncGamers.com: From your comments I get the feeling you'd prefer the Diablo 1 or Diablo 2 art style.''

::'''Bill Roper: '''I don't dislike how it looks now. I didn't look at it and have the appalled reaction a lot of people did, I just appreciated that it had a very distinct look. The Diablo games looked different to the Craft games, and I liked the fact that it was very dark, gothic fantasy. I just think that it's nice to be able to have different worlds represented with very different visuals... When WoW came out, there were plenty of people who didn't like the way it looked, and I think that with Diablo 3 there'll be some people who don't like it and prefer the look of the first two Diablo games. When they first released the the videos and the screenshots, there was definitely an uprising from certain sections of Blizzard and Diablo fans, but Blizzard does what it's going to do so I'm sure that all those people who were really upset will still be in line with the rest of us, getting a copy! As long as it's good and cohesive and takes the stories that they're telling, I'm okay if it doesn't look exactly like it did before, although I did like that really dark, edgy, gothic look.

Bill expounded further on this in an interview with VideoGamer.com. [http://www.videogamer.com/pc/star_trek_online/screenshot-8.html]

::''VideoGamer.com: You mention that you can understand the art style and direction Blizzard has taken with Diablo III, but are you pleased with it or disappointed with it? You were one of the chief architects of the original Diablo games which, as you've said, were darker and grittier than the Craft games.

::'''Bill Roper:''' You know, I liked the darker grittier. I liked the differences in art style, to be honest. So, I think I would personally from a player standpoint prefer that. One of the things that we always tried to get across was that Diablo was Gothic fantasy and I think there was just a need that was put in there from the visuals that I didn't necessarily get. I got it from the architecture and to a degree from the character design but not the feeling of the world. I can't say that I dislike it. I didn't look at it and go, oh my God that's horrible. But I looked at it and went, it's not really... to me as a player it just didn't really ring with Diablo.

 

==Blizzard Art Department Departing==
In the beginning of August, [http://kotaku.com/5034244/blizzard-looking-for-new-diablo-iii-art-director Kotaku noted] that the Lead Art Director position of Diablo III had quit, since they were [http://www.blizzard.com/us/jobopp/art-director.html looking for a new one]. [[Brian Morrisoe]] worked as Lead Art Director as recently as [[WWI 2008]], where he headed the [[WWI_2008:_D3_Lore_and_Environmental_Art_Panel|Environmental Art Panel]], and did some media, such as [http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=193852 this interview with CVG]. Some fans said it seemed odd that he quit in time for the fan protests, just like if there had been tensions in the team, which re-ignited with fan protests.

[[Image:Blizzard_job_ops.jpg|thumb|261px|right|Blizzard recruiting art people.]]What the Kotaku piece doesn't mention is that there are several other D3 art team jobs listed on Blizzard's jobs page. None of them are recent additions, but many fans speculated that Blizzard was having trouble finding/keeping art talent on Diablo 3. Some even went as far as to say that the team might have gotten split up because of internal disagreements on the art direction. Jay Wilson, Diablo 3's Lead Producer, handled the fan screenshot replies mentioned previously, and some fans ask why the Art Directors didn't handle that.

[http://www.diii.net/n/682181/d3-art-direction-disarray Blizzard made a statement] saying that Brian quit to start his own company.
::''Regarding Brian, he recently resigned to form a startup technology company (outside the game industry), which is why we've posted about the open position. This change won't impact the game - we're really pleased with the look and feel that Brian helped create for Diablo III, and the new person we bring onboard will work with the other artists on the team to maintain the art style moving forward. Given this state of affairs, it's hard not to speculate (as several emailers have) that perhaps the controversy over the game's art direction wasn't just amongst the fans. Perhaps different factions within the Diablo 3 team had their own strong opinions on how the game's art should look, and when push came to shove, some of the crew left. Or were asked to leave? Happily, as Blizzard often points out, the production of a game as large as Diablo 3 is handled by a large team, and no one is indispensable. Let's hope they get talented job applicants and can plug them into the openings and carry on smoothly.''

This doesn't say anything in regards to if he quit because of disagreements, or other reasons.
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[[Jay Wilson]] also commented further on Morrisoe: [http://www.ausgamers.com/features/read/2662371]
::'''''AG: I have a question that is slightly thorny: There was been a lot speculation around the departure of art director Brian Morrisroe from Diablo 3 - from when the art style was revealed; all that mixed reaction from different people. Why exactly did he leave and was it anything to do with that?'''''

::'''''Jay:''' It actually had nothing to do with the project. Brian really loves the project and his leaving was amicable - we actually still talk to him fairly frequently. He left to create a start-up outside of the games industry; he felt an opportunity that he just couldn't pass up - a once in a lifetime thing. I hate to see him go because he’s so good for the team, such a good art director and I really enjoyed working with him. But he felt like this was a fairly safe point for him to depart and pursue his other interest. Because the art style is established and because our art lead structure is strong. While I can't say it has helped the project to have him leave, I think it's done as minimal damage as possible to the project as it could have. It certainly has nothing to do with the art style controversy or anything like that, and our art style direction will not change.''
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==Blizzard Changes Art Based on Feedback==
While most of the feedback from enthusiastic fans were discounted as not being a priority or even possible in terms of gameplay, [[Jay]] did come back and told the fans through [http://www.incgamers.com/Videos/190/Diablo-3-Jay-Wilson-GC-Interview IncGamers] that they made certain changes from the feedback. Here is a summary from IncGamers.[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/jay-wilson-video-interview]
<blockquote>''Jay elaborates on two art changes they've made based on fan feedback; they're going back and making a lot of the dungeon environments grittier and bloodier, and they're not going to fade out all of the corpses after battles now; just some of them. Many will remain on the ground until the characters leave the area.''</blockquote>
* [http://www.incgamers.com/Videos/190/Diablo-3-Jay-Wilson-GC-Interview Video Interview].

===Too Many Special Effects?===

Though Diablo 3 is not being designed to be the shiniest, most graphically-amazing game ever produced, it does have a lot of nice visual effects. The team wants it to be pretty, but the visuals must support the gameplay. There's been some debate about just how many explosions and visual starbursts there should be.

This debate intensified after Blizzcon 2009, when many fans thought the action was somewhat obscured by the constant blasts of colorful light created by the characters; especially by the Monk's charge up skills. Diablo 3's Technical Art Director [[Julian Love]] spoke about this in an October 2009 interview.[http://www.diablo-source.com/index.php?cmd=article&sec=news&act=view&id=354]

::'''''Diablo-Source: '''What are your thoughts on the special effects and death animations since all the feedback fans gave at Blizzcon?

::'''Julian Love: '''Well, actually, the feedback I found that the fans gave mirrored our own internal feedback. It turns out that in order to get the Monk and a number of other features for Blizzcon we just slapped a lot things into a special effects kit that were not meant for how often they showed up in the game and made the Blizzcon build a little messier than we had intended it to be. However, the way we tend to go about doing this kind of thing is to make everything too big on purpose to make sure that we've gone far enough. Once we realize that we've done that, we go through a period where we sort of pull things back. It's kind of akin to mixing music where you sort of record everything in full volume and then you go to the mixer board and you tweak knobs until you tighten everything up and get back into reality. That's the mode we're in right now, tightening some things up.

==The End of the Art Controversy?==
In the second week of September, a Diablo fan called Sozou posted a completely modified gameplay video of Diablo III with desaturated and "gritted" moving art in high resolution, showing what the dev team could do. With all the possible screenshot modifications and the like, it seems unlikely any more thorough example of what some fans would like can be made. He also gave Diii.net a short interview.

* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-nS-Pyu-a8 YouTube video from Sozou showing the desaturated colors]

Blizzard have not responded to this new media yet, but as the hype slowly has diminished, it's not quite likely they will either.
 
 

==Links==
* '''Discuss the Issue'''
** [http://forums.diii.net/showthread.php?t=669266 Join the Colour Fan Debate] - The big debate in the community about the colour palette.
* '''General Information'''
** [[WWI 2008]] - Art panels, video and screenshots of the new game.
** [[:Category:Art controversy|Art Controversy Category]] - All articles, pictures, panels and other material related in the wiki.
** [http://www.diii.net/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=553 Controversy Gallery] - Gallery of original screenshots and edited ones by fans trying to convey a more "dark" feeling. Including responses to the critics.
** [[Media Coverage]] - All Interview, Previews, Videos and Pictures released by mainstream gaming media.
* '''Articles'''
** [http://www.diii.net/n/682181/d3-art-direction-disarray Art Direction Disarray] - Lead Art Director quit timely with the fan protests.
* '''Other Media'''
** [http://www.l4d.com/blog/post.php?id=2129 L4D Art Direction, Part 2: Stylized Darkness] - Randy Lundeen on Left 4 Dead explains why they could not use a too dark art direction in the game and make players happy.

[[Category:Controversies]]
[[Category:Art controversy]]