Incidentally... let me tell you the main reason for why I suspect that something like this is going to happen...Back in March of last year, Blizzard announced that there would be "a new patch soon" for Diablo II. That patch was designated as version 1.13 and as I say, it was first announced MORE THAN A YEAR AGO.
At that same time, Blizzard had also announced that Diablo III would likewise be released "soon."
But as it turned out, Diablo III has run into a series of delays, hence it is still unreleased... a whole year later.
And coincidentally, patch 1.13 for Diablo II has likewise remained unreleased... despite having been more or less completed back in early 2009.
So naturally, the most obvious conclusion to draw from these events is that Blizzard is holding back on patch 1.13 for D2, because they want that patch to coincide with the release of D3.
Now ask yourselves -why- would a patch for Diablo II be dependent in any ways whatsoever upon the release of a totally different game (D3)..?
In my mind, there can be only one logical answer to that question: they are holding off on the Diablo II patch because they intend to nerf D2 right before Diablo III hits the store shelves. ActiVision doesn't want Diablo III to be forced to compete with its predecessor... especially after spending more than five years developing it... so they're very likely going to sabotage Diablo II, in order to make Diablo III look more attractive in comparison.
Get the picture..? If you can't make your new game look good, then just make your old game look bad. Mediocrity as the goal -- once again.
I don't think I need to tell you that if I turn out to be correct, and if something like this actually does happen, then I will absolutely be boycotting Diablo III and urging everyone else to do the same.And we're gonna find out soon, too... because patch 1.13 for D2 is officially slated for release in two days -- on March 23, 2010. If what I suspect is true, then ActiVision will soften everyone up by letting us struggle along with a newly sabotaged version of Diablo II and then, they'll release Diablo III amidst a shitload of hype and fanfare a few months later. Just in time for summer vacation, so that they can get all of those out-of-school-and-bored kiddies hooked. Kinda like a dope dealer who sells crack to minors.
As I have said many times... nothing would make me happier than to be totally wrong about all of this. But right now, my bullshit meter is twitching again. And when it comes to Blizzard, my bullshit meter has usually been right.
Other folks have tried to raise these issues, too. And this was the result:
http://diablo3x.com/forum/topic/diablo-ii-113-patch-113-ptr-releaseYes, I realize that you're getting a "page not found" error. That's because it was yanked on purpose. See if you can figure out why. And if you hunt around a bit, you will discover other examples of censorship regarding this issue.
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