What do you think of the story time frame (20 years later)?

[stillman]

I think it is a great idea to have D3 take place 20 years after the end of LoD. Also, I really like the concept that those who were not involved in the invasion think of it as a myth that never really happened. This 20 years later idea allows for the barb chr to look old, wise, and perfected from his past experience. It also allows us to distance ourselves from the old chr's who want to push away what they went through, so as to make way for newer chrs.
I originally wanted a prequil, but I like this idea more because it is easy to follow.

[mibir]

I like it, it also makes sense with the Barb (Assuming he was a warrior from the Diablo 2 time). They also said we will be returning to familiar places, such as Tristram. Lut Gholein and Kurast are on the map as well. It will be fun to see these places, but 20 years later.

[jamesisbest]

Yes like mibir said it will be fun seeing in parts of the games the old places we visited but changed by the past 20 years. It also seems like other areas have deteriorated over the 20 years adding to the mood of despair. Also, this makes the game easily transitions from LoD smoothly because it revolves to a large degree around the ending of LoD with the destruction of the worldstone keep by Tyrael. Since Blizzard promised an appealing and well worked story I'm interested to see what they will churn out.

[pancakeman]

To be perfectly honest, my first thought was "How on Earth is that Deckard Cain guy still around?".

Other than that, I am kinda neutral with the time setting. I guess a prequel would have been hard to do, especially if they wanted to put in Baal or Mephisto. 20 years later seems pretty cool.

[psykeman420]

lmao Pancakeman I wsa thinking the same thing about Deckard Cain.

Though i have to agree heavily on the general idea 20 years is a great timeskip

[SmittySixTen]

They actually have stated that Decard Cain may be dead. I'm not sure where I read it, but it was either an interview from a Blizz employee or on the Diablo III website. Regardless, if he is dead that adds a whole new twist to the game, because it is likely that any hero will be running blind. Cain pretty much was able to help you stop Diablo, Mephisto, and Baal in the first two Diablos. If he's no longer around, who the heck is going to be able to help you?

Also, guesses on who the woman in the trailer is? I'm thinking Anya, but I'll likely be wrong.

[pancakeman]

But they show him walking around with you in the gameplay vids!

Maybe he's been hitting the Full Rejuv's lately...

[Swiffer]

But they show him walking around with you in the gameplay vids!

Maybe he's been hitting the Full Rejuv's lately...

Dudes got more banked than anybody i know.

Personally i would have preferred it to be set another 10 to 20 years ahead of where it is now. I just cant buy that world changing events like a portal being opened to hell or the total destruction of Mount Arreat would be forgotten or treated like myth just 20 years later.

Mountains don't blow up that often, people generally remember for a long time when they do.

40 years ahead though? In the setting, where most common folk are lucky to hit 40 (watch the Environment and Lore panel) you have a new generation that were not around for that time, where the events really were just stories told to them by their parents. 20 years is really borderline for believability IMO.

[mouseman]

Well I like it, but 20 years after and no one remembers anything or doesn't believe it.. Most of the people should still be alive and those kinds of moments would really burn into people's minds. All wars from the history have been traumatic experiences and are remembered and passed from generation to generation. I mean, we still got a lot veterans from World War Two and it has been 63 years since it ended.

If it was 50 years I would buy it in a world with slow information speed, but not now. But Deckard Cain is really old and a central part of the story, so I guess they had to make it fairly recent. Other than that, I love the setting of the story.

[SmittySixTen]

Personally i would have preferred it to be set another 10 to 20 years ahead of where it is now. I just cant buy that world changing events like a portal being opened to hell or the total destruction of Mount Arreat would be forgotten or treated like myth just 20 years later.

Well, that part of it is entirely possible. Mount Arreat was in a very remote part of the world. The only inhabitants were the Barbarians, so the bulk of the world could have possibly questioned the mere existence of the tribes.

However, places like Lut Gholein and Kurast would be pretty odd. I could understand how people not directly involved wouldn't really know that much, or remember. The thing is, I'm pretty sure they would remember all the hordes of monsters everywhere they went.

We'll see, I have faith that Blizzard wouldn't have placed it at 20 years without a really good reason.

[ThulRasha]

I would have picked a time before D1. Perhaps the time when the horadrim were beginning the hunt to capture the 3 prime evils. But I also like Blizzards choice to make a continuation on the story instead. I'm curious as to how they have planned things out, instead of choosing a time where we already know what is going to happen.

[BlackenedRoseThorn]

Yeah, it is doubtful that everyone has forgotten the events that took place in DII... if anyone put forward doubts, there would be battle scars and plenty of demonic bones as proof.

[Reanimator]

I think it's good. I'm much more interested in seeing where the story will go rather than finding out how it got there! (Pre-D1 that is.)

[Thirty-Thirty]

News might travel very slowly and treated as rumour rather than fact. Kurast seemed to have been going downhill for some time due to Meph's corruption, so stories of a portal to Hell (locked away and only visited by one adventurer - or at best a handful) could be dismissed. Arreat was the only place where a real battle occurred, and, as said, it's pretty isolated. Any other observations like random Spear Cats going bonkers would still be strange, but not necessarily associated with the arrival of the Prime Evils.

Basically, people might be saying "something horrible destroyed Tristram!" without knowing (or believing) that it was Diablo's corrupting influence.

[Thirty-Thirty]

Another double-post... :/

[mjharper]

Deckard's age doesn't strike me as too much of an issue. If he was 60 in D2 he'd be 80 now; and that's without the possibility that the Horadrim are an 'elder' race like the Numenorians. (Does it say anywhere that being a Horadrim is a job? Any references?)

Also, throughout D2 there is the constant impression of rumour and suspicion about people from far off lands. The Barbarians themselves are legendary for being secretive. News doesn't travel fast when, apart from traders, people have little to do with other lands.

And even if the destruction of Arreat did open the gates to Hell, there's no reason to think that the hordes of Hell have been pouring through since Day 1—otherwise, what would Tyreal have to gain from destroying it? More likely he took the risk that Hell would be paralysed by the shock of the destruction of the Three and subsequent internal power struggles, and that although the gate would open, there would be time to prepare.

If it's set 20 years in the future precisely because it's taken that long for the forces of Hell to marshal themselves behind a single banner and mount an attack, with only occasional demons coming through the gate only to be fought off by the surviving Barbarians (oops, almost wrote Bavarians), I think it would be perfectly plausible that most of the world would regard the struggle of D2 as a myth, and that the Barbarians might be growing resentful.

Remember in The Lord of The Rings (the movie not the book), the Shire remains blissfully unaware of the cataclysmic battles to the south. And remember Boromir's comment about 'It is by the blood of our people that your lands are kept safe.' I could totally imagine there being a similar set up in D3.

[jasonmazzy]

what if cain is the incarnate form of diablo, and he is using you to bring around some event, then...........bam he changes form!!!!!!!!!! HoohahahahahahahahahaMwohahahahahah!!!

[Swiffer]

Remember in The Lord of The Rings (the movie not the book), the Shire remains blissfully unaware of the cataclysmic battles to the south. And remember Boromir's comment about 'It is by the blood of our people that your lands are kept safe.' I could totally imagine there being a similar set up in D3.

Its the same in the books :P