Diablo 3 Revealed at 63% shares pages of wisdom

source: http://reveal.diablo3.com/en_US/

The Order

Excerpt

Cain smelled something foul like rotten meat. Another room loomed through an archway before him, pitch black inside. He heard movement and a low, guttural snarl accompanied by the scraping of rock. Feeling exposed in the candlelight, he flattened himself against the wall and moved as quietly as a ghost to a corner between two bookcases.

The thing that emerged from the archway was so huge and incomprehensible that at first Cain had trouble processing the sight of it. It appeared to be made of human limbs and torsos all rolled together, along with a forest of jutting spikes of what looked like rock and timber. Two long arms ended in clubs rather than hands and sprouted the same shards of wood and stone. At least three separate heads grew from putrid, swollen flesh, white-filmed eyes rolling blindly in their sockets.

The monstrosity moved slowly and laboriously, and it had to duck to clear the arch, over ten feet off the floor. Its dripping shoulders nearly touched both sides of the opening as it leaned into the library, grunting with the effort. It seemed to have one main head in the center of its chest, and as it swung in Cain’s direction, those eyes fixed on his face.

The creature paused as if studying him. Then it opened its primary mouth and roared, the stench of its breath washing over Cain as the mouths of the other heads screeched in unison.

The candle flickered and nearly went out. Fresh panic rose up in Cain as the creature took a lumbering step toward him and threatened to knock over the table and send them into darkness. He slipped away from his hiding place and went for the door, but the monster moved with him and reached out a long clubbed limb as if to smash him into the floor.

Torchlight II Available for Pre-Order!

source:http://www.torchlight2game.com/news/2012/04/26/torchlight-ii-available-for-pre-order/

Pre-orders are now live for Torchlight II! You can find Torchlight II available for pre-order through two platforms, Steam and Perfect World Entertainment, and it retails for just $19.99 (£14.99, €18.99). Players who pre-order through Steam will receive an added bonus, a free Steam copy of the original game, the award-winning Torchlight. In addition, Steam will also offer a four-pack pre-order option. Purchase three copies of Torchlight II and get the fourth game free, perfect for playing with your friends!

"As we put the finishing touches on Torchlight II, it made sense to start pre-orders after the great response we received at PAX East," said CEO Max Schaefer. "Fans have asked us for a pre-order, and we are planning an imminent network test, so the timing was perfect."

President and Project Lead Travis Baldree said to fans, "We're pretty excited to see Torchlight II approaching completion, and can't wait to get it into players' hands to see what they think. It's been a long haul, and taken more time than we expected, but we hope you'll agree that the additional time has been worth it. Thanks for sticking with us!"

In other news, Torchlight II's "Friday Updates" are moving to Thursdays. Gamers can visit the official website at http://www.torchlight2game.com/ each Thursday to see the latest features, news updates, gameplay details, trailers and screenshots.

Take a look at some new screenshots and gameplay footage!

About the Game

The award-winning action RPG is back, bigger and better than ever! Torchlight II takes you back into the quirky, fast-paced world of bloodthirsty monsters, bountiful treasures, and sinister secrets - and, once again, the fate of the world is in your hands!

Torchlight II captures all the flavor and excitement of the original game - while expanding the world and adding the features players wanted most, including online and LAN co-op multiplayer. Torchlight II is fast, fun, and filled to the brim with action and loot. Adventure solo or online with your friends!

Key Features:

• Multiplayer - Play co-op with your friends via LAN or over the Internet for free. No subscriptions, no item sales. Our new matchmaking service lets you find friends, start new games, and join existing games. And, as always, you can play single-player offline as well.
• Customizable Characters - Players will create and customize a character from one of four brand new classes. Each class can be played as either male or female, with customized cosmetic features and looks to make each individual character stand out. All new skills and loot give loads of opportunity for unique character builds.
• Moddability - TorchED, the Torchlight II editor, will give players the ability to create their own mods, adding even more content to the world. Have your friends download the same mod and play together.
• New User Interface - Torchlight II boasts a new and improved user interface, designed to be easier than ever for new players to pick up and play. This intuitive interface ensures you can focus on playing the game the way you want to.
• Open World - We're not only in the town of Torchlight anymore! Explore vast overland areas and multiple hub towns, fight through rain, snow, day and night. Our level randomization ensures new layouts, paths, loot, and monsters every time you play.
• New Game Plus - In New Game Plus, the game's not over until you say it is. Once you've beaten Torchlight II's primary campaign, you can start again with the same character for a significantly greater challenge. You'll keep all of the skills, gold, and gear you worked so hard for!
• Pets & Fishing - These popular features make their return in Torchlight II in improved form. More choices, better effects, and your pet will still make the run to town to sell your loot so you don’t have to.

System Requirements

• OS: Windows XP SP3/Vista/Windows 7
• Processor: x86-compatible 1.4GHz or faster processor
• Memory: 1GB System RAM
• Hard Disk Space: 1.2GB free space (subject to change)
• Video Card: DirectX compatible 3D graphics card with at least 256MB of addressable memory.
• DirectX®: 9.0c

Diablo 3 Midnight Launch Events (Detailed Info)

source:http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/5203659/Diablo_III_Midnight_Launch_Events-4_25_2012#blog

We're inviting you to join us for the midnight launch of Diablo III! In addition to local retail shops' midnight launches, we're holding a number of demonically charged worldwide launch events in major cities where you can join Blizzard to celebrate the release of Diablo III and pick up your copy of the game. Each event will have its own activities, giveaways, and contests, so see the press release for further details and be sure to check the launch event site for more info on the one nearest you.

Diablo III Midnight Launch Events

Whether you're attending a launch event, grabbing the game at a local store, or waiting patiently at home for your digital version to unlock, you'll want to be ready to jump in right when the servers open. For the Americas region, comprising the U.S., Canada, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, and South East Asia, the game servers will go live at 12:01 a.m. PDT on May 15. As a reminder to our Latin American players, the digital version of Diablo III will go live on May 15, and the retail version will launch on June 7.

Don't forget to create your BattleTag -- it's important to do so now if you haven't already, as it's REQUIRED TO PLAY DIABLO III. Also note that if you'd like to receive a digital copy of Diablo III free, there are still a few days left to sign up for the World of Warcraft Annual Pass.

We hope to see you at one of our Diablo III launch events, and we look forward to seeing you in-game on May 15!

Google announces Google Drive. 5GB Free Storage.

source: https://drive.google.com/start#home

EDITOR'S NOTE: Read the User Agreement very carefully. It appears that Google will have worldwide rights to all documents put in Google Drive. The competitors do not do this. Although they are not free.

Today, we’re introducing Google Drive—a place where you can create, share, collaborate, and keep all of your stuff. Whether you’re working with a friend on a joint research project, planning a wedding with your fiancé or tracking a budget with roommates, you can do it in Drive. You can upload and access all of your files, including videos, photos, Google Docs, PDFs and beyond.

With Google Drive, you can:

• Create and collaborate. Google Docs is built right into Google Drive, so you can work with others in real time on documents, spreadsheets and presentations. Once you choose to share content with others, you can add and reply to comments on anything (PDF, image, video file, etc.) and receive notifications when other people comment on shared items.
• Store everything safely and access it anywhere (especially while on the go). All your stuff is just... there. You can access your stuff from anywhere—on the web, in your home, at the office, while running errands and from all of your devices. You can install Drive on your Mac or PC and can download the Drive app to your Android phone or tablet. We’re also working hard on a Drive app for your iOS devices. And regardless of platform, blind users can access Drive with a screen reader.
• Search everything. Search by keyword and filter by file type, owner and more. Drive can even recognize text in scanned documents using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology. Let’s say you upload a scanned image of an old newspaper clipping. You can search for a word from the text of the actual article. We also use image recognition so that if you drag and drop photos from your Grand Canyon trip into Drive, you can later search for [grand canyon] and photos of its gorges should pop up. This technology is still in its early stages, and we expect it to get better over time.

You can get started with 5GB of storage for free—that’s enough to store the high-res photos of your trip to the Mt. Everest, scanned copies of your grandparents’ love letters or a career’s worth of business proposals, and still have space for the novel you’re working on. You can choose to upgrade to 25GB for $2.49/month, 100GB for $4.99/month or even 1TB for $49.99/month. When you upgrade to a paid account, your Gmail account storage will also expand to 25GB.

Drive is built to work seamlessly with your overall Google experience. You can attach photos from Drive to posts in Google+, and soon you’ll be able to attach stuff from Drive directly to emails in Gmail. Drive is also an open platform, so we’re working with many third-party developers so you can do things like send faxes, edit videos and create website mockups directly from Drive. To install these apps, visit the Chrome Web Store—and look out for even more useful apps in the future.

This is just the beginning for Google Drive; there’s a lot more to come.

Google Drive. Keep everything. Share anything.

Access everywhere.

Google Drive is everywhere you are—on the web, in your home, at the office and on the go. So wherever you are, your stuff is just...there. Ready to go, ready to share. Get started with 5 GB free.

Google Drive is available for:

• PC and Mac
• iPhone and iPad (coming soon)
• Android devices

 

Store your files in a safe place.

Things happen. Your phone goes for a swim. Your laptop takes an infinite snooze. No matter what happens to your devices, your files are safely stored in Google Drive.

Go beyond storage. Collaborate.

Google Drive lets you do more than just store your files. Share files with exactly who you want and edit them together, from any device.

Google Drive gives you instant access to Google Docs, a suite of editing tools that makes working together better—even when your teammates are miles away.

Free

Get 5 GB for free.

Get started with 5 GB of free space. Upgrade to 25 GB for less than $2.50 a month, and you can store practically everything for next to nothing.

Google Drive. Keep everything. Share anything.

Create & collaborate.

In Google Drive, you can create new documents, spreadsheets and presentations instantly. Work together at the same time, on the same doc, and see changes as they appear.

Work better with the products you use everyday.

Gmail
Say goodbye to bulky email attachments. Send a link from Google Drive in Gmail and everyone has the same file, same version—automatically.

Google+
Your videos and pictures in Google Drive are instantly available in Google+, so you’re never more than one click away from sharing with your circles.

Powerful search.

Google Drive helps you get to your files faster. Search for content by keyword and filter by file type, owner and more. Google Drive can even recognize objects in your images and text in scanned documents.

View anything.

Open over 30 file types right in your browser—including HD video, Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop—even if you don’t have the program installed on your computer.

Google Drive with your favorite apps.

Create, open and share files from a variety of apps directly in Google Drive.

Share the way you want.

You can share files or folders with anyone, and choose whether they can view, edit or comment on your stuff.

Start a discussion.

Create and reply to comments to get feedback and make files more collaborative.

Go back in time.

Google Drive tracks every change you make—so when you hit the save button, a new revision is saved. You can look back as far as 30 days automatically, or choose a revision to save forever.

Blizzard Community Manager Zarhym shares insight on Diablo 3 PVP

source :http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/4662897696?page=2#30

Zarhym Zarhym View posts Zarhym Community Manager

We want PvP to be incredibly challenging and fun, but we want to avoid turning it into a truly competitive leagues/ladders eSport. We just don't think Diablo gameplay is very conducive for that type of controlled environment where balance is paramount. That said, we want to develop PvP as an engaging and rewarding system. What we don't want to do is take a traditional eSports approach to PvP, where balance will become so important to a competitive ranking system that solo and cooperative gameplay feel a bit neutered as a result. We want your characters to feel totally imba. Then we want you to enter some Arenas, send the scorched remains of other players' corpses flying, and let the satisfaction wash over you -- until your opponents take similar care of your hero, that is. ;)