Today, long-time Poster and Lounge regular --Pete passed away.

Anyone else who is a regular of the Lurker Lounge knows that this is a big loss for our community. The Lounge is a small, tight-knit group, and for many of us, this is a "home" on the Internet that's more than just a gaming forum. Pete was one of those for which this was indeed a home, and the Lounge an outlet for his thoughts, opinions, and advice.

I've known Pete online since roughly 1997, and in all that time, he's always been one of the "elders" of the community. While he describes himself as "A gentler, kinder Curmudgeon," I've seen the non-curmudgeonly side of him as well. Pete was one of the few who always supported the Lounge and egged me on to keep the site going during the down years, both financially and emotionally. His impact on the Diablo world goes well beyond this website, as well. If you were a hardcore Diablo player, chances are pretty good you came across Pete in some way.

Pete didn't always rub everyone the right way. He had a policy of calling people out that he didn't agree with, and never hesitated to let people know where he stood. But even those who disliked him could agree that his arguments were well made and solid. And he stuck to his guns, no matter what the case.

The old joke was "what will Bolty be when he grows up?"

"Pete."

I can only hope to fill those big shoes. I'll miss you, Pete.

Pete is survived by his wife, -Magi, who many of you know here on the Lounge forums and in games. Please extend her your condolences and best wishes.

I encourage each of you to share your thoughts and experiences of Pete here in the comments/thread.

http://www.ausgamers.com/features/read/3093728
http://pc.ign.com/articles/118/1185029p1.html
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-0...ta-preview

So here is the news for DIII for the day! I don't know enough about DIII to say yay or nay, but I have a feeling that these announcements will create a buzz one way or another.

Auction House:
Diablo III has an Auction House, and if you so choose, you can make real money on it. That also means, you can pay real Money on it as well.

you don't "have" to spend real money on the AH. You can buy and sell things for gold as well.

Internet Connection:
Just like WoW, you must be online at all times to play. You can choose to play solo still, but you will be doing so on the blizz servers, with battle.net and authentication possible.

Banner System
This is a new visual display of your play and achievements (Oh yeah, DIII has achievements too if you didn't know)

There are some pretty interesting tidbits in there! Thanks go out to Vor_Lord for making me aware that this info was out there

For those of you who have been salivating for Diablo III. News came out during the Blizzard Earnings Call this week, that the Beta for Diablo III will start 3rd Quarter of this year. It was confirmed on the official Diablo III boards, but as with anything Blizzard, things are subject to change.


4.2 for WoW is now on the PTR! We will be going back to fight the Firelord Ragnaros this time, and lucky DPS Casters have a chance at building (yes, building not getting lucky) the DPS Legendary, Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa's Rest. Spoilers abound on the internet about it. If you don't want to be spoiled, but want to know something, I promise you, I read all spoilers, and I wish I could do the questline due to the immense cool factors involved.

The forum system has been updated today. There are a number of new features in the latest version, but one of the neatest may be embedded video links. Just to show it off, I'll plant one here:

Hey there! I have been waiting to post my next news portal, because I wanted it to be geared towards someone other than the WoW guys here on the boards. I finally get the chance today.

Diablo fans has released their preview of the Male Demon Hunter!

The preview includes an interview with Art Director Christian Lichtner and Senior Designer Jason Bender.

Head over and check it out. It is a nice read with some screenshots, and a good info in the interview.

Greetings!
Sorry it has taken me so long to post something here I promise, I will try and be more "speedy" about these things from here on out.

So, 4.0.3 dropped last Tuesday, and we have had a full week to digest Deathwing Crushing our world, stealing your achievements, and being a generally naughty Dragon.

General News

• Blizzard has launched their new website, and it is pretty nice. The added functionality of it is pretty nice, and you are able to view far more information than you could before. From a web design standpoint, they really cleaned things up with a good file structure.
  
  
• The old WoW forums are read only, and you now need to use the new forums, on the new site.
  
  
• Since the Shattering, there have been cogs and wheels to get turned just right to keep the machine moving, and there have been at least 3 rounds of Hotfixes. This is Blizzards new blog that will keep us updated on Hotfixes.
  

I'm looking for users interested in maintaining a News presence for the "front end" of the site. Keeping up with game announcements, Lounge news, what's going on, etc.

Runic Entertainment - you know, the guys from Flagship Studios who are the guys from Blizzard North, who are the guys that made the game this website was originally created for and stuff - announced that Torchlight II is coming.

I'm pretty stoked about this one. I enjoyed Torchlight a lot, but like many others, found that its lack of multiplayer gave it a short lifespan in terms of playing time. Here's the marketing hype:

Quote:Torchlight II ignites the franchise created and developed by Runic Games in this exciting sequel to the award-winning Action RPG Torchlight. Runic Games, located in Seattle, is a veteran team composed of the designers and leads of projects like Diablo, Diablo II, Mythos, Fate, and Torchlight, which won the Game Developer’s Choice Award for Best Debut of 2009.

Torchlight II is richly textured with our unique art style, drawing from traditional animation influences and expanding on the whimsical and quirky world captured in the original Torchlight. We aim for that broad appeal that’s appropriate for older kids, but is really intended for the kid in every adult.

CO-OP ACTION

The most exciting new feature of Torchlight II is the multiplayer element. Play with your friends, and use the free peer-to-peer matchmaking service to meet new players of a similar level and interest. Together players will discover expansive randomized outdoor areas and deep ominous caverns; random instanced and persistent dungeons, a huge variety of all new monsters and villains, endless variations of loot to find, and quests to complete. Players journey through the perilous Overworld, enjoying all new weather features, time of day events, and a rich and cunning story to drive gameplay.

BACKSTORY

Beyond the town of Torchlight lies a world shrouded in adventure and mystery. Guardian-warrior Syl appears in a prophetic dream, summoning the player to the Estherian Steppes. There, you meet with the Destroyer and soon venture across the continent of Vilderan, an exotic frontier besieged by forces of evil. A discovery unfolds, that the Alchemist, following his conquest of dark ember, disappeared on his quest to defeat the unknown corrupted force responsible for destroying the mystical race of Estherians. Aided by Syl, the remaining Estherian Guardians, and clues left behind by the missing Alchemist, you will find yourself battling a powerful enemy that threatens to unravel the elements of the entire world.

Runic Games will release Torchlight II initially as a digital download in Spring of 2011.

KEY FEATURES

• Multi-player – Play with your friends over a local area network, or over the Internet. A free matchmaking peer-to-peer service lets you make new friends for exciting co-op play.
  
• Customizable Characters – Players create and customize a character from one of four classes available and choose an animal companion. Through cosmetic, class, and gender choices, skill path decisions, and the treasures they acquire, each character can be custom-tailored to each player’s needs.
  
• Moddability – Torchlight II will release with an updated version of TorchEd, the Torchlight editor. Players have the option to create their own mods, adding even more content to the world. You and your friends can download the same mod and play together!
  
• New User Interface – Torchlight II boasts an entirely new, improved user interface, designed to be easier than ever for new players to pick up and play. Thanks to this intuitive interface, players have immediate access to a rich and varied world, with little experience necessary.
  
• Overworld Areas – Torchlight II has large randomized overworld areas to explore with weather, time of day cycles, and random events that provide players with even more content to experience.
  
• Random Dungeons – Delve into randomly generated dungeons within the game at any time for extra experience and rare loot. Dungeons in Torchlight II have even more branching paths to explore with friends filled with random events, rewards and dangers.
  
• Retirement System – Once characters are sufficiently leveled up, they can “retire” and bestow specific benefits and perks onto new characters.
  
• Pets – Players choose a pet to accompany them. Pets level up along with the player, and help in battle, learn spells, carry items, and perform a variety of support services.
  
• Fishing – Fishing returns in the sequel! Players can take a break from the high-energy pace of adventuring to relax by one of the many fishing holes and see what they can catch. Fish have unique benefits for the player and pet, while a number of other rewards can also be discovered.