14 DAY TRIAL // Video game developer Blizzard has made more changes to the Diablo III beta stage, eliminating both Scrolls of Companion and Scrolls of Reforging from the game.
Nethera, a community manager at Blizzard, has written on the official game forum saying, “The companion pets felt like they were mandatory to maximize play efficiency and some of the pets were too cutesy for the gritty, dark world of Sanctuary. Neither of those are issues we felt like we could solve without a lot of additional work, and we’re trying to close in on a solid release date for the game, not move further away.”
The message adds, “When weighing these systems against releasing the game, we decided to cut these scrolls and stay on track for the game’s release.”
It is not clear whether companions have been eliminated completely from Diablo III, as the community manager goes on to mention a better system, both from a visual and mechanics point of view, that could be used.
The Scrolls of Reforging might also make a comeback using a new system, although the message makes it clear that the initial release of the game will not contain them or companions.
In early 2012 Blizzard announced that it would make a number of major changes to the beta stage of Diablo III, the biggest of them linked to the reduction of the main character statistics to just four and to the elimination of a number of skills.
The developers have also made changes to how town portals work and have tweaked the item mechanics in a number of ways.
Gamers who are included in the beta stage of Diablo III will have a chance to experience all the changes in real time and can offer feedback on them.
Gamers expected to see Diablo III launch on the PC in spring of this year, but the changes might mean that the game is pushed back to late in 2012.
Full discussion of the changes takes place on this official thread.