Diablo III Looks To be Getting a Starter Edition, Too

For many developers and publishers, free-to-play is the way to go these days. Just recently we've seen quality games like Tribes Ascend and Super Monday Night Combat, two titles that would have no doubt come with a price tag attached in order to play in the past, released for free. Despite all the predictions that World of warcraft will one day be forced to go free-to-play like so many other MMOs (Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons & Dragons Online, DC Universe Online, Star Trek Online, EverQuest, and so on), Blizzard has stuck by the more traditional methods of selling games. Starting last year, however, it did begin trying to lure in new players with the trappings of free-to-play, and it appears as though things will be no different with Diablo III. As reported by Ars Technica, a Starter Edition of Diablo III popped up sometime overnight, allowing even those without beta access to play a portion of the game ahead of its launch on May 15.

Last June, Blizzard announced any Battle. net user would be able to play World of warcraft up to level 20 for free. Previous trial versions of the game limited players to a certain period of time before they would be asked to subscribe. The new trial placed no restrictions on play time, allowing potential subscribers to create an unlimited number of characters and play without feeling rushed. StarCraft II followed suit later in the year with a Starter Edition. Replacing the existing demo, it allowed for a good amount of content -- the first four missions, first two challenges, and four multiplayer maps (playable with owners of the full game) -- to be played without ever paying a dime, the idea being the sample would convince players to purchase the full version.

I wondered at the time if Diablo III would see something similar released, and whether or not it would be coming at launch or months down the line. Considering last night's leak, it seems as though a Starter Edition may be available at launch, if not sooner.



Word began circulating earlier today that anyone with a free Battle. net account could download the Diablo III beta client and begin playing. Some of the initial speculation was that Blizzard might be opening up the beta to everyone to stress test its servers before the beta is shut down on May 1. It was quickly made clear this beta access was not by design; beta servers were taken offline for everyone this morning and remain down as of this writing. The reasoning for this, according to a forum post by Blizzard community manager Danielle Vanderlip, was incredibly vague -- "The Diablo III beta is currently unavailable while we work to resolve an issue, " the post reads. A response to a question asking for more information later described the issue as "an accessibility error. "

Before the servers could be taken down, alleged screenshots were posted online which refer to players with a "starter edition. " The same (limited) content available to beta players was available to these starter edition players during the brief period that they could access the game; the only difference appears to have been various promotions for the full version of the game, as seen here.

Considering the way things work with both Wow and StarCraft, and seeing what features are advertised for the full version of Diablo III (level 60 cap; Nightmare, Hell, and Inferno modes) it looks like this Starter Edition will limit players not with play time, but with a level cap and content restrictions. Level 13 is the cap for beta players currently, and somewhere in the neighborhood of that would make sense for the Starter Edition. The trials in Wow and StarCraft allow for a taste of the game, not for the entire thing to be experienced sans certain features. Letting prospective buyers play up to level 13 or so with each of the five character classes but not letting them see the endgame content or higher difficulty settings sounds like the right balance of providing a taste and leaving a lot to be seen in the full game.

With this setup apparently already in existence, it's possible this will be available at the game's launch next month (in which case I wonder if it dissuades some people from buying the game if they can get their fix from the freebie version. )#) As the beta is closing in less than two weeks, Blizzard may, however, be interested in seeing how gamers react to things like the prompts encouraging a purchase of the full game. If that proves to be the case, it stands to reason this starter edition could be officially pushed out the door in the coming days, or possibly as soon as the beta servers are brought back online. Vanderlip gave no indication such a thing was coming on the way, though another update is expected to be coming today at 3PM Pacific. With word of the starter edition spreading, it shouldn't be much longer before Blizzard at least acknowledges its existence.

Source: 1up.com