Diablog: Diablo III Launch

     Diablo III launched Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 3AM EST.  It is now exactly 52 hours later, and I have logged almost 23 hours of play...and I couldn't even log in to create a character until the afternoon of launch due to server time outs and error code 37.  To say I am engrossed is an understatement.  Diablo III is the most engaging game launch I have been part of.

     Even though Diablo III is the first in the series I have played, I got a good idea of what to expect as I was beta testing it last year and earlier this year.  I most closely  compared it to
the original Dungeon Siege which was developed by Gas Powered Games and published by Microsoft Game Studios in 2002.

     I prepared myself for launch by buying a new computer chair (which has already gone flat!), doing a "Diablo" manicure (in Riveter Rouge by China Glaze...pics to come!), cleaning up my PC (physically and digitally), and making sure I had plenty of quick and healthy snacks at the ready (almonds, Almond Joy's, cereal, salad...y'know, stuff you can eat with one hand!).  I also pre-installed the game, took a shower, and set my alarm for launch time.

     There were many hiccups on Blizzard's side on day one.  The servers got stormed at launch by players excited to start their journey in Tristam making it take hours to get logged in and create a character.  I had set my alarm for 3AM and slept on the couch so I could be up for launch but after trying to log in for an hour, I loaded up Steam and played Tropico 4 until I was tired and ready for a nap.  Tropico 4 is the last PC game that's going to be played for a while!  Just before napping at 7 I tried logging in again to no avail.  I finally got in the game about 1 PM or so and started my journey.  Yesterday, day 2, I realized that many of the achievements and achievement tracker sub-missions that I completed on day one are not accounted for even though they were previously properly recorded.  I noticed because after a few minutes of playing, a particular achievement "popped" that I had already gotten on day one.  As I started looking through my achievements I noticed that most of the story and lore and even some of the dungeons I had completed weren't accounted for.  Blizzard says they are working on it and that we shouldn't be afraid to play our characters- that they will fix it.  Oh well, worse comes to worse, I have to replay an Act; I was going to do that anyway!

     So far I have made a character in each class named Kate but I have only played as the Monk.  I am about midway through Act II and have been exploring every nook and cranny.  I didn't think I was going to choose a Monk at first but I liked that she had healing abilities which I figured would be good for grouping and staying alive playing solo.

What character classes have you played? Did you get to log in and play on launch day?