Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Diablo III: Reaper of Souls Launch El Diablo Downtown


The devil was in LA Monday night with a special release for Diablo III: Reaper of Souls from Blizzard who took over The Vibiana with its many fans. The downtown re-purposed church filled with series fans all intent in getting a free collector's edition of the game for their attendance. That night they got more with chances to win free goodies and special Blizzard staff in attendance.

Diablo III: Reaper of Souls Launch Photo Gallery



Diablo III: Reaper of Souls

"To Reaper," Josh Mosqueira, Diablo III Game Director shouted at the Q & A for the game launch. Soon clangs of wine glasses could be heard echoed in the large hall. He sat back down and continued to talk to Wyatt Chen, Senior Technical Designer for Diablo III. Then they continued to take questions from Twitter and online about the games ever-nearing release.

(L) Josh Mosqueira and (R) Wyatt Chen

Michael Morhaime
Within that night the game would launch worldwide. Blizzard CEO, Michael Morhaime was a few feet away from them as they broadcasted online about the games imminent release. He was wearing a special edition Diablo III shirt when I asked about the night's launch, "We're all really excited about  the release of Reaper of Souls. We've been working on it for a long time and of now we're live in all regions globally and so far so good." It was his first night wearing the brand new stylish shirt.


The red blazed church interior stunned those who entered for a host of activities. Those who came to the evenings proceedings were offered a buffet of appetizers. Why entire sections were devoted to vegetarian only rang, "So LA," in my ear. Many men were tricked by carrots that looked like hot dogs. Carrots hiddend in buns looked to much like hot dogs of old. Taking your first bite in bad light was like finding out the woman you were dating was a man. The non-vegetarian food was delicious. Any vegetarian food was not needed. This was a party for gamers, not for their significant others that will live longer than them for healthy eating.

 Open bar allowed for some special drinks like the Blesses Hammer and Blood Marsh Tonic.

Other activities could earn you prizes from poster to t-shirt to backpack. Collecting stamps for painted tattoos, caricatures and taking photos immortalizing you in a Diablo III backgrounds were just the first batch of activities. Being forever apart of Diablo III with prop weapons in hand and cosplayers by your side as a printed out photo was a nice keepsake. A graffiti wall and small art gallery in the back of the Vibiana ended the roster of activities until later in the evening.

Outside in a private area collector's edition copies of the games were handed out to happy fans that had traveled as far as Oakland and Arizona to attend the night's activities. They could get the game signed by Josh and Wyatt if they waited.

Somewhere that night Felica Day was hanging out with fans in awe of all that was going on.

Out now for PC and Mac the game is being worked on for a PS4 edition with no set date for release.