Second, now time for the details! What exactly would you want from a ladder system? For example:

- How would you ideally like that system to work?

- How long would you like the resets to be?

- How many characters do you think players should be able to create for ladders? (Do you think they should take up the existing slots you have?)

- Should there be an auction house for ladder characters?

- Should there be any special items or perks for ladder-only characters? If so, what kind?

- What kind of restrictions, if any, should be placed on ladder characters?

- Do think players should be able to bring their ladder characters into "non-ladder" once a reset is complete?

- Is it necessary for ladders to be competitive, or is it enough for players to just see for themselves how far they can go on their own?

- Why would ladders improve your in-game experience?

Muertdogg's post is actually a great example of feedback that's great for me to pass on. I love the pro/con breakdown he provided for all the different types of ladder options out there, and why each option is meaningful (or not meaningful) for him as a player. Would love to see more discussion along those lines.

Diablo III Patch 1.0.8a – v.1.0.8.16603
General
Made improvements to address "rubberbanding" issues encountered when using movement-based abilities like Tempest Rush, Strafe, and Whirlwind

Auction House
The stack size of gold on the real-money auction house has been increased again to 10 million (up from 1 million)

Classes
      Barbarian
      Passive Skills
        - Inspiring Presence
          Will once again be displayed under Life per Second on the character sheet

User Interface
      Bug Fixes
         - Fixed an issue introduced in Patch 1.0.8 that prevented Item Label Display preferences from being saved

Bug Fixes
Fixed an issue introduced in Patch 1.0.8 causing dungeon exits to sometimes be placed in abnormally close proximity to the entrance

Fixed an issue introduced in Patch 1.0.8 that prevented players with Starter Edition accounts from being upgraded when playing in an IGR

We will be performing scheduled maintenance beginning on Wednesday May 8th, at 03:00 CET and we expect the service to be available again at approximately 11:00 CET. During this time the game will be unavailable for play.

GENERAL
- Players can now identify all items in their inventory by speaking to Deckard Cain or by using the Book of Cain that can be found near the shared stash in all Acts
- The cooldown incurred by changing skills outside of town on Inferno difficulty has been reduced to 30 seconds (down from 60 seconds)
- The bonus experience granted by Enlightened shrines is now also calculated multiplicatively
- The Magic and Gold Find granted by Fortune shrines can now exceed the 300% cap
- There is now an option in Video Settings to lock the cursor to the window when in fullscreen windowed mode, if Diablo III is the active window

Multiplayer Co-Op
- Players now receive a 10% bonus to Magic Find, Gold Find, and Experience per additional player in a multiplayer game, up to a maximum of 30% in a four-player game
- The Magic Find and Gold Find bonuses can exceed their respective 300% caps
- The Experience bonus can stack with other bonuses from items and Monster Power (the bonuses will stack multiplicatively)
- A notification is now sent to all players in a multiplayer game whenever a party member engages an Elite monster or Treasure Goblin in combat, and their location will be shown on the mini-map
- In addition to this, an icon will also appear over player banners in town to indicate if they're in combat with a monster, Elite monster, or Treasure Goblin

ACHIEVEMENTS
Bug Fixes
- The "Massive Blow" achievement should once again be obtainable
- The "Fallen Angel" achievement now only requires the player to kill Izual within 120 seconds
- The "Bashanishu" achievement no longer requires the player to use Basic Attack to complete it
- The "Hero's New Clothes" achievement no longer requires the player to deliver the fatal blow to meet the criteria
- Fixed a bug that prevented monsters killed by a follower or pet, before being attacked by a player, from counting toward achievement criteria

AUCTION HOUSE
General
- The stack size for gold sales on the auction house has been increased from 1 million to 10 million

User Interface
- Tooltips in the Auction House will now show an item comparison for a player's currently selected character

BATTLE.NET

Matchmaking
- Players will now be able to search for games that were started on any quest once they have reached level cap
- Matchmaking "Tags" have been added
- In addition to selecting your Difficulty, Monster Power, and Quest, players will also be able to choose from the following tags when searching for Public Games: Monster Slaying, Brawling, and Key Warden
Note: When the Brawling tag is selected, your Monster Power selection will not be taken into account

Social
- Players can now add a note about a friend by right-clicking the name in their Friends List
- Players can now enter a message that will be broadcast to their friends
- Players can now create multi-user conversations
- There are multiple ways to start a conversation or invite other players to an existing conversation:
To start a conversation, open Public Chat Options, then select Invite Friends > Start Conversation or use the "Start a Conversation" option in the Social window by right-clicking on a friend's name
To invite or add friends to an existing conversation, open Public Chat Options, then select Invite Friends or use the "Invite to a Conversation" option in the Social window by right clicking a friend's name and selecting the desired conversation
- Similar to public channels, private conversations can support up to 99 players
- A new section has been added to the friends list called "Players Near You"
Any player who is on your local network will be displayed here (even if they're not currently your friend)
If needed, this feature can be disabled from the Social Options of the Game menu
- Players may now be marked as a "Party Guide"
- The Party Guide is assigned to the first person who joins a Public Game
- If multiple characters join a Public Game at the same time, the game will choose the hero with the highest level or Paragon level to be Party Guide
- When a Party Guide leaves the Public Game, a new one will be chosen automatically
Alternatively, the Party Guide can right click on a party member's portrait and pass them the Party Guide title
- The Party Guide will have a unique icon that will appear on the mini-map
Names in your "Recent Players" list will now expire if they become older than a month
Blocked players will no longer appear in your "Recent Players" list.

BOSSES
Bug Fixes

-Skeleton King
The Skeleton King and The King of the Dead will now play an animation when performing their Whirlwind attack

CLASSES
Barbarian
- Active Skills
      - War Cry
         Skill Rune – Invigorate
          Now regenerates 620 life per second (up from 310)

- Passive Skills
      - Inspiring Presence
          Now affects all party members

- Bug Fixes
The sound that plays whenever a Barbarian's Overpower ability comes off cooldown is no longer similar to a Legendary item dropping
Male barbarians no longer run faster than the other heroes while feared.

Demon Hunter
- Active Skills
      - Companion
         Skill Rune – Boar Companion
           Now regenerates 310 life per second (up from 155)

      - Rapid Fire
           Base weapon damage increased from 276% to 438%
           Hatred cost while channeling has been reduced from to 6 (down from 10)
        - Skill Rune - Bombardment
           Weapon damage increased from 345% to 414%
           Explosion radius increased to 8 yards (up from 4)
        - Skill Rune - Fire Support
           Weapon damage of Homing Rockets increased from 35% to 145%
        - Skill Rune - Withering Fire
          Now reduces the initial Hatred cost to 10 (up from 5)

      - Sentry
         - Skill Rune – Aid Station
            Now heals nearby allies for 2% of max life per second (up from 1%)

- Passive Skills
       - Brooding
         Now regenerates 2% of maximum life per second (up from 1%)

Monk
- Active Skills
      - Mantra of Healing
         Now causes party members to regenerate 620 life per second (up from 310)
       - Skill Rune – Sustenance
          Now increases Mantra of Healing’s life regeneration to 1240 per second (up from 620)

- Passive Skills
      - Guiding Light
         Damage bonus increased from 16% to 20%

Witch Doctor
- Active Skills
      - Firebats
        Now has a larger initial cost but a much lower continual cost while channeling
        Base weapon damage increased from 180% to 385%

      - Skill Rune – Cloud of Bats
         Initial damage increased from 234% to 500% weapon damage
         - Skill Rune – Plague Bats
            Maximum damage increased from 270% to 578% weapon damage

- Passive Skills
       - Blood Ritual
         Now regenerates 2% of maximum life per second (up from 1%)

Wizard
- Active Skills
      - Arcane Torrent
        Base weapon damage increased from 210% to 285%
        - Skill Rune - Arcane Mines
          Weapon damage increased from 180% to 340%
        - Skill Rune - Cascade
          Weapon damage of bonus missiles increased from 210% to 285%

      - Archon
        The duration of Archon should now be extended by assists from players in          multiplayer games, in addition to kills

      - Disintegrate
         Base weapon damage increased from 170% to 220%
          - Skill Rune - Entropy
            Weapon damage increased from 196% to 253%
          - Skill Rune - Intensify
            Maximum damage increased from 221% to 286% weapon damage

      - Familiar
        - Skill Rune – Vigoron
          Now regenerates 620 life per second (up from 310)

      - Ray of Frost
        Base weapon damage increased from 215% to 280%
        - Skill Rune – Black Ice
          Ice patch weapon damage increased from 387% to 504%
        - Skill Rune – Sleet Storm
          Weapon damage increased from 280% to 364%
        - Skill Rune – Snow Blast
          Maximum damage increased from 280% to 364% weapon damage

      - Teleport
        Players may now Teleport to any location within range, as long as a path is available

- Passive Skills
      - Galvanizing Ward
        Now regenerates 620 life per second (up from 310)

- Bug Fixes
Fixed a bug causing Teleport – Safe Passage to only reduce damage from physical attacks

CRAFTING
General
- Players can now queue up multiple items and gems at a time within the same tier to be crafted, so long as they possess the necessary materials
- Players can now craft items using materials located in the shared stash

Blacksmith
- Salvaged item information will no longer be displayed in the chat log
- Players can now disable the confirmation dialog when salvaging items of Rare quality

Bug Fixes
- Fixed a bug preventing players from salvaging an item by dragging it onto the Blacksmith's anvil icon

FOLLOWERS
Templar
- Skills
      - Loyalty
        Now regenerates 310 life per second (up from 155)

MONSTERS
General
- Players should now encounter more monsters in Acts I, II, and IV in Inferno difficulty when playing at Monster Power 1 or greater
- In multiplayer games, the increase in monster hit points per additional player has been reduced to 50% (down from 70%)
- The damage dealt by the fire pool left by Blazing Guardian attacks has been reduced by 50%, but it's minimum damage has been increased
- Poison damage dealt by Brood Hatchlings has been reduced by 40%
- Damage dealt by Tormented Stingers has been reduced by 75%
- The health of normal Spiderlings has been reduced by approximately 68%
- The health of Elite Spiderlings has been reduced by approximately:
4.5% for Champions
3% for Rares
9% for Rare minions
- The following monsters have their experience and chance to drop loot modified to better align with their hit points:
Accursed, Betrayed, Bile Crawlers, Blazing Guardians, Blazing Ghouls Brood Hatchlings, Cavern Spiders, Charged Constructs, Chilling Constructs, Crazed Cultists, Crazed Summoners, Dark Conjurers, Dark Cultists, Dark Moon Clan Impalers, Dark Summoners, Dark Zealots, Deranged Cultists, Doom Wraiths, Dust Shamblers, Enraged Zealots, Fallen, Fallen Grunts, Fallen Peons, Fallen Soldiers, Foul Conjurers , Frost Guardians, Ghouls, Hungry Corpses, Moon Clan Impalers, Murderous Fiends, Noxious Guardians, Ravenous Dead, Retching Cadavers, Reviled, Savage Fiends, Spiderlings, Shade Stalkers, Shadow Vermin, Shock Guardians, Skeletal Crawlers, Smoldering Constructs, Spine Lashers Stygian Crawlers, Tormented Stingers, Toxic Constructs, and Vicious Ghouls

Keywardens
- Nekarat the Keywarden now has a chance to drop a random Key (of Destruction, Hate, or Terror) in addition to the Infernal Machine plans
- All Keywardens will now only appear in Inferno difficulty

Bug Fixes
- Monsters with the Avenger affix now correctly gain +25% damage each time a monster in their pack dies
- Monsters with the Vampiric affix now correctly heal for 200% of their damage done in all difficulties

QUESTS
General
- Experience earned by completing a quest is now granted to players that have reached the level cap

USER INTERFACE
General
- A maximum of eight buffs and debuffs will now be displayed on the UI
- The maximum number of debuffs that will be displayed is three

Bug Fixes
- Fixed a bug preventing damage numbers from being displayed if a monster was affected by a spell such as Hex

As foretold in ancient Horadric texts, Diablo® III is coming soon to the PS3™. The launch date still has yet to be announced, but you can prepare for it now AND receive this exclusive Infernal Helm in-game item in the process, simply by preordering Diablo III at your local retailer.

Wearable at level 1, the Infernal Helm confers a +EXP bonus to help you whip your new PlayStation® characters into tip-top shape. Plus, it looks sweet as hell (pun intended) on all five mortal heroes of Sanctuary—Witch Doctor, Barbarian, Demon Hunter, Wizard, and Monk. Keep in mind that the redeemable key for the Infernal Helm, which you will find in your preordered copy of Diablo III on launch day, will apply to all of your PS3™ characters, but will not transfer to any PC characters.

We'll be announcing a launch date for Diablo III on the PS3™ as it gets closer. In the meantime, get your preorder lined up, and begin preparing your living room for the imminent arrival of your three closest demon-slaying friends.

You're going to need a bigger couch.

Mark your calendars—a Blizzard is coming to Southern California! Tickets for BlizzCon® 2013 will go on sale in two batches on Wednesday, April 24 at 7 p.m. PDT and Saturday, April 27 at 10 a.m. PDT through the official BlizzCon website. In addition, a limited number of tickets to an exclusive pre-BlizzCon Benefit Dinner will go on sale Wednesday, May 1 at 7 p.m. PDT.

BlizzCon 2013 takes place November 8 and 9 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA, and tickets to the two-day show will be available at $175 USD each. Tickets to the Benefit Dinner (which includes admission to BlizzCon) will be priced at $500 USD each, with proceeds benefitting Children’s Hospital of Orange County. Tickets to previous BlizzCon events have sold out within minutes, so be sure to synchronize your hourglasses.

BlizzCon 2013 takes place November 8 and 9 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA, and tickets to the two-day show will be available at $175 USD each. Tickets to the Benefit Dinner (which includes admission to BlizzCon) will be priced at $500 USD each, with proceeds benefitting Children’s Hospital of Orange County. Tickets to previous BlizzCon events have sold out within minutes, so be sure to synchronize your hourglasses.

Paladins, demon hunters, and Ghosts who can’t make it to the show in person will once again have the option to enjoy BlizzCon from home by ordering a BlizzCon Virtual Ticket, offering comprehensive live coverage of the event via a multi-channel Internet stream. Further details on the Virtual Ticket, including pricing, availability, and programming information, will be announced at a later date.

See the full press release or check out the BlizzCon Ticket page for more information, and be sure visit the official BlizzCon website at the dates and times above for a chance to purchase a ticket to the show. We hope to see you in Anaheim!