This discussion is ignoring 2 critical facts:

1. old school gamers are aging fast & are not target audience which spends anything in vicinity of what game execs hope from gamers.

When it comes to Diablo, old school gamers are the majority target audience and therefore ultimately determine the revenue margin - something the 'execs' would know and consider wisely if they had any morsel of wisdom.

2. younger (<20 y/o) gamers dont have the time available or invest-able effort for the learning curve of old school PC games.

That's a pretty broad statement but I get what your saying.  I would go one further though and say that the younger gamer demographic almost always latches on to the 'Latest and Greatest' trending games i.e: Fornite or COD or the battle royale craze etc.  Are they likely keeping a close eye on the Diablo franchise? Doubt it.  Are old school PC gamers? Well, as the whole internet attests to - yep. 

Anyway, regardless I get why Blizzard are claiming some of the mobile pie, but taking the first bite with the Diablo fork?! Heck, they could have done it with any other IP like trashy Overwatch.  At the end of the day it was a poorly timed announcement > to an audience that utterly doesn't give a crap about mobile > to finally (adding salt to the wound) providing nothing else substantial such as even a basic teaser image of D4.   

Understandably, Blizzard wants to get a part of the mobile market. Tell me if I missed something, but on what planet should that prevent the release of PC release?

Pretty much this^ nailed it WNG 

Perhaps all of the above, just random chance?

Yeah that's good thinking, would be great for replay value haha. Still deciding what to use as a 'wall lever' for access 

....If a hidden chamber existed somewhere within the beginning area - 'hypothetically'     What might one find??
 
Perhaps something super helpful like:
  a) an item with reduction to requirements maybe?
  b) a piece of lore which upon reading grants some early XP?
  c) good 'ol potions?
  d) a unique formulae?
  e) possibility of one random low level unique tailored to the gameplay achetypes?  (ranged/melee/caster)
 


What do you think? Hypothetically of course 

Great point andyblast
Also another is the Gilded Liches which spawn from the Staff of Khufu quest ..just don't retrieve the Staff and keep repeating as desired

lol Arthur's legendary Tri-Beer ..."Attempts to take a sip, spills most of other two beers all over himself" There's an art to it for sure 

Alright a few things;
-Have descended and then re-emerged from the Minoan Labyrinth unscathed.  You'll find the Minotaur's slain corpse in there along with some ethereal residue left from the Telkine as it imploded.
-Am now in Rhakotis Library and am level 19.
-Strider has become a Sage!

Hey guys, here a few things I've been working on lately..  Other than this though I have been tweaking the beginning areas to ensure it's all up to reasonable standard for Alpha - after all, first impressions count!

Below are some undead variations I've added.  As you can see the first screenshot shows off a new, slower breed of skeletal undead I like to call the 'Shambling Dead' family.  Typically, skeletons in Titan Quest run at the player and overwhelm them.  This is great and has its place but I also want to have more slower moving skeletons that are;
            a) Stronger and more resilient (basically can take a good beating before going down)
            b)Hit significantly harder but move slower

In-game this makes for fun and frantic encounters since you can get surrounded by these guys if your not careful and, even though they are slow, they aren't easily fought off.  Add to this the other 'members of the family' > the even more tanky Herald Revenants, the Skeletal Magi and Greater Mummified Stalkers and things get +1 fun 



Following this here's some other variations of monsters one might find in dusty dungeons.  The dark mummy reskin or Exhumed Horror I really like at the moment 



and he has a big brother > the Exhumed Horror - Executioner




And finally, check out some of the 'new' types of lootable variations that have been added to Hamunaptra 

Lvl 18, Megalesios, potion-free

Hey nice progress Andyblast 

I'm on my way to the Labyrinth, still going strong and loving the hardcore aspect of this

Mad fool!

lol ahaha indeed


Strider continues in his quest for blood and glory! He slew the great Cyclops and then ascended the burning hillside of the Ancient Grove and fought the foul Spider Queen upon the summit. Glorious! Imbued with the very lightning of Zeus himself, Strider rises to meet his destiny!! What feats can he not achieve? What enemy can he not conquer?!  Who might stand against him I say? Who?!! (narrated in the voice of Gerard Butler's Leonidas from 300 of course)



Heading to the Phoecian Swamps and that cave now