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[[Image:Rainbowkick.jpg|thumb|220px|right|Fun with Rainbows]]
At [[BlizzCon 2009]] in one of the Diablo III panels discussing animation for the monk, attendees got an exclusive first look at the Monk's Rainbow Kick. It was of course a tongue in cheek reference to the controversy and was greeted with much cheering and whooping.
==Ex-Blizzard Response== Since virtually everyone who created Diablo I and Diablo II have since left the company (most before or when [[Blizzard North]] closed in 2005), and the project was begun almost entirely from scratch at Blizzard Irvine in 2005, there's very little continuity between D3 and the previous games in the series. This is not very noticeable in the gameplay, but it's quite clear in the visuals and art design/style, which is what spurred the whole Art Controversy in the first place. Most of the designers of D1 and D2 have refrained from making any comments on the look or style of D3, and when they have commented they've been fairly positive. Bill Roper, however, took a different, more candid approach when asked about Diablo 3 in a few interviews in early 2009. Bill spoke at length on this issue with IncGamers.com [http://www.incgamers.com/Interviews/175/bill-roper-talks/2] ::''IncGamers.com: To go further back in your career, you worked on Diablo, and that's coming up on a third sequel. How do you think it's been handled? ::'''Bill Roper:''' Ultimately they're going to do a great job, because Blizzard always does a great job on products. I was interested by the big explosion that happened online when they released the first gameplay footage and screenshots, when that vocal minority was outraged that it didn't have that dark, gothic, gritty look. But that actually made sense, because it's not Blizzard North doing it anymore. That's the art style that the guys down at Irvine do. So it looks to me as what I would've expected from those guys, handling the Diablo universe. I always thought that was a real strength between having development teams in Irvine and San Mateo. Blizzard North had a different art direction, a different style, and different thought processes towards mechanics that were all very solid, and allowed the Diablo games to expand out on their own in a lot of different ways. I think that what you're seeing now is that mechanic being taken over by the guys in Irvine because it's involves them now, and so it's going to have that flavour. I want it to be great because I love Diablo, and I want another one. ::''IncGamers.com: From your comments I get the feeling you'd prefer the Diablo 1 or Diablo 2 art style.'' ::'''Bill Roper: '''I don't dislike how it looks now. I didn't look at it and have the appalled reaction a lot of people did, I just appreciated that it had a very distinct look. The Diablo games looked different to the Craft games, and I liked the fact that it was very dark, gothic fantasy. I just think that it's nice to be able to have different worlds represented with very different visuals... When WoW came out, there were plenty of people who didn't like the way it looked, and I think that with Diablo 3 there'll be some people who don't like it and prefer the look of the first two Diablo games. When they first released the the videos and the screenshots, there was definitely an uprising from certain sections of Blizzard and Diablo fans, but Blizzard does what it's going to do so I'm sure that all those people who were really upset will still be in line with the rest of us, getting a copy! As long as it's good and cohesive and takes the stories that they're telling, I'm okay if it doesn't look exactly like it did before, although I did like that really dark, edgy, gothic look. Bill expounded further on this in an interview with VideoGamer.com. [http://www.videogamer.com/pc/star_trek_online/screenshot-8.html] ::''VideoGamer.com: You mention that you can understand the art style and direction Blizzard has taken with Diablo III, but are you pleased with it or disappointed with it? You were one of the chief architects of the original Diablo games which, as you've said, were darker and grittier than the Craft games. ::'''Bill Roper:''' You know, I liked the darker grittier. I liked the differences in art style, to be honest. So, I think I would personally from a player standpoint prefer that. One of the things that we always tried to get across was that Diablo was Gothic fantasy and I think there was just a need that was put in there from the visuals that I didn't necessarily get. I got it from the architecture and to a degree from the character design but not the feeling of the world. I can't say that I dislike it. I didn't look at it and go, oh my God that's horrible. But I looked at it and went, it's not really... to me as a player it just didn't really ring with Diablo. <br><br>
==Blizzard Art Department Departing==
