Crisis averted: Diablo III will have chat channels, contrary to previous statement

Earlier this month, Bashiok, Diablo III community manager, got fans up in arms when he said that public chat channels would not be in Diablo III, despite chat channels being a prominent feature in Diablo II.

As it turns out, however, there’s nothing to get all worked up about. In response to the backlash from the community, Bashiok took to the Diablo III forums to apologize for the slip-up, confirming that chat channels will be in Diablo III.

“Public chat channels will be in Diablo III, barring any catastrophe that requires we remove them, because they’re already implemented,” he wrote. “In fact they’ll be in an upcoming beta patch so you’ll get to see and play around with them yourselves.”

“I’m not sure I can offer any explanation as to the incorrectness of my statements, except that I believed them to be correct when I made them. I apologize, and I’ll strive to not be stupid and wrong in the future.

“More info on the chat feature, and others, to come in the weeks ahead. Thanks for sticking with it, and me.”

On a more positive note, Bashiok recently answered tons of Diablo III-related questions on his Twitter account. You can find a rundown of what all Bashiok had to say at this link.