Which items are named after what developers?

08/31/2017 05:57 AMPosted by KiWeN

Rogar's Huge Stone isn't on the list, but that was a developer too named Rogar,

Roger Hughston, actually. He's one of our software engineers.

08/30/2017 10:29 AMPosted by Jako

ircle of Nailuj's Evol is named after a Julian I assume?

This one is named for Julian Love, our lead VFX Artist who do a lot of lead work on the Necromancer.

Many of the existing names are often twists, rearrangements, or flips on a developer's name or pseudonym. Ramaladni's Gift, for example, is Indalamar backwards—which is Travis Day's gaming tag. Hergbrash's Binding is a play on Michael Hershberg's last name, another one of our software engineers.

I can give a few others I have insight into, but even I don't know all of them. Some of them are more personal connections, like a loved one or child. Zoey's Secret is named for one of the producer's daughters. Maltorious' Petrified Spike I actually requested as a 7th anniversary present to my boyfriend. He's been playing Diablo even longer than I have, and Bone Spear is one of his favorite skills (including back from D2), so when they were looking for names, I tossed it in. :)

08/31/2017 03:03 PMPosted by MissCheetah

People like to have a personal connection to things they put so much time and effort creating.

This is definitely part of it. The practice definitely started more prominently in the early days of WoW—but it's certainly continued on through development of our other games. I can think of a few in Overwatch, for example (the names on many of the lockers on the Gibraltar map are developers' last names).

It's sort of a tradition now, and it honestly helps our writers out a ton, especially if they have dozens upon dozens of item names, NPCs, or lore references to fill out. It's also a badge of honor. I can't speak for everyone, but for myself, Diablo is a game I've poured a lot of my heart and soul into, and the game I've worked on the longest at Blizzard. Having a piece of myself actually in it, however small, is something for which I'm eternally grateful.