Josh Mosqueira steps forward as new Diablo 3 game director

Josh Mosqueira has succeeded Jay Wilson as the game director for Diablo 3, which has been out for a year now.

In a post on Battle.net, Mosqueira talked about his background in game design, which started in 1996. His first break was as a writer for the pen-and-paper role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade from White Wolf. He later worked on properties such as Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War and Far Cry.

Now he's helping to create the console version of Diablo 3.

"We don't just ship a game and leave it at that," he said of Blizzard. "We make sure that it grows and evolves after launch."

Better itemization will remain a big focus moving forward.

"We want items to feel more meaningful, and we want players to be excited about the next loot drop," he said. "Our goal is to make the loot experience more enjoyable for ALL players. This includes reducing the amount of loot that drops while improving the overall quality, introducing targeted Legendaries, and giving players ways to directly customize their character's armor — both visually and mechanically.

"We're also looking into ways to reduce the impact of the Auction House. While we think the feature does provide a lot of value, it shouldn’t feel like the end-all-be-all force driving character progression."

Blizzard encountered trouble with the controversial real-money and gold Auction Houses recently when a percentage of players exploited a gold-duplication glitch contained in a patch.

Mosqueira said they're also working on new ways to improve the endgame and other aspects, such as "more fulfilling" online play.

His predecessor, Jay Wilson, worked on Diablo 3 for seven years before his departure in January.

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