An oral history of Diablo II

http://www.usgamer.net/articles/in-their-own-words-an-oral-history-of-diablo-ii-with-david-brevik-max-schaefer-and-erich-schaefer

Well worth reading; many insights from the primary principals of the former Blizzard North studio.  There were a lot more details that was originally hearsay where there were several occasions where they alluded to the organizational and cultural differences between their studio versus their counterparts in Irvine.