Diablo III

[Toxe]

Other then some of the greener outside areas and that both are 3D and have goat man, no, it does not remind me much of Titan Quest.

[VAOZoky]

Regarding MMO's and the whole "what is a roleplaying game" debate; it is what you make of it. A game like Diablo 3 doesn't leave you a lot of room for playing a "character" - pretty much none, actually. But games like ME and Skyrim do. Not as much as a classic pen/paper, sure, but considering the limitations of the platform they're doing a very good job.

 

In MMO's, pretty much all bets are off. There is a lot of room to do what you want as long as you hook up with a crowd you like. I've engaged in some pretty epic wars in EVE Online, for example, that were entirely RP based. Lots of fun calling people "Imperialist Pigdogs" and stuff. :) Now of course, we roleplayers were in a minority, so sometimes we'd just roleplay "at" people. Being angry anarchists helped there, since finding someone that could fit our definition of being an "imperialist" was very very easy. :)

 

You just have to realize that the medium means that not all roles "work". You can't have a meaningful time roleplaying a pacificst in Skyrim, for example... :P

 

What's your caracter name in EVE?

[EtherealN]

That is priviliged information. :P

 

I haven't played in a loooong while now though. A little login here and there just to say hi to people, but no time to actually play. That thing is a worse timesink than D3!

[BIGNEWY]

That is priviliged information. :P

 

I haven't played in a loooong while now though. A little login here and there just to say hi to people, but no time to actually play. That thing is a worse timesink than D3!

 

Agreed played eve since 2004, it nearly destroyed me lol not played in over a year now, and feel better for it :music_whistling::thumbup:

[kam]

European Diablo 3 server is down :(

[winz]

I'm loving it, it feels like diablo, it plays like diablo, it sucks time just like diablo... and man it looks and sounds gorgeous.

The only problem is that I'm too old for this...my body just can't handle sleep deprivation so well, as it could 12 years ago and sleeping in work is a lot more complicated than during classes on college. :D

 

GF realized this is a force she cannot fight with, so I got a diablo t-shirt from her :D

[Bricks]

And from what I have read in the forums looks like I have been very, very slow. But I don't care.

 

I do the same. Still in Act one. I even replayed some scenes after rushing through them in multiplayer and found so many things we missed while rushing through.

 

I love the comments that your own character and your companions make throughout the game in the various zones or events. The Templar (which, as a Demon Hunter is my preferred companion anyways) has some funny lines. :)

 

It's really funny that all characters share some questions, but of course completely different answers and insights. That's really cool and quite roleplaying.

[Peyoteros]

At the beginning I created two characters and played them to lvl. 13 and then servers went down for maintenance. Just then I realised that I accidentally created them on "The Americas" servers... Damn it!

 

So had to start it from scratch on European... they were up and running.

Yesterday it payed off... When European servers were down, I went to play on American

No internet, no Diablo... That must suck for the laptop guys, who thought I'll play it while I'm camping or something... and for those, who lives on the Moon

P.S. Love gold thief...

[EtherealN]

Meh, you just need good infrastructure. I live almost literally in nowhere, use only cellular internet (it's the only thing available), and I get 8-10mbps down and 2 up, with ~60-100 ping normally. :)

 

Camping is no problem. :)

[Peyoteros]

right, like we dont know what the mobile internet is like... In some camp sites you will have to clamb to the top of the tree... in order to play it :P

 

Meh, you just need good infrastructure. I live almost literally in nowhere, use only cellular internet (it's the only thing available), and I get 8-10mbps down and 2 up, with ~60-100 ping normally. :)

 

Camping is no problem. :)

[EtherealN]

Just make sure to check the coverage when selecting camp site. ;)

[Bricks]

right, like we dont know what the mobile internet is like... In some camp sites you will have to clamb to the top of the tree... in order to play it :P

 

Playing D3 on a tall tree at night - now that should give you some thrills :D

[Toxe]

 

I have been in Inferno / Act 2 now for a couple of days and oh my, now it's getting seriously tough. If I am lucky I might survive the first hit. Those rare and elite boss packs can be frustratingly hard.

[Depth]

Nice

 

 

I went in blind on Hardcore mode with a witch doctor. Played to level 10 then started on hardcore. I'm level 21 now. Really struggle with confined areas but kiting and using DoT spells takes care of most packs and bosses. Nearly died a lot of times, HC is quite an adrenaline rush

[Speed]

I bought Diablo 3, blindly trusting in the company (Blizzard) that has never released a bad game. After playing up to Act 3 Nightmare, here's my evaluation for Diablo 3:

 

Pros:

Fun combat system; much improved over Diablo 2.

Game is stable (when available), well presented.

Certainly more deserving of your $60 than Call of Battlefield: Modern Duty 3 etc. etc. clones.

 

Cons:

A LOT.

 

1) Let’s look at the item system first. In Diablo 2 (much more so after the expansion), there was an actual possibility to find good loot by yourself. There were bosses/dungeons you could farm for good loot. Every run where you would kill Mephisto or Pindleskin on Hell mode, your pulse would quicken a bit right before they died, and you'd get a little rush when you saw the gold text of a unique come flying out on the ground. Maybe you’d get a unique ring… would it be a worthless, ubiquitous Manald heal, or would it be a Stone of Jordan? (SOJ became pretty valuable and very rare in some of the latter ladders). That kind of rush/gambling/winning the jackpot feeling is one of the big things that kept you playing over and over again.

 

Now, in Diablo 3, I think the chances of actually finding a good item have been reduced to nil. I have yet to find a legendary or set item. In normal mode, all the major bosses I killed dropped at least one rare, but now in nightmare mode, they have dropped nothing but blues. Furthermore, every single rare I have found has been utter garbage. Who in the heck is finding all these decent items I see on the auction house? Anyway, bosses have gone from pulse-quickening loot piñatas to boring tasks you must complete before moving onto the next act.

 

Instead of actually finding any loot myself, it turns out all I need to do to get “good” loot is visit the vendors for random blues, and the action house if I give up with the vendors. So, now, good loot costs nothing but gold. How is it fun to farm gold again? Farming gold is the most annoying, boring, brainless task.

 

I guess in retrospect, I should have expected this. Blizzard implemented the auction house, making it a lot easier to find all the items you need there. Furthermore, Blizzard wants to make the good items rare, probably so they can cheat and spawn them themselves, selling them for real cash.

 

The problem is for them, in a few months, there will be no one around to buy their items, because the loot system, arguably the most addictive part of Diablo 2, has been totally destroyed in Diablo 3.

 

 

2) OK, so let’s move beyond the loot system. What about characters? Well, guess what- there is ZERO character customization now, basically. Apart from items, every character of a certain class is exactly the same. Granted- gameplay styles will differ, because you can only choose six of a myriad of skills to place on your action bar. And there are skill “runes” that allow you to modify the skills so they act slightly different. Blizzard might brag that there are millions of different “builds” for each class.

 

But, any build can be completely changed with just a minute of time- just change which six skills you use, modify a few skill runes, and there- you’re done. I was trying my wizard out in a more “battle mage” configuration the other day, for example. After five minutes, I decided it sucked, and switched back.

 

Now, I will grant some people could view this as a positive. But I don’t. Gone are the hard choices about which skills to use, what build to use. There are no more hard choices. Want to be a AOE wizard but pack a powerful punch on bosses? Just take 15 seconds to “respec” to use “Hydra” and “Diamond Skin” before the boss encounter, and you’ll roflpwn him.

 

Also gone: any kind of stats/skill points/etc. You no longer need to look up the maximum strength/dex requirements of some end game armor/weapon you might want to use and ponder if it will be worth the sacrifice you will make to your energy/vitality. Nope. In Diablo 2, for example, I saw sorceresses running around with powerful protective items that were normally the domain of melee classes- these players had decided that the sacrifice of all those stat points into stats that were useless to the class was worth the benefits of wearing these powerful items. No such decisions exist in Diablo 3, because….

 

 

3) There are no requirements for gear other than level, and sometimes, class. Want to be a wizard in full plate armor using a giant two-handed sword? You came to the right place! There are NO requirements/restrictions on what kind of gear you can use. Ok, a few items are class-specific, but that is it. So anyone can wear anything. Umm… I guess you could say Blizzard kept an open mind in game/class design, but they left their minds so open their brains just completely fell out of their heads… speaking of which…

 

 

4) So why would you want to be a wizard using a giant, two-handed sword? It’s not like it will increase your spell damage to have a big freaking blade… oh wait a second. IT DOES. In fact, with the removal of any kind of character customization and skill points, weapon DPS is the primary determining factor in how much spell damage caster classes do. So for a while, I had my wizard running around with a big, two-handed axe. How does this make any sense? The loot system has not only been destroyed through the inability to find any good items, but also through over-simplification.

 

 

5)No PvP. Ok, I admit to not being much of a PvP fan, but this is crazy- there is no PvP whatsoever in Diablo 3. I guess arenas were promised, but never delivered. I donno if Blizzard plans to bring them at all.

 

 

6) Contrived Story. Well, story is not a very important factor here, but I just felt that Diablo 3’s story line is just too contrived. It’s not interesting, really. I’ll not reveal any spoilers.

 

 

7) Last but certainly not least: Always on DRM. There is no way to play this game offline. You can play by yourself, but you must be connected to battle net. On launch day, many folks found themselves unable to connect at all. Instead, they got the infamous “Error 37”:

Just yesterday, after a new patch, I thought I might play a little bit, and had my first meeting with this problem.

 

Anyway, the ubiquity of this problem has spawned numerous rather funny internet memes:

 

 

 

 

 

So overall…while combat is extremely fun and satisfying, the game's flaws prevent there being any point to the combat in the first place. Sadly, many of these flaws could be fixed, but Blizzard is stubborn: I suspect they are scared the kind of changes necessary would endanger their real money auction house they are looking forward to milking all their money out of. The problem is, after a few months, I don’t think there will be any folks around to milk.

 

Anyway, I will be sure to be much more weary before I purchase any new Blizzard product in the future.

 

Final score:

75/100.

 

Comments:

If the problems I described above sound like serious issues to you, wait for this game to come down in price, or don't buy at all. If what I described sounds like non-issues to you, then maybe you should buy Diablo 3: I will certainly grant that the combat is very fun and satisfying... until the combat is over, and you leave a big pile of useless white and grey items, and collect up all the yellow and blue items to take to the armorer for disenchantment.

Edited May 30, 2012 by Speed

[winz]

1)You say that gold farming is boring (yes it is), but never-ending boss runs are not boring? c'mon wipe the nostalgia out of the eyes, running the same boss over and over again, half asleep, is boring as hell. Blizzard wanted to address this issue by spreading the loot wide.

I actualy found my first and only legendary in act I :D

 

Yes, itemization has it's problems, but lets look a waaaaay back, on Diablo II 1.0, not Diablo II + LoD v 1.13d we have today. Blizzard has a history of supporting, ironing, improving their games for years. Itemization is one of the things that most likely will be ironed out.

 

Furthermore, Blizzard wants to make the good items rare, probably so they can cheat and spawn them themselves, selling them for real cash.

rly? This is pathetic

 

2)

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/6018173/Game_Design_Update-5_28_2012#blog

The most common level 60 build in the game is only used by 0.7% of level 60 characters of that class (not including Passive diversity)

0.7% of people playing at lvl 60 are using the same build, that's pretty diverse if you ask me.

 

Enlighten me, how many valid buidls and valid distribution of stats were there in D2? Weren't all the caster the same?

-strenght, so you can carry the gear you are aiming for.

-dexterity - 0!

-energy - 0!

-vitality - ALL!

 

The biggest problem I had with D2 system is that it punished players too severely for not be familiar with game mechanics from lvl 1..

 

So, if you start a new char, you either

 

a)Used a cookie-cutter public build

 

b)Knew the game inside-out after playing it for few years, and done your homework on the build to make it valid.

 

c)Had no idea what you were doing, wasted +30h gameplay time before you discover that your attributes distribution is not 'the best one' (I mean vitality for a caster, how intuitive is that...), your skills could be spent more effictiveli..etc. And you either stick with the build, or you replay it another time, discovering after another +30h that your build is again wrong...

 

I love the new system, it allows me to experiment to a way never possible with D2 system. And when experimenting I'm actually playing the game and not doing a math homework on how many dmg will combination of skills + synergies + items do.

 

3)This kinda bothers me aswell, it looks weird.

 

4)I'm kinda happy that weapon stat finally have a value for a caster. It's not like droping a +40intellect dagger + offhand for a +str 2h sword does not sacrifice your damage.

Yes dps is the main attribute for..dps (int does play a huge role in dmg aswell)

but i.e. weapons speed plays a huge role arcane consumption rate.

 

5)PvP will come in a content patch

Edited May 31, 2012 by winz

[Speed]

1)You say that gold farming is boring (yes it is), but never-ending boss runs are not boring? c'mon wipe the nostalgia out of the eyes, running the same boss over and over again, half asleep, is boring as hell. Blizzard wanted to address this issue by spreading the loot wide.

I actualy found my first and only legendary in act I :D

They got boring, yes, but not when you only had like 30 mins - 1 hr to play. It was fun doing them for shorter time intervals.

 

 

Yes, itemization has it's problems, but lets look a waaaaay back, on Diablo II 1.0, not Diablo II + LoD v 1.13d we have today. Blizzard has a history of supporting, ironing, improving their games for years. Itemization is one of the things that most likely will be ironed out.

I certainly hope so, but I must judge the game as it currently exists, not as Blizzard aspires it to be. Remember all the broken promises made in regards to WoW?

 

rly? This is pathetic

Well, why not? It certainly makes sense for Blizzard to skew the markets in ways that favor them. Unless what I have heard is wrong, Blizzard is intending to generate and sell items/gold themselves as well. Is this not true?

 

2)

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/6018173/Game_Design_Update-5_28_2012#blog

 

0.7% of people playing at lvl 60 are using the same build, that's pretty diverse if you ask me.

 

Enlighten me, how many valid buidls and valid distribution of stats were there in D2? Weren't all the caster the same?

-strenght, so you can carry the gear you are aiming for.

-dexterity - 0!

-energy - 0!

-vitality - ALL!

Nope. You don't remember too well:

Caster would divide extra stat points between energy and vitality.

Caster also had to decide how much str and dex to get. IIRC, I actually had a few sorcs I put enough dex into to use a couple daggers with fairly high dex requirements.

 

The biggest problem I had with D2 system is that it punished players too severely for not be familiar with game mechanics from lvl 1..

 

So, if you start a new char, you either

 

a)Used a cookie-cutter public build

 

b)Knew the game inside-out after playing it for few years, and done your homework on the build to make it valid.

 

c)Had no idea what you were doing, wasted +30h gameplay time before you discover that your attributes distribution is not 'the best one' (I mean vitality for a caster, how intuitive is that...), your skills could be spent more effictiveli..etc. And you either stick with the build, or you replay it another time, discovering after another +30h that your build is again wrong...

No, the old system was definitely broken too. I'd advocate a system closer to how many MMOs do it: talent points, with respec costs that increase with ever respec (and possibly, also with level), but reset on a monthly basis: to keep you from respecing completely for every boss fight. IMO, I feel that respeccing yourself for boss fights is just lame.

 

I'm not saying using exactly talent points and respeccing and all that, I'm just saying that I feel such a system is much better than what we've got right now.

 

 

 

I love the new system, it allows me to experiment to a way never possible with D2 system. And when experimenting I'm actually playing the game and not doing a math homework on how many dmg will combination of skills + synergies + items do.

I won't disagree there, the new system allows tons of experimentation. That's great. But let me point out that the old system, since it didn't require constant internet connection for single player also allowed this, if you simply took two minutes to do a google search and download a character/item generator.

 

3)This kinda bothers me aswell, it looks weird.

 

4)I'm kinda happy that weapon stat finally have a value for a caster. It's not like droping a +40intellect dagger + offhand for a +str 2h sword does not sacrifice your damage.

Yes dps is the main attribute for..dps (int does play a huge role in dmg aswell)

but i.e. weapons speed plays a huge role arcane consumption rate.

I don't necessarily have a problem with weapon DPS determining caster damage- but it should have limits. It should only apply for certain weapon types- for example, wands, staves, and daggers. Maybe axes and swords would work too, but at 50% reduction or something like that.

 

5)PvP will come in a content patch

Again, you have much more faith in Blizzard's promises than I do.

[winz]

They got boring, yes, but not when you only had like 30 mins - 1 hr to play. It was fun doing them for shorter time intervals.

If I only had 30min - 1 hour of gameplay Diablo would be the last game I would play :)

 

I certainly hope so, but I must judge the game as it currently exists, not as Blizzard aspires it to be. Remember all the broken promises made in regards to WoW?

And what about other Blizzard games? SC2 is beeing patched and improved regulary. Diablo 2 received it last patch in october last year. If you look on most build guides for diablo 2 you'll notice that they utilize items only added in later patches.

 

 

Well, why not? It certainly makes sense for Blizzard to skew the markets in ways that favor them. Unless what I have heard is wrong, Blizzard is intending to generate and sell items/gold themselves as well. Is this not true?

Blizzard will get a small % from every real money transaction, it has no point for them to spawn/sell the stuff themself when

a)The revenues would be realy realy small compared to the amount of $ they got from regular transaction cut

b)When people are more then eager to farm these things and spawning these things would only reduce the price of items and there is no guarantee that a buyer will buy the one auctionied by blizzard.

c)The nerd rage would possible kill teh internets

 

Nope. You don't remember too well:

Caster would divide extra stat points between energy and vitality.

Caster also had to decide how much str and dex to get. IIRC, I actually had a few sorcs I put enough dex into to use a couple daggers with fairly high dex requirements.

 

I just checked few builds for my beloved necro and all of them looks like this

 

Strength: Enough to use your gear. This should be a fairly low number, as this build will utilize Enigma.

Dexterity: Most players will want to keep this at base, as this build does not require max block. Hardcore players, however, may wish to increase this to buff their blocking, though it is not strictly necessary for survival.

Vitality: All your spare points will be poured into Vitality. Necromancers gain 2 Life per point of Vitality.

Energy: Despite the steep mana cost of Bone spells, this should be left at base.

 

No, the old system was definitely broken too. I'd advocate a system closer to how many MMOs do it: talent points, with respec costs that increase with ever respec (and possibly, also with level), but reset on a monthly basis: to keep you from respecing completely for every boss fight. IMO, I feel that respeccing yourself for boss fights is just lame.

Most of the games used tree system because it was popularized by D2 and WoW. But if you look i.e. on GW2 it uses system similiar to D3. For me personaly GW2 is the biggest MMO release of this+past few years.

 

I'm not saying using exactly talent points and respeccing and all that, I'm just saying that I feel such a system is much better than what we've got right now.

I just feel that the new system is much better then the old. We will just have to agree to disagree.

 

I won't disagree there, the new system allows tons of experimentation. That's great. But let me point out that the old system, since it didn't require constant internet connection for single player also allowed this, if you simply took two minutes to do a google search and download a character/item generator.

Yes, the need for using 3rd party generators/trainers/cheaters certainly makes the old system look better, and at this point you are at the same position as in D3, you can choose your build without any costs.

And I don't agree with the allways online DRM.

 

I don't necessarily have a problem with weapon DPS determining caster damage- but it should have limits. It should only apply for certain weapon types- for example, wands, staves, and daggers. Maybe axes and swords would work too, but at 50% reduction or something like that.

With this I agree, seeing a dagger wielding barbarian is really sad.

 

Again, you have much more faith in Blizzard's promises than I do.

Can you give me one expample when blizzard has stated several times that a feature is beeing implemented and wasn't it actualy added it into the game?

Edited May 31, 2012 by winz

[BulletI984]

Can you give me one expample when blizzard has stated several times that a feature is beeing implemented and wasn't it actualy added it into the game?

 

http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/915334-Reasons-not-to-buying-Blizzard-games-anymore

 

http://wow.joystiq.com/tag/Broken-Promises/

 

Main Points:

 

-They did not deliver on many core promises of World of Warcraft. (I can list more from experience)

-The quality of content is dropping to appease less intelligent people.

-One of the highlights of Blizzard games in the past pre-WoW was always story, I find the wait of D3's story to be lackluster at best.

-It's not hard to find broken Blizzard promises with 10 minutes of Google.