Again, I feel that I spent my money and got value for it, but I acknowledge that it is not the game Diablo 2 was. And not from a nostalgic perspective, but from a quantitative point of view. more strategy, more flexible gaming options and more fulfilling game play on the whole.
And I think that they "Streamlined" a bit too much (which boggles the mind. It's DIABLO!!! How much more dumbed down can it get?)
Say what?
If anything, I find D3 to be noticeably more complex and deeper than D2. D2 was brainless, anyone who could click on the enemy could play it and do fine. Admittedly D3 is the same for Normal/NM at least.
But D3 is also far more interactive and dangerous. You have to actually care about positioning and managing the usage of your abilities and cooldowns (rather than spam until zero mana, TP/pot, repeat). You can't just spam pots that restore 100% of your health and resource anytime you need them and the player power:monster power ratio is finally not so absurdly in the player's favor. Enemies now try to surround you, some will lead their shots, some buff their allies. They're 'smarter' and thanks to Inferno you finally can't completely trivialize them simply with gear.
Further, the skills in D3 are far far more balanced. There is no Hammer, there is no Frozen Orb, there is no Hurricane; the "I win" buttons that were so prolific in D2. How you play is in your control more now than ever before because you aren't defaulted to underperforming when you choose to use anything other than the 'good' skills; for the most part, almost all the skills are good and you can build around nearly any of them.
And the skills are far more varied. In D2, almost every defensive ability was a simple, one-cast shield. Holy Shield, Energy Shield, Frozen/Shiver/Chilling Armor, Cyclone Armor, Bone Armor, Blade Shield; it was bland and they were boring abilities to use. Now each class has multiple defensive abilities and many of them are unique and more engaging. Barbs get the best mitigation CDs, DH gets vanish/invuln, WD can phase out and CC extremely well, Monk can debuff enemies interrupting their attacks and preventing damage, Wizards can blink and create decoys and absorb flat damage.
For the first time since the honeymoon period of D2, I think it's actually fun to play Diablo, rather than fun to just find items.
One thing I don't like about D3 is the mandatory quest/storyline. I wish they would just give an option to disable it and let you wander around the world freely.
At least make it possible to really skip the cut-scenes as they occur. Cut-scene starts, I hit ESC, see the first 3 seconds anyway, prompt comes up "ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO SKIP THIS LAME ASS BORING CUT-SCENE?" I click "yes", and then it still shows me another 6 seconds of the cut scene before "skipping" it. Every time.
WTB option menu check-box for "always skip cut-scenes".
People like mindless clicking and enemies dying. People don't like complex scenarios. Look at COD...
I hate CoD, let alone almost all FPS games. Going from my Goldeneye (N64) to CoD and such, nothing has really changed with FPS games, besides story and graphics/physics.
1. Grab Gun.
2. Shoot enemies, vital areas do more damage/instant kill
3. Find ammo for said gun
4. Find better gun to kill things faster/easier
5. Shoot enemies again
6. Find ammo
7. OOO A GRENADE! (Add in other small power ups like shields in Halo or air strikes / recons in CoD)
8. and so on...
Yet I swear there is 3-4 FPS games for every 1 decent game out there.
I can't stand when people argue on Blizzard's behalf regarding the launch of d2 and how it was just as terrible as d3, and that we should accept the failures of the d3 launch just because d2 had a bad one as well. When did it become acceptable to not learn from one's own mistakes? Blizzard had one failed launch so is it ok for them to continue the trend?
Additionally, I dislike that people defend d3 for not retaining defining features from d2/LoD, such as runewords, jewels, sockets, charms, imbued items, etc. The argument used being that d2 without LoD wasn't much better than d3 in it's current state, and only after LoD did it become the game that is known today. It isn't that I want those exact features, although I wouldn't mind, but that I would rather have them improved, combined, or discarded in place of a newer/better feature. It is comparable to, lets say, if I manufactured cars without AC. Then at some point I start to put AC in all the cars I make, but when I roll out the new model of cars I don't put AC in them anymore. People would start asking where the AC went, and I might respond that I'll either add it later, or that I didn't think it appropriate for the new model. I have a lurking feeling that most of the features from d2/LoD that people liked will find their way into the first d3 $60.00 expansion. When did it become acceptable to release an unfinished product, and then gouge the customer for more money in order to add the features they have been robbed of at a later date?
Diablo 3 is a new game, not an expansion. Same as EQ2 is different from EQ1 (and so on).
Wow, you know, it’s weird, I’m not going to lie. It’s kind of cool! First of all I’m thrilled it do not suck. They did a good job and it does the franchise justice, so that’s a big relief. I’m kind of glad they did it, and we didn’t have to do it. Mainly because its impossible to beat the expectations of the people who were anticipating a Diablo sequel. I think they really did such a remarkably good job..."
Actually you should accept the failures of the launch for D3, because of the online technology they use being almost identical to MMOs. And anyone who plays an MMO knows every new one, or every expansion has major hiccups first few weeks.
People like mindless clicking and enemies dying. People don't like complex scenarios. Look at COD...
Not that d3 wasn't fun at all, but that it wasn't very "diablo" for me.
Say what?
If anything, I find D3 to be noticeably more complex and deeper than D2. D2 was brainless, anyone who could click on the enemy could play it and do fine. Admittedly D3 is the same for Normal/NM at least.
But D3 is also far more interactive and dangerous. You have to actually care about positioning and managing the usage of your abilities and cooldowns (rather than spam until zero mana, TP/pot, repeat). You can't just spam pots that restore 100% of your health and resource anytime you need them and the player power:monster power ratio is finally not so absurdly in the player's favor. Enemies now try to surround you, some will lead their shots, some buff their allies. They're 'smarter' and thanks to Inferno you finally can't completely trivialize them simply with gear.
Further, the skills in D3 are far far more balanced. There is no Hammer, there is no Frozen Orb, there is no Hurricane; the "I win" buttons that were so prolific in D2. How you play is in your control more now than ever before because you aren't defaulted to underperforming when you choose to use anything other than the 'good' skills; for the most part, almost all the skills are good and you can build around nearly any of them.
And the skills are far more varied. In D2, almost every defensive ability was a simple, one-cast shield. Holy Shield, Energy Shield, Frozen/Shiver/Chilling Armor, Cyclone Armor, Bone Armor, Blade Shield; it was bland and they were boring abilities to use. Now each class has multiple defensive abilities and many of them are unique and more engaging. Barbs get the best mitigation CDs, DH gets vanish/invuln, WD can phase out and CC extremely well, Monk can debuff enemies interrupting their attacks and preventing damage, Wizards can blink and create decoys and absorb flat damage.
For the first time since the honeymoon period of D2, I think it's actually fun to play Diablo, rather than fun to just find items.
In Diablo 3, you aren't underpowered if you use the wrong skills. You are Underpowered if you use any of the skills. And I am not really sure how you can say that there is any depth or strategy to a game. The "Whole" strategy to Diablo 3 is Kite opponents, run away. Kite opponents, run away. If you are a tank, go high vitality and resistances. If you are a caster, go high damage and run like hell. Really in depth strategy there. Also, your choice of abilities is limited to 6, none of which combine or overlap to any degree what so ever. In Diablo 2 you could select from any of your abilities at a moment's notice. Not this 'Click the skills window. Select the Skills 'Group' that you want. Select the Skill that you want. select the 'Rune' that you want to use. Then "Ok", then "Ok" then cool down time. Then cast/use the ability". and there was a fair amount of overlap and cohesion to them such that you could make sub-classes within the classes. Not so in Diablo 3.
Haters gonna hate. End of thread.
you can move freely ... just start an act with the final quest...and you will have all the waypoints available and go wherever you want
This coming from someone who thought that both DA2 and Dungeon Siege 3 were good games. Nuff said.
In Diablo 3, you aren't underpowered if you use the wrong skills. You are Underpowered if you use any of the skills. And I am not really sure how you can say that there is any depth or strategy to a game. The "Whole" strategy to Diablo 3 is Kite opponents, run away. Kite opponents, run away. If you are a tank, go high vitality and resistances. If you are a caster, go high damage and run like hell. Really in depth strategy there. Also, your choice of abilities is limited to 6, none of which combine or overlap to any degree what so ever. In Diablo 2 you could select from any of your abilities at a moment's notice. Not this 'Click the skills window. Select the Skills 'Group' that you want. Select the Skill that you want. select the 'Rune' that you want to use. Then "Ok", then "Ok" then cool down time. Then cast/use the ability". and there was a fair amount of overlap and cohesion to them such that you could make sub-classes within the classes. Not so in Diablo 3.
Additionally, as has been stated, in diablo 2, you had to plan out your character. You didn't all of the sudden get all of the abilities. You could make mistakes, but at least you were invested in YOUR character, not the generic toon you get in Diablo 3.
The skill "Tree" isn't a tree at all. It's a sapling. with ONE branch. The items are SIGNIFICANTLY less complex and the drops are eminently less rewarding. There is no variability in your class what so ever. And there is almost no variability between classes (each class has some variant on slow down or trap or hinder opponent. Each class has some variant on multiple hit attacks against multiple opponents, etc...).
In Diablo 2, for a smaller game on the whole, the game play took longer. There was more reason to get to the next level or the next chapter. There was overall more reward for playing the game.
Yeah, if you think that Diablo 3 is 'More complex' a game than Diablo 2, I am thinking you need a dictionary.
Again, Diablo 3 was a above average game. But nothing more. Trying to sell yourself (and others) on it's GREATNESS is just foolishness.
Diablo 2 was fun and Diablo 3 is fun.
Is that a load issue on your end? Outside of bosses who have "introduction" sequences (ex: "I'm a kill you LOL!!!!11!!!" then they are attackable). I usually see the start of the cutscene (screen fades) hit ESC, get prompt instantly, hit Yes, cutscene ends. There are some dialogue sequences I wish I could skip, for example saving Adria I have to wait for her and Leah to get all cozy before the wench opens up the portal.
You can always just load in, take the teleporter, and have at it. No cutscenes involved.
Seems like. I'm starting to think Spyder is just looking for things to complain about. At this point, we get it - you don't like D3, just go back to D2:LoD, at least then you might find some happiness.
the diablo 3 skill tree is less complex than the diablo 2 skill tree... which had a TON of useless skills and pre-requisites. this is how it went in diablo 2 - 20 skill points in NUKE#1, 20 skill points in NUKE#2, 20 skill points in NUKE#3, 20 skill points in NUKE#4, and pre-reqs and random 1-point talents for utility. pump into enough vitality to not get one-shot, and the rest into your main stat. done.
in diablo 3, all that customization is done through items. all the skills scale off gear, of which you can choose to equip in whichever fashion you want. want a tanky sorc? buy +armor gear, spec into tanky skills, wear a shield, and stack life-on-hit. want to go glass cannon, forego all stats except int and just blow through enemies before they get to you.
the point of such a small skill tree that you can constantly re-spec is this: you can only respec if you arent farming. if you're farming and re-spec, your MF buff gets wiped. want to farm efficiently? pick a spec that is good for farming in whatever act you like to farm. if you feel underpowered, its because you picked the wrong spec that does not work with the gear that you currently own.