**OFFICIAL** Diablo 3 Thread

[Anubis]

unless you have played the full game (which you have not) bitching about it being linear is pointless. the first hour or 2 of D2 was pretty fing linear as well

 

[SMOGZINN]

That's exactly their design philosophy. 8 players -> 4, Named game browser -> matchmaking, normal difficulty turned into a tutorial ("real game starts in nightmare"), ect. The game is pretty much confirmed to be coming to consoles, so I wouldn't be surprised if several of their design decisions have been influenced by this.

One thing I'm not at all happy about is the tieing difficulty level to playthroughs. I understand basic idea is that you get better as you play the game and gain skill in using the character, but the first playthrough is almost always so easy I get bored long before I get to the challenging difficulty levels.

Let me start on nightmare!

It really, really feels like a way to waste a bunch of my time so their marketing department has a bullet point.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

Got my invite a few days ago, and I've managed to play through the beta with a few characters. I hate to be negative (particularly because its a beta), but the beta left me feeling underwhelmed. The voice acting is somewhat stilted, the animations are . . . meh . . . and the gameplay doesn't seem to have evolved much since D2. Granted, there are a number of features that aren't in the demo that will have an impact on gameplay, but the whole beta experience has left me questioning whether I am actually going to pick the game up at all. All in all it is a bit sad. This is one title that I was strongly looking forward to.

Couple things I hope they put in the final version:

1. Ability to pan, zoom, and rotate the camera. I would be ok with simply being able to zoon the camera out and nothing else. But fixed isometric? C'mon.

2. More fluid animations, particularly for the monk. Right now it looks like his animations are from Street Fighter II or III. You see the start and the finish, but nothing in the middle. While I'm willing to accept the possibility that it is my rig, I doubt it. Fraps says that the game is running at a steady 60FPS (vsync on).

3. More diverse weapons. Maybe I'm just unlucky, but I only saw 1-2 weapon types for each character in my playthroughs.

4. More diverse voice acting between the characters. Each character type (in my opinion) should not say the "exact" same thing as every other character type.

5. More diverse options as to combat (or at least combat animations). I know its not fitting with the Diablo esque nature of combat, but would it really be so difficult to add some combos, animation variation etc. for the basic attacks and skills? Why must they look "exactly" the same? By the time my barbarian swung his sword the same way for the 100th time, I was completely sick of watching the same animation.

6. Hit tracking/detection needs to be improved for some character classes, particularly the monk's advanced skills.

Still hoping for a good bit of spit and polish on the final product. Right now its just iffy for me.

 

[JackSpadesSI]

One thing I'm not at all happy about is the tieing difficulty level to playthroughs. I understand basic idea is that you get better as you play the game and gain skill in using the character, but the first playthrough is almost always so easy I get bored long before I get to the challenging difficulty levels.

Let me start on nightmare!

It really, really feels like a way to waste a bunch of my time so their marketing department has a bullet point.

I'm not sure a Level 1 character in Diablo 2 would have stood a chance in even Act I of Nightmare. Not only would all of their stats be pathetic, but they'd have no useful skills, and they couldn't equip anything beyond the worst gear in the game. Even IF they could survive, they couldn't equip anything that dropped until they'd gained a couple dozen levels.

I'm not saying that I disagree with your premise (that the game is sort of boring when your character isn't being challenged by his/her environment), but your solution isn't the best option IMHO.

 

[SMOGZINN]

I'm not sure a Level 1 character in Diablo 2 would have stood a chance in even Act I of Nightmare. Not only would all of their stats be pathetic, but they'd have no useful skills, and they couldn't equip anything beyond the worst gear in the game. Even IF they could survive, they couldn't equip anything that dropped until they'd gained a couple dozen levels.

I'm not saying that I disagree with your premise (that the game is sort of boring when your character isn't being challenged by his/her environment), but your solution isn't the best option IMHO.

You are absolutly right, you can't simply let 1st level characters start in nightmare difficulty as it stands, because Nightmare is not really a difficulty setting it is just everything in the game given +50 levels.

 

[SMOGZINN]

Couple things I hope they put in the final version:

1. Ability to pan, zoom, and rotate the camera. I would be ok with simply being able to zoon the camera out and nothing else. But fixed isometric? C'mon.

This isn't going to change, they would almost certianly have to make major changes to the game engine for this to happen.

2. More fluid animations, particularly for the monk. Right now it looks like his animations are from Street Fighter II or III. You see the start and the finish, but nothing in the middle. While I'm willing to accept the possibility that it is my rig, I doubt it. Fraps says that the game is running at a steady 60FPS (vsync on).

While possible, I doubt this will happen. Graphics are being aimed at low end computers and consoles.

3. More diverse weapons. Maybe I'm just unlucky, but I only saw 1-2 weapon types for each character in my playthroughs.

I'm almost sure this is already in the game. All the diablo games have had new weapons introduced thoughout the game.

4. More diverse voice acting between the characters. Each character type (in my opinion) should not say the "exact" same thing as every other character type.

While it could happen, once again I doubt it. All the dialog would have been set long ago.

5. More diverse options as to combat (or at least combat animations). I know its not fitting with the Diablo esque nature of combat, but would it really be so difficult to add some combos, animation variation etc. for the basic attacks and skills? Why must they look "exactly" the same? By the time my barbarian swung his sword the same way for the 100th time, I was completely sick of watching the same animation.

Once again, I doubt it. Very quickly you get to the point in the game where you stop using basic attacks at all, so why put too much effort into the animations for them?

6. Hit tracking/detection needs to be improved for some character classes, particularly the monk's advanced skills.

I have not heard of this before, so I would have to check it out myself, but this is certianly the sort of thing they are still tweeking, you should definitly post something about this on the beta forums.

Still hoping for a good bit of spit and polish on the final product. Right now its just iffy for me.

This is a beta not a demo, part of the pact with Blizzard is that you give them feedback so they can improve the product. Go tell this to Blizzard so they know what to work on.

 

[Iron Wolf]

I agree with all your points, Soxfan. Especially the camera. They already have the WoW camera. I don't know why they don't just use that. They also really need to do something about the graphics, and optimize the performance. After all, people nailed SWTOR for having subpar graphics. This is 2012, after all. Games should look like it.

I'd hate for the game to be like Skyrim, though. Mostly, because I can't play first-person games. They make me motion sick.

I wonder if people are going to have the same reaction to D3 as to TOR, that is, wondering where all the time, energy and millions of dollars went, as they are clearly not visible in the game.

 

[Aikouka]

1. Ability to pan, zoom, and rotate the camera. I would be ok with simply being able to zoon the camera out and nothing else. But fixed isometric? C'mon.

I think that would almost make the game feel too different. With enough camera control, you could practically turn the game into a first or third person game, and that's definitely not Diablo.

At least the game will make any structure in your way invisible so you can see your character. I can't remember if Diablo II had that, but I'm pretty sure it didn't. I know WoW doesn't, and it annoys the crap out of me!

 

[Texashiker]

I think that would almost make the game feel too different. With enough camera control, you could practically turn the game into a first or third person game, and that's definitely not Diablo.

And? Does being able to rotate the camera "magically" make D3 not a "Diablo" game?

I do not understand why some of the people in the thread are objecting to anything outside of what they saw in Diablo I or II? Can't developers bring the Diablo series into the 21st century without so many people complaining about it?

There would be nothing wrong with giving people the option to play D3 in first person.

It seems to me that a lot of people in this thread can not think outside the box. In order for D3 to be a true "diablo" game, then it "has" to be exactly like D1 or D2? Forget that, if you want D2, go play D2.

 

[evident]

notsure if i'm into the individual loot drop thing. i played through it last night and was wondering, why the f isn't anyone picking up anything?!

 

[Texashiker]

notsure if i'm into the individual loot drop thing.

The individual loot drop is going to ruin trading across the classes.

No more trading that amazon to get a rare paladin sword.

<sarcasm>

Also, since individual loot drop was not in diablo II, it should not be in D3. After all, we have to hold true to what a diablo game is supposed to be.

</sarcasm>

 

[JackSpadesSI]

I have now come to share gothamhunter's conclusion about Texashiker from page 28 of this thread.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

The individual loot drop is going to ruin trading across the classes.

No more trading that amazon to get a rare paladin sword.

<sarcasm>

Also, since individual loot drop was not in diablo II, it should not be in D3. After all, we have to hold true to what a diablo game is supposed to be.

</sarcasm>

just because other players will not be able to pick up your loot does not mean all the loot you are dropped will be for your class. if the beta is any indication you will be a acquiring a lot of gear for other classes. i fail to see how individualized loot will have any impact on item trading.

 

[Texashiker]

just because other players will not be able to pick up your loot does not mean all the loot you are dropped will be for your class. if the beta is any indication you will be a acquiring a lot of gear for other classes. i fail to see how individualized loot will have any impact on item trading.

According to most of the fanboys in this thread, since individualized loot was not in diablo I or II, it should not be in DIII.

 

[rh71]

I know nothing about this game yet I committed a year subscription to WoW just to get this for free.

Is this game primarily multiplayer?

Is it subscription based? Last thing I want is another monthly fee.

How is it different from WoW?

Reading the main Blizz pages doesn't divulge much of this especially if we haven't played the first two.

 

[Pantlegz]

According to most of the fanboys in this thread, since individualized loot was not in diablo I or II, it should not be in DIII.

You're an idiot. Just because people don't want D3 to be 'more open' you're gonna troll? There are certain aspects of the game that make it feel like it's part of the Diablo franchise and an open world with more side quests isn't one of them. Making loot individualized isn't going to change the feeling of the game and it allows everyone to get their 'share' of the loot without worrying about how fast they click on whatever on the ground.

 

[Pantlegz]

I know nothing about this game yet I committed a year subscription to WoW just to get this for free.

Is this game primarily multiplayer?

Is it subscription based? Last thing I want is another monthly fee.

How is it different from WoW?

Reading the main Blizz pages doesn't divulge much of this especially if we haven't played the first two.

wow... It can be either single or multi, doesn't really matter. No sub. It's different from WoW because it's not an MMO for starters. It's a hack and slash dungeon crawler basically.

 

[Texashiker]

You're an idiot. Just because people don't want D3 to be 'more open' you're gonna troll?

Read through the thread, when someone post an idea, others are quick to shoot it down.

Go look at SMOGZINN post #706 as an example.

Its not "just" diablo 3 being more open that I do not like. But if you feel the need to pick a single thing that I listed and use that against me, go right ahead.

Lets make it very clear, there are lots of things I do not like about D3. Being linear is just one of them.

If you want to nit-pick and shoot down ideas, suggestions and complaints, I can play that same game.

Its a matter of respect, since you do not care to respect my opinion, expect the same from me towards your opinions.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

According to most of the fanboys in this thread, since individualized loot was not in diablo I or II, it should not be in DIII.

that really has nothing to do in regards to what I was commenting on. do you not care to acknowledge your FUD?

diablo is about loot, individualized loot eliminates ninja looting which is an improvement to the system.

shared stash wasn't in the original games, but it facilitates gear transfer between your chars. its a clear improvement.

these are enhancements to a well-established game formula.


saying diablo should be an open world quest driven RPG like fallout or skyrim just because you liked those games is retarded. no one is saying d3 cant be different from its predecessors, theres also no reason it needs to deviate from its tried and true roots. take the same game, tweak some crap, update the graphics and print money. its not hard to figure out. its not drastically different like any of those other games you mention bc it doesnt need to be.

aside from all that, you have played like the first part of the first part. you have d3 on training wheels. you would have to be ignorant to think the scope and size of the game stayed that small throughout. in reality, you have no idea what the later stages will be like.

 

[Aikouka]

Is this game primarily multiplayer?

No. The game can be played in single player or multiplayer. However, be aware that the game requires you to be online. Similar to WoW, each area will essentially be an instance.

Is it subscription based? Last thing I want is another monthly fee.

No.

How is it different from WoW?

The basic way to put it is that WoW is a MMORPG and Diablo is an Action RPG. The combat is somewhat similar in that it's not turn-based, but Diablo doesn't have target-based combat either.

Diablo and similar games are usually called "dungeon crawlers" or "loot whore" games, because some of the biggest draws are getting awesome pieces of loot. People that enjoy farming stuff in WoW may enjoy these obsessive compulsive aspects of Diablo.

 

[SMOGZINN]

Read through the thread, when someone post an idea, others are quick to shoot it down.

Go look at SMOGZINN post #706 as an example.

My post was not to shoot down his ideas. I think they are mostly great ideas. I just don't think that you can realistically expect them to change this late in development and that is what was pointing out. I do think he should take them to the Battle.net Beta forums. If enough of us complain about these things maybe some of them will get fixed.

If you want to nit-pick and shoot down ideas, suggestions and complaints, I can play that same game.

Its a matter of respect, since you do not care to respect my opinion, expect the same from me towards your opinions.

I think the problem is you are wanting to change some of the core mechanics that make it a Diablo style game. I agree they need to be more innovative, and do more with it to keep us interested, but they need to do that while still sticking to major parts of what makes it a Diablo game.

Just how much can you change before you no longer have the same game genre? I mean could we toss in guns and change the setting to post WW2? You have already suggesting making it first person, open world, quest driven. None of which fit into what people expect to see when they think of a Diablo game.

Just what makes it a diablo game, and at what point have you broken that?

 

[Texashiker]

diablo is about loot,

Diablo is not about loot. If you want to make loot runs all day long, that is fine with me, I liked playing the game.

saying diablo should be an open world quest driven RPG like fallout or skyrim just because you liked those games is retarded.

Your comment shows a lack of respect towards others, two can play that game.

HardcoreRobot, your opinion is retarded, D3 would be great with an open world. And none of your stupid excuses is going to change that.

theres also no reason it needs to deviate from its tried and true roots

Its been over a decade since DII was released. Like with TF2, I am willing to bet a lot of people that buy D3 never played the original. Play TF2, ask about Team Fortress Classic, and most people have never heard of TFC, much less played it. I imagine the same thing will happen with D3.

Just how much can you change before you no longer have the same game genre?

That same question was asked to Valve with TF2. Valve changed a whole lot of stuff between TFC and TF2.

Now look at TF2, its a massive success.

There was a lot of stuff changed from D1 to D2, and people loved D2.

D1 - dungeon crawler

D2 - few dungeons

I was really disappointed that D2 was moved from a dungeon to open fields, desert and jungle setting.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

Diablo is not about loot. If you want to make loot runs all day long, that is fine with me, I liked playing the game.



Your comment shows a lack of respect towards others, two can play that game.

HardcoreRobot, your opinion is retarded, D3 would be great with an open world. And none of your stupid excuses is going to change that.



Its been over a decade since DII was released. Like with TF2, I am willing to bet a lot of people that buy D3 never played the original. Play TF2, ask about Team Fortress Classic, and most people have never heard of TFC, much less played it. I imagine the same thing will happen with D3.



That same question was asked to Valve with TF2. Valve changed a whole lot of stuff between TFC and TF2.

Now look at TF2, its a massive success.

There was a lot of stuff changed from D1 to D2, and people loved D2.

D1 - dungeon crawler

D2 - few dungeons

I was really disappointed that D2 was moved from a dungeon to open fields, desert and jungle setting.

Again, you neglect to acknowledge your comment about class item trading being unfounded.

Secondly, I wont bother to defend my position that Diablo is about loot, ill let the following quote from an official blizzard spokesman do that (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/4325959/Systems_Changes-1_19_2012#blog):
"Diablo II captured the loot piñata feel by dropping a lot of crap, mostly arrows and bolts, and we of course still very much want that feeling of item-explosions."

Or if you prefer from the official website (http://us.blizzard.com/diablo3/world/systems/crafting.xml):
"As it was in previous games in the series, a big part of Diablo III is amassing piles and piles of loot. Collecting bigger, sturdier suits of armor. Finding an axe that's sharper, more brutal, and more perfectly aligned with your play-style and build than the last one. Sifting through the piles of wands, staves, and runes that explode out of slain creatures. "

Its not a lack of respect to others, just to you. You are basically the only person in this thread, and likely on the planet to whom your logic makes any sort of sense. Your ignorance borders on trolling.

 

[Texashiker]

Your ignorance borders on trolling.

The only one trolling this thread is you.

The loot drips in D2 were nice, but the items are not why I played the game.

There were companies in Romania and China that made real money from mining items on diablo II, then selling those items. If blizzard wants to presue that kind of commercialization, then more power to them,

I played D2 because it was a fun game. Even though D2 was fun, I did not find it as immerse as the original.

The original was ground breaking, some people might even call it revolutionary.

D2 brought new things to the table.

D3???? I just do not see anything that really stands out.

I can play left 4 dead 2, TF2 and Oblivion on high settings. But I had to turn down the graphics in D3 just to get it to play right. I think there is something wrong there.

Just "what" is d3 bringing to the table that is going to make gamers say "wow". So far I do not see it.

 

[CottonRabbit]

The loot drips in D2 were nice, but the items are not why I played the game.

That might not be why you played the game, but that IS why the vast majority played and played for years. Arguing against this is ridiculous. D2 perfected an extremely addictive formula, they don't need to bring anything new to the table to make D3 a success.