Thoughts on Diablo 3

[BloatedGuppy]

I've never played a Diablo game before, but I'm looking into buying this particular game. I can't yet, though, because my goddamn computer sucks. Namely, I'm having extreme gaming graphics issues. ANYWAY, I wanted to ask what people's problem with auto-skill point allocation is. Whenever it's an option, like in Mass Effect, I usually just go with it. And what about level-based skill learning? I'm not sure if anyone really complains about it in games like Final Fantasy 4; Rydia will always learn Bio at level 26, and not any earlier. To be honest, I find games in which you can allocated points to skills and stats freely needlessly stressful. I mean, what if I put too many points into the wrong things? I may want skill A right now, but what if I need skill B later? From what I've heard, I think I'd enjoy Diablo 3's skill and stat system more than Diablo 2's.

It's not auto point allocation. There really isn't any "point allocation" at all. Here's how it works.

You start with two skills. LMB, and RMB.

Eventually, at set level intervals, you add four more, triggered off the number keys.

In the default hand-holding mode, there are four options for each skill. In elective mode, you can choose from amongst all available options for each skill. New options unlock at set level intervals.

Additionally, you can set a rune for each skill. There are 5-6 runes for each skill, again unlocked at intervals.

Finally, you can have three passive skills, chosen from a pool of options. (unlocked at intervals).

Early on, and with elective system turned off (it defaults to off) this system feels quite restrictive. If you don't care for the skills you're getting in those initial few levels, you're pretty much boned until you put in some work leveling. Later on, it provides decent scope.

There's really no way to accidentally gimp yourself as you can change your skills around at any time. You're not locked into anything. So I highly recommend turning elective mode on in the gameplay options straight away and leaving it on. It just gives you a lot more flexibility and lets you shape the character a little more to your preference, instead of being locked into Blizzard's "suggestions".

Here's what Blizzard could have done. Revamped Diablo 2's graphics (D3's are only marginally better) kicked all the spambots off Battle.net and you'd already have a better (cheaper) less bullsh***ty game than Diablo 3 that still plays great.

They're significantly better, actually. Which is not to say they're remarkable, but Diablo 2 is not an attractive game. Diablo 3 also has a better sense of pop and impact, better particle effects, nice physics effects, etc.

Whether we really need more loot n' grind ARPGs is a question worth asking, and I'm really not sure we do, but let's not be ridiculous about the visuals.

 

[girzwald]

What i hate about D3 is the crafting and drop system is clearly made in favor of people getting worthless things most of the time, moreso than in D2, to keep them playing. But this time, its so blizzard can make bank on the RMAH.

 

[CrazyCapnMorgan]

So...let me ask a question. I played the beta and it left me with a sour taste, so I cancelled my Collector's Edition D3 and, instead, put that money towards Borderlands 2 Collector's Edition.

Was this decision a good use of money, in your opinion? (To be clear, I've pre-ordered the Collector's Edition with the scaled loot chest.)

 

[unstabLized]

I like it a lot. I'm not a usual type of player of these games, so I guess my opinion counts a bit less, but the game is overall fun, the skill system works for me, and the graphics are alright. So far, I've been playing non stop with a Wizard,and although its not usually the strongest character in the party, it can mess stuff up at a lot of different points. Designs look fine to me, story is.. eh, although I don't care for that too much. Although, it goes without saying that i prefer the game A LOT more when its in coop mode. Single would get boring really fast for me. I don't know why, Coop just makes me feel a lot better. Been taking the game slower then usual, don't want to run through the entire thing.

So yeah, score wise, I would give it around.. 8.5-9/10, so even though it's over priced, it's still a good game in my opinion.

 

[Ryotknife]

What i hate about D3 is the crafting and drop system is clearly made in favor of people getting worthless things most of the time, moreso than in D2, to keep them playing. But this time, its so blizzard can make bank on the RMAH.

this.

horribly this.

blizzard is known to make significant itemization snafu's in wow (as in nobody who played that class for over a hour would itemize a set for that class that way), but D3 takes it to a whole new level.

it is very common to use one item for 10-15 levels, because 1 out of every 100 magical item will be decent (not great, but usable) for you. same goes for rares, even legendaries.

i got my first legendary after 16 hours of play. it was one of the worst items ive ever seen in my entire life. utterly worthless to anyone.

Blizzard did not perform as well on D3 as they did on SC2. D3 is still a decent game, it just doesnt live up to "old school" blizzard standards. overall i would give it a 7.5-8/10

 

[SlaveNumber23]

Its great, the combat is fun and flows well and all the classes are unique compared to each other and fun to play as well. The companions offer a lot of personality, I love the banter between them and the hero, as well as how they hate on each other sometimes. My one criticism is that, for Acts 1 and 2 on the first play through at least, the game is a little too easy, but then again at least its better than being frustratingly hard. The coop is a lot of fun but the game strengthening enemies for every person you coop with doesn't seem balanced, it feels like the enemies aren't strengthened enough, especially the bosses. The server issues are unfortunate but, in my experience they haven't been anywhere near as bad as people make it out to be. Also I never played any of the other Diablo games so I don't have the ungrateful 'isn't true to the series' bias bullshit.

 

[girzwald]

What i hate about D3 is the crafting and drop system is clearly made in favor of people getting worthless things most of the time, moreso than in D2, to keep them playing. But this time, its so blizzard can make bank on the RMAH.

this.

horribly this.

blizzard is known to make significant itemization snafu's in wow (as in nobody who played that class for over a hour would itemize a set for that class that way), but D3 takes it to a whole new level.

it is very common to use one item for 10-15 levels, because 1 out of every 100 magical item will be decent (not great, but usable) for you. same goes for rares, even legendaries.

i got my first legendary after 16 hours of play. it was one of the worst items ive ever seen in my entire life. utterly worthless to anyone.

Blizzard did not perform as well on D3 as they did on SC2. D3 is still a decent game, it just doesnt live up to "old school" blizzard standards. overall i would give it a

7.5-8/10

ive been playing for a combined 24 hours, and havent seen 1 legendary.

And i feel you about the using 1 item for 10-15 levels. I got a nice 2h sword mid/late act 3 on normal, was using it till mid act 1 on nightmare. Not because I wanted to, but because nothing better would drop.

 

[Dio]

But can't I just like the game people? Maybe you think I don't deserve an opinion as I did not played diablo II or WoW. But I am enjoying this thoroughly. Just got into nightmare! =D

 

[Sunrider]

Halfway through Act 2 on Hell, playing as a Witch Doctor, and I think it absolutely DESTROYS Diablo 2 in almost every aspect. I kinda miss my Paladin, but my Monk alt is really fun too. I love it.
I played Diablo 2 when it was new, and I made it through Nightmare twice, I think. Never bothered with anything harder, because it bored me to tears. Not D3 though. Can't put my finger on exactly what, but I love it. I hope Torchlight 2 brings something different to the table so I can play both. Looking forward to it.

 

[OManoghue]

I have a guest pass, but it's fun enough. I have to decide by level 13 whether or not I wanna buy it.

 

[Exocet]

...Stop it with the nostalgia, Diablo 2 wasn't as perfect, nor customizable as you are making it to be.

The reason you have a Diablo 3 today is because we had Diablo 2 yester-year. And, frankly, the Diablo 3 you have is a fucking slap in the face to anyone who played Diablo 2. So, was it perfect? Well, it's twelve years later and no one has managed to beat it yet. Not even it's own sequel. So, it's about as perfect as we've seen so far.

So, please, stop it with the fanboy-ism. It's an underwhelming sequel, with lacklustre gameplay that doesn't justify the inflated cost. Torchlight 2 isn't amazing, sure, but it's $20.00, doesn't require an internet connection, is longer than eight hours and remains true to it's own series - Torchlight 2 is a proper, well crafted sequel.
Diablo 3 is a 5/10 game, at best. Assuming the servers are even working, of course.

Listen up, I've been Playing the Diablo series from the first day the first reinstatement came out. I've seen it's ups and downs.
Saying Diablo 2 was perfect is blatantly ignoring numerous things, including the fact that two entire acts were considered fucking boring, and the the skill system is in theory good and solid, but in reality, you dump the points required in previous skills and spells only to get the 2 you would wanted to use.
The interface was clunky, even by 2000's standards.
I can go on and on and on.
It was still a great game, but calling it perfect? Not a chance in hell. It was sometimes a drag, but I loved it as such.

Lackluster gameplay, I would like you to show me how, because last I checked, it was muct more engaging than D1 and D2's combined, being able to used more than 2 skills/spells and all.
D3 is only 8 hours long? Why yes, on normal difficulty. Congratz, you finished the tutorial. Start making hardcore characters, and we'll see if it's still only 8 hours long. 8 Hours, I might add, that will consists in you knowing roughly where you are going in the wild and liking every moment, rather than going on for hours in a dreary landscape.

And you have the nerve to call me a fanboy, then hold up Torchlight as a messiah. It's a great game, and the second one is on my watch list, but sometimes, people want *GASP* change, and not sticking to the same exact thing for decades. Diablo 2 changed from Diablo 1, just as Diablo 3 changed from Diablo 2. If you don't like the changes, don't go around telling others that since you don't like them, they are for the worse.

EDIT: I also love how you seem to think I'm defending the game as if my life and honor depended on it. I still have complaints about the game, as I have with all games.

 

[Brutal Peanut]

Barbarian - smashy smashy smash! I'm having a pretty good time, though I'm not exactly that hard to please and I've never been overly-critical. So,...*raspberry*

 

[Exocet]

Lackluster gameplay, I would like you to show me how, because last I checked, it was muct more engaging than D1 and D2's combined, being able to used more than 2 skills/spells and all.

I was about to take you seriously for a moment there but then I realized you're just lying so yeah, have fun. I'm off to play Torchlight 2.

Lying eh? I'd be insulted, but I don't give a fuck.
So admit for a second that I'm legit, give me an answer to my query.

 

[Saltychipmunk]

Why are people complaining about the skill system?
I think I infinitely better than D2's system, where you dumped points into crappy skills so you

.

there have been four methods blizzard have used to tackle the skill system thing , and all four have had major issues.

in diablo skills were ties to randomly dropped books , now this makes looting and exploration fun as hell , but it pretty much makes building a good character luck driven.

in diablo 2 the first iteration of the skill trees had no synergies. the plus side was that you could actually experiment. it took only 20 points to make most skills as powerful as they could be. by end game you could have around 4-5 fully maxed out skills to play around with , and these skills didn't even have to be related. However , because of how a skill tree works , character progression ensured that the latest and greatest (level 24 -30) skills would always be a better investment than say the level 1 skills.

blizzard then changed it to the whole synergy system , in an attempt to make low level skills viable and to make it so it was very difficult to solo hell. the problem is that now you have to spend nearly all of your skill points on synergies to make the two skills you will use viable. This destroyed any kind of variety in the game. But at the same time it made investing wisely a worthy endevour.


Now the current build of diablo 3s skills system is by far the worst , and here is why.
It has absolutely NO longevity. blizzard has traded the future of diablo3 for accessibility.

there is no reason to make more than one of any character. your stats will be the same , your skills will be the same loot is transferable and the levels are nearly static in layout.

I hate to say this , but the only reason diablo 2 is alive after 12 years is because of how restrictive the skill system was.

once i have all 5 classes , ill probably be done with diablo 3 for good.

another problem is that because of the over simplification of the skill system , the loot system has lost major depth.

the unique items in this game are a disgrace. they are quite literally shitty versions of rare items. I have gotten 30 rare gloves that all have better stats before I got even one magefist.

Blizzard has forgotten the whole reason for why diablo2's loot system was so addicting, why rune words and uniques were so desirable. BECAUSE said items actually did stuff that was UNIQUE.

what is so unique about what amounts to a RARER rare item with fixed stats that are shared with RARE items that are much more common?

and then there is the artizen system. It is completely broken. I read some where that it would literally take around 200 billion gold just to craft a level 14 gem from level 8 gems

it has not even been a month and I already don't bother picking up any kind of gem.

the black smith is just as bad , it takes an absurd amount of gold and ingredients to craft stuff.

here is an example:, rare helm takes 4000 to craft , 20 magic items worth of regents and then 5 rare regents , depending on the magic items this could be around 1000-5000 gold wasted by breaking them down. now there is not even a godo chance you will get what you want and this doesn't even factor the training.

i can get higher level rare gear with the desired stats on the auction house for as low as 5000 gold. so summarize 10 - 15 k to craft, and you might not want what u get , vs 5000 gold to get what you want.


yeah some one at blizzard id NOT think this stuff through now did they?

 

[Lunar Templar]

As for combat, I'm having difficulties clicking on my target rather than walking towards it, and not being able to move the camera or zoom to my chosen level can get annoying.

hold the shift button, that stops you from moving while attacking

anyway

I'm enjoying it.

i like the skill/rune system, mostly cause i've never been a fan of 'skill trees'. i like 'heres your skills for this level, no sort out wich one work for you' VS 'you need to sink X points here, here, here and HERE to get the skill you want', screw that gimme a list, lemme pick from it. also, the runes, i like how they function as enhancers or totally different skills.

class wise, i <3 my Demon Hunter, but all the other classes have a good feel about them, even the monk, which i hated in the open beta.

the gold AH it practically worthless, least far as I'm concerned, prices are to high and the Black Smith is turning out to be less helpful then i thought he'd be, leaving my to rely solely on drops, which is the only way to play a game like this anyway.

graphicly. i see no problem, nor to i see any 'WoW like' quality's to it, its brighter then the other 2 sure, but meh, i can tell what every thing is, nothing looks out of place far as effects go so i'm ok with it

 

[Syzygy23]

The Torchlight 2 Beta Gameplay on Youtube is more interesting.

TL2 spells from lvl1 are flashy aswell, but even worse then just flashy; they are crap in terms of dmg. Why use a spell that does 30% weapon dmg, when i can just autoattack for 100% dmg?
And who's brainiac idea was it to make splash dmg on weapons anyway? Gah!!

The artworks is more cartoonish then D3, to the points it's hard to target mobs, cause they blend in too much.
The music in TL2 is nice, but voice acting is fucking horrendous aswell.

So if you think that pot-spamming, autoattacking your way through mobs is fun, then go TL2.

captcha: "that's enough" yeah, it is

To be fair, if you play on at least veteran, you NEED all those potions. I went into one of the first dungeons with 20, and came out with 0, plus I was down to 1/4 health.

Also, the whole "do X% of your weapon damage" thing eventually allows you to do MORE damage than your weapon, it requires you to invest points into it though.

 

[Exocet]

Now the current build of diablo 3s skills system is by far the worst , and here is why.
It has absolutely NO longevity. blizzard has traded the future of diablo3 for accessibility.

there is no reason to make more than one of any character. your stats will be the same , your skills will be the same loot is transferable and the levels are nearly static in layout.

I hate to say this , but the only reason diablo 2 is alive after 12 years is because of how restrictive the skill system was.

once i have all 5 classes , ill probably be done with diablo 3 for good.

another problem is that because of the over simplification of the skill system , the loot system has lost major depth.

the unique items in this game are a disgrace. they are quite literally shitty versions of rare items. I have gotten 30 rare gloves that all have better stats before I got even one magefist.

Blizzard has forgotten the whole reason for why diablo2's loot system was so addicting, why rune words and uniques were so desirable. BECAUSE said items actually did stuff that was UNIQUE.

what is so unique about what amounts to a RARER rare item with fixed stats that are shared with RARE items that are much more common?

and then there is the artizen system. It is completely broken. I read some where that it would literally take around 200 billion gold just to craft a level 14 gem from level 8 gems

it has not even been a month and I already don't bother picking up any kind of gem.

the black smith is just as bad , it takes an absurd amount of gold and ingredients to craft stuff.

here is an example:, rare helm takes 4000 to craft , 20 magic items worth of regents and then 5 rare regents , depending on the magic items this could be around 1000-5000 gold wasted by breaking them down. now there is not even a godo chance you will get what you want and this doesn't even factor the training.

i can get higher level rare gear with the desired stats on the auction house for as low as 5000 gold. so summarize 10 - 15 k to craft, and you might not want what u get , vs 5000 gold to get what you want.


yeah some one at blizzard id NOT think this stuff through now did they?

There is no reason to make more than one character in normal, sure, but there is in hardcore.

As for the loot, I argue that quite on the contrary, it's game's entire customization depth. You can pick out any skill, provided you have the levels, but you also need the items to make your skills worthwhile, and that's where the hunting begins. During the entire game, you'll direct yourself towards one style of gameplay with each character, and your items will have to reflect that.
In D2, dagger necros had an ideal set, while teleport sorcs had another. In D3, there is no such thing. You craft, find, trade items to better fit how YOU want to play the skills YOU chose on that character.

The tough artisan's mechanic reflects exactly that. Those willing to put more hours into the game are rewarded with items that better reflect how they play.
Sure, you could get an item off auction house that's close to your personal ideal, or you could craft over and over until you have the exact item you want.

It's a different take on the economy, and only time will tell if it's any good.

By the way, trading accessibility for longevity is not the worst thing in the world. People who love the game will still play it, and people who want to try out the game can do so easily, without being flooded by complicated info, that Diablo vets consider common sense.

 

[Saltychipmunk]

The tough artisan's mechanic reflects exactly that. Those willing to put more hours into the game are rewarded with items that better reflect how they play.
Sure, you could get an item off auction house that's close to your personal ideal, or you could craft over and over until you have the exact item you want.

It's a different take on the economy, and only time will tell if it's any good.

By the way, trading accessibility for longevity is not the worst thing in the world. People who love the game will still play it, and people who want to try out the game can do so easily, without being flooded by complicated info, that Diablo vets consider common sense.

the you don't need time to tell you anything. prices for everything is dropping like a rock.

at the start of the game legendary items went for 100 k - a million gold.
now i see 50+ pages of these legendary items many of which go as low as 10k.

gems are even worse they crashed almost instantly.

rares are only doing well because of their variety.

as for the artizens ... they are only viable if the items they make are cheaper than the auction house items. and they are not, most stuff you can get from any artizen is 3 4 even 10 times more expensive than what you could get on the AH.

all things considered they are already dead weight existing only to remove gems from sockets and making staffs for the pink pony level.

also they are trading longevity for accessibility , you got those two words mixed up in your response.

and it is a major issue. Here is the thing , playing a game is an investment. A game needs to convince people to invest time in it. This is why rune words in diablo 2 took 2 years to find the items for. You did not need them , but they were there as something to work too.

alas here blizzard has removed alot of those incentives that are critical to longevity. hell I don't even see an expansion for this considering how they ended the game.

this game will lose 90% of its population in a year I promise

 

[Diddy_Mao]

So far I'm having a blast.

Got myself a Barbarian for questing with friends, a Mage for Solo play and a Hardcore Monk for making me want to hate myself when I inevitably get my dumb ass killed.

Yes, I agree that the online only thing is a bit dopey and yes it's more that a bit annoying when the servers are full/down but these are hardly deal breakers for me. I knew the job was dangerous when I took it.

If the occasional 0 day outage is enough for you to write off the game and never play it again then great. More room on the server for me.

 

[Don't taze me bro]

I'm really enjoying the game. Playing with friends is a lot of fun, especially with the individual drops, meaning if you're the sharing / caring type, there's more chance of getting something everyone needs.

My only real legitimate complaint about the game is having to play online, even for the single player. Playing in Australia, and having to connect to a foreign server means I play with anything from 240-440 ms. I have died to the lag monster countless times, especially since I'm a Demon Hunter, in Act 3 in Nightmare, and I'm squishy.

No local servers is ridiculous