I'm kind of hoping they slip in something similar to what Titan Quest did with higher difficulty levels - where in certain portions of some acts, there would be a tiny new area available with a new boss monster that you couldn't get into in an earlier difficulty level. Just a little bonus for those playing harder difficulty levels.
Since Inferno is supposed to be a plateau, you could slip in these extra bosses in various places without messing up the plateau, but give players another reason to run through ALL the content in Inferno - to see if they can get the bosses they couldn't get in Normal/Nightmare/Hell.
I was listening to an interview with the lead developer on Path of Exile (Chris Wilson) and he said that they tried something like this with a flat-difficulty where all the monsters are the same level with the same drop rates.
The idea was to get people playing whatever area of the game they like so they don't get bored of the same things. Apparently people just ended up playing areas with the least annoying monster AI and the ones they could kill the fastest. As a result people ended up in specializing in particular areas and just farming those. They ended up scrapping the idea.
Obviously Diablo 3 is a different game and they are going to be incentivizing playing other areas, but I hope this isn't an issue. Its just strange to have this the interview then a week later have 'Inferno' announced.
Coincidence? Yes. But an interesting one.
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"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool."
Twitter: @FreddyBushBoy
...but give players another reason to run through ALL the content in Inferno - to see if they can get the bosses they couldn't get in Normal/Nightmare/Hell.
Has to be elements that will make players want to run and complete the Inferno level repeatedly. Having to explore new content in the Inferno level will only be an one time thing.
I was thinking perhaps maps can be heavely randomized to the scale of sometimes running into dead ends, make the idea of constantly recreating the level works as an interesting end-game mechanic. Act 1's dungeon crossing into Act 3's area, that sort of thing. The uglier the better.
can you venture to any area of the INFERNO difficulty level from the very start of this difficulty, meaning no principal quests, or do you have to go through the same procedure as previous difficulties (like Nightmare and Hell) and finish INFERNO before you can roam freely?
From what I gather you can start in INFERNO difficulty and move freely to any location.... please confirm or deny.
can you venture to any area of the INFERNO difficulty level from the very start of the difficulty meaning no principal quests or do you have to go through the same procedure as previous difficulties and finish INFERNO before you can roam freely?
From what I gather you can start in INFERNO difficulty anywhere and roam freely to any location.... please confirm or deny.
While i have no concrete evidence, it makes complete sense that you would have to play through the entire game once again to unlock the whole thing. (I'm guessing because of achievements and such, like 'complete inferno').
Regardless of what they do, there will be an area in Inferno where you can get the most items / minute of grinding.
They say they want a flat difficulty curve and no incentive to do runs of a particular boss/area. The only way to guarantee this is to give all monsters in Inferno the same drop rates.
So that you don't grind the first area of Act 1 (or the first area which has the highest number of low-HP monsters) they would need to adjust the HP/Resistances of every monster in Inferno to be able to be killed at the same rate.
I know we shouldn't compare to D2, but the portal to Nilathark's temple that Anya made. That was a huge farming spot just for XP. If, in inferno, you could go to a similar style of location (near a portal or waypoint) and kill enemies quickly, then the incentive becomes to just grind that area.
Of course, they could simply just implement a 30 second or 1 minute timer on exiting a game and creating a new one.
I can never find the quotes when i need them, but there was a recent blue post about this issue, and addressing people asking if they will scale the monsters to be killed at the same rate. It was either jay or bash but they said they were toying with the thought of slightly screwing around with the drop rates to normalize inferno, so yea you can go into that area and decimate the 4k skeles, but added together they have the same drop rate as those huge berzerkers in a different area.
Regardless of what they do, there will be an area in Inferno where you can get the most items / minute of grinding.
They say they want a flat difficulty curve and no incentive to do runs of a particular boss/area. The only way to guarantee this is to give all monsters in Inferno the same drop rates.
So that you don't grind the first area of Act 1 (or the first area which has the highest number of low-HP monsters) they would need to adjust the HP/Resistances of every monster in Inferno to be able to be killed at the same rate.
I know we shouldn't compare to D2, but the portal to Nilathark's temple that Anya made. That was a huge farming spot just for XP. If, in inferno, you could go to a similar style of location (near a portal or waypoint) and kill enemies quickly, then the incentive becomes to just grind that area.
Of course, they could simply just implement a 30 second or 1 minute timer on exiting a game and creating a new one.
I heard they have incentives for those that explore
“We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about.” - Albert Einstein
Think about how long its going to take to get the best armor/runes/gems/etc.
with full pocket $$$$$$? It take 10min in AH, and u have full inferno equip, ofc not 1 week after release, but 1 month? easy if u accept high price, 6 months with big 'discount', because AH will be flooded with inferno items. Professional Chinese group farmers play 7 days in week ... 18h/day..., so dont worry, everyone will get top gear, sooner or later.
There is that saying again "Chinese Farmers" you do realize that the Chinese will be in their own realm, thus not affecting anyone in any other region of the world. Only the Chinese will have to worry about "Chinese Farmers".
Unless I'm just misunderstanding the word "Chinese", in that it just means somebody who plays a video game for 8+ hours a day for the purpose of selling virtual gear. If that is truly the case by saying "Chinese Farmer" you are formulating a stereotype about a specific race, thus actually saying something racist and it needs to stop.
I'm not trying to single you out, I just find it really annoying and disturbing.
Maybe there can be a new term to describe such people, I dunno maybe something like "Human item Vacuum" or "Manual Gear Retriever".
Unless I'm just misunderstanding the word "Chinese", in that it just means somebody who plays a video game for 8+ hours a day for the purpose of selling virtual gear. If that is truly the case by saying "Chinese Farmer" you are formulating a stereotype about a specific race, thus actually saying something racist and it needs to stop.
I agree with your overall message but Chinese is not a race, there are no races among humans were all just one/same race with different geographical adaptations.
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Playing Diablo since 97. I know nothing and having nothing good to say, I be a troll.
I signed up today just to get this discussion started:
Does anyone else think the item & weapon graphics for the inventory look awful compared to the gritty, "realistic," brutal graphics used in past Diablo games? I know the graphic style is becoming more colorful in general, and more akin to WoW's sensibilities - but I mean, that's a pretty radical departure from something that really sold the brutality and grimness of the universe.
Remember getting the Butcher's cleaver for the first time? By attaching glowing colors to the item graphic ON TOP of the in-game equipped style just seems like more than a little much.
Also, the items now being relegated to these boxes, all seemingly having the same uniform size I think diminishes the feeling of an "inventory," or the feeling that you're finding pieces of this shattered world. It's instead these really "software-referential" graphics that just tie to stats, as opposed to the collection of interesting artifacts from around this unique world.
I'm an artist who was heavily influenced by Metzen and Samwise as well as the general art style of "early" Blizzard (read: PRE-WoW) games, so obviously I'm being super-critical here, where most people might dismiss these things entirely (and embrace them).
I signed up today just to get this discussion started:
Does anyone else think the item & weapon graphics for the inventory look awful compared to the gritty, "realistic," brutal graphics used in past Diablo games? I know the graphic style is becoming more colorful in general, and more akin to WoW's sensibilities - but I mean, that's a pretty radical departure from something that really sold the brutality and grimness of the universe.
Remember getting the Butcher's cleaver for the first time? By attaching glowing colors to the item graphic ON TOP of the in-game equipped style just seems like more than a little much.
Also, the items now being relegated to these boxes, all seemingly having the same uniform size I think diminishes the feeling of an "inventory," or the feeling that you're finding pieces of this shattered world. It's instead these really "software-referential" graphics that just tie to stats, as opposed to the collection of interesting artifacts from around this unique world.
I'm an artist who was heavily influenced by Metzen and Samwise as well as the general art style of "early" Blizzard (read: PRE-WoW) games, so obviously I'm being super-critical here, where most people might dismiss these things entirely (and embrace them).
I like the butcher axe comparison and I agree with you on that aspect.
I've played D1 & D2 way too long and quite frankly I'm sick of the old school feel of the inventory. Going back to town every couple of minutes is VERY disruptive. Imagine your a hero in some tomb and you clear and room and run back to town because you can't carry anything anymore... that in a sense also defeats the adventuring feel for me.
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Playing Diablo since 97. I know nothing and having nothing good to say, I be a troll.
I totally agree on the practicality of it. Form follows function and all. But I think they could've found a better compromise between the old and new. It looks sloppy, ESPECIALLY with so many glowing items on that one screenshot. But it's also the renderings of the items themselves. They've gone from cool, gritty "semi-realistic" illustrations, to cartoons. Cartoons and vibrant colors (i know this has been debated endlessly in the past) are the antithesis of the Diablo art style.
It's just a weird and inappropriate design decision to try and make all of your unique franchises - each with similar, but very distinct stylistic differences bend towards a more dumbed-down, company-wide branding. It's like bands that build their careers on a classic, unique sound, and then deviate to pop crap and dismiss and discourage the sound that made them popular.
I hate the cartoon aspect as well, I blame WC3 for everything haha. I really enjoyed the dark aspect of D1, I wonder if they are sticking to a more colourful approach to appeal a broader gaming audience... beyond that I'm not sure maybe they have similar concept/designing people for multiple franchises. I don't know how to comment beyond that I'm just a numbers guy
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Playing Diablo since 97. I know nothing and having nothing good to say, I be a troll.
It seems like pandering to the lowest-common-denominator. They might've said "Hey! WC3 and WoW were hugely popular with this style - and they are our biggest sellers, so we should use it everywhere." - who knows. It's the idea of taking their franchises to a much broader demographic. It's not overbearing by any means, and would never prevent me from playing, but I don't see how someone decided "well, that old style didnt work, so lets just ditch it." I would argue the exact opposite. I think people would embrace a revival of that awesomeness and respect Blizzard even more for being able to dabble in something so unlike Warcraft.
It's just a weird and inappropriate design decision to try and make all of your unique franchises - each with similar, but very distinct stylistic differences bend towards a more dumbed-down, company-wide branding. It's like bands that build their careers on a classic, unique sound, and then deviate to pop crap and dismiss and discourage the sound that made them popular.
Do some of the higher armors look wow-esque? Sure. Will they continue to when covered in demon blood and bits? I don't know.
More importantly, will the monsters and environments look like Dalaran? My guess: <explitive deleted> NO!
I really think they can do a very good horror effect with proper use of blood and guts, as well as inspiring dread for opening a door or crossing a bridge (this will mostly be relevant on Hell and Inferno I think).
Nobody's head got bitten off by any monster in D2. That can happen in A1 of D3. I think the brightly-colored armor will provide a nice juxtaposition for how @#$@ed Sanctuary is now. And lets not forget Dyes.
DEATH TO THE COLOR! LONG LIVE THE <NEWLY CHOSEN BY ME> COLOR!
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Since Inferno is supposed to be a plateau, you could slip in these extra bosses in various places without messing up the plateau, but give players another reason to run through ALL the content in Inferno - to see if they can get the bosses they couldn't get in Normal/Nightmare/Hell.
The idea was to get people playing whatever area of the game they like so they don't get bored of the same things. Apparently people just ended up playing areas with the least annoying monster AI and the ones they could kill the fastest. As a result people ended up in specializing in particular areas and just farming those. They ended up scrapping the idea.
Obviously Diablo 3 is a different game and they are going to be incentivizing playing other areas, but I hope this isn't an issue. Its just strange to have this the interview then a week later have 'Inferno' announced.
Coincidence? Yes. But an interesting one.
Twitter: @FreddyBushBoy
They said that they will try to patch the game to counter exactly what you said. Only time will tell how successful they will be at it.
Has to be elements that will make players want to run and complete the Inferno level repeatedly. Having to explore new content in the Inferno level will only be an one time thing.
I was thinking perhaps maps can be heavely randomized to the scale of sometimes running into dead ends, make the idea of constantly recreating the level works as an interesting end-game mechanic. Act 1's dungeon crossing into Act 3's area, that sort of thing. The uglier the better.
can you venture to any area of the INFERNO difficulty level from the very start of this difficulty, meaning no principal quests, or do you have to go through the same procedure as previous difficulties (like Nightmare and Hell) and finish INFERNO before you can roam freely?
From what I gather you can start in INFERNO difficulty and move freely to any location.... please confirm or deny.
While i have no concrete evidence, it makes complete sense that you would have to play through the entire game once again to unlock the whole thing. (I'm guessing because of achievements and such, like 'complete inferno').
I can never find the quotes when i need them, but there was a recent blue post about this issue, and addressing people asking if they will scale the monsters to be killed at the same rate. It was either jay or bash but they said they were toying with the thought of slightly screwing around with the drop rates to normalize inferno, so yea you can go into that area and decimate the 4k skeles, but added together they have the same drop rate as those huge berzerkers in a different area.
I heard they have incentives for those that explore
Indeed. The randomly generated environment, mobs, and rare chests all play into rewarding the player for exploring.
Think about how long its going to take to get the best armor/runes/gems/etc. There better not be no f*cking reset.
There is that saying again "Chinese Farmers" you do realize that the Chinese will be in their own realm, thus not affecting anyone in any other region of the world. Only the Chinese will have to worry about "Chinese Farmers".
Unless I'm just misunderstanding the word "Chinese", in that it just means somebody who plays a video game for 8+ hours a day for the purpose of selling virtual gear. If that is truly the case by saying "Chinese Farmer" you are formulating a stereotype about a specific race, thus actually saying something racist and it needs to stop.
I'm not trying to single you out, I just find it really annoying and disturbing.
Maybe there can be a new term to describe such people, I dunno maybe something like "Human item Vacuum" or "Manual Gear Retriever".
I agree with your overall message but Chinese is not a race, there are no races among humans were all just one/same race with different geographical adaptations.
Does anyone else think the item & weapon graphics for the inventory look awful compared to the gritty, "realistic," brutal graphics used in past Diablo games? I know the graphic style is becoming more colorful in general, and more akin to WoW's sensibilities - but I mean, that's a pretty radical departure from something that really sold the brutality and grimness of the universe.
Remember getting the Butcher's cleaver for the first time? By attaching glowing colors to the item graphic ON TOP of the in-game equipped style just seems like more than a little much.
Also, the items now being relegated to these boxes, all seemingly having the same uniform size I think diminishes the feeling of an "inventory," or the feeling that you're finding pieces of this shattered world. It's instead these really "software-referential" graphics that just tie to stats, as opposed to the collection of interesting artifacts from around this unique world.
I'm an artist who was heavily influenced by Metzen and Samwise as well as the general art style of "early" Blizzard (read: PRE-WoW) games, so obviously I'm being super-critical here, where most people might dismiss these things entirely (and embrace them).
I like the butcher axe comparison and I agree with you on that aspect.
I've played D1 & D2 way too long and quite frankly I'm sick of the old school feel of the inventory. Going back to town every couple of minutes is VERY disruptive. Imagine your a hero in some tomb and you clear and room and run back to town because you can't carry anything anymore... that in a sense also defeats the adventuring feel for me.
It's just a weird and inappropriate design decision to try and make all of your unique franchises - each with similar, but very distinct stylistic differences bend towards a more dumbed-down, company-wide branding. It's like bands that build their careers on a classic, unique sound, and then deviate to pop crap and dismiss and discourage the sound that made them popular.
Do some of the higher armors look wow-esque? Sure. Will they continue to when covered in demon blood and bits? I don't know.
More importantly, will the monsters and environments look like Dalaran? My guess: <explitive deleted> NO!
I really think they can do a very good horror effect with proper use of blood and guts, as well as inspiring dread for opening a door or crossing a bridge (this will mostly be relevant on Hell and Inferno I think).
Nobody's head got bitten off by any monster in D2. That can happen in A1 of D3. I think the brightly-colored armor will provide a nice juxtaposition for how @#$@ed Sanctuary is now. And lets not forget Dyes.
DEATH TO THE COLOR! LONG LIVE THE <NEWLY CHOSEN BY ME> COLOR!