This guy wins pretty much every race he enters in PoE which puts everyone on the same level (1 hour, 3 hour, etc set playing time starting from complete scratch with no advantages given to anyone). I know you dismiss that certain players are way above the norm but when they win near 100% of the races (Kripp crushing ~2000 to 5000 people over and over) and always finish top (Reckful just had Rank 1 on 2 different classes in WoW again for instance) I guess it could all be luck. I'm still waiting on my turn at a good dice roll :-)
The only part of this I question is the ~2000-5000 over and over again part. From what I see, sorted by total amount of races participated in: Kripp partcipiated in 83 total races in season 1, the guy sitting at 2000, participated in 17 total races in season 1, and the guy sitting at 5000 participated in 6 total races.
If I had to guess (nothing more than that) I'd say the approximation would be closer to 200-500 that are actually participating in races on a consistent basis.
Well one thing im not a kripp/crapp follower but the things he says are right.He has more experience.
Now if someone better than kripp came along and directly challenged his views then that would be cool.Someone who could crush kripp in gaming.However comments like "Kripp knows nothing" sounds lame from gamers who are still posting on forums about what they should buy with their 300m.
Now im gonna get a lot of posts about how "We got family,kids and wives to fuck(That had really made me LOL hard) and kripp has time." If you not got time,its not kripp's fault he has.Time is required to play games too.
Its like inviting someone to a feat of strength and then whining after losing that he had more time to excercise.
Look im not saying kripp's the best.But i am not at a level to challenge him simply because he has more experience.I have not won every race i have entered in.I have not beat diablo pre-nerf.Kripp has.So he is better.
However if someone along the same lvl of skill as kripp challenged him it would sound more appropriate rather than giving a hint of jealousy.
Do the accomplishments that Kripparian has accumulated define him as a good player?
For me the answer is no, it makes him an accomplished player, he is likely good though. Not revolutionary or inventive.
To me his accomplishments are mostly a credit to time spent playing and the through help of others. He did not do it alone. He discredits himself by playing so much and then saying how terrible it is. If it captured his attention for so many hours it was awesome. How does anything else he has to say after that means anything to anyone?
I do not feel anything he has done make him an expert on how games should be developed or fixed. This is an extremely competitive industry, if smart people thought he could help, he would be employed or approached to develop a game.
Games should not be made for people like him. The opposite is true. I have been playing games and following forums since their inception. You can NEVER please people who devour content or play as much he does. It is a losing proposition to try. His play style combined with what I have heard him say and what I have seen him post leads me to reason that this is not a person I need to listen to, interested in his opinion and it make him less qualified to speak for the masses.
In a nutshell, I think his opinions are no more meaningful than anyone else’s and if pressed I would say opinions should carry very much less weight or influence because he is such an outlier compared to the common player. In short, he should be ignored. I understand why people prop him up to be more than he is, he has the same opinion as they do, look “Kripparian agrees with me therefore I must be correct”…not so much.
I don't respect any of those so called celebrities, since the beginning I've said "tighten the affixes so that inferno items roll only with inferno affixe ranks", and this is exactly what the devs are aiming for next with the itemization and it is what will "save" the game for the most part. So there you have it, these so called expert all shared their wisdom and great ideas on their streams, but all along I held a superior opinion and better position to theirs, which in turn means I had a better understanding of the game and of the players, casual, hardcore, every player, except the AH players, but I care about Diablo not the auction house.
Athene is a character. An actual character. He steps out of it from time to time and has done a lot of great charity work. People watch him for his character that he has developed. Personally, I dont like it but other people obviously do. From what little I have seen of him out of character, he seems like a pretty good guy.
Kripp is not a character. He is how he is. He is very elitist and has been since WoW. However, in WoW it was much less of him and much more of his guild. His guild exploited the shit out of anything they could. Since he started streaming D3 and beyond, I see now that much of what his guild did is probably because of decisions that he made (though many in the higher circles share his mentality, so probably not much persuasion was needed). I despise him because he is so consistently negative. It is never a straight up "this is so fun" it is always "this is so broken" or "this game is fun, much more fun than this other game".
Basically, he is the exact personality that is opposite of mine and the one that I hate the most. He is the businessman that will trash talk his co-worker to get that promotion. The one that will steal secrets to get ahead. He is, almost purely, about himself. Or at least, this is how it reflects on me when I see him and hear him talk.
edit: meh im not gunna hate the player or the game. it really doesnt matter to me. i feel like live streaming myself and see if i can get any faithful viewers but im not really that good and i dont have extravagant gear or anything. but ill put up a live stream for duels tonight and see how that goes. it would be nice to put some money in my pocket if i got a fan base so im not gunna hate on these guys cause they do. honestly im a little jealous that they get paid to do their hobby.
the way i feel is dont worry about other people worry about yourself. you are better off that way.
I don't respect any of those so called celebrities, since the beginning I've said "tighten the affixes so that inferno items roll only with inferno affixe ranks", and this is exactly what the devs are aiming for next with the itemization and it is what will "save" the game for the most part. So there you have it, these so called expert all shared their wisdom and great ideas on their streams, but all along I held a superior opinion and better position to theirs, which in turn means I had a better understanding of the game and of the players, casual, hardcore, every player, except the AH players, but I care about Diablo not the auction house.
I find it hard to believe that most people didn't think the auction house was part of the problem to begin with. I'm sure it has defenders though and anyone still playing obviously likes something about the game that I didn't.
1.0.8 has a lot of social fixes which is nice. Mob density changes are nice as well. I remember wishing mobs would surround me through most of the acts instead of having to search for them.
1.0.9 will be the item patch? This is cool for a fresh character but I finished the game in half blues/half rares the day after the initial Inferno nerf patch. I guess I could put on cheap blues and simulate the self found gear.
My Diablo 2 memories were gone by the time D3 hit. I've recently installed the game but still haven't loaded it up because most of my spare time is taken up by PoE. Most of my thoughts on where D3 has problems comes from seeing how PoE does things and from fragments of D2 rose-tinted glass memories. I usually quit games I don't like instead of trashing them in forums but the Diablo franchise has a special place in my heart.
I check out Diablofans to see the progress being made on D3 and glanced up at the forum section and you guys sucked me into this topic. I start off games blind without forums/streamers/chat and then I watch Kripp and other streams to see what the top players are doing and how many things I got wrong. I saw this transpire live and didn't think anything of it. It was Kripp's first time talking to Alkazier who he just raced against and I think the general feeling of what was said matters more than the way it was said. It is something even the people on this forum that are slamming Kripp/Alk are willing to admit. The game has issues that are still being worked on. Unless you think the game is fine the way it is right now or will be fine in 1.0.8 or 1.0.9 you are very much on their bandwagon. And that is a good thing because it means Blizzard will keep dumping their development dollars into the game until it drags the franchise name out of the mud they put it in.
Diablo 3 will have an expansion but if the game isn't in a good place when that hits you won't see a repeat of the D3 launch. You'll see a dead franchise. And that is something everyone of us including the 2/3 streamers in the video don't want to see.
EDIT: I meant to add after 1.0.9 that the problem wouldn't be as bad if a ladder system was in place or that you could roll more than 10(?) characters. Nothing that hasn't been said a million times before by those longing for D2 though.
why hasnt blizzard added new items that perhaps either require paragon levels or something. Add new slots or something cause i dont know if theres any reason to farm anymore. I think mempo is the only 1 item left in the game thats worth finding and when theres only 1 item its like snore fest for me atleast.
Add something please; Add a map creator for creating more zones. Perhaps make it require a paragon level or something so it gives people an incentive to reach higher pparagon levels.
why hasnt blizzard added new items that perhaps either require paragon levels or something. Add new slots or something cause i dont know if theres any reason to farm anymore. I think mempo is the only 1 item left in the game thats worth finding and when theres only 1 item its like snore fest for me atleast.
Add something please; Add a map creator for creating more zones. Perhaps make it require a paragon level or something so it gives people an incentive to reach higher pparagon levels.
Have self found mode only.
Have races and a ladder system
If you played Diablo 2 for more than 10 months, what would be the point to continue playing more? What would be a reason to farm more?
A point raised often in this thread is that players such as Kripparrian, who play a game many hours a day, are not skilled. They only succeed in what they do because they put in a lot of time. If you don't become good at something for doing something over and over again, how exactly do you achieve the skill?
What is skill determined by? Can knowledge of how a game works be classified as skill? I would say absolutely.
As an example, if you were playing some skill-based game (such as StarCraft) and you knew all of the counters to any build your opponent could be using, you could be considered a skilled player. You've shown that you have played the game a lot, and as such are able to succeed when others may become overwhelmed or confused.
Kripparrian spends so much of his time learning exactly how the game's mechanics work, and he tries to find ways to defeat them, or get around them. In my honest opinion, his knowledge and dedication make him a skilled player, even though he is not the only one out there discovering new strategies and techniques.
I find it hard to believe that most people didn't think the auction house was part of the problem to begin with. I'm sure it has defenders though and anyone still playing obviously likes something about the game that I didn't.
You can count me as one of those people that does not feel the AHs ruined the game. I think the AH argument is a mask for a bigger problem that D3 has.
In my opinion the problem with D3 is that the developers were trying to maintain a balanced economy based around the assumptions that players will be playing their game 10+ hours a day for years on end.
It's sort of ironic that the AH argument is still being used to explain why D3 was bad. PoE is a prime example of a game that doesn't have an AH yet still exhibits the same exact itemization flaws that D3 possesses.
If you played Diablo 2 for more than 10 months, what would be the point to continue playing more? What would be a reason to farm more?
Disclaimer: I don't like ladder.
Various mechanics of the game allowed for more replayability.
The ladder was part of it but you didn't have to participate. The ladder helped the social aspect because those that competed in it logged in. A sense of competition also can make the game interesting for some people.
Builds required more commitment than a slot machine arcade game to implement. So if you decided spinning wasn't your thing you had to start a new character and had the slots to do it. The level of care you had to have for your character was greater than that of D3. When you log into your account those characters feel like yours. In D3 you could log into any 60 character and would barely notice a difference.
I agree the thousand Baal runs got boring to me. I believe I quit before Uber Diablo but my memory is cloudy because I had RL friends that still played and I got to see things in the game well after I stopped playing.
The things I would have changed:
- The arcade talent system of D3. I'm pretty sure everyone still playing likes it though and it can't be changed until D4 without serious community outrage. Gem skill systems or D2's build system feel better to me.
- Ladder system. Hating it doesn't mean you have to participate in it.
- Maps. Imagination is the only limitation for this and would offer nice end game replayability.
- Races. With the item changes in 1.0.9 this could actually work out. A real sense of community can be created here as you aim for top 500 Witch Doctor especially with party races.
- Item modifications. PoE spoils (and crushes wills... damn you 6 link!) but it is a fun and avoidable meta game that adds depth. I know this is the first time it has been said but D3 could maybe use a little more depth.
Maps / Races are the easiest to implement and would add the most to the game after 1.0.9's item changes.
A point raised often in this thread is that players such as Kripparrian, who play a game many hours a day, are not skilled. They only succeed in what they do because they put in a lot of time. If you don't become good at something for doing something over and over again, how exactly do you achieve the skill?
What is skill determined by? Can knowledge of how a game works be classified as skill? I would say absolutely.
As an example, if you were playing some skill-based game (such as StarCraft) and you knew all of the counters to any build your opponent could be using, you could be considered a skilled player. You've shown that you have played the game a lot, and as such are able to succeed when others may become overwhelmed or confused.
Kripparrian spends so much of his time learning exactly how the game's mechanics work, and he tries to find ways to defeat them, or get around them. In my honest opinion, his knowledge and dedication make him a skilled player, even though he is not the only one out there discovering new strategies and techniques.
The games that he plays reward time investment more than skill investment. He is good with time management and has built a lot of contacts within the community that collaborate and figure things out. Most of what he uses is something that somebody else figured out and he learned of (contacts). His dedication is a redeeming quality, I will give you that.
Also, while SC is a game based around knowledge you can beat many people without said knowledge. You can sheer skill your way to very high rankings. The addition of knowledge with that skill is what makes you a professional.
I have an honest question for the PoE players out there.
What, specifically, do you think will cause you to continue to play PoE for years and years to come?
they have new contents out every week, new ladder season, new races, new pvp formats and leagues. POE put out new stuffs way quicker than blizzard ever did, with a very small budget compare to what blizzard has in its arsenal.
i don't expect much from d3 in terms of new content since it's using a different business model; however, the fact blizzard can't even implement a simple concept like ladders is mind blowing. a dev team with only 16 men can come up with more great ideas than a multi-billions dollars company does, wouldn't you think that's a little ridiculous?
can you imagine how many people would try a 2-3 hrs race in diablo 3? a little competition can make the game refreshing and it is what keeping people in the game. And d3 "brawling" is so bad compare to the POE's current pvp system. GGG is creating new leagues and more pvp formats/balances just for ppl who only want to pvp.
I have an honest question for the PoE players out there.
What, specifically, do you think will cause you to continue to play PoE for years and years to come?
they have new contents out every week, new ladder season, new races, new pvp formats and leagues. POE put out new stuffs way quicker than blizzard ever did, with a very small budget compare to what blizzard has in its arsenal.
i don't expect much from d3 in terms of new content since it's using a different business model; however, the fact blizzard can't even implement a simple concept like ladders is mind blowing. a dev team with only 16 men can come up with more great ideas than a billions dollars company, wouldn't you think that's a little ridiculous?
can you imagine how many people would try a 2-3 hrs race in diablo 3? a little competition can make the game refreshing and it is what keeping people in the game. And d3 "brawling" is so bad compare to the POE's current pvp system. GGG is creating new leagues and more pvp formats/balances just for ppl who only want to pvp.
People would try the race once then realize they are completely outclassed by the top .01% and not bother anymore.
Also, the reason D3 is slower is because people have higher expectations for Blizzard. If it isnt completely bug free and 100% polished when it is released, people complain. Lots of people. It hurts their established reputation for their other games even. Dev's on PoE dont have to worry about that. They can push something out quickly and be like "whoops, that didnt work" and take it out. They dont have a reputation yet.
i don't expect much from d3 in terms of new content since it's using a different business model; however, the fact blizzard can't even implement a simple concept like ladders is mind blowing. a dev team with only 16 men can come up with more great ideas than a billions dollars company, wouldn't you think that's a little ridiculous?
A top 100/1000 list is supposed to motivate 1-3 million players?
I have an honest question for the PoE players out there.
What, specifically, do you think will cause you to continue to play PoE for years and years to come?
they have new contents out every week, new ladder season, new races, new pvp formats and leagues. POE put out new stuffs way quicker than blizzard ever did, with a very small budget compare to what blizzard has in its arsenal.
i don't expect much from d3 in terms of new content since it's using a different business model; however, the fact blizzard can't even implement a simple concept like ladders is mind blowing. a dev team with only 16 men can come up with more great ideas than a billions dollars company, wouldn't you think that's a little ridiculous?
can you imagine how many people would try a 2-3 hrs race in diablo 3? a little competition can make the game refreshing and it is what keeping people in the game. And d3 "brawling" is so bad compare to the POE's current pvp system. GGG is creating new leagues and more pvp formats/balances just for ppl who only want to pvp.
I'm all for more options for players. I think it would be great if D3 implemented stuff like races/ladder system into the game for those players that are looking for competition in the game, so long as any rewards from races/ladder system are pure cosmetic. I start to hate these systems once they start introducing "ladder only" items that pigeon hole players to play that certain way.
And for the bold part, it may be a just a matter of me misunderstanding or poor phrasing, but either way the PoE dev team didn't come up with the ladder system like you seem to indicate. Truthfully outside of races, and the different permutations of the races which is certainly a fresh take on the ARPG genre the majority of the ideas in their game are just borrowed from other games including the ladder system.
People would try the race once then realize they are completely outclassed by the top .01% and not bother anymore.
that's why there are many different race formats and different tiers of prize pool. In POE, you can always just go for the minimum and earn points that way to receive prizes. they have a system where you could accumulate points base on how many races you've participated, and once you reach a certain thresholds you would receive prizes according to how much effort you've put in, and the reward is not even that shitty. you don't have to be the top 20 players in every single time in racing. of course, those 20 players deserve the best rewards because they're the best of the best.
and i'm not even proposing a permanent ladder league since many people would feel like there's a segregation going on. these are short races which anyone can participate. a lot of people just play it for fun and meet the minimum requirement for small prizes.
of course, all the reward items are pure cosmetic in poe. there's no ladder-only items either. everything given from the ladder prize pool you could also find them in game. they just look different, but the stats are exactly the same.
Also, the reason D3 is slower is because people have higher expectations for Blizzard. If it isnt completely bug free and 100% polished when it is released, people complain. Lots of people. It hurts their established reputation for their other games even. Dev's on PoE dont have to worry about that. They can push something out quickly and be like "whoops, that didnt work" and take it out. They dont have a reputation yet.
i call this one bs. when GGG release a new patch every week, some of the changes are really bad and the community immediately complains. the POE dev acts so much quicker when people report a game breaking bug. They fix dat shit on the same day or even within hours! blizzard acts so retardedly slow sometimes when it comes to fixing the game. you usually have to wait til the next day to see it get done. i remember back then there was this invulnerable archon mode which people reported on the bug forum months ago. it made people think did they even actively keep in touch with their community at all.
when GGG release a new patch every week, some of the changes are really bad and the community immediately complains. the POE dev acts so much quicker when people report a game breaking bug. They fix dat shit on the same day or even within hours! blizzard acts so retardedly slow when it comes to fixing the game. you usually have to wait til the next day to see it get done. i remember back then there was this invulnerable archon mode which people reported on the bug forum months ago. it made people think did they even actively keep in touch with their community at all.
PoE is open beta. Diablo is released. PTR / Open Beta is a much better comparison for now.
100% agree Blizzard is slow on reacting to bugs/issues. I may need to find a human shield if I mention those bugs on the forums for months got fixed the day after a streamer showed them ... so I won't mention that :-P
I have an honest question for the PoE players out there.
What, specifically, do you think will cause you to continue to play PoE for years and years to come?
they have new contents out every week, new ladder season, new races, new pvp formats and leagues. POE put out new stuffs way quicker than blizzard ever did, with a very small budget compare to what blizzard has in its arsenal.
PoE is in BETA.
Of course it's getting new adds.
I'm not a fan of ladders and I don't even want to know what kind of Mario Cart bullshit these races are. Having my name at the top of a list is not a care of mine.
I honesty feel the core of PoE, it's gameplay mechanics in combat specifically, is poor and this aspect will wear down on people. I get this feeling people are trying to champion PoE to spite Diablo, and this is not a sustainable practice.
I'm still not hearing anything intrinsic about PoE that will have players stuck to it for 6+ years. They seem to have a very inspired itemization and a (overly?) complex skill system, which I credit them for. However, without good, smooth gameplay mechanics, none of that will matter for long.
From what I've seen, in terms of combat/gameplay, PoE isn't in the same league as D3. Not even remotely comparable.
Desync is an issue? Don't you see the beta tag? Itemization/Maps are bad? Don't you see the beta tag? To me the game is out of beta at this point and it is just a formality. Closed Beta was nothing more than than an Open Beta with a $10 opt in fee. PoE is going to be in beta as long as they can get away with it.
They also need to release content on a weekly basis to keep up people buying their micro transactions/creating unique because that is what funds the game. If they stopped releasing stuff that made people want to create a new character then they wouldn't have a player base to fund their game any longer.
And truthfully both games are just as bad as the other in terms of response time from devs and it isn't either one of their faults. Every time the community starts to complain they can't just make rash decisions that alter game play without understanding the changes that they are making beforehand. Both games have very complex systems at the core, so it takes a lot of time to understand the issue, figure out a solution and incorporate it all together then package all the changes in nice little patch notes that the users can easily read. Versioning is NOT an easy task by any means.
Guaranteed that the same people who complain about response time would be the first people to bitch, "Man don't they test things?" if they rolled out quick fixes that introduced even more bugs.
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The only part of this I question is the ~2000-5000 over and over again part. From what I see, sorted by total amount of races participated in: Kripp partcipiated in 83 total races in season 1, the guy sitting at 2000, participated in 17 total races in season 1, and the guy sitting at 5000 participated in 6 total races.
If I had to guess (nothing more than that) I'd say the approximation would be closer to 200-500 that are actually participating in races on a consistent basis.
Do the accomplishments that Kripparian has accumulated define him as a good player?
For me the answer is no, it makes him an accomplished player, he is likely good though. Not revolutionary or inventive.
To me his accomplishments are mostly a credit to time spent playing and the through help of others. He did not do it alone. He discredits himself by playing so much and then saying how terrible it is. If it captured his attention for so many hours it was awesome. How does anything else he has to say after that means anything to anyone?
I do not feel anything he has done make him an expert on how games should be developed or fixed. This is an extremely competitive industry, if smart people thought he could help, he would be employed or approached to develop a game.
Games should not be made for people like him. The opposite is true. I have been playing games and following forums since their inception. You can NEVER please people who devour content or play as much he does. It is a losing proposition to try. His play style combined with what I have heard him say and what I have seen him post leads me to reason that this is not a person I need to listen to, interested in his opinion and it make him less qualified to speak for the masses.
In a nutshell, I think his opinions are no more meaningful than anyone else’s and if pressed I would say opinions should carry very much less weight or influence because he is such an outlier compared to the common player. In short, he should be ignored. I understand why people prop him up to be more than he is, he has the same opinion as they do, look “Kripparian agrees with me therefore I must be correct”…not so much.
Kripp is not a character. He is how he is. He is very elitist and has been since WoW. However, in WoW it was much less of him and much more of his guild. His guild exploited the shit out of anything they could. Since he started streaming D3 and beyond, I see now that much of what his guild did is probably because of decisions that he made (though many in the higher circles share his mentality, so probably not much persuasion was needed). I despise him because he is so consistently negative. It is never a straight up "this is so fun" it is always "this is so broken" or "this game is fun, much more fun than this other game".
Basically, he is the exact personality that is opposite of mine and the one that I hate the most. He is the businessman that will trash talk his co-worker to get that promotion. The one that will steal secrets to get ahead. He is, almost purely, about himself. Or at least, this is how it reflects on me when I see him and hear him talk.
the way i feel is dont worry about other people worry about yourself. you are better off that way.
I find it hard to believe that most people didn't think the auction house was part of the problem to begin with. I'm sure it has defenders though and anyone still playing obviously likes something about the game that I didn't.
1.0.8 has a lot of social fixes which is nice. Mob density changes are nice as well. I remember wishing mobs would surround me through most of the acts instead of having to search for them.
1.0.9 will be the item patch? This is cool for a fresh character but I finished the game in half blues/half rares the day after the initial Inferno nerf patch. I guess I could put on cheap blues and simulate the self found gear.
My Diablo 2 memories were gone by the time D3 hit. I've recently installed the game but still haven't loaded it up because most of my spare time is taken up by PoE. Most of my thoughts on where D3 has problems comes from seeing how PoE does things and from fragments of D2 rose-tinted glass memories. I usually quit games I don't like instead of trashing them in forums but the Diablo franchise has a special place in my heart.
I check out Diablofans to see the progress being made on D3 and glanced up at the forum section and you guys sucked me into this topic. I start off games blind without forums/streamers/chat and then I watch Kripp and other streams to see what the top players are doing and how many things I got wrong. I saw this transpire live and didn't think anything of it. It was Kripp's first time talking to Alkazier who he just raced against and I think the general feeling of what was said matters more than the way it was said. It is something even the people on this forum that are slamming Kripp/Alk are willing to admit. The game has issues that are still being worked on. Unless you think the game is fine the way it is right now or will be fine in 1.0.8 or 1.0.9 you are very much on their bandwagon. And that is a good thing because it means Blizzard will keep dumping their development dollars into the game until it drags the franchise name out of the mud they put it in.
Diablo 3 will have an expansion but if the game isn't in a good place when that hits you won't see a repeat of the D3 launch. You'll see a dead franchise. And that is something everyone of us including the 2/3 streamers in the video don't want to see.
EDIT: I meant to add after 1.0.9 that the problem wouldn't be as bad if a ladder system was in place or that you could roll more than 10(?) characters. Nothing that hasn't been said a million times before by those longing for D2 though.
Path of Exile - CleavieWonder (Elemental Cleave)
why hasnt blizzard added new items that perhaps either require paragon levels or something. Add new slots or something cause i dont know if theres any reason to farm anymore. I think mempo is the only 1 item left in the game thats worth finding and when theres only 1 item its like snore fest for me atleast.
Add something please; Add a map creator for creating more zones. Perhaps make it require a paragon level or something so it gives people an incentive to reach higher pparagon levels.
Have self found mode only.
Have races and a ladder system
If you played Diablo 2 for more than 10 months, what would be the point to continue playing more? What would be a reason to farm more?
Disclaimer: I don't like ladder.
Ha. Bagstone.
What is skill determined by? Can knowledge of how a game works be classified as skill? I would say absolutely.
As an example, if you were playing some skill-based game (such as StarCraft) and you knew all of the counters to any build your opponent could be using, you could be considered a skilled player. You've shown that you have played the game a lot, and as such are able to succeed when others may become overwhelmed or confused.
Kripparrian spends so much of his time learning exactly how the game's mechanics work, and he tries to find ways to defeat them, or get around them. In my honest opinion, his knowledge and dedication make him a skilled player, even though he is not the only one out there discovering new strategies and techniques.
You can count me as one of those people that does not feel the AHs ruined the game. I think the AH argument is a mask for a bigger problem that D3 has.
In my opinion the problem with D3 is that the developers were trying to maintain a balanced economy based around the assumptions that players will be playing their game 10+ hours a day for years on end.
It's sort of ironic that the AH argument is still being used to explain why D3 was bad. PoE is a prime example of a game that doesn't have an AH yet still exhibits the same exact itemization flaws that D3 possesses.
Various mechanics of the game allowed for more replayability.
The ladder was part of it but you didn't have to participate. The ladder helped the social aspect because those that competed in it logged in. A sense of competition also can make the game interesting for some people.
Builds required more commitment than a slot machine arcade game to implement. So if you decided spinning wasn't your thing you had to start a new character and had the slots to do it. The level of care you had to have for your character was greater than that of D3. When you log into your account those characters feel like yours. In D3 you could log into any 60 character and would barely notice a difference.
I agree the thousand Baal runs got boring to me. I believe I quit before Uber Diablo but my memory is cloudy because I had RL friends that still played and I got to see things in the game well after I stopped playing.
The things I would have changed:
- The arcade talent system of D3. I'm pretty sure everyone still playing likes it though and it can't be changed until D4 without serious community outrage. Gem skill systems or D2's build system feel better to me.
- Ladder system. Hating it doesn't mean you have to participate in it.
- Maps. Imagination is the only limitation for this and would offer nice end game replayability.
- Races. With the item changes in 1.0.9 this could actually work out. A real sense of community can be created here as you aim for top 500 Witch Doctor especially with party races.
- Item modifications. PoE spoils (and crushes wills... damn you 6 link!) but it is a fun and avoidable meta game that adds depth. I know this is the first time it has been said but D3 could maybe use a little more depth.
Maps / Races are the easiest to implement and would add the most to the game after 1.0.9's item changes.
Path of Exile - CleavieWonder (Elemental Cleave)
Also, while SC is a game based around knowledge you can beat many people without said knowledge. You can sheer skill your way to very high rankings. The addition of knowledge with that skill is what makes you a professional.
they have new contents out every week, new ladder season, new races, new pvp formats and leagues. POE put out new stuffs way quicker than blizzard ever did, with a very small budget compare to what blizzard has in its arsenal.
i don't expect much from d3 in terms of new content since it's using a different business model; however, the fact blizzard can't even implement a simple concept like ladders is mind blowing. a dev team with only 16 men can come up with more great ideas than a multi-billions dollars company does, wouldn't you think that's a little ridiculous?
can you imagine how many people would try a 2-3 hrs race in diablo 3? a little competition can make the game refreshing and it is what keeping people in the game. And d3 "brawling" is so bad compare to the POE's current pvp system. GGG is creating new leagues and more pvp formats/balances just for ppl who only want to pvp.
Also, the reason D3 is slower is because people have higher expectations for Blizzard. If it isnt completely bug free and 100% polished when it is released, people complain. Lots of people. It hurts their established reputation for their other games even. Dev's on PoE dont have to worry about that. They can push something out quickly and be like "whoops, that didnt work" and take it out. They dont have a reputation yet.
A top 100/1000 list is supposed to motivate 1-3 million players?
I'm all for more options for players. I think it would be great if D3 implemented stuff like races/ladder system into the game for those players that are looking for competition in the game, so long as any rewards from races/ladder system are pure cosmetic. I start to hate these systems once they start introducing "ladder only" items that pigeon hole players to play that certain way.
And for the bold part, it may be a just a matter of me misunderstanding or poor phrasing, but either way the PoE dev team didn't come up with the ladder system like you seem to indicate. Truthfully outside of races, and the different permutations of the races which is certainly a fresh take on the ARPG genre the majority of the ideas in their game are just borrowed from other games including the ladder system.
that's why there are many different race formats and different tiers of prize pool. In POE, you can always just go for the minimum and earn points that way to receive prizes. they have a system where you could accumulate points base on how many races you've participated, and once you reach a certain thresholds you would receive prizes according to how much effort you've put in, and the reward is not even that shitty. you don't have to be the top 20 players in every single time in racing. of course, those 20 players deserve the best rewards because they're the best of the best.
and i'm not even proposing a permanent ladder league since many people would feel like there's a segregation going on. these are short races which anyone can participate. a lot of people just play it for fun and meet the minimum requirement for small prizes.
of course, all the reward items are pure cosmetic in poe. there's no ladder-only items either. everything given from the ladder prize pool you could also find them in game. they just look different, but the stats are exactly the same.
i call this one bs. when GGG release a new patch every week, some of the changes are really bad and the community immediately complains. the POE dev acts so much quicker when people report a game breaking bug. They fix dat shit on the same day or even within hours! blizzard acts so retardedly slow sometimes when it comes to fixing the game. you usually have to wait til the next day to see it get done. i remember back then there was this invulnerable archon mode which people reported on the bug forum months ago. it made people think did they even actively keep in touch with their community at all.
PoE is open beta. Diablo is released. PTR / Open Beta is a much better comparison for now.
100% agree Blizzard is slow on reacting to bugs/issues. I may need to find a human shield if I mention those bugs on the forums for months got fixed the day after a streamer showed them ... so I won't mention that :-P
Path of Exile - CleavieWonder (Elemental Cleave)
PoE is in BETA.
Of course it's getting new adds.
I'm not a fan of ladders and I don't even want to know what kind of Mario Cart bullshit these races are. Having my name at the top of a list is not a care of mine.
I honesty feel the core of PoE, it's gameplay mechanics in combat specifically, is poor and this aspect will wear down on people. I get this feeling people are trying to champion PoE to spite Diablo, and this is not a sustainable practice.
I'm still not hearing anything intrinsic about PoE that will have players stuck to it for 6+ years. They seem to have a very inspired itemization and a (overly?) complex skill system, which I credit them for. However, without good, smooth gameplay mechanics, none of that will matter for long.
From what I've seen, in terms of combat/gameplay, PoE isn't in the same league as D3. Not even remotely comparable.
It's a good thing they're giving it away.
BurningRope#1322 (US~HC) Request an invite to the official (NA) <dfans> Clan
They also need to release content on a weekly basis to keep up people buying their micro transactions/creating unique because that is what funds the game. If they stopped releasing stuff that made people want to create a new character then they wouldn't have a player base to fund their game any longer.
And truthfully both games are just as bad as the other in terms of response time from devs and it isn't either one of their faults. Every time the community starts to complain they can't just make rash decisions that alter game play without understanding the changes that they are making beforehand. Both games have very complex systems at the core, so it takes a lot of time to understand the issue, figure out a solution and incorporate it all together then package all the changes in nice little patch notes that the users can easily read. Versioning is NOT an easy task by any means.
Guaranteed that the same people who complain about response time would be the first people to bitch, "Man don't they test things?" if they rolled out quick fixes that introduced even more bugs.