I have been watching multiple streams and videos today from the F&F Beta. And from reading what I have seen in the chat box, the initial response to everything seems very positive. I personally have really liked what I have seen so far. It has me drooling over RoS!!
So, Beta testers and stream watchers alike, what do you think of what you have seen so far?
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I see the line in the sand. Time to find out who I am. Looking back to see where I stand. Evolution.
So far I am enjoying it, the only downside is no more CM and I pretty much have to learn a new way to play my Wizard since it was either CM or Archon. My download just finished will post some more thoughts later.
It looks like a lot of fun is to be had. Also I had this Blood-Bound offerings idea which I submitted to blizz and when I seen Blood shards that are used for mystery items and those little Horadrim mystery bags I got really excited. Also it was hilarious to see the people start to turn on POE while watching the streams. Gamers are so fickle.
Will be streaming again later tonight. Gonna start exploring Torment difficulties a little more. The challenge is there, but sometimes it's kinda "head-scratching" as in...
Okay, I got killed in two seconds by... what? So, yeah, I need to explore a little more and get a better feel of what's happening.
Being on the outside looking in at all the streams I am VERY excited to get in and to try stuff out. I love how the game will be based on self-found/group play. I spent a ton of time in the game without adventure mode (and whatever else happens to come about from RoS) and it's going to be nice feeling like the things I grind can have a lot more variation.
I'm beginning to get concerned the more I watch streams on the direction of the game, its seemly heading down the instant gratification that the console version gives. This initially gives you a great reason to play initially but in the long term its detrimental to the games "health".
Mainly I'm seeing streams hit level 70 and instantly be able to reforge gear and find new items so quickly (think 30 minutes) that boosts their stats so high they farm "hard" which is around MP6 in old school terms.
The problem then compounds, once you start doing the higher tier of difficulties you start having higher legendary and item drop rates so you start getting insane items (1Handers rolling 3k+ damage ranges on rares). all of this with-in just 1-2 days of playing the game, so what will happen in 3-6 months time once EVERYONE is kitted out like this?
You will be stuck int he same rut we are in now, you will hit a point where you are so decked out that finding upgrades is pretty hard to do, and you will likely be at a level where you demolish everything and the game will turn into you finding some random legendary that will give you a "game changer" type affix ie makes you try a different build but doesn't actually change the game that much for you. You are still wiping screens, finding sub par loot rinse repeating.
It's still missing one really core thing imo and that's multiple builds. The reason that D2 and to a lesser extent PoE were so successful is because it wasn't 1 set fits all, in d2 u could have 20 different builds in 20 different armor sets for a single class and this is what kept it interesting the "Ok, i've done this class now lets gear that guy" idea and eventually seeing your idea come to life with pewpew gear.
It's true what people above have said, once u get max level and get enough gear to faceroll end content the game will inevitably become boring without a further goal, it needs more gear + build diversity.
I like how they have the higher difficulties offer rarer legendary plans and items. That will give you even more to shoot for long term.
I'm just happy they are testing the game as a whole. That way the beta will actually help highlight flaws (if there are any major ones) now rather than after release.
So far looks like barb is going pre-nerf inferno tankish build again but with relativly much higher dps then back then. Before he gathered some gear it was really pain to watch him dying every few minutes but after getting some upgrades it's looking better and better - he was playing till 70 on master difficulty. "Spin for win" build is probably gone (at least for now) so he stay with hota/revenge build (hello pre-nerf inferno builds but with actual rage spender now).
When i was still watching it (around 9hours into his stream) he was on torment 1 difficulty - he is bit too tankish with almost 15mln thoughtness (700k hp) and around 450k dps (when equipped 1h+shield). His passives are all about tank & spank - he could probably switch some for dps and play with dual wield (his second 1h has 10% crushing blow chance and it makes massive difference) also when dual wield his dps is around 600k.
What is Athene's big claim to fame anyway? He's one of those guys who played for "5 minutes" when the game came out then left right away like a lot of them did. I care what the players who have stayed for the long haul think.
Act V looks great, and the Crusader is pretty much OP. There will have to be a lot more balancing done in the coming months to keep the players from steamrolling to Torment VI.
I'm really hoping Devil's Hand and Nephalem Trials get implemented some time in the near future. RoS in it's current state is lacking end-game depth, and ladders will have to be done particularly well in order to keep D3 fresh for a long time.
More depth to the rift key system would do tons of good for this game as well.
It's good to keep in mind that this is the earliest stage of the beta. A LOT of things will change from now to release day. First impressions are very promising.
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"Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the small death that brings total obliteration."
Aesthetically, everything looks great, and new content is always exciting. But I'm wondering what Diablo as a franchise is becoming. All these new systems being implemented, then yanked after a little bit, but when it comes to items (specifically legendaries), we don't see the same thing happening. We have the laughable "Create a Legendary" program going on, and there are tweaks to current legendaries that seem exciting, but the game is in a state of disarray.
Will players be forced to purchase the original Diablo 3 in addition to the Expansion pack to play? If so, and if the expansion is another $60, I'm not doing it. $120 for a game that will entertain for a small period of time seems like a waste compared to spending the money in other games (I'm sure you can guess the one I'm thinking of).
Even if the expansion comes with the original at the same or discounted price, I'm holding off for at least 3 months after its release to see if the same exact thing happens. We may be better off waiting until the third or fourth expansion (trust me, they will come now that Blizzard knows there's still money in Diablo) in order to get something truly worth sinking a ton of time into.
I'm beginning to get concerned the more I watch streams on the direction of the game, its seemly heading down the instant gratification that the console version gives. This initially gives you a great reason to play initially but in the long term its detrimental to the games "health".
Mainly I'm seeing streams hit level 70 and instantly be able to reforge gear and find new items so quickly (think 30 minutes) that boosts their stats so high they farm "hard" which is around MP6 in old school terms.
The problem then compounds, once you start doing the higher tier of difficulties you start having higher legendary and item drop rates so you start getting insane items (1Handers rolling 3k+ damage ranges on rares). all of this with-in just 1-2 days of playing the game, so what will happen in 3-6 months time once EVERYONE is kitted out like this?
You will be stuck int he same rut we are in now, you will hit a point where you are so decked out that finding upgrades is pretty hard to do, and you will likely be at a level where you demolish everything and the game will turn into you finding some random legendary that will give you a "game changer" type affix ie makes you try a different build but doesn't actually change the game that much for you. You are still wiping screens, finding sub par loot rinse repeating.
Its Beta. And things work differently in a Beta then they will at release.
The drop rate of items is INCREASED during a Beta run. They cant get feedback or find bugs if the players cant get their hands on the items can they.
The XP curve is usually quite advanced. It usually takes half the time to level in a Beta then at release. Your not going to hit 70 in 8-10 hours of play, I guarantee it. Trust me, I have been in 7 Betas for four different games. It's the same every time.
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I see the line in the sand. Time to find out who I am. Looking back to see where I stand. Evolution.
This is likely why they haven't said much about Ladders. They know it's an important feature to the community, and they want to make it sure it is perfect and ready to go when they finally lift the curtain.
I've seen some concern over the frequency of legendary drops. I agree that when the game is out, if legendaries are endgame goals, they should be pretty darn rare. Otherwise it loses it's long term purpose.
But since we are in beta it's nice to be able to have people try out as many as possible in order to see how they work against skills and passive and other items. They can always tweak drop rates right before release.
Everything is an upgrade now obviously, most legendaries will be crap though, like most of vanilla are once you played enough to have decent gear. Upgrading anything will be very difficult, because everything of value is BOA.
It looks horrible ;/
What it will boil down to is the same problem in the console version, only good stuff will drop in the super high monster powers, the rest will be mostly junk with the very rare piece that is actually something you will like and use.
The only way to get gear good enough for high levels is play forever or as currently in Console make a couple trades with friends which should give you enough to get out of the low monster power ghetto.
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So, Beta testers and stream watchers alike, what do you think of what you have seen so far?
I see the line in the sand. Time to find out who I am. Looking back to see where I stand. Evolution.
Member of the Dfans clan.
BNet Tag: Evolution85#1878
Overall I have really high hopes for this Exp.
You're a wizard Harry.....
Okay, I got killed in two seconds by... what? So, yeah, I need to explore a little more and get a better feel of what's happening.
Armory | YouTube | Twitter | Clan Site
Just patiently waiting for my time
Mainly I'm seeing streams hit level 70 and instantly be able to reforge gear and find new items so quickly (think 30 minutes) that boosts their stats so high they farm "hard" which is around MP6 in old school terms.
The problem then compounds, once you start doing the higher tier of difficulties you start having higher legendary and item drop rates so you start getting insane items (1Handers rolling 3k+ damage ranges on rares). all of this with-in just 1-2 days of playing the game, so what will happen in 3-6 months time once EVERYONE is kitted out like this?
You will be stuck int he same rut we are in now, you will hit a point where you are so decked out that finding upgrades is pretty hard to do, and you will likely be at a level where you demolish everything and the game will turn into you finding some random legendary that will give you a "game changer" type affix ie makes you try a different build but doesn't actually change the game that much for you. You are still wiping screens, finding sub par loot rinse repeating.
It's true what people above have said, once u get max level and get enough gear to faceroll end content the game will inevitably become boring without a further goal, it needs more gear + build diversity.
I'm just happy they are testing the game as a whole. That way the beta will actually help highlight flaws (if there are any major ones) now rather than after release.
So far looks like barb is going pre-nerf inferno tankish build again but with relativly much higher dps then back then. Before he gathered some gear it was really pain to watch him dying every few minutes but after getting some upgrades it's looking better and better - he was playing till 70 on master difficulty. "Spin for win" build is probably gone (at least for now) so he stay with hota/revenge build (hello pre-nerf inferno builds but with actual rage spender now).
When i was still watching it (around 9hours into his stream) he was on torment 1 difficulty - he is bit too tankish with almost 15mln thoughtness (700k hp) and around 450k dps (when equipped 1h+shield). His passives are all about tank & spank - he could probably switch some for dps and play with dual wield (his second 1h has 10% crushing blow chance and it makes massive difference) also when dual wield his dps is around 600k.
Avalanche is great (thats new barb skill)
Here is his 12h long twitch video - http://www.twitch.tv...ran/b/481488956
I'm really hoping Devil's Hand and Nephalem Trials get implemented some time in the near future. RoS in it's current state is lacking end-game depth, and ladders will have to be done particularly well in order to keep D3 fresh for a long time.
More depth to the rift key system would do tons of good for this game as well.
It's good to keep in mind that this is the earliest stage of the beta. A LOT of things will change from now to release day. First impressions are very promising.
Will players be forced to purchase the original Diablo 3 in addition to the Expansion pack to play? If so, and if the expansion is another $60, I'm not doing it. $120 for a game that will entertain for a small period of time seems like a waste compared to spending the money in other games (I'm sure you can guess the one I'm thinking of).
Even if the expansion comes with the original at the same or discounted price, I'm holding off for at least 3 months after its release to see if the same exact thing happens. We may be better off waiting until the third or fourth expansion (trust me, they will come now that Blizzard knows there's still money in Diablo) in order to get something truly worth sinking a ton of time into.
Its Beta. And things work differently in a Beta then they will at release.
The drop rate of items is INCREASED during a Beta run. They cant get feedback or find bugs if the players cant get their hands on the items can they.
The XP curve is usually quite advanced. It usually takes half the time to level in a Beta then at release. Your not going to hit 70 in 8-10 hours of play, I guarantee it. Trust me, I have been in 7 Betas for four different games. It's the same every time.
I see the line in the sand. Time to find out who I am. Looking back to see where I stand. Evolution.
Member of the Dfans clan.
BNet Tag: Evolution85#1878
That's just what Blizzard does. They like to iterate and try out things, inevitably, when you do that, stuff sometimes fails.
You should watch Wyatt's GDC speech, the amount of stuff they designed and yanked is pretty staggering.
Will do, thanks.
Here's a page with that talk: http://diablo.somepa...-talk-available
This is likely why they haven't said much about Ladders. They know it's an important feature to the community, and they want to make it sure it is perfect and ready to go when they finally lift the curtain.
Cooldown reduction is so strong on the Crusader as well. The gloves that make shrine last 1 hour is broken
>_>
Well, it's in the Beta so I'm expecting a lot of changes before the closed Beta!
But since we are in beta it's nice to be able to have people try out as many as possible in order to see how they work against skills and passive and other items. They can always tweak drop rates right before release.
What it will boil down to is the same problem in the console version, only good stuff will drop in the super high monster powers, the rest will be mostly junk with the very rare piece that is actually something you will like and use.
The only way to get gear good enough for high levels is play forever or as currently in Console make a couple trades with friends which should give you enough to get out of the low monster power ghetto.