This is not my post...but I couldn't agree more...
Paper doll is too small
I was lucky enough to play the DIII beta for one day and I highly enjoyed it except for one thing that stuck out like a soar thumb, which I believe to be a serious design flawn in the interface. It appears that the item icons, especially the paper doll, are WAY too small. By the way it looks, it seems like Blizzard really went out of its way to make the paper doll as small and compact as they possibly could, almost as if they believe this to be one of those nagging, intrusive aspects of the game that "takes away" from killing monsters, which is simply ridiculous.
I can understand why they made the icons appear small in the inventory, as this is the best way to allow the player to conserve inventory space and avoid "inventory tetris" (something that actually DID distract from the gameplay in previous Diablo games). However, the whole inventory screen could easily be extended by 50%. They have SO much screen space to work with and they chose to squish the inventory screen against the side to make it as small as they could. While I can appreciate why they resorted to small inventory icons, I see no reason whatsoever to make the paper doll icons so small too. I’m really hoping that blizzard increases the size of the paper doll icons, or at least gives the player the option to toggle the size of the inventory screen.
Why does this bother me so much? A few reasons.
Firstly, the game revolves around items. As a player I will be spending a huge amount of time looking at my items, working with them, socketing, switching them, seeing how their stats relate to each other and experimenting with many different setups within a short time frame. The paper doll is not some side thing that belongs in the background, but an integral part of the game which demands a lot of attention. Why then does Blizzard insist on giving us these tiny icons to work with? Why not make the paper doll big and beautiful like it was in previous diablo games? For the life of me I simply cannot come up with a reason for why they shrunk it so much. I have a 24" screen and 20/20 vision and I actually have to strain my eyes to see some of the items on my paper doll. So considering the central role that the paper doll plays in the game, it makes no sense to make the icons so small. Also, the "zoom in on your character when inventory screen is opened" does not solve this problem at all.
Secondly, the item artwork was one of my favorite things about Diablo 2. I simply loved to open my inventory and see all the cool gear that my character was wearing, and take it all in. I loved seeing all the detail in the armors and weapons without having to strain my eyes. The big and beautiful item artwork in D2 also made it more fun for me to item hunt because it made me appreciate the items more.
So, while I can appreciate why they made the inventory icons small and compact, I still think the entire inventory screen can be significantly increased in relative size (without changing the number of inventory slots) and the paper doll MUST be increased in size. The way it is right now is simply illogical. Other than this one design flaw, the game appears to be awesome. I don't have a beta key so I am unable to post my observations in Blizzard's official forum, so if any beta testers reading this agree with me feel free to repost this on Blizzard's forum.
Oh... and a large tower shield in D3 taking up the same amount of space as a dagger or short sword?...I didn't mind the old tetris style inventory system D1 and D2 had now come to think of it...as D3 is just a lil too unrealistic in my views....just sayin'
I wouldn't mind if there was some way to sort of enlarge the item icons. I don't particularly mind how they look on the website. But, I think DIII is kinda more oriented towards seeing stuff on your actual char, and I think in that way they did a good job.
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Paper doll is too small