I got into the beta back in patch 13, and the first thing I did was sit my girlfriend down to play while I quietly watched and took notes. As a bit of background, she has played a bit of D2 with me, but has never made it past act 3 on normal difficulty. She does play a few other games on her iPad, but mostly of the take-care-of-a-pretty-horse variety. Also, she is not a native English speaker.
She chose the female monk and went to it. The first thing she mentioned was how much easier it was to know where she was going, and what she was supposed to do. She liked having the map on the screen and having the quest prompts ticking off as she completed them.
As soon as she got a few skills going (especially Lashing Tail Kick) she started loving smashing monsters. I was interested to find her saying phrases that were exactly in line with Jay Wilson's statements early on in development. At one point she said, "Ooooh, I'm strong!" She also mentioned at one point that she would play the game even if I wasn't there. My favorite quote though was when she encountered the little demon imps and in her sweet little voice said, "Come here babies so I can kill you."
Afterwards, I talked to her about how it felt and especially how it compared to Diablo 2. One of the first things she said was that she felt "powerful" in game. She also expressed that in D2, she never really knew what was going on, why she was doing what she was doing, and where she was supposed to go, but that in D3, she always understood what she was doing. We also talked about stat and skill allocation differences, and that really helped me to understand many of the D3 development decisions. She was able to pick up the game and play it without spending a lot of time reading or feeling confused.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Now a few notes from my perspective.
After I played the game for myself, I became considerably less concerned about some of the things that I found annoying while watching her play. As a spectator, I found the on-screen quest information to be a bit obtrusive, and I was very distracted by the pop-up "massive blow" kill counters. However, as a player, I found both of these to be far less problematic, though I would still very much like to be able to turn the latter off.
Due to a surprising (and somewhat disheartening) number of technical hurdles and bugs (who wrote that launcher, yikes!), and to my pretty busy schedule, I haven't played as much as I would like. I can say though that both melee characters a lot of fun to play. I expected the Barbarian to be fun to play, and he did not disappoint. I was hopeful about the Monk beforehand, and after having played him, I would say that he will definitely be one of my favorite characters to play. I found his pacing, style and skills to be very entertaining. I don't think that either my girlfriend or I will ever get tired of Lashing Tail Kicking our enemies faces off.
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tldr:
-the developers were spot on in achieving their goals for bringing in new players, even to the point of getting my girlfriend to use the same phrases to describe the game that the devs have previously used
-barbs and monks are sweet
Yep, and I don't think the game is lacking in deepness. The skills are easier to understand and to use, but they can do a lot more things than what we had in D2.
Very well written post and I think it really drives home what Blizzard was trying to achieve here.
Alot of the features that are being touted as "dumbing down the game" are really just there to make it accessible. Easy to play, difficult to master has been their battle cry of late and it's easy to see with Diablo 3 they are taking it seriously.
I think you have a great point about features that seem annoying or distracting as an observer that end up being no big deal to the player. I think this is the problem that some people have with the game right now, some can only see the game in videos and they see these flashes and distracting features, but never once has any of this distracted me from the game. Hell, I've actually missed what some of the toasts and flashes have said because I was too busy doing something in the game
I also have a natural gut reaction against the way the skill runes are presented, but I do have some hope that it won't be as bad as I everyone supposes. My reason for having that opinion comes from the skills I used in the beta. For example, I stayed with the no-rune Fist of Thunder skill over the chain lightning rune and the Deadly Reach skill just because I liked it better. Even though I realized that I would be getting more damage out of the skills by changing them, I stayed with the one that I like. As the skill options expand, I believe that people will diversify.
it can get boring (you will always get ray of frost at level 2, no matter how many Wizards you create).
My necromancer always gained access to poison dagger at level 6 whether I chose to use it or not, and I created a whole mess of necromancers.
I believe that leveling will still be fun. For me the bigger draw back to leveling will be having to delete older characters after I've reached my ten character limit.
I don't understand what Maka is complaining about, you unlock a skill every levels, up to level 30.
You didn't unlock that much with D2.
What did you want them to do?
The problem with all that is that it makes early/mid game boring to veterans. For people who will level 5 chars and farm Inferno forever, it's not a big deal, but for people who really enjoy the levelling process...it can get boring (you will always get ray of frost at level 2, no matter how many Wizards you create).
call me crazy but that's what I thought was one of the goals in making the new skill system. getting rid of the need to pointlessly level the same character all over again.
The problem with all that is that it makes early/mid game boring to veterans. For people who will level 5 chars and farm Inferno forever, it's not a big deal, but for people who really enjoy the levelling process...it can get boring (you will always get ray of frost at level 2, no matter how many Wizards you create).
Hmmm normal/nightmare can still be fun even if it's not very challenging. Trying stuff, facerolling monsters with class... I don't know. If the game is well made it can be easy and fun to do while waiting to be tested in hell/inferno. I still play the beta from time to time after all, because I like it and even after x2 dmg I still have no challenge.
Your girlfriend's comments mirror almost exactly my wife's experience when she was playing on my friend's D3 Beta. Big props to Blizzard for making a game so accessable to a lot of people, yet also tons of fun for the more die hard gamer.
good post, not so in depth that one might want but still good, you made a scientific start of researching gaming this is what company's do allot to reassure that the game are playable for everyone
I wouldn't want to play with my wife. It would break us apart. I can see it now:
Me(Wizard): I'm gonna need a heal soon after this mob hits.
Wife (monk): .............
Me: OK!?
Wife: Yeah yeah!
Me: Heal!
Wife: Wait, I just got a new item!
Me: The hell!? It's WHITE, heal me!
Wife: Stop yelling at me!
Me: I'ma die! Heal me!
Wife: Fine, there!
Me: I'm dead! Thanks alot!
Wife: I want a divorce!
Me: Fine! I get the house and car.
Wife: I get all the appliances!
Me: I hate you!
Wife: I hate you more!
etc.....
Anyone else feel the same?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"The Unchosen" Pain of Admirance Sigil (For those without -Feat of Strength-):
I wouldn't want to play with my wife. It would break us apart. I can see it now:
Me(Wizard): I'm gonna need a heal soon after this mob hits.
Wife (monk): .............
Me: OK!?
Wife: Yeah yeah!
Me: Heal!
Wife: Wait, I just got a new item!
Me: The hell!? It's WHITE, heal me!
Wife: Stop yelling at me!
Me: I'ma die! Heal me!
Wife: Fine, there!
Me: I'm dead! Thanks alot!
Wife: I want a divorce!
Me: Fine! I get the house and car.
Wife: I get all the appliances!
Me: I hate you!
Wife: I hate you more!
etc.....
Anyone else feel the same?
lol, well that have nothing to do whit diablo, thats more how girls/womans works
more focusing on your tone then what you say or mean exaggerated interpretation as always
you should see "Family Guy S10E17" and get a nice lol at the end
The problem with all that is that it makes early/mid game boring to veterans. For people who will level 5 chars and farm Inferno forever, it's not a big deal, but for people who really enjoy the levelling process...it can get boring (you will always get ray of frost at level 2, no matter how many Wizards you create).
call me crazy but that's what I thought was one of the goals in making the new skill system. getting rid of the need to pointlessly level the same character all over again.
I think that Maka is talking about leveling because he wants too. Some people level because they like to level a new character, which is a valid form of entertainment. I mean, on some planets they juggle baby geese. Just sayin' (also I like to level new characters too sometimes)
The problem with all that is that it makes early/mid game boring to veterans. For people who will level 5 chars and farm Inferno forever, it's not a big deal, but for people who really enjoy the levelling process...it can get boring (you will always get ray of frost at level 2, no matter how many Wizards you create).
call me crazy but that's what I thought was one of the goals in making the new skill system. getting rid of the need to pointlessly level the same character all over again.
Pointless to you. I guess you (and people like you) would like a button that instantly levelled your character to lvl 60. After all, levelling is pointless, right?
no. not him and not people like him want that. i enjoy leveling very much, in world of warcraft levelng is my favorite part of the game and i have all 10 classes at lvl 85. but RE-leveling one of those already max level characters? hell no, thats 100% utterly pointless and a waste of time. you can love leveling and not want to re-level an already existing character. your just one of those very very few people who were brain washed by D2s permanancy system that was very fail but you liked it because it forced you to re-roll a thousand alts. why anyone liked that system baffles me. but to each his own.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"once the pretty hardcore gamers we had testing inferno found it fairly difficult, we then we doubled it" -trolololol jay wilson
Oh really?
-Playing with different friends at different stages of the game (therefore needing multiple characters);
-Levelling characters with the intention of turning them into PvP-only characters;
-Playing a TOTALLY different build WITHOUT getting rid of your previous one;
-etc (I could go on)
So, to you, situations like these just won't happen. Oh, wait, let me guess, you'll create 5 characters and then grind Inferno until the end of times. You sound like a fun guy.
Oh, and by the way, if you don't create new characters (apart from 1 of each class) then why are you grinding Inferno? If you can already beat Inferno, what use does the gear you find have?
in D3s system you arent forced to re level just to try a new build or have your char suddenly become PVP oriented or whatever. yes i will make 1 of each class and farm inferno to gear them. thats like saying "why raid/do heroics for better gear in WoW if you've already beaten that raid or dungeon once"? which is an unbelievably idiotic question.
my point is most people dont want to re level characters. thats all. please dont try and argue the opposite. thats like the PVP crowd of diablo saying "we are the 99%" which just makes me
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"once the pretty hardcore gamers we had testing inferno found it fairly difficult, we then we doubled it" -trolololol jay wilson
Also, yeah, you got Poison Dagger at level 6, but that didn't mean you used it. But who's gonna get RoF at level 2 and not use it? And that's the fundamental problem with this whole thing (that you so well illustrated with your FoT example): to have a varied experience with multiple characters, you have to purposefully gimp yourself.
To be fair, I did say exactly that. (that you didn't need to use poison dagger)
Here's my take on the rest of it. Yes, a player is unlikely to not use Ray of Frost at level two, but the period of time when a players skill choices is limited to so few is relatively small. Even by the time you hit level ten, you are likely to start seeing quite a few variations in skill sets.
As to the gimping yourself, one reason I wasn't worried about not using the higher damage options, was that the option I did want to use (no-rune FoT) was so close to the same power as it's more powerful counterparts, that there was very little difference in terms of kill speed and survivability. How that will really end up playing out at higher levels is only known to those inside Blizzard at the moment, but the devs have specifically addressed the issue in their statement to the effect that there will always be a superior choice, but that the alternatives to that choice should be insignificantly less powerful.
Again, I'm not saying that I was thrilled about the way the skills progression ended up, nor do I buy the explanation as to why we can't choose which runes we unlock, but in the end, I don't think it will keep me from enjoying the game.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Off Topic: Ray of Frost;Sleet Storm and Wave of Force kick ass.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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She chose the female monk and went to it. The first thing she mentioned was how much easier it was to know where she was going, and what she was supposed to do. She liked having the map on the screen and having the quest prompts ticking off as she completed them.
As soon as she got a few skills going (especially Lashing Tail Kick) she started loving smashing monsters. I was interested to find her saying phrases that were exactly in line with Jay Wilson's statements early on in development. At one point she said, "Ooooh, I'm strong!" She also mentioned at one point that she would play the game even if I wasn't there. My favorite quote though was when she encountered the little demon imps and in her sweet little voice said, "Come here babies so I can kill you."
Afterwards, I talked to her about how it felt and especially how it compared to Diablo 2. One of the first things she said was that she felt "powerful" in game. She also expressed that in D2, she never really knew what was going on, why she was doing what she was doing, and where she was supposed to go, but that in D3, she always understood what she was doing. We also talked about stat and skill allocation differences, and that really helped me to understand many of the D3 development decisions. She was able to pick up the game and play it without spending a lot of time reading or feeling confused.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Now a few notes from my perspective.
After I played the game for myself, I became considerably less concerned about some of the things that I found annoying while watching her play. As a spectator, I found the on-screen quest information to be a bit obtrusive, and I was very distracted by the pop-up "massive blow" kill counters. However, as a player, I found both of these to be far less problematic, though I would still very much like to be able to turn the latter off.
Due to a surprising (and somewhat disheartening) number of technical hurdles and bugs (who wrote that launcher, yikes!), and to my pretty busy schedule, I haven't played as much as I would like. I can say though that both melee characters a lot of fun to play. I expected the Barbarian to be fun to play, and he did not disappoint. I was hopeful about the Monk beforehand, and after having played him, I would say that he will definitely be one of my favorite characters to play. I found his pacing, style and skills to be very entertaining. I don't think that either my girlfriend or I will ever get tired of Lashing Tail Kicking our enemies faces off.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
tldr:
-the developers were spot on in achieving their goals for bringing in new players, even to the point of getting my girlfriend to use the same phrases to describe the game that the devs have previously used
-barbs and monks are sweet
Alot of the features that are being touted as "dumbing down the game" are really just there to make it accessible. Easy to play, difficult to master has been their battle cry of late and it's easy to see with Diablo 3 they are taking it seriously.
I think you have a great point about features that seem annoying or distracting as an observer that end up being no big deal to the player. I think this is the problem that some people have with the game right now, some can only see the game in videos and they see these flashes and distracting features, but never once has any of this distracted me from the game. Hell, I've actually missed what some of the toasts and flashes have said because I was too busy doing something in the game
I have given you rep points, sir. Well deserved.
I also have a natural gut reaction against the way the skill runes are presented, but I do have some hope that it won't be as bad as I everyone supposes. My reason for having that opinion comes from the skills I used in the beta. For example, I stayed with the no-rune Fist of Thunder skill over the chain lightning rune and the Deadly Reach skill just because I liked it better. Even though I realized that I would be getting more damage out of the skills by changing them, I stayed with the one that I like. As the skill options expand, I believe that people will diversify.
My necromancer always gained access to poison dagger at level 6 whether I chose to use it or not, and I created a whole mess of necromancers.
I believe that leveling will still be fun. For me the bigger draw back to leveling will be having to delete older characters after I've reached my ten character limit.
You didn't unlock that much with D2.
What did you want them to do?
call me crazy but that's what I thought was one of the goals in making the new skill system. getting rid of the need to pointlessly level the same character all over again.
Hmmm normal/nightmare can still be fun even if it's not very challenging. Trying stuff, facerolling monsters with class... I don't know. If the game is well made it can be easy and fun to do while waiting to be tested in hell/inferno. I still play the beta from time to time after all, because I like it and even after x2 dmg I still have no challenge.
good observation dude
Me(Wizard): I'm gonna need a heal soon after this mob hits.
Wife (monk): .............
Me: OK!?
Wife: Yeah yeah!
Me: Heal!
Wife: Wait, I just got a new item!
Me: The hell!? It's WHITE, heal me!
Wife: Stop yelling at me!
Me: I'ma die! Heal me!
Wife: Fine, there!
Me: I'm dead! Thanks alot!
Wife: I want a divorce!
Me: Fine! I get the house and car.
Wife: I get all the appliances!
Me: I hate you!
Wife: I hate you more!
etc.....
Anyone else feel the same?
http://i.imgur.com/O7Oeo.png
I received TWO beta keys. Eat it and like it.
lol, well that have nothing to do whit diablo, thats more how girls/womans works
more focusing on your tone then what you say or mean exaggerated interpretation as always
you should see "Family Guy S10E17" and get a nice lol at the end
I think that Maka is talking about leveling because he wants too. Some people level because they like to level a new character, which is a valid form of entertainment. I mean, on some planets they juggle baby geese. Just sayin' (also I like to level new characters too sometimes)
no. not him and not people like him want that. i enjoy leveling very much, in world of warcraft levelng is my favorite part of the game and i have all 10 classes at lvl 85. but RE-leveling one of those already max level characters? hell no, thats 100% utterly pointless and a waste of time. you can love leveling and not want to re-level an already existing character. your just one of those very very few people who were brain washed by D2s permanancy system that was very fail but you liked it because it forced you to re-roll a thousand alts. why anyone liked that system baffles me. but to each his own.
in D3s system you arent forced to re level just to try a new build or have your char suddenly become PVP oriented or whatever. yes i will make 1 of each class and farm inferno to gear them. thats like saying "why raid/do heroics for better gear in WoW if you've already beaten that raid or dungeon once"? which is an unbelievably idiotic question.
my point is most people dont want to re level characters. thats all. please dont try and argue the opposite. thats like the PVP crowd of diablo saying "we are the 99%" which just makes me
To be fair, I did say exactly that. (that you didn't need to use poison dagger)
Here's my take on the rest of it. Yes, a player is unlikely to not use Ray of Frost at level two, but the period of time when a players skill choices is limited to so few is relatively small. Even by the time you hit level ten, you are likely to start seeing quite a few variations in skill sets.
As to the gimping yourself, one reason I wasn't worried about not using the higher damage options, was that the option I did want to use (no-rune FoT) was so close to the same power as it's more powerful counterparts, that there was very little difference in terms of kill speed and survivability. How that will really end up playing out at higher levels is only known to those inside Blizzard at the moment, but the devs have specifically addressed the issue in their statement to the effect that there will always be a superior choice, but that the alternatives to that choice should be insignificantly less powerful.
Again, I'm not saying that I was thrilled about the way the skills progression ended up, nor do I buy the explanation as to why we can't choose which runes we unlock, but in the end, I don't think it will keep me from enjoying the game.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Off Topic: Ray of Frost;Sleet Storm and Wave of Force kick ass.