Like ruksak said, loot 2.0 is the real game changer, the expansion.. couldn't care less.
If they don't completely revamp several aspects of the game, regarding itemization, overall loot hunt, and go on, I wouldn't play the expansion even if it's free.
I'm with Indimix on the 'couldn't care less' about the expansion point. Normally with Blizzard games like WoW and SC I can't wait for the new expac and new things to do, but with the news about 1 new class and 1 act (Yes I realize that LoD had only one act) I'm not willing to shell out 40 bucks (yes I have a job and the funds to buy it). It really seems to me that their focus on a console that's about to kick the bucket (i.e. XBox One and PS4) was a lot of wasted resources that could have been focused on the expac. I'm just tired of "waiting for the game to get better".
With all this negativity, I thought I was in the official forums for a second!
I, for one, am super excited about the expansion. The Crusader looks like a total badass and Act V looks great from what I've seen. I'm also really amped about the 60-70 skills for the original classes. Can't wait for the specifics to start rolling out. The Mystic, I'm sort of whatever about; if the game actually starts dropping the fun stuff at a reasonable rate, I will happily spend my time smashing about looking for orange pillars of light, as God intended. Not terribly worried about modding items. Transmog will be a nice perk too.
At the same time, I can definitely appreciate it if someone feels like $40 is too much. The fact is, a lot of the cool stuff is going to get patched into the original game - Loot Runs, Nephalem Portals, Loot 2.0, Paragon 2.0 - but you shouldn't look at that as a downside of the expansion. Frankly, with all of those new additions, I'm excited for new content to explore it with, even if it's just one act. But if $40 is too high, don't pay it. Your original $60 is still working for you.
I'm with you in hoping that they improve randomization throughout the original 4 acts (and I would LOVE open world / ignore-the-story mode), but I will also say that a the Loot Runs look like they'll help slake your thirst for randomness even if the original 4 stay the same.
For PvP, I don't have much to say; I'm not into it, I don't really care about it, and I believe them when they say they haven't released anything beyond Brawling yet because they haven't come up with anything that's fun. I'm curious what you mean by Deathmatch PvP - is that not what Brawling is?
And at the end of the day, while there are things I wish D3 had done differently, I have about 400 hours played, which is well worth the $60.
Omg the new expansion only has one new class, a new level cap, a brand new act with new bosses, new skills, runes and passives for every class, the mystic and the continued lore???
WHAT, the patch containing loot 2.0 paragon 2.0 loot runs and nephalem trials is FREE?! Stuff that they could just bundle with the expansion but they chose not to?? Fuck blizzard I aint playing the expansion even if IT was free!!!
Well even if you don't buy the xpack, you're still going to get loot 2.0, and the adventure mode stuff. You just won't get access to the new act and character. I'm still on the fence myself even about playing in general, but the xpack in my eyes is what we should have received when the game first shipped. I'm happy about all the changes they've discussed thus far, but my time and overall interesting in gaming has diminished over the years as I've gotten older.
The older you get the less time (free time) you feel you have.
The new class, act 5 and the loot runs look pretty cool but so far I am not very happy. I really don't feel like playing this game time after time with the unrandomized outside content for the current acts. On expansion day everyone will be rolling the new crusader class and once again we will have to play through this story line again (I have to grind my teeth in order to do so). I am not interested.
And lets not forgot... Still no death-match pvp.
I figured the RoS hype and cinematic would inspire me to pick up this game again but as predicted the hype is settling as everyone is waiting for new information from Blizzcon. Let's cross our fingers and hope that the game looks more decent to the people that are speculating.
I'm still playing but im seriously sick of pressing x to press skip all the dialogue. in diablo 1 and 2 if you skip the players speech then you skip everything they say and that's it!. dont make me press the same button on my 2nd, 3rd, X times through that's just a waste of energy and time as a programmer I'm pretty disgusted to see that such a simple principle for which there is a well established precedent has been ignored.
You know you can press esc (default key) to skip the entire dialogue right? some ppl don't know but there is also an option to close all windows which also skips dialogues that start events, like the vendor in keeps that starts the event where skeletons come from the lava... do your research before talking.
OT: I agree only that by now we should have recieved some form of PvP, tower defense, DOTA, capture the flag, total domination, there are so many ways to make d3 pvp fun that i still can't understand how blizz says they are looking for a fun way to do it, but the expansion is definitely worth buying, and considering you are posting on a D3 fansite i think you'll probably buy it too. ^^
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Those Who Do Not Know True Pain Cannot Possibly Understand True Peace...
You know you can press esc (default key) to skip the entire dialogue right?
And "Space" skips "non windowed dialogues". Pretty useful imo, use it all the time.
OT: I agree only that by now we should have recieved some form of PvP, tower defense, DOTA, capture the flag, total domination, there are so many ways to make d3 pvp fun that i still can't understand how blizz says they are looking for a fun way to do it, but the expansion is definitely worth buying, and considering you are posting on a D3 fansite i think you'll probably buy it too. ^^
The problem with any PvP that depends on PvE items is only one: the insanely huge spectrum of player power.
It's hard (or actually, impossible) to "match" people and let them have a "fair fight", and that's pretty much mandatory in any competitive game/mode nowadays.
Because there are 2 things that must be taken into account. Hero power (base stats, DPS, EHP, movespeed), which has to be somewhat similar; and player skill (how good the person is at actually playing, executing his strategy).
Hero power would probably have to take precedence in a matchmaker, but there are situations where a player with 20% less stats can probably overcome the other player by sheer proper execution of a certain playstyle (positioning, managing resources, landing skillshots better than the enemy), so those 2 alone are hard to measure, and together pretty much impossible.
Hero power on its own is near impossible to measure.
If the matchmaker pairs someone with 150k DPS and another guy at 100k DPS, but the lower dmg guy has 50% more EHP, or just infinite sustain (by having 4k LoH), it's a very very frustrating experience for the guy who simply cannot kill the other guy at all (over the course of a what? 10 minute match?).
Add to that teams, and you see where I'm going. It's way more complex (from a design-standpoint) than most people give credit for.
People like to pretend it's all easy. Just add the mode and everything will be sorted out. We will make what we want out of PvP. Balance isn't needed. Yada yada yada. But the ACTUAL truth is, if a PvP is released and the general experience is that you get either pubstomped or pubstomps others every single match, EVERYBODY will complain, and almost nobody will play it. They definitely want to avoid that!
But the ACTUAL truth is, if a PvP is released and the general experience is that you get either pubstomped or pubstomps others every single match, EVERYBODY will complain, and almost nobody will play it. They definitely want to avoid that!
The truth has been borne out over the past year. People will complain about anything, and everything. There is one thing that the Diablo community has become exceedingly good at, and that's spinning everything in a negative light.
It's almost like listening to politicians NOT solve problems but somehow convince us that they have all the answers.
But the ACTUAL truth is, if a PvP is released and the general experience is that you get either pubstomped or pubstomps others every single match, EVERYBODY will complain, and almost nobody will play it. They definitely want to avoid that!
The truth has been borne out over the past year. People will complain about anything, and everything. There is one thing that the Diablo community has become exceedingly good at, and that's spinning everything in a negative light.
It's almost like listening to politicians NOT solve problems but somehow convince us that they have all the answers.
it's impossible to please everyone, and with any blizzard game and anyone who plays them..PEOPLE COMPLAIN..AND A LOT. PVP is voluntary, not required nor does it benefit you in any fashion or form, so If you get pubstomped and suck at it, don't do it..problem solved. PVP should be implemented regardless.
However in terms of the automated match making, I do think they've probably ran into that issue as you've explained. That's why they should just allow for pvp'ing in any game..outside of the bullshit arena format.
PVP is voluntary, not required nor does it benefit you in any fashion or form, so If you get pubstomped and suck at it, don't do it..problem solved. PVP should be implemented regardless.
I want PvP as much as you do. Trust me, I wasn't a big D2 PvP player, but I've come to love these moba-like arena experiences.
But just implementing it, and ignoring the problems, isn't a very elegant design solution. It doesn't acknowledge the problem, it doesn't solve the problem, and isn't a very nice philosophy to follow in the long-term.
As I said, there's a certain standard in the gaming industry nowadays, and a matchmaker and the notion of fair fight is absolutely part of that standard (whether you personally like it or not). Technically speaking, we do have the D2 PvP model, but no one cares about it. Guess why? The bar has been raised.
However in terms of the automated match making, I do think they've probably ran into that issue as you've explained. That's why they should just allow for pvp'ing in any game..outside of the bullshit arena format.
Oh, I'm pretty sure that's one the biggest problems they've encountered with PvP TDM. They probably don't want to explain it to a very stubborn and childish playerbase, so they just blame it on the whole PvE nature of the game/heroes (AoE, etc.) not fitting PvP. That's a good excuse too, though.
^ don't mention too much of the past. People have a strong tendency to forget about it.
It's like the whole notion of "nothing has changed in 1.5 years, loot is still the same crap, not a single patch focused on changing loot and drops". Probably because they didn't get exactly what they wanted, and even more likely because they don't understand the root of the problem.
I'm still playing but im seriously sick of pressing x to press skip all the dialogue. in diablo 1 and 2 if you skip the players speech then you skip everything they say and that's it!. dont make me press the same button on my 2nd, 3rd, X times through that's just a waste of energy and time as a programmer I'm pretty disgusted to see that such a simple principle for which there is a well established precedent has been ignored.
If they don't completely revamp several aspects of the game, regarding itemization, overall loot hunt, and go on, I wouldn't play the expansion even if it's free.
"Only the dead have seen the end of war." --Plato
I, for one, am super excited about the expansion. The Crusader looks like a total badass and Act V looks great from what I've seen. I'm also really amped about the 60-70 skills for the original classes. Can't wait for the specifics to start rolling out. The Mystic, I'm sort of whatever about; if the game actually starts dropping the fun stuff at a reasonable rate, I will happily spend my time smashing about looking for orange pillars of light, as God intended. Not terribly worried about modding items. Transmog will be a nice perk too.
At the same time, I can definitely appreciate it if someone feels like $40 is too much. The fact is, a lot of the cool stuff is going to get patched into the original game - Loot Runs, Nephalem Portals, Loot 2.0, Paragon 2.0 - but you shouldn't look at that as a downside of the expansion. Frankly, with all of those new additions, I'm excited for new content to explore it with, even if it's just one act. But if $40 is too high, don't pay it. Your original $60 is still working for you.
I'm with you in hoping that they improve randomization throughout the original 4 acts (and I would LOVE open world / ignore-the-story mode), but I will also say that a the Loot Runs look like they'll help slake your thirst for randomness even if the original 4 stay the same.
For PvP, I don't have much to say; I'm not into it, I don't really care about it, and I believe them when they say they haven't released anything beyond Brawling yet because they haven't come up with anything that's fun. I'm curious what you mean by Deathmatch PvP - is that not what Brawling is?
And at the end of the day, while there are things I wish D3 had done differently, I have about 400 hours played, which is well worth the $60.
WHAT, the patch containing loot 2.0 paragon 2.0 loot runs and nephalem trials is FREE?! Stuff that they could just bundle with the expansion but they chose not to?? Fuck blizzard I aint playing the expansion even if IT was free!!!
You people are such babies.
The older you get the less time (free time) you feel you have.
You know you can press esc (default key) to skip the entire dialogue right? some ppl don't know but there is also an option to close all windows which also skips dialogues that start events, like the vendor in keeps that starts the event where skeletons come from the lava... do your research before talking.
OT: I agree only that by now we should have recieved some form of PvP, tower defense, DOTA, capture the flag, total domination, there are so many ways to make d3 pvp fun that i still can't understand how blizz says they are looking for a fun way to do it, but the expansion is definitely worth buying, and considering you are posting on a D3 fansite i think you'll probably buy it too. ^^
Those Who Do Not Know True Pain Cannot Possibly Understand True Peace...
The problem with any PvP that depends on PvE items is only one: the insanely huge spectrum of player power.
It's hard (or actually, impossible) to "match" people and let them have a "fair fight", and that's pretty much mandatory in any competitive game/mode nowadays.
Because there are 2 things that must be taken into account. Hero power (base stats, DPS, EHP, movespeed), which has to be somewhat similar; and player skill (how good the person is at actually playing, executing his strategy).
Hero power would probably have to take precedence in a matchmaker, but there are situations where a player with 20% less stats can probably overcome the other player by sheer proper execution of a certain playstyle (positioning, managing resources, landing skillshots better than the enemy), so those 2 alone are hard to measure, and together pretty much impossible.
Hero power on its own is near impossible to measure.
If the matchmaker pairs someone with 150k DPS and another guy at 100k DPS, but the lower dmg guy has 50% more EHP, or just infinite sustain (by having 4k LoH), it's a very very frustrating experience for the guy who simply cannot kill the other guy at all (over the course of a what? 10 minute match?).
Add to that teams, and you see where I'm going. It's way more complex (from a design-standpoint) than most people give credit for.
People like to pretend it's all easy. Just add the mode and everything will be sorted out. We will make what we want out of PvP. Balance isn't needed. Yada yada yada. But the ACTUAL truth is, if a PvP is released and the general experience is that you get either pubstomped or pubstomps others every single match, EVERYBODY will complain, and almost nobody will play it. They definitely want to avoid that!
The truth has been borne out over the past year. People will complain about anything, and everything. There is one thing that the Diablo community has become exceedingly good at, and that's spinning everything in a negative light.
It's almost like listening to politicians NOT solve problems but somehow convince us that they have all the answers.
it's impossible to please everyone, and with any blizzard game and anyone who plays them..PEOPLE COMPLAIN..AND A LOT. PVP is voluntary, not required nor does it benefit you in any fashion or form, so If you get pubstomped and suck at it, don't do it..problem solved. PVP should be implemented regardless.
However in terms of the automated match making, I do think they've probably ran into that issue as you've explained. That's why they should just allow for pvp'ing in any game..outside of the bullshit arena format.
But just implementing it, and ignoring the problems, isn't a very elegant design solution. It doesn't acknowledge the problem, it doesn't solve the problem, and isn't a very nice philosophy to follow in the long-term.
As I said, there's a certain standard in the gaming industry nowadays, and a matchmaker and the notion of fair fight is absolutely part of that standard (whether you personally like it or not). Technically speaking, we do have the D2 PvP model, but no one cares about it. Guess why? The bar has been raised.
Oh, I'm pretty sure that's one the biggest problems they've encountered with PvP TDM. They probably don't want to explain it to a very stubborn and childish playerbase, so they just blame it on the whole PvE nature of the game/heroes (AoE, etc.) not fitting PvP. That's a good excuse too, though.
It's like the whole notion of "nothing has changed in 1.5 years, loot is still the same crap, not a single patch focused on changing loot and drops". Probably because they didn't get exactly what they wanted, and even more likely because they don't understand the root of the problem.
hit escape, brah