1. Early game -- yeah, just wear whatever you want to clear campaign as needed for norm/nm/hell. You'll replace it quickly. It's just a means to an end.
2. Endgame is basically running rifts/greater rifts, bounties, and filling out gear generally. Once you get into the endgame difficulties it will be obvious what these are and how to do them--an NPC will appear and additional game modes will open.
3. I'm not sure I only have a PC.
4. The maps reset because the game maps are for the most part randomized. The monster spawns reset and are usually different, map pieces will be different, etc. This happens every time you make a new game.
For D4 it needs to be able to stand up in it's own right, the combat and QoL from D3 was a step forward and it needs to go further next time. The game should be darker than D3 but the most important thing is the endgame.
I mean the devs themselves literally said it's going to pull from 2 and 3 specifically. What you're describing in your second sentence is pretty much exactly what has been said they're doing and mostly what people are/have been asking for.
I agree with your point on rerolling and limited respeccing. I put more than 10 years of daily play into D2--when respec was added in D2 I was ecstatic, but I realized after a time exactly what you point out--D2 doesn't really have an endgame. That timesink for perfect stats/gear is what does it, and esp. that kick of serotonin unlocking new abilities on a fresh char early on. And then the cycle of getting gear with soft stats on it so you have to keep rerolling your char to optimize those stats. It was uncomplicated (my criticism of PoE--their endgame overcomplicates it imo) but the need to reroll (or high cost respeccing) is pivotal. So much of D2's experience was in rerolling that making respeccing so trivial really hampered it.
I also agree with your take on gearing, in that a build should not be completable in only a couple days. Most builds should be functional and competitive for endgame activities with modest investment imo but if endgame areas are trivial in a matter of less than a week then there is a significant problem. Imo D2 got this close to right, although I think rampant immunities in all endgame content was a cheap way of doing it (especially multi-immunity).
The core of this criticism is the gear/build relationship, in which D3 went the complete opposite way on both from D2. Imo the combat itself and the way you can customize skills was superior, but it feels like it came at the cost of everything else. D4 seems to have a cost for respec, but I'm hoping it's much steeper than D2 (have to clear endgame bosses a few times or trade for items, otherwise 3 resets max) and definitely higher than D3 (virtually free).
I played D2 a lot more, like an order of hundreds of hours. Was it a better game? Eh, it was a different game. Different style, different storytelling, different combat. There's elements I like of both.
I think part of the reason I didn't play D3 much was the timing with where I was in life when it came out and what I had to focus on. I get into it a little with new seasons sometimes. It's never felt like a Diablo game to me, more like a high fantasy action game about mythological creatures. But it's still a good game.
I like what I've seen/played of D4 so far--it feels like a nice middle ground with complexity and a good springboard for future stuff. DI also honestly looks fun--more on the Diablo 3 side of it, which makes sense as I'm guessing that's what it was derived from.
D3 definitely set the standard for what an isometric high fantasy arpg is for the 2010 decade--there are countless iterations of it's designs, aesthetics, etc., since, many which added/improved on those ideas. D2 did this for the 2000 decade.
D2R? I played hm...maybe a hundred hours so far. It's hard to feel invested in it since the ladder didn't start.
A new WSJ article late this morning announced ABK shareholders wrote a letter formally calling for Bobby Kotick and two of the senior-most Board of Directors members to step down.
1. This group, SOC, owns 4.8 million shares, or just 0.6% of Activision Blizzard
2. SOC has been criticizing Kotick for a long time. This isn't a turnaround or shift in view from them
Note that Kotick possesses just shy of 0.5% of shares, so he himself has nearly the same amount of bargaining power.
A day after Activision Blizzard employees staged a walkout and called for the resignation of CEO Bobby Kotick and several other executives, a group of Activision Blizzard shareholders with a total of 4.8 million shares is similarly asking for the company CEO’s resignation in a letter to the company’s board of directors. The walkout and the letter from shareholders follows a Wall Street Journal report that Kotick was aware of sexual misconduct allegations at the firm but did not inform his board of directors.
“In contrast to past company statements, CEO Bobby Kotick was aware of many incidents of sexual harassment, sexual assault and gender discrimination at Activision Blizzard, but failed either to ensure that the executives and managers responsible were terminated or to recognize and address the systematic nature of the company’s hostile workplace culture,” the shareholders, led by the Strategic Organizing Center (SOC) Investment Group wrote in a joint letter addressed to the company’s board of directors and shared with The Washington Post.
In addition to asking Kotick to resign, the group of shareholders is calling for the board’s two longest serving directors, Brian Kelly and Robert Morgado, to retire by December 31. Kelly is chairman of the Activision Blizzard board of directors and Morgado serves as lead independent director. The Activision Blizzard board of directors responded to the Journal’s article Tuesday, saying it remained “confident in Bobby Kotick’s leadership.”
Shareholders said in the letter that if Kotick, Kelly and Morgado don’t step down, they would not vote for the reelection of the current directors on the board at the next annual shareholder meeting in June, and would urge other shareholders to follow. The SOC chose to call for Kelly and Morgado’s resignations as they are the two longest standing members of the board, it told The Post, with Kelly serving since 1995, and Morgado since 1997.
I literally do not know why I always believed this rumor, but Brevik tweeted about this the other day and I felt so targeted. I'm pretty sure back in the day in D2 like...everyone maxed out their TP tomes to make their cow portals? Or at least enough did on the fear this might be a thing and that I also did this??
You can actually create/join a channel. Type '/channel join MyChannel'. But it's very lacking. Once you're there you're OK but if you enter a game you will be sent back to lobby and you have to manually select the channel again from the drop down menu. And if you exit the game and restart D2R you have to manually type '/channel join MyChannel' again.
I figured this out literally right after I replied and felt so dumb XD But I honestly didn't think anyone would even reply. Site seems so dead.
This is another case where I can't believe they didn't at least preserve the original functionality. I'm pretty sure back then if you joined a game it kept you in the channel when you left a game.
On game exit it did make you leave though--I think maybe pickit or maphack might have automated rejoining a channel on closing and restarting the game but I can't be sure.
Honestly, if it at least did what the original did, I might not be so incredibly, laughably baffled. But it doesn't? And some features they added don't work.
1. Refresh button needs to work; ability to toggle off auto refresh
2. Player list and game details shouldn't be 2 different tabs that only work 50% of the time and disappear as soon as it auto refreshes
3. Needs filters badly
4. Players along bottom are there for nostalgia, which I respect, but it doesn't do anything functionally and should be toggleable. Collapse it and maybe replace with avatars with vanity titles tied to ladder/hc progress or completion that display inline with chat
5. Block option just works completely randomly?
6. Option to auto block text with keywords list
7. option to add/join channels should be in the drop down, not hidden in chat commands people these days aren't used to/have no visual cue exist.
8. channels should be a saved list on log out that you can auto rejoin
9. certain processes of channel mod bots should be included to ease running channels (ie you don't lose leadership on leaving channel)
10. game names with serialized endings should auto increment and autofill on return to lobby like maphack used to have
11. game names should autofill from last joined on relogging in case you drop
12. so many other things--i understand and applaud not changing game features but chat lobby needs to be modernized
Skeptical any of it being done because I don't see how they'll further monetize this, but I'm hoping they'll want it to be flawless due to the fire the company is under at the moment.
In actual fact, there IS a way you can talk to Natalya AFTER you kill Mephisto. You have to enter a game with someone that has NOT killed Meph... that person has to create the game. It won't work if you create the game. Once you are in the game, you go and talk to her and she gives you her speech and that is it. I have in done it myself, but that was YEARS ago... Don't know if it can still be done, but I would guess it can. It would be more effort to remove it than it would be to simply deactivate it for those that have killed Meph. That was why going into a game created by someone who had not killed Meph worked. The deactivation trigger was killing Meph. As long as the game creator has not killed Mephisto, that trigger has not been activated, so you can access the dialogue because it was left in the game. Again, not sure if it still works but it probably does. And definitely not sure about the D2R ability to use that backdoor method to hear the dialogue... but, they say they have not made any substantive changes to the basic programing of the game, and that the Resurrected engine is simply running on top of the original game, so that is something I am going to look at later.
Tbh it might work in D2R--I think I remember Nihlithak's portal closing in town once you completed his quest but it stays open so you can just go instantly to pindle--I feel like in D2 it would close and youd have to tele back through all that shit to mf him from the wp. So like it wouldn't surprise me if so in D2R.
This man is the most consistent person i can even think of
1. Early game -- yeah, just wear whatever you want to clear campaign as needed for norm/nm/hell. You'll replace it quickly. It's just a means to an end.
2. Endgame is basically running rifts/greater rifts, bounties, and filling out gear generally. Once you get into the endgame difficulties it will be obvious what these are and how to do them--an NPC will appear and additional game modes will open.
3. I'm not sure
I only have a PC.
4. The maps reset because the game maps are for the most part randomized. The monster spawns reset and are usually different, map pieces will be different, etc. This happens every time you make a new game.
I got nothing but that's retro as hell! Best of luck!
I mean the devs themselves literally said it's going to pull from 2 and 3 specifically. What you're describing in your second sentence is pretty much exactly what has been said they're doing and mostly what people are/have been asking for.
I'm glad you enjoy PoE!
I agree with your point on rerolling and limited respeccing. I put more than 10 years of daily play into D2--when respec was added in D2 I was ecstatic, but I realized after a time exactly what you point out--D2 doesn't really have an endgame. That timesink for perfect stats/gear is what does it, and esp. that kick of serotonin unlocking new abilities on a fresh char early on. And then the cycle of getting gear with soft stats on it so you have to keep rerolling your char to optimize those stats. It was uncomplicated (my criticism of PoE--their endgame overcomplicates it imo) but the need to reroll (or high cost respeccing) is pivotal. So much of D2's experience was in rerolling that making respeccing so trivial really hampered it.
I also agree with your take on gearing, in that a build should not be completable in only a couple days. Most builds should be functional and competitive for endgame activities with modest investment imo but if endgame areas are trivial in a matter of less than a week then there is a significant problem. Imo D2 got this close to right, although I think rampant immunities in all endgame content was a cheap way of doing it (especially multi-immunity).
The core of this criticism is the gear/build relationship, in which D3 went the complete opposite way on both from D2. Imo the combat itself and the way you can customize skills was superior, but it feels like it came at the cost of everything else. D4 seems to have a cost for respec, but I'm hoping it's much steeper than D2 (have to clear endgame bosses a few times or trade for items, otherwise 3 resets max) and definitely higher than D3 (virtually free).
I played D2 a lot more, like an order of hundreds of hours. Was it a better game? Eh, it was a different game. Different style, different storytelling, different combat. There's elements I like of both.
I think part of the reason I didn't play D3 much was the timing with where I was in life when it came out and what I had to focus on. I get into it a little with new seasons sometimes. It's never felt like a Diablo game to me, more like a high fantasy action game about mythological creatures. But it's still a good game.
I like what I've seen/played of D4 so far--it feels like a nice middle ground with complexity and a good springboard for future stuff. DI also honestly looks fun--more on the Diablo 3 side of it, which makes sense as I'm guessing that's what it was derived from.
D3 definitely set the standard for what an isometric high fantasy arpg is for the 2010 decade--there are countless iterations of it's designs, aesthetics, etc., since, many which added/improved on those ideas. D2 did this for the 2000 decade.
D2R? I played hm...maybe a hundred hours so far. It's hard to feel invested in it since the ladder didn't start.
Post v1.09, the odds to determine item quality are fairly simple:
Gambling - Diablo Wiki
This is exactly what I've been looking for. I've been trying to compare items based on jsp prices and it's been a whole thing. Thank.
A new WSJ article late this morning announced ABK shareholders wrote a letter formally calling for Bobby Kotick and two of the senior-most Board of Directors members to step down.
UPDATE:
Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier added some context:
Note that Kotick possesses just shy of 0.5% of shares, so he himself has nearly the same amount of bargaining power.
100% agree. What's more--while it's handy that chat persists ingame, that means it brings with it the spam sometimes
There isn't a clear UI for creating new channels, either. You kind of just have to know.
Also the reporting/blocking options sort of...sometimes work and sometimes don't? ???
I literally do not know why I always believed this rumor, but Brevik tweeted about this the other day and I felt so targeted. I'm pretty sure back in the day in D2 like...everyone maxed out their TP tomes to make their cow portals? Or at least enough did on the fear this might be a thing and that I also did this??
Originally Posted by (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
I have never heard this rumor. AFAIK this is completely false. I can't ever recall coding it or talking about it.
You can actually create/join a channel. Type '/channel join MyChannel'. But it's very lacking. Once you're there you're OK but if you enter a game you will be sent back to lobby and you have to manually select the channel again from the drop down menu. And if you exit the game and restart D2R you have to manually type '/channel join MyChannel' again.
I figured this out literally right after I replied and felt so dumb XD But I honestly didn't think anyone would even reply. Site seems so dead.
This is another case where I can't believe they didn't at least preserve the original functionality. I'm pretty sure back then if you joined a game it kept you in the channel when you left a game.
On game exit it did make you leave though--I think maybe pickit or maphack might have automated rejoining a channel on closing and restarting the game but I can't be sure.
In addition to these, they def need to auto kick people idling in the lobby and not chatting for more than like 20-25 minutes.
Yeah, the lobby is literally just...so bad.
Honestly, if it at least did what the original did, I might not be so incredibly, laughably baffled. But it doesn't? And some features they added don't work.
1. Refresh button needs to work; ability to toggle off auto refresh
2. Player list and game details shouldn't be 2 different tabs that only work 50% of the time and disappear as soon as it auto refreshes
3. Needs filters badly
4. Players along bottom are there for nostalgia, which I respect, but it doesn't do anything functionally and should be toggleable. Collapse it and maybe replace with avatars with vanity titles tied to ladder/hc progress or completion that display inline with chat
5. Block option just works completely randomly?
6. Option to auto block text with keywords list
7. option to add/join channels should be in the drop down, not hidden in chat commands people these days aren't used to/have no visual cue exist.
8. channels should be a saved list on log out that you can auto rejoin
9. certain processes of channel mod bots should be included to ease running channels (ie you don't lose leadership on leaving channel)
10. game names with serialized endings should auto increment and autofill on return to lobby like maphack used to have
11. game names should autofill from last joined on relogging in case you drop
12. so many other things--i understand and applaud not changing game features but chat lobby needs to be modernized
Skeptical any of it being done because I don't see how they'll further monetize this, but I'm hoping they'll want it to be flawless due to the fire the company is under at the moment.
Tbh it might work in D2R--I think I remember Nihlithak's portal closing in town once you completed his quest but it stays open so you can just go instantly to pindle--I feel like in D2 it would close and youd have to tele back through all that shit to mf him from the wp. So like it wouldn't surprise me if so in D2R.