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Quote from TheRealVonDoom

Yet ANOTHER simplification of a system in D3...

It will be nice in some aspects (not having to get 237 Str to wear a freaking helmet), but this also means that Witch Doctors and Wizards will be vying for the same Plate Mail that a Barbarian does.

Inevitably, there will be some legendaries/uniques that are top tier and benefit ALL classes to a certain degree, and only having a level requirement means all classes will go after it.

Think like Stone Ring of Jordan, but there's also Stone Plate Mail of Jordan, Stone Wizard's Hat of Jordan, Stone Berserker Axe of Jordan, and Stone Leather Gloves of Jordan; all classes will be competing for the same exact armor pieces for several slots, instead of just rings and amulets.

While it's possible for Wizard and Witch Doctor to equip those items, in practice it won't be a problem. Melee-class type gear will only have stats the benefit melee. At the same time Spellcaster-type gear will only have stats that benefit spellcasters. So sure a Wizard can equip some Plate Mail with bonuses to melee damage, but why would they when they can equip a robe or light leather armor that gives them extra spell damage. Basically, there is "enhanced damage" from D2 that affects melee damage while there is another stat that does the same thing for magic damage. The small armor bonus won't be worth losing spell damage over.

No more need to have the perfect str and dex for gear.

I checked out the new runestone videos, and it seems like each runestone color has a certain theme to them. I like this a lot. Consistency between classes makes it easier to switch classes as well as understand how runestones work for other classes you don't play. You can better gauge the value of a runestone for other classes without having to know exactly what the runestone does for them.

Crimson - Increases the skill's damage.
Indigo - Increases the skill's area effect.
Obsidian - The PvP rune. Increases to survivability and utility against other players.
Golden - Reduces the skill's resource cost, but depends on class. e.g. increased Monk Spirit regeneration.
Alabaster - Afflicts enemies with a status effect (confuse, knockback, freeze, etc.).

All of these seem to be in addition to the normal damage.

Sorry if this is already known, but I didn't see it anywhere.

Yes, I also wonder about the charms. I would hate to go back to D2 ways of everyone's inventory filled with charms.

As always, another great writeup.

I think most people won't really do any rushing:

• D3 1-60 is equal to D2 1-85. Less overall time is needed.
• Players can respec a skill or two easily for a fee, much easier than rolling a new character from scratch. (also auto-added attributes means no mistakes there either)
• No town portals for high levels to speed low levels through content. Low levels have to follow the high level and actually survive for it to work. So far it sounds like monsters will target the low level. It will probably be very tedious to get rushed.

It will be $60 guaranteed. Activision doesn't let big budget games go for any less. Bobby Kotick even said he wants to charge $100 for all new games. He just hasn't been able to convince retailers to go along with it.

Lots of other good games out right now. Also, you can actually take a break from games and do stuff in real life. There are other hobbies besides video games.

Nice to hear your guy's take on it. Hopefully, the lack of new stuff from Blizzard means they are hard at work getting D3 ready for beta.

It's nothing compared to travel costs. A good concert costs the same, but that's just one night of fun. Blizzcon gives you two nights and two days. The only reason I haven't gone is the travel costs. If I just had to pay $175 I would definitely try to get tickets, but the other $1000 or whatever for travel is just too high. Also when I want to take a vacation I like to get away from the city and just relax. I'd be so excited at Blizzcon I wouldn't get any sleep. I would come back home more tired than when I left.


Edit: Another thing...
On the other hand, the online pay per view thing is a complete rip off. Someone inevitably records everything and posts it on Youtube in high definition, all free to view. I could see maybe $10 for access, but with all the problems I don't see how someone would pay for that. Last Blizzcon the HD mode didn't even work for most people. People that paid money for HD had to watch low res because of the bugs. There were also lag issues, hiccups and timing issues.

They even hyped up this big SC2 showmatch between Boxer (former Brood War champion) and FruitDealer (then SC2 world champion), but it never got shown on the live stream due to some error. I only watched the free stuff, which was the opening ceremony, some of the WC3 tournament, WoW tournament, and the showmatch (which was never shown due to bugs).

All over the forums paid viewers were having the exact same issues as me. I was really glad I didn't spend any money on that and just watched everything on Youtube. That's another thing. You could only watch the videos on demand for that weekend. After that, they were removed so even people who paid couldn't watch if they were busy that weekend or something. Youtube on the other hand you can still view everything today with no problems. /end rant

Besides the CE, Blizzard also released the SC2 soundtracks on itunes (SC2 had two). We can probably expect the same for D3.

I feel like they would have to change the lore and story a lot to make the whole spirit thing make sense. Why are these spirits following your hero? How do they fit into the story? I think Blizzard would have to either add stuff or rewrite stuff to make them fit. At this point, I don't think they have enough time to do this before release. Maybe in an expansion though.

I think Blizzard is too busy right now with alpha to give us good, new art. Hopefully, they are busy getting things ready for early beta July.

I think it will just be the caravan for most parts of the game, but I think there will be certain parts where your caravan gets to a major city. There should be other NPCs in those cities you can talk to, but I'm not sure if they will have any exclusive services. Probably not just because Blizzard doesn't want players to have to travel far to access special services.

Quote from Magistrate

Well, we're still waiting on the announcement on the hirelings to be retracted.

(Puting = present progressive form of put. Putting = golf term.)

It's "putting" for both. "Puting" is not a word.

Quote from Jackzor

Quote from Chaotik

Quote from SolHellyon

in the artisian video dude playing put to destroy for mats the grey boots with no bonus stats ..
so looks like you gonna pick up every single grey item that drops ;] the more mats the faster you get artisians to higher lvls

Ahh yes if breaking down every single item helps with crafting then I wouldn't mind all the cracked boots.

Well you'll still need up to date items in order to get the salvaged materials you want. If you're keeping up to date that is. Higher quality items yield higher quality materials, so you won't need to horde low level items to get the salvage you need.

The way I see it crafted items will require a bunch of low quality materials and just a few high quality materials. That means low quality materials will still have some small value. If there's an auction house, it would be worth it to salvage everything and then sell the stuff you don't need. Over time long time players will have more extra gold to spend. They will use that gold to buy materials directly instead of farming it themselves.