Unfortunately, I'm taking D3 so seriously that I couldn't allow myself to play casually. I wish I could, I really do but it's just not feasible. I will be the power gamer when this title finally hits.
It's actually really simple for me... DUPES! If the security is not tight enough on b.net 2.0 and dupes become a regular occurrence it will be devastating. Let's not kid ourselves, D2 got really awful with dupes and hacks very quickly and there is a way larger risk this time around with the rmah.
I just wanted to make a quick post to point this out. Some time ago (pre patch 10?) they introduced checkpoints. As a result, the player almost never starts in town and I think this kind of goes against how a Diablo game is played. Maybe it's just that nostalgia of starting in town a million times before. I just find it unnecessary given quests seem to be relatively short overall and players are likely to complete one before quitting. I suppose it would be handy if you get killed repeatedly and want to give up and return later? But even that's kind of lame. Diablo is about killing everything and there should be no objections to clearing a quest again if you decide to quit
The corpse spider nerf is pretty severe taking of 1/3 damage. That really adds up given how quickly 4 spiders attack. Before this, I planned on using C.S for sure.. Also, firebats buff is much needed but I'd rather see the size of it's aoe increased instead.
I also preferred when monsters could spawn with "Thorns" affex, I wonder why they chose to swap its name like that. Oh well, how many patches until release? I think they'll hit the release date on patch 20, possibly a lot more.
As far as hacks go, I'd like to mention something, and I could be absolutely wrong, so bear with me on this one.
In Starcraft 2, a couple weeks after the beta started we already had maphacks on the market, and they had already "hacked" the client to be played even without BNet. This transfered to when the game was released (with even more varied hacks, like Achievement-related ones, drop-hacks, etc.)
Now I am fully aware they are completely different games, and honestly I don't have enough technical knowledge on this to say it is never going to happen, but the fact that we haven't even heard about "bots" and "maphacks" (or any hacks) after so many months into the beta means something to me - namely how hard it's going to be to create these hacks (specially considering how much randomization there is in the game and how much information is fully server sided).
Random enemies, random dungeons (with the real path only known by the server), clicking to pick-up items and hp and resource management all combined (to me) means bots should be really rare, and if they ever appear they would be extremelly inneffective (at least to farm equal level monsters).
In the end, this is the kind of thing we will only know for sure once the game ships and Blizzard probably knows that too, and should it become a problem they'll try to find a way to solve it. To me, any speculation that says "no, this is 100% going to happen like this, I'm sure" is extremely biased and unfounded, at this moment.
Sorry for the wall of text don't usually do this, but I'd like to see other's thoughts into this subject and my opinion on this.
I sure hope you are right!! Yes, hacks/bots have been completely scarce in D3 beta and this is a great sign. They also seem less prevalent in SC2 so security is looking pretty tight on b.net 2.0 at the moment.
My concerns are rooted in leaving such a large segment of the market (all hc players) vulnerable to the third party sites as that's where they will go for real money transactions. My thoughts are that Blizzard should go all or nothing with RMAH - either both SC & HC or none at all.
The "conspiracy" part of my argument is that having no HC RMAH will increase hacks. I think that the hardcore sector of the D3 economy will be 5-10 times (not an unreasonable estimate) more lucrative if Blizzard doesn't step in and add real money transactions. With so much money to be made, bot/dupe/hack developers can justify investing more time and money into their work. Maybe it is paranoid, but at the same time it really only take one outbreak of dupes to permanently screw up the economy.
I really appreciate this feedback everyone - I'm feeling a little bit more settled on the issue but still thinks it needs attention. Who is in favor of HC RMAH and who is opposed? Why?
I've been thinking a lot about this topic lately and wanted to share some genuine concerns. Here's the video description as an overview:
No HC RMAH will yield more bots/hacks/dupes because there's a large monetary incentive for third parties to develop them. If Blizzard adds hardcore real money transactions they will protect a much larger portion of the player base. This will make third party item websites less lucrative and in turn decrease the number of bots and dupes.
This could be a major problem if not addressed and I would love feedback and opinions on it.
There is still the issue of customer service headaches at Blizzard but this can certainly be avoided. I'm sure they could add some safeguards to ensure that every player using HC RMAH understands the risks involved and that there is no reimbursement for death under any circumstances.
I can't explain why I'm smitten by this game. I know it will likely be the last huge release in my gaming career (one I will enjoy for many many years). I've only had 3 or 4 releases like this in my entire life and I've had blind faith in the development decisions we've seen this past year. I think the biggest factor capturing me is the million and one different ways to build a character. I will be discovering crazy new powerful builds forever and this is a real creative outlet for myself.
It's so blatantly obvious why they've implemented this and Blizzard knows they should have just done it a long time ago. It's clearly more fair and improves gameplay and party dynamics immensely. It's just silly to think those stats should be individual... IMO
There is FAR more to armor sets/variations than what you show in 2 screen caps and it would be impossible to form a complete opinion at this point. You may think WD is cool now and you change your stance entirely after release. I think they all have huge potential but i'm not a huge fan of monk armor (or monk overall for that matter) and the DH looks a little unfinished from what we've seen in few images. I'm just excited that there's like unlimited options for equipment multiplied by dozens of dyes... Lot of customization !=]
Weapon decisions have been effected heavily in patch 13 because now stats are class specific. In this respect, it's unlikely for a wizard/wd to wield a large sword even with high base damage because it's more likely to have STR/DEX bonuses that are not very useful for caster classes. Pre patch there was a simple attack stat applicable to all classes making obscure item/class combinations much more viable.
Ok, maybe this will lead to specialization. Maybe it will be optimal to play in 3s with each player whore their respective adventure stat (mf, gf, xp).
How does that help? Its an sum and an average, it doesnt matter who has what. There would certainly be no hidden benefit of having 3 people stack only one stat.
I think it would be just easier to coordinate that way. It also depends on the goals of the run, i.e powerleveling (xp) vs farming loot (mf)
unless your group has all 100's of MF, you're better off solo.
Discounting the fact that there is no emergent benefit to playing in a group, which there certainly can be if arranged properly. By virtue of having more players your killing speed should scale faster than monster hp assuming you have a coordinated group.
You're referring to players using builds that "synergize" with eachother and that makes sense. However, do we have a concrete answer on monster stat scaling. Does a 4 player game have monsters with 4x hp, 4x dmg etc. I would imagine not which leads to benefits in group player no matter what (unless obviously someone is a complete noob or sitting in town etc.).
Ok, maybe this will lead to specialization. Maybe it will be optimal to play in 3s with each player whore their respective adventure stat (mf, gf, xp).
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I also preferred when monsters could spawn with "Thorns" affex, I wonder why they chose to swap its name like that. Oh well, how many patches until release? I think they'll hit the release date on patch 20, possibly a lot more.
edit: nerf --> buff
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I sure hope you are right!! Yes, hacks/bots have been completely scarce in D3 beta and this is a great sign. They also seem less prevalent in SC2 so security is looking pretty tight on b.net 2.0 at the moment.
My concerns are rooted in leaving such a large segment of the market (all hc players) vulnerable to the third party sites as that's where they will go for real money transactions. My thoughts are that Blizzard should go all or nothing with RMAH - either both SC & HC or none at all.
The "conspiracy" part of my argument is that having no HC RMAH will increase hacks. I think that the hardcore sector of the D3 economy will be 5-10 times (not an unreasonable estimate) more lucrative if Blizzard doesn't step in and add real money transactions. With so much money to be made, bot/dupe/hack developers can justify investing more time and money into their work. Maybe it is paranoid, but at the same time it really only take one outbreak of dupes to permanently screw up the economy.
I really appreciate this feedback everyone - I'm feeling a little bit more settled on the issue but still thinks it needs attention. Who is in favor of HC RMAH and who is opposed? Why?
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Discussion/Commentary on the subject:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wb8iLlRd_M
This could be a major problem if not addressed and I would love feedback and opinions on it.
There is still the issue of customer service headaches at Blizzard but this can certainly be avoided. I'm sure they could add some safeguards to ensure that every player using HC RMAH understands the risks involved and that there is no reimbursement for death under any circumstances.
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Love the environments, everything about them. I kind of regret checking these types of posts though because it always leaves me wanting so much more.
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I think it would be just easier to coordinate that way. It also depends on the goals of the run, i.e powerleveling (xp) vs farming loot (mf)
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You're referring to players using builds that "synergize" with eachother and that makes sense. However, do we have a concrete answer on monster stat scaling. Does a 4 player game have monsters with 4x hp, 4x dmg etc. I would imagine not which leads to benefits in group player no matter what (unless obviously someone is a complete noob or sitting in town etc.).
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