Quote from Benegesserit
Quote from Tanakeah
Heck, I went back and checked the MANUAL that I got in the battlechest and checked the multiplayer section in the Table of Contents and read it. IT CLEARLY STATES the differences of Single Player and Battlenet, and the fact that it HAS the Multiplayer part and is clearly shown IN THE MANUAL as well as on the game options screen...HOW was this confusing?
lol do you realize how many people don't RTFM
I'm well aware of that, but we're also talking about a playerbase that has been around for a while, back in the day when people DID read manuals, not this generation. Even without reading the manual, it's not confusing at all to figure out given what is presented in the game itself.
Can't wait to see the story unfold that's for sure.
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While it wasn't my question that was answered about the skill UI, someone else mentioned a similar one and yep...they're going to go with it no matter what. *sighs* Ah well...that's all I'll say on that one.
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And then watch as a month later or so when Inferno Mode is conquered and the 'hardcore' laugh and mock the attempt.
...Ok, truly serious now...it is nice to see some news on Inferno for sure and to learn about the "Tier" stuff, but I am getting mixed signals here. On one hand we have Bashiok saying:
But then in the video Jay says something to the effect of:
...Although, looking at it again, it might not mean that the new items will necessarily be better than the previous tier, but still...seems a little confusing on the word choice to me. Wish these people would use similar terminology or communicate a little better at times!
Also noticed that enrage timers were talked about. While it seems there are a variety of them, and some of them like the one described using the SK as a hypothetical scenario are the ones I like (they're more of a 'soft enrage' that makes sense), I will say I won't like the 'hard enrage timer' if there is one.
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I am probably reading way, WAY too much into this, but the comment Jay made about Hell Mode could be a little...concerning. I know Blizzard was saying that they want a lot of viable builds and for skills to be used equally, but in saying that it depends on his current build whether he can get through Hell or not (or at least implies it)...well, it sorta confirms what I was thinking. I know, I know...again, I am probably reading into this way too much, but I can't help but think that this could lead to difficulty tuning adjustments in terms of nerfs, and other things. That, and there could be potential for some skills to just not be used at all and more 'cookie cutter' style popping up. Not that it wasn't going to, but...yeah...just rambling now.
Suffice to say, I am hoping that if Blizzard does get a lot of complaining (which they inevitably will), that they stick to their guns and don't nerf Hell/Inferno and instead balance and tune potential skills and abilities that might be too underperforming and allow for more build diversity. Especially since Bashiok and others in the PR department have been really pushing those 'billons of builds' lately, even if in the end there will definitely not be that many that make it through. Here's hoping there are
*End incoherent rambling*
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I'm going to guess that attack will be for his "Slam" attack mentioned in the description. It has wind-up time so it's fair warning to get out of the way. Otherwise, if that is for regular damaging hits, then even with melee's extra 30% damage reduction, armor, and what not, I don't think they'd survive normal hits like that unless you get godly blocks or blow a lot of cooldowns. I think the monster will hit for a more 'reasonable' amount in regular melee.
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Even the best of developers can make mistakes and can sometimes have their own vision clouded by what they see as being right, when in fact it may very well not be. Also, I don't see your comment as being 'fanboyish' at all, as it is a fair point, and I would hope that Blizzard devs did consider that. However, part of me just can't believe that testers found the basic ideas of 'spenders', 'generators', and 'defensive/whatever' combos that hard to understand, or whatever other categories they have for the classes like Witch Doctor and Wizard. If indeed these 'hardcore testers' had such problems then I would want to question Blizzard's use of the word 'hardcore' (which I might add I hate because it is such an overused word), and I would love to see exactly what these testers were testing and what skill UI they were using, etc, etc.
What I also cannot understand is that with the closed Beta they had a HUGE amount of feedback, far more feedback that, IMHO, was a much better sampling than what their internal testing groups could ever offer. Many people were fine with earlier patch UIs and I rarely saw any topics about people 'not getting' the divided, more simplified categories I mentioned. Heck, it was like that on Blizzard's Skill Calculator page and it wasn't hard to understand at all. The only real thing you had to do was read the tooltips for a few seconds, analyze what the text told you, and BOOM...you could tell what the ability was, whether it was offensive, defensive, enhancement skill, whatever. But I didn't hear any real complaints from the masses that were in the Beta...people were fine with it because IT WORKED.
When it changed...THAT'S when people started raising the roof, and rightfully so IMHO. ...You know, I honestly hate thinking like this, and I hate wanting to go this route, but I firmly believe that the Blizzard devs reworked the skill UI because - whether by their decision or someone higher up - HEAVEN FORBID SOMEONE HAS TO USE A FEW NEURONS AND THINK A BIT...they sub-divided it even FURTHER to cater to the lowest common denominator of gamers. Again, I REALLY hate thinking this, but from what I have seen with WoW and other developers doing this at times...it's like they HAVE to put as much hand-holding and 'simplification' into games as possible because again, heaven forbid someone be a little unsure for a few seconds and have to stop and THINK LOGICALLY about something. I know this is REALLY getting close to ranting, if it isn't already, but I just can't help but think it...instead of encouraging thinking and what not, Blizzard attempted to make it more simple. In an ironic twist they made it MORE convoluted, needlessly complex, and just plain ol' NOT user-friendly, which HURTS new and 'hardcore' gamer alike, and methinks Blizzard is getting just a bit too prideful to admit that they could have potentially made a mistake and might need to go back and fix it.
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**WARNING! THIS POST IS GOING TO BE EXTREMELY LONG**
This...really irks me. The interface changes - and I'm going to focus mostly on the skill UI and even the skill hotbar a bit - that Blizzard has made ARE NOT helping gamers understand combat or making it easier for them to get into it. I decided to put aside my 'hardcore, dedicated side' and tried to look at this game from someone who has a much more limited understanding of all the little nuances and things of classes. For this example, I put myself into the shoes of a gamer who's had a little experience with games, so not totally in the dark, and is looking at Diablo III for the first time and checking it out. So, to do that I figured...let me pick one class and go at it 'blind' and see what I can learn from what information Blizzard has given me before I jump into the game proper just to get a few pointers or get some basic core concepts of the class to see if it's 'right' for me.
For this, I went with the Demon Hunter since I like ranged classes and I see the Demon Hunter uses bows and ranged weapons...ok, cool, so there's my starting point. Now, as a new gamer I want to know what the Demon Hunter class is all about and how she generally works and what to expect in game, obviously learning all the smaller, finer details as I go, but at least I can get some general concepts. So for that I go to the official Diablo III website and check out the Demon Hunter class page under the Game Guide section....simple enough so far. I learn a bit about the backstory, the weapons that DH's use, blah, blah, blah, BUT then I come across something that I deem VERY IMPORTANT...THE RESOURCES! I learn that the Demon Hunter uses both Hatred and Discipline to fuel her attacks with Hatred being a constant regenerating source for offensive power and Discipline which is used for more defensive measures and that to succeed I should use both of them hand-in-hand and not just focus on one. ...Ok, that seems fine and now I am starting to think, "I need to strike a good balance with the DH and manage my resources, but while that's all well and good, I want to see what skills she has to offer."
So from there I go to the Skill Calculator since it seems to make sense...if I want to see the skills, I should follow that link and check them out. I do and start playing around with the Calculator, reading the skills and seeing what they do, etc, etc. That's when I notice something else as I'm scrolling through the skills...I see some have a yellow background, some an organish-red background, and others a purple one. *gasp* WHAT DOES THIS MEAN!?!
So, I look at the skills a bit more and once again draw upon what I learned from the previous page I realize that as a DH I have skills that I use to GENERATE Hatred and other skills to SPEND it, and notice the SPENDERS are generally more powerful, and some might say more interesting skills. AHA! I GOT IT! To be an effective Demon Hunter, I not only have to balance Hatred and Discipline, BUT I need to make sure I balance my Hatred skills so I can regenerate my main attacking resource to fuel my stronger attacks and still put out a little damage. Ahhhhhhh, NOW we are getting somewhere, and thusfar it's all making sense to me with just a little bit of thought. With that in mind, I begin to happily look at the skills in the calculator and start messing around with potential ideas, along with dabbling in the Passive Skills to see if any of those can be helpful, too. However, the more I play around with the calculator the more I am starting to notice one thing that has me scratching my head.
From what I can see, the skills of the DH are already categorized into the three things I found out: Hatred Generators, Hatred Spenders, Discipline Skills. Why then, are these skills further sub-categorized into things like: Primary, Secondary, Defensive, Archery, etc? It seems rather excessive and why does it need to be done? Why can't it just be the three categories mentioned before and let me look them over and see what each skill is and let me make a judgment call? I mean, why do I as the player have to be told that 'Caltrops' is a Defensive skill when I can read the description and see that it's a trap that slows enemies down, which would then tell me that "Oh. Caltrops is a defensive tool, so I'll keep that in mind"? I notice this is done for many of the other skills and some categories like 'Devices' are mixing HG, HS, and Discipline moves all into one sub-category that, again, seems rather silly to me. It's starting to look like (to me) there is too much sub-dividing for the sake of doing so, and it's not helping me...it's beginning to confuse me.
Not only that, but let's take it a bit further and let's say that I've played the Beta and got a chance to play around with the skill selection tabs. I find myself getting a bit annoyed that I have to cycle through so many tabs to look at skills and I start to wonder, "Why didn't Blizzard just separate the DH skills into the three categories they've already assigned them and let me look at them with minimal amounts of hassle and having to juggle through so many seemingly silly subcategories?" Let's go one step further and say that as a newer player who read the DH stuff on Blizzard's website, got a lucky chance to try the stuff out in the Beta, and now I am reading that last sentence in the Jay Wilson quote. As this player, I am left scratching my head and saying, "Wait...WHAT? You HAD the Demon Hunter skills already categorized (and other classes as well) and made it quite clear what they do. They are ALREADY easy to understand. Your subcategories and subsequently the UI that is going along with them TURNS THEM INTO SOMETHING THAT IS MORE CONFUSING THAN IF YOU HAD JUST LEFT THEM ALONE." (capped for emphasis, not yelling)
After putting myself through this scenario and putting myself into a 'new player's shoes' so to speak (as best I could, heaven knows it ain't perfect) I cannot understand where Jay is coming from. Perhaps in the internal testing these 'hardcore players' didn't understand how to interact with your systems isn't because of their lack of knowledge. Maybe it's because the skill UI and systems are just so overly-complicated and convoluted and poorly thought out that maybe the word 'KISS' should've been used a bit more generously? Maybe when they were saying "If I could put the skills into categories THAT I CAN UNDERSTAND AND NOT INTO EXCESSIVE SUB-DIVIDED CATEGORIES THAT ARE JUST THAT...EXCESSIVE...MAYBE I'D GET THOSE 'HINTS' ABOUT HOW YOU WANT US AS GAMERS TO PLAY YOUR GAME." (Again, not shouting, just capped for emphasis.)
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I'm well aware of that, but we're also talking about a playerbase that has been around for a while, back in the day when people DID read manuals, not this generation. Even without reading the manual, it's not confusing at all to figure out given what is presented in the game itself.
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Indeed. I heard Bashiok saying the same thing, so...maybe things got changed around and the PR department that Bash works in wasn't informed, or a communication mishap? ...Ok, that might've sounded a bit too sarcastic, but it does make you wonder what is going on and what they have at last decided upon for the whole gear thing. If indeed it has gone to a tier structure like this, then Blizzard saying that they didn't want people farming specific areas or acts...well...that kind of just went down the drain really fast, unless this statement meant something else that Jay meant to say or needs the dreaded 'clarification'?
Reading the part about online in Diablo II was rather...well...insulting to say the least. I know there are certain subsets of gamers that aren't the brightest apples in the bunch, but I went back to Diablo II and checked the multiplayer aspect of it and it really wasn't that confusing. Heck, I went back and checked the MANUAL that I got in the battlechest and checked the multiplayer section in the Table of Contents and read it. IT CLEARLY STATES the differences of Single Player and Battlenet, and the fact that it HAS the Multiplayer part and is clearly shown IN THE MANUAL as well as on the game options screen...HOW was this confusing?
There's also something else I want to address, but am doing it in a separate post and I apologize if it seems like I'm double posting, but I want it to be clear and potentially have more character room if needed.
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The community thing, however...still not liking the lack of a decent chat system as well as no way to make player created games is troublesome. I don't want to think it, and I am probably wrong, but...I can't help but think that those decisions were made for the 'well being' of the RMAH and reducing trading in games where Blizzard can't dip their hands in player pockets via either gold or money. Don't get me wrong, I know Blizzard has to make money for the upkeep of their servers, and they couldn't get away with a subscription fee like with WoW because the Diablo fanbase would've said heck no and Blizzard would've lost A LOT of potential sales, but it just seems that it's a community loss overall.
Though as for the commercials and videos...looks good indeed.
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Not surprising given the amount of people trying to get on. Let's just hope this is a good enough stress test for them so it's not like this at launch...hopefully.