We do not have plans to implement an offline mode. While the always-online requirement made the auction house possible, the auction house was never the driving factor in our decision to make the PC version of Diablo III require an Internet connection. The game was built from the ground up to take full advantage of Battle.net, which provides a number of important benefits, including persistent server-side character saves, a seamless PC multiplayer experience, cheat prevention, and Real ID and BattleTag social features.
I usually try to stay away from using overly strong language when voicing my dislike of something, but this...I'm sorry...this is some of the biggest loads of bull**** I have heard from Blizzard, though sadly that seems to be par for the course. The AH WAS the driving factor because they HAD to keep people from finding ways to hack and abuse it with an offline mode that gave them access to so much more than what we have now. Even more so with the fact that there was a RMAH involved and you can bet that if someone had found a way to screw around with that through unscrupulous means and stole items/money that Blizzard would've really been up the ****creek without a paddle or life jacket when it came to people suing them for lost goods/money or credit card numbers or whatever. It just boggles my mind that they honestly believe that this statement will (and sadly it will) convince people that it's the other things they mention as the driving forces as to why they wanted the game to be online only and DRM put in...bull-*******-****.
Big deal on server-side character saves, and Battle Net 2.0 is a terrible abomination compared to the original Battle Net and that's saying nothing about the horrendous GUI for chat channels and communications in general. So bare bones minimum and it's going to get even worse with the removal of the AHs and trading needing other avenues, and that's saying nothing about just wanting to make games for public or for friends. So far the Real ID and 'social features' have been sorely lacking and the only real thing that has had any real use is the 'cheat prevention', and even then that seems sketchy now and then, which just makes me shake my head even further. Add to that you have the console versions which clearly have an offline mode and no AHs to be seen...so WHY can't the PC version get the same thing now that the AHs will be gone?
It just reeks of poorly thought out and pathetic PR spin that's rivaling some of the stupid stuff that Microsoft spouted out with their whole XBox One E3 conference and the whole "Buy an XBox 360 if you can't get stable/good Internet". I can't say I 'fail to understand' why Blizzard is keeping the game online only...I see why...I see it and it just makes me shake my head at how ******* stupid it is.
They are by no means whiners, and its a little insulting to call them that. A game that EVERYONE here has been waiting for, and only some get the sigils. The FoS is w/e noone really cares imo. The sigil is what I found odd about this. Giving us something that stands out on our flags that other hardcore fans can never get. (and there was nothing they could do to get it, unlike blizzcons and such).. its an odd move. Im still shocked by it myself.
So FoS, really no big deal
The sigil.. Its.. I dunno. I was surprised thats for sure.
why does a sigil matter? will it anger you to see it if you dont have it and somehow ruin your gaming experience?
Does it matter if it will anger them or not? does it matter if it adds to the gaming experience or not?
Some of those people have been just as hardcore of a Diablo fan as me. Those people have been waiting for this game none stop as long as me. Those people have been searching these forums every day trying to get all the news and jucicy info they could because they just can't wait to play this game.
Some of those people have made sure they have been unlocking every one of those class sigils because they want to have everything they can ingame. People love this game, they want to get everything they possibly can.
its hard enough on them already that they couldnt be in the beta as long as the rest of us.
There is no reason for the sigil. The only thing it does it makes those same hardcore fans feel left out. They can never get all the sigils like us, even tho they have been following the game for just as long.
I understand the whole idea of "random is random" ...ect But this just seems very odd.
Like I said, a FoS is a great idea, np with that. Just the sigil is a little far imo.
Molster pretty much sums up my thoughts on this matter. I understand from Blizzard's angle what they were up to with this, a nice little commemorative piece for those lucky enough to get into the Beta to have for posterity sake. However, at the same time I cannot agree with the idea of the sigil, and somewhat question the FoS as well as to me it seems a bit...out of place. Some people are taking it way too over the top with some of their posts basically being nothing but QQ, while others are expressing their disappointment in this in a more constructive way and I feel for them. This is something that, while the intentions may have been good...it really wasn't that well thought out IMHO.
I can definitely see how it looks like Blizzard is pretty much rewarding those lucky few that 'won the lottery' with even more stuff, as if their 'winnings' weren't enough already. And let's face it...I don't think it's too far to go out on a limb and say that 90% of the Beta participants hit the RNG jackpot and got in that way. That right there was more than enough of a reward for them; to play in the closed Beta for MONTHS, to provide a lot of feedback to Blizzard about bugs and other things, to try out a lot of what Blizzard offered to them, and many other things. And don't get me wrong, I am GLAD for those Beta testers and for those that did a lot of bug submitting and voicing community concerns, I and many other grateful others appreciate it a lot. However, to those who have been following this franchise faithfully for so many years and didn't have the RNG on their side...again...I can understand how they feel slighted, stung, slapped in the face, whatever.
IMHO, I think Blizzard didn't think this one through enough and sometimes it boggles me why they do these things that they know will get the hornets' nest stirring. Just like they've done with the Skill UI, the Battletag thing, and again this...does make me wonder at times. As for me...I didn't get in the closed beta even once, so I will not have this FoS or the sigil, and I honestly don't mind that, but again, I can understand and sympathize and agree with those who aren't happy with this to a degree.
Majority of Diablo players just play through normal, have a great time, and then are done.
For the more core players, nightmare is where it starts, thought most might feel inferno is where it will truly starts.
Jay says he can get through nightmare in less than 10 deaths.
Hell depends on his current character build.
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
Edit: Read through the large post above and will offer this. My understanding of what Jay said is that before they had all the seemingly pointless sub-categories, they were receiving feedback from testers that it wasn't clear enough. While I agree with you that the majority of us that are familiar with diablo at all, and even the larger group of just gamers that hasn't ever touched a diablo game before will probably figure it out eventually, I can only assume that the changes were made with respect to results Blizzard got during testing. I know its a flimsy excuse and is borderline "fanboy", I just can't really believe that these things which are pretty obvious to us outsiders weren't considered by the people making the game for 6.5 years.
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.
The interface has been changed so players can understand the combat system more. One of the things, or criticisms, that we had on the skills system from our more dedicated players really comes from the fact that they ARE more dedicated, or more savvy, players; they've really learnt a lot about the game's structure. What we found time and time again, internally, when we put even very hardcore players in front of the game, was they would not know how to interact with all the systems. They'd say 'It feels like there's a way that you want us to play, but you're not giving me any hints as to what that is.' It's almost like they're saying 'If I could put the skills in categories I'd be able to understand them.'
**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!?! I read a little closer and see that the yellow background skills have a "Generate: X Hatred", the orangish-red ones have a "Cost: X Hatred" and the purple ones have a "Cost: X Discipline" note attached to the descriptions RIGHT AT THE VERY TOP. Remembering from the previous DH page I was on, and the movie presented I realize that the yellow and orangish-red skills are obviously tied to my Hatred resource, and the purple ones are tied to Discipline, but why are the Hatred ones split into 'Generate' and 'Cost'?
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.)
1
I usually try to stay away from using overly strong language when voicing my dislike of something, but this...I'm sorry...this is some of the biggest loads of bull**** I have heard from Blizzard, though sadly that seems to be par for the course. The AH WAS the driving factor because they HAD to keep people from finding ways to hack and abuse it with an offline mode that gave them access to so much more than what we have now. Even more so with the fact that there was a RMAH involved and you can bet that if someone had found a way to screw around with that through unscrupulous means and stole items/money that Blizzard would've really been up the ****creek without a paddle or life jacket when it came to people suing them for lost goods/money or credit card numbers or whatever. It just boggles my mind that they honestly believe that this statement will (and sadly it will) convince people that it's the other things they mention as the driving forces as to why they wanted the game to be online only and DRM put in...bull-*******-****.
Big deal on server-side character saves, and Battle Net 2.0 is a terrible abomination compared to the original Battle Net and that's saying nothing about the horrendous GUI for chat channels and communications in general. So bare bones minimum and it's going to get even worse with the removal of the AHs and trading needing other avenues, and that's saying nothing about just wanting to make games for public or for friends. So far the Real ID and 'social features' have been sorely lacking and the only real thing that has had any real use is the 'cheat prevention', and even then that seems sketchy now and then, which just makes me shake my head even further. Add to that you have the console versions which clearly have an offline mode and no AHs to be seen...so WHY can't the PC version get the same thing now that the AHs will be gone?
It just reeks of poorly thought out and pathetic PR spin that's rivaling some of the stupid stuff that Microsoft spouted out with their whole XBox One E3 conference and the whole "Buy an XBox 360 if you can't get stable/good Internet". I can't say I 'fail to understand' why Blizzard is keeping the game online only...I see why...I see it and it just makes me shake my head at how ******* stupid it is.
1
"3.1 Million DPS Demon Huner"
I think someone forgot the 'T'.
1
1
So then...your updates got...Jay Wilson'd?
*sunglasses*
Yeeeeeeeaaaaaahhhhh
1
Molster pretty much sums up my thoughts on this matter. I understand from Blizzard's angle what they were up to with this, a nice little commemorative piece for those lucky enough to get into the Beta to have for posterity sake. However, at the same time I cannot agree with the idea of the sigil, and somewhat question the FoS as well as to me it seems a bit...out of place. Some people are taking it way too over the top with some of their posts basically being nothing but QQ, while others are expressing their disappointment in this in a more constructive way and I feel for them. This is something that, while the intentions may have been good...it really wasn't that well thought out IMHO.
I can definitely see how it looks like Blizzard is pretty much rewarding those lucky few that 'won the lottery' with even more stuff, as if their 'winnings' weren't enough already. And let's face it...I don't think it's too far to go out on a limb and say that 90% of the Beta participants hit the RNG jackpot and got in that way. That right there was more than enough of a reward for them; to play in the closed Beta for MONTHS, to provide a lot of feedback to Blizzard about bugs and other things, to try out a lot of what Blizzard offered to them, and many other things. And don't get me wrong, I am GLAD for those Beta testers and for those that did a lot of bug submitting and voicing community concerns, I and many other grateful others appreciate it a lot. However, to those who have been following this franchise faithfully for so many years and didn't have the RNG on their side...again...I can understand how they feel slighted, stung, slapped in the face, whatever.
IMHO, I think Blizzard didn't think this one through enough and sometimes it boggles me why they do these things that they know will get the hornets' nest stirring. Just like they've done with the Skill UI, the Battletag thing, and again this...does make me wonder at times. As for me...I didn't get in the closed beta even once, so I will not have this FoS or the sigil, and I honestly don't mind that, but again, I can understand and sympathize and agree with those who aren't happy with this to a degree.
1
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*
1
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.
2
**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.)