Awesome awesome post. I find myself agreeing with nearly everything you said.
That said, while these changes would make the D3 experience much better, it doesn't come close to addressing the root problem with D3, and that is that everything (progression, customization, power etc.) is dependant on your gear. This is the fundamental game flaw that loot will never fix.
Character customization is a huge deal, especially when it comes to an ARPG. Paragon levels granting points to actually customize your character will change this I hope. The only issue I see them running into is, do they let people respec these at any point? If they did would it be hard to do so?
I can already see someone getting to level 100 paragon and messing up by putting one point in the wrong trait. Maybe they'd have the option to reset lets say the points in level groups 1-10, 11-20, 21-30, etc simply by re-leveling. It's hard to explain, I'll try to show:
Players could spend those 10 points in each group anyway they want among lets say 3 or so different traits per group. If you want to adjust them you'll have to reset that specific group and gain the required experience the same as before. It might make +exp items useful for even lvl 100 paragon levels at some point. It's not as harsh as messing up in D2, but it at least provides punishment for changing.
Any stat allocation has to be meaningful. In other words, it can't be a few token stats to pad your main stat or vit ... it has to be emergent choices to give your character real power and uniqueness. Furthermore, these choices have to interact with gear and vice versa. Gear and character should compliment and synergize. We should not be simply the sum of our gear or sum of our points. The easiest way to accomplish this is to make elemental damages matter again. This linear, universal dps/ehp rat race is a horrible game design. I like most of your suggestions, but none of them really help us fix this fundamental flaw of D3. The game will forever be shallow until the devs address customization, progression, and power systems.
Sorry to detract from your thread. I'm done (for now)
Awesome awesome post. The effort is impressive. I find myself agreeing with most of your suggestions (did not really care for your insistance that the drop rates must be tied to the AH ... it doesn't).
That said, while these changes would make the D3 experience much better, it doesn't come close to addressing the root problem with D3, and that is that everything (progression, customization, power etc.) is dependant on your gear. This is the fundamental game flaw that loot will never fix.
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Any stat allocation has to be meaningful. In other words, it can't be a few token stats to pad your main stat or vit ... it has to be emergent choices to give your character real power and uniqueness. Furthermore, these choices have to interact with gear and vice versa. Gear and character should compliment and synergize. We should not be simply the sum of our gear or sum of our points. The easiest way to accomplish this is to make elemental damages matter again. This linear, universal dps/ehp rat race is a horrible game design. I like most of your suggestions, but none of them really help us fix this fundamental flaw of D3. The game will forever be shallow until the devs address customization, progression, and power systems.
Sorry to detract from your thread. I'm done (for now)
0
That said, while these changes would make the D3 experience much better, it doesn't come close to addressing the root problem with D3, and that is that everything (progression, customization, power etc.) is dependant on your gear. This is the fundamental game flaw that loot will never fix.