That came back in Diablo II too eventually in the form of rune words, and I don't think it really worked out too well in the end. I do think it actually could be designed and implemented properly; balanced, etc. but...
For me the more important question though is what impact does it have on the class you're playing and also our knowledge of the Diablo world? Is a class nothing more than someone who read from a book, or is holding a specific item? No, they're very specific and very iconic figures (heroes even) from very distinct styles and backgrounds. The characters we play are these concentrated images of their cultures, beliefs, etc. Everything they do resembles who they are and where they're from, and what does it mean to then piecemeal that out to any one who just happens to throw a couple runes in to an item.
It worked better in Diablo (1) I think. Conceptually it was a bit easier to digest just because of the basic pen and paper underpinnings, and the heroes were far more generic. It was also far less obtrusive.
In Diablo II though, for me anyway, it always undermined the uniqueness of playing a specific class, and also what it meant to be that character. Aside from everything else it caused.
Though I really don't miss them. Diablo 3 is fine without them.
bashiok stole the words from my mouth here
That's what was so cool about the classes in D2 .... if books return i will be sad ans go sit on a rainbow to cry a little bit
Each character class could only use class-specific spellbooks to gain skill levels for skills in their own unique skill tree. And an interesting concept for that is having to trade for hard-to-find spellbooks that would give skill levels to a player class' highest skills. So basically - the higher the skill, the harder to increase with spellbooks.
You could also make things challenging by only allowing the use of say, 100 spellbooks. That way, you'd have to look for specific books to travel down the skill trees "branches" and achieve the higher skills without wasting spellbooks on skills you wouldn't use.
They could of made some sort of class specific "spellbook" for the barbarian though.
Won't really miss them.
And I disagree with the idea that weapons detract from the uniqueness of a char, I mean look at the stories, theres heaps of examples of people with fancy-as rare-as-hens-teeth weapons like excallibur and king arthur. Thor and mjollnir. And every third samurai has a fancy weapon that some old man on top of a mountain was supposed to make for them
I dunno, I loved that extra dimension to the item game
as for D2. I think duping ruined that game for me. High runes and them poofing was down right dumb and the runewords that they made really lost focus on the game. What i dont get is how so many people want complain about the animation and art of D3 when your all enigma freaks teleporting like this is freakin dragon ball z. Runewords in many ways killed D2 for me. Merc aura stacking and enigma really did kill this game for me and i dont want to see this in D3.
i will ask for a 125% price refund if the D3 reaches this low point.
To me D1's loot seemed more interesting than D2 because some of the unique items were really cool and rare. I remember finding a staff with an Apocalypse spell attached to it. That was a real game changer for me against Diablo, I was able to wipe out so much with that staff. I never found that staff again in any of my other games.
In D2 I was annoyed with the sorceress spells all being based in only fire, ice and electricity. Really limiting, the loot became too predictable at times and so much was only good for selling. It would be nice in D3 to find a wide mix of really diverse and powerful items.
hahahaha agreed
i think adding books are better for trades + interest in the game other then having ding lvl skill point goes in BLANK kinda makes it challenging thou haha and trade friendly.
one thing u have to watch about replacing books for skills is whats the benefit in gaining lvl then? only stat points? if it means that then NO
maybe if u add books as a way for cross skilling to other class skills and instead of runewords that will be crazy hahaha i'll like that. make sure u make books HARD TO FIND THEN!!
but then again we have classes becoming other classes issue again but didn't diablo always do that
i liked it more custom is better anyways
Example maybe your barb is stupid and doesnt now how to read so they must invent something like meditation or something like that
In regards to the runewords, good riddance. They took all of the excitement out of the game for me. It should be a little difficult to find excellent equipment...