It looks like we will not be seeing the PvP Arena system at release. However this will be patched in after release. Oddly enough this seems to be tagged with Sign of Release
Originally Posted by Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
(As we’re counting down the days until we’re ready to announce a release date for Diablo III, we’ve come to realize that the PvP game and systems aren’t yet living up to our standards. Today, we wanted to let you know that we’ve made the difficult decision to hold back the PvP Arena system and release it in a patch following the game’s launch. After a lot of consideration and discussion, we ultimately felt that delaying the whole game purely for PvP would just be punishing to everyone who’s waiting to enjoy the campaign and core solo/co-op content, all of which is just about complete.
While we work on making sure PvP lives up to its full potential, we hope you’ll find some consolation in the fact that soon, you’ll be having a blast leveling characters, finding items, learning the classes, and perfecting builds…and that when the Arenas do arrive, you’ll be all the better prepared for battle.
When the PvP patch is ultimately ready, it will add multiple Arena maps with themed locations and layouts, PvP-centric achievements, and a matchmaking system that will help you and your team get into fairly matched games quickly and easily. We’ll also be adding a personal progression system that will reward you for successfully bashing in the other team’s skulls.
We know a lot of you are looking forward to PvP, and we’ll be focusing our post-launch efforts on making sure the Arenas are as brutal, bloody, fast-paced, and awesome as we know they can be. In the meantime, we’re in the process of putting the finishing touches on what we think is a truly epic campaign and co-op experience for launch.
We’ll have a lot more info to share on the PvP system in the future, and we look forward to the moment we can get the game into your hands.
While we work on making sure PvP lives up to its full potential, we hope you’ll find some consolation in the fact that soon, you’ll be having a blast leveling characters, finding items, learning the classes, and perfecting builds…and that when the Arenas do arrive, you’ll be all the better prepared for battle.
When the PvP patch is ultimately ready, it will add multiple Arena maps with themed locations and layouts, PvP-centric achievements, and a matchmaking system that will help you and your team get into fairly matched games quickly and easily. We’ll also be adding a personal progression system that will reward you for successfully bashing in the other team’s skulls.
We know a lot of you are looking forward to PvP, and we’ll be focusing our post-launch efforts on making sure the Arenas are as brutal, bloody, fast-paced, and awesome as we know they can be. In the meantime, we’re in the process of putting the finishing touches on what we think is a truly epic campaign and co-op experience for launch.
We’ll have a lot more info to share on the PvP system in the future, and we look forward to the moment we can get the game into your hands.
I'm not being a fanboy. I'm actually using my brain and putting myself in their shoes. I've been actually giving good reasons backing every opinion I've given. So, no...I'm not being a fanboy.
Diablo 3 is a very good game from my perspective. In all honesty there are very few things I don't actually like about it. I've been looking forward to playing and trying quite hard to get a beta key to try out stuff early. However, its not like I have just blindly followed Blizzard due to fanboy'ism or anything. No.. I actually honestly like what they've done with the game and I've explained why.
Care to explain your reasons some? Rather then ignoring my reasons and calling me a fanboy...
Lets take apart your post, and reply to each portion...
They did take out the epic boss->player death animations and I'll admit I was a bit sad. However, it does make sense that a few flash death scenes over getting other features fleshed out was definitely not worth the cost.
They didn't cut all the kewl features. Runes are still there. The Mystic didn't provide anything unique really so it only makes sense that it was phased out. The death scenes weren't actually in the game and were scripted specifically for the initial video. PvP wasn't even worked on at all till the end from what I understand, has never been a major feature, and will still show up in a future patch. Scrapping items and selling items is still in, but were moved to in-town only in order to create a sense of downtime. Identifying is still in the game, as is town portal...
Am I missing something? Did something they announce get cut that I didn't mention? Seriously.. they haven't cut everything awesome. Things just changed from their initial design, which does happen during a game's development.
I highly doubt you were playing Blizzard games before I was born, unless you somehow time traveled with a copy of a Blizzard game AND a computer that could play it. I've played nearly every game Blizzard has produced (missed out on SC Ghost) and to date I've loved every one of them.
Oh.. and to your "P.S"... those aren't critical features. They might be highly desired features by some people, but they aren't critical to Diablo 3's success. In fact, they are quite negative features considering the design of Diablo 3. Its an online game with a full commerce system. How would you propose they make it offline compatible? I have a feeling that quite a bit of the logic for handling items being spawned and such is also server-side only. This means that they would have to spend a great deal of time to replicate this logic in a single player fashion.
So... I think I've covered all your points...
they havent even started the console project. lmao *tin foil hat*
No, I think you're missing the point here. You're focusing too much on nitpicking the skill UI when it really isn't as bad as you make it seem. Its not some horrifying UI that noone can use. Its actually pretty easy to use. It'll be rather intuitive for new players due to the fact that by default it limits the skills for each slot. Once you hit high level and have all your skills chosen, you're not going to be constantly switching out skills, so its really not going to cause that much of a problem at all. You are really just making too much of a really minor issue.
Its honestly like you want to find something to complain about, just so you can complain. I'm not trying to insult or anything, you're really just blowing things way out of proportion.
Honestly, you are getting the game and planning on playing it. Obviously the issue isn't gamebreakingly bad or you wouldn't be...so why make such a big deal out of it?
Your post is very hard to read. Might want to try get someone to help proofread or something...
That said.. they've already offered the option to choose any skill for any slot if you so choose. However, from watching streams I don't see a NEED to really. You should be able to build a infernal viable build without turning that option on. I'm very confident of this as there are a variety of abilities listed for each slot.
The UI is not the worst possible UI. Its not even that difficult to use. It also wouldn't take no time for them to implement a new one as development cycles have to go through design, art, and code. They also end up running through a few iterations of quality control, etc. Its not as simple as coding a new one.
Honestly, you're really upset over something so minor.. I cannot understand it.
then youd be wrong. every class has massive survivabilty in their passives. in fact thats where most of it is. and then you are basically forced to take a couple defensive abilities with the limited skills so it actually makes it EASIER to make a strong build. why do you think blizz made it this way in the first place? so eve noobs could make strong builds n get farther in the game. lmao, fail dude. so fail
played Torchlight. its epic fail and i got bored after 2 days. yet the diablo 3 beta which is merely 45 minutes of gameplay kept me replaying it over and over for months.
diablo should take NOTHING from torchlight. they are desperately trying to copy the magic formula that makes diablo so great, and they have failed.
I've played TL1, quite extensively in fact. Its less of a game then Diablo 1. In all honesty, I was saddened when its precursor 'Mythos' went under. Mythos seemed to be a much better game then its cousin Torchlight was. I'm quite eager to see how TL2 turns out though.
That being said... They would need to release TL2 before Diablo 3 for me to even bother getting it. Diablo 3 is already a way better game then TL1 and I haven't seen more then Act 1, Boss 1. Sorry, Torchlight just didn't have the 'fun' factor at all for me really. I beat the game and was just done.
You know, you're complaining that they changed things during their beta when that was kind of the purpose of their beta right? Let people playtest the pile of features they had implemented to see how well they played out when put to the test. Turns out some of those features really didn't pan out as well as they liked. So, they streamlined em. The current state of Diablo 3 looks pretty awesome and even the skill window is but a very minor issue.
Of course, I've already stated all this and it seems you ignored it...so I'll assume you'll ignore it this time too.
The game is not 'half-finished', the only major feature that got held off was PvP and it was last on the to-do list anyways. Its not required in order for the game to be fun, and there will be a ton of people that wouldn't use it anyways. So this lets them release earlier and cater to those that want to kill their friends down the road.
As for you buying a singleplayer game and it requiring the internet. You purchased an online game. Not an offline game, not a lan game, a ONLINE game. You knew this was the case before purchasing it and as such complaining about it is rather silly. Blizzard can offer a better game due to this development model and I'm perfectly ok with having my internet on to play.
Again though, I've mentioned these things before in a previous post and you seemed to ignore them...
If you don't like how Diablo 3 is turning out so much that you're blindly raging and ignoring the logic put in front of you... maybe you shouldn't get the game. If you already bought it, don't play it and write it off as a bad purchase...cause I really don't want to play with someone raging in every D3 game they join about how bad it is...
considering the blues have responding in depth towards every single one of your complaints. there not all that legitament or they felt it was necessary to change it. crying and raging will change nothing and solves nothing.
Can you actually give some logic and reasoning behind your opinions? I've actually given VERY good reasons for everything I've stated. I've watched MONTHS of streams...allowing me to know exactly how the game plays out by listening to the streaming players, watching the various features in action, etc. I have had more experience with the game then many people have actually (despite not having actually played it).
As for people deserving lan or offline play. I'm sorry, but they don't. Its Blizzards game and none of us are 'entitled' to anything other then what they offer us. The only thing we're 'entitled' to is choosing to buy the game or not. Offline play would require a rewrite of the system to allow the logic to be handled offline. It'd also need to be separated from the online play in order to stop hacked items from being put up on the auction house. This means that many players wouldn't even use the offline play in favor of being able to access the commerce system of online play. So you expect Blizzard to implement a feature that would be only used by a minority, requires a separate development path, and brings in no extra income...who's being ridiculous?
Sounds good to me.
Oh, for anyone who is interested...I've spent a few hours talking with various streamers about the skill UI and how it functions after patch 14. Seems that they all feel it works pretty well. Minor annoyance with having to scroll through a couple pages, but generally every one of the streamers was able to make very effective use of the skill UI to customize their characters.
From studying it more as well, I've found that it REALLY will help new players get a nice diverse build setup for their character. Since essentially it acts like six skill trees and you choose one skill and rune from each tree. Honestly, the more I research the topic...the more I really like the new skill UI.
thats what i was saying. patch 14 made the new skill UI 10x better and easier. its not a big deal anymore. lulz.