A very well written topic was created over at the Battle.net forums, where a user has made a pretty extensive list of fixes that could potentially make Diablo 3 a better game. See the blue responses to some of the suggestions below, but don't forget to also check out the original topic located here.
Originally Posted by Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
(Very extensive list, I can see that a lot of thought has gone into this and I feel it right to acknowledge that :-)
I am unfortunately not able to make comments on each individual point though, but as we have seen many of these points (or similar ones at least) posted before, I can say that we are taking them to heart... It is important that you guys are aware that big changes and improvements takes time, so we will have to prioritise things on what we can be implemented faster via patches and what will have to be pushed for later implementation via expansions.
I wanted to comment on this though:
We wanted a game based on D2 with an expanding gameplay and additional (not less!) mechanics and ideas.
We stated several times right from the start that Diablo III is its own game, that we never intended for it to be an HD version of Diablo II. We acknowledge that Diablo III needs to be a better game, and we intend to make it so, but you should never expect it to be turned into Diablo II.
Come on Van that's not exactly what he meant, he meant that a game that is a sequel of another game SHOULD be better and should progress beyond what the other game was
If that is what he meant, then I can agree, at least for the most part :-)
In my personal opinion, a great sequel pays homage to its predecessors and at the same moves forward with new content. It is fairly normal though, that sequels replace features from predecessors with new features, and I can of course agree that it is an issue if those new features fall short of what is intended.
Are you kidding me? I paid for what YOU acknowledge as an incomplete, unsatisfactory game. And you tell me that you're going to expect me to pay for not expansion but EXPANSIONS
I think you are overreacting a little bit here to be honest, at least it feels like you are jumping to conclusions.
First of all, I acknowledged that Diablo III needs to be a better game, which corresponds with previous statements we have said about the game not being where it needs to be in regards to a long-term sustainable end-game. Nowhere did I acknowledge that the game is incomplete and nowhere did I state that you must pay for fixes and improvements! We still feel Diablo III is a good game, and despite the shaky release, we still see that there are many people out there who enjoy and play the game.
Second of all, I wasn't making any announcements about any number of patches and expansions. I was speaking in general terms when I talked about how future changes and improvements must be prioritised - Some things take longer than others, typically because they are more complex. And since complex things can take a lot of development time, said things at times require to be scheduled so they correspond with the release of an expansion, whereas the things that take less development time can be implemented faster via patches.
There have been plenty of times where we have released changes and improvements to our games alongside expansions - changes and improvements that were made available to everyone for free - where people only have to pay if they want access to for an example new zones and more levels. The World of Warcraft expansions are a great example of this approach.
It would be an ok game if it was called anything else than Diablo..
This is nowhere near the standards of the diablo franchise srry, you can tell us 150x more you find it a good game that won't make us change our minds you know..
As I said previously, we acknowledge that Diablo III needs to be a better game. That being said, we do not agree that Diablo III is a bad game.
I know that Diablo III is not what everyone wanted it to be, that there are some people who are so disappointed that they are only able to voice their frustrations through hyperbole, and for those people there is little I can do or say to help ease their minds.
All I can say is that we are trying to make Diablo III the best game that it can be, but some things take more times to improve than others. I totally understand if this is hard to accept for some people.
I am unfortunately not able to make comments on each individual point though, but as we have seen many of these points (or similar ones at least) posted before, I can say that we are taking them to heart... It is important that you guys are aware that big changes and improvements takes time, so we will have to prioritise things on what we can be implemented faster via patches and what will have to be pushed for later implementation via expansions.
I wanted to comment on this though:
We wanted a game based on D2 with an expanding gameplay and additional (not less!) mechanics and ideas.
We stated several times right from the start that Diablo III is its own game, that we never intended for it to be an HD version of Diablo II. We acknowledge that Diablo III needs to be a better game, and we intend to make it so, but you should never expect it to be turned into Diablo II.
Come on Van that's not exactly what he meant, he meant that a game that is a sequel of another game SHOULD be better and should progress beyond what the other game was
If that is what he meant, then I can agree, at least for the most part :-)
In my personal opinion, a great sequel pays homage to its predecessors and at the same moves forward with new content. It is fairly normal though, that sequels replace features from predecessors with new features, and I can of course agree that it is an issue if those new features fall short of what is intended.
Are you kidding me? I paid for what YOU acknowledge as an incomplete, unsatisfactory game. And you tell me that you're going to expect me to pay for not expansion but EXPANSIONS
I think you are overreacting a little bit here to be honest, at least it feels like you are jumping to conclusions.
First of all, I acknowledged that Diablo III needs to be a better game, which corresponds with previous statements we have said about the game not being where it needs to be in regards to a long-term sustainable end-game. Nowhere did I acknowledge that the game is incomplete and nowhere did I state that you must pay for fixes and improvements! We still feel Diablo III is a good game, and despite the shaky release, we still see that there are many people out there who enjoy and play the game.
Second of all, I wasn't making any announcements about any number of patches and expansions. I was speaking in general terms when I talked about how future changes and improvements must be prioritised - Some things take longer than others, typically because they are more complex. And since complex things can take a lot of development time, said things at times require to be scheduled so they correspond with the release of an expansion, whereas the things that take less development time can be implemented faster via patches.
There have been plenty of times where we have released changes and improvements to our games alongside expansions - changes and improvements that were made available to everyone for free - where people only have to pay if they want access to for an example new zones and more levels. The World of Warcraft expansions are a great example of this approach.
It would be an ok game if it was called anything else than Diablo..
This is nowhere near the standards of the diablo franchise srry, you can tell us 150x more you find it a good game that won't make us change our minds you know..
As I said previously, we acknowledge that Diablo III needs to be a better game. That being said, we do not agree that Diablo III is a bad game.
I know that Diablo III is not what everyone wanted it to be, that there are some people who are so disappointed that they are only able to voice their frustrations through hyperbole, and for those people there is little I can do or say to help ease their minds.
All I can say is that we are trying to make Diablo III the best game that it can be, but some things take more times to improve than others. I totally understand if this is hard to accept for some people.
On Gameplay and The Auction House
Another great thread on the Battle.net forums. Highly recommended that you stop by and read the entire post from the OP, since it brings up a lot of good points of discussion. In the quote below Grimiku drops a small statement about gearing up without the AH.
Originally Posted by Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
(This post is a good read with a lot of great feedback and I appreciate you putting it together. Thanks! While there are other points in the original post, I wanted to briefly talk about items since it’s the big one.
We know that (for many players) it’s much more rewarding to gear up from items that you find while playing normally than it is to necessarily go through Auction House, and we’re working to make improvements in that area. There are a lot of ways we could attempt to reach that goal, and choosing the best one(s) to go with is not always a fast process. I want to encourage you all to continue to post your thoughts on the subject and I promise we will keep reading and relaying them.
We know that (for many players) it’s much more rewarding to gear up from items that you find while playing normally than it is to necessarily go through Auction House, and we’re working to make improvements in that area. There are a lot of ways we could attempt to reach that goal, and choosing the best one(s) to go with is not always a fast process. I want to encourage you all to continue to post your thoughts on the subject and I promise we will keep reading and relaying them.
TryHard: Witch Doctor Legendary Guide
Forum member and prominant YouTuber TryHardEnmity is back with his second Legendary Guide video, this time focusing on Witch Doctors. You can visit the topic he's created on our forums over here.
Don't forget to also check out his previous Legendary Guide video for Demon Hunter.
They've had very civilized AMAs on Reddit where posts get buried and hidden in downvotes if they are immature and contribute nothing. There's no good reason Blizzard can't be more transparent. They get rage when they say things, and rage when they don't. So you might as well say things so the mature individuals can at least get something from the developers to see what direction they are heading.
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Regarding the "Complete Diablo fix": Those aren't anything that haven't already been suggested amongst many other things. Not only that but tl;dr lists show up on the forums just about every day. Sometimes they get a blue post. What did Blizzard contribute to this post that was significant? He acknowledges that D3 needs work and that they have to prioritize? Not exactly news.
He said that there are similar list and things have been mentioned before etc., but then you said yourself - people rage when Blizzard doesn't respond, people rage when Blizzard responds to a topic. Perfect example.
The significant thing in this post however: "We stated several times right from the start that Diablo III is its own game, that we never intended for it to be an HD version of Diablo II. We acknowledge that Diablo III needs to be a better game, and we intend to make it so, but you should never expect it to be turned into Diablo II."
That's something that a lot of people in many recent threads on DiabloFans fail to understand, who simply propose fixes that are mere features of Diablo 2. Not gonna happen.
I don't think they are really concerned about it.
I don't understand people who play games sometimes. When they get the same thing over and over they bitch (COD, sports titles, etc), but when new things are done they bitch that the old game was better and they should have made that again. Well really you see it with lots of things not just games, instead of just not liking something and moving on they demand that it be made to be exactly like something else that already exists.
I loved Fallout 1+2, Fallout 2 is probably my all-time favorite game. When Bethesda made F3, I tried it, and hated it. For me they completely killed the atmosphere. However, the game got superb ratings, many people loved it, both novices to and lovers of the franchise. So I moved on, never spend a minute thinking about what F3 could have been or bitching about what it has become.
They definitely can't be transparent about future features that are not set in stone, or people get pissed when it ends up not making the cut. See PvP - I've seen a lot of people whining at Blizzard for deciding on their own that it wasn't good enough instead of just releasing it. Every time an announced feature gets cut, it makes them look bad. Compared to the minimal benefit of announcing things far in advance of release, it's just not worth it.
I've been waiting for the third episode for a long time now. Eager to see what advise he has in it?
Seems odd that TryHard put out the witchdoctor legendary guide first.
FOR HOW LONG PLAYERS WILL HAVE TO STATE THEY DON'T WANT JAY'S VISION ON HOW DIABLO SHOULD BE, THEY ACTUALLY WANT AN EXTENSION OF WHAT DIABLO 2 WAS....
Damn, they keep pressing the same key, ignoring completely that what's is wrong is that very key-stroking. I hope for 2 things:
1) The new director want the D2 vision of what Diablo is. That's what we came expecting for.
2) That what is left of Jay Wilson's team don't sabotage the work of the new boss, just to campaign the older was better. We all saw how some of them behave on "fuck that loser" episode.
Damn, you should've read at least the 4th paragraph.
"We stated several times right from the start that Diablo III is its own game, that we never intended for it to be an HD version of Diablo II. We acknowledge that Diablo III needs to be a better game, and we intend to make it so, but you should never expect it to be turned into Diablo II."
=> D3 is never becoming what you think players want it to be (i.e., what you want it to be). Move on.
Please don't try to speak for everyone, I know quite a few people that enjoy "Jay's vision " as a massive upgrade. Like the blue says. They never planed on making D3 a HD clone of D2. No thanks.
I dont want to go back to dealing with gimp affixs, torch scams, SoJ cloning, No repect options, gold being worthless and let's not forget the hours of my time in the chat trying to trade items dealing with trolls and greedy people tht want a full set of X just cause they have that 1 runestone you need. Yeah, No thanks.
Just like Final Fantasy 7. I know it, I was godly when it came out. It's years later people....Get over it. I thank Jay for taking D3 in the right driection. Yeah okay the game isn't 100% Perfect. The games only been out what? 8 month? Come on. We all know blizzard 2 years down the road this game will be unmacthed.
Some of those are already back on the game, others aren't what we are asking to be brought back. I'll say the same I did in Cataclysm when the mid-core crowd said that bad design which excluded the majority of players was awesome and the best thing that happened to the game: Your demands aren't viable in the long run.
Jay isn't bringing anything to anywhere. His competence was ultimately proved underwhelming, and he quit. They are even looking for a external professional so the new director can actually move the game out of "fuck that loser" bunch's reach.
Well that's the problem with these games. We don't really know which half is larger. We never will sadly.
Any kind of generalization like "the majority loves Jay" or "the majority hates Jay" is anecdotal at this point.