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The first step in designing any Legendary is to figure out what kind of item you want to create. Do you want a weapon? An off-hand? A ring or amulet? A piece of armor?

For this particular project, we'd like to focus on a Legendary weapon, more specifically a melee weapon. We decided to do this for a few reasons.


The first reason is that Legendary weapons typically have a very strong visual identity. Unlike other item types—like a ring or a belt, for example—you can see the weapon you're wielding, often very prominently. This is important because, in addition to discussing the mechanical design of Legendary items (its stats and powers), we also want to talk about their visual design, and that's much easier to do when you've got something that's bigger and has a lot of visible components.

The second reason is that Legendary weapons are iconic, and there's a much stronger fantasy behind them than, let's say, a helm or pair of pants. As a result, players tend to identify with weapons more than any other item type. That doesn't mean the other types are any less important, but Legendary weapons are certainly more recognizable and carry more street cred (so to speak).

As for why a melee weapon instead of a ranged weapon (or both)? Pretty simple. Of the weapon types available to all classes, melee weapons are used more often.

Okay, so we're designing a Legendary melee weapon. Done. But what class of weapon should we create? Well that's up to you! We've selected 10 different classes of melee weapons for you to choose from and have set up a poll to help collect your feedback. Pick your favorite by using the voting options below, and be sure to spread the word. Whichever weapon class gets the most votes globally wins!

After the poll has closed, we'll tabulate player votes from all our different Diablo III communities around the world to determine the winner and share the results next week. Don't delay, though—this poll will close Wednesday, October 30.

So, wait -- what's being debated? (Sorry, I'm not totally sure why we're arguing.)

For players who are interested in learning more about item design in Diablo III (and/or contributing to it), then this will hopefully be a fun little activity. For players who aren't interested in either item design or the structure of the activity itself, then it may not be. If you don't find it interesting or worth your time, that's fine. Skip it! No biggie. (Seriously.) You shouldn't feel obligated to participate in something lighthearted like this, especially since it's completely voluntary.

I mean, let's use your PoE example. I don't imagine that all Path of Exile beta players opted to create a custom unique, right? Similarly, I don't imagine that all current players would necessarily choose to participate today given the chance -- because, hey, not everyone likes the same thing. That doesn't mean that particular service wasn't worth doing or keeping, though. Just look at how much you enjoyed it! I think that's awesome, and I'm glad you had the opportunity to get involved with something you found fun and engaging. In that same vein, we hope that D3 players will find the Design a Legendary project fun and engaging too (albeit for different reasons), but we certainly don't expect it to appeal to everyone.

Right, so I explained my point. PoE did it first, are still doing it, and doing it better.
Keep in mind that the goals of this activity and Path of Exile's custom unique service aren't in competition with one another (nor are they even really the same), so directly comparing them is a bit short-sighted. At the end of the day, if the Design a Legendary project can help interested players get a better idea of how Legendary items are made in Diablo III and make them feel like they had a hand in shaping something in the game, then we'll consider that a success. And who knows? Maybe it'll lead to other bigger, even funner projects in the future.

With Blizzcon only about 2 1/2 weeks away is this something that will be explained further in detail or that will be show cased? It seems like Blizzcon would be a great plat form to go over this.
Hm. While hopefully a fun/insightful activity, the Design a Legendary project isn't something that's core to our development process or Reaper of Souls, so it's not going to be a topic covered at BlizzCon. I imagine the development team will likely discuss Loot 2.0 (and Legendary items) in greater detail, though!

I'm not interested in anything other than seeing why it takes several months to create a single legendary item.
Of, pft. It doesn't actually take months to create a single Legendary item. That time frame is tied directly to the fact that we want to get the community involved. Specifically, we want to make sure that interested players have time to participate.

If we create a poll, for example, we'll want to give that at least a week -- enough time for people to find out about it and then vote. Then we need another week to tabulate the global results, inform the community, implement whatever you all chose, and then prep for the next stage. Similarly, if we hold a contest, that's going to need a few weeks as well. Podcasts also require time to set up, promote, and then recap. (Logistics, man. Always a party!)

Now, before anyone starts to panic: this isn't going to impact development for ROS. While we may take things a bit slower for this one single Legendary item, the developers will continue to design, iterate, and implement as usual for everything else at their previously-scheduled pace.

Let that sink in.
Shall I do so with a bang or a whimper.

Goblin Death Penalty
That's an interesting idea! If I'm understanding this correctly, you're suggesting that a Treasure Goblin should spawn whenever you die that will grab any of the local gold and items that you were unable to gather prior to your death. This way you would never lose any of the stuff you've already got, but risk losing uncollected rewards if you die in the middle of a fight.

How many of you would like it if this was put into the game? Would you change the way it works, and why?

Great thread, Zyron! (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Preparing for the Expansion
There's nothing wrong with trying to maneuver yourself into a more advantageous position for Reaper of Souls, but I feel like I should point out that it's not necessary to enjoy it. However, I like the conservative approach when it comes to preparing for the expansion, and feel like it's a relaxing way to get ready.

I'd like to hear more about how other people are getting ready for RoS. Are you preparing for the expansion? How are you gathering your resources? Do you feel like your method is working well for you?

Thanks for posting this thread, papadanko! (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)