In the past the development team has said that Diablo 3 is a co-op game first and foremost. It was part of the rationale for not having an offline mode and for many of skills of various classes.
I have to say I really don't like it. I'm not fond of the idea that i need to be playing with a group for the highest efficiency. Don't get me wrong, I do like playing with a group sometimes. For me though Diablo is ultimately a single player game. You progress your one character in the way an RPG is supposed to. You start of feeling weak and eventually you gain in power. I don't feel that with Diablo, skill trees are replaced with skill loadouts that are designed for switching a build in a group on the fly. Just my two cents.
I started off Diablo with the same thinking - it was mostly a single player game. However, that changed a lot. My solo playtime since 2.0.1 is probably about 2 hours combined, or less (does not include idling in town :P). I just love clans and communities and never play solo, always in groups of 3 or 4.
That being said, "online only" was not done because of the multiplayer paradigm, but because of cheat prevention. And it totally works. Compare Diablo 3 on PC (basically free of cheats, hacks, and dupes) and Diablo 3 on consoles (completely full of crazy cheated items as soon as you join online multiplayer games). The upcoming ladder seasons and tiered rifts would be literally impossible if Diablo 3 had an offline mode.
You can still solo all the content right? So there is a choice of playing in a group or not
I'm not saying there isn't a choice. It's just when the game is designed to be played as a Co-oP first and foremost then single player (what I do mostly) tends to feel neglected even though single player was a very important part of the Diablo series.
I started off Diablo with the same thinking - it was mostly a single player game. However, that changed a lot. My solo playtime since 2.0.1 is probably about 2 hours combined, or less (does not include idling in town :P). I just love clans and communities and never play solo, always in groups of 3 or 4.
That being said, "online only" was not done because of the multiplayer paradigm, but because of cheat prevention. And it totally works. Compare Diablo 3 on PC (basically free of cheats, hacks, and dupes) and Diablo 3 on consoles (completely full of crazy cheated items as soon as you join online multiplayer games). The upcoming ladder seasons and tiered rifts would be literally impossible if Diablo 3 had an offline mode.
That's true. I just think that the goal of design should be to have your character feel important and strong and be able to progress in all facets of the game equally. Which sometimes I feel dosen't hit the mark with solo play.
In the developer live Q and A they said that clearing rifts would become the measurement for single player balance. So maybe things will get much better in that aspect.
I enjoy the public aspect of this game. (not public games but communities/clans to find groups). When i am multitasking i will solo so i can pause the game and do what ever but i prefer setting up a group rather then play alone. it is possible to be social on the interwebs!
I play a lot more solo than multiplayer, but I do like the fact that it's so easy to get a multiplayer game when I'm in the mood, and I don't particularly feel that single-player is neglected (although, I gotta say, if there was an offline mode like D2 I would never play hardcore online again, and wouldn't miss a thing).
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I have to say I really don't like it. I'm not fond of the idea that i need to be playing with a group for the highest efficiency. Don't get me wrong, I do like playing with a group sometimes. For me though Diablo is ultimately a single player game. You progress your one character in the way an RPG is supposed to. You start of feeling weak and eventually you gain in power. I don't feel that with Diablo, skill trees are replaced with skill loadouts that are designed for switching a build in a group on the fly. Just my two cents.
Your thoughts?
I started off Diablo with the same thinking - it was mostly a single player game. However, that changed a lot. My solo playtime since 2.0.1 is probably about 2 hours combined, or less (does not include idling in town :P). I just love clans and communities and never play solo, always in groups of 3 or 4.
That being said, "online only" was not done because of the multiplayer paradigm, but because of cheat prevention. And it totally works. Compare Diablo 3 on PC (basically free of cheats, hacks, and dupes) and Diablo 3 on consoles (completely full of crazy cheated items as soon as you join online multiplayer games). The upcoming ladder seasons and tiered rifts would be literally impossible if Diablo 3 had an offline mode.
In the developer live Q and A they said that clearing rifts would become the measurement for single player balance. So maybe things will get much better in that aspect.
As for the question in the title: I tend to get bored halfway in my first rift or bounty when playing solo.