I have played Diablo II for over 10 years, still play to this day. One of the most fun things to me in this game is the Runeword system and creating some of the best items in the game. It is my thought, and Blizzard might have come out and said this already, but it is my thought that as cool and uber as Runewords were in D2, they are what broke the game (to an extent). I just wanted to see what others think on this subject.
I realize that Diablo 3 is a new game and new skills, etc. and am very excited to play it. I am wondering if there are any others out there that would like to see Runeword's in Diablo 3 possibly in the future and if so, if they think it is something Blizzard is considering or possibly already even ruled out completely?
I only know what i have read about the new rune skill system and it looks very cool. I just wonder how the end game weapons will be (comparitively speaking) or if there will be the possibility for a whirlwind barb to teleport in D3.
The new rune skill system looks awesome(even though I havent tried it out) but I really doubt that blizz will do Runeswords. That being said, I truly look forward to the new rune skill system, especially at the later levels
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Most People Are Completely Ignorant To The Microscopic World Around Them -Me
I'm pretty sure they didn't do that because runes became a currency.
I recall a blue post a long time ago mentioning how gold was not a valid currency in D2. Due to duping, SoJs became the currency.
In LoD, SoJ was still a currency, but runes became the prominent currency.
Blizzard didn't like that, and they want gold, the actual currency, to have it's value. Hence, the auction house.
I both liked and disliked the runeword system. Sure, my ebotdcb is awesome, but if I don't have it, I might as well not have a sword barb, ya know? The new system solves that problem too.
i think the biggest reason for no runewords is the fact that in diablo 2 runewords really devalued alot of skills... take enigma for example, giving the ability to teleport to any char greatly devalued the farming nitche of sorcs while at the same time gave ludicrous advantages to characters like hammerdins (13-17k hammers, 5k life, maxblock AND teleport??) wind druids (7knado 3khurricane, 7k life mb AND teleport...) as you can see.... the characters with mass life/damage completely took over battle.net for a long time (now we sort of see resurgance of sorc with es builds).... not to mention what they did to skillbuilds such as zealers who were at a tactical disadvantage after teleport became available to every char...
I still play Diablo2 on battle net (europe lod softcore ladder) and i must say that i dont like runewords, they broke the entire game. I miss the times of running around with The Grandfather, Windforce, Hellslayer... those (ofc and many many others) were such a cool weapons and now are totaly worthless and useless in the shadow of OP and sterile runewords.
Why sterile? Any runewords keeps the "basic" colour of item, every character looks the same. Dont you miss the time of brightly orange characters wearing Goldskin, or shiny green/yellow/red weapons? I definitly do
And dont you worry, the new "end game" currency in D3 wont be gold, but gems.
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Rencol - Diablo fan since 1996 and walking encyclopedia of Diablo lore.
I'm almost positive they will never put out items that give one classes ability to another; They want every class to feel unique. Of course I could be biting my tongue in a year or so with the next exp pack, but not only do I not see runewords, or just + skills to another class, I wouldn't like it.
So if you took out the plus skills (which was like, besides just the uber stats, the biggest reasons runewords were awesome) you would just have harder to obtain legendaries. Which I think would be cool, but I also think it would be cooler to have something where you had to gather pieces of a certain item to make it, like the blade, hilt, and sheath of a sword or something. Call them maybe artifacts? =D But I would keep them on par with the same type of legendaries. Just my thoughts =P
I'm dissapointed myself in lack of runewords. Feels like if they had items such as this working perfectly in Diablo 2, then should have been easy enough to duplicate in diablo 3. More variety in types of items that drop and ability to differentiate your gear from everyone elses the better in my eyes.
New skill rune system looks ok, but have to get my hands on the game to see if it feels like I'm actually able to fully customize my character enough.
I think blizz is making a huge step in the right direction . not that I didn't like runewords or the former skill runes system but the game is finaly shifting from grinding to a progression model .
runes in D2 were rare, promoted duping,illegal trade, stealing quest rewrds from lower player people pretended to "help" etc . they were also rare in both drop rates and the chance of getting the ones you actually need .
in D3 it's all about progression. you unlock all the skill runes by lvl 60 instead of farming forever for those you need in both type and rank . same goes for gems which you can unsocket and reuse instead of extra farming from scratch whenever you need to upgrade your gear.
grinding isn't fun, nor it needed to give you a sense of accomplishment . end game content challenge and a good story line do .
I'd like to mention, in addition to the other reasons runewords are not in the game, that they were not in classic Diablo 2 either.. This is classic Diablo 3. I know it's not even out yet, but a massive number of things changed about Diablo 2 after the expansion. There's really no point in comparing a game that has been patched for 12 years and has an expansion pack to a game that isn't even out yet, content wise.
As much as I'd like runewords, or something like them, it's not really that feasible with the current system (or even the previous one).
I really would like to see the earlier version of the rune system make a comeback, though. I was looking forward to the hunt (I know some will see it as a grind) and the exciting moments of hearing one drop, to see if it's worthwhile.
The D2 runeword system was more a crafting system than anything else and largely based on luck for rune drops and certain items (ie using a superior eth zerker axe with ED to make botd). I think moving over to properly craftable items is the correct step forward from a clunky system that greatly depriciated the value of uniques/set items. I hope more so they moved away from bonuses that give you abilities of other classes which imo really made certain builds have too much of an advantage as someone previously stated.
Probably the point of no runewords was almost all classes went for the exact rune word. Call to Arms anyone? So like many have said, it broke the game. Currently the skill system in place looks much better and still allows for game variety and a unique feel.
I do think in the later stages of hell and inferno some rune skills will be the go too pieces compared to others.
i hate the hell outta runewords, enigma totally ruined it for the sorc, basically in the beginning of d2 teleport made the sorc a very popular char. now its like why be the sorc when everyone can teleport. see what im saying, teleport made the sorc unique from other classes. i think not having other class skill bonuses on items would make ppl really love there own char 10x more.
If they were to return in the fashion that they were implemented in Diablo 2, then no. Death to the rune word. As many have said, it kind of "broke" the game. While wizzing around on a Hammerdin with Teleport was fun, it didn't have much challenge and got pretty boring pretty quickly.
If they were to bring back runes and bring in a system where creating a "runeword" would rather just generate a random Rare of the item you socketed then I may be on board. But I honestly don't see much of a need to do so. I know for sure that I am 100% against putting other classes skills onto items however.
(Excuse any spelling/grammar issues. It's 4:30am here )
Honestly I enjoyed the runeword system and how you used to farm for the pieces to a puzzle to gain a good piece of loot. Way back when, runewords created a sort of adventure to go out and collect all the pieces, which I loved.
I do not mind not seeing runewords on the other hand because we had years and years of Diablo 2 to play around with it and I do not think with D3 that new runes and gear will give it new life but rather aggrevate the player base since we have seen it already. With a new expansion, at least for me, I am looking for new concepts and mechanics to play and master.
I honestly think that blizzard has thought on the same way as this. They are creating a new game which has taken a extremely long time to get ready. They know that putting a old concept like runewords on a brand new game will only make players think they are lazy and couldn't give us new and exciting things. If they are going to take as long as they have on D3, I would rather the game give me a gaming experience I have not had before. In the least continue on with an already awesome franchise that Diablo Universe has become.
The way items will be randomized in D3 along with the new rune/skill system which will be a lot more exciting than if they brought back runewords. I am excited to be able to play D3 either in beta or live but I dont want to play something I have done before. It was awesome back then but it is best to leave it in the past. Give us new stuff to play with
I understand the reasons they took it away and think RuneWords themselves should not come back. But i do think there should be another type of item to put in socketed weapons and armor to give them different and according stats. I love the options it all gives you, jewels, gems, runes. Hell, add more and I'd be happy with that. I love knowing you could have the same exact weapon of somebody else but change the way it looks or incorporate a little bonus damage vs undead or turning your crystal sword purple. Slowing enemies down with every swing. Swinging a little faster. Knocking people back. Or even getting a little extra gold after each kill. That customization of weapons and armor on top of the already random stats and attributes there are in the diablo series make this game and each person/character so unique from one another.
Runewords were my LEAST favorite part about D2. Rune drops were ridiculously random, and even though there were a ton of runewords there were just a few that were amazingly good (Enigma, Infinity come to mind). As a crafting system, Runes were really predictable and boring.
The only reason Runes were exciting in D2 was because runeword items had abilities and affixes that didn't exist on rares or uniques, which is mainly because they were added years after the original game was released. I hope D3 will have a much deeper pool of random affixes.
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I realize that Diablo 3 is a new game and new skills, etc. and am very excited to play it. I am wondering if there are any others out there that would like to see Runeword's in Diablo 3 possibly in the future and if so, if they think it is something Blizzard is considering or possibly already even ruled out completely?
I only know what i have read about the new rune skill system and it looks very cool. I just wonder how the end game weapons will be (comparitively speaking) or if there will be the possibility for a whirlwind barb to teleport in D3.
Best of luck to all of you.
Bumtak
-Me
I recall a blue post a long time ago mentioning how gold was not a valid currency in D2. Due to duping, SoJs became the currency.
In LoD, SoJ was still a currency, but runes became the prominent currency.
Blizzard didn't like that, and they want gold, the actual currency, to have it's value. Hence, the auction house.
I both liked and disliked the runeword system. Sure, my ebotdcb is awesome, but if I don't have it, I might as well not have a sword barb, ya know? The new system solves that problem too.
gamma11 > east
Why sterile? Any runewords keeps the "basic" colour of item, every character looks the same. Dont you miss the time of brightly orange characters wearing Goldskin, or shiny green/yellow/red weapons? I definitly do
And dont you worry, the new "end game" currency in D3 wont be gold, but gems.
So if you took out the plus skills (which was like, besides just the uber stats, the biggest reasons runewords were awesome) you would just have harder to obtain legendaries. Which I think would be cool, but I also think it would be cooler to have something where you had to gather pieces of a certain item to make it, like the blade, hilt, and sheath of a sword or something. Call them maybe artifacts? =D But I would keep them on par with the same type of legendaries. Just my thoughts =P
New skill rune system looks ok, but have to get my hands on the game to see if it feels like I'm actually able to fully customize my character enough.
runes in D2 were rare, promoted duping,illegal trade, stealing quest rewrds from lower player people pretended to "help" etc . they were also rare in both drop rates and the chance of getting the ones you actually need .
in D3 it's all about progression. you unlock all the skill runes by lvl 60 instead of farming forever for those you need in both type and rank . same goes for gems which you can unsocket and reuse instead of extra farming from scratch whenever you need to upgrade your gear.
grinding isn't fun, nor it needed to give you a sense of accomplishment . end game content challenge and a good story line do .
I really would like to see the earlier version of the rune system make a comeback, though. I was looking forward to the hunt (I know some will see it as a grind) and the exciting moments of hearing one drop, to see if it's worthwhile.
I do think in the later stages of hell and inferno some rune skills will be the go too pieces compared to others.
If they were to bring back runes and bring in a system where creating a "runeword" would rather just generate a random Rare of the item you socketed then I may be on board. But I honestly don't see much of a need to do so. I know for sure that I am 100% against putting other classes skills onto items however.
(Excuse any spelling/grammar issues. It's 4:30am here )
I do not mind not seeing runewords on the other hand because we had years and years of Diablo 2 to play around with it and I do not think with D3 that new runes and gear will give it new life but rather aggrevate the player base since we have seen it already. With a new expansion, at least for me, I am looking for new concepts and mechanics to play and master.
I honestly think that blizzard has thought on the same way as this. They are creating a new game which has taken a extremely long time to get ready. They know that putting a old concept like runewords on a brand new game will only make players think they are lazy and couldn't give us new and exciting things. If they are going to take as long as they have on D3, I would rather the game give me a gaming experience I have not had before. In the least continue on with an already awesome franchise that Diablo Universe has become.
The way items will be randomized in D3 along with the new rune/skill system which will be a lot more exciting than if they brought back runewords. I am excited to be able to play D3 either in beta or live but I dont want to play something I have done before. It was awesome back then but it is best to leave it in the past. Give us new stuff to play with
#72 US Wizards in Vanilla D3 - Aranoch#1167
Runewords were introduced quite late into D2, weren't they?
Same might happen in D3, if devs will think it's doable/needed/appropriate.
The only reason Runes were exciting in D2 was because runeword items had abilities and affixes that didn't exist on rares or uniques, which is mainly because they were added years after the original game was released. I hope D3 will have a much deeper pool of random affixes.