When people think of a developer, they think of a team of people who worked on a game at one point in time. Those people are almost all gone, only a few are left and they are not really developing anymore. The Blizzard of today, is a whole different group of people. So it's unfair to expect them to be like someone else.
Skip to 7:27. But to be honest, watch the whole thing, it's a nice vid.
Strange thing is, I echo many of his sentiments. I feel the same way, and have repeatedly stated that I feel once we reach x-pac time, this game may be the best Diablo game of the series. I could link to DOZENS of posts where I adamantly fought with the haters and the unreasonable critique.
Archon, he's a "pro" streamer (whatever the hell that means). He was invited to meet Jay Wilson and come to Blizz HQ. That is not the type of person that I would expect to vocalize his disdain with impunity, as I have here. Nobody is sending me invites to spread the good word.
As to Jay; I'm not buying the line. This is typical internal company politics. Professionals will not engage in subterfuge within a company of this nature. I failed as a boss a few times as a young man. Had to step down etc.....but ...everyone really liked me. Nobody trashed my ass. This doesn't mean that I didn't fail.
Jay fuckin failed, straight-up.
If I received that invitation, or otherwise could ask only one question of Blizz, it would be this;
How did the game get launched with Legendaries in such deplorable condition? How did this happen? What was the process?
Archon actually had much disdain himself about how Jay did most things as well. The thing is though, as Archon hinted at, you never really know what's going on behind doors at companies. You absolutely never do. Social networks and blogs are just not a way to judge how people do things in there. But being that all 3 of the streamers that went there were happy with how it turned out and enjoyed the company of not only the new faces of D3 but also Jay, says a good thing about it all. At least in my opinion. It's one thing to consume from behind a monitor, but meeting people in person, conversing and discussing is a whole different and dare I say it, better way to judge character?
Wasn't the whole idea to move away from legendaries being best in slot (as they were in ALL slots in D2)?
Some of them had very "unique" traits, even in their legacy form. Movespeed on amulets, attackspeed on belts, weapons with specific abilities. All of that within reasonable amounts (no +25% movespeed on a single item that ALSO has other useful stats, no +7% crit chance as a first set bonus, very little attackspeed and crit dmg on a Witching Hour without +2523 bonus rolls), so to not break the item game and have mandatory BiS, but rather unique niche items.
Just because they didn't have "+200 mainstat, +80 res all" doesn't mean they were completely useless, but it's hard to argue that when most people doesn't even understandwhy the item game is the way it is now (hint: it has something to do with BoE and the AH), or the way it was a few months after release.
Again, it's another one of those "urban legends" that people like to spread out. "Legendaries are useless" shouts one guy with nearly BiS gear, and everyone who will never see BiS items followed suit - which prompted the change to add a lot of end-game BiS ones.
Archon actually had much disdain himself about how Jay did most things as well. The thing is though, as Archon hinted at, you never really know what's going on behind doors at companies. You absolutely never do. Social networks and blogs are just not a way to judge how people do things in there. But being that all 3 of the streamers that went there were happy with how it turned out and enjoyed the company of not only the new faces of D3 but also Jay, says a good thing about it all. At least in my opinion. It's one thing to consume from behind a monitor, but meeting people in person, conversing and discussing is a whole different and dare I say it, better way to judge character?
Just my opinion.
Just a hypothetical;
Maybe the move was as transparent as it may appear to some?
These streamers are truly just average-joes just like everyone else here. They got invited to Blizzard. They got the royal treatment. The facade was constructed for them to digest ..."OH JAY....oh we LOVE him".
PR move. Public relation using the interwebbernets and social media moguls to present a better image. Do we really think that any of these guys, after being invited to Blizz HQ for a full tour, meeting "development celebs" and having the 'ol carpet rolled out for them.....do we really expect any of these fellas to speak ill after such a boost to their fake ass E-careers? No way. Those guys weren't coming out of that building with any intent to put themselves in a position to never receive such an invite again.
edited for better wording. Removed "loser" comment
Wasn't the whole idea to move away from legendaries being best in slot (as they were in ALL slots in D2)?
Some of them had very "unique" traits, even in their legacy form. Movespeed on amulets, attackspeed on belts, weapons with specific abilities. All of that within reasonable amounts (no +25% movespeed on a single item that ALSO has other useful stats, no +7% crit chance as a first set bonus, very little attackspeed and crit dmg on a Witching Hour without +2523 bonus rolls), so to not break the item game and have mandatory BiS, but rather unique niche items.
Just because they didn't have "+200 mainstat, +80 res all" doesn't mean they were completely useless, but it's hard to argue that when most people doesn't even understandwhy the item game is the way it is now (hint: it has something to do with BoE and the AH), or the way it was a few months after release.
Again, it's another one of those "urban legends" that people like to spread out. "Legendaries are useless" shouts one guy with nearly BiS gear, and everyone who will never see BiS items followed suit - which prompted the change to add a lot of end-game BiS ones.
One of the biggest disconnects between D2 itemization and D3 itemization was that they removed Runewords, jewels and charms and replaced them with.....nothing. Eventually adding craftables etc.
However, these items don't have flavor. They all do the same shit, with a few exceptions. These exceptions have actually become a problem, as was touched on by Blizz themselves via the 1.08 notes. Prowlers with IAS and MS. Witching Hour with CD and IAS. Mempo with crit and IAS.
Why did they do that? How is that good? To create an item for each slot that carries with it the only possibility to have such cherished affixes applied to a given slot......now what?
As I said earlier. Now they have to tear it down and rethink everything. That's what's taking so long. They have to go through and figure out how to make it possible for other items to have these cherished/mandatory affixes in order to resolve this issue.
I'm sorry but how have streamers hurt you to the point where you call them these names? They're regular people that interact a lot with their viewers and are making a happy community around the game. Not to mention "everyone else here". We are all losers then? Really?
And going on the "all is fake and all is PR" bandwagon makes me lose a lot of respect for you. Not that it matters to you, apparently. If you dislike the game, the company, the community and everything else that goes around the game, why hurt yourself and the people around you further? Just move along. Go play Diablo 2 or something else. Plenty of great games out there.
And going on the "all is fake and all is PR" bandwagon makes me lose a lot of respect for you. Not that it matters to you, apparently. If you dislike the game, the company, the community and everything else that goes around the game, why hurt yourself and the people around you further? Just move along. Go play Diablo 2 or something else. Plenty of great games out there.
no no no...please don't pigeon hole me as a hater. I'm just being purposely blunt because I'm profoundly disappointed. It does matter to me if a person loses respect for me within this community (don't ask why). Even if people disagree with me, I wish to present myself as being honest and forthcoming.
I AM NOT on the hate wagon. Also, what I posted above, I stated that as a hypothetical. It is very likely that these streamers were honestly taken aback by the culture of the company. It would be hard to not feel overwhelmingly "treated" by such a trip.
You have my word, sir, that if I remain away from D3 for an extended period of time (which I doubt) .....I won't be attaching myself to the forums like a blackened cancer. I've been away from the game, and these forums, for weeks now. I popped in here today to catch-up, and inevitably I got involved with posting my passionate disapproval of the lack of onus placed on itemization. It's just been way too long for itemization to remain so 'meh'.
I don't hate the game. I don't hate the company. I am sorely disappointed and quite shaken by the stumbling progress curve I've witnessed.
I'm sorry but how have streamers hurt you to the point where you call them these names? They're regular people that interact a lot with their viewers and are making a happy community around the game. Not to mention "everyone else here". We are all losers then? Really?
OK....my bad. Bad word choice. By "losers" I meant "average-joes"....regular people with no real position of charge or power. These streamers are just knuckle-heads like me, like many here. When I used the term "losers", I did so with a sense of self-deprecating humor.
Sorry to everyone that may have been offended. I worded that poorly and I'm going to edit my above post to better reflect what I meant to convey.
Please note, I'm a goofy son of a bitch and my humor, my verbiage, sometimes misses it's target.
Again, I'm sorry.
Also, to all reading. Please understand ; I have a passion for this game. And passion often comes out as anger (reference any bad fight you've had with a girl you love). I passionately want this game to succeed. If I hung out here often, constantly bad mouthing the game, I'd be in the wrong. I would go away if I felt such hate.
I, however, have taken bullets for Blizzard, right here on this forum. I have aggressively debated many foolish haters (see my debate with mannercookie about dupes). My reason and tact sent that guy flying out of here in a rage, claiming that I influenced the mods here.
Is it safe to assume that the game was tested by those folks who were close to/worked at Blizzard and not many others who didn't have the loyalty factor?
@Ruksak - many people have questioned why legendary items were so bad at release. And they remain shocked at some of the bad design choices. But the answer is pretty clear (imo) but will most likely get you labeled a tin-foil hat person.
The lack of itemization (no mystic, no sockets, rares better than legendary) that was at release was designed on purpose to promote the use of the AH/RMAH.
What other answer is there?
They (developers) do not lack that much vision and talent. They aren't that bad at their jobs. There is no way that someone looked at the intial release of the game and said "yes, this will make the players feel powerful, rewarded and provide the itemization that they clearly are expecting." But I'm confident they looked at their game and knew that people would have a hard time finding their own poweful gear, with such limited options - that they couldn't ignore the big AH waiting to solve their problems.
I laugh when I read the developers blogs and they make statements like this:
"When the game was in development, we the Blacksmith had the ability to add a socket to an item. Adding a socket makes the item better, so you pretty much always wanted to do it, and we found adding the socket felt like a small chore that didn’t actually increase the gameplay depth."
Do you really think that is how these very talented designers felt - and now SUDDENLY get it after reading months of criticism on forums? I don't. What does EVERYONE want on a weapon? What makes a weapon sell for 300 million gold and another that is almost identical sell for nothing? Yep. So if you could find an almost 300 million gold item, and have a quick, easy fix - than you wouldn't want to use the AH would you?
Jay Wilson said this during Beta:
"Thus, we're removing the Mystic artisan. As we look at the big picture, the Mystic simply wasn’t adding anything to our customization system. Enhancement was really just the socket and gem system with a different name, and it would prolong the release of the game even further to go back to the drawing board and differentiate it, so we’ll revisit the Mystic and enhancements at a later time. Removing her from the game took some time, but it’s nowhere near the efforts that would be required to flesh out a better customization system."
I believe him. It would have taken a long time for them to design a system that feels and looks like its giving you customization, but doesn't give you the customization that you want or need so as to not hurt the tendancy to use the AH.
Again - Tin Foil Hat is a label that I'm not afraid of.
P.S. - been away from D3 for about 2 months now. Been playing Path of Exile and enjoy it for the most part. It's not a Diablo 3 killer, but it certainly is a fantastic game that rivals D3 in many ways.
Got on D3 with a friend last night and did one Alkazier Act 3 run for giggles. Found 7 legendary items - one being a legendary plan, my first mind you.
SEVEN.
Tell me the game isn't rigged and that it is pure RNG.
The testers did a job - and that was to make sure the system was working as intended. And if you believe that the developers were not monumentally bad at their job, as our frustrated questions of "how did they not see it was so bad", than you are left with nothing else but: They wanted you to use the AH/RMAH.
@Ruksak - many people have questioned why legendary items were so bad at release. And they remain shocked at some of the bad design choices. But the answer is pretty clear (imo) but will most likely get you labeled a tin-foil hat person.
The lack of itemization (no mystic, no sockets, rares better than legendary) that was at release was designed on purpose to promote the use of the AH/RMAH.
What other answer is there?
I just can't support that idea. It's too illogical and would betray common sense. I would have to think that their #1 interest, their goal, is to make the best goddamn game they can.
The introduction of Demonic Essences and Craftables counters any assertions that profit via RMAH is their priority. The intro of these BoA items has cost them a great deal of profit, actually.
Finding great items is WAY funner than crafting great items. Therein lies the problem with this sudden turn to BoA items. I feel that this mass BoA movement was a misguided attempt by Blizz to prove that they're not driving everyone in the direction of the RMAH.
A noble sentiment, but it's not necessarily going to make the game that much better, rather, it's only proving their intent. That being, they wish to make a great game. Trying to prove something to the tin-hats shouldn't be a concern of theirs.
I just can't support that idea. It's too illogical and would betray common sense. I would have to think that their #1 interest, their goal, is to make the best goddamn game they can.
The introduction of Demonic Essences and Craftables counters any assertions that profit via RMAH is their priority. The intro of these BoA items has cost them a great deal of profit, actually.
Finding great items is WAY funner than crafting great items. Therein lies the problem with this sudden turn to BoA items. I feel that this mass BoA movement was a misguided attempt by Blizz to prove that they're not driving everyone in the direction of the RMAH.
A noble sentiment, but it's not necessarily going to make the game that much better, rather, it's only proving their intent. That being, they wish to make a great game. Trying to prove something to the tin-hats shouldn't be a concern of theirs.
I agree with you completely.
Keep in mind you are talking about things that have been implemented into the game 5 to 7 months later.
I think they tried their way and the community at large wouldn't have it. So they slowly, slowly, SLOWLY, made changes to it, to get it back into line with something that players expected.
I also feel that the BoA system is a poor substitute to finding the items yourself. It felt to me like a bandaid that was to appease people, while Jay was leaving and they new team can move forward to an expansion and slowly, slowly, SLOWLY get the game back into the expectations of the general community.
Keep in mind you are talking about things that have been implemented into the game 5 to 7 months later.
I think they tried their way and the community at large wouldn't have it. So they slowly, slowly, SLOWLY, made changes to it, to get it back into line with something that players expected.
I also feel that the BoA system is a poor substitute to finding the items yourself. It felt to me like a bandaid that was to appease people, while Jay was leaving and they new team can move forward to an expansion and slowly, slowly, SLOWLY get the game back into the expectations of the general community.
....and you stated exactly why I'm flailing and throwing a fit at this point. Just prior to the 1 year anniversary of launch, we still have boring, stale and uninspired itemization.
I know they're aggressively fixing it. My big issue with the slow pace is that my F/L has witnessed a mass exodus. Many of my friends, some of them long time gaming friends, it was too little too late.
Myself, I'm far more patient, but admittedly, my patience is being sturdily tested at this time.
And I think that by and large, the players that are frustrated or have left, are justified. But I've said in posts before - those folks want this game to be great and are frustrated that it isn't. Yes, the counter is that their expectations are too high and they should just be satisfied with that they are slowly given.
I disagree with that philosophy - along with the "if you don't like the game, go play something else; I love it" argument.
Path of Exile's development team release a patch every week. A new skill, system improvements, interface improvements, new items - the works. And the downtime for the patch is around a minute. Seriously.
Yes - I know that their engine is vastly different from Blizzards. And how many people reference the fact that you are going to have to wait, when dealing with Blizzard - because they take a long time to do things. And why is that?
Because until is right, they don't release it. And that has been so utterly damage with this game that I too feel that D3 is in danger of "too little, too late."
And I think that by and large, the players that are frustrated or have left, are justified. But I've said in posts before - those folks want this game to be great and are frustrated that it isn't. Yes, the counter is that their expectations are too high and they should just be satisfied with that they are slowly given.
I disagree with that philosophy - along with the "if you don't like the game, go play something else; I love it" argument.
Path of Exile's development team release a patch every week. A new skill, system improvements, interface improvements, new items - the works. And the downtime for the patch is around a minute. Seriously.
Yes - I know that their engine is vastly different from Blizzards. And how many people reference the fact that you are going to have to wait, when dealing with Blizzard - because they take a long time to do things. And why is that?
Because until is right, they don't release it. And that has been so utterly damage with this game that I too feel that D3 is in danger of "too little, too late."
sadly....PoE has absorbed many of my best D3 friends.
And I think that by and large, the players that are frustrated or have left, are justified. But I've said in posts before - those folks want this game to be great and are frustrated that it isn't. Yes, the counter is that their expectations are too high and they should just be satisfied with that they are slowly given.
I disagree with that philosophy - along with the "if you don't like the game, go play something else; I love it" argument.
Actually, is not a philosophy, is a logical fallacy. People keep using it all the time, when they can't counter your argument.
Its gotten to the point where the people who constantly berate people for liking the game are more annoying than the people who will defend the game against any and all criticism and refuse to admit there are flaws. Kind of like how Atheists have become more annoying than bible thumpers because they never shut up and they preach tolerance via intolerance. The accusers suffer from the same ignorance they accuse others of having.
Its gotten to the point where the people who constantly berate people for liking the game are more annoying than the people who will defend the game against any and all criticism and refuse to admit there are flaws. Kind of like how Atheists have become more annoying than bible thumpers because they never shut up and they preach tolerance via intolerance. The accusers suffer from the same ignorance they accuse others of having.
Sure some folks are in danger of becoming those people. They lose site of the real reason to discuss and innovate (which that reason is making the game better) and instead embrace the opportunity to flame others for their fierce loyalty to the game.
Essentially they complain, just to complain.
And that's not good.
I would recommend though that you look at the basic core of most threads that eventually end up in the complainer, complaining and the defender telling you to quit the game if you don't like it - you'll see that they feed into themselves.
Most of those threads start with someone who loves this game, venting steam and shaking their hands in the air demanding a better game. And what better place to do that than a public, free, open forum where other people that love the same game come to read and comment? So when someone makes a rant post and the folks who moderate the forum tell them (after a few constructive responses) to essentially quit the game if they don't like it - you get the vicious cycle that we are talking about.
People just want everyone to see it from their point of view. At least acknowledge their point of view, rather than telling them that because you don't share it, they should just leave.
I think the #1 thing I'm disappointed with is the fact that this game is NOT Diablo. Yes, it's a good game (not *pre-2007*Blizzard good), but to me you cannot change the very essence of what makes a game. The only things remaining are isometric view, items, and a few other things. Almost everything else requires me to really grasp finding relationships with the other Diablo games.
Just sold off my gear last week, cba playing anymore. Before it was fun, because you usually found something of worth, and lots of friends were playing. Now almost nothing is worth anything, and there is a severe lack of new content.
Imo the game badly needs an expansion with both new content, higher maxlvl and gear.
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Strange thing is, I echo many of his sentiments. I feel the same way, and have repeatedly stated that I feel once we reach x-pac time, this game may be the best Diablo game of the series. I could link to DOZENS of posts where I adamantly fought with the haters and the unreasonable critique.
Archon, he's a "pro" streamer (whatever the hell that means). He was invited to meet Jay Wilson and come to Blizz HQ. That is not the type of person that I would expect to vocalize his disdain with impunity, as I have here. Nobody is sending me invites to spread the good word.
As to Jay; I'm not buying the line. This is typical internal company politics. Professionals will not engage in subterfuge within a company of this nature. I failed as a boss a few times as a young man. Had to step down etc.....but ...everyone really liked me. Nobody trashed my ass. This doesn't mean that I didn't fail.
Jay fuckin failed, straight-up.
If I received that invitation, or otherwise could ask only one question of Blizz, it would be this;
How did the game get launched with Legendaries in such deplorable condition? How did this happen? What was the process?
BurningRope#1322 (US~HC) Request an invite to the official (NA) <dfans> Clan
Just my opinion.
Ha. Bagstone.
Some of them had very "unique" traits, even in their legacy form. Movespeed on amulets, attackspeed on belts, weapons with specific abilities. All of that within reasonable amounts (no +25% movespeed on a single item that ALSO has other useful stats, no +7% crit chance as a first set bonus, very little attackspeed and crit dmg on a Witching Hour without +2523 bonus rolls), so to not break the item game and have mandatory BiS, but rather unique niche items.
Just because they didn't have "+200 mainstat, +80 res all" doesn't mean they were completely useless, but it's hard to argue that when most people doesn't even understand why the item game is the way it is now (hint: it has something to do with BoE and the AH), or the way it was a few months after release.
Again, it's another one of those "urban legends" that people like to spread out. "Legendaries are useless" shouts one guy with nearly BiS gear, and everyone who will never see BiS items followed suit - which prompted the change to add a lot of end-game BiS ones.
Just a hypothetical;
Maybe the move was as transparent as it may appear to some?
These streamers are truly just average-joes just like everyone else here. They got invited to Blizzard. They got the royal treatment. The facade was constructed for them to digest ..."OH JAY....oh we LOVE him".
PR move. Public relation using the interwebbernets and social media moguls to present a better image. Do we really think that any of these guys, after being invited to Blizz HQ for a full tour, meeting "development celebs" and having the 'ol carpet rolled out for them.....do we really expect any of these fellas to speak ill after such a boost to their fake ass E-careers? No way. Those guys weren't coming out of that building with any intent to put themselves in a position to never receive such an invite again.
edited for better wording. Removed "loser" comment
BurningRope#1322 (US~HC) Request an invite to the official (NA) <dfans> Clan
One of the biggest disconnects between D2 itemization and D3 itemization was that they removed Runewords, jewels and charms and replaced them with.....nothing. Eventually adding craftables etc.
However, these items don't have flavor. They all do the same shit, with a few exceptions. These exceptions have actually become a problem, as was touched on by Blizz themselves via the 1.08 notes. Prowlers with IAS and MS. Witching Hour with CD and IAS. Mempo with crit and IAS.
Why did they do that? How is that good? To create an item for each slot that carries with it the only possibility to have such cherished affixes applied to a given slot......now what?
As I said earlier. Now they have to tear it down and rethink everything. That's what's taking so long. They have to go through and figure out how to make it possible for other items to have these cherished/mandatory affixes in order to resolve this issue.
BurningRope#1322 (US~HC) Request an invite to the official (NA) <dfans> Clan
And going on the "all is fake and all is PR" bandwagon makes me lose a lot of respect for you. Not that it matters to you, apparently. If you dislike the game, the company, the community and everything else that goes around the game, why hurt yourself and the people around you further? Just move along. Go play Diablo 2 or something else. Plenty of great games out there.
Ha. Bagstone.
no no no...please don't pigeon hole me as a hater. I'm just being purposely blunt because I'm profoundly disappointed. It does matter to me if a person loses respect for me within this community (don't ask why). Even if people disagree with me, I wish to present myself as being honest and forthcoming.
I AM NOT on the hate wagon. Also, what I posted above, I stated that as a hypothetical. It is very likely that these streamers were honestly taken aback by the culture of the company. It would be hard to not feel overwhelmingly "treated" by such a trip.
You have my word, sir, that if I remain away from D3 for an extended period of time (which I doubt) .....I won't be attaching myself to the forums like a blackened cancer. I've been away from the game, and these forums, for weeks now. I popped in here today to catch-up, and inevitably I got involved with posting my passionate disapproval of the lack of onus placed on itemization. It's just been way too long for itemization to remain so 'meh'.
I don't hate the game. I don't hate the company. I am sorely disappointed and quite shaken by the stumbling progress curve I've witnessed.
OK....my bad. Bad word choice. By "losers" I meant "average-joes"....regular people with no real position of charge or power. These streamers are just knuckle-heads like me, like many here. When I used the term "losers", I did so with a sense of self-deprecating humor.
Sorry to everyone that may have been offended. I worded that poorly and I'm going to edit my above post to better reflect what I meant to convey.
Please note, I'm a goofy son of a bitch and my humor, my verbiage, sometimes misses it's target.
Again, I'm sorry.
Also, to all reading. Please understand ; I have a passion for this game. And passion often comes out as anger (reference any bad fight you've had with a girl you love). I passionately want this game to succeed. If I hung out here often, constantly bad mouthing the game, I'd be in the wrong. I would go away if I felt such hate.
I, however, have taken bullets for Blizzard, right here on this forum. I have aggressively debated many foolish haters (see my debate with mannercookie about dupes). My reason and tact sent that guy flying out of here in a rage, claiming that I influenced the mods here.
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@Ruksak - many people have questioned why legendary items were so bad at release. And they remain shocked at some of the bad design choices. But the answer is pretty clear (imo) but will most likely get you labeled a tin-foil hat person.
The lack of itemization (no mystic, no sockets, rares better than legendary) that was at release was designed on purpose to promote the use of the AH/RMAH.
What other answer is there?
They (developers) do not lack that much vision and talent. They aren't that bad at their jobs. There is no way that someone looked at the intial release of the game and said "yes, this will make the players feel powerful, rewarded and provide the itemization that they clearly are expecting." But I'm confident they looked at their game and knew that people would have a hard time finding their own poweful gear, with such limited options - that they couldn't ignore the big AH waiting to solve their problems.
I laugh when I read the developers blogs and they make statements like this:
"When the game was in development, we the Blacksmith had the ability to add a socket to an item. Adding a socket makes the item better, so you pretty much always wanted to do it, and we found adding the socket felt like a small chore that didn’t actually increase the gameplay depth."
Do you really think that is how these very talented designers felt - and now SUDDENLY get it after reading months of criticism on forums? I don't. What does EVERYONE want on a weapon? What makes a weapon sell for 300 million gold and another that is almost identical sell for nothing? Yep. So if you could find an almost 300 million gold item, and have a quick, easy fix - than you wouldn't want to use the AH would you?
Jay Wilson said this during Beta:
"Thus, we're removing the Mystic artisan. As we look at the big picture, the Mystic simply wasn’t adding anything to our customization system. Enhancement was really just the socket and gem system with a different name, and it would prolong the release of the game even further to go back to the drawing board and differentiate it, so we’ll revisit the Mystic and enhancements at a later time. Removing her from the game took some time, but it’s nowhere near the efforts that would be required to flesh out a better customization system."
I believe him. It would have taken a long time for them to design a system that feels and looks like its giving you customization, but doesn't give you the customization that you want or need so as to not hurt the tendancy to use the AH.
Again - Tin Foil Hat is a label that I'm not afraid of.
P.S. - been away from D3 for about 2 months now. Been playing Path of Exile and enjoy it for the most part. It's not a Diablo 3 killer, but it certainly is a fantastic game that rivals D3 in many ways.
Got on D3 with a friend last night and did one Alkazier Act 3 run for giggles. Found 7 legendary items - one being a legendary plan, my first mind you.
SEVEN.
Tell me the game isn't rigged and that it is pure RNG.
The testers did a job - and that was to make sure the system was working as intended. And if you believe that the developers were not monumentally bad at their job, as our frustrated questions of "how did they not see it was so bad", than you are left with nothing else but: They wanted you to use the AH/RMAH.
cheers.
Monkalicious: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/OptimusPrime-12194/hero/79139477
I just can't support that idea. It's too illogical and would betray common sense. I would have to think that their #1 interest, their goal, is to make the best goddamn game they can.
The introduction of Demonic Essences and Craftables counters any assertions that profit via RMAH is their priority. The intro of these BoA items has cost them a great deal of profit, actually.
Finding great items is WAY funner than crafting great items. Therein lies the problem with this sudden turn to BoA items. I feel that this mass BoA movement was a misguided attempt by Blizz to prove that they're not driving everyone in the direction of the RMAH.
A noble sentiment, but it's not necessarily going to make the game that much better, rather, it's only proving their intent. That being, they wish to make a great game. Trying to prove something to the tin-hats shouldn't be a concern of theirs.
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BurningRope#1322 (US~HC) Request an invite to the official (NA) <dfans> Clan
I agree with you completely.
Keep in mind you are talking about things that have been implemented into the game 5 to 7 months later.
I think they tried their way and the community at large wouldn't have it. So they slowly, slowly, SLOWLY, made changes to it, to get it back into line with something that players expected.
I also feel that the BoA system is a poor substitute to finding the items yourself. It felt to me like a bandaid that was to appease people, while Jay was leaving and they new team can move forward to an expansion and slowly, slowly, SLOWLY get the game back into the expectations of the general community.
Monkalicious: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/OptimusPrime-12194/hero/79139477
....and you stated exactly why I'm flailing and throwing a fit at this point. Just prior to the 1 year anniversary of launch, we still have boring, stale and uninspired itemization.
I know they're aggressively fixing it. My big issue with the slow pace is that my F/L has witnessed a mass exodus. Many of my friends, some of them long time gaming friends, it was too little too late.
Myself, I'm far more patient, but admittedly, my patience is being sturdily tested at this time.
BurningRope#1322 (US~HC) Request an invite to the official (NA) <dfans> Clan
And I think that by and large, the players that are frustrated or have left, are justified. But I've said in posts before - those folks want this game to be great and are frustrated that it isn't. Yes, the counter is that their expectations are too high and they should just be satisfied with that they are slowly given.
I disagree with that philosophy - along with the "if you don't like the game, go play something else; I love it" argument.
Path of Exile's development team release a patch every week. A new skill, system improvements, interface improvements, new items - the works. And the downtime for the patch is around a minute. Seriously.
Yes - I know that their engine is vastly different from Blizzards. And how many people reference the fact that you are going to have to wait, when dealing with Blizzard - because they take a long time to do things. And why is that?
Because until is right, they don't release it. And that has been so utterly damage with this game that I too feel that D3 is in danger of "too little, too late."
Monkalicious: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/OptimusPrime-12194/hero/79139477
sadly....PoE has absorbed many of my best D3 friends.
BurningRope#1322 (US~HC) Request an invite to the official (NA) <dfans> Clan
Actually, is not a philosophy, is a logical fallacy. People keep using it all the time, when they can't counter your argument.
Sure some folks are in danger of becoming those people. They lose site of the real reason to discuss and innovate (which that reason is making the game better) and instead embrace the opportunity to flame others for their fierce loyalty to the game.
Essentially they complain, just to complain.
And that's not good.
I would recommend though that you look at the basic core of most threads that eventually end up in the complainer, complaining and the defender telling you to quit the game if you don't like it - you'll see that they feed into themselves.
Most of those threads start with someone who loves this game, venting steam and shaking their hands in the air demanding a better game. And what better place to do that than a public, free, open forum where other people that love the same game come to read and comment? So when someone makes a rant post and the folks who moderate the forum tell them (after a few constructive responses) to essentially quit the game if they don't like it - you get the vicious cycle that we are talking about.
People just want everyone to see it from their point of view. At least acknowledge their point of view, rather than telling them that because you don't share it, they should just leave.
Monkalicious: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/OptimusPrime-12194/hero/79139477
Imo the game badly needs an expansion with both new content, higher maxlvl and gear.