Reaper of Souls CE WoW Pet - Treasure Goblin
The Reaper of Souls Collector Edition pet for World of WarCraft has been datamined from the latest WoW PTR. It's a Treasure Goblin! Check out a screenshot below:
More on Expansion Features
The expansion features topic from yesterday continues with one more post. It touches on a few subjects non-Legendary items, class skill and ladders.
There are definitely bonuses on non-legendary loot that will encourage this as well! I apologize if my statement didn't sound all-inclusive, but it is. You'll find things with percent bonus damage to specific skills like Bash or Energy Twister. The bonuses you find on Legendaries, however, will be much more specific, complex, and dare I say a bit cooler. Legendaries should feel Legendary, after all!
I think the Illusory Boots we presented this weekend are a great example – they give you the ability to move unhindered through enemies. It’s not a quantifiable bonus to your Damage or Toughness, but will still fundamentally change how you play. You might not feel you need as many escape buttons and can opt for some different choices as a result.
Then I read " Do you guys have any plans on expending stash space? At this point - no. We're approaching the problem from a different point of view. We want you to use the items a lot more instead of keep the stuff. Salvaging items is a lot more useful now. We want to do a lot of things to make sure you don't keep a lot of gear."
There's inevitably going to be a balancing game between which Legendaries and Rares you decide to keep and which you decide to salvage or sell. However, remember that gear can be enchanted multiple times. I can imagine a world where you opt to enchant off one skill bonus for another, and then enchant it back if you decide you want to return to a particular style.
Legendary bonuses cannot be swapped out to my knowledge, though, so I do think there's room for a meaningful conversation about inventory management. I'll be sure to bring this up next meeting. =)
give them a try?!?! not we just made these extremely relevant?
Changes will occur to many existing skills as well, so "relevancy" is something that's being tackled from a different angle than just loot. It should be tough to pick which skill you want to use because they're all amazing and badass. I'm not normally a theorycrafter (because my grasp on numbers is pretty terrible), but with many of the upcoming changes, my brain is swimming in build ideas. I really can't wait to try them in practice!
I really would appreciate a sophisticated ladder-system.
There's a lot of feature exploration happening right now with the development team. We know this is something players want, and if we tackle it, we'll want it to be the best it can possibly be. It’s great to hear more specifics in this request, so please, continue to share them with us! While I know it can be a bummer that we don’t have details to confirm at this time, that just means we’re in a great place for your suggestions to help shape this kind of potential feature in the future.
One thing I would like to add is somewhere to quickly compare items in the shared stash with all your characters.
This suggestion has popped up in a few places. I'm pretty sure it's been passed on, but I'll double check.
Details on Enchanting
A good example was given on how Enchanting is going to work, alongside another confirmation that you'll only be able to reroll a single stat from an item.
Let's try an example with completely made up numbers (for science!):
Let's say that you have a belt with +50 Fire Resistance on it. Pretend that this item can roll anywhere between +30-+100 Fire Resistance. You decide to reroll this stat.
The two random results you get are:
+64 Fire Resistance
Increase Gold & Health Pickup by 2 Yards
This means your final three results that you can pick from are:
+50 Fire Resistance (the original stat)
+64 Fire Resistance
Increase Gold & Health Pickup by 2 Yards
You can always choose the original stat, because we wanted to make sure you never end up with a worse item than you started. However, the additional two enchants that proc during enchanting can be the same stat at a lower or higher value than what is currently on the item.
Enchanting simply rerolls that slot from a pool of available properties. What was on it before numerically has no bearing on what it numerically rolls afterwards. Meaning in my example above, 50 Fire Resist is not directly equivalent to 2 Gold & Health Pickup radius. It could have just as easily rolled a 1 in radius instead. The numbers aren't related
TLDR: So long as it's possible for that item to have a higher value for the property you are trying to reroll (meaning you aren't already at its cap), it's possible to roll it higher.
I probably made this explanation more complicated than it needed to be, but I hope this provides the clarity you were looking for. =)
But just to clarify Neva, once you reroll one stat on an item, that is the only stat that can be rerolled again, correct? I think the one you change can be continually changed, but all other values are locked.
That is correct!
For example if I have 50 fire resist, If I keep rerolling can I eventually get a stat I want?
From a select pool of stats. Not all stats will be available for every swap out. However, you'll be able to see what pool of stats you'll be randomly rolling for before you ever enchant the item.
Can I chose the original option without making the item account bound, and giving me the option to potentially reroll a different stat another time?
Once you choose to enchant an item, it becomes account bound (even if you choose the pre-existing stat). There's some risk involved in enchanting, and the "safety nets" for those risks are that you know the item will never shrink in power and you can see what stats are possible for that slot prior to investing in the enchant.
How will rerolling of split primary properties function?
Good question! Let me check on this.
The science experiment eludes that the stat that is re-rolled will always appear as one of the choices.
I would have needed to provide an alternative example to show this more clearly, but the stat that is re-rolled will not always appear as an increase/decreased choice. It's possible, just not 100%. Apologies for any confusion!
Also, in the event that we choose the original value, does that allow us to then change our mind and which stat we have chosen to select to be re-rolled?
No, once a stat has been enchanted once, regardless of the outcome, that is the "slot" that's locked in on that item for enchanting. This is another one of those risks I mentioned earlier. However, you can re-roll that stat as many times as you like for a chance at something more ideal.
Campaign vs. Adventure Mode
The difference between how Campaign and Adventure Mode will play out given been summarized and explained below.
In terms of overall experience, rewards, density, and difficulty, we're working to have Campaign Mode and Adventure Mode be relatively comparable with one another. Even so, we anticipate that most players will probably want to farm Adventure Mode over Campaign Mode, since the open world environment lends itself much better to that kind of playstyle. And, honestly, we think that's fine.
Campaign Mode is there for players who enjoy playing through the story of Diablo III and having a linear path. Adventure Mode, on the other hand, is there for players who want explore at their own pace. You can freely switch between the two modes whenever you want, so it's all about what kind of experience you're looking for at a particular point in time.
And I know I've seen this question before, so let me go ahead and answer it now: yes, we believe that players will still want to play through Campaign Mode, even given the option between it and Adventure Mode. We don't imagine that they'll replay it nearly as often as Adventure Mode, though; but again...that's totally okay by us. At its core, Adventure Mode is being designed to be replayed over and over, whereas Campaign Mode is all about the immersion and that singular, linear narrative.
inb4 people begin complaining that having an adventure mode that is more rewarding than campaign mode is unfair to casual players because they are required to actually complete the game.
At the moment, players are not actually required to complete the entire game in Campaign Mode before unlocking Adventure Mode. Whether or not it stays that way is another matter, but for the moment we're allowing you to unlock each Act, one by one. So, complete Act I in Campaign Mode on one of your characters, now you've got Act I unlocked in Adventure Mode. Complete Act II on one of your characters in Campaign, boom -- Acts I and II are now unlocked in Adventure Mode. And so on. Completing an Act in Campaign Mode would also unlock that Act in Adventure Mode for all your characters on your account, not just the one who completed in Campaign Mode.
We're still experimenting with this pretty heavily, though, so I'd imagine some changes to be made to how Adventure Mode is accessed before we ship. This is just our current thinking.
In adventure mode, you are given the choice to go between any act you would like, and currently in the campaign mode of the game determines the level of the monsters based on what act you're in. For example, if you're in Act I, the game might have monsters from levels 1 to 10, but act 2 might have monsters from levels 10 to 15. (Just making these numbers up right now)
Monsters level up with you -- we call it "dynamic difficulty" -- but I don't have an answer for you just yet on the specific questions highlighted above (since the new system is still undergoing lots of tuning and tweaking). We'll be doing a whole "First Look" write-up on the difficulty changes pretty soon here that should help explain everything, though!
Think you can hold tight until then?
While I'm all for the Act unlocks after a playthrough, can that be limited to the character class in question?
Certainly feedback I can pass on! (The goal is give you as many options as possible, though, so this may not be something we move forward with. You can always choose to play through Campaign Mode with your new characters if you want to make sure they get that cool lore and dialogue experience.)
PvP or PvPvE
Blizzard is still unsure if actual PvP is the only and right way to do PvP or could PvPvE do a better job in a Diablo setting? Share your thoughts in our comments!
The topic of PvP is one the developers discuss quite often, and they are very much aware that it is a feature that many of you would like to see extended beyond brawling. As mentioned at this year's BlizzCon, they are looking for a PvP mode that does justice to the core fantasy of Diablo, which basically means that they want a fun PvP experience that also feels appropriate within the Diablo universe setting.
PvPvE was suggested by a player during the open Q&A panel at BlizzCon, and the response from the developers was that they agree that there might be something to that idea—adding PvE elements to PvP might be part of the solution they are looking for, and maybe they can have an announcement to make on that at some point in the future.
All that said, I think it could be interesting to hear what kind of gameplay you guys think of when it comes to PvPvE—what is your definition of PvPvE, and what would make PvPvE fun for you?
Clarification on Difficulty Changes
We've now seen 3 versions of difficulties and that shouldn't come as a surprise, because as the expansion develops things change a lot. Turns out one of said changes happened literally just before BlizzCon. Some nice clarifications have been given on the most up to date appearance of difficulties in Reaper of Souls.
One of our big goals with Reaper of Souls is to give players more control over their game experience, and that applies to difficulty as well. As part of that goal, we’re removing the tiered difficulty system (the one that requires you to work your way through Normal, Nightmare, Hell, and Inferno) that exists right now. We’re replacing it with something that’s more open, and (more importantly) won’t require you to play through the story multiple times if you don’t want to.
So, the Normal > Nightmare > Hell > Inferno progression path is gone. Instead, starting in the pre-expansion patch, you’ll find that monsters will level up as you do, and they’ll gain additional affixes depending on what level range they’re in. You’ll be able to influence monster damage, health, and rewards by selecting one of nine new difficulty settings* as well, similar to the way Monster Power works currently. The result is that you should have a lot more freedom in customizing your level of challenge without worrying about multiple playthroughs of the story to get there.
This is just a rough overview of how the new difficulties will work in Reaper of Souls. We'll have more details on the new difficulty settings in the future, so be sure to keep an eye out for them! Also, keep in mind that these could all change before we ship.
(*Right now there’s: Normal, Hard, Expert, Master, and Torment I-V. Currently, Master unlocks at 60 and Torment unlocks at 70, but once unlocked they’re available for all characters on your account.)
I'd say it's more been replaced with a new set of "monster power" equivalents (the 9 settings Grim mentioned). The tiered difficulty modes are gone, the monster power is just getting an overhaul but the same concept is in play.
More or less. The reward structure for the new difficulty settings is being reevaluated, as well, so it's not exactly like Monster Power, but the concept is similar.
Lots of the finer tuning details and mechanics are still TBD at the moment, though, so we can't answer a ton of questions right now (most likely just high-level, big picture kind of stuff). Even so, definitely keep asking about things you want to know and we'll work to get answers. We'll either provide them here or, since we're working on a "First Look" article for the new difficulty system, make sure to address everything* there.
*Void where prohibited. Some restrictions may apply.
Conflicting stuff isn't it? Can the Blues care to explain wtf this is? What exactly is the difficulty setting? Easy, Normal, Hard, Torment, Demonic and Apocalypse or Normal, Hard, Expert, Master, and Torment I-V?
We ended up removing Apocalypse right before BlizzCon, but the FAQ had already been approved, localized, and set to publish at that point. We're working to get it updated as we speak.
This is why we always say that things are subject to change whenever we post, because they do change -- and often quite quickly at this point!
I might be an anomaly, but I like the MP structure. It lets me gauge where I am in terms of gear and play ability. Could you please do a crude comparison for people like so I know about where to start in the pre-expansion patch and then on into RoS? Thanks for helping.
That's certainly the plan. We'd like to lock down the tuning a bit more before we provide that comparison, though, since things are changing right now on a day-to-day basis. (Like I noted before, we'll have a "First Look" write-up just on difficulty coming your way fairly soon.)
Why not keep the names "Normal/Nightmare/Hell"? These are iconic to the series, and you're just getting rid of them for no good reason. Let me try to anticipate the answer: "Players might get confused".
The main reason is that the tiered Normal > Nightmare > Hell > Inferno system is gone completely; the new system works quite differently and we didn't want the names, which have a history and thus an expected way of working, to make players think the system functions one way (when it in fact functions in a whole 'nother way).
Totally fair feedback, though. Happy to pass it on.
Locking out non-RoS players from higher difficulties is not fair. Basically, you'll take away Monster Power 4-10 without any kind of compensation. I have an MP10 character. Doing low difficulties will be meaningless, and I'm not sure that I want to buy RoS.
For clarity, Torment difficulties currently compare most closely with MP 10 and above.
Did you read his post? He's saying that without RoS, you can't play Torment. So there would be no MP 10
Important thing to remember: The new difficulty settings don't have a direct 1-to-1 comparison with each Monster Power level. So, Torment isn't technically "MP 10"; MP 10 is just the closest comparison it has right now. At present, its overall difficulty is probably a little more challenging than MP 10 if you take into consideration dynamic difficulty (the fact that monsters level up with you) and all the combat pacing/skill changes we've made. On the other hand, Master (which unlocks at 60) feels somewhere between MP 8 and 10 at the moment.
On that note, another thing to remember: all these numbers and comparisons are 100% subject to change, especially as we start opening up the game to testing by more people. This is just where they right now. We want players who don't purchase the expansion to still feel like they can challenge themselves under this new system, so -- as an example -- it's entirely possible we might shift Torment to be somewhere around (comparatively) MP 11 and make Master more challenging as a result. It's also possible that we won't need to do this and that the current Master difficulty feels great at level 60. It's definitely not locked down at the moment; in fact, difficulty tuning is one of the last things we'll likely finalize, as so many other variables play into it.
Right here. This is what is bringing this question up. So if you don't purchase RoS, you don't get level cap raise? This is a blue post.
Correct. If you do not purchase Reaper of Souls, your level cap will remain at 60.
Also, just edited Grimiku's post (with what I imagine was a typo). Master unlocks at 60, not 61.
Pet looks pretty awesome for WoW. I just hope RoS CE is gonna be rewarding for RoS and not a silly banner design like for Virtual Ticket. Ive seen maybe one person use the banner out of the countess people Ive played with.
**Edit: Just to clarify, I mean the Blizzcon banner logo from Blizzcon Virtual Ticket etc. I still use my own customized banner daily to show which direction in Crypts to go with groups since most times I am the one setting em up.**
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"Get busy living or get busy dieing.."
Twitch.tv: twitch.tv/mehsiah | Youtube/Twitter in the future.
Pet looks pretty awesome for WoW. I just hope RoS CE is gonna be rewarding for RoS and not a silly banner design like for Virtual Ticket. Ive seen maybe one person use the banner out of the countess people Ive played with.
Before the Elite/Goblin toast, I'd use my banner all the time.
As for the difficulty change, THANK GOD. W/ Monster Power, there was no reason for the usual slog. When they announced it, I thought Inferno was going to be what Adventure Mode seems to be (w/o the bounties/Rifts). Also, b/c of Monster Power, they can get rid of Magic Find, right? Right?
Pet looks pretty awesome for WoW. I just hope RoS CE is gonna be rewarding for RoS and not a silly banner design like for Virtual Ticket. Ive seen maybe one person use the banner out of the countess people Ive played with.
Before the Elite/Goblin toast, I'd use my banner all the time.
As for the difficulty change, THANK GOD. W/ Monster Power, there was no reason for the usual slog. When they announced it, I thought Inferno was going to be what Adventure Mode seems to be (w/o the bounties/Rifts). Also, b/c of Monster Power, they can get rid of Magic Find, right? Right?
Why not keep the names "Normal/Nightmare/Hell"? These are iconic to the series, and you're just getting rid of them for no good reason. Let me try to anticipate the answer: "Players might get confused".
The main reason is that the tiered Normal > Nightmare > Hell > Inferno system is gone completely; the new system works quite differently and we didn't want the names, which have a history and thus an expected way of working, to make players think the system functions one way (when it in fact functions in a whole 'nother way).
Totally fair feedback, though. Happy to pass it on.
To any blues who may read this, PLEASE reconsider. There is no need to get rid of the classic difficulty names. We're not stupid, we understand the format is changing.
Regarding PVP: I thought it would be better to add in objective based battlegrounds. I know I'll probably get haters for this, but I'll use WoW BGs as an example. Something like Arathi Basin, where your can do 10v10 matches capturing points and whatnot. I think that sounds cool with an isometric camera and all the different builds that the new expansion is promising.
Regarding PVP: I thought it would be better to add in objective based battlegrounds. I know I'll probably get haters for this, but I'll use WoW BGs as an example. Something like Arathi Basin, where your can do 10v10 matches capturing points and whatnot. I think that sounds cool with an isometric camera and all the different builds that the new expansion is promising.
Battlegrounds were always a lot more fun than arenas. Deathmatches have their place, but Capture the Flag or King of the Hill are always more dynamic and fun.
PvPvE has been discussed before, really a long long time ago, I guess devs dont check this site too often though: http://www.diablofan...56#entry1194856
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Blizzard used to care about releasing Diablo III, then they all took an arrow in the knee...
Why not keep the names "Normal/Nightmare/Hell"? These are iconic to the series, and you're just getting rid of them for no good reason. Let me try to anticipate the answer: "Players might get confused".
The main reason is that the tiered Normal > Nightmare > Hell > Inferno system is gone completely; the new system works quite differently and we didn't want the names, which have a history and thus an expected way of working, to make players think the system functions one way (when it in fact functions in a whole 'nother way).
Totally fair feedback, though. Happy to pass it on.
To any blues who may read this, PLEASE reconsider. There is no need to get rid of the classic difficulty names. We're not stupid, we understand the format is changing.
There is no reason to keep the old names. It is a completely 100% different gameplay system, and using the old names will simply create confusion.
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The Reaper of Souls Collector Edition pet for World of WarCraft has been datamined from the latest WoW PTR. It's a Treasure Goblin! Check out a screenshot below:
More on Expansion Features
The expansion features topic from yesterday continues with one more post. It touches on a few subjects non-Legendary items, class skill and ladders.
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
I think the Illusory Boots we presented this weekend are a great example – they give you the ability to move unhindered through enemies. It’s not a quantifiable bonus to your Damage or Toughness, but will still fundamentally change how you play. You might not feel you need as many escape buttons and can opt for some different choices as a result.
Then I read " Do you guys have any plans on expending stash space?
At this point - no. We're approaching the problem from a different point of view. We want you to use the items a lot more instead of keep the stuff. Salvaging items is a lot more useful now. We want to do a lot of things to make sure you don't keep a lot of gear."
There's inevitably going to be a balancing game between which Legendaries and Rares you decide to keep and which you decide to salvage or sell. However, remember that gear can be enchanted multiple times. I can imagine a world where you opt to enchant off one skill bonus for another, and then enchant it back if you decide you want to return to a particular style.
Legendary bonuses cannot be swapped out to my knowledge, though, so I do think there's room for a meaningful conversation about inventory management. I'll be sure to bring this up next meeting. =)
give them a try?!?! not we just made these extremely relevant?
Changes will occur to many existing skills as well, so "relevancy" is something that's being tackled from a different angle than just loot. It should be tough to pick which skill you want to use because they're all amazing and badass. I'm not normally a theorycrafter (because my grasp on numbers is pretty terrible), but with many of the upcoming changes, my brain is swimming in build ideas. I really can't wait to try them in practice!
I really would appreciate a sophisticated ladder-system.
There's a lot of feature exploration happening right now with the development team. We know this is something players want, and if we tackle it, we'll want it to be the best it can possibly be. It’s great to hear more specifics in this request, so please, continue to share them with us! While I know it can be a bummer that we don’t have details to confirm at this time, that just means we’re in a great place for your suggestions to help shape this kind of potential feature in the future.
One thing I would like to add is somewhere to quickly compare items in the shared stash with all your characters.
This suggestion has popped up in a few places. I'm pretty sure it's been passed on, but I'll double check.
Details on Enchanting
A good example was given on how Enchanting is going to work, alongside another confirmation that you'll only be able to reroll a single stat from an item.
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Let's say that you have a belt with +50 Fire Resistance on it. Pretend that this item can roll anywhere between +30-+100 Fire Resistance. You decide to reroll this stat.
The two random results you get are:
Enchanting simply rerolls that slot from a pool of available properties. What was on it before numerically has no bearing on what it numerically rolls afterwards. Meaning in my example above, 50 Fire Resist is not directly equivalent to 2 Gold & Health Pickup radius. It could have just as easily rolled a 1 in radius instead. The numbers aren't related
TLDR: So long as it's possible for that item to have a higher value for the property you are trying to reroll (meaning you aren't already at its cap), it's possible to roll it higher.
I probably made this explanation more complicated than it needed to be, but I hope this provides the clarity you were looking for. =)
But just to clarify Neva, once you reroll one stat on an item, that is the only stat that can be rerolled again, correct?
I think the one you change can be continually changed, but all other values are locked.
That is correct!
For example if I have 50 fire resist, If I keep rerolling can I eventually get a stat I want?
From a select pool of stats. Not all stats will be available for every swap out. However, you'll be able to see what pool of stats you'll be randomly rolling for before you ever enchant the item.
Can I chose the original option without making the item account bound, and giving me the option to potentially reroll a different stat another time?
Once you choose to enchant an item, it becomes account bound (even if you choose the pre-existing stat). There's some risk involved in enchanting, and the "safety nets" for those risks are that you know the item will never shrink in power and you can see what stats are possible for that slot prior to investing in the enchant.
How will rerolling of split primary properties function?
Good question! Let me check on this.
The science experiment eludes that the stat that is re-rolled will always appear as one of the choices.
I would have needed to provide an alternative example to show this more clearly, but the stat that is re-rolled will not always appear as an increase/decreased choice. It's possible, just not 100%. Apologies for any confusion!
Also, in the event that we choose the original value, does that allow us to then change our mind and which stat we have chosen to select to be re-rolled?
No, once a stat has been enchanted once, regardless of the outcome, that is the "slot" that's locked in on that item for enchanting. This is another one of those risks I mentioned earlier. However, you can re-roll that stat as many times as you like for a chance at something more ideal.
Campaign vs. Adventure Mode
The difference between how Campaign and Adventure Mode will play out given been summarized and explained below.
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Campaign Mode is there for players who enjoy playing through the story of Diablo III and having a linear path. Adventure Mode, on the other hand, is there for players who want explore at their own pace. You can freely switch between the two modes whenever you want, so it's all about what kind of experience you're looking for at a particular point in time.
And I know I've seen this question before, so let me go ahead and answer it now: yes, we believe that players will still want to play through Campaign Mode, even given the option between it and Adventure Mode. We don't imagine that they'll replay it nearly as often as Adventure Mode, though; but again...that's totally okay by us. At its core, Adventure Mode is being designed to be replayed over and over, whereas Campaign Mode is all about the immersion and that singular, linear narrative.
inb4 people begin complaining that having an adventure mode that is more rewarding than campaign mode is unfair to casual players because they are required to actually complete the game.
At the moment, players are not actually required to complete the entire game in Campaign Mode before unlocking Adventure Mode. Whether or not it stays that way is another matter, but for the moment we're allowing you to unlock each Act, one by one. So, complete Act I in Campaign Mode on one of your characters, now you've got Act I unlocked in Adventure Mode. Complete Act II on one of your characters in Campaign, boom -- Acts I and II are now unlocked in Adventure Mode. And so on. Completing an Act in Campaign Mode would also unlock that Act in Adventure Mode for all your characters on your account, not just the one who completed in Campaign Mode.
We're still experimenting with this pretty heavily, though, so I'd imagine some changes to be made to how Adventure Mode is accessed before we ship. This is just our current thinking.
In adventure mode, you are given the choice to go between any act you would like, and currently in the campaign mode of the game determines the level of the monsters based on what act you're in.
For example, if you're in Act I, the game might have monsters from levels 1 to 10, but act 2 might have monsters from levels 10 to 15. (Just making these numbers up right now)
Monsters level up with you -- we call it "dynamic difficulty" -- but I don't have an answer for you just yet on the specific questions highlighted above (since the new system is still undergoing lots of tuning and tweaking). We'll be doing a whole "First Look" write-up on the difficulty changes pretty soon here that should help explain everything, though!
Think you can hold tight until then?
While I'm all for the Act unlocks after a playthrough, can that be limited to the character class in question?
Certainly feedback I can pass on! (The goal is give you as many options as possible, though, so this may not be something we move forward with. You can always choose to play through Campaign Mode with your new characters if you want to make sure they get that cool lore and dialogue experience.)
PvP or PvPvE
Blizzard is still unsure if actual PvP is the only and right way to do PvP or could PvPvE do a better job in a Diablo setting? Share your thoughts in our comments!
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
PvPvE was suggested by a player during the open Q&A panel at BlizzCon, and the response from the developers was that they agree that there might be something to that idea—adding PvE elements to PvP might be part of the solution they are looking for, and maybe they can have an announcement to make on that at some point in the future.
All that said, I think it could be interesting to hear what kind of gameplay you guys think of when it comes to PvPvE—what is your definition of PvPvE, and what would make PvPvE fun for you?
Clarification on Difficulty Changes
We've now seen 3 versions of difficulties and that shouldn't come as a surprise, because as the expansion develops things change a lot. Turns out one of said changes happened literally just before BlizzCon. Some nice clarifications have been given on the most up to date appearance of difficulties in Reaper of Souls.
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
So, the Normal > Nightmare > Hell > Inferno progression path is gone. Instead, starting in the pre-expansion patch, you’ll find that monsters will level up as you do, and they’ll gain additional affixes depending on what level range they’re in. You’ll be able to influence monster damage, health, and rewards by selecting one of nine new difficulty settings* as well, similar to the way Monster Power works currently. The result is that you should have a lot more freedom in customizing your level of challenge without worrying about multiple playthroughs of the story to get there.
This is just a rough overview of how the new difficulties will work in Reaper of Souls. We'll have more details on the new difficulty settings in the future, so be sure to keep an eye out for them! Also, keep in mind that these could all change before we ship.
(*Right now there’s: Normal, Hard, Expert, Master, and Torment I-V. Currently, Master unlocks at 60 and Torment unlocks at 70, but once unlocked they’re available for all characters on your account.)
I'd say it's more been replaced with a new set of "monster power" equivalents (the 9 settings Grim mentioned). The tiered difficulty modes are gone, the monster power is just getting an overhaul but the same concept is in play.
More or less. The reward structure for the new difficulty settings is being reevaluated, as well, so it's not exactly like Monster Power, but the concept is similar.
Lots of the finer tuning details and mechanics are still TBD at the moment, though, so we can't answer a ton of questions right now (most likely just high-level, big picture kind of stuff). Even so, definitely keep asking about things you want to know and we'll work to get answers. We'll either provide them here or, since we're working on a "First Look" article for the new difficulty system, make sure to address everything* there.
*Void where prohibited. Some restrictions may apply.
Conflicting stuff isn't it? Can the Blues care to explain wtf this is? What exactly is the difficulty setting? Easy, Normal, Hard, Torment, Demonic and Apocalypse or Normal, Hard, Expert, Master, and Torment I-V?
We ended up removing Apocalypse right before BlizzCon, but the FAQ had already been approved, localized, and set to publish at that point. We're working to get it updated as we speak.
This is why we always say that things are subject to change whenever we post, because they do change -- and often quite quickly at this point!
I might be an anomaly, but I like the MP structure. It lets me gauge where I am in terms of gear and play ability. Could you please do a crude comparison for people like so I know about where to start in the pre-expansion patch and then on into RoS? Thanks for helping.
That's certainly the plan. We'd like to lock down the tuning a bit more before we provide that comparison, though, since things are changing right now on a day-to-day basis. (Like I noted before, we'll have a "First Look" write-up just on difficulty coming your way fairly soon.)
Why not keep the names "Normal/Nightmare/Hell"?
These are iconic to the series, and you're just getting rid of them for no good reason.
Let me try to anticipate the answer: "Players might get confused".
The main reason is that the tiered Normal > Nightmare > Hell > Inferno system is gone completely; the new system works quite differently and we didn't want the names, which have a history and thus an expected way of working, to make players think the system functions one way (when it in fact functions in a whole 'nother way).
Totally fair feedback, though. Happy to pass it on.
Locking out non-RoS players from higher difficulties is not fair. Basically, you'll take away Monster Power 4-10 without any kind of compensation. I have an MP10 character. Doing low difficulties will be meaningless, and I'm not sure that I want to buy RoS.
For clarity, Torment difficulties currently compare most closely with MP 10 and above.
Did you read his post? He's saying that without RoS, you can't play Torment. So there would be no MP 10
Important thing to remember: The new difficulty settings don't have a direct 1-to-1 comparison with each Monster Power level. So, Torment isn't technically "MP 10"; MP 10 is just the closest comparison it has right now. At present, its overall difficulty is probably a little more challenging than MP 10 if you take into consideration dynamic difficulty (the fact that monsters level up with you) and all the combat pacing/skill changes we've made. On the other hand, Master (which unlocks at 60) feels somewhere between MP 8 and 10 at the moment.
On that note, another thing to remember: all these numbers and comparisons are 100% subject to change, especially as we start opening up the game to testing by more people. This is just where they right now. We want players who don't purchase the expansion to still feel like they can challenge themselves under this new system, so -- as an example -- it's entirely possible we might shift Torment to be somewhere around (comparatively) MP 11 and make Master more challenging as a result. It's also possible that we won't need to do this and that the current Master difficulty feels great at level 60. It's definitely not locked down at the moment; in fact, difficulty tuning is one of the last things we'll likely finalize, as so many other variables play into it.
Right here. This is what is bringing this question up. So if you don't purchase RoS, you don't get level cap raise?
This is a blue post.
Correct. If you do not purchase Reaper of Souls, your level cap will remain at 60.
Also, just edited Grimiku's post (with what I imagine was a typo). Master unlocks at 60, not 61.
Ha. Bagstone.
**Edit: Just to clarify, I mean the Blizzcon banner logo from Blizzcon Virtual Ticket etc. I still use my own customized banner daily to show which direction in Crypts to go with groups since most times I am the one setting em up.**
Twitch.tv: twitch.tv/mehsiah | Youtube/Twitter in the future.
Before the Elite/Goblin toast, I'd use my banner all the time.
As for the difficulty change, THANK GOD. W/ Monster Power, there was no reason for the usual slog. When they announced it, I thought Inferno was going to be what Adventure Mode seems to be (w/o the bounties/Rifts). Also, b/c of Monster Power, they can get rid of Magic Find, right? Right?
Funny you should mention it: http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/blizzcon-interview-exclusive-big-magic-find-nerfs-coming-in-reaper-of-souls
To any blues who may read this, PLEASE reconsider. There is no need to get rid of the classic difficulty names. We're not stupid, we understand the format is changing.
Battlegrounds were always a lot more fun than arenas. Deathmatches have their place, but Capture the Flag or King of the Hill are always more dynamic and fun.
http://www.diablofan...56#entry1194856
There is no reason to keep the old names. It is a completely 100% different gameplay system, and using the old names will simply create confusion.