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Quote from Bashiok »

You'll have access to all the systems by the end of Normal, but that doesn't mean you're going to scratch the surface with them.

You'll be leveling your artisans, teaching them to make new items, finding higher quality runes, finding higher quality gems, combining gems, finding loot in Nightmare that doesn't drop in Normal, finding loot in Hell that doesn't drop in Nightmare, etc. and really continuing to max out use of each of the available power adjustments.

Plus the need to really tighten up builds, get a good mix of skills, pick the right passives to support them, and gear out in specific directions becomes more and more important as the game gets tougher.

I don't think having to become a better player and invest more in all the game systems is a "deadzone", it's where the game gets challenging.

Bashiok said that in response to a very similar question in THIS thread.

At least for me in D2 it was obvious what to keep, toss, or sell. If, for instance, I knew that I was going to be making a new Sorc sometime soon, I would save some lower level gear to throw on her so that Trist runs didn't suck a bunch, and then I would hold onto things I found that I would wear at later levels.

It will be easy for me to dictate what stays, what gets "recycled", and what gets dropped/vendored. If you know that your stash is getting loaded down, and you don't want to ever play a Witch Doctor, then get rid of stuff for Witch Doctors. If you had a thought this morning that you may start playing a Barb this weekend, then save your Barb stuff. Pretty simple... As for what is considered an all around good item, the community will dictate that as it grows, and that stuff will more than likely end of for sale on the AH or being used by your main toons.

Do you think they all sat down and said... Now Bashiok, Monday is going to be a very busy day because when people find out about all the stuff we did they're gonna be PISSED. Post lots, and make them feel better. Ready... Go Team!

I'm not sure if it will be making a return in any way, shape, or form, but I will miss the Arreat Summit (wasnt Mt. Arreat destroyed?). For a LONG time I had a screenshot of my standing on top of the arreat summit overlooking the frigid highlands as my desktop background. Was totally my favorite place in-game.

I have participated in only one beta as of now, which was Everquest 2. I was an avid EQ 1 player much as I was and still am an avid D2 player. I actually transfered to the "Legends" EQ 1 server in order to be accepted into early EQ2 beta. For those of you who are not familiar with EQ, that was a server with expanded in-game content, and higher GM to player ratios, among other things. The downside was that it was also almost $40 dollars a month if I remember correctly.

After being a devoted player of Everquest for almost 3 years I can honestly say that I was more than extatic about being able to be a part of the beta of EQ2. Unfortunately, my experience really had a negative impact on my feelings about the world of EQ.

In beta, (and for that matter for a long while after release in my opinion) the game was broken, flawed, and unfinished. At this point your probably thinking, well of course... it's a testing phase. I knew full well that I was going to be playing a non-polished game and I was ok with that.

Logging in to unstable servers to try to complete buggy quests in a limited area of the game put such a sour taste in my mouth about the lore, gameplay, and immersion level that I was never able to fully recover and ultimately ended up really not caring for EQ2.

Im not sure if I ever would have liked the game, but I genuinely feel that had I not been a tester, I would have been able to at least give it a fair shot. When I initially started playing both D2 and EQ I was thrown headfirst into a well developed online community, in a stable play environment which I think contributed largely to why I played the games and enjoyed them for as long as I did.

In the end, I guess, what I'm trying to say here is that this is a game that I have been waiting for since highschool, (im 24 now) and I will echo the same sentiment that many have expressed in that I am willing to wait for the actual release of the game to start playing. I wont compromise what could, and hopefully will be my love for a great game that I will play for years to come.

Has anyone else had similar experiences testing? Possibly even just a particular incident with poor game design decisions that have led them to leave a game? If I was given the opportunity to participate in testing, I can honestly say that I would respectfully decline. What do you guys think?

Just out of curiosity, I see all of these posts from people saying that D3 is WAY to far In pre-production still to merit a Dec 09 launch.. I dont doubt that this is most likely the case... But all of the supremely confident voices out there saying that... where has that been posted by a dev? Id like to see an official statement somewhere confirming what stage the game is at... not a date mind you, but just what stage the game is in right now. It seems arrogant to claim the game at a certain point when its unknown at the moment.

I agree with switch to a point, and im glad that other people remember reading about this a while back... Yes the theory was posted before an official game announcement and obviously alot has changed. Im not talking about the games entire philosophy and play style to be changed to suit this idea, I just thought that there was some good substance that could have been taken out of the discussions that ensued be it minor visual change or maybe a slight gameplay reorganization should a player decide to wield a weapon from the evil plane for too long...

I remember quite some time ago, I read someones idea that everything in D3 would have a evil and good side.

Basically meaning I guess that the game would take place on a plane somehwere in the middle of heaven, hell, and earth. There was alot of talk surrounding how this could be executed, but I guess my quick 2 cents would have to be different item bonuses depending on there planar affiliation Character changes made to skill trees, stats, appearance, factions etc. Locations and possibly time travel to correspond with an event at a certain point on a timeline that you may have to attend on 2 different planes, but at a different time. Anyone catching my drift?

If anyone else remembers this discussion or possibly has a link to the thread somewhere in the archives, please post.

Is this an intriguing thought to anyone else? And what do you think that so far (obviously we dont know much yet) we havnt seen anything to this effect

I remember back when i used to play EQ, when EQ2 was on the verge of coming out, there were many guilds that formed up before launch. I think im posting this in the right forum, but havnt heard much about new quilds for D3 yet. Anyone direct me to the right place?

well, no new class or gameplay video that i see. somone should tell blizzard there not allowed to do any more maintenance until they plan on releasing something valuable.

From what i have seen, it looks to me like the game is headed in the wrong direction to necisitate a healing class. with potions and the life orb things, i dont think a pure healing class would fit. The closest i would think they would come would be comparable to a pure nature magic character in dungeon siege, where healing takes a small backseat to other forms of detrimental magic, but is still somewhat prevalent.

just because your looted when you die doesnt mean that you cannot have your gear in a spiritual world. It wouldnt be any more unrealistic to think that you come back with all the gear you had on when you died, than coming back at all...

I would like a to see a jester. And I don't see how they could possibly not put a Mage type in the game.

I would agree that the new shoulder pads will be a nice addition. When people talk about the fact that oversized shoulder pads are unrealistic... I would argue that so Is the entire world of diablo. If there is an item that can be used to allow greater individual character models and just generally make your character look badass, im all for it. The issue of a cape, I take he Same standpoint.

100 threads? There's More like 4 billion... Isn't there anything positive to speculate about? We just got our game announced and all people do is whine. Let's talk about how much fun it is going to be exploring new zones/acts. I can't wait to see something like act 5 and the arrest summit again. I don't care if it has color in it. LOL