I write from the perspective of someone who abandoned battlenet. A most unsatisfying experience. So bad I don't know where to begin....
I'll limit myself to one topic here: trading.
The online system is too open to exploits and dupes.
For trading to be fair you must eradicate dupes.
Given the advances in computing power in the last ten years it should be possible to establish the uniqueness of an item. As a seasoned app systems designer and ER modeller I can see many ways of doing this. Whether it would affect game play and cause server stress I cannot say.
Preventing dupes in the first place is the number one priority for implementing a trading system that is fair at its foundations. No trading mechanism can compensate for dodgy gear.
Secondly, a fool proof means of swapping gear is required. Very easy to do, from my background at least.
Limit trades to swaps/bartering. Many to many, one to many, or one to one item. Seller posts item(s) for trade. This request stays live while the user is logged on. Connection drop or whatever = cancelled sale. At posting time the seller can enter a minimal description of what is sought. Keep it simple and short. Seller does not enter text to describe item(s) being sold. Let battlenet work that out.
Option to be notified in game that someone is wanting to buy. TP to town and enter the trade window. See the offer of the purchaser. Accept or decline. Both parties can see a full icon view of the item.
At this offer stage both sets of items are locked in escrow on battlenet. There can be no dodgy substitution.
If trade accepted by seller: battlenet does the swap. Confirms swap and flags trade as complete in the battlenet trade DB. If problems, backout trade when the user is next logged in, for example. An escrow system is very simple to do.
With these two enhancements: No dupes and guaranteed integrity of the swap then I'll return to battlenet.
At home we run multiple copies of D2. We dupe at home, I'll admit. If I had my time all over again I'd not support that. Duping should also be impossible for home TCP/IP users.
(My IT background says "unique keys" but generating this rapidly across all servers and saving and maintaining these centrally I can't say if it is feasible. Locally no problem as our CD key can seed the keys, etc although a security concern if using our CD key online?)
A third suggestion: When I trade I want to see rare items which are genuinely rare. Let's have some limits and make this gear uber good. Again you'll need a central DB of issued gear, with a guaranteed unique ID. Possible?
A fourth suggestion: Items only. No health/mana/full rejuves (it seems they must be cnsumed at pickup time in D3 - good) and no gold in bartering. Common stuff like that just creates a currency.
I want to HnS and immerse myself in the storyline and quests. Making gold rarer would minimise the possibility of players doing lucrative gold runs as gold hordes with gold as a currency will skew trading.
A fifth suggestion: The old and dodgy "droping an item" trading system. Just make it impossible. If a player wants to trade they MUST use the barter system. In game (in town) or out of game. Trades can be private if you like (i.e. not open to other barterers). If a player drops gear then it stays there until an NPC steals it, as happens now in D2.
This gets back to unique IDs for gear. A monster drops gear specifically for a player then it stays assigned to that player until such time as it is traded fairly.
If I drop gear in game then it can just stay invisible to other players.
Yes, that means I have to mule the gear myself but with the bag system developments I have seen, extra mule characters won't be necessary.
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To Blizzard: I love what I have seen of D3 so far. Bring it on when you're good and ready. We'll be buying three copies.
- Lucion
- Curse Premium
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Member for 16 years, 11 months, and 1 day
Last active Fri, Nov, 4 2016 05:10:28
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Aug 12, 2008Lucion posted a message on Diablo MMO Hinted?I think D3 should do nicely for the storyline - there's not much more scope for extending it except to mislead us that the big D has been defeated only to come back yet again. That gets stale.Posted in: News
Anything more? Why not. WIII wasn't the end of that franchise. Perhaps WoD. Rather than prejudge (like the colour campaigners) I'll sit back and see what happens if indeed they go down this path. Intuition says it would suck but, hey, this is Blizzard and they have an excellent track record at getting things right. Let's not forget that!
A D movie would be nice too. Hopefully not rated for kiddie viewing. I want to see the blood spraying out of arteries and I want to see an assassin in her bikini in the Frigid Highlands having a wardrobe malfunction. -
Aug 1, 2008Lucion posted a message on Diablo 3 Multiplayer To Be EncouragedI played single player at first due to a lame internet connection.Posted in: News
I was always frustrated by certain uniques or bosses or quests with the character I was playing - I wished I had a partner to help me out at certain times.
And the sets. I never seemed to get a full set. I wished I could swap online. And research at Planet Diablo told me that there was a hell of a lot of cool gear out there - if only I could find it.
Eventually I went online.
A bunch of tossers.
Everybody has amazing gear. Everybody just flies through a map - like they know exactly where to go already. Hassles not being able to do quests. Dick brains who always grab the cool loot and disappear rather than share. No-one wants to explore together. Indulgent players who pretend to be experts at everything and flame if I do, in their opinion, the wrong curse or spell or if I have the wrong mercenary - like I have to adhere to a formula. And suddenly I was getting killed a lot. And gutless heroes who disappear when we faced Mephisto or Diablo. And basically everyone was totally up themselves with how uber expert they were.
No thanks.
I won't go into personal details but I now have a very active setup at home. Totally LAN based. Nothing fancy. No high end computers. Our 1000T ethernet or 802.11n wireless easily copes. We NEVER get any lag problems.
Sure, there is a delay of about a second sometimes if entering a waypoint and rarely in battle. But we don't play in a lame arse way that a second of precious time is the difference between life or death.
A far bigger problem is getting frozen or stunned from stacked hits and not being able to escape a horde / do anything at all. That's where we come undone. Never from LAN lag.
The new battlenet had better be very good for us to change our ways. -
Jul 29, 2008Lucion posted a message on Diablo 3 Boss Damage StatesWe got ourselves a potentially "postal" problem here with D3 becoming a gore fest.Posted in: News
Limbs flying with severed arteries spraying blood wildly will not happen I would think.
In my country, we have draconian censorship for computer games that goes way beyond that for porn due to an anomaly in our outdated pre-computer era laws. Same in some other countries.
But I do want nice effects when a monster dies and a blood splat will be great. I just hope that there is the ability to hack the game to turn it "on" as it will ship in Australia disabled if it is too nice.
Falling armour or a bloodless limb dropping off the undead - skels don't have blood - would be good (but not great).
A real clincher is a total transformation from a behemoth into a hundred zombies for example or a bloated boss exploding and covering our heroes in slimey poison.
Whatever. Just get it past the censors! -
Jul 27, 2008Lucion posted a message on Official Diablo 3 Website Media UpdateDidn't take long for the idiots to come on and complain about the D3 (concept) art not being "real" or gothic enough.Posted in: News
Boring. Heard enough already.
We've one to two years to enjoy and celebrate D3 being built. Let's just do that huh? -
Jul 24, 2008Lucion posted a message on Diablo III Gameplay Video Q&A part 2 - July 22A strong argument for the static above ground areas is storyline continuity. So long as the bump in richly drawn landscapes and buildings makes it worthwhile I think I'm for it.Posted in: News
To support my opinion, the randomisation of the Rogue Encampment annoys me. If it was interesting, like Kurast then I'd support our home bases being static too. Kurast works for me. Add in some more environmental effects and Kurast like bases would rock in D3.
I'm keen for less important areas like dungeons to be random.
I do hope it will be worthwhile venturing into these dungeons though. ATM I only go forth if I feel the need for levelling up or some more gratuitous h&s. The chest drops are usually pretty ordinary for the non-quest dungeons in D2.
Quote from "Mr.Yoshida" »Please everyone, try to read the the entire post before jumping to conclusions.
*Out door areas will be mostly static, does not mean the whole world will be static and everything in it.
*There was no class specific armor in D2... everyone could wear any type of armor, it just looked different on the characters. It was noted previously by Bashiok that there would still be class specific weapons and such.
1) No one said the whole world would be static. Please read the posts LOL.
2) Wrong. Please read my previous post, just above yours LOL. Barb helms anyone. What were those pelts for? And the shrunken heads - who was supposed to use them? Um, paly shields were for, well, palies? Some of this stuff could be equipped on other classes but you'd be mostly hard up for gear to do so.
3) Class specific weapons announced by Bashiok. Yep, you're right on the money, keep up the good work. -
Jul 24, 2008Lucion posted a message on Diablo III Gameplay Video Q&A part 2 - July 22What concerns me is the radical changes mooted:Posted in: News
1) Venturing above ground will be very static but a richly painted canvas nevertheless. We will not get random areas like the Black Marsh or Cold Plains.
The randomness of the maps in D2 aids replayability. I take the point that quality graphics has won out over random tiles with the same edges in order to allow seamless joining. I am ambivalent here. Bring on the richly drawn maps. But how soon will these same maps begin to be repetitive when replaying?
2) Non-class specific armour. Some modifiers will be more useful for some classes (perhaps e.g. "+10 to mana") and some armour just won't make sense for some classes. So that hasn't changed. But this means we now won't get the Barb helms and the necro shrunken heads and the druid pelts.
Can anyone suggest why this has happened? What is the good of this?
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I want to see heads getting ripped off and my character's arm getting ripped off and me having to limp back to town for repair to one leg and with a gaping hole in my abdomen. With a trail of blood in my wake too and some monster following behind, licking up my entrails....
Glad to hear that the disappearing path the barb had to leap/tele over was just an example of what is possible. Giving everyone teleport would suck. -
Jul 17, 2008Lucion posted a message on Diablo 3 Not An MMOWith two zoomancers with easily 30 revives between them and assorted other minions, a Baal run is an absolute mess even before we start spamming bone spirit and bone wall and bone prison.Posted in: News
Let's keep the awesome effects promised in D3 and be happy with small parties where we can enjoy the SFX and cool PvM interactions.
This is one area that Blizzard hasn't changed in D3 and I'm happy. God I hope we don't get another petition about this too!
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My party games are about 2 or 3 people only. All good buddies / family and yet after all these years we still argue incessantly over gold and item drops, especially full rejuves. Imagine parties of 10 or 20 playing D2 or D3 - we'd spend more time arguing over sharing the green set pieces and so on than actually playing the game.
D2 never was an MMO, thankfully. D3 never will be. Amen. -
Jul 16, 2007Lucion posted a message on Biggest Diablo 3 Information Yet!Days to go until Blizzcon. Not all, but some will be revealed!Posted in: News
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Most of us know about that.
What is at issue here is that the Health Orb thing is a very radical move by Blizzard. In terms of the gameplay, PvP, monster design - everything seems to be affected in some way by this new schema. That's why there's a lot of people arguing about a whole lot of different things and perhaps not mentioning the monsters mechanics being reworked.
You point about TPs is valid. Nothing to stop us from chugging off to town to heal and then straight back into battle. As far as we know. So far.
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In our TCP/IP PvP games at my place we have one rule: No teleport. It totally unbalances the fight. Blizzard/Frozen Orb mixed with teleport for Sorceresses.
(Actually we have other rules about TP and running back to mummy for more health/mana but that's off-topic :D)
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But I love teleport. I get to all the golden chests before everyone else. The look on their faces when they fight their way into the room only to discover the chest is open and empty and I'm back in town selling the loot to Fara is priceless.
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I'll miss teleport a lot in D3 but I suppose it is for the better. Not sure how it could be nerfed so that I'd be bothering to put skill points into it. If it was nothing more than a slightly quicker "one shot" means of jumping out of battle than a TP then pffffrrrt!
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The WoW shoulder pads were the second thing I noticed about WoW when I play tested it. Hated them. The worst was how bright the landscape was. I was hung over at the time and puked all over the keyboard. But that's off-topic. Keyboard is still sticky mind you...
I don't like the shoulder pads but it is an essential part of the Blizzard "look" in its three franchises. So nothing we say here will change things.
It's not just Blizzard who go over the top. Pick any first person shooter. There's always some mega-mother of a gun that even Arnie in his Terminator days would have struggled to lift. And those Heraldic Shields in D2. Heck, you expect a hero to carry that oversized thing around all of Act 3 without having to put it down once? And some of those horned helms were outrageously top heavy in D2.
Blizzard and other publishers are no stranger to fantastical gear which has no place in our real world.
Which makes sense. Sanctuary is a fantasy land so the armaments are also drawn from the fantasy realm. That's what I call getting a real perspective on things.
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Same with Diablo and Baal.
And very much so with the waves of Baal's little army prior to his departing from his throne to go check up on his worldstone.
When you think about it - the balance of a battle is in your ability to manage your health/mana potions.
That can't be a good thing.
Like most people, I resist change but this one is for the better. I'd better improve my game play between now and D3!
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And every new member must post there.
Or else they are just being lame Diablo fanbois like me.
Um...
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Um, actually that's not really a good thing
The new take on rune words will help make D3 fresh.
I suppose its good. I'll just miss the opportunity to dupe, that's all...
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Piss off if that's your only style.
You think one person - Jay - has total control over all decisions and makes them in some kind of wanky bubble utopia, shut off from the real world?
Get real idiot.
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As noted already by some, the gameplay video showed that monsters are smarter in D3. I don't expect that it will be too difficult. Hopefully the AI will improve in Nightmare and Hell over D2. Giving monsters massive HP and resistances isn't everything in making a game difficult. I think Blizzard are aware of that as a deficiency in D2.
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It would be fantastic if we could have PvP in Hardcore in open games.
It would be the ultimate test. Sure, it would be all level 99 characters. But it would give a person ultimate bragging rights at being the best of the best.
But to do this requires a lot of changes. What idiot would venture into a PvP hardcore open game when they just know that other players are cheats?
Suggestion #1: Allow a person to host a game designated as PvP. No need to go hostile. Everyone is automatically hostile. Potential players see a special icon in the game list.
Suggestion #2: Don't allow parties to be formed in these games.
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Could we please get back on topic?
Going hostile should be mutual. A one way declaration of war isn't playing fair. I'd like to see D3 allowing a player to go hostile as in D2 but a player has to agree to this in order to become a target.
A reason to want to decline hostilities is if my hero is built for PvE. I have a sorceress with all resistances at 90 in hell and with fire wall as the main attack with chain lightning thrown in. A lot of fun and a little challenging getting monsters to run along the wall instead of briefly through it! But it is fun and helps to keep D2 fresh.
Fighting dumb monster movement AI is one thing. Against a similar level sorceress with Frozen Orb, who is circling me and avoiding my Fire Wall then my build would just suck. D2 gives us a clear choice: PvE or PvP but D3 should allow us the right to decline PvP.
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Anyway, I like the idea of monsters hunting ME down very very much. I think Blizz are wanting to make normal mode more accessible to newcomers so can't see it happening there but in Nightmare I say: Bring it on! I'll be waiting for you!
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Jay Wilson has talked about how in D3 we have an invasion from hell, unlike in D2 where the monsters were just hanging around.
Since when do monsters who are part of an invasion just hang around drinking coffee? Surely an invasion means that they actively seek out a fight.
Thus, I'm sure it will happen but maybe not in normal.
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Assuming in town drops are necessary in D3 I wish to be able to simply click and drag to the ground without the convolution of D2.
Explanation:
Why do I need to do this in D2? Various reasons. Just in case I die (in SP mode or if playing with trusted friends) I drop all my gold. I know I have to be quick or else the gold will get stolen by the game AI. I also drop gear when swapping to my mules.
In other posts I argue against the need for mules and I argue that gear not originally assigned to me in a monster death drop / chest should be invisible if dropped by me. I stand by that (the main reason is to FORCE a player to trade through the proper mechanisms).
If the D3 inventory system means that I have no need now to mule then this request may only apply to dropping gold prior to a boss battle.
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The advantage for me is that I will be encouraged to continue honing my (questionable) skills. The advantage for PKers is that lame heroes like me will still be around.
To ensure that people cannot extrapolate the number of defeats, the total contests would need to be unknown to other players. The number of defeats and contests could be revealed to me but not to others.
But the number one advantage of all this is that, because I know that my defeat record is secret then I have no reason to TP and then mysteriously lose my internet connection during battle. I.e. no need to gutlessly prevent a "win" being recorded for my opponent.
Additionally, what if connection is lost? Just have battlenet terminate the fight with no result recorded.
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There are a couple of schools of thought about allowing PvP at all times - even in town - and special arenas for PvP etc. Let's not debate that. Let's just stick to constructive ideas for the MECHANISM of PvP in the game in this thread at least.
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Okay I have to fess sup. I had a bad experience in D2 with a PKer. In my very early days and not sure what happened but I started up a game and this dude joined and before I knew it I was dead. All a bit foggy - he disappeared somewhere, returned and whacked me.
I do experiment with PvP in the safety of my home network and we use backed up copies of characters. We often start with a hand full of skill or attribute points and we experiment with allocating these. At the finish we just restore the save file databases. I want to still be able to do this on a home network. Please don't take that away.
This will sound terribly noobish and not at all where HC PvP gamers would be going with suggestions.... I'd like to see a mechanism to experiment with PvP on battlenet, like a "trialing" or "training" mode where we can fight and kill, but not for keeps. No need to worry about loosing gear. Being able to respec my character would be good but that's a different topic for another thread.
A great way to test builds and experiment with the usage of skills but most importantly a means to wean noobs (like me...) into PvP. It might get me used to the fact that I'll die occasionally and it's not such a bad thing
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I'd like to see PvP implemented in such a way that there can be no surprise attacks. If I agree to PvP then certainly I will know whom my adversary will be and that he/she may attack me any time / any where and it may be a surprise attack. But the fact is that I have agreed to the PvP mode in the first place so I if I die in a surprise attack then that's my problem. Live with it.
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I'd like to see PvP implemented in such a way that a "win" to me is recorded as such, whether my opponent was killed or TPed out of the "arena". Leaving the fight is effectively a submission, like in MMA or WWE and counts as a win to me. From my POV it's all about "wins" and not necessarily "kills".
This might mean that I do not get any benefits of the kill, perhaps loot?, but I have a win recorded against my hero nevertheless.
How to implement this if the connections lags or gets lost I don't know.
Soft ideas I know. It's all about making PvP more accessible for people like myself on the periphery of it all.