DiabloFans

When I originally posted this I should have known that noone would be able to see around the "Those things are HUGE and WOW-ish" argument. Perhaps it was a lack of better judgement but I had hoped that someone would be able to appreciate what this type of item could add to the game in general. So please for those of you who wish to post further, please think about what shoulder armor/garmentry as an item type could add to the game looking as REALISTIC or CARTOONISH as YOU like it. Again this is not a thread meant to argue the current appearance of the Barb's gi-normus shoulder armor.

I never said anything about how the armor was portayed. I do agree that what has been shown is much too bulky, unrealistic, and cartoonish but that has nothing to do with what I was saying. My point was that , if implented well, an additional type of armor/garment add-on could be a nice and simplistic way of addiing character individuality.

At first when I noticed the supposed new armor item in the D3 gameplay trailer I thought to myself "How completely useless." I didnt care for the argument that 'shoulder-pads' would add to character customization because they are almost purposeless since most armor that we have used so far in the Diablo series has had shoulder protection. Then I realized that shoulder armor could be thought of as simply a type of garment that only added minimal defense. In this light we could see the return of other shoulder-worn garments/armory such as the cloak and cape from Diablo 1 (adding a ton of possible character customizations that arent as limited). I actually think that this would be an almost pleasing new feature. What do the rest of you think?

Edit: When I originally posted this I should have known that noone would be able to see around the "Those things are HUGE and WOW-ish" argument. Perhaps it was a lack of better judgement but I had hoped that someone would be able to appreciate what this type of item could add to the game in general. So please for those of you who wish to post further, please think about what shoulder armor/garmentry as an item type could add to the game looking as REALISTIC or CARTOONISH as YOU like it. Again this is not a thread meant to argue the current appearance of the Barb's gi-normus shoulder armor.

Quote from "SickPhil" »

lol well all of us arent as fortunate as you are to be able to do that haha.

And to go back to that NPC Messanger idea, That would be a great idea for that it fits in to the whole Diablo theme very well syaing NPCs are a big role in the gameplay. There could be a mail box in each town were you could go pick up an item or whatever you had sent to you at...( For all you mail box idea people lol) But i just think having the messanger would be a very easy way to do it and it would be original so we would be staying away from WoW. Not saying WoW is bad or anything but each game should have its own unique system. :thumbsup:

I definately like the NPC idea, perhaps to make it more interesting he/she should be someone you unlock through a quest that travels with you from town to town like Cain in Act 1 of D2. If this is the case you would have to be able to use the NPC to trade between single player characters though, unless the NPC comes with other functions or rewards - perhaps a traveling Gheed or a Jewerly/Rune/Gem merchant.

But you could use the NPC like a safety deposit box/shared storage where you simply enter you account name and a password to leave/pickup items. Almost like you are using the NPC's stash. But to help keep people away from using it to make money by selling ingame items there should be a gold fee for the in and out.

Quote from "lights_warrior" »

The amazon islands have a different name now. And there is another island west of them. Hmm

Another thing, isn't Scosglen suppose to be all forest? The druids come from there if I remember correctly.

Perhaps this means that the Amazon will return as a character class and the new island is Blizzard's attempt to create lore for the "Manazons" lol

And its acceptable for Scosglen to be a tundra, after all the Druid character class is D2 seemed to come 'warmly' dressed and wolves/bears are common predators in such areas.

It wouldnt be a far stretch to include some sort of a Nephalem character class, perhaps the 'Awakened Nephalem' which would be a younger, inexpirienced and henceforth weaker magic class which could replace the sorc. But at the same time technically all humans are just dormant Nephalem so a specific class of them is unlikely.

The game definately is going to include them somehow because the entire reason the Burning Hells want to take over Sanctuary and the Heavens want to destroy it is for control over the Nephalem.

Every time you click the gem God kills a kitten.

Quote from "Kenzai" »

Yeah Kensei/Kensai will be used by everyone. I dont think it bothers anyone if i use the name of a ceramics or organic tea company.

I dont think that I am out of the loop and have missed something but I am curious as to where you got those item shots in your signature image?


But as far as names go..... Since I am a musician/composer I lke to go with composer names like Be'la (Bartok), (Paul) Hindemith or (Launy) Grondahl. But At the same time I have always been a fan of old Japanese Godzilla films so I like to recycle monster names from those. Oh and of course Danitor.

I apologize if I am just stating the obvious or something redundant but the 'three headed beast' is the one on the Diablo III logo/cover. Same demon/skull red face with pseudo-horns from its chin and the glowing spot on the forehead where the soulstone used to be.

Im thinking this is Diablo....

Thanks for all of the positive remarks. I didnt think I posted a dud though in retrospect there is already a plethora of posts with a similar style so I can see why someone might find it redundant.

I wish that people would actually make valid, level headed arguments in these forums. Dont get me wrong, there are plenty of people who do such a thing but it just seems that the ignorance of others always gets in the way (ie. the first couple of responses).

And to the first replies, and others alike, I am sorry that I didnt rag on WOW or use it to compare Diablo III's art work because I didnt think that it was neccessary. This is a Diablo thread, not a Warcraft thread. If you dont agree, you dont agree but please if you are going to make a rebuttle you need to state some point and back it up; a childish antic like responding with internet spam doesnt say anything but that you are either ignorant, immature, or just plain rude.

I have been a fan of Blizzard and the Diablo franchise since it first started back in the 90's. Since I never had the funds when I was younger I would always go over to my friends house to play video games and Warcraft and Diablo were what we loved to spend our time on (as well as the generic console games from Zelda to GTA 1 to Mario to Sonic to Wrestling and of course Ken Griffy Jr haha). Luckily I was able to get Diablo II when it came out and eventually the expansion and for 8 years now it has remained my favorite game. Sure there were periods when I just didnt play for 'who-knows-how-long' but I always came back to it (unlike other games which quickly become dated and redundant) making it the only game that I really play at all anymore (with the exception of the occaisional console game). So when I heard that Diablo III was finally announced and in production I was extactic.

As many of you can probably relate, my initial reaction was "HOLY SHIT!" and "WHEN IS IT COMMING OUT?" paired up with the feeling of finding out as much about it as I could. So of course I went and watched all of the trailers and demos, checked out the art work and journals, and obviously started reading what people had to say in these forums. I initially thought that the game looked amazing and it was fine as is- after all it was a new Diablo game , how could it not be good? But then reading what people had to say about the art direction sunk in and I agreed that it didnt carry on the Diablo 'feel'. I agreed so much that after a day or two I eventually signed the petition that seems to have everyone's panties in a bunch.

In retrospect I regret that decision.

I still dont agree with some of the game's art design, however these discords aren't the fist throwing design flaws we wanted to see in them. After playing D2 and LOD some more and watching all of the trailers again here is my matured evaulation of Diablo III:

1. The colors used in the forest are actually very poingant and far from overdone. There are many 'bright' colors used in the previous games outdoor settings and that only makes sense because afterall plants are more than just green, dirt is more than just black, rocks are more than just grey, and there is a little something called the sun lighting everything up. I dont really like rabbits running around, unharmed, and somehow not eaten by the demons but its a forest so I cant really refute (sp?) it. The rainbow, though completely natural, does offset the epic/horror aspect of it all (When was the last time you saw a rainbow in the middle of a horror film?).

2. The lighting in the cathedral actually isnt bad. Sure there is a lot more light in there than what you would initially expect but there are plenty of glowing candles and torches everywhere in there. The greenish hue, though somewhat reflective of the worn stone surroundings, needs to be replaced my a more red/yellow/orange hue to create the realism of the cathedral being illuminated by the candles (similar to how various crypts in D2 where illuminated by large flaming pentagrams). The only other problem I have with the design in this location is the "smiling" statues. The smile, however uncalled for, doesnt bother me as much as the fact that the statues seem to show absolutely no decay/wear-n-tear/erosion.

3. Light Radii! At first I thought "How could they have gotten rid of such a classic element of the game?!?!?" but after reviewing the screen shots and demo footage again guess what I found? Yes there are light radii coming from our 'heroes'. They arent as prevailent as they were in D2 but the demo was 'shot' in a semi-well-lit environment. Just watch the demo again and you will see how everything an x distance away from the barb slips into shadow, not complet darkness but shadow. You can also see the presence of a light radius in screen shot #14 (all shadows are outward from the WD as a light source), #12, and #10 (Barb has a 'noon' shadow as if the light in right on top of him instead of a shadow from another light source). This shadow style can be contrasted using screen shot #17 where all shadows are created from a unified source (the sun).

4. Cartoonish characters! Yes the shoulder pads are too big, but they are too big on the Druid in D2, the armor is bulky but its not like the characters look like Juggenauts. And the weapons are a bit Gauntlet Legends style especially with the flames and sparks and what not. But Blizzard did say that they are virtually just working on game content now which should be the catagory for items, apparel, and the way the invintory looks.

Well I was going to go into the topic of characters we might see but this post is already long enough. Thanks for the read, let me know what you think, and please, please, please try not to be rude if you would like to argue another opinion.

First of all I agree with the argument that there shouldnt be any type of 'mythical' character class, it wouldnt fit with the rest of the game or lore. I will admit that they would be fun to play with, but I say again, they would not fit in the game at all. If Blizzard wanted to make another 'fantasy' style rpg where elves and orcs are characters they would..... oh, wait, they did already!

With the introduction of the Witch Doctor character, Blizzard is at least cracking the door that there are some other cultures in the world of Sanctuary that havent been explored yet.... so the idea of some sort of class based upon an 'eastern' culture (ie. kensai, samurai, ninja) wouldnt be too farfetched and as much as I think that this style of character would make a great replacement/extension of the assasin, I still wouldnt wish such a class to be part of the game for continuity's sake and that in the end such a class is just pointless.

I definately feel that there will be some skill tree crossing with some of the returning classes and in the creation of new classes to make up for any former characters that will be left out of the initial statement of Diablo 3.

Now that is all said and done... here are my 5 classes (and respective 3 skill trees):

1. Barbarian - given
- Melee skills
- War cries
- Smash/Leap skills

2. Witch Doctor - given (unfortunately the necro replacement)
- Summoning skills (mongrel/wall of undead)
- Dark magic skills (poisons/spells)
- Nature magic skills (fire/locust)

3. Pally/Knight - new twists on an iconic look (sword and shield)
- Holy skills (aura/defense/lightning)
- Melee skills (sword/polarm)
- Combat skills (speed attacks/weapon enchantment)

4. Druid/Hunter - redefined but still classic, assuming skills of zon and assasin (likely character due to artwork)
- Animal skills (shapeshifting/summon)
- Hunting skills (traps/bow)
- Elemental skills (ice/earthen)

5. Monk/Mage/Archaine - more of a 'physics' sorcerer type character
- ESP skills (mind control/paralyze/death stare? haha)
- Telekinetic skills (teleport/object throw/debris whirlwind)
- Magic skills (Fire/Lightning/Ice/cloak)

Quote from "Curb" »

For you heartfelt people who hate the look of "Diablo"

I give you my thoughts on it.

It's clearly not the old Diablo.

my guess? Baal, Diablo and Mephisto join as one Super being to once again reign over our world.


It is up to you to Destroy "UBER" Diabaalphisto


Anyone else have thoughts on this matter?

I agree with the beast being a new Diaballphisto type evil. If not the monster is on an equal power to such a forging, perhaps a more primitive Diablo, one that has been reborn due to the destruction of the world stone.

I personally would like to belive this based on the openning sequence of the teaser trailler where there are three candles lit when they mention the past (end) and a solitary candle when the mention a new beginning. So in my mind this represents the former three prime evils having a new beginning as one bad mother f***er.