I dislike item customization more though, because not only is it purely for cosmetic reasons, it also gravely diminishes what kind of character you portray i feel because the only visual give-away of what kind of character you are are the items you wear.
so what you're saying is you prefer that each character is clearly recognizable?
i dunno, i think it would give it more of a realistic, worldly feel if you couldn't always tell.
like if you were actually standing in one of these towns and a visiting warrior strode in to your shop, covered in armor and equipment, you wouldn't always be able to tell what they were.
also i think a little more individualism for everyone's own character would make multiplayer more enjoyable for reasons like PvP as well. using your example, you might not always know what class you're about to fight. i would enjoy that more. dueling stops being fun once everyone figures out that a certain build of a certain class is better than others. then people don't want to fight that build because they don't want to lose. and then everyyyyone starts a character of that class and makes the same thing. it's too concrete statistical and well known for me.
besides, you'd know what they were anyways, regardless of what they were wearing, once you saw the skills they were using, so who cares.
some customization would just be nice so there could be more individuality and you could have what you like and what you think looks cool, not just what is best for you.
cosmetic, yes. just some little things. nothing big.
it wasn't so much the raw gore of the Butcher's lair or Andariel's chambers that i was valuing as scary, but more the feeling it gives the whole situation.
seeing blood and guts isn't scary.
but just knowing that there are demons around who take pleasure in doing such things to so many people just like you...it makes it feel more threatening.
being killed in direct battle by a being from hell is a less scary concept than the one instilled in you as you look around their lair and see all the evidence of sacrifice, torture, and not only a pure disregard for human life and suffering, but a duty and enjoyment of it.
when you enter the area, look around, and say to yourself "oh my God...what the f*ck happened here and...who could do this?" and even though it's a video game, you want to turn around and leave; that's good game horror.
as for horror without gore, yes, i agree, this can be just as scary when done right, but i have yet to see any good examples in the Diablo games, aside from D1's general atmosphere.
I would argue the only one truly outright more powerful then one of the 3 would have been Inarius in Sanctuary connected to the worldstone.
Uldyssian was arguably more powerful, but at the same time was unstable power wise.
I have always viewed the council as a whole equale to the prime evils as a whole. But we truly don't know.
I would reckon all are on an entire different level of power in their own realms as compared to sanctuary.
agreed on Inarius. it seems that will his Worldstone powerup, he was probably the single most powerful individual we have known aside from Uldyssian, who defeated him.
and i don't think it's fair to say Uldyssian doesn't count just because of his instability. his power was what it was, stable or not.
this has probably already been brought up, but i didn't look back through every page.
for those saying that this is more likely Belial or Azmodan than Diablo, i'm fairly certain it's Diablo. aside from the fact that the games are named after him and he will surely continue to be our main boss, and aside from the fact that this still looks enough like his other appearances to make the connection, there's also his forehead.
looks like a scar from where the soul stone used to be jabbed into his head.
i just miss the scare factor that D1 had. it really was part horror game.
the Butcher and his lair! that was scary!
that room was horrifying! and that fat, blood demon rushing you with his big cleaver.
IMO, that scaryness has yet to be matched in the Diablo series since then.
although Andariel's area was pretty gore-ridden, too.
D1's whole atmosphere in general was much darker and scarier. walking through the catacombs, i was always just waiting for the next freaky thing to come around the next corner out of the darkness.
the point is, we're fighting demons from hell. we should be seeing things that scare us like those two examples.
yea, i wouldn't want them to make it some totally safe, friendly PvP system. that's why it's called "hostility". do we really want the message to be "So&So has shaken your hand and suggested a gentleman's duel with you!" for D3?
even when you get murdered and it pisses you off, it's still part of the fun element of it when anyone can just express hostility and then run up and attack.
once i was strong enough to mess around in D2, i liked to keep my helm and one of my swords off for general play, and then once someone was a dbag and PK'd me or something, crack the ol' knuckles, slide on the helm, pull out the second sword, get revenge, and then laugh as they leave the game without retrieving their body from beneath my feet.
or how about some item appearance customization?
as has been said, after a while, you'll be decked out in armor anyways.
but why not be able to spice that up a little?
one thing that always kind of bugged me about playing online and going legit (yes, i enjoyed some classic hack-action as well. nothing like wearing a full set of "whites" back in the day. :P)
was that sometimes, the stuff you wanted to use out of personal preference was not the stuff that you should be wearing for maximum power and efficiency.
if i have some badass looking sword that's decent, and then some lame one-hand axe that's got a ton of attributes and makes my character more powerful, of course i'm going to go with the axe, even though i like the sword better.
so how about just being able to edit the appearance of your items?
obviously not going so far as to change the weapon type itself, but maybe just what that axe actually looks like (ex: change it's appearance from that of a hand axe to that of some other, cooler looking axe) and maybe the colors of it as well, all while keeping it's info and attributes the same and un-editable.
same for armor. at least some color changing, or the ability to put colored designs (war paint?) or your own personally made emblem or design on your shoulder pads or shield?
things like that.
maybe the ability to name some of our own equipment?
we find unques with names like "Habagash's Rod of Clubbing" (not a real example :P)
Last
The GAME is pretty harmless. I don't think that Diablo is going to put the make on anybody's daughter.
The creeps are the problem - and there's no way Blizzard is going to be able to filter them out. Whatever they may claim it's always better to be safe. Blizzard doesn't have the responsibility for my kids. I do.
I don't have to justify anything. My kids - my decision.
while i understand concern for your kids, i think it's misplaced here.
i played D2 on open Bnet starting when i was about 13 years old, and i was never in any danger. and in all the time i've spent on there, i've never been exposed to anything worse than some swearing and getting screwed over/having my stuff stolen by random s.o.b.'s.
i've also never heard of any creeps getting a kid's info and abducting them because of association on Bnet.
it's not like they're on some shady internet romance chat room.
not to mention the fact that you're obviously a good parent, devoted to your children's safety. if they're old enough to be playing Diablo games and knowing how to have LAN parties, they should know by now not to give personal info out to strangers over the internet and endanger themselves anyways.
in D2, after trying a little of everybody, my favorite for single player was the Necro, but for multiplayer, i preferred Barbarian and Amazon.
i once had a zon that was a ridiculousss PvP character.
and since we now have both genders for each class, our ranged fighter will be a refreshing step away from the rogue/zon-type archer woman.
i figure thas has probably already been discussed before, and i apologize if i'm trudging through already-explored territory.
anyways...
not that i'm some satanic supporter of Hell or anything, but if you've read the Sin War, or even some of the lore in the wiki, you know that some of the angels can be real bastards, and in some ways aren't a whole lot better than the subjects from Hell.
in light Trag and Rathma's "balance", and the fact that negative action could be taken by some of Heaven's own, what do you think the possibility is of maybe fighting some angels as well as demons?
i think it would be good to implement into D3, and it would bring the story full circle. so far in the games, things have been very one-sided as for who the villains are.
but who knows, maybe Tyrael's just doing his job well and helping us out as well as keeping his bretheren off our case.
I think we're all forgetting about Belial, the father of the three. When I first saw the cinematic that's who I thought of as the new enemy, and after all, he's the only lesser evil that hasn't made an appearance, as every other one did in diablo 2
i've never heard of Belial being of any relation to the Three.
what info do you have to support that?
and like Kiserai said, we haven't seen Azmodan either.
i believe it was said that after the exile of the Three, Belial and Azmodan then turned on each other for control of hell and in a civil war, they destroyed eachother, although i could be mistaken.
so those two may not even be around anymore.
but as we know, Diablo continues to come back, so other great demons probably can, too.
A lil old school conspiracy here. What if the new Diablo is a combination of all three brothers? There are 3 mouths so I still think the brothers are going to join together.
that's a reasonable theory. i had just figured that the three mouths thing was maybe part of his "shape-shift for maximum terror" fun.
which is why he in particular of the three would be the one i might think has no true form, changing to instill fear in whomever he faces.
Alright, well first off, in Diablo 1, i understand that Diablo was not in his true form nor was he at full power. he had been dormant for a long time and was just possessing Prince Albrecht for a current body.
Diablo 2, however, is more unsure.
A) he sheds his guise of the wanderer. he's home in hell when we fight him.
C) he looks different, or at least his head does, in the cutscenes than he does in actual gameplay.
so was he at full power?
was he in his true form?
does he even have a one, true form?
as for Mephisto, i think it's safe to say that he was not in his true form nor at full power in Diablo 2. rather, having somewhat transformed the body of his host.
Baal...not sure what the deal with him would be in LoD. with the time and freedom he had, i would assume he may have reached his own true form or full power, but maybe not.
so we know that Diablo survives. we don't know if his brothers have, though.
hypothetically, let's say they have, just to give us more bosses. :cool:
do you think we'll be seeing them in truer form and power in D3?
personally i find it a little ridiculous that human warriors could defeat their true selves, regardless of how the nephalem are supposed to be potentially super powerful. (Uldyssian was way too ridiculously powerful for a human.)
i'd rather it was a team effort, rather than a sole hero.
it just makes more sense.
i get that the nephalem have great potential and power now after having read the Sin War books, but i always wondered why i, a lone human warrior, was able to defeat the prime evils of hell, when great, powerful archangels could not.
at least it's a little more believable if it's a group of powerful nephalem that brings down big D.
0
so what you're saying is you prefer that each character is clearly recognizable?
i dunno, i think it would give it more of a realistic, worldly feel if you couldn't always tell.
like if you were actually standing in one of these towns and a visiting warrior strode in to your shop, covered in armor and equipment, you wouldn't always be able to tell what they were.
also i think a little more individualism for everyone's own character would make multiplayer more enjoyable for reasons like PvP as well. using your example, you might not always know what class you're about to fight. i would enjoy that more. dueling stops being fun once everyone figures out that a certain build of a certain class is better than others. then people don't want to fight that build because they don't want to lose. and then everyyyyone starts a character of that class and makes the same thing. it's too concrete statistical and well known for me.
besides, you'd know what they were anyways, regardless of what they were wearing, once you saw the skills they were using, so who cares.
some customization would just be nice so there could be more individuality and you could have what you like and what you think looks cool, not just what is best for you.
cosmetic, yes. just some little things. nothing big.
0
seeing blood and guts isn't scary.
but just knowing that there are demons around who take pleasure in doing such things to so many people just like you...it makes it feel more threatening.
being killed in direct battle by a being from hell is a less scary concept than the one instilled in you as you look around their lair and see all the evidence of sacrifice, torture, and not only a pure disregard for human life and suffering, but a duty and enjoyment of it.
when you enter the area, look around, and say to yourself "oh my God...what the f*ck happened here and...who could do this?" and even though it's a video game, you want to turn around and leave; that's good game horror.
as for horror without gore, yes, i agree, this can be just as scary when done right, but i have yet to see any good examples in the Diablo games, aside from D1's general atmosphere.
0
agreed on Inarius. it seems that will his Worldstone powerup, he was probably the single most powerful individual we have known aside from Uldyssian, who defeated him.
and i don't think it's fair to say Uldyssian doesn't count just because of his instability. his power was what it was, stable or not.
0
for those saying that this is more likely Belial or Azmodan than Diablo, i'm fairly certain it's Diablo. aside from the fact that the games are named after him and he will surely continue to be our main boss, and aside from the fact that this still looks enough like his other appearances to make the connection, there's also his forehead.
looks like a scar from where the soul stone used to be jabbed into his head.
0
the Butcher and his lair! that was scary!
that room was horrifying! and that fat, blood demon rushing you with his big cleaver.
IMO, that scaryness has yet to be matched in the Diablo series since then.
although Andariel's area was pretty gore-ridden, too.
D1's whole atmosphere in general was much darker and scarier. walking through the catacombs, i was always just waiting for the next freaky thing to come around the next corner out of the darkness.
the point is, we're fighting demons from hell. we should be seeing things that scare us like those two examples.
0
even when you get murdered and it pisses you off, it's still part of the fun element of it when anyone can just express hostility and then run up and attack.
0
as has been said, after a while, you'll be decked out in armor anyways.
but why not be able to spice that up a little?
one thing that always kind of bugged me about playing online and going legit (yes, i enjoyed some classic hack-action as well. nothing like wearing a full set of "whites" back in the day. :P)
was that sometimes, the stuff you wanted to use out of personal preference was not the stuff that you should be wearing for maximum power and efficiency.
if i have some badass looking sword that's decent, and then some lame one-hand axe that's got a ton of attributes and makes my character more powerful, of course i'm going to go with the axe, even though i like the sword better.
so how about just being able to edit the appearance of your items?
obviously not going so far as to change the weapon type itself, but maybe just what that axe actually looks like (ex: change it's appearance from that of a hand axe to that of some other, cooler looking axe) and maybe the colors of it as well, all while keeping it's info and attributes the same and un-editable.
same for armor. at least some color changing, or the ability to put colored designs (war paint?) or your own personally made emblem or design on your shoulder pads or shield?
things like that.
maybe the ability to name some of our own equipment?
we find unques with names like "Habagash's Rod of Clubbing" (not a real example :P)
0
while i understand concern for your kids, i think it's misplaced here.
i played D2 on open Bnet starting when i was about 13 years old, and i was never in any danger. and in all the time i've spent on there, i've never been exposed to anything worse than some swearing and getting screwed over/having my stuff stolen by random s.o.b.'s.
i've also never heard of any creeps getting a kid's info and abducting them because of association on Bnet.
it's not like they're on some shady internet romance chat room.
not to mention the fact that you're obviously a good parent, devoted to your children's safety. if they're old enough to be playing Diablo games and knowing how to have LAN parties, they should know by now not to give personal info out to strangers over the internet and endanger themselves anyways.
0
in D2, after trying a little of everybody, my favorite for single player was the Necro, but for multiplayer, i preferred Barbarian and Amazon.
i once had a zon that was a ridiculousss PvP character.
and since we now have both genders for each class, our ranged fighter will be a refreshing step away from the rogue/zon-type archer woman.
0
anyways...
not that i'm some satanic supporter of Hell or anything, but if you've read the Sin War, or even some of the lore in the wiki, you know that some of the angels can be real bastards, and in some ways aren't a whole lot better than the subjects from Hell.
in light Trag and Rathma's "balance", and the fact that negative action could be taken by some of Heaven's own, what do you think the possibility is of maybe fighting some angels as well as demons?
i think it would be good to implement into D3, and it would bring the story full circle. so far in the games, things have been very one-sided as for who the villains are.
but who knows, maybe Tyrael's just doing his job well and helping us out as well as keeping his bretheren off our case.
0
i've never heard of Belial being of any relation to the Three.
what info do you have to support that?
and like Kiserai said, we haven't seen Azmodan either.
i believe it was said that after the exile of the Three, Belial and Azmodan then turned on each other for control of hell and in a civil war, they destroyed eachother, although i could be mistaken.
so those two may not even be around anymore.
but as we know, Diablo continues to come back, so other great demons probably can, too.
0
i actually never knew that. if that's true, thanks for the info.
0
that's a reasonable theory. i had just figured that the three mouths thing was maybe part of his "shape-shift for maximum terror" fun.
which is why he in particular of the three would be the one i might think has no true form, changing to instill fear in whomever he faces.
0
Diablo 2, however, is more unsure.
A) he sheds his guise of the wanderer.
C) he looks different, or at least his head does, in the cutscenes than he does in actual gameplay.
so was he at full power?
was he in his true form?
does he even have a one, true form?
as for Mephisto, i think it's safe to say that he was not in his true form nor at full power in Diablo 2. rather, having somewhat transformed the body of his host.
Baal...not sure what the deal with him would be in LoD. with the time and freedom he had, i would assume he may have reached his own true form or full power, but maybe not.
so we know that Diablo survives. we don't know if his brothers have, though.
hypothetically, let's say they have, just to give us more bosses. :cool:
do you think we'll be seeing them in truer form and power in D3?
personally i find it a little ridiculous that human warriors could defeat their true selves, regardless of how the nephalem are supposed to be potentially super powerful. (Uldyssian was way too ridiculously powerful for a human.)
0
it just makes more sense.
i get that the nephalem have great potential and power now after having read the Sin War books, but i always wondered why i, a lone human warrior, was able to defeat the prime evils of hell, when great, powerful archangels could not.
at least it's a little more believable if it's a group of powerful nephalem that brings down big D.