DiabloFans

It's too bad that so far we really don't know much new about what's going to be in the beta, or any new systems.. or even really what they will let you see and film or talk about.

All the same, it's great the site is back and I'm really looking forward to the new from the beta. Hopefully people will even get it in their own hands not too long after your visit.

I hope that things go well during the visit. Hopefully they will let you see the beta build that they intend to release to external testers so that we'll know just what it is that it will contain.

Really sad to hear that it won't be out in July, or that even if it is, it will likely be the last couple days. All the same, it's exciting that the beta may actually manage to make it out sometime relatively soon.

Quote from ScyberDragon

I still don't get people who think there will be less variety than D2. I am just glad that I won't have to go back to looking like a newb when I begin nightmare and hell.

Quote from Jackzor

Yea. Unless you're trying to make a point, its pretty apparent that theres really only 5 or so unique looks for armor in D2. The differences are far too minor to qualify as entirely different looks.

This is exactly what boggles my mind. I enjoyed D2 immensely, but in reality, there was very little difference in how your character looked as you moved through a difficulty, and then it started over again after you moved on. I don't know who these people are that think that there were so many different types of armors and so many different looks to characters in D2. All I remember was everyone almost always looking identical.

Quote from CherubDown

That's a good question. It's possible that legendary items past Normal difficulty will be enhanced enough so that they will be viable end-game. That way there will actually be roughly 12 sets of legendary gear that's usable end-game. This is speculation, of course.

The other (and more reasonable) possibility is that, unlike in Diablo 2, a base item will have more than one Legendary item associated with it. For example, the tier 18 mace could have 3 or 4 legendary versions that have completely different stats and bonuses. In fact, I know Blue mentioned at one point they intend on patching in new items after launch. The only way that's possible is if this is the case.

Based on how confident they seem with having things planned for the end game, I would imagine that there are probably many different types of legendary items per tier, at least for the last few tiers of item types. It would be hard to justify having a lot of different content to the end game, if there was only a tiny pool of potential items to get there.

Quote from DestruX

Monk all the way... my personal class order will most likely be
Monk
Demon Hunter
Barbarian
Wizard
Witch Doctor

I actually think that my personal order of trying the classes is exactly the same.

Quote from amroth983

I am very, very sad because they gave up on Paladin. He was my #1 choice.
My brother and I play Diablo very often via LAN, and we are both focused on melee combat because it gives us edge of facing demon hordes eye-to-eye, it is more tense, more "personal" , hehehe. He always plays Barbarian, as a main fighter force, and me as his fighter/support companion (besides, i always liked knights in shiny armor whose purpose was to protect innocent lives from evil,hehe)
Now, I don't know... I am not saying that the monk is bad, but, for me, he just doesn't fit in Sanctuary, like a character from the "wrong book", know what i mean?
...It seems that now, there's gonna be 2 barbarian at the same time

I don't think they gave up on the Paladin at all. In fact, I believe that there was a blue post about what had happened to them, alluding to some kind of reveal inside of Diablo 3. I can't find it so I may be totally wrong, but I do believe they plan to do something with the classes from Diablo 2, just as they did with the ones from Diablo in the sequel. I would not be surprised if they were released in the way of an expansion pack, for instance.

As far as there being two barbarians, I'd say there are no more two barbarians than the Assassin in Diablo 2 was a second barbarian. They have different playstyles and most likely different weapon types that they focus on.

Quote from Periculum

Quote from Lenks

I actually like new auras mechanism... But i hope the auras will last longer than few seconds... If they are something like the Barb "bo" it will be cool because now you can cast your aura and have your right skill free for something else...

I agree, gameplaywise it's better this way, also it's easier and better to balance with other characters. Just the word "aura" doesnt seem to fit anymore. But maybe you still lose the effect, when u get too far away from the monk, so it would still be an aura, just a time-limited one. And you can also see it this way: An aura isnt just there, the monk needs to concentrate to keep up the aura and therefor might need time to gain this strength/concentration (if there is a cd) or at least needs to remind himself every now and then(by actively thinking of/activating it) to focus on it (if it has no cd and just needs to be rebuffed).

The word aura really only means a surrounding light or power around something, so while almost all previous games that I have played personally do indeed make auras permanent, there is nothing inherent in the word that means it has to be. Just another indication of how much they are changing from Diablo II while still attempting to please the huge masses of fans, I think.

Unless something significant changes involving what we know about the classes between now and release (completely possible, I suppose), I will be playing Monk first. I based this on the general play style descriptions, and also on the ascetics of the class. I like melee characters, but I don't know if I will enjoy barbarian as much from what we know so far. I believe second I'd love to try the demon hunter, as I've also always had a soft spot for archery/projectile ranged classes over magic based ones.

I'd say there is also probably about a 50/50 chance that after playing the game, I'll end up being totally wrong about which two classes I'll focus on first though. Actually playing a game can be massively different from reading about it.

Quote from Apoc

There was a small subtlety mentioned back in Sept about the Monk auras that hinted a shift from constant effects to shorter duration. So I imagined for example Holy Aura, it would be changed to do small instant heal when activated followed by the HoT (heal over time) as the constant effect. I wonder if they intend to keep that design now that we're hearing auras will remain "short and powerful".

Like I said a little higher up, the don't really like fire and forget skills anymore. If you're going to have a passive, they make it a passive and put it as a trait instead of a skill, so I really doubt they would change it back to being a toggle like aura, or a very long duration ability.

Quote from Bridge_Burner

I think the monk will be pretty sweet. I don't think it will be hte first character I make, but I'm still undecided. The combos will be interesting, but the mechanic I'm not crazy about is the auras.

To me an aura is permanent, not something that is a short burst. Maybe they wanted to stay away from that to avoid too much similarity to the Paladin, or maybe it would make them > then others in a party situation due to the constant buffs. Who knows but either way I'm sure it will work out, just release the damn beta already so we can see a light at the end of the tunnel haha

I think the entire purpose of making auras short activated skills is that they are moving away from having passive skills that you don't have to actually use, and towards having all skills being active. Their reasoning is that it makes the game more engaging if you're actually 'doing' things.

I think that the combo system sounds like a very enjoyable mechanic to make use of, even if it's not exceptionally important that you have perfect execution on keeping track of the stages.

So far, I am most interested in trying the monk when the game comes out. I'm sure I'll play all the classes, but monk may very well be the class I will end up having as my favorite from what I have seen so far.

Of course, hearing about the game and playing it are two totally different things. Maybe it will turn out that one of the other classes fits the way I like to play much better.

Quote from theecheshirekat

The last CE I got was Hellgate: London and I am still kickin' myself.

I'm unsure if I will ever get another CE, but if D3 came with some awe inspiring statue of Diablo I'd think it over.

I bought the "Founder's Club" for Hellgate: London. You can be sure I feel your pain. To this day, I consider Bill Roper my nemesis.

Quote from Daemaro

I wouldn't mind something like an extra row of inventory space or something like that. Nothing that would change your character's power.

If you start adding things like this for extra pay, you might as well just turn the game into a micro-transaction Korean MMO or the like. Game features in a full priced title should not be extra charges.

I'm all for anything like that, though I'd also like to see some kind of promo with steelseries and the CE. Something similar to the limited edition controllers and such that console games have had.

I doubt Blizzard would add any in-game rewards different from the way they have them in other games. Superficial or ascetic items, not the way that some games have given away basically overpowered items in the CE. So in that case, I'm ok with in-game items.

I am not planning to get the CE right now, and I almost never do by CEs of games, but maybe if it contains enough things I think are worth it, I'll change my mind.

Edit:

Quote from pr3ach3r

I don't really agree with in-game exclusives especially with the ones that give an edge, I don't like being babysat in exchange for money nor do I like prancing around with money-gotten benefits, but hey, that's just me.


What I'd really like would be a map or some big poster to put on the wall over my monitor, or some figure/ gimmick/ thingy.

I feel the same way. I'd prefer if everyone always had access to everything in the game, but Blizzard has a growing history of giving away promo and extra in-game items to people that get CEs as well as people who go to Blizzcon. I don't really like it, but I seriously doubt they are planning to go 180 on this issue either. If anything, they seem to be adding more things like this, especially for Blizzcon attendees.