DiabloFans

Quote from Machine

Dont worry too much if you didn't get a beta yet. Aparently they are still coming. Those of us who got one can't do anything but download the client because the login screen just gives us an error message saying that the server is down. So your better off spending your night doing something other than login... with continual disapointment.

Quote from UberN00b

Quote from Indimix

Hi guys, I'm new here.

I have to say, I've never played HC in D2, so, I don't have that background that many of you have.

Still, I dont understand why would I ever play HC, so far, its only about e-penis, forgive my manners.
There are no real benefits playing HC over normal, no better items, no new secret areas, no nothing. Only a banner that you can decorate, to me, there is no point in playing HC, at all.

I know, you may think: "then don't play it", but that's not the point, I see HC as a game mode that can offer something else, but it doesn't, AFAIK.

IMHO, it lacks of a motivation to be interested enough to say: "ok, I die once, and its over", it should be more like "ok, I dice once and its over, HOWEVER, I got these things that in normal mode I dont have".

What do you think?, am I missing something?

Thanks!

Ah, some new blood! First let me say, this is a good question and it shouldn't be dismissed with a simple "Then don't play it".

What is the point of Hardcore? Well, much of this is my personal motivation for playing Hardcore so YMMV depending on what stimulates you in a game.

First off, it gives the game more of an edge. I envision playing a multiplayer game with friends and having a blast. Now, I re-envision playing a multiplayer game with the same friends but now with more determination and focus. After all, we cannot make a mistake or we die. The bar was raised to stay within that boundary of not making a fatal mistake. I feel this only serves to amplify the comradery and strengthen our playing abilities as individuals as well as a team leading us to further accomplishments and an overall higher level of satisfaction as a result. It immerses us much more heavily into the game world and the experience because there's something at risk of loss now. Our time invested (and should there ever be a HC-RMAH, real money for those that buy stuff there).

The second major ingredient for me is from my personal perspective of Hardcore. It REALLY IS a fantastic rush when you are on the precipice of that encounter you haven't yet beaten or even tried on Hardcore. You've been farming other levels, tuning your characters, helping your friends with those same things, and now you're there. The furthest you've been in Hardcore mode to date. And then you begin the encounter. You've stocked up all supplies, made sure every equipment slot is as tip-top shape as you can make it and you're taking the plunge to conquer this new (to you) challenge. You've researched all strategies as much as you can, tried to memorize the important points as well as you can, and here you are in the middle of this battle that, one wrong move, and it's all over. EVERYTHING will be gone if you fail. And you're watching the boss animations, GTFO of the way of incoming damage, being as careful as you can to take as little damage as possible, dealing with adds if there are any and getting in every jab and hook you can while keeping your neck. Then you pass the halfway point in the boss' health and you start to take a lot of damage. OMG IT LOOKS LIKE THIS COULD BE MY DEATH! BUT NO! I MANAGED TO ESCAPE THE AOE! BOOYA, GRAMMA, BOOYA! And you press on until OMG YOU GUYS WE JUST F***ING KILLED HIM OMG!!! YEAH MOTHA F***AS!!

THAT is what Hardcore is about. It's about getting your adrenaline pumping because you are on the edge of losing all of the time you invested in progressing your gear and your character on this one encounter. Hardcore is a THRILL to play. Once you go Hardcore in a hardcore way, you quickly realize there is no greater reward to rpg's and then you never go back to Softcore.

That's just my 2c. Most peoples' are similar in the thrill of the risk and accomplishing repeated victories over the hardest encounters and their first victories over new encounters, etc. It's those moments when great loss is right in your face and YOU BEAT THE SYSTEM. YOU WIN. With Softcore for me now, it's like "Oh, k, I can just keep dying and dying and dying and eventually faceroll the entire game. Yay. -.- *twirls finger in the air*" lol

Also, I've found that for those with advanced gaming skills usually run into other fellow gamers with similarly advanced gaming skills more often than on Carebear-mode. It's just really nice when all your friends are offline, that a lot of times you can join a public game on the moderate to higher levels of hardcore and chances are really good (obviously never guaranteed!) that those players are similarly skilled and focused on staying alive and "doing it right" which makes the game experience a whole lot smoother and more enjoyable overall.

So TL;DR - The rush. The thrill. The risk. The friends that help me get there and likewise the strangers in public games that I happen to further some progression with here or there which is even MORE MEANINGFUL because of the risk of permanent death. It's just damn fun. Stick me in Softcore and I get no rush, no thrill, and no risk of consequence for failure.

Quote from NotFunny008

I think that you will only ever find very low level characters in this kind of hardcore PvP. Those that can readily be remade. I doubt two level 60s would want to play this game of two go in and one come out.