So the guy starts his mega-post by implying that "My opinions are more legitimate than yours because I have spent 1,800 hours playing this game," and he ends it by implying that "Blizzard always ignores its customers and is a terrible company".
Why doesn't he just quit playing?
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A lot of the post is completely valid suggestions that most players would agree with (better minibosses, more meaningful low level loot, better skill damage display) but it's worded in a super-negative, almost whiny manner.
Some of it is hilariously unrealistic. For example, calling the game a failure because it's not 100% cheat- and bot-free is absurd. No computer system is 100% secure, especially not multiplayer games. Worse yet, the OP implies that anyone who has over a billion gold is a scammer or botter, and that's just stupid. A billion gold is worth at most $40 USD, there are people who have spent hundreds of $ just on the Hearthstone Beta, I'm sure the majority of multi-billion-gold spenders are real money spenders.
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- KageKaze
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Member for 12 years, 6 months, and 17 days
Last active Mon, Jun, 12 2017 21:25:55
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Sep 20, 2013
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PiousFlea posted a message on You guys should go read this thread on official forumsPosted in: Diablo III General Discussion -
Sep 18, 2013
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CardinalMDM posted a message on What removing the Auction House means for the future of Diablo 3 (Diablo Digest)Hey there...long-time caller, first time listener, ;-)Posted in: Diablo III General Discussion
Great post! As a player with a Monk main, I can definitely sympathize somewhat with the OWE situation. I was using it for a while, because it gave my character a pretty tremendous boost in resists because, during all my gear hunting, I hadn't even noticed that I'd equipped a ton of gear with both a ton of Resist All AND Lightning Resist.
However, it didn't take me long to realize how much this had seriously pigeonholed me...I saw the difficulty I'd have further upgrading my own gear, regardless of any changes Blizzard applied to the game. So while it took an incredible amount of work, I finally did manage to urge much of my gear away from the Lightning+AR setup I accidentally had leaned on, and while my total All Resist is a tad low (at least, I see it as low), I'm still able to handle MP7 entirely without One With Everything.
I can only imagine how much gold people paid EN MASSE to lean on a skill with hard a cap, thinking Blizzard wouldn't change it. That's part of the problem. The Auction House not only made it insanely easy to get ITEMS, but it also made it insanely easy to get GOLD to get MORE or DIFFERENT items. Meaning, anything you want in the game is pretty much at your fingertips. The moment people hear about some popular build making the rounds, suddenly there's a rush to buy every piece from the AH, instead of just farming more and keeping eyes peeled.
To the AH's credit, some extremely high end Plvl 100 players, with billions of gold on hand, have used that resource wisely to come up with fascinating, interesting and deeply cool and unique builds, that really show what kind of amazing things can be done with the freedom this game allows.
But most people use the AH to just stack a ton of DPS, IAS, CC, CD, LOH, LS, mainstat, and Vitality so they can faceroll MP10 as quickly as possible....pretty much, just so they can say they did it, so they can feel superior over everyone else. And the majority of those people? Pretty unsatisfied with their progress...bored...unhappy...can't stop QQ'ing on the forums.
My big concern, though, since hearing about Loot 2.0 being official...what will the updated gear mean to people with 800k dps, who are already facerolling? I'd like to think some of them might sacrifice a few hundred thousand to equip some gear they find during a run that can allow them to finally use skills they like, but feel underpowered...but I don't know if many of them are willing to do that. Their mindset is likely..."why bother working on my build, when I'm already facerolling?"
Hopefully, with Loot 2.0, Paragon 2.0, enchanting, and the skill balances and updates coming in Reaper of Souls...people will really start coming up with cool builds, and show off unique styles, and don't all just equip the same crap over and over.
I'm proud of my Spirit Regen/Transcendence Monk, I've put a lot of work into him, he's come a long way. He makes me feel bad for all the folks who lean on cookie-cutter builds because they're "easy." -
May 7, 2013
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Zek posted a message on Gold duping in diabloAs a software developer, here's an inside secret for you guys: QA is really hard.Posted in: Diablo III General Discussion -
Apr 29, 20131
Enkeria posted a message on Diablo Digest 2 - The Sequel-ing (1.0.8 PTR and Ask the Devs)Posted in: Diablo III General DiscussionQuote from KageKaze
I suppose "anything i can get" is too broad?
The information: I'm getting the impression so far is good, there seems to be a general desire to have all the information wrapped up in one place and spoken over written I know you and I have talked about before.
I'm still concerned that length may be a factor, maybe I should have made 2 instead of one video where I took ask the devs and the PTR seperate. I usually do a PTR video but wanted to incorporate it into this new format. I think that might have worked, but I think I could still have made it its own video and just added it to the Diablo Digest "brand" if you will.
I'm hoping the video was interesting to watch, that was one of the largest pieces that took the most time to get right. not just in recording but in editing. I wanted a good side by side for the monster density. If I ever do a side by side again, would this be preferable or would it be better if they didn't overlap?
Here's a question, did anyone check out the ending (whimsyshire played backwards) and find it intersting? Should I have introduced the song myself rather than as text on the video? I know the song has been on youtube for awhile, but not everyone knows to go looking for it so wanted to throw it in as a bonus. It was actually a last minute addition but I could have recorded a quick blurb to introduce it.
Ah, yes my head swims with critiques when I make stuff like this. I have a habit of second guessing myself
Information: A-
Lenght: You should stick to same length all the time, since that part of the brand, if you make 10 minutes one time and 1hour another it tends to get frustrating to people that are into faster casts -or- longer.
2 pieces or 1: Digest could have 1 major update. It will actually be easier for you then just make many smaller ones which may consume ALL your time. Make one huge STEAK when you have the time to explore the receipe. <<
I saw the ending. Even though I already heard it backwards I actually did write it down on our news-site as a "oh yeah, and there is a bonus at the ending..." These things might be something fun for the future viewers as well as those who are just curious.
How to get a +? - Stick to good information, like you do and make the footage less time-consuming so you do not suffer when you edit and encode everything. Make sure sound is good and really stay true to the concept. Change too much or question what you are doing may interupt your creativity. And, while doing ALL this, have fun! If you feel it isn't fun, stop doing it, take a break and make something different (like make a sandwich with chickencurry).
Overall: Stick to it, and you will get an A+ eventually. -
Apr 27, 20134
shaggy posted a message on Diablo Digest 2 - The Sequel-ing (1.0.8 PTR and Ask the Devs)Posted in: Diablo III General DiscussionQuote from KageKaze
The main reason most people didn't like the old inferno (I believe) is because the barrier of entery was too high. Not only did you meet a wall to get in, but then changing acts was a chore. You had to grind act 1 a ton if you weren't using the AH before you could move on and change scenery. With MP you can slowly go through the inferno acts as you gear up without hitting a major wall. Then Monster Power becomes the barrier and casuals don't care because they're comfortable with inferno as is or with low level MP.
I actually wanted to point out that part of the "AH is mandatory" mentality was a direct result of the "Act 2 wall."
The initial Inferno design, more or less, mandated the use of the AH. It was borderline impossible to move into Act 2 with self-found items in Act 1. I know 90% of the purchasing I did on the AH was prior to the Inferno revamps. With the Monster Power system it's so much easier to take it at my own pace and not use the AH for purchases (I still use it for sales of "extra" gear to be able to afford crafting... gems so expensive).
Had we had the Monster Power "progression" system from launch instead of the Act-by-Act progression system I am willing to bet that more people would have been able to play without the AH and it wouldn't care that it exists.
There are so many issues with the game that can be traced back, directly, to the initial Inferno design. The pervasiveness of the AH is one of those because, frankly, if that Act 2 wall never existed a lot of people would have been content to take the game at thier own pace. It did, though, and it made a LOT of people realize that farming Act 1 for months and months and months and MONTHS and still being unable to move into Act 2 was just not going to cut it.
After the monster density changes, I really think that Monster Power is exactly what this game needed for ultimate difficulty. As Maka has said in other threads, and I fully agree with him (again, Maka, don't have a heart attack!)... you can't put Inferno there and then put the best gear in the game there and then say "no, it's really only for 2% of the players." What you can do, however, is allow people to ratchet up the difficulty and allow them to get more drops.
The idea of a completely-exclusive playground for the uber-hardcore is completely put-offish. Allowing everyone to partake in some manner, but giving people extra rewards for ratcheting up the difficulty of the monsters, is much more in-line with the Diablo series. Difficulty and hardcore-ness have never been required to enjoy the game or participate in "endgame." It's always been accessible and fun for people whether they have 1 hour to play or 10 hours to play. The initial Inferno completely violated that and you can bet your ass that's why it was scrapped so quickly.
Quote from KageKaze
Then Monster Power becomes the barrier and casuals don't care because they're comfortable with inferno as is or with low level MP.
The casuals ultimately just wanted a CHANCE at "endgame." There was not a shred of CHANCE with the initial Inferno. Act 1 was do-able by almost everyone, but the rewards for doing it were woefully inadequate and really didn't allow you to move into Act 2. So you basically had all iLvl 62 & 63 items locked away from the casuals.
Monster Power comes along and everyone has a CHANCE, just the hardcore people have a lot better chance. Casuals can live with that. Being completely locked out, though, is not something most people really want to deal with. It's very un-Diablo. -
Apr 13, 20132
ruksak posted a message on Kripp and Alkaizer talk about Diablo 3Posted in: Diablo III General DiscussionQuote from CodeRedLin
I'm curious what you feel kept players 6 years in D2? And do you feel D3 has that? And I don't mean this to come off as combative. None of us developed PoE or D3 right? :-P
Diablo 2 had friggin awesome itemization. It was endless fun to acquire and implement them across a range of skills. Most importantly, it was unique for it's time. Not so now, as it has inspired numerous knock-offs.
Many of the more ardent and habitual players seemed to approach the game as if they were collectors, of sorts. There was just so much depth in itemization.
Myself, like KageKaze said above, I played in approx 6 month stints, would tire of it and take a break for months, come back and get to it again. What caused me to bore of it was repetitive farming practices. Very very little options for farming. It was literally the same few bosses over and over again for years.
Actually, I was heavily involved in melee dueling tournaments, the whole Zealot sub-culture. That's what got me truly hooked and gave me incentive to farm those few areas so much. I always had a thing for the Zealot, can't really explain it. Hence my Monk build I use today in D3. It's the closest thing to the Zealot I could manage, a speed freak build.
Eventually, I logged in sometime in late 2007 and I just didn't feel it anymore. I knew it was time, like an old sports player knowing it was time to retire, I knew it was time to move on. I gave an unreal amount of top-shelf Zealot gear to a friend and I walked away for good.
I'm still holding out hope that a similar sub-culture may show itself in D3. A melee dueling league with GM rules and tournaments hosted by the players. Alas, sadly, much of what Blizz has done to this point has hurt any chance of this taking form for some time. -
Apr 9, 2013
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ruksak posted a message on Kripp and Alkaizer talk about Diablo 3Posted in: Diablo III General DiscussionQuote from KageKaze
well I was having fun with my claw shadow, but I wasn't sure about longivity. However, something that does keep me comming back is to see all the new skills they've added If they can keep that up, I might keep trying it, but I'm afraid that will only last so long.
I'm not sure what a claw shadow is?
Anywho...what I'm asking is, gimme something intrinsic about the game itself that you (anyone) feel is to such a level of quality that you can see a similar draw as we had with Diablo 2. What is there intrinsically about the game that you feel may suck you in and create a similar "addiction" as Diablo 2 presented itself as to so many folks?
I say this because so many people are disappointed that D3 doesn't have D2's addictive, cocaine like draw, causing players to not be able to quit.
Shortly after making such comparison, people compare PoE to D3.
So I think it's fair to ask what is it, specifically, that is intrinsic to PoE as a whole that you think may cause you to play for years and years? -
Apr 8, 2013
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ruksak posted a message on Kripp and Alkaizer talk about Diablo 3We're seeing exactly why these pseudo-celebrities irk me so.Posted in: Diablo III General Discussion
They are polarizing figures, and within every thread that their filthy names are invoked, fights break out.
So far, this thread contains very little discussion about what they said and instead, has turned into diablofans exchanging fuck yous.
Let's get something straight, and it's something that Zero touched on. These guys don't have real jobs. Credit to them for making a living doing something they love, but I would suggest that most gamers have to go outside from time to time, work 40+ hours a week, do homework with their kids and fuck their wives.
I'm sure their is a contingent of unemployed followers whom march in lockstep with their (Kripp/Alk/Athene) ideals. However, I would think most gamers are the "casuals" and "WoW fanboys" they espouse so much hatred for. I've never played WoW BTW...just throwin that out there.
Point being, many of us here, Diablo Fans, gamers, cannot relate with unemployed gaming "pros". -
Apr 8, 2013
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Zero(pS) posted a message on Kripp and Alkaizer talk about Diablo 3Just for the record, I'm all for this discussion as long as it doesn't become a flame/troll fest. Bear that in mind, and keep an open mind to new ideas. Attack these ideas, not the people defending themPosted in: Diablo III General Discussion
That goes for both sides of the discussion.
I haven't watched the videos yet, but I have a strong bias against these sort of "elitist" players and tend to heavily agree with Bagstone. Neither of them invented the wheel, they both got solid ideas from forums (strong affixes like LoH, builds, paths, etc.) and made a name out of it.
People seem to think these are awesome guys and that they have insane game knowledge when they usually just have tons of free dedicated time (so they're obviously going to be top-end and insanely powerful players) and some more free time to check forums/youtube/streams for good ideas while they're at it.
Also, I can't bear to see these people behaving like they're the most important players of the fanbase (hint: they aren't) and the rest is crap, and all changes should be made to fit their own playstyle. All they want is "moar end-game, moar challenges. moar difficult things that nobody can do without putting 5k hours into it so I can prove that I'm oh-so-good".
Kripparian in particular seems to be quite bad at anything that's even remotely competitive that doesn't involve putting in 5k hours for the guaranteed advantage. I've checked him stream a couple times while PvPing on PoE, and even on a game that's he's supposedly so good, he seems to get stomped around by other people "using OP stuff". If he wants so desperately to prove he's so good and hardcore at games, why not play something like DotA 2, LoL or SC2, where your opponents actually have brains, instead of being just random codes.
People like Kripparian, Athene and Force wanted an "end-game grind" so badly in order to "have a reason to play", and then proceeded to never enjoy it. They want "customization systems" so badly but don't try multiple characters or inventing new builds. IIRC Force went as far as saying "I don't enjoy the game anymore because I used the RMAH", I can't even begin to understand that. I honestly find that sort of attitude weird and quite ignorant.
As far as the PoE vs D3 debate goes: I see D3 as a heavy-action focused game with pretty decent combat (good positioning, proper management of cooldowns, very fluid) and "weaker", simplified (debatable, though) RPG elements; and PoE as a more heavy-RPG (elements) focused game, with a lot less focus on "combat management".
As soon as people who dislike D3 for those design-choices realize that they're just that, design choices that don't fit their personal playstyle (aka a very complex RPG system with very traditional RPG elements), the sooner they're going to be at peace with themselves. Same goes for those who dislike PoE. People need to learn what diversity and preference really mean - as there's no such thing as "better" in such a world. -
Mar 18, 2013
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Zero(pS) posted a message on Diablo Digest - roundup of opinions regarding the last 2 weeks of D3 newsLet's get some posts going on different threads to see if we can remove the "spams" from the recently commented topics feed, on the main-page.Posted in: Diablo III General Discussion - To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
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And now I'm creeped out.
Diablo Digest is a video podcast focusing on Diablo 3 news and updates.
Recording 11/9/2013
An overview of what was covered during Day 2 of Blizzcon for Diablo 3. The Gameplay Systems and Crusader panel and the Open Q&A are both covered. Not as much new information covered as I hoped, but a lot of information available for those who haven't been following the leaked datamined information.
Diablo 3 Gameplay Systems & Crusader:
http://www.diablofan...stems-crusader/
Diablo 3 Open Q&A:
http://www.diablofan...izzcon-open-qa/
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Diablo Digest: Blizzcon Report Day 1 - Reaper of Souls Preview
Diablo Digest is a video podcast focusing on Diablo 3 news and updates.
Recording 11/8/2013
A quick announcement on what information was given out during Blizzcon 2013 and what we can expect from Reaper of Souls. Most of the information released was already detailed in datamining so the bulk of the interesting announcements will most likely come out tomorrow.
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The problem here really is trying to compare a Free to Play DotA clone to a retail ARPG. They don't have the same business model let alone the same gameplay type. Putting together a new Champion or a new skin is a little different from changing drop spawns and radomization procedures or even skills in any serious maner other than number tweaking. For a Free to Play game releasing constant content to get people to pay for it is your life blood. For Blizzard, releasing new content agressivly like a F2P is not cost effective as they don't see immediate return on their investment. On top of that Blizzard has a notorious QA process where every little change has to be put through localization and tests. Not that their QA catches everything, but even wording changes have to go through localization QA to update all the other languages.
The truth is they have constantly updated and adjusted the game, it's just been stagnant lately due to their work on RoS. We're not going to see anything happen until they're ready to put out the pre-expansion patch. Things like Paragon 2.0 are part of the RoS 'package' as it were. They're also itirating on it still (read: it's not done) so saying it could come out early is kind of wishful speculation.
The same goes with the skill changes. If you look at the datamined changes they're moving numbers around as well as changing how skills function so it's going to be a pretty big undertaking. Many of the changes will probably be based on the inclusion of new skills, items, and passvies so you really can't look at the changes in a vacuum. Heck, even some rune functionality is changing so it's not something simple as numbers they can change in a small monthly patch.
I admit I've been upset that we hadn't seen any updates for quite some time, but once RoS got announced I understood why. We see this all the time from Blizzard, they are putting all their resources on making massive changes which they see as being more useful than making small 'band-aid' type fixes. They had even stated multiple times in the past they wanted to make functionality changes to skills but they needed the time, tech, and resources to make it happen which is exactly what the time just before an xpack provides.
It's not perfect, but it's how they do things.
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This time I talk a little about health in Diablo 3 as related to MMO healing, something that Blizzard has struggled with in the past. Even World of Warcraft delt with the too much damage too quickly issue where health just didn't seem to matter as much, so it's a little funny to think they're having this problem again this time in an ARPG.
Some shout outs to MMO-Champion, Diablofans, and even community member CardinalMDM's own suggestions on what Torment Difficulty could mean.
Video Description and Timestamps
Diablo Digest is a video podcast focusing on Diablo 3 news and updates.
Audio recorded Oct 28 2013
Blizzcon map and schedule:
http://www.mmo-champion.com/content/3466-BlizzCon-2013-Map-and-Schedule
Current Reaper of Souls Datamined information:
http://www.diablofans.com/news/2115-new-expansion-patch-loot-runs-renamed-to-nephalem-rifts-new-passive-effects-massive-class-changes/
Torment Difficulty predictions and suggestions:
http://www.diablofans.com/topic/104640-a-predictionsuggestion-for-torment/
For Diablo 3 and Reaper of Souls news:
http://www.diablofans.com
Topics that are included in this broadcast:
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Second is you really don't explain the build you just kind of show it off. you say "no life steal" but your health goes up. I'm assuming life on kill, but you don't outright state what your build is about. I happened to be watching your video from my cell pone since I'm at work and it's hard to read in game text, that's partly where the confusion lies.
So unless I'm oversimplifying things, the answer to the topic seems to be "yes" but you need a good amount of DPS and/or life to make something like this work.
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I think, however, that when players are given a path of least resistance, many of them can't resist that urge to do it. It's like trying out a cheat code, only this time costs money and you can't really 'turn off' unless you sell off all your gear again. Is it the Auction House's fault for that? No, certainly not in exactly the same way it's not a gun's fault for killing someone. However, providing easy access to the AH can trigger that impulsive nature in a person that might normally not go out and seek it, just because it's right there in front of them.
Honestly, even that isn't enough for me to want to see the AH gone. What tipped the edge was knowing that the AH held game changing ideas hostage. This is pretty much the intent regarding my last discussion regarding the AH and how skills can be changed now. The truth is people who seek it out will still game the system and find the best items and trades, so you can never get rid of the issue. However, I think removing that tempting button from people's sight will help to promote the health and longevity of the game.
Now for a confession I held back from the last post regarding Force. He was one of my primary inspirations, true, but I noticed as I started making my own content I started following him less. I don't know if it's because I'm looking up my own information more and more since I have a stake in making content as well, but I find him a little less informed than I remember. It seems like he's more focused on trying to be entertaining, but sometimes it comes off (excuse the pun) forced. I still watch the occasional video from him, but not as much as I used to.
It's funny, I kinda didn't want to go into this subject thinking it would cheapen the argument a little, but you pinpointed the perfect flaws in my argument anyway, Zero.
Oh dear, I'm rambling again aren't I? Uh.. so.. TL;DR version? I agree with Zero.
PS: Just glad I didn't get warned for Necroing my own thread
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Anyway, there's no telling what this Torment mode is yet. It seems more likely it'll be a merging of difficulty modes rather than a whole new mode, after all having more difficulties to play through just seems kind of silly and it'd be a pain in the ass to be required to play through the whole game yet once more just to get to the 'endgame'.
But hey, I could be wrong, we probably won't know the truth until Blizzcon.
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Diablo Digest - Torment Difficulty, More Passive Slots, Life-Steal Removal, Legendary Game Changers
Video Description:
Audio recorded Oct 11 2013
For Diablo 3 and Reaper of Souls news:
http://www.diablofans.com
Topics that are included in this broadcast:
- Another Passive slot added (00:45)
- Fixing the "mandatory" skill issue (3:15)
- Removal of stat caps (4:45)
- Specializing via Mystic without an Auction House (6:05)
- The phasing out of Life Steal (7:05)
- Nephalem Orbs (11:48)
- The speculation on Torment Difficulty (13:13)
- Are 4 difficulty modes too many? (15:02)
- Blizzard not putting their best foot forward (17:51)
- Possible legendary affixes and the real game changers (19:50)
- Unique builds more than just skills (21:04)
- Elemental Damage getting elemental effects back (23:22)
- Adventure mode removal of Act restricted Waypoints (33:52)
Playlist for Diablo Digest:http://www.youtube.c...42A647784A7E8FA
Diablo Digest regarding Auction House:
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Social Media:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/RurouniKage
Facebook: http://facebook.com/RurouniKage
Twitch: http://Twitch.TV/RurouniKage
===================================
Royalty Free Music by http://audiomicro.co...alty-free-music
Major thanks to Enkeria for helping to get the intro splash screen done.
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I'm back with a new Diablo Digest video podcast this time focusing on Paragon 2.0 and all the details of the system since it seems to be a hot topic. For those who have been following the news it's nothing new, but I have seen a lot of questions regarding it and wanted to get as much information into one place as I could. This includes the information regarding how Ladders will work with Paragon 2.0.
Worry not for there's more and plenty of discussion and some hot topics to cover, so let's begin with a synopsis for those who cannot watch at present.
With Paragon 2.0 we've been given some information by Travis Day how Ladders would work with the new system. This little bit of news seems to have been glossed over by many as if it was only natural, but this is the first time it's been mentioned with specifics. This leads to something that concerns me about Ladders, is Blizzard going to do it right?
Ladders are a great way to get people to start over again and replay, but Ladders usually have some kind of system in place that entice people to play it. What made Diablo 2's ladder work so well wasn't just the race to the top it was the Ladder-specific items that you could find along the way. Things you couldn't find if your character wasn't part of the active season. A good example of this is what Path of Exile has been doing, they've been making challenge ladders that add new gameplay elements and surprises. It could be about anything, but there really needs to be something unique to that ladder to get a majority of people to want to play it or it's just a character reset just for the sake of resetting.. which I guess works for some people since there are player who like the "Prestige" thing in other games. I'm hoping Blizzard keeps these things in mind when they crate Ladders again.
Paragon 2.0 is going to introduce allocateable skill points into the game again. Of course this is only for high level characters, but I half wonder if there's even a point to it. The next topic is about Attribute Points and Skill Trees. A lot of people like to claim they disliked the removal of both of these elements and it looks like Blizzard is at least willing to acquiesce to Attribute points for Paragon. I'm not really sure this is needed, really the benefit of these points isn't going to amount to much by end game when you unlock it. The secondary stats are pretty minimal (crit, crit damage, etc) unless you have maximum paragon points into them (Paragon level 800). However, I don't think they could have made these points be more than they are because then it would be too strong, especially for hardcore characters who thrive on the razor's edge of life and death. Skill points have been done well before, I like to use Torchlight 2 as an example just because they put a few different gameplay mechanics on some of the stats, they also made it so gear unlocks by level not just by what stats you had, which was a failing in my eyes for Diablo 2.
The video goes into my thoughts on skill trees and points a bit further. For the sake of discussion here I'll just say that I don't believe the argument that having skills unlocked by level rather than by a skill tree offers much of a difference in gameplay choice. I've seen it argued that if you start a new character then its always the same skill progression, but if you had a skill tree, wouldn't it still be the same progression? You can't unlock high tier abilities until you go through the low tier. I submit to you that the Skill Tree of Diablo 2 just provided the illusion of choice when leveling. The final product might be different, but that doesn't change the leveling (or ladder) experience as you go.
Lastly I talk about game difficulty, but I'm out of time to type for now. I'll edit and post a response with this subject when I get to work because I love you guys. <3Edit belowLastly, there's discussion about difficulty. Specifically I wanted to get into the statements made by Wyatt Cheng and how the rapidly bobbing health bar is a bad thing. I'm in full agreement with Wyatt's statements, the idea of being Near Death or losing health and having to be careful doesn't really seem to exist when you get to the end game. While leveling it seems to okay (unless you turn on MP) you have moments when you can run around with 50% or so health and feel like you'll be okay as long as you're careful. The higer the "difficulty" gets the higher your chances of just dying outright. I'd love to see health matter. If health matters we can start to see mechanics where you can stay a low life and get some kind of benefit until you heal up. I think there's even a legendary affix blizz is working on where you will crit when you're low HP. This kind of thing won't work with the way the current life generation and instant death mechanics work. Good play should be rewarded, but making mistakes shouldn't be such a Razor's edge that makes you die at the slightest error. I, for one, am looking forward to seeing what changes they have in store for monster damage values now that we've seen soem datamined HP regen values go down.
Whew that's a lot.. it was an hour long podcast.. hopefully it doesn't scare everyone off. Thoughts? Feedback? Tickets to see the Blue Man Group? (aww you shouldn't have)... oh just have at it, you know I love to lurk and read comments
Click the button for Timestamps and Major Topics covered
Interview with Wyatt and Travis:
http://diablo.somepa...-and-travis-day
For Diablo 3 and Reaper of Souls news:
http://www.diablofans.com
Topics that are included in this broadcast:
- Paragon 2.0:
- More data-mining from Reaper of Souls (00:50)
- The original reason for Paragon Levels (1:40)
- Converting Paragon to an Account wide reward (2:18)
- No level capping for Paragon 2.0 (3:07)
- Paragon split between Normal and Hardcore (3:20)
- Removal of current Paragon Level benefits (3:40)
- How Paragon Points split into categories (4:00)
- Limits (caps) to non-core stats through Paragon (5:20)
- A look at some of the upper limits (6:20)
- New data-mined stat caps for Reaper of Souls (7:55)
- Paragon to add to caps or to open up gear slots? (9:40)
- Paragon Points distributed per character (11:40)
- What will happen to existing Paragon (12:35)
- You can respec your Paragon Points (13:32)
- No Paragon lost for HC character death (14:04)
- You cannot gain more XP by playing a Paragon 100 character (15:45)
- Ladders:
- Ladders coming to Diablo 3 with Reaper of Souls? (16:20)
- Low Paragon 2.0 will work with Ladder Seasons (18:50)
- Why Ladders work so well in Diablo 2 (20:50)
- The Path of Exile Ladder example (21:20)
- Stats and Skill Trees:
- Stat points and character "customization" (24:50)
- The problem with Diablo 2's stat points (25:40)
- The problem with adding Stat Points to Diablo 3 (26:30)
- Illusionary choices with Stats and Trees (27:47)
- Better stats: The Torchlight 2 example (28:42)
- Another alternative: The Path of Exile example (30:15)
- How Skill Trees can go wrong (30:40)
- Travis Day on Diablo Skill Trees (31:40)
- Individual skill points not compelling (35:10)
- Something to look forward to each level (38:10)
- Do skill trees really change skill progression? (38:55)
- Difficulty:
- Wyatt Cheng on the rapidly changing Health (41:20)
- The difficulty wall of old Inferno (43:10)
- Wyatt's second point on Health issues (44:05)
- The rationalization of Glass Cannon as a popular build (44:47)
- Finishing Wyatt's post (45:28)
- Combat flow and tactics with rapid healing abilities (47:50)
- Whirlwind Barbarian one of the showcases of the flawed difficulty (50:00)
- Changes coming to Life Steal and Life Regeneration (52:30)
- Excitement about changes, but maintaining some skepticism (54:10)
If you missed the previous Diablo Digest you can find the major discussion posts here: