DiabloFans

They're not too low; I have at least 49 pieces of the Blackthorne set.

Quote from XIIIFiVe

Do what YOU want to do in-game. If you want to run bounties, then run them.

Except Blizz keeps changing things so that people play the game the way they want them to. That mentality is very much in opposition to "play how you like." Farming chests? Nerfed. Farming rares? Nerfed. Now go run rifts!

I don't actually have a big problem with it, but I don't understand the hypocrisy. They say that they don't want players to "feel forced" into playing the game one way, but then they buff one particular area of the game, ensuring that players will almost exclusively farm there. Makes no sense. I think it has a lot more to do with steering gameplay toward their original vision of what it should be than making any area of the game as rewarding as any other. Remember the whole "play anywhere, same reward" nonsense? This move doesn't jive with that message.

I still don't get why Blizz cares if I farm chests or not (I didn't, not fun.) I don't get why they care if I farm the same rare over and over (I didn't, not fun.) This game is not competitive. There is no sanctioned competition. It's essentially a single player game that you can play with friends (I know that sounds stupid, but c'mon; no trading outside of a group, no economy... it's single player with a couple small bonuses for group play.)

It is a completely hypocritical move for them to nerf farming method X and buff farming method Y because farming method Y was their intended path for us. That said... whatever. I like buffs, and I like rifts more than chest farming, so I don't think they made the game worse. I just have a philosophical issue with the whole thing.

Quote from sOFrOsTy

Because there is no bug. The damage bonus is intended. Deal with it.

Added to list of people who don't know what they are talking about.

Quote from Radglad

Seriously? 5 10 second runs and you give up?

Leave this game please, you're scum

The kind of thinking that would lead people to call others "scum" due to the way that they play a video game baffles me.

Quote from TheRabidDeer

You're completely mischaracterizing what ruk said. Finding good gear is the point of the game, but it should take a long time to find those awesome pieces. That *is* the point of Diablo, it's not an opinion, it's how the game is designed. If it comes too easily, the game loses replay value. If it is too hard, the game is frustrating and not fun (i.e., DIII vanilla). There exists a sweet spot wherein the game is fun, challenging, and rewards come just often enough to keep us playing. I think DIII is very near to that spot right now.

Quote from Fitsu

10 bounties an hour? I do 1 act (5 bounties) in 10min on T1, id imagine a well made group could double that so it's more like 100 bounties an hour, which would be 500 a day meaning this would take around 1 month.

There's no way you're going to average one and two thirds bountiesper minute. No way, if only due to the fact that you will always have "clear this cave" type bounties and you have to re-log to get a new set.

This game is competitive because of player profiles... right. That's your argument? Please. That's a meta-game, not real competition. I don't buy it, my game doesn't effect yours, period. Now, ladders would be a different story...

Quote from shaggy

Quote from BigEd781

DIII wants to steer you down a specific path at all times.

It's funny that you say that because this change, and many others (scorpion runs pre-2.0, Mira runs, cursed chest runs, etc.) have all been nerfed because, if left unaddressed, they become the defacto "right" way to play the game.

These things get nerfed because the way they "want" you to play the game is just to go out and kill monsters and feel relatively safe that if you choose Gardens of Hope Tier 1 and I choose the Weeping Hollow that neither of us has a massive advantage. Their "way" to play the game is that there shouldn't be a "right" way to play it, at least as it pertains to the question "Where should I farm?"

These things get nerfed because, if they don't, they LIMIT choices. If you're not doing CotA you may be having fun, but you're probably imposing a 50% XP penalty on yourself. If they did nothing they'd silently be endorsing, as Ruksak put it, Baal runs 2.0. Which, oddly enough, would be forcing us all down the same path. They're actually fighting for our ability to choose whatever path we want because all paths are (close to) the same.

That's kinda the opposite of trying to steer us down a specific path, isn't it?

I don't buy the "I feel forced to play this way" argument. I don't buy the "runs like CotA limit choice" line. I have a choice. If I don't find that fun then I don't have to do it, period. I know Blizz says stuff like this a lot, but I don't agree with them (at least, not when it comes to a game like Diablo, with no competition and being essentially single player. For a game like WoW I understand.) I didn't run CotA, but if I wanted to be as efficient as possible I would have. That simply wasn't my priority. I wanted to have fun, that's all.

It's not that I don't appreciate your point though. I understand the goal of making the entire game "as efficient as possible", it's just that I, and others, enjoy finding that one spot, that one run, that one <whatever> that's just a bit better than the rest. I often enjoy that kind of play because I like the feeling of leveling/grinding more quickly than I could otherwise. I do this in every RPG I play and I have fun doing it.

Quote from Instant

But what exactly is the problem?

I'm starting to think that community buff was worst thing to happen, because it made the difference even more evident (between Cota runs and 'normal' gameplay).

There still will be 'best ways to farm' in RoS. I don't think Blizzard perceives such routes as a bad thing, as long as it's not the only thing that makes sense. I personally like the idea of 'runs'. I used to do meph runs in D2 all day long and didn't get bored. I did some Rumnford runs, and some Core runs. I like it because it's short. I can stop whenever I want and I have a goal, whereas just walking around in story mode killing monsters seems pointless to me.

That's why I'm patiently waiting for adventure mode.

But some people just wan't to be so much ahead of everyone else that they can't accept any changes.

You asked 'who cares if Joe Shomoe has P lv. 8000', I could ask who cares if he's not?

Maybe we should get rid of 'gaining XP' and instead just give everybody P10k. That is if you truly don't care. But I'll be bold and say that this is simply not true because most of those people who were grinding like crazy, like the feeling of being ahead of a curve (not talking to you personally). And now they are very vocal about it.

Ok, I had to double post because the editor on this forum is awful.

I think I was pretty clear. The "problem" is this mentality of "oh noes, someone figured out an optimal way to grind/farm <X>, better nerf it or the poor mindless players will feel compelled to do this ad nauseam." Nonsense. This has been an issue since day 1 and I have always hated it. Again though, I said I am reserving judgement because I like a lot of what I have seen, even if I'm not 100% convinced yet. They have some good will to earn back, at least from me.

"You asked 'who cares if Joe Shomoe has P lv. 8000', I could ask who cares if he's not?"

"Who cares if he's not?" I don't really get the question. I don't care either way, but I _do_ care about the design philosophy of the game in general. I may not do CotA runs, but I do like finding an efficient way to do <whatever> if I'm in the mood, and they have historically just taken these methods away from us.

And to all of you calling this an "exploit", please, give me a break. We're talking about a _non-competitive_ game here. My play style doesn't affect yours. At all. Was it an "exploit" when I walked in circles in a small patch of forest looking for brachiosaurs and tyrannosaurs in FFVI in order to hit 99 as quickly as possible? No, of course not, it was just the fastest way to level, and I found that fun. Why should anyone else playing FFVI care how I got to level 99? (hint: they didn't)

Spare me your riotousness and armchair game design philosophies. You just come off as mouthpieces for Blizz.

I don't understand why efficient methods need to be nerfed in the first place. I mean, this isn't a competitive game. Who cares if Joe Shmoe has a P Lv. of 8000? I certainly don't. Finding the best way to farm <X> was always one of my favorite things to do in an RPG.

Anyway, I agree, it's a crappy way to "fix" these perceived problems. Nerf nerf nerf... I thought games were supposed to be fun? That said, I'm reserving judgement for a couple of days. Some potentially cool things are coming our way and I'll see how it plays out.

Quote fromInstant»

Quote fromAdvanced Instead of nerfing everything they could buff anything else.

I don't farm cota because it is to boring, but the nerf also affects me. Blizzard works always this way, they choose the easy and fast way out. Adjusting the values for all other area simply cost much more resources.

So the 50% buff is not enough for you then? You still wan't to get even more XP?

The buff is temporary, it's the mentality that is the problem. It looks like this may not stop after ROS is released. I am back because I like the general direction that DIII has been taking since Wilson's departure. However, this is the kind of design philosophy that made me leave in the first place.

Meh, i think they didn't create a choice for items at all with this expansion. The more i play, and the more i look at other players' gear, i always see the same combination of stats. Damage, Main Stat, Socket, % damage on weapon; Elemental Damage, Main Stat, Vit, CC on bracer; Main Stat, 3 Sockets, Vit, AR on Chest (or the usual Cindercoat), Trifecta on gloves, amulets and rings... etc. etc.

Surely, the worst offender is the weapon, if there is a chance for socket, you can work something with, otherwise it's a soul. I don't understand why the damage range counts as a primary stat since it should be baseline. This removes a stat roll from the 4 possible primary stats we can have on a slot, then we have Main Stat, % damage and a socket.... this reminds me of how Vanilla weapons had to roll to be worthwhile.... not a huge step foward in term of gearing choices in my opinion....

Yo can you guys calm down forreal it's ridiculous

It's pretty obvious that this method isn't intended and I'm about 99% sure that it will be nerfed sooner than later. Just because something isn't intended doesn't necessarily mean that it's an exploit however. Most people who do "exploit" don't get banned for it, duping 2 billion gold multiple times and crashing the AH and also RMAH is on a completely different level than sitting in one place over night killing rats and getting a few legendaries.

Quote from Arzanot »

So you were doing Bounty Runs on your level 25 alt because?

probably because he wants to get to level 26...

I got mine after 5 long days of grinding. It was awful and I almost gave up, but it was worth it in the end.

Quote from BigEd781

If it comes too easily, the game loses replay value. If it is too hard, the game is frustrating and not fun (i.e., DIII vanilla). There exists a sweet spot wherein the game is fun, challenging, and rewards come just often enough to keep us playing.

It's really good to hear someone saying that. Too frequently people on this forum refuse to acknowledge that "longevity" and "replay value" hinge on being adequately rewarded and that if rewards are too sparse that it hinders the game just as much as if they're too frequent.

There, absolutely, is a sweet spot between "too rewarding" and "too frustrating" in almost every aspect of the game and, as fans, we really need to acknowledge that going in EITHER direction is bad for the game. Too rewarding? People get what they want really fast and get bored. Too frustrating? People give up out of futility.

I, too, think that the current drop rates are pretty reasonable. If someone sits down for an hour (which seems to be, again, a reasonable play session) they can feel comfortable that they'll probably find at least one legendary, maybe more if they're lucky. That seems very fair and it seems to take into account that most of us aren't playing 12+ hours/day. It keeps me, personally, feeling hopeful. And, in my opinion, that's key. Players need to feel like they have a chance and I'm not talking about the kind of chance someone has to fill out a perfect NCAA tournament bracket either.

For instance, I'd gone a while without finding any legendaries to upgrade my yellows. Today I found a Mask of Jeram, something I really was "looking for" and that allowed me to make the jump from Master to Torment 1. Then, less than 30 minutes later, I found a Thing of the Deep, which was a straight upgrade in every stat from the yellow mojo I was using. So I had a fairly nasty cold streak followed by what most would argue is a very nice hot streak. But, because of some of the changes, I've never felt that I was completely boned even during the cold streak. That feeling is VERY important to the psychological aspect of gaming. The minute people start getting backed into the corner of no hope then they give up. The minute people don't have to work for anything they faceroll through everything and move on to the next challenge.

EDIT
On-topic: I really doubt Blizzard changed drop rates. Like I said, I just got two legendaries in under 30 minutes. My experience COULD be the outlier, of course, but it would stand to reason that OPs experience is also an outlier. Furthermore, I am pretty sure it's almost impossible to go six hours without a legendary drop due to that "bad luck prevention" mechanic.

Quote from Finder

Items need to actually be tiered through all difficulty levels, not just a jump at T1.

No. They don't.

They really, really, don't.

I'm really, really, tired of this "there is only one right way to play the game" arguments. First it was "killing monsters is the only right way to play" debacle. Now it's the "killing monsters on the difficulty that some guy on the forums has arbitrarily determined is appropriate for you is the only right way to play" argument.

I'm sure that Blizzard will tweak risk vs reward, but in the meantime the sky is NOT falling, Chicken Little.

is he making you click it?

Quote from Pietrak

Quote from TheRabidDeer

They are playing the damn game. Don't hate people for wanting to be efficient, different people play differently.

I don't hate people for wanting to be efficient.
I despise people who don't use their own brain and cry for a solution to their needs. I despise people who are happy with what they are doing only when they are told that what they are doing is good.

They used their brain and realized that CotA is nerfed and sought a public knowledgebase to see if people have learned about anything new. Do you hate people that use wikipedia to learn something new too? Do you hate people that go to college?

One of the great things about the internet is that we get to SHARE our knowledge.

Well I hope a public admission of trolling will see you banned.