I think you hit the 'nail on its head' when you said that the core issue is: how much variance within the same difficulty setting should the game have?
The OP says the variance is too big for his liking and hurts group play and others say: it's fine just deal with it.
Personally I lean towards the OP: My preference for end game play like rifts would be that they should not vary in difficulty (per setting) to the extend they do now.
I don't have a problem with T6 being hard and only doable with mostly BIS items in many slots and suitably tailored specs and stat allocations. I have a problem if it is unpredictable if you can do it or not based on the RNG that generates the rift you are about to enter. Clearly some variance is fine and uniformity becomes boring. What is the correct balance between predictability and variability? There isn't one. Each of us will have a different view on what challenges the game should present so his or her enjoyment of the game is maximized.
I can perfectly enjoy this game without using the RMAH - actually I haven't spent a single cent on it. So I don't care what the RMAH prices are - it just doesn't affect me. And, yes I am using the normal AH but haven't bought anything for over 1 mill and I have a character of every class in SC that can run MP3 just fine. You don't have to be rich nor do you have to be an AH camper/sniper to play this game and enjoy it. Of course, this is my play style, and other players will look at it differently. But these blanket statements like "Blizzard has ruined the game for everyone" are just plain nonsense. Blizzard may have ruined the game for you because your play style and your expectations are not matched by what they have done, but this doesn't apply to everyone and nobody really knows what the "majority" of players feel.
"No one should spend any money on virtual goods because that's worthless in comparison to real life activities."
To me this statement just doesn't make any sense. For starters he was playing Diablo III which is in itself a virtual good I assume he purchased. Clearly actually playing is a real life activity as well so what is this comparison to real life activities about? And what about all the other virtual goods many of us use day-to-day: from Pay TV, to music we pay for from for example iTunes, even going to a cinema is really not different to watching a movie on your computer or on TV, reading a book on an e-Reader from Amazon, reading a newspaper subscription on-line, ... These are all activities in which we 'consume' virtual goods we pay for. Are these all 'worthless' in his opinion because they don't constitute 'real life activities'? Is reading a print newspaper 'real life' while reading an on-line newspaper is 'not real life'?
I am in a similar situation. My highest gold balance was 3.2mill which is just small change for some of the gold rich players. I am not into 'playing the AH' like buying low /selling high (it is just not something I like spending time on while playing this game) nor have I ever used the RMAH and I think your assessment that you need some 'lucky drops' to start getting the initial working capital does apply to me as well. This is just how D3 is: you need some luck or you need to spend time working the AH to your advantage.
I think there is a bit more to this. Firstly I agree that the damage nerf is more significant in terms of game play than the minor health nerfs. But there are other signifcant nerfs like:
Spine Hewer, Skeletal Reaper, Skull Cleaver, and Swift Skull Cleaver damage has been reduced by approximately 37%
Jailer can now no longer appear with Knockback, Nightmarish, or Vortex
Invulnerable Minions has been removed as a possible affix
Fire Chains damage has been reduced by 20%
Nightmarish monsters will now make players immune to Fear for 6 seconds after the Fear is cast on the player
Shielding monsters will no longer shield if they are the last monster left in the area, and only one monster in a given pack can be shielded at a time
The spawn points of Arcane Enchanted beams have been adjusted slightly to be more spread out, and their damage has been reduced by approximately 30%
All this should make survival against Elite/Champ packs easier.
I think if you look at all the proposed 1.04 changes across all the classes only under the aspect 'How do these changes affect the highest DPS builds' then you are missing the most important driver behind many of those. The changes are not for those players who go to any length to min/max their builds. They are not for players who make build decisions based on: Build A takes 2 minutes less on a 45 minute farming run than build B and so I will always choose A. The changes are about build diversity, that is making more builds viable. This doesn't mean builds have to be equal in farming efficiency they just have to be close. How close? Now that is very subjective and players will make their own decision but my gut feel is that Blizz are on the right track with those proposed changes (across all classes) to achieve their goal of seeing a wider variety of builds being used after 1.04.
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As Dabadaba says - see also the discussion on attackspeed and ww breakpoints in for example http://www.diablofans.com/builds/55836-gr-55-whirwind-bul-kathos-obsidian-ring-of-the
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See http://www.diablofans.com/blizz-tracker/topic/59925-ptr-wipe-to-test-leveling
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I think you hit the 'nail on its head' when you said that the core issue is: how much variance within the same difficulty setting should the game have?
The OP says the variance is too big for his liking and hurts group play and others say: it's fine just deal with it.
Personally I lean towards the OP: My preference for end game play like rifts would be that they should not vary in difficulty (per setting) to the extend they do now.
I don't have a problem with T6 being hard and only doable with mostly BIS items in many slots and suitably tailored specs and stat allocations. I have a problem if it is unpredictable if you can do it or not based on the RNG that generates the rift you are about to enter. Clearly some variance is fine and uniformity becomes boring. What is the correct balance between predictability and variability? There isn't one. Each of us will have a different view on what challenges the game should present so his or her enjoyment of the game is maximized.
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Here is my take:
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For example: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/7004036888 refers to
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AgL5S3Revw9ddEhScEpSLWhnRDZKV25OaWZJcHdkN0E#gid=0
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To me this statement just doesn't make any sense. For starters he was playing Diablo III which is in itself a virtual good I assume he purchased. Clearly actually playing is a real life activity as well so what is this comparison to real life activities about? And what about all the other virtual goods many of us use day-to-day: from Pay TV, to music we pay for from for example iTunes, even going to a cinema is really not different to watching a movie on your computer or on TV, reading a book on an e-Reader from Amazon, reading a newspaper subscription on-line, ... These are all activities in which we 'consume' virtual goods we pay for. Are these all 'worthless' in his opinion because they don't constitute 'real life activities'? Is reading a print newspaper 'real life' while reading an on-line newspaper is 'not real life'?
I simply don't get it...
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- Spine Hewer, Skeletal Reaper, Skull Cleaver, and Swift Skull Cleaver damage has been reduced by approximately 37%
- Jailer can now no longer appear with Knockback, Nightmarish, or Vortex
- Invulnerable Minions has been removed as a possible affix
- Fire Chains damage has been reduced by 20%
- Nightmarish monsters will now make players immune to Fear for 6 seconds after the Fear is cast on the player
- Shielding monsters will no longer shield if they are the last monster left in the area, and only one monster in a given pack can be shielded at a time
- The spawn points of Arcane Enchanted beams have been adjusted slightly to be more spread out, and their damage has been reduced by approximately 30%
All this should make survival against Elite/Champ packs easier.0
http://www.diablofans.com/topic/61166-hall-of-shame-ilvl-63-edition/page__hl__%20shame
and
http://www.diablofans.com/topic/64166-legendary-wall-of-shame/page__hl__%20wall%20%20shame
And ... your's far from the 'worst ever'.
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Very sad
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