Quote from maka
I love it when you equate one person with the "community". Get one thing fucking straight once and for all: I speak for myself, and no one else. If I say that they should've kept quiet about it, then that's my opinion. Don't give me no bullshit about what the "community" would do, or what the "community" asks for.
You, however, are a part of the community. And the communty, by and large, has been demanding increased transparency, communication, and information-sharing from Blizzard. So it's pretty disingenuous for you to play the ostrich now when your opinion differs from what people have been criticizing Blizzard about this for over a year.
I can go through the general discussion forums here and find hundreds upon hundreds of posts with people asking for more information, more transparency, etc. This is the FIRST post I've ever seen here where someone is arguing the opposite. You're entitled to your own opinion, but you're not entitled to play stupid and act like the rest of the community wants less information because that's completely contrary to history.
So, bottom line is that this is what "we" want. This is what "we" have asked for. If you don't like that, too fucking bad. We're sorry that it "ruined" the game for you, but "we" don't like being kept in the dark just so that you can feel like playing your pLvl 100 toon to get items that will be useless in the expansion is somehow meaningful.
By the way - you have been a vocal critic of legendaries. I know exactly how you would react if Blizzard didn't announce they were revamping legendaries. Yet, the mere announcement that they were revamping legendaries would basically invalidate ALL current legendaries which, according to you, would "ruin" the game. This is a clear case of hypocrisy. You can't demand legendaries be fixed but also demand that they don't give us any information that would "ruin" the current game experience for you. It's one or the other, not both.
If the game is so flawed and bad in it's current state then it really challenges just how much more this information can actually "ruin" it. I mean just a few days ago you were bitching that all the yellows you found were "garbage" which would lead me to believe that you're not actually having all that much fun farming right now anyway. So, in reality, how did any of this make it worse for you?
Instead of being stuck farming those horrible yellow/green/orange items now you have a legitemate reason to grind some XP on a different character. To me that sounds like a perfect reason to ditch something that was so terrible for something that actually serves a long-term purpose.
We can go back-and-forth for all eternity, but your past statements would lead any rational person to believe that you don't find the current game to be very fun at all, so it would be reasonable to question exactly how much you're overdramatizing this non-issue.
You're essentially saying there's a curve in the road up ahead that nobody has travelled yet, meanwhile the previous 1000 miles were straight.
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I think this is where my disdain for trading for the most part comes from. Forget the economy aspect people. It's not what the game should be about. It should be about finding items and determining how useful is that item to you, not what value does it offer in an economy so you can trade for what you really want.
I say this as someone who jumps through hoops and plays the economy game myself to somewhat of an extreme because I hate the feeling of being left in the dust by people who do. I am competitive by nature too much for my own good.
I recognize though that people like to find items and share with their friends, so it is difficult to reconcile that aspect of the game as I do agree that should be something that doesn't disappear from the game; but I also really hate the economy aspect and wish it would just vanish. Items should have no more value than how they can be utilized by you or possibly to your friends if you shared or traded with them.
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In the situation behind "% vs. flat damage" what needs to be ultimately accomplished is having it be difficult when you're starting off and not well geared, but then when you become better geared it is less difficult but still somewhat difficult. When comparing these two scenarios, we have to ignore life steal, because in RoS that won't be able to be counted on so readily to counterbalance the incoming reflected damage.
To me, flat damage is a lot easier for Blizzard to manipulate because it takes one variable out of the equation: DPS. All they have to do is look at EHP when determining a flat value returned to your character as damage. All they have to do is consider these extremes: (1) what damage a character with low EHP would take and (2) what damage a character with high EHP would take and pick an appropriate flat damage rate to return. Because there's only the variable of EHP they can easily pick a flat value that is punishing no matter what your EHP, but different degrees of punishing based off that EHP. They can easily pick a flat value that is neither overwhelming or negligible.
When calculating a percent of damage you throw in that extra variable which concerns the character's DPS. What would a character (1) with low DPS and low EHP (2) with low DPS and high EHP (3) with high DPS and low EHP (4) with high DPS and high EHP. Factoring in DPS creates a more compelling mechanic concept, but it also creates possible imbalances if not done properly. Note that I am not saying it can't be done or that it shouldn't be done, I just think it is a lot more difficult for Blizzard to balance.
So the question lies really in whether or not Reflect Damage should be a mod that punishes high DPS/low EHP but is more or less ignored by low DPS/high EHP, or should it just return a flat value that is easier to balance and punishes low EHP more than high EHP but is difficult no matter what. I think both individually are possible it just depends on how Blizzard wants Reflect Damage to ultimately work as a game mechanic, but to me they are mutually exclusive and can't work in tandem. One gives us a more compelling dynamic that can be extremely punishing or completely negligible while the other is easier to balance and if done properly will always be different degrees of punishing.
I personally like the flat damage choice, because I find dying to one mechanic based on gear choices to be pretty excessive. It doesn't feel good to be to have to stack EHP just because I might run into one affix when otherwise if I never saw it I would have been fine without the extra EHP. I don't think one affix should hold that much individual power to influence gear choice. But it should also be noted that reflect damage pulses so maybe it is fair to have it be that punishing since you shouldn't be attacking when it is triggered? That's really up to Blizzard to decide if that is to be the deciding factor. But then again, I don't like the idea of it being negligible either by just stacking enough EHP in comparison to your individual DPS. A flat damage return would be easier balanced to not cause that to happen.
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What was it? 50 points in Crit Chance % for +25%? 50 points in Critical Hit Damage for 100%? That makes Crit 65% and Crit Damage 350% max.
We also need to take into account MP is probably not going to work the same. I think the intention is to get away from huge HP inflation in Monster Power and make the monsters actually harder to fight, as in their abilities used to actually kill you change. So you won't need outlandish amounts of damage to kill them I would assume.
That's my take. I like the caps, it will make gearing more interesting and multidimensional. Each slot will not stand independent from all the others to determine its worth to you as a character. You have to factor in all your gear, because if you've already hit a cap (or a few), you won't just want trifecta, and you can use that other affix option for something else you otherwise would not have and not feel punished for going standard.
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I think someone is close to all 5 classes P100 HC. But that's the most I've seen. I don't know if anyone has gone further.
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Well everybody, that's a wrap! It's official: Nobody and nothing can satisfy everyone. There's just no longer a reason to exchange ideas. Let us finally begin with the shutting down of every forum on the internet.