Keeping the Action in ARPG

Since the announcement of Diablo III, Blizzard has continuously reiterated that they are trying to keep Diablo an action packed game. The first evidence of this was the addition of the new dropped item,DiabloWiki.com - Health Globes Health Globes. The aim of the health globes is to eliminate the need of going to town constantly to restock on potions. This constant back and forth situation removed the player from the action of the game and the need for DiabloWiki.com - Town Portal Town Portal went down. Without the need to restock on potions, there was not as much of a need to go back to town as quickly.

Beyond going to town, there is also the situation of dying removing you from action. Blizzard has attempted to handle this situation by allowing the player to get right back into the thick of battle. The first way to accomplish this was the controversial check point system.

Official Blizzard Quote:



On that same note we also don't want to remove the player from the action. Throwing them back to town for every death really breaks up the action, and not in a fun, interesting, or necessary way.

So, with these things in mind we've found that a check point system works really well. Throughout your adventures, and generally at the ends of each "floor" of a dungeon your character is saved to a checkpoint. When you die you're dropped back at the last checkpoint with a small amount of health, and the rest regenerates slowly. It's obviously a very forgiving system as it is. It's just too early to put a ton of thought in to what penalties there should be, if any, added on top of it.

Regardless, potential penalties aside, this is the death mechanic we're currently using and it's working really well so far.
The idea is that after going so far into the game, the player would hit a check point. Upon dying, the player would begin playing again at this checkpoint. Little is known about the details of the system, such as: "Do the monsters respawn?" or "Do you keep any loot you have found?". Overall, the system unarguably keeps the player in the action compared to Diablo II, in which you were sent back to town. Blizzard also added a co-op resurrection system, which helps slain players to get back into the fight. It is still unknown how the system works, but it will keep any multiplayer games from stopping for players to meet back up with their friends.

Yesterday on both Twitter and Facebook there was an announcement of the return of yet one more way to keep players in the action;

Official Blizzard Quote:



Updated waypoint design and UI implemented. Waypoints will function similar to Diablo II.
DiabloWiki.com - WayPoint WayPoint(s) will be returning and the system will function very much like it did in Diablo II. The only change appears to be cosmetic as well as the interface that pops up when you use them. For any of you who do not know, waypoints acted as a way of quickly traveling from one area to any other area your character has been to. These allowed characters to move around the game, area to area, instantly.

So, with five different systems in Diablo III, it is safe to say that Blizzard is trying to keep the action in the Action-RPG. Are you excited for all of these new systems or do you think Blizzard is making the game too easy?


Special thanks to Chemedeiros for alerting us of the news and Kikhu for starting a thread on the return of the waypoint system. Heave them some rep for their hard work.
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