Official Blizzard Quote:
Good discussion! It's an old topic I know but there's a lot of good points and counter-points being brought up.
So just to reiterate some things and maybe draw it back to more specific bullet points of why a lower level cap is (we believe) better for the game:
- We want each level to feel like a significant boost in power. You can think of the amount of power a character gains through leveling as a bucket of orange soda, and each level as a glass. We have to have an end-point and so we can only scale player power to that point. By having fewer glasses they can be filled more, and each one has more delicious thirst-quenching orange soda. Spread that same bucket out over 99 or 200 glasses, and each level is less satisfying (if not downright unnoticeable).
- We want level benefits to be as clear as possible. Some people have suggested "Well, let us hit level 60, but then keep giving us points after that." which isn't a solution, it's the same problem except worse because there's no actual tracking mechanism built in (ie levels). We also want to avoid providing level benefits at irregular intervals (although this may be unavoidable for trait points), as some people suggest "Let us level to 99 and just give us the rewards every few levels". This goes back to the first point: We want each level to feel like a significant boost in power. Trait points may not come every level, but the sum of the other increases from leveling, we feel, are still very significant and maintain our intent.
- Because of the extreme leveling curve in Diablo II, balance really couldn't be adjusted around level 99 characters. This meant that the last 15 or so levels were not just minimal increases in power, but in most cases provided absolutely nothing to a characters ability to effectively complete Hell difficulty and get items, which did significantly improve their character. Instead, leveling to 99 became a status symbol more than anything.
- We can have long term status symbols people can go for that are extremely visual, show to others the effort you've put in, but not attach that to something like a character level. Along with artisans, achievements, gems, runestones, and all the other various character customization progressions, we still have some surprises left in store on this front.
- Balance isn't a main point for a tighter level system, but it is one side benefit. With the sum changes and improvements to all of the core designs, we believe that we can have a more reasonably challenging game throughout (as we can fairly clearly know how strong someone should be at any point in time) without attempting to create "challenge" through cheesy tactics.
- The game paces out progression very well through all of the various customization systems, which are far more interesting and important to an end-game character, as opposed to chasing a number.
The only thing that worries me about this news is the achievements, because most likely, that will mean you'd always have to be online in order to get them as it is in SC2. People with unstable connection will not be happy about this.
@ Marcus - To solve this you could have single player achievements and multiplayer achievement so people only playing singleplayer with unstable connections can still get them.
@ Luckmann - Who cares if it's the same as WoW? Bashiok has stated all the reasons why it's good for Diablo.
You're right, it's not a coincidence. Blizzard has said that they decided on 60 as the lvl cap because it worked great for WoW when it was there. I'd track down the quote but it's 6am, not gonna happen lol.
Level progression felt weak in later stages of D2, and if your character was slightly underwhelming, chances were gaining two levels wouldn't have helped the issue at all. Lvl 60 cap is better because then the levels will have more of a meaning.
And as for the level cap being the same as WoW, chances are they tried a bunch of numbers other than 60. You think they wanted a bunch of people complaining that it was the same as WoW? Not to mention that the same complaints would've happened if it was 70, 80, or 85 now that those numbers have been "claimed" by WoW xpacs. Even if they just chose 60 from the beginning the reasons provided are good enough for me.
I think the one thing that Bash mentioned that I had not thought of was balancing is easier when everyone can reach cap. As he mentioned, with so few actually hitting 99, they couldn't balance monsters to the skills/power level 99 character would have. Therefore, this made making it to level 99 even less significant because the scale eventually leveled back out and made the last few levels worthless.
I bet it will only take 1 good achievement (that gives you a bragging rights) to replace peeps urge to grind for level 99.
And they'll have areas for higher levels. Their called expansion packs.
I am not going to argue much with you since we have a different view to it and the game isn't even released yet (meaning I can be wrong and also crave for more levels). What I said is based off what the common knowledge so far for d3 and level cap is the least of my concern. As a diablo gamer, did you really just asked me what I'm going to do with the loot I found, wow? Anyway just an fyi, what I meant grind for loot is to look for that right item for my current build...
You yourself admitted to not getting to 99. How would you feel never being able to beat the game? I also feel that Diablo was never about level grinding, the game was meant to be completed in one continuous flow. If you played the game this way, you ended at around level 75-85. Which is the exact same as 60 in D3 except they changed the scale.
Again, I think most people that are upset with this change think that they are loosing out on content which is not true. If you really miss grinding levels then just grind away anyway.
Seeing as they've stated that acquiring high lvl gems are going to be extremely difficult, I'm sure it'll be worth it. It's not like how in D2 you get a 6 life leach, or some almost irrelevant lightning damage. Some gems might give us Exp bonuses, or added skill attributes. One thing is for sure, they'll be more useful than in D2.
So, I care about gems?