The Purpose of BoA
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker/ Official Forums)
Main goals:
- Make it so that playing the game is the best way to get the best items. In this scenario, "playing the game" refers to the core mechanic, which is killing monsters. The designers really dig that kill monsters > get loot > kill more monsters > get more loot reward loop, and felt it was being compromised by the ease of trading, particularly for Legendary and Set items. We want those top-tier items to be earned through gameplay.
- In light of the AH shutting down, still try to limit the negative impact the third-party market has on the game as much as possible. (This goes back to goal #1 and is one of the reasons why the current rules are set up the way they are.)
Greatest hopes? That the new loot model for the majority of players feels rewarding and satisfying -- and natural, too -- and that there's an actual sense of personal progression as you advance from finding Rares to finding Legendaries. An item being BoA ideally won't be a dealbreaker because the loot hunt itself is in a good place (this is where the rewarding/satisfying/natural part comes in).
Greatest fears? As with anything game design related, the greatest fear is that -- despite your research, your testing, your experience, and your gut -- what you've designed isn't fun for most players and winds up hindering the game more than helping it. We don't believe that will be the case with BoA (and feel it will actually be the opposite), but no one here is infallible.
The Recent Changes to Witch Doctors
A bit of light was given to the recent changes to Witch Doctors in Beta/PTR.
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker/ Official Forums)
mostly the wd nerfsThanks for the follow up! Though it never feels great to see numbers go down, we felt (as well as other players who tested out the WD on Beta and PTR) that the class was a little overturned in the previous PTR/Beta build. This was especially evident in group play. So, we're toning a lot of skills down and will see how that plays out in the next PTR/Beta build. If you're willing to hop on the PTR once the new patch is live and provide us your thoughts, that would definitely be appreciated.
On that note actually, it's really important to keep in mind that PTR and Beta patches are in no way final and that we're still tuning, tweaking, and adjusting a lot of skill values. We expect that we'll need to make some more changes once this next patch is out and you all get the opportunity to test and share feedback.for the record there is a few of us that are die hard witch doctor players, we have put together numerous topics with idea and disccsions vs the new changes.I can actually provide a little more insight on these particular changes.
As we transitioned from the Friends & Family to Closed Beta, all abilities from each class were highly overtuned. Over time, we whittled away at the numbers, and these passes were made by class. This is pretty par for the course in how we approach tuning. The Witch Doctor was the last one we addressed, and that happened to land at a time when we could provide the most detailed patch notes (i.e., these ones).
So no, we don't hate Witch Doctors! They were just next up for a tuning pass and the timing wasn't great in terms of communicating these changes.
Definitely going to go dig through those feedback posts though. Nom nom nom, feedback!What about the demon hunter posts? Could you at least say yes or no so we at least know we aren't getting ignored, because it definitely seems that way.Between all of us, we go through all the class forums (and other forums too) for feedback, paying particular attention to threads that are well-formatted and constructive. I try to tackle as much as I can myself, but sometimes I do miss things. That's why we work as a team. =) Grimiku, Vaeflare, and Lylirra all help me catch things I might not have seen otherwise.
No class is being ignored or unheard. Not every change that's asked for will be implemented, of course, but we are here to listen, report, and discuss your feedback with development. Think of us as your liaisons - we pass on as much of your thoughts as we can and make sure your voice is being represented and recognized.
MannerCookie's HeisenBarb Beta Build
MannerCookie has been one of the Barbarian players that has always tried to push new and interesting builds for his chosen class and continues doing so on the Beta servers. Recently he has been teasing a new build. That new build is called HeisenBarb and represents a charge-Barb play that seems to be incredibly efficient and useful on higher difficulties. Check out the video for some awesome gameplay and a thorough explanation of the build.
That barb build is EPIC!
I liked the trading system in d2. Made a game looking for an item, mf-ed while waiting, then traded (if they ever came). Even annie and torch were tradable. D2 trading is the reason I know to type. The need for fast communication was a must, and, with time, i learned how to type at decent speeds. Mavis Beacon is a joke, people should just play d2 to learn how to type Anyways, if I find an item, I should do with it whatever I want. I play this game with my bro and 2 other friends. With BoA, we wont be able to help each other with handmedowns or items we dont want. If 3rd parties selling items is the problem (like in d2, which is still a freaken awesome game) then greed is what is holding this game back. Im still buying the 80 dollar collector's edition, BoA or not, just hope it doesnt turn into World of Diablocraft.
Well I'm not going to play if i can't trade. it may sound like a knee-jerk reaction, but I like helping my friends out with stuff i might find while they aren't on.
I felt more forced when it came to building a character in D2. Basically, if you didn't focus all of your stats on Vit and do the bare minimums for gear, you didn't have an "optimal" build, stat-wise. This made a lot of people start over multiple times. You can argue there is your replay-ability, but it was truly a mechanic that just held most players back, and in the end, forced them to allocate points a certain way or be obsolete. Diablo 3 is definitely a game striving to have people express their individuality in character builds. While I don't think it's there yet, I would imagine people should not be so negative about it until they play release themselves. If you really don't want the game, you wouldn't be putting your 2 cents here.
edit: meant to quote helpme123 above me
Also, does anyone have a link pointing to details on how BoA is currently supposed to function?
Personally, I believe it should be something similar to WoW (forgive me for saying that...) and by that I mean it should be BoAonly if you choose to equip it. Perhaps this is not Blizzard's intention. I understand that Legendaries are meant to be salvaged as well, but it still is a little disheartening to know you can't trade them at all.
Still it was pretty much about persistance and time. Diablo 2 was my first online game ever at 11 years old. I had AOL dial up and didn't really know shit about computers. Got curious about online mode so one day, I fired up my (dial-up) AOL service and tried to run D2 in the background and connect online; didn't work. Learning how to troubleshoot, I opened an Internet Explorer window after opening AOL...and Diablo 2 magic stated happening in my life. Now, an ignorant 11 year old me, just took about a year of playing to get a 99 frenzy barb (2 ebotd + enigma + etc) and a ~80 hammerdin (cta + shako + mf gear etc) from knowing nothing about the game and just playing online. So, the people who think D2 was "so complex and required genius"...well lemme tell you...it's not some puzzle lol
So fun to look back at that annoying SOJ system though and be done with it! Looking with Blizzard and everyone else here to find a new system that works for everyone.