I expect this year's Blizzcon to offer a Diablo 3 release date and the unveiling of Titan.
Blizz could put out a $150 Diablo 3 collector's edition and I'd buy it.
Blizz could put out a $150 Diablo 3 collector's edition and I'd buy it.
Diablo III - It's official
- Thread starter N00b
- Start date
I know, the col ed's are so not worth the extra money they charge for them.
Oh, I think they're alright value, for me personally. If I appreciate that kind of game, then I don't mind paying some more for the CE. The starcraft+brood wars inclusion in SC2 CE was a particulary nice touch for me, because I A: didn't know it would be there, it was a total surprise, and B: I never bought those games to begin with, so that improved the CE's VFM ratio quite considerably! 
Only drawback was, there are no CD keys included to register with battle.net, and you don't get an automatic registration either via your SC2 key, so you can't download the install packages straight from Blizzard. You either have to dig out that flashdrive which is a bit of a pain, or like I did, copy the installer contents (to another USB key in my case) and remember to keep 'em fresh. I dunno the long-term viability of flash memory as a storage medium, but I suspect it's going to degrade eventually.
Only drawback was, there are no CD keys included to register with battle.net, and you don't get an automatic registration either via your SC2 key, so you can't download the install packages straight from Blizzard. You either have to dig out that flashdrive which is a bit of a pain, or like I did, copy the installer contents (to another USB key in my case) and remember to keep 'em fresh. I dunno the long-term viability of flash memory as a storage medium, but I suspect it's going to degrade eventually.
Silent_Buddha
Legend
Hell they could charge 500 USD and I'd probably buy it. Put in a statue thing like the Halo 3 super edition. Throw in come cloth maps like the old days (I still have all the Ultima cloth maps). A proper manual. DVD/BRD of all the cutscenes which I'm sure are going to be spectacular. Other knick knacks. I'd be one happy camper.
Regards,
SB
Maybe you people saw this already, but Blizzard has posted information about rune system for character customization on the official D3 website. Basically, adding runes to your abilities changes the way the ability works, sometimes turning an ability into something new entirely. Sounds weird to me, but hoo-kay....
Also, the other week you may have seen alledged leaked information about hireable mercenaries in D3. Seems there's a couple subclasses including a rogue/stealthy type mercenary, a mage-type mercenary and a tank/melee type mercenary. These can be equipped with various pieces of gear to upgrade them, much like in Diablo 2. Not sure if there's further upgrade options to be had, maybe modifying their skill set like you can with the player character... Now THAT would be real cool!
Also, the other week you may have seen alledged leaked information about hireable mercenaries in D3. Seems there's a couple subclasses including a rogue/stealthy type mercenary, a mage-type mercenary and a tank/melee type mercenary. These can be equipped with various pieces of gear to upgrade them, much like in Diablo 2. Not sure if there's further upgrade options to be had, maybe modifying their skill set like you can with the player character... Now THAT would be real cool!
Everyone's acting like those runes are new but Blizz talked about those things years ago. Still sounds cool though.
Sorry if my post upstream seemed snarky, I didn't mean it directly at you. I browse a good # of gaming boards and it seems like the updated info on these runes is new info to most of them. But, yeah, they look cool, just another way of personalizing your build. Some of the videos are cool, too, though the wizard's ray of frost is really similar to Magicka's frost-frost-frost-fire-magic ray of uber death. I liked the mini-whirlwinds from the barbarian too. Actually, now that I think about it those two classes are the only ones that interest me. I might fiddle with the monk if the game really grabs me and comes a huge timesink, but I'm hoping the inevitable expansion adds a paladin-type class. As is there's no traditional armored class in the game, and unless the witch doctor has some healing abilities no heals either.
It didn't seem snarky (to me), it was a valid observation to make...
Personally I've almost always preferred ranged classes, in D2 I loved the necro and the zon, it was IMO two of the most fun and flexible classes in the game. The latter's the ONLY class that can output all damage types by themselves for example (skeletal mages are random, so you can't decide which ones to raise up), although I suspect it'll be difficult to manage to create a viable zon build including all damage types without resorting to cheating.
I also really liked the elemental druid, although his skills always sucked donkey dong, they were too quirky and random to really be effective, particulary on hell difficulty where monsters swarm at you really rapidly. That made me a sad panda.
In D3, I'm pretty convinced I'll go with the demon hunter first, then I wanna try the sorceress. Monk...not so much I think. The witchdoctor sounds to me like a poor-man's version of the necro, but I'm sure I'll get around to him eventually.
I don't think Blizz will add pallys to D3 as healers; healing has been done almost exclusively through leeching, and that's of course self-healing based on your own damage output... The pally could heal with holy bolts in D2, but it was pretty damn ineffective, and I don't see how that could change much without wonking up the gameplay and possibly causing imbalances.
Personally I've almost always preferred ranged classes, in D2 I loved the necro and the zon, it was IMO two of the most fun and flexible classes in the game. The latter's the ONLY class that can output all damage types by themselves for example (skeletal mages are random, so you can't decide which ones to raise up), although I suspect it'll be difficult to manage to create a viable zon build including all damage types without resorting to cheating.
I also really liked the elemental druid, although his skills always sucked donkey dong, they were too quirky and random to really be effective, particulary on hell difficulty where monsters swarm at you really rapidly. That made me a sad panda.
In D3, I'm pretty convinced I'll go with the demon hunter first, then I wanna try the sorceress. Monk...not so much I think. The witchdoctor sounds to me like a poor-man's version of the necro, but I'm sure I'll get around to him eventually.
I don't think Blizz will add pallys to D3 as healers; healing has been done almost exclusively through leeching, and that's of course self-healing based on your own damage output... The pally could heal with holy bolts in D2, but it was pretty damn ineffective, and I don't see how that could change much without wonking up the gameplay and possibly causing imbalances.
Some details re the public beta are up.
tl:dr version: download client benchmark to be elegible. D3 will require a persistent online connection.
Yes, yes, yes, if you later want to use your char on the ladder, then you must have always played with it online so they know you didn't hack your savegame. But does this mean you won't be able to play the game when your connection is down even if you have no intention of ever playing online? They should just come clean and say it's their DRM.
tl:dr version: download client benchmark to be elegible. D3 will require a persistent online connection.
Yes, yes, yes, if you later want to use your char on the ladder, then you must have always played with it online so they know you didn't hack your savegame. But does this mean you won't be able to play the game when your connection is down even if you have no intention of ever playing online?
They should just come clean and say it's their DRM.spacemonkey
Newcomer
http://pc.ign.com/articles/118/1185029p1.html
...yeah, I don't think I'll be giving Blizzard my money this time.
...yeah, I don't think I'll be giving Blizzard my money this time.
I was discussing the concept of using real world money with a friend, today. Although, the concept itself is nothing new, I'm not certain whether or not it'll be a gift or a curse with D3. On one hand, if you fancy yourself as a dungeon farmer, the ability to sell quality weapons and gear could rake you in some decent dough. On the other hand, if your money burns a hole in your pocket, you're probably going to wind up broke. I suppose this is Blizz's answer to a subscription free game. Although I've read the details of the auction house, and apparently transactions are verified through a secure transaction system. So it's not like you're handing out your credit info to John Doe who swears he's honest.
As far as the beta is concerned, it's about damn time. I, along with a plethora of other individuals, have waited an eternity for an opportunity to play D3, to the point where the slow drip system of information has lost it's appeal and I'm more than ready to give it a go. If you're interested in joining the beta, I've read, you need to keep your beta profile updated on battle.net, meaning you need to opt in for a chance to test all applicable Blizzard betas.
As far as the beta is concerned, it's about damn time. I, along with a plethora of other individuals, have waited an eternity for an opportunity to play D3, to the point where the slow drip system of information has lost it's appeal and I'm more than ready to give it a go. If you're interested in joining the beta, I've read, you need to keep your beta profile updated on battle.net, meaning you need to opt in for a chance to test all applicable Blizzard betas.
Everything remains the same. Noobs will be able to buy items for real money same as in D2, but now they can do it via official way. Users who would never try to sell something the old way will definitely now try to sell something, and blizzard will finally get little money from everybody's transactions.
Im little bummed for gamers without net connection. They are screwed [and will most probably turn to piracy].
Im little bummed for gamers without net connection. They are screwed [and will most probably turn to piracy].
This is the exact reason why it wont be the same and this the main reason that i think currency based AH is awful idea that will break economy. I was hoping for, since the first D3 announcement, that Blizzard will introduce gold only based AH, that will totally change market and make items trading faster and easier, but currency based AH can totally destroy the idea. Why?
Because people will rather be trading items for real money than gold. It would be great if Blizzard made another type of ladder without real currency AH [like they'll do with hardcore mode]
The another problem is inflation, the are no gold/item sink mechanisms yet introduced, and this one is really scary for gold based AH, if there wont be sink mechanisms, gold value will decrease really fast to the point where gold will so cheap that gold based AH will be completely worthless.
Its also strange that Blizzard hasnt said anything about guild/clan support, which would be awesome, especially with board alike guild menu and guild shared stash that would have container for specific classes.
I bet most gamers have an internet connection most of the time. I'd be fine with online activation if it wasn't required every time I play and if after 2 years or so from the ship date it doesn't check with the publisher's server. This way games can survive past the death of a developer. This might not be as much of a fear with Blizzard, but it's good in principle.
