Diablo III - It's official
- Thread starter N00b
- Start date
Silent_Buddha
Legend
I'm pretty sure it's always been scheduled as a simultaneous release on PC and console. Blizzard have been wanting to get back onto consoles for a while now as they can easily triple or more likely quadruple the money they make by offering a compelling console experience so it's doubtful MS had to throw any money at them.
It may also explain why certain systems were "simplified" from D2 -> D3. Instead of having to worry about Equipment + Character Stats + Character Skills. Now you only have to worry about Equipment. Less thinking involved and less replayability to try out new builds which fits the short attention span of most modern gamers.
I do wonder how they RMAH is going to work on Xbox Live. Does MS allow real money purchases in game on Live? As well, will people on X360 not be using the Battlenet service? Or will Xbox Live integrate with Battlenet, somehow?
Regards,
SB
It may also explain why certain systems were "simplified" from D2 -> D3. Instead of having to worry about Equipment + Character Stats + Character Skills. Now you only have to worry about Equipment. Less thinking involved and less replayability to try out new builds which fits the short attention span of most modern gamers.
I do wonder how they RMAH is going to work on Xbox Live. Does MS allow real money purchases in game on Live? As well, will people on X360 not be using the Battlenet service? Or will Xbox Live integrate with Battlenet, somehow?
Regards,
SB
The reason they removed stat points is undoubtedly game balance-related, and not consoleitis simplification.
If you can modify your stat points, then you can essentially modify them incorrectly, IE putting too much into the wrong stats for that class will create non-viable and/or un-fun characters as the game difficulty increases. This will make players frustrated and angered with the game, giving Blizzard bad rep. Not good, in their book.
On the other hand, if you're say a ranged class using dexterity as main stat and you sink virtually all stat points here and then rely on powerful twinked gear traded over to that character to fill out any survival deficits you become vastly more powerful offense-wise than someone that "properly" spreads their stat points around.
This is a big problem, and the only realistic fix is to remove (the ability to modify) stat points altogether.
If you can modify your stat points, then you can essentially modify them incorrectly, IE putting too much into the wrong stats for that class will create non-viable and/or un-fun characters as the game difficulty increases. This will make players frustrated and angered with the game, giving Blizzard bad rep. Not good, in their book.
On the other hand, if you're say a ranged class using dexterity as main stat and you sink virtually all stat points here and then rely on powerful twinked gear traded over to that character to fill out any survival deficits you become vastly more powerful offense-wise than someone that "properly" spreads their stat points around.
This is a big problem, and the only realistic fix is to remove (the ability to modify) stat points altogether.
In addition to what Grall said having less things have an effect on stuff also makes it far easier to finetune, tweak and balance things later on. They've learned a LOT of that while developing WoW and I'd dare to say they got it working quite well in late WotLK and throughout Cata. At least when it comes to PvE stuff, pvp has always been a bit troublesome 
Yeah. And furthermore, if you want to be able to modify stat points, and want to ensure that you basically can't build your character incorrectly regardless how stupidly the stat points are invested, you'll have to make the game so easy it's trivially defeated by any decently built character, or make stat points so inconsequential that they basically have no impact on your effectiveness offensively and defensively.
Both are really bad design goals.
Both are really bad design goals.
Silent_Buddha
Legend
Except in D3, the stats have been simplifed so much that you CANNOT screw up your stats. Well other than perhaps putting everything into vitality.
All stats are equally valid for all characters. Attack = %bonus to damae. Perception = %bonus to crit chance. Defense = %bonus to all resistances. Vitality = HP.
And it's extremely weak and limp wristed that the the wimpiest of mages can wear the exact same heavy plate level of armor as a strongest of barbarians without an associated stat dedication to such as in D2. It was FUN there to try to play a plate wearing necromancer or sorceress in the early levels. Obviously not a min/max best, but fun does NOT always equal "best build."
Likewise some of the most fun I had was with a non-optimal Druid build in hell difficulty. D2 allowed people that liked to experiment have just as much fun with people who liked to min/max. D2 also allowed you to be truly different from someone else playing the same class through stat distribution, skill choices, and equipment. D3, everyone is exactly the same except for equipment. /yawn... Yay for more dumbing down of games to meet the lowest common denominator and removing as much personalization as possible.
Obviously people that can't think for themselves will love D3 far more than D2. But that doesn't mean removing virtually all character customization options is a good thing.
As it stands I just don't see D3 lasting even a fraction as long as D2 has. Hell if the current BETA was using the same character system as D2, I'd still be playing it over and over the past month instead of only logging in about once a week or so. I'd be doing that to play around with different builds, different ideas, etc. and having fun the whole time. As it is play it through once or twice with a character and you've seen pretty much everything on offer.
Different strokes for different folks. I can see why some people will like this better than D2, and I don't fault them for that. Just don't be at all surprised that there are also plenty of people that find it a huge letdown. It's all personal opinion at the end of the day.
Either way. At least I still have Torchlight 2 to look forward to for a more D2 like gaming experience. Which reminds me, wasn't Torchlight 2 supposed to launch last year during the Christmas season? What happened to it?
Regards,
SB
Delayed again, not certain on a new release date for it.
There was no word about platforms. For all we know, it might be Wii U exclusive...
Silent_Buddha
Legend
Bunch of interesting changes coming in the next patch.
Some good. Like the fact that grey/white items can no longer be salvaged for crafting mats. That should reduce the effect of crafting making content absolutely trivial once you gain the ability to salvage items in the early game.
Some not so good, IMO. One of the hotkey buttons is being made into potions only. So one less hotkey available for actual skills.
Some meh, but understandable. Removing the Mystic artisan due to not being able to do it proper justice before the game is released. Might come back later in a patch or with an expansion or DLC. As well removal of the Neph Cube and Cauldron of Jordan. Reason they gave for that was that players have the ability to port to town at will.
And some kinda strange. You actually can screw up your stats somewhat now as stats with regards to damage is class specific now. With each stat having 1 general purpose contribution that all classes can use. Strength now is the +resist all, while Dexterity gives dodge, and Intelligence give +health from globes. Vitality remains the same.
Meh. I'm sad now. I no longer have the ability to spec out a max crit build as none of the stats gives +crit%. Something I was highly looking forward to. I was really wanting to build a max crit build. Yay for removing even more customization options. Although I do like that there are stats that each class will prefer over other stats. Just makes me miss the 5 stat point allocation every level even more.
Regards,
SB
Some good. Like the fact that grey/white items can no longer be salvaged for crafting mats. That should reduce the effect of crafting making content absolutely trivial once you gain the ability to salvage items in the early game.
Some not so good, IMO. One of the hotkey buttons is being made into potions only. So one less hotkey available for actual skills.
Some meh, but understandable. Removing the Mystic artisan due to not being able to do it proper justice before the game is released. Might come back later in a patch or with an expansion or DLC. As well removal of the Neph Cube and Cauldron of Jordan. Reason they gave for that was that players have the ability to port to town at will.
And some kinda strange. You actually can screw up your stats somewhat now as stats with regards to damage is class specific now. With each stat having 1 general purpose contribution that all classes can use. Strength now is the +resist all, while Dexterity gives dodge, and Intelligence give +health from globes. Vitality remains the same.
Meh. I'm sad now. I no longer have the ability to spec out a max crit build as none of the stats gives +crit%. Something I was highly looking forward to. I was really wanting to build a max crit build. Yay for removing even more customization options. Although I do like that there are stats that each class will prefer over other stats. Just makes me miss the 5 stat point allocation every level even more.
Regards,
SB
No more identify scrolls either, your toon is just so uber they can do it themselves. But they have to return to town to break junk down into crafting materials. So your inventory space will dictate the flow of the game, interrupting combat and your exploration more than bringing up the inventory screen and quickly making space by using the cube.
The worst aspect of reading these changes is the impression they give. Which is that Blizz is still months and months away from finishing the game.
The worst aspect of reading these changes is the impression they give. Which is that Blizz is still months and months away from finishing the game.
Aye.
What are they doing, fucking with core systems this late in the devcycle? I thought they'd learned from doing that during the D2 development process, and that was far shorter than D3's has been so far. Execution seems to be somewhat in shambles over there. First WoW turns into casual city with pandas and shit, and now this.
What depresses me is that they're re-balancing and re-engineering the game by REMOVING stuff from it. That rarely makes a game better IME, often it just dumbs it down. There's been quite a bit of stuff cut from D3 now, glyphs went by the wayside last year already for example and now this.
I'm a bit concerned actually.
Casual appeal -> more sales. :shrug: Similar throught process to Resident Evil 6's more action to maximise sales.
Btw, I never did try the DIII beta. I'm not wasting ~15% of my monthly traffic for 30-60 mins of entertainment. Bring on Torchlight 2.
RE4 and 5 were already action games, how can they make an action game action gameier?
You can now move and shoot at the same time.
RE 7 will bring suck-on-your-thumb health regen methinks.
