Diablo III

[Skane]

Originally Posted by Vallen Chaos Valiant

~~ In the mean time I will just treat every monster I kill as a Blizzard employee.

There are actually Champions in the game named after Blizzard employees (Bashiok being one of them). You can have your cake and eat it too.

Cheers.

[Wigwams]

just started playing in the last few hours, im in SEA and playing in americas server. so far so good, 300ish ping, no errors at all, though it seems they do maintenance everyday. i have no idea why there are alot of people suffering from random DCs, i didnt get any at all from start to getting the crown.

[aohige]

Originally Posted by LoweGear

You may think that's what happens ingame, but it doesn't. I myself had to switch up my abilities dozens of times just to better suit the situation I'm gonna find myself in. Ability builds are a lot more situational in DIII; an ability combo you may find effective in an open field in may be difficult to use in a restricted dungeon, or a build that allows you to decimate entire mobs may be useless against single large bosses (My laser build is one such build). Hell, there are builds that are awesome in Act 1 that may not be the best in Act 4.

Abilities in this game are basically treated like weapons in a modern FPS game: you can only equip and use a limited number at any time, so you need to choose which abilities to take in a particular combat situation. And for some situations you might have to find creative ways to make your existing build work, or plan ahead and modify your ability build to optimize yourself to the enemy at hand. Considering how much more... tactical DIII is compared to DII at much later levels, your success is more ultimately down to your actual skill as a player and how you best utilize your abilities rather than having overpowered abilities and inflated stats anyhow. If I can instantly switch between all 30 of my skills (and their 150 variants) in a single battle at once, then the game becomes massively too easy, and there'd be no more 'builds' to speak off. It also speaks well to the goal of freedom when they make even your starting spells useful in endgame (for my Wizard, Magic Missile becomes a lot more useful once I've unlocked the runes for it, and with the Split rune it becomes useful even up till' Diablo himself. In contrast, the Sorceress' Firebolt in DII becomes quite useless early on once you get higher level skills).

It's not like you can use ALL your abilities in DII anyway: you still need to queue them to be switched up, and you can only use two abilities at a time. DIII gives you the ability to use a maximum of 6 abilities at once in all manner of combinations (provided you activated Elective Mode). There is a lot more freedom of ability choice in DIII than in many other RPG's I've seen: given that you can access a maximum of 150 spell variants, having a cap on how often you can switch between them in battle is a fair trade-off IMHO.

While this may be true, one thing this game is severly lacking, and for no reason since they address the exact same issue in their other games, is the ability to save your own template, and switch easily back and forth.

Basically what WoW calls "duel speccing" and what Guild Wars simply offers exactly the above.

I want to at least save my "mob build" and my "boss build", and switch back and forth with a simple shortcut.
Like they let us do with duel speccing.

[Skane]

Going into NM-Act-3 and I am finding that VIT is amazingly important. I was dealing decent damage, but I was too squishy, and any encounter with Champions with absurd mods would often result in "Bad Things".

Capping my DPS at 1100+, I started to stack VIT and went from 4000+hp to 10000+hp and sweet Aiur... what a difference! I may not be able to blow up minions in one hit any more, but I can kite them indefinitely through Blizzard and Hydra. Definitely taking notes for my eventual Hardcore character(s).

I also have a regeneration rate of 90-100hp/s due to the Galvanizing Ward passive. Using Energy Armor for the +65% armor modifier. With it active, I have about -46% damage reduction from equal level monsters.

The thing about monsters in Diablo 3 is that there is no aggro mechanic. You simply cannot assume that a Monk or Barbarian can grab all the monsters' attention. Add in mods like Vortex, and your character MUST be able to survive sudden melee situations, or DIE.

Cheers.

[Jazzrat]

Originally Posted by aohige

While this may be true, one thing this game is severly lacking, and for no reason since they address the exact same issue in their other games, is the ability to save your own template, and switch easily back and forth.

Basically what WoW calls "duel speccing" and what Guild Wars simply offers exactly the above.

I want to at least save my "mob build" and my "boss build", and switch back and forth with a simple shortcut.
Like they let us do with duel speccing.

I dont think you ll be switching much at 60 just for the valor buff but having an ingame template saver would be nice indeed.

Originally Posted by Vallen Chaos Valiant

Right, I just got my first "disconnect" and got kicked from the game. It is exactly as I feared; at random times, just when new monsters show up, I would get lag and the monsters land free hits. And of course the disconnect I just mentioned. These wonderful things I tried to avoid by NOT playing online games...

I am hoping that in ten years time, when Blizzard releases DIV, that they would be kind enough finally give us a offline singleplayer. In the mean time I will just treat every monster I kill as a Blizzard employee.

There's an achievement for killing Jay Wilson ingame actually. It's a random dungeon called Development Hell in Act I when you are looking for Leoric's crown.

Also, most of the development team is ingame but no achievement for killing em.

Originally Posted by Skane

The thing about monsters in Diablo 3 is that there is no aggro mechanic. You simply cannot assume that a Monk or Barbarian can grab all the monsters' attention. Add in mods like Vortex, and your character MUST be able to survive sudden melee situations, or DIE.

Cheers.

Just got into nightmare today, pulled 2 champions with the group and people were dying left and right. D3 is much more difficult compare to D2 in a sense that champion mods are more varied.

As for holding mobs, Monk is pretty good at pulling loose group into one nice AOE pack with Cyclone Strike and Barbarian can taunt and pull as well... of course that's assuming they dont get gibbed. I got 50%+ dmg reduction and 45% dodge and healing ability, there's still places where i need to gtfo till my potion/heal cd refresh.

[TJR]

Originally Posted by Vallen Chaos Valiant

I am hoping that in ten years time, when Blizzard releases DIV, that they would be kind enough finally give us a offline singleplayer. In the mean time I will just treat every monster I kill as a Blizzard employee.

If the industry has its way, Diablo III will just be the start. Rock, Paper, Shotgun has a pretty good article on the state of affairs, and the quote from Tim Willits ('it takes juggernauts like Diablo III to make change') is a reflection of what many would like to see.

The F2P model is also gaining massive support from developers, so starting price may not be an argument in the long run. Nevertheless, we're surely seeing the video game transform from a product (store bought, self-contained good - yours to keep and use on your own terms) to a service (like an amusement park. You pay for the rides you go on, and you're constrained by operating hours and potential downtime. When the park closes for good, it's nothing but a good memory).

[Kyouka]

i got to 50! its hell time after my anime hehe

[Kyero Fox]

am I the only person here with a male DH?

[Sugetsu]

Originally Posted by Vallen Chaos Valiant

Right, I just got my first "disconnect" and got kicked from the game. It is exactly as I feared; at random times, just when new monsters show up, I would get lag and the monsters land free hits. And of course the disconnect I just mentioned. These wonderful things I tried to avoid by NOT playing online games...

I am hoping that in ten years time, when Blizzard releases DIV, that they would be kind enough finally give us a offline singleplayer. In the mean time I will just treat every monster I kill as a Blizzard employee.

You can still play diablo 3 in offline mode, of course, it isn't legal but I don't care :P

Hackers are currently working on server emulation patches for the game, it won't be long now.

When will activison/blizzard learn that DRM is not a smart business model. The only thing it does is complicate the lives of the costumers.

[Skane]

Originally Posted by kyouka

i got to 50! its hell time after my anime hehe

Make sure you're prepared before making the leap.

Currently Lvl-48 and grinding the last section of NM-A3 for XP and gold. Will move on to NM-A4 at Lvl-51.

Venom Hydra is absurdly good against stationary targets. The poison pools stack...

Natch.

[Xacual]

Originally Posted by Sugetsu

You can still play diablo 3 in offline mode, of course, it isn't legal but I don't care :P

Hackers are currently working on server emulation patches for the game, it won't be long now.

When will activison/blizzard learn that DRM is not a smart business model. The only thing it does is complicate the lives of the costumers.

When the customers stop buying? Say what you want, but the fact that millions of people still bought the game said they were fine with DRM if it meant they could play.

Also you can say it won't be long now, but even the servers trying to run the beta never even worked properly and the beta was around for months. I doubt you'll see a working offline version of D3 anytime soon.

[Sugetsu]

Originally Posted by Xacual

When the customers stop buying? Say what you want, but the fact that millions of people still bought the game said they were fine with DRM if it meant they could play.

Stable and fast speed internet connections are not very common in most parts of the world. Blizzard is limiting its costumer base to pretty much people in developed countries.

[Kyouka]

Originally Posted by Skane

Make sure you're prepared before making the leap.

Currently Lvl-48 and grinding the last section of NM-A3 for XP and gold. Will move on to NM-A4 at Lvl-51.

Venom Hydra is absurdly good against stationary targets. The poison pools stack...

Natch.

lol im ready!
lvl 60 before this weekend for sure

[Xacual]

Originally Posted by Sugetsu

Stable and fast speed internet connections are not very common in most parts of the world. Blizzard is limiting its costumer base to pretty much people in developed countries.

You mean the people most likely to buy and play pc games? You're right, it does seem odd that they would cater to those people specifically.

I mean I understand your anger over the whole DRM and everything but always online internet isn't a big deal for the markets that Blizzard usually markets to; Europe, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and US.

[Somnus]

Originally Posted by Kyero Fox

am I the only person here with a male DH?

Ha ha, you're not alone! Male DH here, too.

[Blaat]

I long for the days when Lightning Enchanted mobs were scary. Nowadays it's arcane especially in combination with other elements (invulnerable minions, molten, fast, prison)

[Sugetsu]

Originally Posted by Xacual

You mean the people most likely to buy and play pc games? You're right, it does seem odd that they would cater to those people specifically.

I mean I understand your anger over the whole DRM and everything but always online internet isn't a big deal for the markets that Blizzard usually markets to; Europe, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and US.

That assumption is quite wrong. PC gaming is alive and well all over the world. I have been to south america and gaming in all of its forms is very popular. High speed connections are a luxury though, so most people don't have them. The most predominant type of internet connections are dial up and DSL, and the pings with American based servers isn't very good.

[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by Kyero Fox

am I the only person here with a male DH?

Not to worry, I'm with you there.

Though will say no chance I was turning down the female Wizard .

[Xacual]

Originally Posted by Sugetsu

That assumption is quite wrong. PC gaming is alive and well all over the world. I have been to south america and gaming in all of its forms is very popular. High speed connections are a luxury though, so most people don't have them. The most predominant type of internet connections are dial up and DSL, and the pings with American based servers isn't very good.

Please read my second bit there, Blizzard doesn't usually market to South America, at least not right away. Look how long it was between WoW release and the Brazilian version of the game to come out. It wasn't until 2011 that that happened.

[Newprimus]

Got the game yesterday and for ten hours it's been YYEEEEEEAAAAHH!!!!! But I'm still only at the beginning of act 2 with my DH char. Trying to pull a wizard the same place. Trying to figure out which class I'll commit with, both are so much fun!!