My experience with DIABLO III. (Stay awhile and listen..)

Haven't played the game, but recently went back to watching vids by the guy on YouTube whose coverage helped me develop my original decision not to play the game. The channel is ForceSC2strategy, and the guy is pretty much a Blizzard supporter all the way, though his reviews are reasonably objective.

He has been running a Wizard char in hardcore (not that that makes a material difference in the gameplay). I've watched him play through all of Act 1 and part of Act 2, so far, and it has been... Interesting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEzqZsmZ8P0

While Force is clearly enjoying the game, his commentary reveals a lot of the problems folks here have described. One of the most telling is that he refuses to craft anything. He states that it is a waste of gold, relative to simply buying things at the AH.

This is a PRO gamer, positively inclined toward the game mfg and the product, stating that, functionally, the AH had rendered a major element of the game redundant.

He did mention that he was also playing a Barb in Inferno, but that he wouldn't be making any vids of that, as it was "boring." Clearly he meant as a subject for a video, but if the end-game grind is that lackluster... I dunno.

The plotting is linear, with almost no attempt to disguise that fact. Where in D1 and D2 you would have to explore to find quest locations, D3 more or less puts you on rails. Many appear not to mind, but I dun like my adventures to be perfunctory.

I was also really bothered by the main villain in Act 1. Does Disney know that Blizzivision has co-opted Sleeping Beauty's Malificent? Except that Maghda lacks the kind of deep villainy that would transcend her being a sneering lackey. On the other hand, at least she was a foe with personality, which we haven't yet seen in PoE. Perhaps with the voice-acting, our cast of baddies will develop some depth.

The art direction for D3 is, in fact, rather Disneyesque. I don't mean that as a criticism, necessarily; it just occurred to me while watching that it strongly resembles the old-style, hand-painted animation backgrounds from the Disney studios. PoE has a crisper, hyper-realistic style which appeals to me more; playing PoE, I can almost smell the air and feel the breezes, especially in Act 2. In D3, it's just... Different.

Watching as skills and such unlocked was also interesting. Force made his decisions based on the requirements of HC play, but some of the variations were clearly not as effective as others. While this is to be expected, I have not yet seen the gradual narrowing of effective build options I have heard about as difficulty increases. I suppose it will depend on Force's success in surviving in HC with this character.

Nothing I've seen makes me want to play D3; while Force enjoys it, he also grumbles off-handedly quite a bit about many of the issues which have been raised, including unreliable connectivity. It's obviously something he's prepared to live with (for as long as the problems persist), but he also doesn't hold back in criticizing Blizzivision for it.

Gonna keep watching, if only to follow the story (even though I already know how it turns out). I hope we don't see any more characters badly translated from D2 to D3,

Not. Good. =>[.]<=

Short Version for Diablo III:
-boring gameplay
-boring, too colourful setting
-bad graphics (graphic is not everything, but Diablo III graphic is really bad)
-really bad music, after some hours it's getting in my nervs
-some crafting skills are useless

---ERROR 37---ERROR37---ERROR37---ERROR37---ERROR37---
=You can't connect to Diablo III!!!

its funny how opinionated your thread is, basically what you dont like about it. the games been through 11 or so years of development, and i personally know poeple that have maxed out multiple characters on hell difficulty.
its just too hard for you :p

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Raycheetah wrote:

Not. Good. =>[.]<=

When you're through with the story and it's not to your liking, you might want to cheer up with this.

I don't see D3 having much longevity. I'm in Hell with a Monk and I'm already bored with it and haven't logged in for days.

And let me just say this - Diablo's voice over is so ridiculous, it totally ruins the fight for me. TERROARRRR

God.

I've played with the DH and the Barb, too, but honestly, I'm just not really motivated to level them.

D3 has some problems and is in need of some patching. We all knew that would be the case when we signed up to buy it early, but you would think that after 12 years, they would have done a little better with polish than this.

Also, main criticism which relates to longevity - it's TOO SHORT. It's in desperate need of an itemization overhaul, some patches, the AH to actually function correctly and some new content. How it took 12 years to churn out this too short game with broken parts like the AH is beyond me.

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zanzabaarr wrote:

its funny how opinionated your thread is, basically what you dont like about it. the games been through 11 or so years of development

No it hasn't. More like, what, 5 or so?

Edit: Yes, I know how long it's been since LoD came out.

"

and i personally know poeple that have maxed out multiple characters on hell difficulty.
its just too hard for you :p

You mean Inferno?

And did those people use the AH? How did they get their gear? Were they using odd builds? See, being accurate and addressing points are *good* when replying in a thread.

"

Avireyn wrote:

"

Raycheetah wrote:

Not. Good. =>[.]<=

When you're through with the story and it's not to your liking, you might want to cheer up with this.

Couldn't wait *BIG smile!* Thanks! =^[.]^=

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Avireyn wrote:

"

Raycheetah wrote:

Not. Good. =>[.]<=

When you're through with the story and it's not to your liking, you might want to cheer up with this.

I nearly fell out of my chair laughing at that thread. It was truly hilarious, and SO CLOSE to the mark.

"

WippitGuud wrote:

Wow... and I thought the hate for D3 was strong here. The hate on their own forums is staggering.

Indeed it is. I've been watching the forums on an off for weeks, and people are not letting the game' failures fade away.

In my opinion, such hatred is very much warranted. Let's be honest. Always-Online DRM sucks, and it's borderline crippling when attached to a single-player game. (Hey-yo, Assassin's Creed 2.)

And then the news of accounts with authenticators being hacked is still coming. More and more people are saying this, yet Blizzard's not saying much on it.

Given all of this, I think the original creators deserved to keep making their Diablo III, even without Blizzard. The way it looks, I'd play that over what we got.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/05/28/the-diablo-iii-that-never-was/

"

AgentBJ09 wrote:

"

WippitGuud wrote:

Wow... and I thought the hate for D3 was strong here. The hate on their own forums is staggering.

Indeed it is. I've been watching the forums on an off for weeks, and people are not letting the game' failures fade away.

In my opinion, such hatred is very much warranted. Let's be honest. Always-Online DRM sucks, and it's borderline crippling when attached to a single-player game. (Hey-yo, Assassin's Creed 2.)

And then the news of accounts with authenticators being hacked is still coming. More and more people are saying this, yet Blizzard's not saying much on it.

Given all of this, I think the original creators deserved to keep making their Diablo III, even without Blizzard. The way it looks, I'd play that over what we got.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/05/28/the-diablo-iii-that-never-was/

Do what you want, 'cause a pirate is free, YOU ARE A PIRATE! Yar har, fiddle di dee, Being a pirate is alright to be, Do what you want 'cause a pirate is free, You are a pirate!