+1 for creative item design. Brother Laz influence?

I just want to give a big thank you to GGG and the unique (hoho get it) way they're looking at item design. Coming out with new and interesting items that can fundamentally change the way a spec or class is played is exactly what games like this needs. I am actually curious to see if Brother Laz still has a say in item design and creation.

For those you who may not know, he is one of the most well known modders out there for Diablo 2 (Mexian XL), creating thousands of items and a virtually brand new game. He also has a very practical method of going about making items- he understands that players want strong, overpowered items. The key is to find out what you can create that are very strong, but not quite so strong that it makes X or Y absolutely and completely overpowered/#1 build to have, etc. And who knows, sometimes even unintended consequences happen, and a particular item does make that happen, and will need to be tweaked. Every game out there has those periods of time where X player or Y item or Z build was dominant. That's how things go, and is what we need to create a lasting environment. The 3 minute mage from lvl 60 WoW. The Fantasy/Bisu/Boxer/etc eras of Brood War. The rise of Stephano in SC2. Gambling SoJs in D2 classic. Javazons in LoD. Sven/Mag/Tide/insert X hero here era of Dota1/dota2.

Making new and interesting items is just one of the many ways GGG is doing right. Yes, they're a small company of 20 people. No, desync issues, new acts, and more end game content aren't exactly around the corner. But for being a free game and being their FIRST game, they're doing a lot of things right.

http://i.imgur.com/hBsBj3X.gif


TL, DR- if you haven't hired Brother Laz yet, you guys totally should. 10/10 would play games by him again.

Yes, he works for GGG designing uniques.

If I recall, they contracted him to help do exactly that.

I remember him being contacted to help design items in POE early on, I was just unsure if he was continuing to do so, either PT or FT. But it is indeed good to hear he's still going strong. I would not be surprised at all if he personally designed some of the new uniques that just came out, or at least had his hand in crafting them.

As far as I know, the new Uniques were supporter-items and in their favor some of the Uniques by Laz have been delayed. But some of the earlier uniques (like Facebreakers) were designed by him, if I remember correctly.