Am I actually enjoying D3???

I decided to pick up D3 again before POE goes into open beta. Really wanted some ARPG, but just couldn't do POE knowing it would all be wiped within a months time.

I layed down a couple rules for myself before reinstalling. One, I would play on hardcore to make it more exciting and two, I would NEVER use the auction house. And right now, heading into Act 4, I have been really enjoying it!

There are still a number of flaws that drove me crazy the first time through, and the itemization still sucks and is relatively boring. You're still not making your own character as much as on a railroad track of unlocks. But the combat is very fun, and I could be wrong, but I think they have added a few minor elements to the game, some side bosses and such. So its been a blast so far, which I am rather surprised to say.

Also, I learned that they have added the ability to increase monster health and difficulty similar to the old /players X. Its through the Bnet menu screen, but the effect is the same. So on the first playthrough which is just stupid easy, you can up the monsters HP, XP and drops which makes it much more fun.

If I dwell on their idiotic decision making when developing the game it still makes me mad.... but I got to say the combat and the game engine are super fun to play.

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Trapperkeeper wrote:

You're still not making your own character as much as on a railroad track of unlocks.

Well, since you put it that way...

Diablo 2: Pick your destinaton, then get on the express train there.

Diablo 3: Get on a normal train, then stop at whatever station along the way you want to go to. You can even go back to an earlier station, if you want to.

How the Diablo 3-solution is a bad thing is beyond me. I agree that they did a lot of stupid design choices, but all in all, I really enjoy what the game has become. Who knows what it'll look like in a year or two? :)

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How the Diablo 3-solution is a bad thing is beyond me. I agree that they did a lot of stupid design choices, but all in all, I really enjoy what the game has become. Who knows what it'll look like in a year or two? :)

They should just get rid of the mechanic all together then. Why give players the illusion of choice? I mean, if we're going to take away choice from players, it's under the assumption that they will not enjoy having choice, or that choice is superfluous, that players should just be given the things they're going to get anyway (the most optimal build). So by giving players the most optimal (or, the only) build from the get-go, why do we even ask players to kill monsters? Or to play the game? If games are only about "having fun" then why not just make movies? Why let the player do anything?

Is chess still a game when there is only one move to make on any given board? Or when all moves are winning moves?

It's fine to enjoy games that aren't games, but don't call them games please. I want to play games with my money, not be a passive participant in them.

So in your mind God of War isn't a game?

Interesting...

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BelKirill wrote:

So in your mind God of War isn't a game?

Interesting...

I'd like to hear the thought process that went into this statement, but God of War DOES have some serious problems I'd wish they'd address. Not only have I never found the series challenging (a button masher basically), but too many monsters are killed with QTEs. A nice combo system, of course, but Devil May Cry is at least reasonably difficult at its higher difficulties and has just as good a combat system.

It's interesting you bring up GoW though. One would think a pure action game would have very little to do with a hack and slash RPG with roguelike and real time combat mechanics - if only because you don't turn around and make the next Star Wars movie a spaghetti western. But GoW and D3 probably have more mechanics between them than D3 and D2.

Let's not try and talk about video games in general here because I don't really want to spew out a book for you to read. I also think there's a specific set of conditions to the discussion of D3.

Diablo 3, by its title, is the successor to Diablo 2.

As a result, there are certain expectations one has going into such a product.

We tend to think of sequels as "improvements" or "next versions" of our favorite game.

When the sequel to a game isn't much like the game before it, I think you have to understand why people might be upset.

In the context of an RPG, even if Diablo 2's RPG mechanics are a little thin, tactical combat is important. Strategical planning is important.

Diablo 3 has some tactical elements, but most of its strategic elements were completely stripped from it - in order to make the game simpler to digest for new players.

This is what I mean. Strategy requires there be choice. When one removes choice, when one makes the game of strategy an "you always pick the right choice" thing, strategy dissolves. You no longer have a strategic game. Diablo 3 is not strategic. This is what's upsetting to me and I imagine some fans of the series.

Diablo 3 is also not faithful in other ways to Diablo 2.

Path of Exile may be considered the legitimate sequel to Diablo 2, because it strives to improve upon the mechanics of Diablo 2, instead of taking them out of the game.

This is also partially why Dragon Age 2 was so vehemently opposed by fans. Because it not only was less like DA:O, it was nothing like Baldur's Gate, which is what it was supposed to be spiritually sequel'ing.

Honestly going towards the easy access when it comes to AH/RMAH isn't what I'd call a good idea.

I would rather have trading worlds where people would trade item for item. As long as there wouldn't be any item like SOJs (a bad mistake imo), I could see this being a little better so long as players had some sort of way to display what they were trading and what they were interested in (like trading stalls/booths in which you put up your wares, and have a list of preferences on what you want).

D2 trade games you at least had SOME communication, no matter how basic, Diablo 3 there is hardly any communication at all when it comes to trading.

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DeMasked wrote:

Honestly going towards the easy access when it comes to AH/RMAH isn't what I'd call a good idea.

I would rather have trading worlds where people would trade item for item. As long as there wouldn't be any item like SOJs (a bad mistake imo), I could see this being a little better so long as players had some sort of way to display what they were trading and what they were interested in (like trading stalls/booths in which you put up your wares, and have a list of preferences on what you want).

D2 trade games you at least had SOME communication, no matter how basic, Diablo 3 there is hardly any communication at all when it comes to trading.

D3 has player-to-player trading. There are a gazillion fan sites out there as well as D3's own trading forums (probably the only forum section you won't go mad reading).

"

anubite wrote:

They should just get rid of the mechanic all together then. Why give players the illusion of choice?

How the heck did you go from "We can stop at every station you want to, and you can even go back" to "We only have an illusion of choice"? Are you just trolling? Let me explain it one more time, this time in more detail:

Diablo 2: We make a choice what kind of character we want to make, then we pursue that choice until we hit level 99. If we want to make a new choice along the way, we need to start over again from scratch with a new character.

Diablo 3: All skills are unlocked along the way, so we make our choices along the way. Played twenty levels with a certain skill and got bored? Change the skill and continue. Can't figh the boss with your current skill? Change the skill and try again.

No matter how you put it, we have far more choice with the Diablo 3 solution than the Diablo 2 solution.

"

Trapperkeeper wrote:

I decided to pick up D3 again before POE goes into open beta. Really wanted some ARPG, but just couldn't do POE knowing it would all be wiped within a months time.

I layed down a couple rules for myself before reinstalling. One, I would play on hardcore to make it more exciting and two, I would NEVER use the auction house. And right now, heading into Act 4, I have been really enjoying it!

There are still a number of flaws that drove me crazy the first time through, and the itemization still sucks and is relatively boring. You're still not making your own character as much as on a railroad track of unlocks. But the combat is very fun, and I could be wrong, but I think they have added a few minor elements to the game, some side bosses and such. So its been a blast so far, which I am rather surprised to say.

Also, I learned that they have added the ability to increase monster health and difficulty similar to the old /players X. Its through the Bnet menu screen, but the effect is the same. So on the first playthrough which is just stupid easy, you can up the monsters HP, XP and drops which makes it much more fun.

If I dwell on their idiotic decision making when developing the game it still makes me mad.... but I got to say the combat and the game engine are super fun to play.

Seriously jealous of you. I cannot get past the fact that I am not, in your words, making my own character. Plenty of great games do not give you that option, but none of them have been of the isometric arpg genre. I expect to forge my own path even if the destination might be the same. I expect it in a Diablo game, anyway.

You may not be so finicky..so, good for you, dude. :)