Out of Pod Experience

Technically I was in the beta for SWTOR (funnily enough when I saw what it was and the resistance to noting bugsa in the community I left and reactivated my WoW account) AND still went and bought it (and shortly thereafter reactivated my WoW account on the basis of it was WoW and if I was gonna play WoW... well Ill play WoW).

Someone will find the perfect skill build for each class and everyone will use it, like WoW because they have access to all skills. There is no way to be unique anymore unlike D2 where you had atleast 3-4 skill builds for each class with diffrent gear, thats the main reason why I don´t want to play. Doesn´t seem as dark as D1/D2 either.

And this lack of decision making is what makes game feel dumb, there is no way to mess up, there is no reward for figuring out stat/skill combo that works well. You just "lol i instaswitch" which is pandering to adhd gamer of today so much it might as well have button that brings you game end.

Im sure some like being led by hand all the time, but thats why they going to love D3 while I will keep not liking it and play other arpg's.

One week to go!

Pretty much everyone I know that are into computergaming have pre-ordered the game.
A handfull of people at work even took next week off in order to sit down and play at launch.

Personally i am getting torchlight 2 myself, the studio is not as big, but seriously, it has parts of the original team that was Blizzard of the north. I loved D1 and D2, i'll give a few reasons and then compare to d3.

Story
The story in d1 and d2 did not feel forced, yet it had a quite interestin depht to things, it was linear sure but it was dark and grim aswell. When i played d3 it just felt like they were trying to shove the story in my face, it did not hook me, and i know it was just the initial part, but that's what's worse. If they focus that much on the story this time around it needs to be properly introduced and not feel like a third wheel.

Aesthetics
Using this instead of Graphics because i feel it explains it better, while the graphics wasn't overly advanced in d1 and d2, they had really nice aestethics. And gave you a really grim and gloomy feeling. It also had alot of contrast and variaton, and it did not really feel cartoony either. The aestethics in d3 just felt weird and out of place, it did not give me a dark or gloomy feeling at all, it made me feel undewhelmed, aswell as the explosions they so promised left me underwhelmed. This is just my personal opinion, but think they took a step back aestehics wise in this game.

A sidenote here, i know that Torchlight 2 looks cartoony aswell, but in that setting they are trying to portray it actually works, but it still feels dark and gloomy, from what i have been able to see at least.

Classes/skill system
The classes feels allright in D3 to be fair, neither really better or worse than d1 or d2 did it. And i don't really think being able to customize your character is that important to up the score. The skills in d3 feels anemic tho (See above) the explosions and stuff left me much to wish for, and i had my graphics at max. Perhaps it gets better in the later stuff, i don't know.

The skill system feels anemic aswell, while i find it great that you don't have to try different builds anymore, it also removes some of the fun that was d2, d1 was more experimenting with stats and so on. I don't mind the skill system in D3, but i do miss the stat points system where you could customize your class however you wanted.

Gameplay
The gameplay feels weird in d3, story doesn't fit in, some of the voice actors sounds really odd, for example the male barbarian sounds like kratos, while i love kratos as a character, i'm not sure if it does fit in this setting with that voice. Gameplay feels anemic aswell, monsters are allright, nothing of it really sticks out yet tho, even if it was just a short beta. The maps feels way to linear, both D1 and D2 was linear, but nothing like this, here essentially the sidepath just takes you to a hidden stash or somesuch like that.

Also, D3 might have automatic gold pickups etc, but is by no means special for doing so. Also the crafting system in it just feels tacked on.

The thing is, despite all that's been said. I don't think D3 is a bad game, i just don't think it's worth the 60 bucks when i personally feel i will get a better experience out of a 20 dollar game (Torchlight 2).

Torchlight 2 will be awsome, it's on the list of games to acquire for sure

But first things first, Daihabloh!

I'll just leave it here and here.

That would be a much more convincing argument before the internet redefined "figuring out stat/skill combos" to mean "spending 30 seconds looking up a character guide and following the cookie cutter build exactly". This hypothetical game you're talking about simply doesn't exist anymore. Within a short time of release day everything will be analyzed in detail, and the optimized character builds will be posted for everyone to use. And, unless you're a complete idiot, there's no way to mess it up.


And sorry, but no, punishing people for screwing up and spending skill/stat points on something that isn't good before they understand the game completely is NOT GOOD GAME DESIGN. Diablo 2 had this, and you know what it did? It reduced the game to "rush to hell cows, then leech until level 65 so you can finally start playing the game".

Watched it, looked just like Diablo 2 and Diablo 1 except with better graphics and more fluid gameplay design. If it's anything like the first two, it starts out extremely easy but ends up being one hell of a strategy game combined with an RPG, in order to progress at all. Especially on higher levels of difficulty.

I honestly don't think I've ever, in my life, met a person who didn't love Diablo when they played it. Go figure that the first ones I would ever see would be on the Eve forums.

Also, as has been said before, quit judging the entire game on the Beta where they gave you a taste of the tutorial region. That's like saying "OH, SKIING IS SO EASY" when all you've done is the bunny slope.

I got Diablo 3 and am sitting here playing Monday Night Combat waiting to play Diablo 3 at midnight.

You know what I expect?

I expect World of Diablo. Why? Because it's being made by a company called Blizzard who has their hands in the pockets of some millions of people right now. And they're all willing to blindly fork over their cold hard cash to the company who they bow to for just about anything. So instead of being the hardcore Diablo fans that they're going to cater to, instead they are going to make a game that caters to the current population and climate that they are receiving income from. Which is unfortunate, if you ask me. I see a lot of things being "dumbed down" which is too bad, but I expect it too. And honestly you always did have more resolution with sprites so I expect a lot to look different. It's not the isometric hack and slash anymore people! Now we have real 3D and things should feel slightly off.

That much I expected. When I logged in and saw that everything in the options menu was basically directly taken straight from WoW that worried me a bit -- and the fact they're calling it the auction house instead of something like "Gheed's Van" or something also has me a bit concerned :P

I hope to have fun though, and I think I will. Just remember that in order for the company to make money they can't think like they did when they made Diablo 2 -- they have to think like what's making them money now -- which is World of Warcraft.