Diablo III

wait waht awes

OMG

lol the gameplay vid couldn't be more "hack & slash"

want

O_O

Interesting choice to take out the potions, it looks like it's going to be a little more skill-based. I'm more interested in this than Starcraft II.

good times good times

Wait - by the time this is actually released, there's no way my computer/video card will be supported. Bah!

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG

Nhex start buying new ones now! By the time it's released you can probably have a new computer for only a dollar a day.

by the time it's released computers will be obsolete

I mean I'm still looking forward to this and SC2 but seriously since wow took off I don't know why they'd bother

Fuck....only videogame I've ever truly loved is D2. Really don't want to go back down this path.

Nhex start buying new ones now! By the time it's released you can probably have a new computer for only a dollar a day.

-- Will M., Monday, June 30, 2008 2:57 PM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Link

you mean... a buck a day?

i always forget that world of warcraft is based on... warcraft.

are they gonna make one called spaceship of starcraft?

more like "dia-blow me" amirite

I guess I do mean abuckaday!

excited for dis

you mean... a buck a day?

young rev fuckin with diablo ii in '10

one of my colleagues told me recently that the game would be out on may 15th and i've been going back and forth about getting it. i spent a load of time (actually, far too much time) playing d2+lod so i dunno if i want to go down that hole again. also i've looked at the classes and they leave me kind of cold. still, just reading about this game being released soon makes me giddy. my main concern is that i only have a laptop and that the game might not run on it (and looking at the min specs for this game, i have no idea if my graphic card is suitable or not).

so, anyone on ilx looking forward to this, approx 4 yrs after talking about it ?

tombot mad prescient itt

I'm kinda looking forward to it. but to be honest, i'm looking more forward to the Torchlight and Borderlands sequels coming out this year. Maybe even Grim Dawn, but that probably won't be out until next year.

In a similar boat, I'm not sure I even want to bother with D3, but if i have any friends who get it, I might get sucked in

Also, it's been so long since the announcement I might be getting a new Mac this year anyway, lol!

the comfy chair/big screen factor with console vs PC gaming is getting way out of proportion in how it biases me regarding what games i want to play. i reeeeally reeeeally want to play diablo 3, but ffs. sitting at the pc? seriously? draaaaag. when the day comes i am sure i will blackout for a few minutes and come around having bought it on steam, and that will force my hand i guess.

you mean through Blizzard's watchamacallit

I think what they're aiming for is that grinding is definitely possible but definitely optional. You play through on Normal level 1-30, Nightmare 30-50, Hell 50-60, and Inferno is all level 60 all the time, but you'll need to grind your gear from Hell Act V to be able to survive Inferno Act I, then grind gear from Inferno Act I to survive Inferno Act II... Apparently there's an internal Blizzard book open on how many months it will take for the first person to finish Inferno Act V.

So yeah, if you want to hit max level and declare yourself done, you definitely can, no eye-bleeding grinding to level 99 here.

i'm trying not to think about it

It kind of bothered me that Diablo II makes you play the same exact game on different difficulties just to get the highest levels, the best gear, and have the best character for multiplayer

so, anyone on ilx looking forward to this, approx 4 yrs after talking about it ?

I don't self-identify as a big-time gamer, but having said that I did play enough D2 to run up each character class to level 95+ before going cold turkey. I'm still in fear of what D3 will do to my time.

elvis i feel like we're in the same boat. not really a gamer as i played only two games hard : d2 & cs. but man did i play those games a lot. actually i think for the last 6 months i was playing d2, i wasnt really playing, i was just in it for the trading. i had a few irl friends who played too and i just became their trader.

i always forget that world of warcraft is based on... warcraft.

― s1ocki, Monday, June 30, 2008 5:24 PM (3 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

are they gonna make one called spaceship of starcraft?

― s1ocki, Monday, June 30, 2008 5:24 PM (3 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Free beta this weekend if y'all wish to face your demons :)

Well, at least downloading the beta let me know my video card isn't supported, heh.

doing the same right now... don't know if i should hope for a video card that's supported or not

It's not open until 12:00 PDT, which is about 8:00 in the UK?

To console myself, and because I'm working from home, I treated myself to reinstalling Torchlight, just to get down to level 5 with the one class I'd not played yet.

Two hours later, I'm wondering if maybe I should avoid Diablo III over the weekend, if I want to get anything at all done.

Haha though just getting to the login screen and putzing about with options reminds me that Blizzard are really very good at what they do, there's a definite aesthetic at work, as high quality as Starcraft / WoW but very different.

andrew : true, blizzard really are good at what they do
also i tried to click like a fool on login for a few seconds before realizing that the beta wasn't open yet. i can def say i am now stoked for the madness ! they are aboutto suck me in big time in this once again. also, it's been a very long time since i opened d2 but damn if this doesn't replicate the feel of the old one, just via that login screen.

Haha yeah also I'm glad it's not working while the sun is out, 8pm will suit this much better :)

COME, SIT A WHILE AND LISTEN

Whew... My video card is too old too.

i'm afraid i might be up to date, this could be a problem.
i have a busy weekend planned.

beta is pretty good stuff. it's a formula, but it works. it works too damn well!

i can understand the usual hardcore griping about it being simplified (I bet this would play great with a controller - only six hotkeys needed!) but i don't see that as a problem at all

still not sure if i'm gonna invest my life in this, but i might be tipped over if i can find a decent deal on the game

my video card does not run this very well, btw, more impetus to replace this iMac...

also kinda shocked that battle.net doesn't have voice chat

I can't get on the fucking beta though it looks like my new computer (from last year) runs this like a wizard
once i get on my life is over, nice knowing you guys

The good news is that they've still got it, the bad news is it's not 2000 any more and one-more-game oh-is-that-the-sunset sessions are, to put it fucking mildly, no longer a good match for my lifestyle.

But yeah, this is a really great game, while you're playing it. The faffing around with connecting to the server every time you want to run a single-player game is not so great (though I can totally see why they've done it), but the game is A-1.

The classes are all pretty simple to pick up, I love that any given playing experience is just six buttons, but you've got 3-4 skills for each of those buttons, and 4-5 runes to modify those skills... there will be some theorycrafting going on no doubt, but I'll also be able to pick what works well for me and play the game through at least twice.

I did dig the way that a new ability or a new rune for an old ability could really change your playstyle and/or your effectiveness. Also I'm curious how non-top-level PVP will work, if at all: "Hey there's a lvl 11 wizard let's tear his head off - oh no it's a lvl 12 wizard, run from the death machine!"

The demo's only really representative of the gameplay up to a point I suppose - the stuff where you're levelling through to the end boss is okay, but you'll continue going from there (about level 10?) rather than start grinding the boss again and again (because you can't get any further than him in the demo, and because the level cap is 13). Though I suppose practice with soul-destroying boss runs is also useful :)

I imagine the levelling will be tweaked in the finished product, as you're only supposed to hit level 30 at the end of your first run-through, which is the end of act IV. Or maybe they just want to get you up and running and a feel for the character as soon as possible.

I admit I never played much co-op in Diablo II, but I don't remember it being this awesome - the banners that teleport you to another player, the individual loot drops, the way that the quest progresses for all at the same time as one (and the way it'll confirm everyone is ready before teleporting you all together for an important set-piece). I can definitely see me levelling my 2nd to, er, 5th characters that way.

Also I got the authentic Diablo moment - after getting a few rares from various kills of the end boss, I got one just by knocking over an urn.

So yeah it was great, I.m glad I basically lost this weekend to it (argh it tells you how long you've been playing each of the characters - I'm over 20 hours in total lol @ me), and I'm also glad that I only buy games at £20 or less because I will need to Set Aside some time for this, and it eating my May would not be good.

Just beat the Beta with the monk; i think this will be harder in the final version.

the bad news is it's not 2000 any more and one-more-game oh-is-that-the-sunset sessions are, to put it fucking mildly, no longer a good match for my lifestyle.

Also it's great at its ambience of course, and the Witch Doctor's Zombie Dogs are genuinely unsettling.

Also also I forgot to mention some of the really "FYI we are not a Diablo clone so we can mix things up as much as we want" decisions.

I really love that the talent trees have been replaced by the (much cooler) set up I was talking about, where you don't get the choice to click the '+' next to the skill that increases fire damage by 1% or the one that reduced the cost of fire spell by 1%, but instead every level you get 1-4 new skills or new versions of old skills, which you can use as one of your six buttons. Crucially this means that I don't have to go up five levels knowing that the points I get for these levels will go towards an ability that, in another five levels, I will replace with the one I want, and never think about again.

What I'm not so certain about, but which might be genius, is that they've taken away the twin panel, the stats. You can still see them on the character profile, but your choice of class determines how they go up each level. You can still affect them with gear and some passive skills, but that's it.

And from that comes not just no stat requirements on gear, but a complete lack of armor classes - almost everyone can wear almost everything, and the same piece of armor looks different on different classes. They can get away with this because with the Paladin gone, the heavy hitters are the monk and the barbarian, both of which start in leather, so everyone's armor upgrades from leather -> mail -> more platey, and you can maintain a cohesive look for the class.

Thhis

Bah, ignore that bit at the end.

Just beat the Beta with the monk; i think this will be harder in the final version.

Yeah, definitely, the only time I died was when I was trying for the "kill a lot of enemies at the same time" achievement.

Ha, cheers for reporting back, Andrew/forks. I ended up on a consolation Torchlight run-through this weekend instead, heh.

Blizzard tend to be pretty good with the polish/depth - sounds like D3 has that in spades. How is the music/SFX, out of curiosity? The town theme from the original Diablo still gets stuck in my head/mashed-up with John Fahey, etc.

oh yeah, i mean f2p games are generally garbage, and i agree they're predatory. that's a problem that goes way beyond blizzard, though.

the reactions that i find pathetic are the people that feel betrayed by blizzard and are talking about boycotting. i mean, i really didn't like the direction that Westworld went in after the first handful of episodes, but i just stopped watching. i didn't try to organize a boycott. that's just weird.

generally i think that for some people it's going to be a slow process of adjusting to

it’s going to be really something to see gamers entering their mid to late 30s realize that they’re aging out of industry demographics and that fortnite, pokémon go and mobile games etc are where things are headed

— merritt k (@merrittk) November 4, 2018

i dont think aging out is accurate, theres just different slices now. theres been a huge wave of big budget Dad Games starring sullen middle aged dudes this generation, who do you think those are for

for sure. as long as dad games make money they'll keep making them (and i will buy 2 to 3 each year, like the old 'i buy 12 CDs a year' marketing demographic).

i'm talking about the reaction of betrayal to games that are aimed more at the young whippersnappers

also mobile games aren't aimed at the younger generation, theres tons of older folks playing them on their commutes etc. i see middle aged ppl playing pokemon go at the train station like every week. a lot of the 'whales' are middle aged

I read that mobile games like this are big in Asia, so isn't this latest reaction partly a cultural one?

kinda. they're big in asia partly because more people there have public transit commutes rather than driving everywhere, partly just because there are more people there in general and theres less cultural pushback against these games as a 'lesser' form of gaming

wow, yeah i just looked at some mobile gamer surveys and the 65+ crowd is huge.

anyway the only thing i wanted to say in this thread is that a reasonable reaction to a disappointing game announcement is...disappointment. not entitled anger, certainly not righteous betrayal. doesn't seem like that should be that controversial but i have always been out of step with whatever the "gamer" community is

FWIW I agree with you in principle, Karl. I think the gaming community is childishly entitled and they fundamentally don’t understand what goes into making a game and they generally have bad ideas.

But, y’know... maybe I’m OK with it in this instance?

hahaha, i mean i was pretty disappointed with the details of the mobile game too, especially because when it was first announced (several hours earlier) i was excited to try it!

maybe a good compromise is that everyone is allowed one total freakout about a gaming franchise, per year

"Do you guys not have phones?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqjVdPtB9lU

Accuracy gonna be an issue unless you don’t mind just mashing your finger on a bunch of enemies

Which sounds like something a 6 yo could do better than me

why are all the people who hate the game angry that they can't play it on PC?

It's worth pointing out that Diablo stans* are generally found complaining about the low level of new shit in a game that they bought five years ago, with no subscription fee. They are, by and large, a whiny bunch of bastards, the absolute picture of people demanding a barter economy where what they bring to the counter is a big jingling bag of their loyalty.

was pretty tone deaf of them to have it be the headlining announcement at blizzcon though, where people are expecting the announce of a new pc game

Eh, they posted last week saying basically "We have a lot of stuff to show but no Diablo 4". A problem is that people knew that what they had on the go was Diablo on Switch, and Diablo 4, and something else - obviously Blizzard would have loved to have had D4 available, but instead it's this sad trombone.

*and I say this as someone who just finished the Season 15 'Journey'

Diablo III also the only modern Blizzard game that they don't sell in-game items for.

What in game items were avail in SC2?

Commanders, which seem like they'd be of some actual games usage:

https://eu.shop.battle.net/en-us/product/commander-abathur

Also announcers - they missed a trick by not having TotalBiscuit as the default announcer, with people having to pay to turn him off.

Also whatever tf this is:

https://eu.shop.battle.net/en-us/product/starcraft-ii-war-chest

use, not usage.

why are all the people who hate the game angry that they can't play it on PC?

― Karl Malone, Sunday, November 4, 2018 5:09 PM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol are people doing the 'terrible food, and such small portions' bit in earnest?

Yeah, check out the outrage in the video above! It’s crazy

maybe the real problem is that people let themselves get attached to / invested in specific brands at a time when there are zillions of good games being made in every little genre. i can't think of many styles of gameplay that a single developer has monopolized, blizzard least of all

Diablo III also the only modern Blizzard game that they don't sell in-game items for.

Why Diablo's Auction House Went Straight To Hell

Also: https://blog.hoard.exchange/diablo-iiis-failed-auction-house-why-true-ownership-won-t-save-your-game-c6d692b9de1

why are all the people who hate the game angry that they can't play it on PC?

When Diablo III first shipped, there were a lot of complaints that the control design (and by extension the skill trees, character customization, and how you level up) was dumbed down to accommodate console gamers who couldn't handle more than four buttons. I suspect the players who have spent serious cash on gaming PCs, maximizing frame rates, etc. just see gaming on a phone has being inherently inferior. See also: hardcore flight simulator or auto race players who make fun of anyone who don't have either a complete 737 or Porsche 917 in their gaming room.

I suspect that much of the backlash could have been sidestepped if Blizzard had just put up a slide that said "Diablo IV Coming Soon"

yeah thats how bethesda did it when they announced the elder scrolls mobile game this summer and i didnt see any complaints really, just 'dont care's

Those are good article, ET, but not really what I was getting at (also lol the 'items are hard to come by' seems 100 years ago now, you get a set mailed to you once you hit level cap and prove you can tie your shoelaces)

Weirdly I don't get the impression that the PC Master Race lot actually have a significant problem with the existing and massively successful console version of these games - but mobiles are a different matter because girls play on them for reasons we may never fully understand.

Gamers are the biggest bunch of whiney bitches it's really hilarious

Peak Reddit hysteria was seeing a video of someone throwing their phone out the window after watching the "Do you guys not have phones?" video.

So, Diablo III... I still play - look for the ILX clan on US West.

ums can we quote you on that

https://kotaku.com/sources-blizzard-pulled-diablo-4-announcement-from-bli-1830232246

Likewise, I still play Diablo 3. My life is a mess.

Blizzard has been antagonistic to the Diablo fanbase for the past decade. I’d never voice this stuff outside of ILX because I don’t want anyone to confuse me with these people, but the following stuff is super annoying:

* Many of the systems that made Diablo 1 and 2 incredible were simplified for 3 to open up space for a number of systems that were both terrible in their conception and implementation. When these new systems were removed, the husk that remained is hilariously basic compared to Diablo 2.
* Blizzard promised a lot of content that never arrived (e.g. two expansion packs). They also keep “dropping hints” about stuff that never materializes like a druid class (or Diablo 4).
* The content that did land, like the Necromancer update, was super basic compared to expansions from Diablo 1 and 2.

I’ll also say that this was BlizzCon. It blows my mind that people pay to go to this bullshit (and I write this as someone who plays way too much Diablo, Hearthstone, and World of Warcraft). Apple really should’ve gotten into the “pay to watch a press conference” game.

Apple really should’ve gotten into the “pay to watch a press conference” game.

goddamnit don't give them any ideas!

I'd be interested in a bit more detail there, Allen. The only system off the top of my head that I remember them removing was the Auction House, which in retrospect was mystifying that they didn't see it becoming a disaster.

The only really complex system that I remember from Diablo 2 was the skill tree, which I thought was improved in every way for D3 (by tearing it out and setting it on fire).

Something that's kind of staggering to reflect on is the change in the game - if I recall correctly, when it released first it was just "here's the story, play the story, replay the story harder if you want", it wasn't until the first expansion pack that they got Kadala, Rifts, Bounties, Legendary Gems...

I totally agree that they aren't Game Design Wizards with a master plan, the amount of stuff where they rolled it out and then changed it is hilarious (the Realm of Trials that you had to go through to get your Rift Key for a start).

Which is part of the general shift over the course of D3 from "This is grindingly hard" to "this is a loot pinata, here is a set when you hit lvl 70" - the hardest part of my most recent season was the set dungeons, and that's partly because I was over-powerful for them - one of the Barbarian dungeons had "hit every elite with these three skills", and I had to take off some gems because the first two skills were killing them.

I think when we start getting into "Blizzard promised" we reach dangerous waters - Blizzard is pretty careful not to promise things, because they get hammered when they don't come through. Most of what they hoped for a second expansion ended up as free content (Kanai's Cube, Ruins of Sescheron, Season Journeys, Greyhollow Isle, Set Dungeons, the Necromancer) if I recall correctly.

I mean, obviously it's been on the back burner for about a year, but I can't really complain, I paid maybe £100 for five years of gameplay?

The Past, Present, And Future Of Diablo - https://kotaku.com/the-past-present-and-future-of-diablo-1830593195

^ what's kind of interesting there is that the wind is slightly taken out of the article's sails by the fact that it came out a few days after the announcement of the arrival of the PTR for the next patch, the first in a year.

The patch is two main parts:

A new season gimmick - after 'double treasure goblins' and 'double horadric chests', this one is just that you're always under the effect of a Ring of Royal Grandeur, meaning you only need 2 pieces of a set for a 3-pieces bonus, 3 for a 4, etc. I like this one a lot, because it by itself would mix up the existing meta game, which has been pretty steady for the last four seasons: https://d3resource.com/seasons/index.php.

Also buffs of all of the sets that aren't currently in the meta: "The (2) Set bonus has been increased from 1200% to 6000%" is roughly representative. This will hopefully move stuff around a bit - it's been nice to see some of the Youtubers who've been reheating the same guides for the last year get back into being interested in what can be done with forgotten builds (though as far as I know none of the mechanics have changed that much apart from the Grandeur mentioned above).

The previous carrot for seasons has been removed as well - you used to get one more stash tab (70 more squares) each season if you complete the 'journey', but you'll get them all up to the full 10 automatically with 2.6.4.

I completed the journey on the Strength characters, Crusader & Barbarian (as well as clearing up some old Achievements for those classes) when the current season started in September. And then I decided to come back and try to squeeze in the Dexterity classes, Monk and Demon Hunter, a few weeks back - it doesn't take much to get you up to speed if you've already got a well-progressed character - I didn't even have any remaining gear on the characters, but a few Legendaries from Kanai's Cube can kick-start a build pretty quickly.

In short this game is still fun, either for mindless killing shit and getting loot (both Monk and Demon Hunter have builds that can just clear the screen on the highest Torment levels) and for tougher fun that you sadly have to pay attention to.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFVcjkQ1uDg

I have no idea why a) who is the target for this video* or b) why they'd be reading this thread, but it is a pretty solid 13 minutes of why it's fun to play Diablo now.

*basically a podcast and an attract screen.

I think I'm the target? I've never played Diablo, and still can't tell what the hell is going on when I watch videos. All I know of it is that people like it.

Oh, wait, this is primarily online multiplayer? Eh.

Ilxor Diablo crew? I’d be down

I appreciate that they made the seasons the most appealing way to play, rather than perpetually grinding the same character forever. The downside is that I end up being pretty much done playing for a while before the season ends, never clean up my stash, and then when it's all dumped back to my main account I end up losing crap.

Not that it matters if all I care about is the seasons, but w/e

Ilxor Diablo crew? I’d be down

I started an ILX clan, called simply 'ILX.'

Oh ok. Anyone ever play? Any interest in setting a date / time to play MP?

It's entirely online, Josh, even when you're playing singleplayer - a brutal but effective way prevent people hacking their characters to a trillion gold and all the gear.

I think the console versions allow offline play, but they're on a different set of servers and have some other variations

D3 has been an effective heatwave/quarantine killer this week. Say hi if you're around.

I'm burnt out on it and prefer Grim Dawn anyway but Reaper of Souls rules.