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Diablo III: Reaper of Souls

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Havoc10K:
Well, I been watching some vids from gameplay on beta and all I can say it'e working pretty much like torchlight did, everything simplified to the minimum, very little skills. I'm not saying this is a torchlight copy, since that is a clone of Diablo-verse anyways, I'm just pointing out that Blizzard took a lot of ideas from there, and from Dungeon Siege 3. If you played both games you will know which parts of Diablo 3 are an idea taken from those.

I know that Diablo 3 was in the works probably longer than both those games, but taking into account how similar the gameplay of Torchlight (developed by old Blizzard north if I am not mistaken staff which makes it logical) and Dungeon Siege 3 is to what we now can see clearly from videos of Diablo 3 I don't know anymore where the clone starts and where the original begins.

The greatness of Diablo was the ability to make characters of different builds with many useful skills. Diablo 3 gives very few skills (10 per class like Torchlight that had I think 12 and Dungeon siege that had around 12 if I am not mistaken)

I will miss making 3 Spellcasters of different build designed specifically for certain purposes. Lightning Sorceress was very good in a party as support and backup, as well as an excellent adversary against players and heavy bosses.
Frost was excellent at crowd control (frost slows down enemies) and taking out a lot of enemies very quickly.
Fire was good at ... pretty much anything else, excellent DPS and fire enchant on party members was always great.

In a single video I saw a wizard taking on everything with pretty much only magic missile and frost nova, you can do pretty much a lot of fighting with just that. Mana recovery was hilariously fast, I don't think I seen that wizard go out of mana even against at least 15 enemies, which is pretty much sick. I do hope this will be resolved as I don't want an endless mana pool. The only build enhancement I can see is with the runes but that will only balance your chances against tougher enemies so there really is no real build selection, it all depends on your skills that will be enhanced with runes, other than that you are not going to do anything elaborate like making a frost mage tha twas so strong at higher level that it's sickening. The only limit will be how well you can gear your wizard.

I don't like this aspect and the first looks at gameplay are not to my liking. In a group of several players if there are 2 wizards it will be very likely the party already will be overpowered so I hope the command /players 8 will be in the multiplayer game and working.

I'll sure play this game, Very unlikely I will replay it. Torchlight was good as reminiscence of old Diable feeling, but it was very limited in abilities, Dungeon Siege that I got used to having several mages or swordsmans and whatnot in DS1 and DS2 has also disappointed me with very limited character development. In earlier games I could make my heroes who were originally mages or fighters to reverse their occupations and that was a lot of fun.

I'm afraid we have entered the age of games that are directed only to good looks, maybe some good story, but gameplay is going downhills. Sure the game engine looks great, but I can't do what I used to be able to, enjoy the Diablo-verse as it was, combat wise I could do a lot of different stuff, currently, my options are very limited.

I don't like where the game industry is going, but this is an excellent example of why there are so few very interesting games on the market.

I keep playing old games that are interesting, going back to PSX and Snes very often, why ? because the game industry doesn't give a fucking effort. Even WoW started to get less and less spells and abilities, with every major patch or expansion there are fewer spells to use, even though a lot of people are against it because their favorite fun spells are being kicked out.

Visual Appeal is not entertainment.

This is my opinion, you can hate me, scorn me, and laugh at me. Time for my Seiken Densetsu 3 dose.

Tatsujin:
I can't read everything you wrote, but I did read one part about the Wizard taking on everything. Just so you know and for everyone else for the matter, that's a Normal difficulty, it is obvious enough to blast through it with little effort. Nightmare, Hell and especially Inferno modes will be more difficult and challenging. Keep yourself updated with what Blizzard announces on D3.

www.diablofans.com

Edit -- Keep Torchlight discussions in its own thread and don't try to compare it to D3. They're both on different levels, the gap is very large.

Havoc10K:
That's not the case here tats, if you read what  I wrote you would know why I dislike this skill setup. It's not because it's easy, but very limiting players desire to customize a character.

Also, 3 types of look on armor design, not very interesting in that point, Torch light had the same limit, although it was 4 types not 3, DS3 has I think 4 as well.

Also another limitation is game not supporting mods, how lame can that be ?

Tatsujin:

--- Quote from: Havoc10K on October 30, 2011, 04:51:38 PM ---That's not the case here tats, if you read what  I wrote you would know why I dislike this skill setup. It's not because it's easy, but very limiting players desire to customize a character.

Also, 3 types of look on armor design, not very interesting in that point, Torch light had the same limit, although it was 4 types not 3, DS3 has I think 4 as well.

Also another limitation is game not supporting mods, how lame can that be ?

--- End quote ---
D3 doesn't support mods because it's ONLINE. So they claim that they can't support mods. But WoW supports mods and it's an online-only game. Maybe the design doesn't fit? Maybe they're not ready to allow mods yet? So they're not going to support mods. I also agree with them taking this online - there shouldn't be an issue if you have a connection. Just to clarify, they did post about not supporting mods and they gave their reasons.

I'm not understanding your "armor design" statement. Can you explain it to me further and give me links to what you have been reading?

The skill set up is obviously good. What's not good is not allowing us to multi-hot swap action bars (at least give us a limit of 2 or 3) for offensive, tactical or/and defensive purposes or mix-match between the three. They've also limited the hot-swapping while your out in the world. But you can swap your abilities while your in a town. They're just testing it and they're receiving negative feed back on it so more than likely they'll switch to hot-swapping.

Why do people love to talk smack about the negatives in games? Diablo 3 barely has any major negatives. If you don't like the game, don't play it. If you have issues in a game, for fuck sakes find the things you enjoy about it. I definitely don't like the real money involvement, but I can see their point. I could also careless since I am not going to be playing Normal mode a lot.

Also, there's a new big patch coming to Diablo 3 BETA. I don't have any specific information on it, but Blizzard did announce it few weeks ago.

Something that some of you may have missed. Qs and As:

(click to show/hide)Q: You made the followers more powerful for end game content. Will they be viable all the way through Inferno?

Blizzard representatives responded positively, saying that companions will be able to fight adequately alongside heroes through each difficulty. They have done some testing with companions through the difficulties, and although this is a very recent change, they do believe that changes they have incorporated into the hirelings will make then viable in the endgame.

Q: Is Diablo a girl?

The cover art for the event booklet made Diablo look anything but the usual muscular, bulky monster we've seen in his more animal incarnations in the previous games. While nothing was confirmed on why Diablo looked so distinctly female, with the sleekness of the abdomen and the wide hips, they did acknowledge that it was done. So it was on purpose. Maybe there's something to the popular Leah-possession lore speculation prevalent in our lore discussion forum.

Q: Can you elaborate on hardcore mode and how it's different from the previous games?

They mostly confirmed what is already known about Diablo III's hardcore mode: it will have its own Auction House that does not interact with normal, softcore players, said Auction House will use only gold as a currency (not real money), and so on. However, it was mentioned that if a player is killed, other players will not be able to pick the gear from the fallen character. In Diablo II, players were able to set their hardcore characters to "lootable" to other, trusted party members in the event of an untimely death. Unless misspoken, this is a marked change from the previous games. When you die, your gear is gone. Period.

Q: Can fresh sixty players succeed in Inferno, and will Inferno ever be nerfed for newer players?

In step with sentiments spoken yesterday about the difficulty of Inferno mode at the tail end of the Gameplay and Auction House panel the other day, it was confirmed that newly max-leveled characters (sixty is Diablo III's cap) will not be able to succeed easily, if at all, in Inferno mode. It's meant to be a challenge in every sense of the word, no matter what level characters are at.

While they were vehement about not nerfing it for the newbie's sake, they did add a caveat: as they address hardcore, there may be some balancing to account for hardcore players in Inferno mode. But they will not be simplifying Inferno mode for casual players.

Q: Why is light radius not in the game?

Light radius is not entirely gone, and it still works well in some contexts, like deep dungeons, but they found that using the new 3D engine really looked lack-luster when limiting light sources to only that of the player. They really want to utilize different light points to add interest to the 3D environment, so it's no longer a major element throughout the game.

Q: What's being done to protect against botting?

Probably a topic near and dear to any players getting ready to compete in Diablo II's upcoming ladder reset, botting has always been a controversial and annoying issue. Bots served as everything from farmers to level grinders, making the ladder ranking system essentially a hopeless, pointless list of bots outstripping human players. It was argued that the actual gameplay of the game renders botting more difficult to achieve, but that they will be policing it well, likely actively and with more robust security measures. It is also important to them to address spam bots, likely by watching join/leave events.

Q: Will WASD control be available?

While it had been played around with, they ultimately felt that non-analog controls didn't work well with Diablo's very analog-focused gameplay.

Q: Will runewords ever be added to the newest game?

They stated that the new gameplay mechanics and customization options account for what was previously done with runewords. The new, more robust crafting system allows for vast player-generated gear, runestones allow for heavy skill customization, and any other number of mechanics compensate or surpass what was accomplished with runewords in Diablo II.

Q: Can you confirm a console version?

They did not want to officially confirm a console version because they want to be completely sure it's something that will work and work well. They have been hiring console developers to work internally on console ideas, and they feel that it plays very well with the kind of game Diablo is, but they don't want to announce anything until they're entirely sure everything will work out.

Of primary concern is not wanting to compromise the PC version, likely in playability or release (as stated any number of times over the last months.) For now, they're focusing on filling out a console team.

Q: Attuned runes essentially allow for a ton of specialized runes for each character skill, creating a huge inventory problem with storage. What's being done to address this?

They acknowledged that they are aware of the issue and are thinking of ways to fix it. They believe that attuned runes add an interesting new facet to skill selection, customization, and build commitment, so they don't foresee removing them, but there is definitely an inventory issue that needs to be addressed.

Q: What are some of the issues seen in developing a console version?

Targetting skills becomes more difficult when using a controller and not a mouse and keyboard although they feel that player movement is greatly improved. Monster AI seems somewhat different when interacting with the game in a new way. They found that they spend the most time working with controls with a console iteration. They don't want a potential console version to feel like a port of the PC version, but a quality version that plays well as it is.

Q: Can we get more beta keys?

They have more waves coming out after the BlizzCon and are very happy with the feedback that they've received so far. In addition to more beta access sweeping across Battle.net accounts, they also said that a major patch is coming for the beta version of Diablo III very soon. We can guess that this will likely include the skill updates and other changes seen in the beta iteration seen in the PvM demo here at BlizzCon.

Q: What comes after Inferno?

While the team feels that Inferno mode will pose huge challenges for players for a long time to come, they have said that they will add more endgame content should they find that players demand more. There's also secret content, which they have confirmed to be in the game, so perhaps we'll see content similar to the Cow Level for endgame enjoyment. At the moment, they are more focused on just getting the game as-is out to the public.

Q: With the Wizard's cast rate announced as being based on weapon speed, what is being done to reward opting for other items besides cast rate-oriented equipment?

They believe that choosing cast rate-centric gear versus more obscure equipment is entirely based on the build a player opts for. If a player decides to use skills that benefit more from faster cast rates, it will be logical to use weapons that allow for faster cast rates, while skills which do not focus on cast rates, like Meteor, will allow players to focus on more damage-centric weapons.

Q: Will there be more skill slots?

The team believes that allowing more skill slots removes choices and, by extension, build diversity across a playerbase, so they will not be adding more skill slots.

Q: How will RMAH PvP players be matched with PvP players that do not spend real money on the Auction House for gear?

Buying higher gear will cause a player to be matched with peers of a like power level through the hidden ranking system, so purchasing gear with real money will only cause players to be matched against more experienced or more powerful characters. The actual outcomes of PvP games will not be affected.

Q: Will there be more PvP modes besides arena mode?
The developers found that PvP in Diablo II mostly split players up for fear of getting ganked, meaning more players were playing in private games than playing together in public ones. This led to a focus on on a dedicated PvP mode with dedicated PvP support, the arena, and a PvP progression system. However, more PvP modes are being considered, and Jay Wilson even said that they are looking into a dueling option similar to Diablo II, although nothing concrete is yet known and they aren't sure if such a mode will make the initial release.

Q: Will there be guild support?

Guilds and clans in Diablo II were often organized using chat bots and out-of-game online communities. Hope had arisen that this would mean the developers saw this need as enough to implement guild support in Diablo III, but the idea was shot down. They will not have guild functionality available for release, but something may be implemented after release. They saw a lot of guild ideas that didn't get implemented in Diablo II as great mechanics that they want to work on in the future, but they want to make sure that if they do implement guild functionality, they will do it right.

Q: Will boss AI be scaled with difficulty to allow for more interesting and less repetitive battles at different difficulty levels??

They're looking across the major bosses for the game and tuning their AI to be refreshing and challenging according to difficulty mode, but they aren't sure if the changes will be really drastic from difficulty to difficulty or only minor, although they want such differences to be big. It seems to be another question of what will make it into the initial release.

Q: Will players be able to use their skills together in combination attacks?

They have seen many players using strategic implementation of skills, like a Wizard freezing enemies and then melee characters shattering frozen enemies. They think that more sophisticated team play would be fantastic, but they don't want payers choosing not to play with other players because of class choices in certain situations, which they view as adverse to encouraging group play.

Q: Will there be an API for the Auction House?

They have talked about it at length, but it will not make the launch version of the game. It may be added after release. They seemed positive about such an implementation.

Q: With the 12-month account for WoW players allowing a free digital purchase of Diablo III, will there be any compensation for purchasing a collector's edition of Diablo III?

Buying a collector's edition of Diablo III will count as credit towards a 12-month account.

Those were most of the more interesting questions asked, but we encourage you to stay tuned as we upload video versions of each of the panels and keep your eyes peeled for full transcriptions. There may be things that you will find more interesting on a personal level, and with so much up in the air with Diablo III, there are a lot of questions that didn't get answered very directly and were cut from this report.

Havoc10K:
There are only 3 visual levels of armor, basic, advanced and master. It's on the Diablo 3 page someplace.

You obviously don't want to understand what I am trying to say so I will stop at this point.
But I highly doubt Blizzard will add abilities which was so great about Diablo and Diablo2.

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