Developer Update: Diablo 3 Two weeks After Launch

[haphazard1]

This is really a no-brainer. The gap in item power is too big in every single game of this genre. Every single one since someone put artifacts in Angband has gotten into the realm of ridiculous. And it is getting worse and worse. And what is suffering is any kind of subtlety to actually playing the game because the answer to everything is level up and get better gear. But in any case, the people who twink want to be gods, so I guess why not let them ruin their own fun instead of ruining it for everyone else?

I liked the addition of artifacts to Angband. Moria was fun, but adding unique monsters and artifacts increased the depth of the game. Most of the artifacts were junk anyway, just like most of the rares and such in D3. In fact, D3 reminds me a lot of Angband with the "random artifacts" setting -- 99% of everything is junk, and even the "super" items are frequently less powerful than basic magical items that just happened to have the right attributes for your class. And since you see so many more of the simple magical items, the odds are you eventually get something reasonably decent.

A modest buff to rare, set, and legendary items would probably be helpful -- it would be nice to actually get excited when one drops, rather than the current "in how many ways will this one suck" reaction.

Consequently, Blizzard designed the rest of their game around getting people to play online and around encouraging them via their drop system to make use of the AH. They did not design the game to support solo or pure play for very valid reasons, from their point of view, and they aren't particularly concerned about the points of view of those who aren't part of what they consider their core demographic.

Those of us who are so opposed to the idea of easy item trading and consequent item inflation as to be all up in arms about it, and won't unbend enough to even consider using the AH, are not really part of Blizzard's core demographic. If the idea of having an AH and the business and gameplay ramifications thereof are ruining your fun that badly, I'm afraid you're out of luck as far as D3 is concerned and probably as far as future games in the genre go, as MT and RMT are here to stay. Personally I am finding D3 fun enough and the AH insufficiently objectionable to ruin that fun, so I am willing to adapt.

I've known from the start that I am not part of the target/core demographic. And it doesn't bother me -- like you, I am having plenty of fun playing D3 as it is. If I don't use the AH that is my choice. Maybe I can never have any realistic hope of getting through Inferno. So what? If Inferno is the AH mode, where you have to pay either cash or massive farming time to have any chance of progressing, then I will just ignore it. Beating Hell is a good enough goal for me. I am having fun playing my way, and other people are having fun playing their way, and everything is good.

One thing that does concern me about the auction house is the source of the items available. Is it all from players offering their finds for sale, or is Blizzard "supplementing" the AH with items that are impossible to find in game? If everything sold has to first be found by some player somewhere, great. But if the only way to get certain levels of gear is to pay cash...bleh. One has to wonder just how far Blizzard will go to push people into coughing up actual dollars.

[Zed-F]

They claim it's all player generated and certainly with Nephalim Valor and the number of players playing I don't see any reason why this couldn't be completely accurate. I already find far more rares through regular play than I can use or even sell on the AH, given the limited number of sell slots and the fact that sell intervals are fixed at 2 days. (I could move a lot more of my spare rares if the interval were shorter as most people only bid on items in the last couple hours of their auction.)

[Tyrmith]

I've known from the start that I am not part of the target/core demographic. And it doesn't bother me -- like you, I am having plenty of fun playing D3 as it is. If I don't use the AH that is my choice. Maybe I can never have any realistic hope of getting through Inferno. So what? If Inferno is the AH mode, where you have to pay either cash or massive farming time to have any chance of progressing, then I will just ignore it. Beating Hell is a good enough goal for me. I am having fun playing my way, and other people are having fun playing their way, and everything is good.

Inferno is not "AH mode", it's "don't use crappy gear that you got back in nightmare mode". I think it's pretty amusing how many people are crying and complaining about this, and they haven't even experienced it themselves. Stop taking random irritations from people who've been there and extrapolating a whole thesis about the game from it.

You have a perfectly realistic chance of beating inferno if you have the mechanical ability to play the game. It takes work and a decent chunk of luck to beat inferno, but it's definitely doable, as evidenced by the fact that I'm progressing in inferno, which is amazing by itself given my lack of ability in LoL. I'm excited to see what Sulla and others are going to be able to do in Hell and inferno, because that's where the game gets interesting. It's not just "don't stand in crap and burn down the mob" anymore, it's a dynamic planning of strategy that you have to do on the fly as you find out what nasty abilities the elites have this time. You have to know how the abilities they have will combo together (ie, don't get vortexed by someone with fear/chain/vortex if you're a squishy sorc!), how you'll deal with them (gotta make sure teleport stays off CD even if I have to take damage from the desecrated ground if I'm forced to burn the CD on diamond skinto get the DH out of trouble). Additionally what skills you take matters far more, because if you change your skills you lose your Nephalem valor buff, which means your skill set has to work against regular trash, millions of variations of elites, and which ever bosses you plan on killing to get your phat lootz. You may want to go all out defensive spells for the elites, but it means you'll have a much harder time against the bosses, and you'll probably hit the enrage timers if your dps isn't already really good, even if you never die.

One thing that does concern me about the auction house is the source of the items available. Is it all from players offering their finds for sale, or is Blizzard "supplementing" the AH with items that are impossible to find in game? If everything sold has to first be found by some player somewhere, great. But if the only way to get certain levels of gear is to pay cash...bleh. One has to wonder just how far Blizzard will go to push people into coughing up actual dollars.

Sorry but this is nonsense. Do you have a secret source in blizzard that tells you "what is really going on"? Unless you do stop rumor mongering, at very least give them a "innocent before proven guilty" benefit of the doubt every human being has a right to. You have every right to dislike them for whatever reason you want, but that's no reason to spout random crap about them.

Remember also, that with a 5 stack of nephalem valor, the typical Boss (ie Rakanoth, the Warden in the prisons, or the Butcher, etc) usually drops 1-2 yellows and 2-5 blues. That really adds up, even if most items arn't really all that good. You're at 75% magic find + whatever normal magic find is already on your gear when you kill the boss.

[Sullla]

I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I also plan to spend extremely little time in Inferno. Can I clear Inferno on a single pass through the game? Everything argues the opposite, which means a lot of farming/grinding, which means no deal. I only have so much time for gaming, and it's not going to be done killing the Skeleton King 80 times in a row or whatever the popular farming run happens to be.

On the other hand, that still leaves three vast difficulty levels to explore with five classes and hundreds of different skills. It will be fun to see how far I can get with the Witch Doctor who only shoots poison darts and does nothing else, that sort of thing.

[haphazard1]

Sorry but this is nonsense. Do you have a secret source in blizzard that tells you "what is really going on"? Unless you do stop rumor mongering, at very least give them a "innocent before proven guilty" benefit of the doubt every human being has a right to. You have every right to dislike them for whatever reason you want, but that's no reason to spout random crap about them.

My question is hardy "rumor mongering" or "random crap" it is an obvious question to ask. Blizzard has structured the entire game to funnel trading through the AH, from which they benefit financially. (Once they get the cash version up and running properly, anyway.) When an entity which controls the rules has a financial interest in slanting the rules, asking if they are doing it is a completely reasonable thing to do.

And "inncocent until proven guilty" is a standard for specific legal situations. In matters of general opinion, everyone is as guilty as I choose to consider them to be. Expect the worst of everyone and everything -- you will be surprised rarely, and those few surprises will be pleasant ones.

[haphazard1]

On the other hand, that still leaves three vast difficulty levels to explore with five classes and hundreds of different skills. It will be fun to see how far I can get with the Witch Doctor who only shoots poison darts and does nothing else, that sort of thing.

This +many many. I have questions and concerns about certain aspects of the game, but I am most certainly having a lot of fun playing. There is a ton of game to explore with or without Inferno and I strongly dislike the whole "the game starts at Hell and Inferno" meme. If that is true, why has Blizzard forced everyone to spend hours on boring stuff before the game "starts"? That's like the book my sister-in-law recommended to me with "the first 400 pages are boring and a real pain to plow through, but then it gets interesting! And the sequel is really good!" Why not just start with the sequel then?

Anyway, I am looking forward to trying all the classes and as many combinations of skills as I can find time for. I will give Inferno a look when I get there and if it is fun I'll play it. If not, I'll do something else.

[KingOfPain]

In an evil I taunt you even while I die kind of way, it may be a good thing the game is now only worth a 7/10 rating to me. My biggest problem with gaming is that there's no moderation. Already, I notice I don't play as much, even though I play more than I should.

Since Bliz had already admitted,

Originally Posted by Blizzard
The intent of incoming damage is that it should be a very consistent drain on your health, and mitigating that drain is a major part of what makes Inferno mode difficult. Right now, there’s a lot more damage “spikiness” occurring than feels right, and that’s one major area we’re looking to adjust in patch 1.0.3.

lets just hope we all come out ahead on this balance act. At least Bliz and us whiners agree this time


PS: Oh did I mention, 2 toons in Hell, 1 in NM and have only seen 2 uniques and no sets. A thumb down to the "Balanced to the AH".

[Tyrmith]

My question is hardy "rumor mongering" or "random crap" it is an obvious question to ask. Blizzard has structured the entire game to funnel trading through the AH, from which they benefit financially. (Once they get the cash version up and running properly, anyway.) When an entity which controls the rules has a financial interest in slanting the rules, asking if they are doing it is a completely reasonable thing to do.

Why would blizz flood the market with items when financially the best option would be to minimize use of the gold AH, and maximize use of the RMAH? Right now people are "wasting" their item upgrades via a method that spends blizzard's money, not generates it. When the the RMAH finally does open, it'll do so in a market where the people most desperate to get items fast will have already done so.

And "inncocent until proven guilty" is a standard for specific legal situations. In matters of general opinion, everyone is as guilty as I choose to consider them to be. Expect the worst of everyone and everything -- you will be surprised rarely, and those few surprises will be pleasant ones.

That's not guilt, by any definition, that's simple paranoia (even if it's a good idea to be paranoid).

PS: Oh did I mention, 2 toons in Hell, 1 in NM and have only seen 2 uniques and no sets. A thumb down to the "Balanced to the AH".

Random is random. :P I have 1 toon in inferno, 2 in Nightmare, and I've seen 4-5 legendary items drop. No set items though. The best legendary I've found is a level 60 WD knife, but none of them have been even close to good enough to actually equip.

[Zed-F]

A good rare for your class/build will beat most legendaries for most slots on most character builds, anyway. Blizzard has said outright that legendaries are not supposed to be the be-all and end-all of loot in D3. That said, I expect there could easily be a couple specific legendaries per character/build which will be really hard to beat due to unique properties that don't spawn on rares.

[Serdoa]

You have a perfectly realistic chance of beating inferno if you have the mechanical ability to play the game. It takes work and a decent chunk of luck to beat inferno, but it's definitely doable, as evidenced by the fact that I'm progressing in inferno, which is amazing by itself given my lack of ability in LoL. I'm excited to see what Sulla and others are going to be able to do in Hell and inferno, because that's where the game gets interesting. It's not just "don't stand in crap and burn down the mob" anymore, it's a dynamic planning of strategy that you have to do on the fly as you find out what nasty abilities the elites have this time.

Inferno so far (Act 2 right now, 1/3 through) was for me mostly

- Die to Champions
- Use Serenity (3 secs invincibility) to attack them, run in circles while waiting for the cooldown and do it again till they are dead
- Farm enough money to buy 2 items in the AH
- Fight the same champions by just standing there and hitting the left mouse button

The only thing D3 really has done imo is implementing some abilities which make you backtrack (Arcane enchanted for example) till you have good enough gear that you can just stand in it. But backtracking and making sure to keep your oh shit-button available (and if you had to use it run far enough away till it comes back up) isn't really what I would call interesting strategy - or choices.

You have to know how the abilities they have will combo together (ie, don't get vortexed by someone with fear/chain/vortex if you're a squishy sorc!), how you'll deal with them (gotta make sure teleport stays off CD even if I have to take damage from the desecrated ground if I'm forced to burn the CD on diamond skinto get the DH out of trouble). Additionally what skills you take matters far more, because if you change your skills you lose your Nephalem valor buff, which means your skill set has to work against regular trash, millions of variations of elites, and which ever bosses you plan on killing to get your phat lootz. You may want to go all out defensive spells for the elites, but it means you'll have a much harder time against the bosses, and you'll probably hit the enrage timers if your dps isn't already really good, even if you never die.

Agree, you have to decide which skills to take. But at least for Monk, I really have a hard time seeing it as that much of a choice. For my first Butcher-kill I had to change one skill (the increased damage-mantra instead of the heal-mantra). Much more importantly then that was to change my gear so that I did go from 45k life and 8k dps to 30k life and 12k dps. All the other skills I had could stay as they were. I'm actually even thinking about just putting both mantras on my bar and switching between them depending on my actual needs (48% more damage for 3 secs seems strong enough that taking another damage skill instead doesn't seem worthwhile).

Anyhow, I do like D3 still. It is not living up to my expectations, but then my expectations probably were to high to begin with.