Developer Update: Diablo 3 Two weeks After Launch

[haphazard1]

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.

Random is random, true. But if something is SO rare that an average player will not see it drop during an entire run through of the game, it might as well not exist. And even if it does drop, it turns out to be "[not] even close to good enough to actually equip". Just why am I supposed to care about these legendaries, again?

OK, sure, presumably you can salvage the crummy legendaries and get crafting materials to roll the dice on getting something better. But that just adds another layer to the randomness/gambling to get an item actually worth using. If these things are going to be that rare, then they ought to be buffed a bit to make them actually useful.

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.

Maybe there has been something on the Blizzard forums -- was the RMAH always intended to be available sometime after launch? Maybe the delay is just due to some technical/legal glitches, and someone inside Blizzard just got the negative performance review of a lifetime for screwing up and costing the company those lost transaction fees?

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

It is not guilt in the technical legal sense, but it is not paranoia because it is not unjustified/without basis. Few people can be trusted, very few corporations can be trusted, and no governments can be trusted. The vast majority of the universe really is out to get you.

[Tyrmith]

Random is random, true. But if something is SO rare that an average player will not see it drop during an entire run through of the game, it might as well not exist. And even if it does drop, it turns out to be "[not] even close to good enough to actually equip". Just why am I supposed to care about these legendaries, again?

Are you likely to get all of the legendaries? No. Are you likely to get at least one at some point? Yes. You don't have to care about them. Right now they're just a flavor thing people are paying too much money for (someone traded me 600k for a 55 hunter cloak they'd probably find something better for in 2 or 3 levels. )

OK, sure, presumably you can salvage the crummy legendaries and get crafting materials to roll the dice on getting something better. But that just adds another layer to the randomness/gambling to get an item actually worth using. If these things are going to be that rare, then they ought to be buffed a bit to make them actually useful.

a) simply vendoring it seems like a waste when you can pawn it off on someone for money. Crafting materials are so cheap right now that even if you got a few thousand for it it'd be many times what you'd get equivalently from salvaging (which is looking more and more like a scam then anything else I've seen in the game). b) getting a crappy legendary item is no different then getting a crappy yellow item, and you'll get plenty of those, it's not an extra layer of complexity.

Definitely agree they need to be significently buffed though, being worse then the equivalent yellow item makes it more laughing material then anything else.

[haphazard1]

Are you likely to get all of the legendaries? No. Are you likely to get at least one at some point? Yes. You don't have to care about them. Right now they're just a flavor thing people are paying too much money for (someone traded me 600k for a 55 hunter cloak they'd probably find something better for in 2 or 3 levels. )

Maybe it is a prestige thing? Walk around in all legendary gear, just because you can, even if it isn't actually all that good?

a) simply vendoring it seems like a waste when you can pawn it off on someone for money. Crafting materials are so cheap right now that even if you got a few thousand for it it'd be many times what you'd get equivalently from salvaging (which is looking more and more like a scam then anything else I've seen in the game).

I am enjoying the crafting aspect so far, and since I am (for my own personal reasons) not using the auction house breaking down junk rares (or better) for parts is one way to get some value from them.

Just picked up Shen, so I have access to the jeweler services now. Progress! Yes, it may take me weeks to finish Normal since I usually have time for maybe one or two map areas per session. But I am having fun and will get there eventually.

b) getting a crappy legendary item is no different then getting a crappy yellow item, and you'll get plenty of those, it's not an extra layer of complexity.

Already am.

Definitely agree they need to be significently buffed though, being worse then the equivalent yellow item makes it more laughing material then anything else.

Yeah, the reaction to a unique drop shouldn't be scornful laughter at how pitiful the item actually is.

[Kylearan]

Hi,

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.

My thoughts exactly. When I read all these discussions by disgruntled players, I'm really, really glad that I'm able to find my own fun in the game through different means. I've played a TON of Diablo 2 but only beat Hell once, if I remember correctly. I had more fun with variants or hardcore, and it's the same for me with Diablo 3.

I'm lucky in that I experience almost no lag with the EU server, so I have a lot of fun playing a HC witch doctor. He advances slowly and extremely cautious, and I won't ever buy something at the AH. I don't expect to progress in Inferno with him very far; heck, I even expect to die in hell already. But I have fun during the journey and I'm curious how far I will get.

Likewise, even though D3 allows you to reskill on the fly, I expect to create several different variant characters of the same class because I'd like to experience how that specific variant will fare in the early game and how far I will be able to come with it. I don't want to reach and play some kind of mystical "end game", I'd like to have fun on the way.

-Kylearan

[KingOfPain]

Maybe it is a prestige thing? Walk around in all legendary gear, just because you can, even if it isn't actually all that good?

I for one like to collect all the uniques and sets. That is part of the game for me, even tho they are not something I look to twink my toons with; since they go naked most of the time. But no, I am not into buying up a collection.